They made their way inside the Butterbash Inn, where a plump gray-haired woman with a jovial expression stood waiting for guests in the lobby.

“Varam, it’s so good to see you” exclaimed Tamas, running up to embrace Varam, who reciprocated by bear-hugging Tamas, smothering her in her bosom.

“Tamas, I am so sorry my dear, I could hardly believe it when Menos told me. Bless Avalla for bringing you here safely.” The hug lasted a few more moments, Tamas gladly letting the hug last.

And you must be Christopher” the woman said, closing the distance to him in two monstrous steps. She gave him that same smothering hug without hesitation, before he even had the change to think about dodging. He gasped for air, completely trapped.

“Menos told me what happened. All your drinks are on the house, uhm, or at least the first one.” This made Tamas snort.

“Ah no problem, ma’am, just did what anyone would have done.”

“Nonsense. And is it true? That you came running out of the woods buck naked?”

He groaned. ‘Oh no, Why the hell did Menos feel the need to spread that part!’ he wondered in horror. It would be better if that story did not spread too much.

“Uhm, something like that”

Tamas interjected. “Where are the others?”

“They should still be eating in the dining hall. Just go ahead, Menos and I took care of everything already.”

“Thank you, Varam,” Tamas responded, receiving a final hug.

He followed Tamas further into the building, which was homely and warmly decorated with varied trinkets and rugs with warm colors. The Inn certainly felt very welcoming. They entered a large open dining area, which was currently in full use. Multiple guests were scattered around the tables, enjoying some tasty looking dishes. The smell in the room made his stomach rumble.

They spotted Menos with the twins seated around one of the wooden tables. The twins were currently munching on some kind of bread dish. They had clearly bathed since they were free from the dirt and blood that had still clung to them from their journey. They had even somehow managed to change into some clean clothes.

Menos spotted them approaching their table. “Christopher, you look better, did they fix you up already?”

“Good as new, they even gave me a regeneration potion to make me good as new.”

“Excellent, the church has always had some of the best healers.”

Tamas spoke to her younger brother. “Is grandpa back already?”

“No, not yet, I am sure that captain Merrem is extracting every detail. Poor gramps.” He said while stuffing more of the warm bread into his face. “Are you guys going to wash up or eat first?”

Christopher had been feeling somewhat uncomfortable for a while now due to his financial situation, he did not have so much as a coin to his name. His companions had looted a lot from the caravan, but all of that had been from people living in their village. He certainly did not feel entitled to his own share of that loot.

He was not able to buy himself so much as a simple meal, let alone lodging. He would need to find some way to get food though. Maybe he would be able to find a job somewhere.

“Ah, I seem to be running a little low on money at the present time, I will skip the meal for now.”

Tamas snorted. “Your idiocy clearly knows no bounds. Your faith in us is truly heartwarming” she said sarcastically. “You will get your share after we sell all the goods in the coming days. We are pretty much a merchant family so we will be sure to get a good price. We would have given you some already, but I doubt that you would even be able to separate a copper from a gold coin in your current state.”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Christopher had to admit that he felt an immense relief, the thought of having to find some way to earn money for himself in such a foreign place, with nothing to his name, was kind of scary. He would not have really know where to start.

“Thank you, I probably would be in trouble without some help. Also, some real food is currently extremely appealing.”

His mouth was already watering just watching some of the tasty looking food he could see all across the room. Even though the offerings looked simple enough, the smell was heavenly.

The Twins were eating some delicious looking bread, topped with rose-colored slabs of meat from some unknown creature. There was also a plate with some kind of almost normal looking cheese, some unfamiliar stuff that might be vegetables, and even a few things he could not even begin to identify. A large jug filled with some purple tinted liquid seemed to serve as a beverage. Menos was dipping his bread in a richly filled soup, the bowl still steaming.

How long had it been since he had eaten something tasty? It must have been since his last day on earth. Christopher realized that he did not even really know how much time had passed since his previous life. Were the people he knew even still alive? ‘At least there was nobody that I was very close to.’ he thought wryly. He still felt a pang of loss as he thought of the place that he called home.

Tamas answered “Ah, I don’t think Varam would be too pleased with us stinking up her dining hall, we should probably wash first. Try to hold out a little longer”

“Ah, no problem, the thought of cleaning myself is almost equally appealing”

Christopher was pointed to the male bathing area of the Butterbash Inn, in which two other guests also happened to be bathing. They did not look at him askance, so it must be normal to bathe in larger groups here. There were some wooden buckets with a metal band in the middle that could be used to draw up water from a well.

Surprisingly the bathing area implemented some Soul Force. He only figured it out by observing one of the guests imbuing the metal band of the bucket with his magic. This time the metal did not radiate light, instead it turned red with heat, no doubt warming up the water.

He gave it a try himself with his own drawn up bucker of water, but he failed miserably. He was forced to use the freezing cold water to wash himself but he didn’t mind too much. He later learned that he could pay to have it heated, but he refused to pay for something so unessential.

He was just happy for the opportunity to get himself clean, scrubbing the blood from his hair and from under his fingernails with a bristle. After washing himself, he changed into a simple set of clean clothing that Menos had already arranged for all of them. It fit rather perfectly and Christopher was impressed that Menos had managed to guess his size. He would definitely have to thank him later.

He soon walked back into the Dining hall feeling refreshed. As he got back, his companions were nowhere in sight. Christopher found Varam, who told him that Menos had taken the very tired twins to their beds. He guessed that Tamas was still bathing. They talked for a while, and Varam even offered to get his armor washed when she learned that he would leave for training early in the morning, which he thankfully accepted.

He got a large bowl of steaming soup, which seemed to be filled to the brim with vegetables and meat. It was absolutely heavenly. It did contain some unfamiliar tastes, but he would not have thought twice if this had been served on Earth. The plate also contained some of the same bread and condiments which he quickly tore into. During his dinner, Tinos finally made his return.

The old man quickly checked in with him but was clearly very tired after what had apparently been a meticulous grilling from guard captain Merrem. Christopher was happy that they had taken the situation seriously though. Although the city seemed as secure as it could be, he did not expect that they were as safe as it seemed. The loot they had gathered had been sent to one of the family’s business associates for safe storage.

He was warned that any of them could be summoned to report to the guard captain or even the Earl, who ruled over Lumen, at any time. But Tinos did not think that likely to happen. Tinos also mentioned that unlike the King, the Earl seemed to have the people’s best interest at heart. He wanted to ask more, but it looked like the old man had reached his limit for the day, so he decided to save his questions for another time. The old man went off to bathe before turning in for the night.

They had booked two rooms. One would be used by Tamas and the twins. While the three guys would share the other. Christopher soon also decided to head to bed, he would be up early tomorrow for his first training session after all.

Menos helped him with an interesting soul device that seemed to function very much like an alarm clock. It looked somewhat similar to a kettle, and the construct seemed to work on soul heat. After filling the kettle with water up to a certain level, the water would slowly start to boil from the soul heat. After the set time had elapsed, the water would start to hiss, waking him up at the right time. It was good that everything was built from the flame-resistant sternel trees since otherwise it seemed like a serious fire hazard to Christopher.

It had been a rather eventful day. Just this morning he had been walking for long hours on their way to Lumen, he had been operated on, and he had been routed during sparring. It was no surprise that when he crept under the covers, he fell into a deep slumber in no time at all.

That night he dreamt a heroic dream, full of great deeds and powerful magic.