Chapter Thirty-Three

Cleaning off the vomit took some time, and when I was done, I was definitely ready to sleep. Tes’alay proved pretty easy to maneuver, though she’d mumbled a few words of what I thought was apology. I had to wonder, ‘How powerful is she?’

Magic in this world was still something of a mystery to me, all I’d managed to do was freeze my ass and singe my hair and I didn’t even know the names of any God or Goddess but Kuduru, who frankly set me a little on edge given the way she seemed to screw with her own priestess.

And evidently ‘me’. ‘She could have warned me I’d get thrown up on.’ I huffed when I finally fell into my bed. It was about as long as I was tall, simple wooden construction, but the mattress was thickly stuffed and soft. The pillow was clean and from what I saw of the room from the little dancing glow which I assumed was a fae employed by the inn, the rest of it was surprisingly clean too.

I liked this place. It had a nice feel to it, like the people who ran it really cared about what they did.

I rolled over and tried to focus my thoughts on the matter at hand. I hadn’t asked about dedicating myself, or finding a god or goddess, and having been ‘burned’ once already, I was reluctant to turn to one before I knew more.

I filed that away for tomorrow and replayed that explosion over and over in my head. In the old world, I was, I guess you could say, ‘mentally hyperactive’. I would flit from subject to subject and analyze everything in a thousand different ways. It had its uses, but being able to focus when there were new shiny objects getting my attention all the time was definitely a challenge.

And I was now in a world that was metaphorically and practically filled with shiny objects to distract me. I have to say, I think my kitsune body had a role in this too. Foxes are curious creatures, and if it changed my taste buds, why not intensify my already naturally inquisitive nature?

And that explosive magic had me intensely curious.

So much so that it was very difficult to get any real sleep. Despite being so tired I had fallen into bed having barely managed to get my boots off, my mind was racing in every direction. This world was still so new, and I wanted to sniff out everything I could. It would be fair to say I was feeling reckless.

I buried my face in the pillow beneath my head and before I fell asleep I managed one more thought. ‘This kitsune temperament of yours is going to get you into a whole lot of trouble, Aiko. But… I think it’ll be a lot of fun too.’

And with that, I slept.

The morning came much sooner than I would have liked, but at least this time there was no hangover. I doubted very much this place had a place to bathe, that seemed reserved for finer establishments. It didn’t occur to me really, not until I was in front of Tes’alay’s room, that while I was already planning to leave this place, I knew I’d miss it. I also missed the Hideaway Inn and the couple who ran it.

But I didn’t miss at all the giant luxury hotel room provided by Yorgim Schnee. I huffed, ‘I guess wealth just doesn’t mean that much to me, even like this.’ I thought and knocked.

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My ears flicked. There was movement inside. I’d made sure to lay her on her side so if she threw up again she’d not choke on her own vomit and die. The fact that there was movement meant she definitely hadn’t died, though given how much she’d had to drink she might ‘feel’ differently.

“Hello?” I asked and knocked again. “Can I come in?” I asked.

I adjusted my ear dampeners to let me hear a little better, there was no noise to speak of now at least. What sound she made within might not exactly have been ‘yes’ but it also wasn’t ‘no’. It sounded more like an acknowledgement.

“Are you all right in there?” I asked. I could smell the vomit and crinkled my nose at it, the stuff really is foul. I recalled, vaguely, my own accidental intoxication and a flash of extra gratitude went toward Loysa for looking after me as she did.

She may be a lot of things, but she could have just let me suffer, and didn’t… even though I’m not growing on her the same way she was on me. I’d be grateful for that night for a good long time, since it was the first time anyone had ever done anything like that for me.

“I’m coming in!” I announced and stuck her key into the lock. It turned with a well oiled ‘click’ and the door opened at my turn of the handle.

“I’m dying.” Tes’alay groaned.

I was about to tell her she wasn’t dying, when I got my next example of magic. [Cure Poison]. She cast her spell, and I was shocked, my mouth dropped open, destruction ‘and’ cleric magic? This seemed to run counter to what I understood before. Even if she were a generalist, from what they said of the spell we saw, it didn’t sound like she was a generalist. Plus if the rules of the old world held, cure poison wasn’t a first level spell. Her whole body glowed a faint blue as the magic took effect but…

Before my thoughts could run their course, she rolled onto her side, and she vomited more than I’d ever seen anyone vomit, vastly more than I did, I was sure of that.

“What kind of spell was that?!” I exclaimed as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and sat up.

“It will be very hard to explain.” She said and looked down at the mess on the floor. “I kind of feel bad about that, but I don’t dare cast a spell to get rid of it. I’ll probably end up burning the inn down, and I’d rather not do that.”

Tes’alay’s eyes were very clear and any pain was evidently gone, she inched herself off the bed and stood up, neatly avoiding the puddle she left behind, she stretched out and stared down at the mess of last night’s half digested meal, alcohol, and stomach acid.

“Still… I can’t do nothing, can I?” She mumbled and held out her hand. [Conjure Item: Absorbent Cloth]

That was when I learned that this world has women’s undergarments that are not dissimilar to home. “Did you-?” I stopped speaking as her face turned beet red and she shoved them behind her back. There was the distant sound of a woman’s shriek from another room.

“Hold on.” I said with pity obvious in my voice, I reached into my belt and pulled out the cloth I used to clean up the mess in the lab. One quick wipe… alright, it was seven.

But that was it, and the material was gone, I stowed the cloth again and she looked me up and down for what might have been the first time. Or at least the first time she wasn’t so drunk she was seeing multiples of me.

“Who are you? And where did you get that wonderful cloth? Can I see it?” She held out her hand and her bright green eyes were alight with interest.

“Aiko Tsuniki, from home, and no. As for the rest, why not come down and join me and my team for breakfast,” her belly rumbled when I said that, “and then we can go from there.”

“You’re buying?” She asked and her fading blush renewed itself when her belly rumbled again.

“I’m buying.” I promised.

“Then I’ll join you. Lead the way, Aiko.” She said and followed behind me as I took her to meet the others. I made a point of not noticing that she discreetly tossed the undergarment’s down the hall toward the direction of the scream, thus revealing, however unintentionally, where she’d conjured them from.