"Mmmmmmm deliciousnesssss..." Kia's words trailed off into a delighted hum.
On a metal plate in front of the doll-like girl, a fatty imprint in the shape of a fish was all that was left from a full-course meal. Two bowls surrounded the plate, one licked clean and the other one, half-eaten with a spoon neatly placed next to it.
The undead hoplite wasn't inclined to spend money on frivolous things and eating in a dinner as undead certainly was but she needed to kill some time. She had ordered vegetable soup and a roasted fish for Kia, the fish had come on a bedding of mashed earthfruit mixed with herbs and a large slice of butter which quickly began to melt.
The elf thought the undead didn't need food, even in her status sheet there was a clause mentioning that her undead body albeit still warm didn't need sustenance like the living. Knowing this the undead elf had chosen to order a bowl for herself, inadvertently feeling cathartic as she ate with the strange ancient monster who gave her new life.
"Can I have this?" Kia turned toward the elf, temporarily causing Iris to stop combing through the girl's sleek black hair.
"Are you keeping this for later?" The risen said sliding her cream soup closer to the necromancer while scooping a crumb from the corner of Kia's lips.
"Hey!" Iris pondered for a second who had taught her dearest kitten to frown like that before she tapped her nose and pointed toward the cooling soup.
"I wonder why the price for everything was so outrageous." The risen pondered aloud.
Normally a family in a city could treat itself to a meal like this every once in a while but for some reason, the price they paid was almost half what they were about to pay for the room. She had examined the food as it landed on their table, at first she had thought the guild had possibly employed a professional chef. She had heard that food made from under the hand of a person blessed with a cooking-related talent tasted better, remained unspoiled for longer and so on but the food in front of her looked perfectly ordinary meaning that the high price was caused by something else. Thankfully the two of them didn't have to eat every day or else even the large fortune they possessed would quickly dwindle into nothingness.
The elf stood up when Kia was done with her soup and took the tableware back to the kitchen before heading back to the reception seemingly appearing invisible to the merchant patrons too absorbed in their activities.
Iris felt that the Kia held to the hem of her jacket just as the tolling of bells washed over the city before leaving everyone too close to the massive bells with a feeling of their bodies continuing to vibrate for a moment longer after the bells went quiet.
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"Iris, Siri?" Samuel waved the two over while holding a piece of parchment in his hands, his face solidified into a face of unbelief. "Tell me, you were accepted into the guild in Marinya?"
"Yes, is there a problem?"
"That's an understatement if I heard one." He began to scratch the dark grey stubble on his cheek appearing troubled. "Were you tasked by Gion II Korenst to clear out a newly discovered dungeon in a Grand Quest?"
"Yes." The elf told the truth seeing that Samuel already had all the information.
"I have bad news and good news," He said. "Good news is that everything about your badges is correct. The bad news is that you are not allowed to leave Oriripol until the Guild Master green-lights you. If you leave your membership will be revoked and... generally bad things are going to happen to you if you know what I mean."
"I don't think I follow." Iris replied slightly worried while the girl next to her shifted her curious gaze between her and Samuel.
"You see the problem is that you are alive," The receptionist pulled out a pouch from his pocket and sprinkled the contents into his smoking pike causing a cloud of grey-white smoke to veil his face. "Morally there is nothing wrong with this of course but legally speaking as an adventurer you had abandoned the Grand Quest without notifying your contractor and because of that there have to be consequences."
"So what now?"
"You will have to speak to the guild master and then we will see," Samuel spoke. "Unfortunately for you, the guild master is out of the city for the foreseeable future so you will have to stay inside the city limits until he comes back."
"And if we do not?"
"Those who tempt fate incur its wrath," Words taken from the Book of Alithea sounded weirdly sinister as they left the veteran adventurer's mouth.
*Yawn*
Standing next to her leg Kia opened her mouth wide as she yawned looking both intrigued by the legality of the situation and clueless at the same time.
"Room for two please, then." Iris turned toward Samuel who had lost the serious air about him and returned to being an ordinary receptionist.
"Your keys, the room is upstairs," He stepped back and grabbed a key from a drawer after eleven silver coins landed on the ash desk. He then pulled a few copper coins as change from under the heavy desk. "Goodnight."
The elf nodded before walking upstairs to find their room. The room ended up being at the end of the hallway with a surprisingly low ceiling. When she opened the door she was greeted with a modest room.
There were three separate beds, a desk, a large wardrobe and what the elf found strangest was a separate little room with a mirror, stool and a wooden bathtub. Of course, there was no possibility of having the water conjure itself into the bath meaning that it had to be manually moved but for any adventurers who had spent the last couple of days in the wilderness it was the height of luxury.
"You want to take a bath?" Iris looked down at the girl she had just asked if she was tired as they walked up the stairs and found her sleeping standing up while holding onto her hands. "Tomorrow morning then."
The elf with the taste for civilisation undressed herself to her underwear, she looked at it carefully for the first time in a while and saw that it was in dire need of cleaning.
The elf then proceeded to grab the porcelain doll and sat her down on the bed under the small window letting the early moonlight flow in. She appeared ethereal in the silvery blue light with otherworldly feeling surrounding her as Iris kneeled like a knight and began to take off Kia's tall leather boots before quickly following with the girl's dress.
"I guess we can use the two other beds tomorrow," Iris complained as she lay the girl next to the wall before slipping under the blanket, feeling dirty. "What a crazy day today, isn't it right my Sleepiycu."
*Purrrr*
They go to the adventurer's guild, they meet the cult preachers complaining about the grain before being dispersed by the authorities. They are warned that they have to stay in Oriripol because they have disappeared from two cities. They eat on a rooftop before going to sleep. After they eat again Kia overhears a mage talking about the academy causing her to stuff food into her mouth and pull Iris out of the building.