The mana-made water dissipated quickly, so it didn't take long before Meiris put on her "new" clothes- A dark-brown tunic with pale long sleeves, near-black pants, a pair of beige boots, but also the other necessities.

She was reluctant to wear clothes that undoubtedly had belonged to someone else. However, they seemed clean and it's not like she could be picky.

They were a bit loose in places, while the pants were slightly too short, but overall, the outfit suited her surprisingly well. She guessed these were the clothes a woman working here in the past wore.

Though... The private pieces shouldn't have been a part of work clothes, should they?

----------------------------------------

Upon returning inside, Meiris noticed Helrin's father talking with a guest that hadn't been there earlier, while Helrin himself was busy cooking in the kitchen nook behind the bar. The woman was nowhere to be found.

The new guest was a man with dark-blue hair, who looked to be around 30-40 years old. He was the first to see her entering through the storage behind the bar.

The older man also turned his attention towards her, this time his expression remained calm.

"Done getting changed, huh?

"I will have you know that I disagree with my son's decision. Still, this is basically his business now, so- Welcome Lena. I am Jonarth."

It was a rather shocking change in behavior. Even with that remark.

"Good afternoon. I hope we will get along well."

Meiris bowed her head slightly as she said that.

"Ah, I apologize for earlier. I'm old and... Uhhh, I really wasn't in the mood for meaningless blabber."

It wasn't the kindest apology, but it was sincere. Though Meiris wouldn't trust her judgement so readily anymore, for obvious reasons.

clink

Meanwhile, Helrin left the kitchen and placed a plate with a piece of meat, potatoes, and a salad on the bar in front of the guest.

"There you go."

"Ahhh, thanks man! Ever since Pandral's Essence closed down, this has become the only place with good food on this route."

The dish wasn't particularly enticing by Meiris' standards, but it did elicit a quiet growl from her stomach.

"Want some?"

Apparently it was loud enough for Helrin to hear.

"Yes, please."

She then went around the bar to sit on a stool.

"I wonder what you will do if it turns out she isn't cut out for the job, after giving her the clothes and food."

"Don't worry, Dad. She will manage, won't you, Lena?"

Truthfully Meiris had never cleaned anything, but she was curious enough to notice how the servants did it. Maybe that would be enough?

"Yes, I will do my best."

"Depends if your best is good enough."

Contrasting his skeptical comments, all this time Jonarth's voice was devoid of malice.

clink

Helrin brought her a plate with the same dish that he gave to the guest.

"Thank you."

The food wasn't exceptional, but after a month of eating scraps - and that burnt rabbit she had for yesterday's dinner and today's breakfast - it tasted quite luxurious regardless.

"You can evaluate her when she's done eating, Dad. Just do it fairly."

"Oh, you can trust that I will do it properly."

Her first afternoon of working at Donemy's Corner - as the inn was called - was about to begin.

----------------------------------------

Once Meiris was done eating, Jonarth led her upstairs, to the first floor. He then took a keychain out of his pocket and opened the third door on the left in a short corridor.

It led into a small and cozy room. A single bed was placed to the right of the window that faced the street. By the opposite wall stood a table with a chair, and next to them was a simple closet. Meiris noticed a mana lamp as well.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Your appointment was so sudden I couldn't tell Jill not to clean her room herself. Well, not like she ever makes a mess...

"But luckily I have this one for you. Even our cheap lodgings have to be cleaned regularly, we're not some third-rate fleabag dive."

Jonarth said that with pride, but also... A sense of longing?

"Alright. What do you have to do here?"

He wasn't sure what to expect from a person that showed up at his doorstep in rags a moment ago. Though she did seem well-behaved, now that he let her speak...

In response, Meiris took a quick look around the room.

Having lived in spotless residences most of her life, she effortlessly noticed a layer of dirt on the floor, dust... Then, a typical servant routine was probably fine?

"I should start with wiping the furniture, change the sheets and wash the floor, yes?"

Despite her being rather unsure whether that was the answer, her manner of conduct made it seem to Jonarth like she spoke with confidence.

That got a shallow nod out of him.

"I guess that wasn't hard to answer.

"Normally we just do simple cleaning for the rooms on this floor and change the sheets only if the client pays for it, but you have twenty minutes to make it shine.

"Since you know what this is about, I will leave you to it."

Jonarth put down the tools he had brought. He now assumed that Meiris didn't need his obvious explanations.

"Ah! The sheets are behind the bar and you can use the window at the end of this corridor to dump waste."

With that, he went back downstairs.

The test has begun.

Meiris looked at the tools, mildly puzzled. It's not like she had no idea how to use a rag or suspect that a glove next to it was imbued with some water creation, but... It was an odd experience.

----------------------------------------

With a little less than 10 minutes left, Meiris brought down the old sheets. The three men were still busy talking, but Jonarth gave her a glance. He was a bit curious.

Summing things up, he suspected that she used to be a maid someplace important. If so... What could have possibly happened that she had to leave her previous job like that? He wondered about it for a moment...

Meanwhile, Meiris now had a fresh set of sheets in her hands and was trying to recall how the servants had held them because she couldn't see the stairs.

She almost tripped at the last step, but caught her balance just in time.

Soon she was done with the task. Mostly.

A bit of dust remained and she had trouble cleaning the gaps between the wooden planks. However, the time was up.

Since she didn't have a clock, it was Jonarth's footsteps that alerted her. He wasn't impressed - not by the dirty windows, something he had expected was implied - but neither was it a poor showing on her side overall. If she was going to keep that up, he had no issues with paying her a normal wage...⠀Though not just yet.

While there were a few more tests ahead of her, she was also a complete stranger. And if his suspicions were correct... Either she's been wronged, or it was the other way around.

Jonarth had trust in his son to protect their home - now that he no longer could - but for the sake of the principle, he had to make sure what kind of a person Meiris was.

Also, it would take a while before she paid off the clothes. Yes, it's been a while since they saw any use, but they would still fetch a significant amount of money... What did Helrin think to give those to her? And with such a perfect opportunity to run away with them...

Though that could qualify as a test, whether that was Helrin's intention or not, it was an unnecessarily risky one.

Next, Meiris washed some dirty sheets under the imbued shower. The ones she changed not long ago, but also two more sets. This time Jonarth watched her do it, as the process was more important here. She definitely had some trouble, but he estimated it wouldn't take long before she got the hang of it.

Maybe he was wrong after all, if she was only learning about such things now...

Once they were done with that, people had already started gathering for dinner. Three locals or travelers and probably one adventurer. She wasn't sure, but he had two sheathed daggers strapped to his hip on either side.

At the moment Helrin was still doing fine by himself, so Jonarth leisurely explained to Meiris what was stored in each cabinet after he greeted the guests. Two of them seemed acquainted with him and also showed interest in Meiris. She deflected most of their inquiries, which wasn't all that difficult to do tastefully in comparison to when she was speaking with nobles.

A few minutes later she started washing the dishes, as the initial group of guests was finishing their meals and first drinks.

By the time darkness swallowed the world outside, the inn was teeming with life.

In result Meiris had to pick up her pace to not get overwhelmed. She would have been fine with just the dishes or the floor and tables, but both were a bit much.

Meanwhile, Helrin was essentially stuck in the kitchen now, while Jonarth handled lodging or delivered trays to the guests. And took part in conversations.

This half of the day has felt very action-packed for Meiris, and it wasn't over yet. Several more people tried to get to know her- She didn't sense any ill will, but neither was she able to answer most of their questions nor was she interested in making friends for the time being. That was only tiring her out further.

Could she keep doing this every day?

huff

She took a moment to lean against the sink.

"Take a break if you need it. Sorry I didn't notice, but while I thought the three of us would do fine- We might have the biggest festival on our hands in a long time..."

Helrin didn't look away from a sizzling steak or any of the other three dishes cooking on the stove, but he noticed her tired breath.

"A festival?"

"Ah."

He quickly flipped the meat, before continuing-

"In two days starts the summer festival in Caphrim. It's a pretty major city to the south."

Yes, Meiris knew that. She would have reached it if she stuck to the avenue, but...

'If it's only two days away... Isn't that too soon?'

She may have lost track of time in the cell, but she knew that the shortest trial for a noble had to last 30 days. It wouldn't make sense if hers took any longer, hence she had to be missing more than two weeks from before she woke up with the crystal in her chest...

Her gaze focused on the dishes in the sink, but she wasn't looking at them. Of course the realization changed nothing about her situation, but... It threatened to uncover something from her subconsciousness-

"I sort of hoped we could introduce you in peace today, but seems like either we will run out of free rooms tomorrow, or everyone's going early this year."

Helrin opened a nearby cabinet, taking Meiris out of her thoughts, as he grabbed a couple of large plates.

"Jill usually helps us out when this happens, but she had to go to Eighstin tonight."

They had been in need of help either way, but when Jill arrived in the late evening yesterday and told them that she had an urgent matter to take care of-

"Good thing you came to us today."