I woke up in the morning sweaty, with the girls snuggled up on either side of me. My body was sore and I was drained of energy. Not only was I tired from staying up most of the night, but the girls had drained me dry so to speak. I could really use a health and stamina potion. A shower would be nice as well, but the inn didn’t seem to have a bath or even running water for that matter.

The communal restroom for the inn consisted of a couple holes in the floor and a bucket of water. I had noticed when we arrived that there was a definite odor to the city. The odor wasn’t really a sewage smell, it was more like a faint undertone of garbage beneath the overpowering smell of fish and the ocean. There appeared to be a sewage system beneath the city that I assumed just drained into the ocean so I was sure that helped keep the smell down. No sewage running down the streets was a definite plus.

The first order of business was entangling myself from the sleeping beauties beside me. Ann was gently snoring while Lin was drooling. This proved to be impossible since as soon as I tried to wiggle free, both girls only hugged me tighter like sexy boa constrictors. I didn’t want to wake them up, but my bladder was nearing its limit.

“Girls, can you please wake up?” I wheezed while being squeezed like a body pillow from both sides. “Ann, Lin, time to get up.” I tried saying louder. I couldn’t even move my arms at this point but luckily Ann finally started to wake up. She let go of me and stretched while yawning. With one arm free I was able to pry Lin off my other arm.

I threw on a pair of pants and scurried off to relieve myself. When I came back both girls were bleary eyed but awake, sitting up in bed. “Good morning. Do you two want to eat breakfast first or find somewhere to wash up?” I asked, smiling at their appearance. They both had messy bed hair and sleepy eyes. This did not diminish their beauty as the morning sunlight shown on their naked bodies through the one window of the room.

We all got dressed and decided to get breakfast. Lux was already downstairs with Shadow waiting for us. The inn served breakfast which we took advantage of. “Are there any bath houses in the city?” I asked, while munching on bread. It was good to eat real food again. “Baths are only for nobles or rich merchants.” Ann replied. “We are definitely getting a bath when we buy a house. The bath at the mansion was great.” Lin said wistfully. “I totally agree.” I replied, smiling.

“The inn has a well out back we can use to clean up.” Ann said between mouthfuls. “After that, we can show you around the city.” She continued. “I can’t wait.” I replied, grinning. We got towels and soap out of our bags and went behind the inn to a paved courtyard with a well in the center. The courtyard was surrounded by a wooden fence for privacy.

The girls immediately stripped and started washing themselves using a bucket and rag. I was a little self-conscious about someone coming into the courtyard but the girls didn’t seem to mind. I had already gotten the feeling from them that modesty wasn’t that big of a deal in this world. I still hadn’t gotten over my modern sensibilities however so kept glancing around to make sure no one was watching us.

Lin offered to wash my back which I gladly accepted then I proceeded to wash each of the sisters backs as well. I was a little worried Lux might join us in washing up but luckily he returned to the rooms to guard our belongings. After washing ourselves, we put on clean clothes and were ready to hit the streets.

Shadow was being lazy and went back to the rooms to sleep. The girls were going to give me the tour while Lux went off to send a letter to his friend’s family about his death. He was then going to a money changer and see about trading in some of the ancient coins. The fishing village and ship captain might have been ok with the coins but we would have a harder time with them in the city. I was clueless about the city so would have to leave it up to him and the girls. I was worried it might make us look suspicious, but Ann said the coins weren’t that rare to see. We just had to make sure not to drop too many at one time.

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It would be harder to sell the rare potions we had. There weren’t very many alchemists in the city evidently and no auction house. The closest auction house would be inland at a city named Ashen which was at the base of an extinct volcano. “Is Ashen the capital city?” I asked as we traveled down what looked like the main street. “No, the capital is on the east side of the island.” Ann replied. “Let me guess, it is called East Harbor.” I commented dryly. “Yes, how did you know?” Ann asked, surprised. “Just a lucky guess.” I replied, shaking my head.

The main streets of the city were nice and clean but I noticed the narrow side streets were covered in rubbish and trash. The buildings were made of wood with thatched roofs and painted in vibrant colors. Most were only one story but there were a few two story buildings scattered around. The clothes people wore were colorful as well although they didn’t wear much. It was still a tropical climate so most men went shirtless and the women had a cloth covering their chests or something similar to a sports bra. Both wore shorts with the women sometimes wearing a short skirt. It wasn’t quite as humid as it had been on the continent which was a blessing.

Most had tanned skin and it took all my willpower not to stare at all the lovely ladies that were on the streets. Was there something in the water that made everyone good looking? It was baffling. Ann and Lin didn’t lose to any of them of course. There were a few in adventurer garb like our group but most seemed like normal civilians. The few humans I saw were also good looking. I wondered how I compared but then put it out of my mind. Ann and Lin were fine with me so that was all that mattered.

I had wondered if polygamy was the norm and Ann mentioned that it was fairly common among the beast folk but she wasn’t sure about any of the other races. We had all our gear with us since it was too risky to leave it in our room. It was decided that we would be staying at the inn for a week while we got things sorted out. Today we were just window shopping since Lux had all our money. The thought had crossed my mind that the family could ditch me at any time, but I didn’t think they were that kind of people. I decided to put my trust in them and hope for the best.

Both girls showed me their favorite stores. Ann’s of course was the book store while Lin liked the weapon shop. Walking around town and in the stores made me realize I still had work to do. I could speak the common language but couldn’t read it. Aside from magical texts, the books were all in common as were the signs. The store signs had pictures in addition to writing so I could still figure out what they sold easy enough.

I would have to ask Ann for some more lessons. I needed to decide what spell I wanted to learn next as well. Ann was still working on telekinesis which was going more slowly than she liked. Here I was in another world and still had to study constantly. At least the subject matter was interesting, and Ann was a good teacher.

There wasn’t much to the city, no grand buildings or castles. It was similar to South Port in that it was surrounded by a jungle but this jungle was pretty tame from what the girls told me. There were no dangerous beasts unless you got very deep into it and even then an average adventurer would have no trouble with them. Ann mentioned something about mana density but I would have to take her word for it. The land around the city had been cleared for farming and the jungle started at the edges of the fields.

After wandering around for a while we met back up with Lux and Shadow at the inn and went to find someplace to eat. The city’s specialty was sea food but I was kind of sick of that and wanted something different. I had wondered why the ship would bother hauling sea food from the fishing village. Ann explained they were rare fish but didn’t know all the details. “Is there a restaurant that serves something besides sea food?” I asked hopefully. “I know a place!” Lin exclaimed and we all followed her.

She led us to a seedy looking establishment that was a bar/eatery. When we went inside we got a few stares from the rough looking customers but they soon ignored us and went back to what they were doing. “They serve the best meat pies here.” Lin said happily. I wasn’t sure what kind of meat was in the meat pies but figured it was better not to ask. After we sat down and ordered, Lux informed us that he had successfully changed part of our pile of coins. Between the mansions and stores we had scavenged, we had found a good amount.

To afford the size of house we wanted, we would need to sell off the potions or some of our other loot. The best place seemed to be an auction where we wouldn’t attract as much notice. That meant we would need to prepare to travel to Ashen. There was a large auction house at East Harbor as well but Ashen was closer and just as good according to Lux. I didn’t mind and was kind of excited to see Ashen. Lin excitedly mentioned that there were hot springs. My imagination was kicked into overdrive at the mention of hot springs. Maybe we would buy a house in Ashen instead.