Lunella slowly wakes up in her newfound bed, a dim light floating in from the window. It's the dawn of a new day, her third day since she first awoken in those ruins. Every muscle in her body feels groggy, and she has barely any energy to get up.

The first thing she does after finding her strength is checking her wounds. The wound on her side has not only scabbed over but it's already begun to close. Her other bruises and scrapes have also become little more than slight discolorations. She finds herself a little shocked by the speed at which her injuries have healed. She breathes a sigh of relief when something catches her eye.

Lunella's blood freezes as her vision starts shaking. On her hand, the site of the arrow wound has all but healed. Beneath her skin, her veins remain illuminated just like they had when the arrow first hit her. The light has dulled now that the injury has healed, but the glow spread further along her arm. It may have spread by nothing more than a centimeter; however, it undoubtedly confirms that the arrow is bad news.

Fingers open and close as she tries to gauge the effect of the poison. Lunella's hand remains uninhibited, and it can be moved as expected. A wave of pain rushes over her as she attempts to summon a flame in her damaged palm. Despite the intense pain, a flame explosively bursts out of her hand and causes Lunella to fall back-first to the floor. A rumble resounds through the inn's architecture, and in moments Lunella can hear footsteps accompanying a familiar voice.

"Lunella! Are you okay?" Amara asks with a concerned voice.

The footsteps draw closer as Lunella realizes that her wings and horns aren't hidden. She frantically jumps up and searches for her cloak, which she left lying on the ground the night before — on the other side of the room.

Unable to reach her cloak in time, she quickly slides under the bed, experiencing a bit of pain as the rough floorboards rub against her. She does her best to keep from making a peep. The door creaks open, and Amara steps in. She looks around quizically, searching for Lunella. Unable to find the girl, she releases a sigh and steps out of the room, whispering to herself. "I could have sworn it came from here…."

Lunella, hearing the door creak closed and Amara leave, crawls back out from under the bed and grabs her cloak. She puts it on as fast as she can and hides beneath it. Carefully she walks out of the door to find Amara. It's risky to be out and about, but It might be just as risky to lock myself away in the room. I need to act like a human, not draw suspicion.

The stairs creak as Lunella carefully walks down them. Upon reaching the ground floor, she notices Amara standing behind the counter. Amara looks up with bright eyes and greets Lunella.

"Good morning! I was looking for you. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I fell out of bed."

"That's rough. Was it because you had a good night's sleep, or was it a bad one?"

"Anything beats laying on gravel. Yes, it was an excellent rest."

"Minus the falling out of bed part? Hahaha"

"Yeah, that was a rude awakening."

"Anyway, I was just about to get started making lunch."

"Really?! I get to eat more of your amazing cooking?"

"Not for a few hours, well how about we cook it together? It can't hurt to learn to cook."

"I think I'd like that."

Amara guides Lunella to the kitchen. The two stand in the kitchen surrounded by pots, pans, and ingredients. Lunella does not know much about cooking other than how to put meat on fire. She looks around at the well-organized kitchen noticing all sorts of tools that she has no familiarity with. Bowls of various ingredients surround them, but Lunella can't see any meat around.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Seeing Lunella's eyes dart around frantically, Amara can't help but smile, she's an only child, but she imagines that this is what it must be like to have a younger sister. She taps Lunella on her shoulder as she exclaims. "Alright! Let's get started; we should make something simple. I think we'll make some bread and some boiled beef."

"Why are we boiling the beef? Why not roast it or something?"

"Well, is beef is considered dry, so the best way to cook it is to boil it. However, a pig is considered moist, so it should be roasted."

"That makes sense, but how do you determine whether a meat is dry or moist?"

Amara pauses for a second and looks quizically. Finally, she frowns and responds. "I'm not sure. It's just kind of common knowledge I never really thought about it."

For a second, Lunella makes a connection in her head. People don't question common knowledge. Demons are evil; everyone knows it, so nobody questions it like any other piece of general information.

Lunella is quickly brought out of her head as Amara stares carefully at her. Amara lets out a teasing laugh.

"Cooking is serious business, isn't it! Well, come here. I'll show you something cool."

The pair walk over to a strange cupboard that looks different from the rest. Amara slowly unlatches a lock and opens it slowly. The cupboard has magic circles inscribed on every inside wall, and a cold breeze drifts out of the chamber; Looking up at the ceiling piece of the cupboard is a fist-sized orb that glows faintly red — A mana core.

Lunella stands with a blank expression, suddenly deep in thought. This inn is more advanced than I thought. It can't be busy enough to afford this, just who is Amara's mother? After thinking of various plausible and completely wild theories, Lunella decides that it's not something she'll have to worry about; She considers her eventual departure and frowns.

While Lunella was standing there, Amara pulled out a large slab of beef from the magic cupboard. Her hands full with the meat, she calls out to Lunella to help.

"Can you take that large pot and fill it with water? There's a faucet over there."

Amara gestures to a faucet in the corner of the room, causing Lunella to shift her gaze. Not only does this inn have a magic cupboard that keeps things cool, but also a water faucet in the kitchen? Just what is going on with this inn?

Despite her confusion at the affluence of this inn, Lunella follows the order she was given. She grabs the large pot, resembling a cauldron, and briskly walks over to the faucet. With a pull of a lever, the cauldron fills with water. She notes more magic circles and yet again a mana core, a blue one this time.

After the cauldron fills with water, she takes the pot and walks back to where it was initially. Amara looks on with a look of shock, which then causes Lunella to look back quizically. Lunella quickly asks Amara, "What's going on?"

"Y-you lifted that massive pot filled with water like it was nothing?! I mean, I knew you were strong being that you brought in horned rabbit tusks, but still, you carried that like it was nothing."

"Well, I'm pretty sure I was an adventurer before I lost my memory. I guess I am pretty strong, huh."

"Well, I guess there's no sense worrying about it. Time to get lunch cooking!"

Amara takes the large slab of beef and submerges it in the water. Once the beef is in place, she turns around and approaches the counter, gesturing for Lunella to help. Carefully handing Lunella a knife, Amara gives her her next orders.

"Take these potatoes and peel them, okay?"

Surprisingly adept with a knife, Lunella makes quick work of the potatoes, skinning them and then dicing them into chunks. The two work together to cut up vegetables and add them to the pot along with the beef. Once the pot is filled, Amara reaches the stone platform on which the pot is sitting, pushing a small button.

A large flame flickers up from the stone platform, engulfing the bottom of the pot. Lunella looks closely and notices, once again, more magic circles. This whole kitchen is loaded with all sorts of magical devices. Unable to continue dismissing these undoubtedly expensive upgrades as just a one-off thing, Lunella confronts Amara.

"What's with all of these magical devices? You said this inn isn't that busy; how can you afford them."

Amara stares blankly for a second. "Now that you mention it, it's odd. When I was a young kid, I remember when mom would spend days in the kitchen. Before I knew it, we had these devices; mom was always very proud of them."

"You don't think… Did your mother make them herself?"

"I mean, I have seen her use magic before, but to create an automated device might be a bit of a stretch."

"Perhaps there's more to your mother than you previously thought. Did she take over the inn from her family?"

"She's never mentioned anything like that if I recall correctly, it belonged to my dad's brother Domak, but between his blacksmith shop and the inn, well, the shop won. So that's how my mom became the innkeeper."

"Hmmm, well, it's none of my business."

"Still, I think I ought to learn more about my mom… Do you want to come to visit Domak with me? Your sword is broken. He can probably make you a new one and take those tusks off your hand."

"I wouldn't want to get involved in family matters, but I do need a new sword."

The two agree to go to Domak's place after lunch. For now they work together to cook some bread, Lunella salivating the whole time.