Author’s Note: Please enjoy the chapter. Next chapter might be on Sunday rather than Saturday
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Chapter 5
As I walked along the street that was supposed to lead me to the recommended inn, I was finding myself in a more upscale area of town. Of course not that much better than the rest of the town but there was less garbage on the street and the buildings were getting larger and much more refined looking. Was there really an inn in this area?
Eventually, I saw a building that had a signpost out front and from the sign was hanging what looked like a carving of a hawk or some other bird of prey. I figured this had to be the place and walked in. There was a large woman at the counter inside and she gave me an appraising look as I entered. There was an interesting looking lamp on the counter next to her. It didn’t seem to be burning anything but was still illuminating the entryway. I wondered how it worked. “Welcome to the Black Roc Inn. Are you here to rent a room or to join up with some other guest?”
I pulled the note out of my bag and handed it to her. “I was given this recommendation and told with it I could stay for free?”
The woman barely opened the note before tossing it over her shoulder and sighing. “I should have known a little thing like you were another one of that old coot Malcolm’s pity cases.”
I was perplexed, “Pity case?”
“Right. You’re an orphan or something and Malcolm found out about it? He lost his granddaughter when she was a young teen like you, and ever since then the man has been offering help to girls around your age. I don’t mind too much since he does pay the price for the rooms I loan out, and most of the girls are good guests that don’t cause any trouble during their stays. Anyways the note says I’m to let you stay here for free for a few days and it’s up to you how you use that. Breakfast and dinner are included with the room. Anything else you’ll have to scrounge up on your own.” She gave me an intimidating look that said that if I complained in anyway about this service she would not make my stay pleasant.
I simply nodded toward her and said, “I only need to stay one night. I’m going to leave town tomorrow afternoon. Is it fine to have dinner now? And are there any desserts?” When I got to the inn the sun had started to set.
“Well now, I can get you a bowl of stew and some bread. You’ll have to be satisfied with just that. Do you want to go up to your room and have the food brought there or eat in the dining room? If you want some advice eat in your room. That reminds me I didn’t assign you a room yet did I?” She reached under the counter and came up with a key tied to a small piece of wood. “Here honey, I’ll let you have room 8 on the 2nd floor.”
I was curious so I asked, “I don’t mind eating in my room but is something going on in the dining room?”
“Not really anything special but you probably noticed that the inn is in the nicer area of town right? Well we get more upscale clientele as a result. If you try to eat in the dining room you’ll likely get accosted. Basically for your own good I’d stick to your room. Well, I’d appreciate it too since I don’t want our other guests unhappy.”
I was very tempted to go to the dining room and see what kind of trouble I could get into but to be honest doing so would just cause issues for the inn and likely Malcolm who had recommended me here. I still needed Malcolm to pay for these gems so let’s stay on his good side, at least for now. “I guess I’ll eat in my room then. By the way, if there’s no dessert can I at least get some wine to go with dinner?”
The woman looked shocked, “A little thing like you wants to drink wine? I think you’re a bit young for alcohol dear.”
Feeling a bit annoyed, “I could probably outdrink you!”
“No reason to boast child. I’ll bring you a glass of weak wine with your meal so go on up to your room.” She shooed me toward the stairs.
Grumbling a bit, I headed upstairs. Now to find room number 8, first door on the right is room number 1 so I guess it will be fourth on the left. There were more of those lamps like I had seen downstairs hanging along the walls. Making my way down the hall, I noticed there were some very stimulating sounds coming from room number 5. Feeling a bit playful I went down to my room number 8 and unlocked it and left the door open. Stepping back toward room 5 and stopped at the door, I had definitely heard correctly with these moans and gasps. Geez I can’t believe they’re going at it so early in the evening. Now what shall I do?
I probably don’t have long until the inn lady comes up with my food so I guess I’ll go with a simple prank. I knocked a few times, causing the people in the room to react in surprise and stop their merrymaking. I heard sounds of hurried dressing, so I slipped down the hall to my room quickly and quietly closed the door behind me. Standing at my door I heard another door open and then close again after a few moments. Straining my ears a bit, I didn’t hear any sounds of resumed activities. Of course, it’s possible they’re trying to be quieter now.
Prank over, I finally examined the room I had been given and understood why the inn lady had given this room to me. It was a small room with only a small single bed. There was also a table and chair but that was basically it for furnishings. Another of those lamps was on the table so I decided to examine it later. I sat my bag down and hopped up on top of the bed. It seemed comfortable enough to sleep on. All in all the room was at least clean and livable until the morning when I would be leaving. I’ll need to find something to do with my time until afternoon though, which reminds me I should probably ask the inn lady some questions. She seemed like the well informed type. I laid back on the bed as I waited for my dinner to come.
Only a few minutes later a knock at the door was heard so I got up and opened it. The inn lady swept in and placed a wooden tray on the table. On it, was a bowl, a large piece of bread and a small glass of wine.
The inn lady beckoned me to eat and turned to leave, but I hastily spoke up to stop her. “Wait! I wanted to ask you a few questions, if that would be alright?”
She turned back around to face me and sent me a glare. “Child, you must realize that I am the owner of this inn. I have many important demands on my time. I was being nice to bring your food up myself rather than send it up with one of my employees, but I can’t be standing around talking with you all night.”
“I understand, but I just have a few questions, so can I please have a few minutes of time?” I tried to throw her a cute, pleading look but I could tell she wasn’t buying it.
Surprisingly, she shrugged and said, “Alright. I’ll let you ask some questions, but make them quick and brief.”
“Thank you very much. My first question is, have you heard any rumors about things falling from the sky? Like maybe to the north?” If my ship had been seen then there should be at least some rumors about it.
The inn lady gave me an incredulous look. “Child, things don’t fall from the sky. Well excepting rain, snow, and sleet that is. If you’re just going to waste my time with silliness I’m going to leave.”
Things don’t fall from the sky? Oh well, moving on. “Wait please don’t, I’m sorry. My next question is about Classes. Is there any Class that can be acquired here in town easily?”
“Well, the easiest to get would probably be Merchant. All you would need to do is work at a shop or stall for a few weeks and you’ll pick it up. Warrior is quite easy to acquire too. You just need to receive training in the use of a weapon and then fighting monsters with it. After that, I guess there’s always Thief since that only requires to steal a certain amount of goods. I’d recommend against going for Thief for obvious reasons. I’d recommend against Warrior too since I doubt a young little thing like yourself would be much of a match for monsters.”
I nodded in acknowledgement to her words, but not because I was agreeing with her. The ‘monster’ killing part would be the easier step for me, it would be finding someone to train me that would be the hard requirement. Especially since she didn’t mention a time frame for how long the training would take. “Are there any other classes?”
“I suppose there is Hunter but that requires you to know how to craft and then trap a certain number of beasts or monsters. You’d also need to learn how to use a bow. The rest aren’t really accessible here. Was that all you wanted to know?”
“Just one more question then. Do you know a good shop to look for ores or minerals? Or a place that would be able to identify some for me and tell me where I might find more?”
The inn lady’s face turned puzzled. “I assumed you met Malcolm at the Merchant’s Guild? He doesn’t usually stop working until after dark.”
It was now my turn to be puzzled. “Yeah I did. Why?”
“The Merchant’s Guild would have been the place to ask about that, don’t you think?”
Ahhh.
Why didn’t I realize such an obvious thing!?
“Is that everything then?”
I mutely nodded at her and she left the room. I’m such an idiot. With a heartfelt sigh, I sat at the table and ate my supper. It was passable, but not anything special. I took some time to examine the lamp, but I couldn’t figure out how it worked. There didn’t seem to be any mechanisms to it just a small crystal on a stand and a knob that controlled the brightness level. The light shines out of the crystal but there’s no connection at all between the knob and it. There’s not even any wires or anything, so how is this lightning up? My terminal’s scan didn’t help any either. It just told me the item was a lamp with no further details. I didn’t even get a result when I tried scanning the crystal alone. I’m completely stumped. <((This series is only officially posted to royalroad.com. If you are reading this series on any other website, then you are doing so without the permission of the author, Xacual. If you have paid money for this story, please file a report and request a refund as it has been stolen and is being sold illegally.))>
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
After deciding to end my examination I turned the light off. I locked the door to my room, removed my cloak and gloves and then slid off my boots. Lynn forgot to pack nightclothes, so I would just have to keep the dress on to sleep in. Well, I had no intention of removing my shield either since I was definitely not going to consider anywhere off Lullaby to be a safe location.
Laying down on the bed I rolled on my side with my back to the door and hit the signal on my terminal to call Lynn. Immediately a smaller than normal hologram appeared in front of my face.
“Hello Mistress! How goes your infiltration of the town and the procurement of local currency?”
I spoke quietly, “I’ve managed to acquire a temporary ID and found a buyer for the gems. I won’t be able to sell them though until afternoon tomorrow. I’ve also learned that this world has its own Classes and I plan to see if I can learn them as well.”
“Ohh, that sounds fascinating, Mistress! What about the hunt for resources?”
I grimaced, “Nonexistent. It slipped my mind to ask about it earlier, so I’ll have to ask tomorrow sometime before I leave to head back to the ship. I still have most of the day free so I think I’ll just wander around and explore the town a bit more. I might find some interesting information. The inn owner here only mentioned a few Classes but said there are more of them so I’ll try to find out about that. On a different note, did the wolves leave any other animal carcasses?”
Lynn shrugs, “I haven’t picked up any sign of them on the sensors since they left the moose here this morning Mistress. On that note, the moose meat tested as fit for consumption if you were curious.”
“I honestly wasn’t. Was there anything else that needed discussing? If not I’ll be returning to the ship after I finish the sale tomorrow.”
“Everything is going well here, the digging is proceeding favorably, though it might take more time than I initially estimated.”
“I understand. Just do your best. Then, I’ll be getting some sleep Lynn. Good night.”
Lynn looked at me in consternation, “Mistress, are you going to be sleeping in those dirty clothes?”
For the first time since entering the town, I took note of my appearance. Lynn was right, my clothes were dirty. I hadn’t even thought of how they must look after a few hours of running through long grass as I ran across the countryside. No wonder I was basically treated like an orphaned vagabond.
“I think I’ll just keep them on. No reason to change really and it might create questions if I walk around in a perfectly clean pair of the same clothes tomorrow. Plus, it’s not like this is my bed I have to worry about getting dirty.”
“Affirmative. Good night Mistress, pleasant dreams!” She vanished.
Dreams huh? That reminds me of the episode this morning. I don’t really want to think about it again so I’ll just put that thought aside for now.
After a while spent tossing and turning on the unfamiliar bed I finally fell asleep.
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The dreams this night were murky and unfocused. Leaving no chance of them being recalled.
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I woke up in the morning quite well rested and with no weird feelings of having dreams. I knew that I must have been mistaken the previous morning.
I checked my terminal and it was about 8am by my reckoning. I should probably set my clock to operate on local time at some point. Lynn should have figured out how long the days last by now, I’ll ask about it back at the ship later.
Now the question is, will I have to go down to the dining room for breakfast or will the inn lady bring it to me again. I don’t even know when breakfast will be served so I’ll be waiting an indeterminate amount of time either way.
I decided that for now I’ll wait in my room, but I’ll go downstairs if the inn lady doesn’t come in the next hour. I opened the notepad function of my terminal and added the Class information I was told last night. I probably should have saved the information before I went to bed but no harm done. With that completed, I guess I should get dressed and fix my hair so I don’t show off any of my inhuman characteristics.
After dressing I sat at the table and ate two granola bars for now. It’s boring to have nothing to do though so I fiddled with the lamp some more. Still have no idea how the damn thing works.
Eventually a knock at the door came so I went and opened it. At the door wasn’t the inn lady but a young girl probably in her mid or late teens at most carrying a tray with a bowl on it. She was cute I suppose. Maybe more on the adorable side because of her age. Too bad she wasn’t wearing a maid outfit.
“Miss, I was sent up with breakfast for you.” I beckoned her in and she placed the tray on the table. She picked up the dinner tray before turning to me again and asking, “Miss, did you need anything else?”
I smiled, that question gave me an idea. “Do you work all day today?”
She was confused, “Yes, I work until the evening. Why do you ask?”
“I was just wondering if you wanted to go out and maybe guide me around town since you’re quite cute. I wouldn’t mind spending some time with you.” I winked at her.
She looked a bit thunder-struck before a faint blush appeared and she started backing up away from me, almost dropping the tray. “I, I appreciate the compliment but I’m sorry!” She turned and fled out of the room.
Too bad, there goes that idea to kill time. I guess I’ll see what I got for breakfast and then go wander the city alone. Taking a glance at the bowl, it looks like just a bowl of plain wheat porridge. The inn lady really isn’t spoiling a guest who isn’t paying even if supposedly she’s going to get money from Malcolm for this. I wonder if I should complain a bit? Probably a waste of time in any case. If this town turns out to not have access to the goods I need then I won’t return even if it is the closest town to my ship.
Ignoring my distaste, I quickly ate the porridge. I left the tray and bowl on the table and left the room, locking it behind me. At the counter downstairs the inn lady was there and she gave me a suspicious look as soon as she saw me.
I walked up to the counter and and laid the key down. “Thanks for the room. I’ll be going now.”
“Wait just a minute young lady! What did you do to Celina? After I sent her up to your room with breakfast she came barreling down the stairs so fast she almost fell and then ran and hid in the kitchen.”
”I don’t have the slightest clue what you mean. I didn’t do anything to her. Now if you don’t mind I have business to take care of.” I enjoyed the stupefied look on her face before I turned and left the inn.
Now what do I do with hours of free time? I guess the only thing I can do is wander around and try to gather information and rumors. Maybe I’ll get lucky and find out something interesting.
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By the time the sun was directly overhead, I had gathered a certain amount of information on a number of topics, but none of which that I was really interested in. I overheard two old men talking about some empire to the east attacking this kingdom that I’m apparently currently in. That sounded like an interesting topic, until a woman came and told them off for talking about something that happened years ago. Another rumor I had heard was something about wizards blowing up some fort in the south. I guessed that wizard was the local psi using Class. Superstitious and ignorant people mistaking psi for magic. I wondered what kind of psi they were using to cause a large explosion, that might be something worth learning. My own psi was much more heavily focused on more subtle tricks, though I was damn good with telekinesis.
The biggest surprise for me was that the idea of things falling from the sky was completely impossible from the locals’ point of view. I didn’t hear a single rumor or even comment along those lines, so I guess Lullaby was safe for now. Do they not have records of meteorites or things like that?
I enquired around about prices for goods as best I could to get a feel for how much money I would receiving. One of the the first things I discovered was there was a lower level of coin, a Varia Copper coin that was usually used for things like food and ingredients and other common purchases. Silver coins were usually for bigger purchases or for purchasing crafted items though some simple crafted items sold for copper instead. Gold coins were for more fancy things like jewelry or finely tailored clothing or purchasing homes. Basically gold coins were for the luxury goods or the largest or most important purchases. The exchange rate for the coins was 100 coppers to a silver and 20 silvers to a gold. I added this information to my notepad.
I tried to see if I could gather information about the minerals I was looking for, but couldn’t turn up any leads. There had been three outcomes during my search. One, I was shooed out of shops immediately on sight. This happened in the more well off shops. Two, I was shooed out once they found out I couldn’t pay for the information. This was most of the other shops or people. The third outcome, that happened only twice, was them hearing me out but upon seeing what I was looking for telling me they’d never seen anything like it. I’d just have to hope for a better result from the Merchant’s Guild.