The bear beastman Gin had lead Mia up 2 flights of stairs to her room on the second floor, opening the door and stepping aside to let her in “This will be your room. Water proof so don’t concern yourself with the bed.”
Mia shuffled into the room, it was a pretty basic room with 1 bed, a desk, dresser, and a side door. But, it felt a lot more roomy, the bed in particular looking fluffy “Hmn, door?” she pointed to the side door, wondering where it led.
“Bathroom.” He walked past her, swinging the door open to reveal a tub and toilet “…you know how to use?” he asked, still trying to work out her age.
“Mnm.” She nodded, she wouldn’t be touching the bath, not only because of what happened in the dungeon, but she doubted she could even take one, the water would just freeze.
“Right.” He lumbered over to the door, standing in the frame “if you need anything, ring the bell…” he pointed to a bronze bell hanging on the wall next to the door “If that’s all. Have a good rest.” He bowed slightly, then closed the door.
“Huh, seems nice.” Mia said, Gin seemed a tad scary at first, but was harmless enough “now then…what to do…”
She paced around the room, the first time in a long while since he had a nice place to stay that wasn’t an igloo. She wanted to take this time to train two things, she could put off sleeping at the cost of a drain on her stats, using this safe space effectively since she was going to be on a ship doing who knows what for who knows how long. She didn’t know if she would have the time.
But first…
Mia’s head peaked over the bedside, staring at the clean covers “…It has been a long time since I have slept in a bed…” she reached her hand up, rubbing the covers “Oh, soft, but weird.” The covers felt different from what she was used to, it still felt like cloth but more…tough? Harder? While still being soft?
“Waterproof?” Whatever material this was, all moisture seemed to roll off of it. It also appeared to be resistant to freezing, these traits were also present in the mattress and pillow.
“…Maybe a little nap?”
She crawled under the covers, snuggling up in the blankets and enjoying the simple feeling of being tucked into a bed “…will just get up early to train a bit…” she closed her eyes and soon fell asleep.
- - - -
“2nd floor… 3rd room on the right.” A man stood on the roof across the street from the Snoozing Goose Inn, he had been trailing his target ever since they had left the garrison, a little fox kid with black hair and always misting “hard to miss that one.”
A black hole opened up next to him, his item box, and pulled out a golden ring-shaped device with a large gem embedded into the center. He tapped the device, activating it with a surge of mana before holding it up to his mouth and speaking into it “Op.1 reporting in, target confirmed staying at the Snoozing Goose near the pier.”
“Good!” a voice rung in the man’s ear, the voice transmitting remotely “Are you sure it is the one!? That damned beast, are you positive!”
The man flinched, adjusting the crystal earring on his earlobe “Screaming idiot…” he complained, before speaking into the device again “Yes, not like there are many fox beastmen out. She came from the garrison, escorted by an off-duty guard.” He shuffled around in his inventory with his off hand, fishing for something “pure black hair, short child, misting, everything match.”
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“Good! Good!” the voice happily shouted “Now, move in for assassination, make her suffer, she will pay for everything she has done, tenfold!”
“About that.” The man pulled out a pamphlet, on it, a roughly drawn picture of Mia “She matches the description of that fox the failed hero ran off with.”
“And?!” the voice shouted “Even more of a reason to kill her! The coward abandoned her savoir to die in the woods, even more of a reason to punish her.”
“Well, the order from higher up want her back alive.” He adjusted the pamphlet, reading from the bottom “reward, apparently the idiot stole her from a noble, one that dona-“
“I DON’T CARE!”
The man flinched again, adjusting the volume on his earring again.
“She has made a mockery of me! A laughingstock! By Gaia’s she will face the consequences!”
“…and the order from higher up?”
“Won’t matter in the coming days, if all goes well, we can report she died in the crossfire, I do not care. Kill her. By any means necessary. Or I will make sure you face a fate worse than death! Do I make myself clear!”
“…as day sir.”
“Good! Get to it!”
The connection cut, the man put the device back into his item box while staring at the pamphlet “…” the man was a spy and assassin for the church, who followed the orders from the higher ups, the priests and pope, the pope taking the higher priority.
“Idiot…” he shook his head “Now I have to report blasphemy once this is over.” He sighed, shoving the pamphlet back into his box “Capture the brat first.” He couldn’t imagine how this fox had caused this much trouble, escaping from the church and the noble, being saved by the hero, ditching him, and then ending up all the way up here by herself, but unfortunately for her, the freedom she had desperately escaped to ended here.
He fished around in his item box, pulling out a necklace with a red gem “She has strong ice magic, able to freeze people solid, wasn’t in her description but, must be why the noble wants her back.” He put on the necklace, tapping the gem “those idiots at the gate being overtaken by a child” he shook his head, disappointed in his own comrades.
The necklace around his neck was a magic tool, one that protected him from negative statuses and boosted his defense against ice “Should stop a limb or two from being frozen.” He smirked, remembering the last time he had to use this against a novice ice mage, their ice being rendered useless. “Should be the same for a kid.”
He then fished around in his inventory some more, making sure he had a slave collar on hand , and for his own enjoyment, some nerve poison, so strong it would numb every muscle in a persons body “Might be too strong for a kid.” He shrugged “shouldn’t be deadly”
With preparations complete he leaped across the street, clinging to the wall he made his way to the 2nd floor, looking inside he saw his target, a fast asleep fox kid, no older than 6 “cocky beast, how did something barely older than a toddler give them so many problems.” He shook his head, then went to work on the lock.
He had the window open in seconds, sliding inside he landed at the base of the bed, he then took out the slave collar and hovered over Mia “cold freak.” He reached out to grab the child so he could lift her up and slam the collar on her neck, an easy capture, but as his hand wrapped around her small arm, he immediately felt discomfort.
His hand felt freezing cold, deeply so, he reeled back, dropping the slave collar as he gripped his hand, it felt like he had just gotten frost bite, and what was worse is that he felt it spreading, his whole arm now feeling cold “Ow- what in the?!?” He brought his hand up to his face, his eyes going wide at the sight of his entire hand being frozen solid, encased in ice.
“Sleeping, rude…”
He snapped up, hearing the groggy voice of Mia who was sitting up in the bed rubbing her eyes “You… what is this!” he waved his frozen hand at her, slapping the necklace around his neck “this should prevent ice magic! How!?”
“Hmn?” Mia stared at it for a bit, before bluntly saying “Don’t know.” Her gaze then noticed the slave collar on the floor “…Cult…”
“Y-you!” the man reached inside his item box, pulling out a dagger ‘screw the pope’s order, I have to kill this bi- freezing-?!’ When he pulled out the knife, he did not notice the girl raise her hand, clutching it into a fist. The cold ice on his hand quickly spread, crawling up his arm.
He freaked out, dropping his knife “Wait, no- stop!” the ice had progressed to his shoulder, clawing at his neck as the rest of it rapidly encased his lower body “this is! I have ice resistance, this shouldn’t be-?! “the ice had pinned him in place, slowly crawling up his neck, his thoughts, in panic, suddenly came to the realization, just as his mouth was covered ‘…basic…ice…resistance…’
The last thing the man saw, was the little fox girl shutting the window and crawling back underneath the covers. Going back to bed.