While Rina was deep in thought, the three arrived at the village's small inn. Fortunately, it was located on the edge of the Mousa, so they didn't have to walk far.

Fran opened the door and motioned for Marianne and Rina to go in first. As the brunette did just that and entered the building, Rina hesitated. Seeing this, Fran spoke up, “Rina? What's wrong?”

“Fran, how about you book a room first and tell me where it is? I'll come in through the window.”

Although the elf could already guess why the twelve-year-old girl was suggesting this, she still asked for the reason. “Why?”

“Well... Knowing you, I'm sure that you've already researched my position in the village. And if not, you should have noticed how they reacted to my arrival.”

Hearing this, Fran was surprised at first that her pupil had seen through her as she had thought earlier. But since that was not important at the moment, she was able to keep her calm poker face and waited for the girl to continue.

“I doubt they'll let me sleep in the inn. In fact, instead of coming through the window later, I can sleep in my old home for the nights.”

Rina's words confirmed what the elf had suspected, so she just reassuringly at her pupil. “No problem, just come in, trust me.”

Even though Rina was still somewhat reluctant, she eventually gave in and entered the building, closely followed by Fran. Inside, however, Rina waited for the elf to pass her, so that the group was as a result led by Fran, with Marianne in second position and Rina at the rear.

After a few steps, they reached the counter, where they saw an elderly woman, who was probably in charge of registering guests. Since this was an inn in a small village, there were rarely guests who came here. That was probably the reason why the old woman looked a bit surprised when a group of three people suddenly in front of her.

Rina could clearly see the woman's facial expression change from an already surprised one to something beyond that as soon as the woman looked up and saw Fran. She literally beamed with happiness at the sight of the elf.

Noticing that woman's reaction, Rina wondered if Fran had been here before. After all, Fran had already known where to find this inn. And indeed, the elderly woman's words confirmed Rina's suspicion.

“Ah! Greetings, Lady High Priestess! It's an honour to see you again! Will you be staying here in our humble village again?”

In contrast to the woman's bright smile, the person in question had only a wry one. “Yes, my companions and I have some business here. We'd like to book a room for a week... And also... I'm repeating myself, but I'm not the High Priestess anymore. Please call me by my name.”

“Oh, excuse me, Lady Fran... it's just for us common folk, you are our only hope... but enough of the small talk... how many companions do you have with you?”

At the lady's question, Fran stepped aside and revealed Marianne and Rina, who were standing behind her, slightly hidden from the woman's view.

The woman's eyes then clearly wandered to the girls, probably to assess and judge them. When her gaze first fell on Marianne, she nodded in acknowledgement. However, when her eyes moved on and looked at Rina, everyone could see how the woman's formerly happy expression turn into a grimace as if she had seen someone unpleasant.

After staring at the redhead for a few more seconds, the innkeeper turned back to Fran. “Forgive me my rudeness, Lady Fran, but is that one with you?”

Hearing the lady's question, Rina knew, that what she had feared, had come true. She knew that she would not be welcomed in this building, or rather in any of the facilities or shops run by the villagers. She wouldn't have slept in her burnt-down house or the forest next to the village all those years ago if the inn had been a possibility. After all, even back then, she had had money, so that was not the problem.

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So, feeling slightly humiliated that her unpleasant past was now on display in front of Marianne and Fran, she looked down to avoid eye contact with them. That was why she didn't notice Marianne looking at her with a surprised and slightly worried expression.

Meanwhile, Fran's once friendly smile was now also nowhere to be seen as she furrowed her brow. She, too, had already expected the villagers to act like this and even wanted to see how Rina would react to it. But now, as she saw those reactions live, she couldn't help but feel angry herself. “Yes, she is part of my group.”

“Is that even helpful to you Lady Fran?” The woman, however, didn't notice the change in the High Elf's demeanour.

“Of course... can't you see her uniform? She's a student at the Royal Knight Academy in the capital and therefore highly proficient in combat.”

Naturally, the people living in villages didn't know what the uniform of the Academy in the capital looked like. So, the innkeeper wouldn't recognise that the uniform Rina was wearing was only for personal assistants. That was why Fran confidently told that lie.

“Lady Fran, just to be sure, you still travel around the kingdom fighting for smaller villages, that can't defend themselves and aren't protected by the nobles, right?”

“That's right.”

“S-so wouldn't your presence here mean, that this village is being attacked.”

“Exactly, or rather, demons will appear here very soon. The girl whose presence you find so unpleasant is very strong and will be the one doing the fighting... if I were you, I wouldn't treat someone, who came here to protect you, badly... so be careful how you treat her...”

“...” The woman tried to open her mouth, seemingly wanting to say something, only to close it again, when she found it difficult to express her doubts about Rina. Fran and Marianne watched as the innkeeper's gestures repeated several times before she finally found the courage to still argue with Fran. “With all due respect, Lady Fran, but I know that girl because she was born here.”

“So? Are you telling me that you don't want someone, who was born here to fight on the front lines against demons?”

The old innkeeper shook her head vehemently. “No! Not at all! She can die a horrible death for all I care! What I mean is that we believe that her red hair and red eyes are of demonic origin! She's the reason that the demons are appearing in the first place! So please take her away and lock her up!”

“I see... if that's what you think, then we'll leave. Rina, Marianne, I've changed my mind, let's leave this village to defend itself against the demons.” Having said this, Fran turned and headed for the door.

Of course, both Rina and Marianne knew that the elf was not serious. It was clear to them, that Fran wanted the woman to apologise. Unfortunately, in Rina's eyes, it was wrong of her magic instructor to demand an apology from this random inhabitant of the village, even if the target of the hatred was herself.

She could understand the elf and was even grateful that someone was standing up to her, but she couldn't help but think that the situation wasn't the innkeeper's fault. So, before the panicking old woman could stop the elf, Rina intervened. “Fran, please wait!”

“Rina?” Fran turned around, confused that it was her pupil who had stopped her instead of the innkeeper.

“I know what you're trying to do, and that you're angry for my sake... Thank you for that!”

“... Rina...” The elf faced Rina and looked into her red eyes. “Are you still willing to risk your life for the people of this village?”

“That's not what I mean!” Rina pointed at the old innkeeper, whose confusion about this situation was written all over her face. “You seem to want her to apologise to me for treating me like this, don't you?”

Fran nodded.

“First of all, I don't care what strangers think of me. Secondly, and more importantly, she is just a random person in this village. Even if she apologises to me, it doesn't mean that she truly means it and that the others will welcome me... I can't help but feel that it's wrong to let the anger out on her...”

Fran nodded again. “I can see your point... so what do you suggest?”

“Let's just find the Demon-Spawning-Cloud, get rid of it, and leave this place as quickly as possible without interacting with anyone. If the lady refuses to let me sleep here, then I can spend the night at my parents' house.”

In the end, also thanks to Rina's intervention, Fran was able to persuade the innkeeper to let them stay in a room with three beds during their stay in the village. However, the elderly woman insisted on not serving Rina any food during their stay. So Fran and Marianne, annoyed, announced that they would not be eating there either. In the end, the innkeeper was left in an awkward position for not showing hospitality to the former High Priestess, someone who was supposedly an ally of the commoners.

So, a few minutes after that conversation, they went to the room which they shared for the week. Because the sun had already set, and because they wanted to be at full strength the next day, they decided to prepare for the night and call it a day... NOT!

The reason for this was that Marianne suddenly decided to hug-tackle the changing Rina from behind after Fran had already tucked herself into bed.

“Uwaa!? M-Marianne? What's wrong?” Not expecting to be suddenly hugged from behind by the brunette, Rina squealed in a strange, high-pitched voice.

Usually, being embraced like that by another girl would be enough to send her into overheating mode. However, since she was already used to Marianne's antics, who would occasionally do this, especially when Clara was not around, Rina was able to build up a certain amount of resistance to the skin-ship. The fact, that she had had more than enough cuddling sessions with Clara had certainly also played a part.

But, resistant or not, Rina was still somewhat embarrassed to be suddenly hugged like this, especially when she herself was still in her underwear, and thus became red. To make matters worse, before she could even calm down and shake the brunette off, Marianne continued her attack.

“Let's sleep together!”