“You may enter the city. Make sure to return to the gate and tell us which inn you're staying in.” Finally done with the procedures at the gate. I was worried about staying in my red armor instead of donning my old one, but in the end, it seems that the bounty posters aren't here yet, though some people watch me like I'm an animal in a zoo. Dammit, Kyou-san! I know you're responsible for this!

After a disastrous encounter with Crusader's in Goldbrunn, there have been rumors going on about me, the Red Ranger. This moniker is just something the alfar made up after I had my [Class-up] as a [Ranger], but because of Kyou-san and her skills [Glorification] and [Rumor Mill], some people see me as some kind of superhero.

While I’d like to avoid it, our main concern is Correo. Yes, the bounties still worry me, but as there are bounties up for Rine and Kyou-san as well, posted by the Merchant League that somehow may be tied to Correo, it's already much harder to avoid attention.

That's why Kyou-san made a proposal: “Instead of changing our appearance entirely, how about using the Red Ranger's reputation?”

“You just don't want me to grow my hair back and cut your own!”

“That's part of it, yes. My long hair is beautiful, don't you agree?”

“That doesn't matter!”

“It does. How about you, Rine-chan? Is my hair beautiful?”

“Yes, you're pretty, Kyou!”

“You see?”

Of course it's reasonable to use a positive impression to counter a negative one instead of constantly going through great lengths to mask ourselves only to be revealed in one way or another. Having irremovable rings that show lions doesn't help either. So in the end, we're the Lion's Squad again, another name that stuck to the Red Ranger.

That doesn't mean, however, that these exchanges stopped making me grind my teeth. Especially as Kyou-san is the one insisting to cut my hair. Well, it's another WP and I don't particularly care about my looks. It's just the small amount of hypocrisy that annoys me.

Back to the city. It's called Vwranen, I guess we have passed the point of pronounceable city names now. It's one of the city-states of the Wildlands.

The Wildlands are a region with much infertile soil, strong monsters, and almost no natural resources. In a sense, it's land that nobody wants. The only upside is, that it connects to other countries and areas with many natural resources, therefore it established itself with many trade routes that avoid tolls and taxes.

In return, several city-states have been built. Most of them rely on trade, though there are some mining towns. Vwranen seems one of those, though it also helps that it connects the eastern and northern Wildlands.

Vwranen and many other city-states have low tolls for merchants to stay attractive. The Wildlands also have a flourishing mercenary business, because even the most secure trade routes can't be called safe by other country's standards.

Well, several routes have been cleared by the Crusaders, though it doesn't seem to hurt smaller mercenary bands, as simply more traders take the risk now to travel through the Wildlands, just with less protection to save more money.

It's crazy how much greed can spur people. I guess that will be the current business model for mercenaries until the monsters return. I would guess around spring.

How different this world would be if monsters would respawn like in games.

I look at the dirty city, it's like every place I visit in this city is either filled with shit, crazy people, or both. There is a scent of dirt in the air that almost distracts me from the stench of feces that comes from the alleys, and the mounds of shit on the streets. I definitely know why horses are now little more than luxury in Japan these days.

In this city, they primarily use stone to build their houses, simple houses that remind more of stone huts. They're ugly, and there is nothing about them to make them redeemable.

The worst part, however, are the people. There are several humans, the next biggest group would be folkmen—something alike to halflings, they're just strong enough to lift humans and hurl them several meters. I can also see several dwarves here, hairy, bearded, long arms and small legs.

No matter the species or sex, all of them have grease and muck on their faces and leathery clothes. While I'm sure that in the center will be some more refined people, this is the reality: A clean medieval world is just a fantasy.

I look at Ara-san, who looks with eyes that would sparkle, if she were human, at the folk. “Look, Kenta-kun! They're waddling! Can I keep them?”

“What's wrong with you and keeping people as pets, lately!?” Folkmen look strange. Their fingers are too short for their stature and they have way too many teeth.

“If I can't have pets, can I have one as a pillow?”

“Considering that we sleep next to each other... no! Phew... let's look for an inn.”

“Let's use this one.” She points at one directly next to the gate, most likely the dirtiest place of them all.

Kyou-san looks at me. 'No.'

'Agreed.'

With our eye-language, we have both denied that mudhole. “Even if it means spending more, I want something better. I care about where I sleep at least a bit.” I hate camping, but it's a necessary evil, and still cheaper and better than some of the inns I've visited. Stench, volume, and the constant cautiousness because of the people there makes it more tiring than sleeping outside.

We still have some funds, and even if I’d like to save some for whatever a new decurse attempt in Zethtrin will cost, I also don't see the harm of the luxury of a lower-middle class inn.

“Then finding an inn will be time-consuming and difficult,” Ara-san answers nonchalantly.

“...I get the ‘time-consuming’, but why difficult?”

“Because we've arrived in the more racist parts of the Wildlands.”

It doesn't take me long to understand that. We're in front of another inn, and there is a big sign on it. “...no alfar.” The interesting part of the sign is, that under the current words, there are old words that say “No elves”, which makes me believe that the alfar seeing that sign have thought 'Good that we're not elves', enter, and caused so much mayhem that the innkeeper made the correction.

I mean, knowing some alfar, I can guess where banning them is coming from. Alfar make for the worst guests, and that's true for about every single one of them. Ara-san is the least alfr-like of them all and is still capable of driving the average human into insanity if she tries for a change... and recently she tries more often!

“How mean!” Rine comments after reading the sign.

Kyou-san and I exchange a look, as if we're saying 'Not really.'

Ara-san's left ear rises up while saying happily: “They finally corrected that sign.”

...wait, Ara-san has been to Zethtrin before, and while we're not exactly tracking her route so far, there are some places that she's bound to revisit. ...does that mean, that the alfar that have wrecked this place were her and her companions back then!?

...don't think about it. “Let's check out the next one. If we follow that road, we're bound to find a marketplace, so I think there will be several roads there. We're also looking for a monster-retailer.” There are two ways to sell monster-parts. One is to sell it to the artisans directly, one is to use a retailer. While selling it directly is better price-wise, it's also a lot of a hassle, especially if you don't know what your parts are good for, which describes most of what we collected in the Spirit Swamps.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Retailer are easier and they won't ask any questions. We need money, but as long as the price-tag of the decurse is invisible, I don't feel the pressure to save every single coin. If needed, we could either sell some of our other stuff or hunt some more monsters.

Well, money is managed by Ara-san and Kyou-san, so maybe I just lost touch of our actual wealth. Nonetheless, let's check out some inns.

After a while, I comment to Ara-san: “Just one of the 'more' racist parts of the Wildlands?”

“Yes, because they still let poor me into the city in the first place.”

“Phew.” At this point, it's easier to find inns by looking for 'No alfar'-signs. “I guess they try to shoo alfar to the outskirts.” That would explain why the inn at the gate didn't have the sign. It's most likely that all the other outskirt-inns have comparable quality. I hate it.

We arrive at the marketplace and the smell of food greets us, almost making me forget that there is still an olfactory layer of shit in the air. The food also reeks of burned fat and grease, though it still makes me feel hungry.

Several stalls offer buns filled with meat and vegetables, skewers with the same, and some sort of iced bulb. Kyou-san and Rine also look with interest at the stalls. “Let's buy some,” the black-haired girl says.

“Agreed,” Rine says excitedly.

“Phew... fine.” I just like Kyou-san's food more than what this world has had to offer so far.

“Please use [Edible] and [Meal Lore], Momo.” Ara-san's digestion works differently from ours, so Kyou-san sometimes cooks something extra for Ara-san, because what we eat may be poisonous, and vice versa. “Especially the human food, because I'm concerned if they mastu-”

“Stop! Not a single word more, I want to eat,” interrupts Kyou-san while putting her hand on Ara-san's mouth. We all know what she was about to say and we all don't want it to spoil the food.

Rine's wryly smile turns into a genuine one, as she orders the most fat-dripping, most over-seasoned-looking skewer. Kyou-san also asks for a skewer without any spices and then puts some of her own stash onto it. Ara-san soon munches on a bulb that was heated instead of iced, as otherwise she may get problems with her digestion.

I slowly eat a vegetable-bun and lament that asking for a less greasy meat-bun would have taken too long. Well, the bun isn't too bad in itself, it's just a bit lacking. “Phew... I see two retailers here. One seems to have a brand, the other one does not.” Monstrous' Merits has on its sign not only a claw and a horn, but also the symbol of a golden scale with coins on one side and a cartwheel on the other side, so I guess it's part of a greater brand.

Kyou-san looks at both and thinks. With her high [Persuasion]-attribute, she's very convincing to non-heroes, so she's usually the one who does those deals. She's also manipulative and assertive, so she makes for the best haggler of all of us. Therefore I let her decide how she will do it. “Let's first look for an inn.” This smile of hers gives me the shivers. I'm sure she's scheming something...

Why did I decide to trust her again? It's obvious that she's not trustworthy... well, I wouldn't trust myself either, so... kettle and pot or something like that.

Nonetheless, we need to find an inn. “Let's look around then. First, north.” In the west are supposed to be the living quarters for the miners, if I recall correctly, so it's unlikely to find any inns there. If I guess correctly, the marketplace should be in the center, and I use my [Shared Senses]-spell to confirm it by using the eyes of a pinkish-grey pigeon with too long claws.

Damn, are fantasy towns and cities small! I see some smallish mansions in the northeast and even I can see from the streets the ugly one that serves as the governmental building, right next to a small garrison.

It will take less than an hour to cross the entire city. Goldbrunn had at least some size... well, it also had Crusaders. It seems that there will be some stragglers here at best, which serves me well. They kinda look for me because I've broken a divine law and are technically married to multiple spouses. Divine laws are stupid and the cursed ring does things way too properly and officially!

Hey, this inn doesn't have the 'no alfar'-sign! It's only slightly better than what was at the gate, but rather small. Well, at least we can ask if they have room.

Kyou-san starts the negotiations. “Hello. We're looking for rooms. Ideally one for one person and one for three.” She smiles friendly, but gets directly to the point without pissing anyone off.

The clerk, an oldish human man, looks at us. “A room for one is 300 Newgold, a room for three 750 Newgold. Also a 5,000 Newgold deposit for each el- alfr. I said alfr! We're fine people that know that alfar aren't elves!” Please stop with this close to tears face!

“A deposit,” Ara-san says with one ear high and the other low, while her voice promises danger. “Why do alfar have that special rule?”

I save the clerk further troubles by answering the obvious: “Because your people cause property damage.”

“Ah, that makes sense.” It's kinda sad how easy it was to make her admit this truth.

Still, pricey. In Goldbrunn we paid 680 for all four of us, but I also don't have the nerve to look for another inn.

“I don't think it's appropriate,” says Kyou-san despite my silent approval. “We're the Lion's Squad.” She doesn't say anything else, but suddenly, the clerk gasps. Oh god, not again...

Here it comes: “I see the red armor! And a hood! Is it true!? You are the Red Ranger!” Please, stop! Seriously, this starts to physically hurt me! I don't even know exactly why, maybe the cringe, maybe the stupidity, maybe the awkwardness, but I have enough of that! “Tell me, Red Ranger, how did you defeat the Demon Princess of Chaos!?”

The what!? Seriously, what kind of crap are you talking about!? Does he mean the oni in Goldbrunn!? I didn't defeat her, I actually banded together with her to escape from the Crusaders! Shit, Kyou-san may have convinced me to accept that fame for now just to torture me in moments like this one, as an indirect means of revenge.

Denying it, however, would make no sense after accepting her proposal before, so I just look for the least cringe-worthy and non-saying answer: “She's still out there.” So, that's what you get!

“Ever watching, ever guarding, the Red Ranger doesn't take anything as given and just does what's best without a need of repayment.” Stop! Please stop!

“You know,” Kyou-san says while leaning on the counter: “We need to report where we stay, then I'm sure that a lot of guards will come to get a drink here and this will increase your profits, right?”

“Erm... we don't have a bar. Only a small kitchen.”

“Well...” Kyou-san says with a suspecting long pause, I guess she automatically assumed that each inn also has a common room. “If people hear that the Red Ranger is staying here, they will more likely want a room here to see him and to be under his protection, right?”

“Ah, that's right!” Oh god, I see how Kyou-san's [Persuasion] starts to deteriorate that man's mind. I'm so glad that [Persuasion] only works on non-heroes, otherwise I wouldn't be able to relax around Kyou-san... well, I seldom relax in general and never before Kyou-san, so that's not quite right, but I'm sure you get the idea. “Then let's do 900 for all of you.”

“I rather think 700.”

“800.”

“If you also waive the deposit. That alfr is a companion of the Red Ranger, after all, and therefore trustworthy.”

“Momo,” Ara-san says with a slightly offended voice: “I'm always trustworthy.”

“Deal!” The clerk says while wiping the sweat from his face. Kyou-san also looks like this was a demanding task.

Well, I don't blame her for haggling down every price we can see. Maybe she also did it to train a bit before she will do the real deal with the monster-retailers later.

While we climb the stairs up, I ask Kyou-san one question, however: “Why didn't you ask for a room of four?” I mean, we have the cover-story, that Kyou-san is supposed to be my sister and Rine my lover, while Ara-san is an alfr. With this setting, all of us sharing a room doesn't seem too strange.

“I'm sure every room will be cramped. So if things aren't working well space-wise, we have at least some alternatives.”

She's right. Whenever we make our beddings, there are two things to consider. First, I sleep next to Kyou-san and Ara-san to gain 2 WP per night. While this may not be too important, there is another matter that decides between life and death... Rine's murderous sleeping habits. Whenever something moves too close to her or poses a threat to her while she's asleep, she will semi-dormantly kill it. She has no control over it, and we already had stays at inns when there wasn't enough space to deal with it without enduring discomforts.

We open the room for three people and with one glance we see something that makes this very issue apparent... a triple sleeper! For those who don't know what that is, imagine a bed. Then put a bed on top. Then a third one. “Phew, as we don't know at which heights or depths Rine's habit kicks in... Rine, you get the solo-room.”

“Oww...” Rine is sad, but after she almost killed Ara-san in Goldbrunn, she finally understands how dire her condition is. Dire for others, that is.

“For the rest of us... you want to try to risk the WP and try whether a triple sleeper counts or should we sleep on the floor? With those mattresses or our usual bedding, that is.” Of course we could all try to fit into one bed, but even two people would be questionable, and I hate cuddling.

““Sleeper.”” Kyou-san and Ara-san answer in unison. I also prefer that option.

“Then I’ll sleep in the middle to increase the chance of gaining WP. You can figure out the rest.”

“Top.” “Bottom.” Huh, that was fast. I guess Kyou-san doesn't like sleeping high.

After a quick look into Rine's room, which is basically a wardrobe with a bed, we talk about what to do next: “We need to tell a guard-post where we're staying. I'll do that.” After all, this is a city and they want to keep taps about where armed mercenaries are for safety reasons. The Lion's Squad—our party—is on paper a mercenary-band, after all. We even got a recommendation from the city of Goldbrunn, so we're official, and I'm somehow the leader. “Kyou-san and Rine, I suggest that you talk to the retailers in the meantime.” Kyou-san has the wits, Rine is the most knowledgeable about this world's economics, despite her behavior. She's a princess, after all, and her upbringing has prepared her for ruling a kingdom.

“Alright.” “OK.”

“Ara-san you-” I want to say 'You can stay here', but I'm more than concerned to leave her unsupervised in a city: “well, you tag along with me. I also want to do some recon here.”

“Very well.” Ara-san's ears are fluttering a bit, but she agrees.

You gain 1 WP. You asked Ara'ainn out! You're finally going on another date, so make sure to put on your best behavior. Show that you've improved! This date will also be rated!

Ah, come on!