Esme was woken up by Hannah as the sun was rising. She found Hannah's ability to wake up at any sign of light useful. They couldn't use their phones, they had to save their battery life. Hannah's phone was at 86% and hers was at 56%. Phones were useful here, and she wasn't about to waste their precious battery on anything but the most important things.
She went to one of the inn's washroom and went down to meet Hannah for breakfast. They had the cheapest meal on the menu. That left them with 82 silver coins, which might have been a fortune, Esme didn't know the value of the currency.
From what she had gathered from buying their room last night, one gold coin was a hundred silver coins, and one silver coin was a hundred copper coins. It was easy to convert and logical. Esme appreciated that.
After some mindless chatter, Esme and Hannah were ready to head out. Step one of the plan was to find a cheaper inn.
They headed down Main Street, as the buildings got smaller and less important. They had left the rich parts of Winsor, and they were where the common folk lived. Hannah stopped a man to ask him where the cheapest inn was, but he ignored her walked past her. It looked like he was in a hurry. Esme noticed another man approach. He was old and looked frail, and was definitely not eating well.
"Hello, pardon me, but I heard you were looking for a cheap inn? Follow me, I'll take you to the Fletcher's Arms. It's cheap, can't guarantee it's the cheapest, but I'm sure it'll do the job."
Esme recoiled instinctively. This seemed too convenient, it could be a trap.
"I think we-"
"Yes, we're looking for a cheap inn, any help would be appreciated!"
"Well sure thing youngun', just follow me."
He smiled and started slowly walking. It looked like it hurt him to walk, and he didn't have a cane. Hannah decided to help and support him while he leads them to the inn. It looked like they were going towards the poorest parts of the city. The slums. Kids looked malnourished and the floor was no longer paved. The houses were made of wood and some roofs were made out of cloth. It smelled. Terribly.
They turned on a small street and Esme breathed a sigh of relief. The inn was real. Fletcher's Arms. The old man had told them that the man running the inn used to be a [Fletcher], but he retired to become an [Innkeeper]. Unfortunately, his competition was too fierce and he was too low leveled and had to make one in the slums. A sad story, but that was the least of Esme's worries.
They went inside the bustling inn and were greeted by the familiar smell of cooked meat. A man quickly went to greet them.
"Ah, welcome to my inn! The name's Godwin. You here for a meal?"
Esme quickly answered.
"Um, not right now, we're here for a room actually."
''Hm, not many people rent a room here. Alright, it's eighty copper coin per night here. Your room's upstairs, first one to the left. I assume you're sharing it?"
"Right, thank you."
Esme and Hannah thanked the old man, paid for their room, and went back outside.
"I can't believe it, Esme! Only eighty copper coins! We could stay here for months, we don't even need to work!"
"Yes, I'm glad we found a solution. Fine, work takes a backseat, for now, we need to go back near Main street and find that library."
Esme was walking slowly. She was happy, relieved. She didn't notice the group of men following her. She didn't notice the streets slowly going empty. She didn't notice they were being cornered.
"Well, what do we have here?"
Her head snapped back. She saw a group of men, all holding knives. She started to run, but she noticed they were in front of her too. Hannah was frozen in place, shaking, mumbling nonsense. Amongst these men was the old man that had helped them get to the inn, one hour earlier. He looked scared too.
"Hand over yer coin, and we'll let you lot go."
The man that just spoke looked like their leader. He was around six feet tall. He was bald, muscular and had a deep commanding voice. Esme didn't wait for them to get closer. She did the most sensible thing. She threw the pouch of coins on the ground. One of the lackeys went and took the bag and they started leaving. The man looked back.
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"Thank you for your business. Don't even think of going to the city guard. We run this town and we'll find out."
The old man screamed at his back.
"Wait! Our debt's settled with this one, right? They must be rich, there's multiple gold coins in there at least! Look at their clothes! I saw them stay at Winsor's Gem yesterday!"
"We'll see about that. It better be, or your family will pay."
They both walked away, and then Hannah fell to her knees, in the wet mud and they both started to cry.
What were they going to do now?
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Esme and Hannah walked back to the inn slowly. Neither talked. Only their sniffles and the people on the street were accompanying them. Esme's mind was working, though. She was trying to find a way out of this damned situation. They would have to go back to the inn and beg to stay for a few more days. They had only bought one night. She could say they'd work for free as long as they got a place to stay and even only one meal per day. She'd take that opportunity. They had to start back from square one, but it was fine. They'd be fine. Right?
After what seemed like an eternity, they reached the inn. Esme looked for Godwin, but it looked like he was busy in the kitchen. Esme and Hannah sat down on a table. There was nothing to say, really. Esme could guess that Hannah was blaming herself for being too naive. Esme didn't blame her. Well, she did. A tiny bit. But this was no time for petty blaming. This had to work.
She noticed Godwin get out of the kitchen, going to serve someone with a meal. Esme quickly got up and walked towards him. Hannah's head shot up from her daze.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm gonna try to get us out of this mess."
Esme managed to intercept Godwin and pulled him to the side of the inn. She talked quietly.
"Listen, my friend and I just got robbed. They told us they controlled the Winsor, and going to the city guard would be useless and only bring trouble. We need your help. Could you let us stay here for a few days? You said all the rooms were free. We'd take the worst one. We'll even work for free here if you'd like. Please. I'll do anything. We just need one meal per day and a room."
Esme clasped his hands in hers. He looked apologetic. He was clearly going to refuse.
"I'm sorry, but I can't. You don't have any levels in [Barmaid] or [Cook], do you? Also, you're a target. I can't afford to cross their gang. They have people everywhere. Watching. Keeping you here would only bring trouble, miss. You'll have to be out by tomorrow.''
"I see."
Esme walked back to Hannah. She saw her hopeful face, begging to see if Godwin had said yes. Esme just looked towards her with a sad face and shook her head. They still had their phones. and Hannah's bag. They sat, in silence, for the rest of the day. As the sun set, they went straight to sleep. Crying, broken, about to be homeless.
But not defeated.
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The next morning Esme and Hannah went out without protest. Giving one last look to the inn, they left. Esme and Hannah quickly got out of the poorer parts of town and went back to Main Street. They went to every single inn there, trying to get hired, trying to get a place to stay. But the richer inns had level requirements to be hired. For example, to be hired in Winsor's Gem as a barmaid, you had to be at least level 15. But Esme and Hannah still didn't have a class, and they didn't know how to get one.
The days passed quickly and the girls grew hungrier and hungrier. Water was free in the different wells in the city, but food?
They hadn't eaten in three days. They slept in alleys, they looked dirty and tired. No one would hire them now. Being homeless was a vicious circle. No one would hire someone that was homeless, so you couldn't get any money. And no money means no place to stay. Hannah had resigned to begging on Main Street, but that wasn't working too well. Esme couldn't live like this. She had to do something. But what?
She decided to steal.
Nighttime was falling when it happened. The first time they stole. Esme had spent the past three hours getting Hannah on board, and the stalls were closing. She had made a plan for this. Plans were needed. They were important.
They targeted an old woman's stall. It was isolated, and they could escape easily. She sold apples. Only apples. But apples were like gold when you were starving. They were sweet and delicious. Hannah had lost any doubt she had before when she saw how easy this would be.
Esme watched Hannah stroll in front of the old woman's stall and initiated a conversation. She was good at that. It was mindless chatter to Esme. It wasn't important. This was.
Esme quietly tiptoed behind the woman's stall. Hannah was trying her best to occupy her. Esme was about to take the apples from the woman's stall when she was spotted by a man walking by.
"Thief! Behind you!"
The old woman turned and looked at Esme furiously. She took four apples as quickly as she could, shoved it in their bag and ran for it. Hannah ran for it too. Esme heard the old woman scream behind them. The man ran after them, yelling for people to stop them.
Esme decided he wouldn't let the man ruin her plan, and instantly turned and ran towards him. Hannah looked at Esme in horror, as she kicked the surprised man in the groin. She ran in an alley afterward, gasping for air. Hannah followed closely. Her legs burned. She wasn't in good shape endurance wise. She looked out the alley. It looked like the commotion had died down. They had lost the man and made it out in one piece and they had food.
They split the apples. Two per person. This was the best meal Esme had ever had. She had been in this world for a week and she had almost starved twice. The girls had traveled far from the street they stole from and collapsed on the floor.
They were miserable. But they were alive.
[Thief Class Obtained]
[Thief: Level 1]
[Skill - Quiet Step Obtained]
Esme and Hannah's head snapped up at the same time.
"There's a [Thief] class?"