11 The inn: Galana

Galana woke up early that morning to prepare herself for the no doubt tiresome day she would have. She needed to accomplish her task as smoothly as possible to not get into more trouble than she already was.

Because of that, she had not slept a lot. She had used most of the night to scour all the books she had in her bookstore for information on the Muraciers. It was better to know who she was dealing with after all.

According to the books, the Muraciers were amongst the empire founders and their house was as old as the imperial family itself. It was written that they had almost as much influence as the Grandbois since all the armies of the empire were under their control. Luckily for the imperial family, the Muraciers never had the ambition to take their place, preferring instead to focus on the art of war and the betterment of their own martial prowess.

She had read that the Muraciers were quite strict and did not laugh often. They also usually rewarded true talent over lineage since in a battle, whose blood is flowing in your veins does not matter to anyone.

It was quite convenient for her since she had no ancestors worth anything of value. Including the fact that there were no written records of a Muracier ever betraying his words, she felt that her chances to get out of this unscathed were high as long as she did the job right and did not commit a mistake too huge.

She put on a dress that wasn't too old to at least not look as dirty as him, ate some hard bread to fill her stomach and headed straight towards the inn.

On the road, only early birds strolled about the streets, after all, the sun wasn't completely past the horizon yet. The books said that the Muracier woke up with the sun to train. If it was true, she needed to get there early to not make him wait.

She got inside the inn and the innkeeper told her that he had not come down yet. She had arrived in time, that was a good start. She sat on a nearby chair and waited for him to get downstairs.

She saw many people get here one after the other, go to the dining room one after the other and leave the inn one after the other. She waited and waited but after many hours, she was grinding her teeth in frustration.

How could anyone sleep for so long? Didn't he have things to do? 'He' may not but 'she' had plenty to do! If she had know she would be here waiting for so long, she could have opened up her bookstore for the morning instead!

Unable to hold back anymore, she got up and decided to go beat on his door until he came out. She was almost in the stairway when Emp appeared from it and almost ran into her.

She was so surprised, she almost fell backwards. Was he angering her on purpose? The goodwill she had in the morning was already forgotten as she screamed at him to alleviate her annoyance.

He gave her a nonsensical explanation for his tardiness then dodged her questions by going in the next room for his breakfast. She followed him and sat at the opposite end of his table.

She noticed he didn't look as terrible has he did the day before now that he had bathed. Now, even with his torn clothes, she was the worst of the two with her more than ordinary clothes. It did not matter though, however he looked, he was still a disgusting noble and he was still late.

Hoping to get some sort of advantage, she tried to extract information about the Muracier out of him by telling him what she knew but all she managed to get out of him was a dumb comeback. She couldn't be sure if he was doing it on purpose or if he just didn't have any common sense. Everything he did was strange, something was definitely not right. She didn't understand what was wrong with him.

"What do you mean what's wrong with me?"

Damn-it, she had once again spoken without thinking. How was she to answer that without cutting herself down?

"Oh? Only one? Where is yours?"

"What do mean where's mine?"

She had no idea what he was talking about. She was too focused on searching for an appropriate answer, she didn't know what he was talking about anymore.

"I won't eat all alone, that would be weird."

She finally saw it, the innkeeper's son was here with his plate, she had not even noticed him in her panic. Anyway, it didn't concern her.

"Nobles aren't supposed to eat with the common folk."

"Nonsense, I am the one paying anyway, ask him another plate."

Why did he want to eat with her? He wasn't a friend, he wasn't even an acquaintance. He was just a guy paying to have her translate things for him. She didn't want a stranger to pay for her food, that was just weird. Or was he trying to charm her? Would he take it badly if she flat-out refused to eat? On the other hand, her breakfast had been long ago already and what was filling his plate was looking much more tasty than the bread she had. Fine, she would go with it just this once.

"How much would it be for another plate like this one?" She asked the small waiter.

"Three of bronze, miss."

It was a lot for just one plate but there were fruits and even bacon in it. When was the last time she ate bacon, years ago? She shot a look back at her client to see his reaction when she would tell him the price.

"Three bronze leaves for another plate."

He searched his bag without delay and got four coins that he presented to the son of the innkeeper.

"Three for the plate and one to thank him."

It seemed quite generous of him, there must be something behind it. There was no way a noble would do such a thing. She knew them too well. Nobles hated to waste money and always tried to find a way to pay less than they should have. Him, gave more than necessary, as if it was natural, or planned in advance.

"He says you can keep the last coin."

"Thanks!"

The boy left happily with his coins, hiding back in the kitchen as soon as possible in case the man changed his mind. The noble in front of her smiled at the scene which annoyed her even more. That had to be some kind of ploy, it had to be!

"You see! That is exactly what is wrong with you! I do not understand where you're going with your little games. Are you trying to make me lower my guard by seeming likable? I feel like the moment I will be gone, you will come back here and accuse him of having stolen the last coin, making them pay an incredible amount to make you forget the story."

Emp had just put a piece of bread in his mouth and chocked on it when she exposed her hypothesis to him. At least she had managed to surprise him so much he choked, that was satisfying. She had to be on the right track. He was trying to appear friendly and coax her into doing something for him. Worse, maybe he was in cahoots with the disgusting young master Balpoisson from the start. He also had a very strange way of speaking that kinda annoyed her but it didn't matter right now.

"Who would ever do such a thing, it does not even make sense! Why did it even cross your mind?"

"It wouldn't be surprising coming from a noble."

"From what I am hearing, I am not the only one who is strange here. You need a very distorted mind to think of something like that. Also, I do not see the point in lowering your guard, from what your grandmother told me yesterday, if you were sat in front of any other noble right now, you would already be dead twenty times over."

She didn't know how to refute this since it was most probably the truth. Once again she had not managed to make a crack in his mask and it frustrated her very much. Nobles acting nice were so troublesome to deal with.

"Thanks" Said Emp to the boy Galana had not seen coming back.

It surprised Galana enough to bring back her attention on what was happening. Had he not just spoke in the common tongue? Had he lied to her grandmother and herself since the very beginning? If he had lied, it meant she didn't have a reason to be here.

"I thought you said you didn't speak the common tongue."

"I did because it is true, I just assumed the word he used earlier meant tank you."

Liar! This seemed way too convenient of an excuse! But, she knew of a very easy way to prove it. With a few words, she would know the truth for sure.

"You are a disgusting piece putrefied shit. If only you could be slowly devoured alive in a dark corner everybody would cry of joy. Your father would even go kiss those who did it to thank them. If only your mother had been raped by a horde of blood-spitter and had birthed some kind of monstrous hybrid instead of you, she would probably have loved it more than you and the world would have been a better place. Even as a degenerate whore, your mother didn't deserve the affliction you are. Just looking at your retarded self, we can easily tell you have nothing in your pants explaining why when you tried to screw your own mother, she just laughed in your face before throwing up while picturing the scene."

"Woah!" A guy somewhere behind her screamed. "Fuck him up! hahahaha!"

"That's incredible!" Another said. "What did he do to deserve this!"

"Slap him! I'm sure he deserves it."

"Come sit with us instead, I'm sure we'll get along real nice."

She ignored them all, too busy looking for Emp's reaction. She had insulted him, his father, his mother and even his virility and still, he didn't seem disturbed at all. No laugh, no anger, nothing showed up on his face. Either he was the best actor in the world or he really didn't understand. She chose to believe that the boy in front of her could not possibly be that talented.

"Alright, you really don't understand, no one could have possibly kept his calm through that."

"So, now are you going to tell me why you hate nobles so much?"

"And you, are you going to stop pretending you care about what I have to say or about my safety?"

She still couldn't believe what he had said the night before. "Do you want me to accompany you? It's dark outside."As if she would fall for such a cheap trick. He probably just wanted a taste of her before the other asshole could put his greasy hands on her. It wouldn't be the first time it happened.

"Enough already. I do not understand any of your accusations at all. All I asked was information because I have a huge lack of knowledge about nobles."

"Of course, it's got nothing to do with me being a pretty girl."

"To be honest, I only spoke to a total of three women in my whole life, my mother, your grandmother and you."

"It's not because I'm the only girl you know that you have to try to sleep with me! What are you thinking? Do you really need the first girl you ever met as a trophy?"

"Now, I do not even understand what we are talking about anymore. What does sleeping have to do with turning you into a trophy?"

What? Was he simple minded or just an idiot?

"Idiot! When I say sleep I don't mean actual sleep, I mean the act between a man and a woman."

"What kind of act?"

"What kind of act do you want it to be idiot!"

"Like in a theater play?"

She got so carried away, she just screamed an answer.

"For the love of all gods! I'm talking about..."

She stopped dead in her tracks, she couldn't say that out loud, what was she thinking?

"When a man and woman..."

No, that wouldn't work either. Did he even know what was sex?

"Wait,"

How could she get out of this mess! Why did she have to explain even that! All she had to do was tell him that a man needed to give his seed to a woman and should would be free.

"You need a man to..."

No! Way too crude! What was she thinking, she would be ashamed for the rest of her life. Anyway, all of this needed to be done under "the sheets" because if not it would be way too much. "And then" you should only be doing it "in the dark" because it would be way too shameful if someone ever got in the room. It was all because of this idiot! He didn't want her at all, he was just a clueless boy!

Of course, since she was thinking about how it was all his fault, his image took the place of the mystery man in her mind. At least in the dark, she didn't have to look at his stupid face. Then, like in the stories, he would lean forward sweet talking his way to a hug "and a kiss".

As the scene annoyingly took shape in her mind, she saw him smile from the other side of the table, unable to keep his laughter in any longer. He was mocking her! He was doing it on purpose!

"You fucking piece of shit!"

She badly wanted to slap him but since he was too far away, she gripped a slice of bacon and threw it at his face. The guy just caught it easily in the middle of his laughter, to her great disappointment, and ate it without a second thought.

She instantly regretted what she had done. When would be the next time she would get the chance to eat bacon? Maybe never, she thought sadly as she went back to her own meal. The cunning man sitting in front of her just continued the conversation as if nothing had happened.

"To go back to what you were saying before, Chinui told me that many men had multiple wives and everyone should be wed as soon as possible. Do you think I should be looking for a wife now that I made it through a fight and survived?"

As if she would fall twice for the same trap! Never again! She waited for him to change subject but he just kept staring and eating without saying another thing. she had no choice but to answer.

"Are you still trying to mock me or is it a true question?"

"It is a true question. I have no idea of what I am supposed to do. What are people doing usually?"

What are people doing usually! What did he expect her to answer? Wed the love of his life? Wait to receive an offering of Holia? (1) Buy his own in a slave market bargain? Maybe she should tell him that his only chance would probably be to wait for a divine intervention. This was too stupid of a question, she refused to take part in such a talk.

"I don't think I have to be the one answering that."

"Who then?"

"I don't know, a friend? At least a man."

May the gods protect the poor girl who would be stuck answering his crazy questions.

"But, aside from Chinui, I only know four other men and all of them are gods."

What? What was he saying now?

"I am not even sure on how to contact them and anyway, I don't think the advice Luck would give would be all that useful. You said the way I dressed was strange but him wears rainbow clothes with strange patterns combined with all sorts of crazy accessories. It was him that gave me the bottomless bag, the one you find horribly ugly."

At this moment, she didn't care at all about the bag. There was something much more crazy going on.

"Wait, you know four gods!"

"No five."

"What! How many blessings do you have?"

"One."

"You were lucky enough to find the hiding spot of five different gods but failed four of their tests! How can anyone waste such an opportunity!"

If she had possessed the strength to do it, she would have hit him with the table, no, beat him into a pulp with it. The few people who merely found one secret trial ground in their whole life were instantly raised to the rank of national celebrity and were known across entire kingdoms.

This imbecile was without a doubt the luckiest man alive if he found five but even then, he had managed to waste four of them! If only it had been her instead, or her parents! All her problems would have instantly vanished into smoke. How could anyone be so annoyingly incompetent! It was disconcerting.

"No, I received only one test, the other four were my creators."

What kind of idiotic absurdity was he trying to convince her of now?

"What you just said doesn't even make sense. It's just crazy. First of all, how can you be the son of four different people at once! Also, isn't your father supposed to be Chinui Muracier?"

"I can swear I'm not lying but I can't prove it. If you want to know the whole story, you will have to tell me yours."

"Ha ha ha. Was this your plan? Dream on!"

As if she would just spill out the story of her life and all her personal information in exchange for an obviously made up story.

The rest of their meal went on in silence. As they were leaving, the men sitting at the next table yelled at her, saying they were certain they had better and bigger tools than him and told her that she could still join them if she wished to have a good time. She shot them a disgusted look and left without answering.

At least they should make the effort to bathe and shave if they wanted her to have the decency to answer them with a clear no.

(1) I've spoken about the offering of Holia twice now but did not explain it yet. It is one of the important customs Chinui forgot to explain to Emp. You will have to wait for someone to explain it to Emp to understand clearly but I'm sure you can somehow guess what this is about.