Pulling down her black hood, Lili revealed her cute face and her silky smooth hair that was tied into a ponytail. With her big deep ocean-blue eyes, she looked up at the top of the Dancing Dragon Inn sign that had a big carving of a western-style red dragon and under it was the name of the Inn.
Looking at the long text under the nice looking red dragon she could make out a few of the letters there although they did look quite strange. Obviously she knew that the first letter was probably a D but this D looked more like a C that was turned around with multiple extra lines attached to its open part, not only this, but it also had lines in the middle making it look more like an O. After that the rest of the sign just seemed like a mess, it was something that resembled the fantasy elvish language she had once seen in her previous life. At least the Inn part was somewhat readable except for the fact that the two, nns, seemed like a single, m.
Seeing all of this Lili quickly realized that she couldnt read for shit. Only if she really tried she could maybe slowly start to read this text, but it would be like a 6-year-old practicing reading for the first time.
Not only did the thought of this horrify her but she also felt great shame. By all means, she now needed to keep this fact a secret or else risk great embarrassment. Luckily she was in a period where most likely nobody knew how to read anyway so it wasnt that bad. Aa who cares I'll just learn to read later, I have more important things to do now she reasoned to herself and pushed open the large double doors of the Inn.
immediately her eyes lit up with the tens of candlelights inside the Inn and the sight of the large space in front of her that was completely full of people, there had to have been at least 50 people here by the looks of it. The old, the young, women men and all seemed to be in here celebrating something as all of them laughed and talked amongst one another.
Some were drinking ale from large wooden mugs, while some ate soup along with bread and drank water. Some people were playing with cards and seemingly betting small metallic coins on the game and even something that looked like copper coins.
All these people seemed so lively and happy to her as they went along with their business seemingly uncaring of her presence. But despite this, there was one major thing that bothered her greatly and that was that everyone looked quite ugly here. Only the youngest of children seemed somewhat decent but mostly all were much like the old man at the walls.
Why was it that the boy she met at her place seemed so good in comparison to everybody here, didnt these people know anything about brushing their teeth or hygiene for that matter?
While she stood there she quickly realized that more and more eyes were falling upon her and some people started to whisper to each other and some men even laughed as if they were making fun of her. On the other hand, a few of the women who noticed her were looking at her intensely with a hint of greed.
Shit, is there something on my face? Why are they looking at me like that?
Thinking of this a strand of her hair then fell in front of her right eye and as she pushed it away she realized something. Oh I see, most of these people have different colored hair than me. Most of them seemed to have dark hair, like black to dark brown hair colors. There seemed to be a few in the crowd with blonde hair, but their blonde hair was darker than hers and dirty-looking.
Thinking that she finally found her answer she put her hood back on and entered further inside the Inn. All around she could see round tables with chairs that were all taken by people. To the right side of her she could see a small stage that seemed to be there for performers and on the stage she spotted a Lute set up against the wall. The sight of the thing made her eyes light up and her body shivered with the shivers of nostalgia.
In her past life, she had been a great fan of a certain Dandelion who was a great Lute player. Inspired by this she had actually even managed to get herself a Lute in the past and played a few songs with it. Sure she wasnt an expert but she did know a few notes.
she felt like playing a few notes right now, but the old man did say to always ask permission first. Looking around some more she could see that in front of her past many tables and people that blocked her path, there was the bar and behind it most likely the kitchen. To her left there seemed to be a staircase to the upper floor where most likely the in-rooms were.
Looking straight ahead at the bar she set her imaginary mark on it and started to make her way past the large crowd of people around her that all seemed like giants in comparison to her.
Coming close to the bar Lili could see long rows of stools next to it and many dirty drunk people sitting there and drinking. Walking closer to the bar Lili attempted to contact the ugly-looking fat man behind the bar who was cleaning some wooden mugs. Sadly her height didnt allow her to make eye contact with the man as she fell a few centimeters short of the bar.
Looking around she found a free stool and climbed on it and with her legs dangling in the air she leaned on the wooden bar and waved her hand at the fat man fiercely to gain his attention.
With his back turned to her she was forced to shout at the man.
"Excuse me, sir! Excuse me!"
Hearing her high-pitched sweet girly voice the men sitting close to her turned to look at her as did the fat man. Seeing him coming closer she then heard him speak to her with a surprisingly soft tone of voice as if he were speaking to a little child.
"Well hello there little missy. Havent seen you around here before. What is it that I can do for you? If you've lost your parent then dont worry my daughter would most certainly be happy to help you find them. Kids lose their way around here all the time so dont you worry about that."
Shaking her head in denial she opened up her cloak and showed the fat man her leather pouch that held her strawberries and peas inside. The man seemed to look confused as she then started to explain.
"I want to sell you these strawberries that I picked. Here have a look they are in quite good condition and tasty too."
She then handed the man a strawberry and he took it and had a small bite at the thing. Nodding his head he then turned to Lili and said.
"Well, the taste is good and they seem to be fine, but how much are you selling them for?"
Hearing this Lili froze as she had no idea what the currency here was or how much she should be selling these strawberries for. Overall she had about 23 or so strawberries and a handful of peas so in modern times that should be at least a few dollars, but how much would that be here?
Lost in her thoughts the fat man then interrupted her and said.
"Listen, kid, I dont have all night so whats it gonna be?"
Lost as to what she should do, she just blurted out her demands.
"Give me bread and soup. And make it fast because I'm hungry."
Hearing this the fat man and the few close enough to hear laughed as the fat man then said.
"Ok, kid. You got it. But first, give me everything you have in that pouch and I'll then bring you your food."
Hearing this she couldnt help but put her little hands into small fists and say out loud. Yes, I did it!
Having done her first actual medieval trade she felt extremely excited and handed everything he asked for without a second thought. Without realizing it her little feet had automatically started swaying back and forth in the air as she waited for her food.
The fat disappeared behind a door next to the bar and soon reappeared and after some time a small girl a little bit taller than her appeared from the door with a small bowl and a small piece of bread. Curiously she wondered what was the girl doing with such a small amount of food. Nobody else around here seemed to be eating such small portions of food, did they even serve such small dishes here?
In wonder, she watched the girl as she ran to her side and offered her the bowl saying.
"Here you go. All done."
Confused Lili took the bowl and asked.
"This is for me?"
Nodding her head the little girl said.
"Yes, its yours. Since you were the one who ordered bread and soup."
Looking at the small bowl that was half full with what seemed like a small thumb-sized piece of fish and a few small pieces of vegetables mixed in with water and a small slice of bread, Lili couldnt help but feel confused as she thanked the girl and watched her leave.
Placing the bowl on the bar a spoon was then placed next to it by the fat man who just smiled at her mockingly.
Did I just get cheated? Lili wondered as she spoke up and said.
"Hey, whats this all about? Where is the rest of my food?"
Shrugging his fat shoulders the man just spoke dumbly and said.
"What do you mean? You just asked for soup and bread and thats what I had my daughter then give to you. You never said how much you wanted or what exactly it is that you wanted to begin with so I was generous enough to even give you some fish."
Hearing this the few men around her just laughed and cheered for the fat man as one of them placed their hand on her head and said.
"Well done kid. You are already on a good path to becoming a fine merchant. Hahaha!"
Lilis pretty little face turned into a frown as she realized just how sly this fat man was. In defeat, she accepted her fate, said nothing and started to eat.
She was but a child with nothing, no money, no friends, no power, absolutely nothing and there was nothing she could do here. Not only this she didnt even know anything of this world so what was she to do? Seeing as this was just a small village most likely everybody knew this man and were more or less his friends, most likely nobody was going to take her side here if she made a scene.
Right now all she could do was bowl up her anger and release it at this man and this other jackass next to her at a later date. Now she needed to eat and build up her strength so she could grow strong.
Eating the shitty soup out of the way first she then went on to her main price. Taking hold of the small slice of bread she could feel its softness and even the little pieces of broken grain in it. With the bred in her hands, she could feel her anger disappear as she then bit into the thing.
Pulling a small chunk out of it she chewed it happily in her mouth feeling its softness and the hard grains in it that made a hard scraping sound against her teeth as she ate it.
Then realization came to her and she immediately spit the thing back into the bowl. The bread was full of small stones. Looking at the bread closer she could even see the small little things.
Looking around the Inn she then realized why it was that all these people had the horriblöe teeth that they had. In her previous life, she remembered hearing that many peasants used bad grinding stones to grind the grain into flower which then caused some small pieces of the grinding stone to get mixed in with the bread.
Horrified by this realization she quickly felt her hunger disappear. Gone was her want for bread now she actually just wanted her strawberries back. In frustration, Lili called out to the fat man and said.
"Hey, you bartender. Why did you give me bread full of stones where is the good stuff?"
Hearing this the bartender turned to her with a questioning look on his fat face, he seemed to be ready to say something but then the jackass next to her who sported a thick bush of dark messy hair on his head then spoke first.
"Whats you talking about girly? It might be a small piece of bread, but there is no dought that thast the Dancing Dragons famous bread. By the looks of that piece its even completely fresh and recently baked right there in the In-kitchen behind the bar. Around here its extremely famous for its light texture and its soft and tasty insides that have nice small pieces in them that cause one to hear small crunchy sounds that are like music to the ear."
What is this dude for real? Lili thought to herself as the Fatman walked over, took a small bite out of the bread and said.
"No, I see nothing wrong with this. This bread is just like the rest. We dont have any more varieties of bread here. Sure there might be some small pieces of the grinding stone inside, but I assure you that they are much less than what most other grinding stones leave behind. Not only that but they are also a lot smaller pieces which is why it does not hurt once teeth when eaten, instead, it creates a sound like my good man over here described."
Mouth agape and eyes wide a new realization just hit her then. Holy shit this medieval food might not be as tasty as I had hoped for it to be. There defenitely int no tasty bread with peanut butter in it. Even if these people could maybe make something like pies or other nice dishes here it didnt matter if such a fundamental part of the food like the grinding process was flawed.
But now she was faced with another problem. If she wanted to return home any time soon then she needed a place to sleep the night and most importantly she needed more food, for her belly and to carry home. The food she just ate filled maybe one-fifth of her little belly, with this in mind she looked to the Fatman and spoke.
"Hey, bartender. What do I need to do in order to get a room around here and some more food? Could I maybe work in the kitchen or maybe sweep the floors or something?"
Raising an eyebrow at her question the Fatman then laughed and said.
"Hahaha! Sorry kid but there aint no baby-sized rooms here for you and my wife and daughter already have the kitchen and cleaning covered, but if you have something else you can trade then I might be able to give you something more to eat."
Putting her little hand on her little chin Lili went into thought as she then looked around. She found it strange that the entire town seemed to be celebrating here in the Inn during the night. Didnt these people have any work to do in the morning or was all the work just meant to be done by the women in the morning as it seemed like there were more men here than women?
Curious of this she then found that the Fatman had already left to attend to some other people so she had to turn to the jackass as she then said.
"Hey man, what is it that you are all celebrating here tonight? Whats the occasion?"
Turning away from what seemed like a mug of ale the man looked at her and said.
"Oh, you dont know? We are celebrating the completion of the windmill. You might not know this but its an invention that is the work of our great Prince Arthurs brilliant mind. Thanks to the windmill our future work on the land has become even easier leaving us with more time to drink and celebrate our brilliant prince. Its truly unheard of to have a royal prince of all things come up with something meant to make the lives of us low-class peasants easier."
Hearing this Lili felt a bit confused. How could a man like that come up with not only a windmill but the Tower Windmill for all things? Wait did he just say Prince Arthur like the dude from the fairy tale? Wait didnt that arrogant boy say something about finding him in Camelot?
Lost in thought Lili was then rudely interrupted by the bartender who stood in front of her now and said.
"Hey, kid. You gonna sit there all night or what? If you aint got any coin or intent to eat the rest of your food then I kindly ask of you to leave that seat. That seats only for paying customers you see."
Hearing this Lilis face turned into a pout as an idea came to her as she said.
"Hey, what if I sang a few songs could I then heve something to eat? You see I can sing and even play the Lute which I saw that you have on the stage. Could I please use that to earn some food?"
Eyebrow raised once more the Fatman seemed suspicious as he said.
"Hmm, well everything depends on if you have any actual talent. I find it hard to believe that a little kid like you actually knows any real songs or how to play the Lute for that matter, but if you truly know then the stage is all yours. If you impress me I might just then gift you that Lute also along with some food. But I do warn you the Lute Is an old thing left behind by an old traveling minstrel who died some years ago up on that very stage."
Taken aback by this Lili said.
"Whaat? How did he die?"
A smile spread on the Fatmans face as he seemed like he was recalling something funny as he then said.
"Honestly I have no idea. One moment the man was singing and the next he was lying on the stage holding his chest in pain then he started spasming like he was possessed by a demon and then he just died. After that nobody has dared to touch that Lute as they believe it to be the cause of the mans death as if it were cursed, but I think its just nonsense to be honest."
To her it sounded like the man might have had an heart attack. Too bad for the man since nobody here probably has any idea of what to do in that situation. Nodding her head in understanding Lili then said.
"Well, I will make sure to honor that old minstrels memory. I will use his Lute to put some smiles on these peoples faces. Prepare to be amazed, soon you will see how a star is made."
Hopping off her high stool Lili quickly sped off towards the stage leaving the Fatman and the Jackass in confusion wondering what she meant by making a star. Could she actually create stars they wondered?
Coming to the small stage that came to about her waist height Lili placed her small hands on it and with the ease of a well-trained little girl climbed on the stage earning a few onlookers' attention. Standing up on stage she immediately felt a bit nervous realizing that now she was sticking out quite greatly.
Taking in a deep calming breath calming breath of air she formed a picture in her mind of the stage and all the people around the big room. In her mind, she imagined herself back in uniform looking over just another big group of gang bangers that she was about to arrest or just gun down. With this image in her mind, she felt her fears wash away, now she was in charge and all these other people were like shit under her boots which she didnt have, but this was just her imagination and she went with it as it gave her strength. There was always something about wearing her uniform that just seemed to block out all the peoples stares, the uniform was like a mental shield to her.
Walking over to the old Lute she took it in hand and blew away all the dust that had accumulated on it over its many neglected years. Now she, a neglected child and this neglected Lute were like family. Lily instantly felt a connection with the thing and happy memories of her slaying monsters in games and playing the lute along with Dandelion as he sang his songs came to her.
As she adjusted the strings she felt a memory of a certain song coming to her. From under her black hood, she caught a glimpse of some children close to the stage looking at her and at that moment she remembered the song. It was a song that every child loved and no adult at least that she knew of hated, a perfect song to start this off.
Placing her little fingers on the Lute strings she started out with a small test round of the beats sound that went something like.
A one-two, three and four and a one-two, three and four. Pam pam, pa pa pa pa pam pam. Stopping after that she felt that she had just the right beat set, now it was time for the song.
Then she realized that the entire room and gone silent only small whispers of people could be heard as they all looked upon her with expecting eyes. In the far corner, she could see 3 hooded figures that looked just like some low-budged assassins creed characters were sitting and glancing at her as they whispered amongst one another. In the center of the room, even the poker poker-playing gamblers had stopped and looked at her. To her right the Fatman also watched.
And, right in front of her there was a large group of kids of different ages hugging the stage, then a little girl from among the group yelled to her.
"Do it again! I want to hear more!"
In response to this, the other children yelled.
"Yeah! Do it again!"
Seeing all this attention Lili felt quite shocked, she hadnt even started to sing yet. Didnt these people listen to music at all? Surely her playing wasnt that amazing. Then she remembered, oh yeah they cant listen to music here unless somebody comes in person and actually sings or plays the Lute. And, thinking of the Lute it too probably wasnt all that common around here so yeah maybe these children especially had never heard the Lute being played.
Feeling motivated to do her absolute best to teach these kids what real music was about, she raised her little fist into the air and said.
"Ok kids, lets rock and roll!"
The kids had no idea what she just said, but they cheered anyway as she once again started the beat.
A one-two, three and four and a one-two, three and four. Pam pam, pa pa pa pa pam pam. Then she started to sing along with the beat.
"Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O.
And on that farm he had a pig, E-I-E-I-O.
With a oink-oink here and a oink-oink there.
Here a oink, there a oink, everywhere a oink-oink.
Then there came the pause in the song but she kept on playing and used the time to shout to the dirty peasant kids who all seemed super excited as they were hopping up and down.
"Come on kids sing along!"
The next part of the song she started out a bit slower so that the excited kids could hop on board the song and together they all started to sing.
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O.
And on that farm he had a duck, E-I-E-I-O.
With a quack-quack here and a quack-quack there.
Here a quack, there a quack, everywhere a quack-quack.
Oink-oink here and a oink-oink there.
Here a oink, there a oink, everywhere a oink-oink.
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O.
Once more a pause came and one man in the back turned to his friend and asked.
"Hey, who is this old MacDonald fellow? You know him?"
Thinking on it for a few seconds the other man then said.
"Not sure, but I think I heard there being some noble family up north called the MacDonalds. Maybe shes singing of them. But who cares, She sounds like an angel and this song is really catchy and I like it."
After saying that the man started to sing along and soon all joined in on the song to the best of their abilities.
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O."
For a good few minutes, Lili and the audience sang along to her song and then as the music stopped the audience erupted into loud applause. Hearing all this Lili couldnt help but feel embarrassed as she thanked them all and did a small bow.
To see such reactions and realized just what the fuck she had sung, Lili couldnt help but cringe as she thought of grown men singing kids songs while drinking at a bar and getting absolutely hammered. Oh God, what had she just done to these poor people?
Despite this thought she for sure couldnt hold back her singing now could she? If she played her cards right here then maybe this was her path to greatness and money that she could then use to change this world for the better. Standing back up from a bow she accidentally made her hood slip off revealing her face to all.
Immediately gasps could be heard in the crowd amongst the women and many whispers were heard from the men as the kids seemed to have stars in their eyes. Unknown to Lili she with her appearance looked like a little goddess amongst these peasants and not only this but her voice also greatly matched this vision which was the largest contributor to the crowds cheers. Then the same girl as before spoke as she said.
"Are you an Angel?"
Taking this as a joke Lili just smiled and said.
"Maybe. Hihihi."
To her right, a thin teenage boy with dark hair then yelled.
"Sing it again!"
Soon other children joined in and she was forced to submit to the crowds demands, so the song started once more, but this time the song sounded much better as the audience actually remembered most of the song this time around.