After an eternity of walking, I finally arrived at the town. It's indeed a rather small area, but highly populated relative to its size. Since it's now nighttime, I didn't bother scouting the town with my eyes. Not only is it too dark to get a good view of the places here, but I'm also too exhausted from carrying Lily for so long to even care about anything else. Fortunately, a big inn is located in the middle of the town, so I was able to quickly find it without wasting much time. Though it feels like I've been wasting time in this line…
"Next in line please."
From the looks of it, there are quite a number of guests at this hotel. I can tell that several of these people and demi-humans are from outside the country like me. More importantly, the large family of wolf demi-humans who were in front of me are leaving the line. Finally!
"I'd like a one-night stay, two bed reservation."
"That'll be 53 gold coins sir."
53 gold coins for a one-night stay? There's no way this place is even half as good as a luxury hotel.
"Do you have any cheaper options?"
"Yes, we have a room for only 32 gold coins, but it only has a single bed. That's the cheapest option we have available, sir."
"Fine, Miss Emby. I will take that offer."
"Here is your key card. Thank you for your business, please enjoy your stay at Guzz Inn! Next customer in line please."
___________________________________________________________________________
After painstakingly climbing the stairs to the second floor, I arrived at room 209. The elevator would have been a godsend, but way too many people were using it. I lay Lily down on the bed. I'm surprised that she slept through all of that.
"Yawn…"
Speaking of, Lily wakes up, stretching her arms out wide.
"Where…are we? Did we finally make it?"
"Yes, we made it to the settlement town. We are staying at this inn for tonight, then we are heading to the capital tomorrow morning. You can change into one of the robes in the closet and freshen up in the morning. Just try to go back to sleep for now, since you and I will need as much rest as we can get."
"Okay, Lily will change first."
Lily goes into the bathroom, changing into a black robe provided by the inn. She shows me her dress.
"Where should Lily put this?"
"Give it to me, I'll take care of it."
While we were in the lobby, I spotted a washing area for clothes. Based on the portal icon on the sign, I assume that it's one of those cleaning portal machines that can efficiently clean clothes in a few minutes. Way better than the water-based model I have back at home. The things I'd do to afford one of those machines…
"Lily still feels sleepy. Time for bed."
Lily partially removes the cover and lies herself on the bed. She pats the empty space next to her.
Pat Pat
"Huh? What are you doing that for?"
"Well, there's only one bed here, right? Lily doesn't mind sharing with Vex. You deserve a good rest too, especially since you carried me here."
That's a tempting offer–at least my back thinks so. But I'd be better off listening to my brain.
"I appreciate that you are mindful of me, but I will be fine on the floor. The carpet is warm and fluffy, so the floor shouldn't be too bad for me to sleep on. I've experienced worse anyway."
"Okay…good…night…zzz"
Lily closes her eyes and gradually drifts off to sleep. It sort of amazes me how quickly children can sleep.
I look in the closet for an extra blanket. There isn't one, so I'll use one of these sheets as cover. There are two pillows on the bed, one of them is being used by Lily. I'll just take the other one then.
I take a few minutes to change into night clothes and make my bedding on the floor. It's not much, but almost anything would suffice right now. Before I get too comfortable, I'd better turn off the lights.
CLICK
"...good night."
__________________________________________________________________________
31 minutes. 31 minutes have passed–I've counted every single minute.
No matter how long I lie here, I still can't fall asleep! This "floor bed" is worse than I thought it would be–it's killing my back. I refuse to share the bed with Lily, but lying here won't get anything done either…
I must use my final resort. It's been a while since I've had to do this…
I neatly put away my covering and pillow and get dressed. Fortunately, I have some experience being stealthy, so I didn't manage to wake Lily up. Ah, I might as well take Lily's dress with me.
I lock the door and head downstairs. In the lobby, the only person here is the receptionist lady, Emby. That's nothing out of the ordinary though, it is almost midnight after all. Emby appears to be watching something on a television screen. I'll try to make this quick so that I don't disturb her too much.
"Excuse me, I have a request."
Emby looks up at me with slight surprise before quickly readjusting herself. I didn't mean to startle her, but it couldn't be avoided.
"How may I …help you, sir?
I noticed that Emby paused for a moment when she looked at my hand. Oh that's right, I almost forgot to drop off Lily's dress in the washing portal. I'll do it after giving my request.
"I need to go out to take care of something. I can't bring the little demi-human girl with me, so I left her in my room. Can you make sure that she stays secure, in case she wakes up and wanders around before I return?"
"Yes sir, I will do my best. What's your relationship with her?"
"Why does that matter to you?"
"Oh, I'm sorry! I assumed that she was your daughter, and I wanted to compliment her cuteness. Of course, I should have known that she's more likely to be your…your…"
"She's neither my daughter, nor my slave. We just have a special partnership–that's all you need to know."
"A 'special relationship'?! I'm sorry for asking, I didn't know you two were like that! I won't judge, I promise!"
I have the feeling that there's a huge misunderstanding here–one that is greatly irritating me.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Just stop making wild assumptions already!"
"I can't help it! I was born to see situations from a unique perspective!"
"You mean you're cursed to make assumptions and take things out of context? Get a grip and do your job!"
Sigh, I'm most likely going to regret asking this woman for help, but she's the only receptionist on shift right now, and obviously I have no one else.
___________________________________________________________________________
"Another glass of sourberry cocktail coming up!"
SLIDE
"Thanks."
It's been a while since I've been to a bar, let alone one in a different country. Generally, they tend to be too noisy and distracting for my liking, but the atmosphere at this moment isn't too intolerable. It's at least quiet enough for me to sit in this corner and rest my mind. I take a sip of my drink.
"Ahh."
I can't believe that I'm on my third glass, but this sourberry cocktail is sublime. It's a mixture of tart and sweet but leans more heavily in the tart direction. Refills are only 5 silver coins a glass, so it's not like I'm wasting too much money. Besides, this is a necessity to help my insomnia. If I can't sleep, then that would impede my goal.
Speaking of money, I will eventually need to earn more. I must be able to cover increasingly expensive costs, lest I end up making our journey harder than what it already is. I might need to take on another Dark Mercenary job soon…
"My my, I didn't expect to see a cutie all alone here. Most of the guys here are pervy middle-aged guys, you know?"
Out of nowhere, a young woman who appears to be around my age approaches me. Her blood orange ponytail compliments the color of her leggings. She apparently has frequent encounters with "pervy guys" around here, while wearing a crop top and tight leggings. Gee, I wonder why.
"I'm not interested in you or whatever you have to say."
"Aww, you're like a cute little puppy. I want to eat you up!"
"What? Woman, are you drunk?!"
"Oh come on, it was just a joke, teehe!"
The woman pulls out a stool and sits next to me. She is not listening to a single word I'm saying, is she?
"Hey bartender, one glass of dragon's blood. High concentration, please!"
"Here you go, coming right up!"
SLIDE
"Thank you! Say, that guy is good, huh? His curse lets him create any drink you could imagine! Pretty cool, right?"
Is this idiot seriously about to drink dragon's blood? It's already poisonous enough undiluted, but straight-up lethal when concentrated. If she's foolish enough to drink such a thing, then that's none of my business. However, she should stop trying to involve me in her drunken conversation!
"What do you want from me? I already told you; I'm not interested."
"Well since you insist, your name would be nice to know."
"And why would I–"
I pause for a moment. Normally, I would refuse to give my name to people I want nothing to do with, but if I refused she probably would pester me for longer.
"...Vex. My name is Vex."
"Never heard a name like that before, you must be new here. I'm Aisha! I was born and raised here in Gannet. Where are you from?"
"Avarice."
"Avarice, you say? My family has been there before. I think I have a few cousins who still live there…"
"I'm sure they are lovely people just like you."
"Oh, you don't have to be so nice; I don't like them very much at all!"
Woman, read the room–I don't care!
"What brings you to Gannet? Trying to go sightseeing at the capital? If so, I can show you around, free of charge."
"I'm on a personal quest. I repeat, a personal quest."
"Ah, I see. That reminds me, I'm going on a personal quest with my sister soon. Perhaps we are looking for the same thing, Vex."
"I am looking for peace right now, but I doubt that's what you're looking for."
"Haha, you are not only cute, but funny! I'll tell you what, I recently got back from Erosy, and I stumbled across some strange gemstone…"
"Gemstone? Like a crystal orb?"
"I think it was something like that. I honestly can't remember right now though..."
As Aisha closes her eyes in thought, she suddenly smiles and looks at me.
"Oh? I take it that you are interested in what I have to say after all."
"Stop teasing me and just tell me about the crystal."
"Sorry, but if you want me to share more, then you will have to defeat me tomorrow. There will be a food eating competition here and the winner gets free food for 4 months. I'm the lead champion, but if you can beat me, I'll tell you everything you want to know. Or, you can just let me eat you up. Just kidding!"
That's it, I've had enough. I don't even feel like finishing my drink anymore; I just want her to knock it off with the smugness!
"You haven't taken a sip of your drink yet. You should hurry and drink it all before it gets too warm."
"Oh yeah, I got so caught up with you that I forgot! I'll chug it down."
"Good luck."
Aisha takes the glass and pours the dragon blood into her mouth. Now that ought to shut her down.
"Gulp gulp gulp…aah! That hit the spot. Well, I must go now so I will be ready for tomorrow. See you in the morning, Vex!"
Aisha gets off her stool and walks out the bar. Albeit a little clumsily. I'm surprised that she didn't immediately drop dead, but perhaps it'll kick in later. I doubt she even knew of the crystal orbs and was only trying to tease me. Regardless, I'll just ask Lily when she wakes up about the next crystal. Hopefully the goddess will speak to her, so I don't have to rely on weirdos.
I drink the rest of my cocktail.
"Aahh, a return to bliss."
I better head back to the inn now. I'm feeling sleepy and the last thing I want to do is fall unconsciously in public. I'll come here in the morning with Lily for breakfast.
"You may be annoying, but I hope that you are wise enough to go to the hospital..."
_______________________________________________________________________
"Yawn…"
Lily sits up on the bed, rubbing her eyes as she smacks her lips. She looks outside the window, the light of the stars shine brightly.
"Mmm, so it's still nighttime…"
Lily was having a good dream, but the goddess lady didn't show up. I miss talking to her. Maybe if Lily quickly goes back to sleep, then–
"ZZZzzz…"
"?!"
What is that sound? It sounds like a monster!
Lily turns on the lamp next to her, giving her a clear view of the "monster". At the edge of her bed, a shirtless man laid his head face down on the bed, with the rest of his body on the floor.
"Phew, it's just Vex. I didn't know he snored like this–he's usually super quiet. Did something happen to him? Maybe a bad dream?"
Lily shakes her head.
"No matter, he must be really tired and cold. Lily will help him!"
Lily, who is wearing a white and orange robe, takes off her cover and walks over to Vex.
"Vex said that he didn't want to sleep next to me, so I'll put the rest of his body on the floor…"
Lily looks around the room, spotting a free pillow.
"I know, he can rest his head on that pillow! That should make him feel better as he sleeps."
Lily grabs the pillow and places it on the floor. She then grabs Vex's upper body, slowly descending his head onto the pillow.
"ZZZZzzz…ZZZZzzzz."
"So…heavy…!"
Plop
Struggling to hold onto him, Lily drops Vex's head.
"Lily's so sorry, Vex! Please forgive me…"
"ZZZZzzz…"
"Vex is still asleep? He must be having the best dream ever! I'll put a towel over him, so he won't be so cold."
Lily reaches into the closet, finding a towel to cover up Vex. She places it on his shirtless upper body. Vex now is sleeping upright, with no signs of ceasing his snoring.
"Good night, Vex. Sweet dreams!"
Lily gleefully giggles as she tucks herself back into bed.
"I did it just like mom…right?"
She turns off the lamp.