(Chpt. 30) More questions.

Alice.

Also, 100 ratings? Wow, you guys are amazing. I am even more surprised about the novel reaching 4.4 stars, thank you, everyone!

I began to feel the rattle beneath my body, shaking me quite frequently. Waking me up and making me slowly open my eyes. As I start stretching my arms, I notice Aizen is sleeping while sitting down, she had a faint smile on her face for some reason. Looking outside, the sky was orange. Looking around the carriage I also notice both of the girls are sleeping with Fenri. 

“Well, this is certainly nice.” I calmly said. 

I continued watching the orange sky and the passing trees for a few more minutes. 

Well, I absolutely have no idea what is going to come. But, it certainly seems interesting. ‘Something amusing...’ Huh… I guess… Wait… Am I turning into her?! Something amusing does sound fun, but I ought to say. This is not bad at all. I am certainly enjoying it, although the more I find out about this world. The more it confuses me. It seems to be extremely similar to the game in terms of races and the system. But the land and culture are completely different… 

Also… What is with the church anyway? What will happen next... [Neutral] attribute being forbidden because it’s basically taboo? Well… Even in the game, the description did say it was taboo… Ah, well. Not like it matters. I am more worried about somehow losing any of my rings or my glove… Or my everything?! Wait… Aren’t I basically a walking gold pile with all of these items? 

As I was thinking, I noticed the wagon stopped. I heard footsteps and I could see a shadow moving through the side wall. Eventually peering from the back, was the merchant. He had his mouth open to talk however, he noticed everyone that was sleeping. He paused for a second and scanned the insides until his gaze landed on me, as soon as he saw me, he gestured me to come out of the wagon. 

I leisurely came out of the carriage and stood in front of the merchant. The merchant had a now serene expression unlike before. However, I could see him ever so slightly trembling. I can only assume he was nervous or anxious because of what happened earlier. 

“So… Can you really escort this single carriage to the capital.” 

“Yeah… I might not look like one, but I am a tamer. And the silver-haired girl is a magician. We dealt with the bandits just fine, so I think there shouldn’t be a problem.” 

I nonchalantly answered, he seemed to be thinking of something but eventually ended up nodding. 

“I will take your word for it girly. I did not see how either of you took care of the bandits but I did see them knocked out. And that is all I need to know.” 

Hearing his somewhat calm voice, I couldn’t help but want to look around. We were already in the middle of a town for some reason. The town seemed smaller than Mirl, but people didn’t seem to look at me that much. Which was nice. 

“Well… We will meet tomorrow morning right here to continue going to the capital. You can look for an inn. Also…” He paused, making me look at him. He started talking with a wry smile.

“Can you wake your companions up so I can move the carriage?” 

“Ah… Yea…” I realized why he had that expression now. 

I went inside the carriage and woke Fenri up. Fenri ended up gently waking the girls, I had to wake up Aizen. Now… Throwing her a rock would be bad. I guess I can just try a normal way? I decided to gently move her back and forth. 

“Haah...”

She made a weird sound but I kept shaking her. I heard her murmur things and then end up smiling. She was plenty cute, but I had to wake her up. After a few more seconds of shaking... 

“Huh…” She finally slowly opened her eyes and looked at who was shaking her. As soon as she saw me, she visibly tilted her head in confusion. She clumsily and slowly looked around and noticed the merchant that was waiting outside, the girls that were standing behind me with Fenri. She ended up arriving at a conclusion and stood up. 

Since everyone was ready to go. 

“We should find an inn.” 

Everyone ended up nodding. We exited the carriage and the merchant gave us a farewell wave as he left. I started looking around. We were on what seemed to be the main plaza, looking some more, I confirmed my thoughts. I noticed one guild town hall. It had the three guild emblems on its board. I could only assume it was for all of them at the same time. I mean the town is probably half the size of Mirl. So that is to be expected. The main plaza was way smaller than the last one. 

I ended up going towards the guild building with everyone awkwardly following me. People kept looking at us in confusion, we were a group of four girls and a wolf. Nonetheless, I continued walking. Eventually arriving in front of the building. 

“Everyone stay here. Fenri comes with me,” I nonchalantly ordered everyone. Aizen nodded without saying anything. Cecil had a somewhat dark face from Fenri leaving her side. Ari did not seem to mind it much. I turned around and entered the building, leaving them behind. 

When I entered I noticed that there was a very long counter that had multiple receptionists, I also noticed boards hanging above them with the guild emblems. Everyone looked at me but they quickly stopped once they saw Fenri, I decided to approach the smiling adventurer’s guild receptionist. 

“What can I do for you?” 

“Umm… I just arrived here, and I would like to ask about inn recommendations.” She seemed frozen for a second, well I do think that asking a receptionist was not the best option. 

“Well… I guess you could go to 'thaaat' inn. It does have bath but it might be on the expensive side.” Did I just hear this lady just say bath? I want one. We couldn’t bathe this morning. 

“Where is that inn?.” I decided to ask. For some reason, inns did not seem to have names. 

“Ah, you just need to go north from the plaza. If you keep walking straight you will find a really fancy looking building. You will recognize it.” 

She casually gave me the poorest directions I have ever heard. I thanked her and left the guild. Upon leaving, I noticed everyone was waiting next to the door. I also noticed how some people were looking at our group and when I arrived with Fenri even more people started looking in our direction now. 

“Well… I got us an inn with a bath… So we should go.” 

Aizen excitedly nodded, everyone else just nodded normally. ‘I guess she really enjoyed the bath…’ I muttered in realization as I turned around and began walking north in a straight line. Everyone followed. We attracted a lot of mixed glances, as usual, we were used to at this point, except for Cecil. She looked pretty nervous. 

As I was looking around while we were walking, I saw this really fancy looking building. It was a tall wooden building that was built with dark oak and normal oak wood. The pillars were chiseled with flowery designs, the door even had flowers engraved into it. Overall, I could only say that, it was incredibly fancy compared to most of the buildings I have seen here, also way taller. With that comparison in mind, I assumed that it was the building the receptionist described. 

We continued walking towards said building. Nothing much happened, however, I did notice some people showed weird expressions as we approached the building. I did not think much of it. Now with everyone in front of the inn, I decided to open the door. I heard a pleasant bell ring as we entered. 

Looking around, it did not look bad at all, except I felt tiny from the extremely high ceiling. Everything was made out of stylistically carved wood with flowers. The tables even had flowers carved into the borders. If I had to describe the decorations of the entire place with one word. I would say, 'flower'. Glancing some more around my eyes glued into the counter. Which surprisingly did not have any carvings on it and was just a big wooden rectangle. However, what made me keep my gaze on it wasn’t the simplicity, it was the 'thing' standing behind it. 

I awkwardly approached the towering figure with everyone walking behind me. Simply having to lift my gaze to look at him when talking made my neck hurt. The man had a hairy chest and big buff arms. All of the decorations did not fit this man at all. He was the complete opposite of girly. 

“Umm…” I awkwardly tried to get his attention. For some reason he did not even look at us since we entered. As soon as he heard my quiet voice, I saw his eyes fix onto me. Making me shiver from the profound eye contact he was giving me. 

“We would like a room with a bath…” I timidly said while fidgeting. 

“Ah… Yes, that would be one gold coin.” His voice was surprisingly gentle which made me stop feeling oppressed, I reached into my cloak and took out one gold coin, and handed it to him. He received it and looked at it for a few seconds, eventually nodding and handing me a room key. 

“Straight up the stairs, last door.” He casually informed me and went back to looking at whatever he was looking at before. I tried following his gaze. But he was literally looking at the wall above the door. 

“Well, let’s go to our room.” I nonchalantly told everyone seeing the unmoving 'thing' at the counter. I don’t know if I would call him macho but, he is certainly scary. The girls blinked a few times and nodded. We walked up the stairs and continued walking straight. Until we arrived at the last door as he described, I inserted the key and well… It opened. The room was about the same size as the inn from the beastkin lady. But, it had two beds made out of carved wood with soft looking wool. It also had a table and i noticed a door that led into another room, probably the bath. I noticed the hallway and room ceilings were extremely tall. 

I let everyone enter the room and closed the door behind us. Everyone went to do their own thing. Ari decided to get on bed and Aizen did the same, I assumed they just wanted to relax. Fenri joined them as well. I was left at the entrance with Cecil, I noticed she was fidgeting. 

“Um… Cecil, is everything alright?” I decided to ask her.

“Yami… Are you some kind of noble?” She asked while still fidgeting.

“Not really…” I answered while scratching my cheek. Do I even look like a noble?

“Then… How can you pay a gold coin so casually?” She questioned again, like if it was a big deal.

“It’s just a gold coin…” I shrugged her off. 

“That’s the problem. Do you know how long it takes a normal person to get one?” She was no longer fidgeting, rather. She seemed annoyed. I decided to shake my head instead of answering. She started thinking, I also noticed she started pouting.

“Well… I don’t know either, but my father told me it was a lot of work!” 

I noticed her face became red saying she didn’t know. ‘How cute.’ I pleasantly muttered. I decided to entertain her. 

“Well, Cecil. I can tell you about myself if you want. Seeing you agreed to Aizen’s deal and all.” 

She froze for a second and then excitedly nodded, she looked at me with sparkling eyes. 

“Why does your glove make me feel uneasy when looking at it?” Does it? Ah well, whatever.

“It’s an item.” I gave her the answer she yearned for. I don’t really know if it makes her feel uneasy, but. Well it really was an item. 

“How do you make money?” 

“We are adventurers.” 

I kept giving her the answers she wanted. She seemed somewhat unsatisfied with it. However, she decided to ask something unusual. 

“Who is Aizen?” 

What do you mean who she is? Well, she is an… I actually don’t know. A dragon? Not really, a monster? Not really… This is complicated. 

“I am, the strongest mage,” Aizen answered her from across the room for no real reason. I looked at her; she had the same evil-grin as always. ‘Wouldn’t it be interesting?’ I remembered that face when I looked at her, it looked to me that she also wanted some fun for herself or something.  

”Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.” I heard Cecil’s high-pitched voice. Ari did not think much about the random lie. Cecil, on the other hand, was muttering things. Eventually, she turned to look at Aizen fixedly. 

“Will, you teach me magic?” 

“...” 

When Aizen heard this, her smile vanished. She started thinking instead. Cecil was waiting for a reply, however, seeing she wasn't getting one. She turned to look at me instead.

“Yami…” 

“Yes?”

“If Aizen is the strongest mage, then you must be the strongest at something right?!” 

She excitedly asked yet another troublesome question, It made me scratch my cheek as I was thinking about all the multiple answers I could give her. ‘I guess I will answer something that I might be able to show...’ I muttered in defeat. 

“Well, as far as I know, I might be the strongest tamer?” It sounded good in my head, but it quickly turned into doubt, making it sound like a question.  Cecil just ended up quietly nodding to my response. Now what? She doesn’t seem to be fidgeting anymore. I guess that was good.