Bab 8: Inn
Ryo stepped out of the shadows in an alleyway and looked back at the main street where he had left the boy behind. His journey thus far with his young charge had been...interesting. Insightful really. How such a little cry baby that despaired at every inconvenience and every wrong turn became the protagonist of this world was something he could not wrap his head around.
Honest to...well, whatever god existed out there that wasn't those celestial stooges walking around the Labyrinth City claiming to be such, that kid had been tiresome. There was most certainly some small spark inside of him, one that could be further kindled into the roaring blaze he knew the boy would become at some point, the one that made him stand out in the crowd.
But it gave Ryo an idea what to work with. And besides, just because the caveat of his privileges was that he had some baggage to carry and some responsibilities to fulfil, it did not mean he could not do as he pleased. He carried within his being the powers of the Disgraced One, the Fallen, the King of Curses. That alone put him at quite a high place in the pecking order of mortals in this world. And that was just one of his techniques.
He could do as he pleased...after he found a nice bed to sleep in for the night.
Sunset was approaching, and he did not feel like exploring today. While it would be good to stake out his competition in this city, namely an infamous tavern, good things came to those who waited. And he'd been waiting nineteen years to step foot in this city. He could survive another evening. That being said, the city wasn't all that now he came to think of it. It was just a normal, unimpressive medieval city that did not really have many large structures or houses within it.
The only large things he knew existed in this heart of the world was of course, chief amongst them in fact, the prominent tower casting its shadow over the city. Then there was the colosseum in the East part of the city known as the Amphitheatron, and then the glorious temple like structure somewhere about that was known as the 'Goddess's Bath house'. Quite extravagant in his opinion for a place that catered to a very small amount of women in the city.
Though the fact that those women who visited the establishment were of...specifically 'high' standing in society, it did make sense. Especially when it was also a possible luxury enjoyed by the current 'Queen' overlooking things in Orario. Even now her gaze was probably sweeping the masses, drinking in all that she saw. He doubted she'd find him quite so soon. After all, for a city that was supposed to be big enough to fit in two to three kingdoms inside, she had a lot of ground for her eyes to cover before she could find him.
He was hiding nothing. If she saw him, then she saw him. If she tried to obstruct him, she would pay the price.
No exceptions.
Now then...he had an inn to find.
...
Facing down the alleyway, he caught the sight of three rough looking men standing at the other end of it, bottles in their hands as they leerily chatted amongst each other while occasionally looking out to the street on their side. He smiled...they looked like ripe harvest. After all, he'd been holding in his urges for quite a bit. With a flourish of his cloak, he began walking towards the clearly wasted men with slow but firm steps, his arms beneath the folds of his cloak but his fingers free and his body in an ever guarded gait.
He was walking in a city of superhuman residents and though compared to the civilian population, they were few and far between, one could and should not let their guard down. His tapping footsteps caught the attention of one of the men who saw him approaching via side-eye and grunted as he looked in Ryo's direction. He elbowed the man next him and pointed with the tip of his beer bottle.
"Ay, look there." The man slurred. "Some fella tryna look scary and that is walking down here like he owns the place."
"Is he now?" The bigger man sneered as all three turned towards Ryo. The second man addressed the sorcerer as he came close; he'd become a little brave upon seeing that he stood a bit taller than Ryo. "Oi, little bro. This here is our turf. You want to pass, you gotta pay the fee."
Ryo raised a brow. He'd expected to be correct about this but now that he'd come close, the stench of alcohol was quite pungent. It was a surprise none of these oafs were unconscious from all the swill they'd been swallowing.
"I was not aware of the Labyrinth City containing checkpoints." Ryo said as his red eyes shone out of his hood, though the light of day made his face perfectly visible as the light from the sun was perfectly angled. "I mean I already paid a fee for just passing through the gate."
"Well this is our gate." The third man said drunkenly as he heaved himself off the wall he was leaning on. "And our price for tress-passing is not cheap. Not that you would ever back out of paying it because you know...you've got somewhere to be and you would never want any trouble...right?"
The idiot shifted his peasant's waistcoat a little to show the hilt of a dagger just barely peeping out of his belt.
"Now now." Ryo said as he held up his hands. "We don't want things to get messy now do we? I'm a newcomer and I just want directions is all...perhaps to the best inn you know in these parts. I'm willing to pay in addition to the fee I owe you."
The three drunkards just looked at him.
'Stupid bastard actually bought it.' One of them thought. But Ryo did not need to be a mind-reader to know that that thought had gone through his head. In the sorcerer's experience, drunk men wore their thoughts on their faces.
"Yeah sure." The first drunkard said as he pointed. "Just follow down that direction and take the first left and then the second right. You'll find a place called the Gate Inn."
"Gate Inn?" Ryo asked with a raised brow. 'That name just suddenly rang familiarly. Where have I heard that before?'
"Ah yes. Neat little place that is." The bigger one said. "Cosy and warm. The food is good too. Quite popular amongst people that have just come into town through the gate. I guess that's where the name comes from. The owner there is a big beer bellied woman. Can't miss her."
"That's not the best part either." The third one said. "Her daughter works as waitress there and I tell you...that one's a looker. You wouldn't think she's as old as she is with the way she looks. You'll get what I mean when you meet her. Some of the biggest tatas you'll ever see."
"...Right." Ryo said to himself as the description of that situation seemed more and more familiar by the second. And from the sickeningly lecherous grin on the man's face, he could almost tell exactly what he was talking about. "Well gentleman, I guess I'll be on my way." He said as quickly slipped past them, making them blink at each other before they angrily.
"Hey buddy, you forgot about your payment!" The bigger man put a hand on Ryo's shoulder.
"Oh right! How careless of me." Ryo turned around with a big smile, holding out a small money-bag. "Thank you ever so kindly for the directions. I'll be sure to pay you your worth for this."
The drunkards grinned at each other as the first one reached for the money bag, all the while Ryo's smile widened. Just as the lecher's fingers were about to brush the bag, there came the sound of what felt like two knives slicing against each other before a bloody line painted itself above each of their noses, right underneath their eyes. A moment later, the top half of their skulls flew off as spurting blood painted the alley walls and the corpses collapsed to the ground, bottles smashing against the cobble.
"Your worth in blood that is." Ryo's smile dropped as he stared at the bloody pool now beginning to leak out onto the road. "Your blood...filthy monkeys."
He looked out to the street to see that nobody had noticed the commotion yet...not that he cared if they did. He could decapitate someone from a distance just as easy as he did these three human filth. He looked down the street in the direction the drunkard had given him and to a normal eye, his cloaked form blurred as with sheer speed, he disappeared from sight like he'd teleported out of there.
A couple of moments later, a woman with her child turned into that alley way to meet with the headless corpses. Two shrill screams stirred up the evening with that gruesome discovery, as well as a rapidly growing crowd.
---
Ryo blurred back into existence at the first left which went down a bit of a smaller alley way, to which the now dead drunkard had told him to take a second right. And he could understand the second right because it was the one that took him right out into another open street where he already saw the modest inn standing. It was made out of white stone from what he could see, with the rest of the structure being supported by wooden pillars.
To give credit where it was due, even from the outside and looking at it from behind, it did appear cozy. Made sense if a woman was running the place.
"Right." Ryo said as he pulled down his hood. "Relaxed face, slouched posture, carefree aura. Check, check and...check."
Immediately his demeanour changed, and the very air around him now became different. The icy look in his eye disappeared, the hard lines in his face softened and a deceptive, lazy smile spread across his face. The air around him, once filled with cold indifference became casual, as if he were someone who was genuinely out on a walk or just an innocent traveller looking for accommodations to stay in and not a flesh-eating monster who was looking to establish a restaurant where he would make people eat the flesh of other monsters.
His sorcery and his combat abilities weren't the only things he needed to keep sharp...his acting skills also had to be kept in ship-shape too. He couldn't let the fruits of his former occupation become rancid and worthless now could he? With his acting skills, he could blend into any crowd, no matter how carefree or dark. When he had been given targets in his previous life, they could come from any background and he'd had to stay in his role.
And no better people to deceive in this city as a beginner than an inn proprietress and her daughter if the bandits were anything to go by. And presumably, if this inn was run by a woman, there was good chance that most of the staff there were also female. If he could get them to feel comfortable around him, he could build a small reputation from there while he gathered his bearings.
After all, he wasn't just going to be walked over now that he was here.
He walked out of the alley and stood in front of the Inn, gazing at it from outside as his cloak parted and his elbows stuck out as he held his hands on his hips. A couple of women walking by noticed him and quietly giggled to one another while looking at him as they passed. To them, they thought they'd just seen a handsome young man standing outside an inn popular for housing newcomers, and judging by his apparel, what with the chestplate and the other pieces of armour as well as some visible weapons in his belt, it was entirely possible that he was an aspiring adventurer.
A handsome face, a smile that seemed to radiate sunshine, and an interest in one of the most popular careers around, the two women thought it their worth to mark him down in case he ever got his name out there. After all, who wouldn't want a blessed adventurer as handsome as that if he made it big?
Orario was infamous for many things but amongst them were its populace of women; they did not mess around when it came to being on the market for a boyfriend or a husband. They had good game and they played their cards well...came with living in a city full of super powered mortals after all, and of course living in the presence of 'gods' so to speak. As Ryo heard some put it in his previous life...
...the game's the game.
Respect it. At least he knew he could fool some gullible women just by standing there. They had no idea of what exactly lay beneath his carefully crafted smile and his seemingly warm demeanour.
He went back to studying the inn and looked up at the sign hanging above the door. It was one of those signs that had the name carved in instead of painted and from what he could see, it did seem to spell Gate. Koine in this world wasn't all that hard to decipher...not when he knew much of Greek and English alphabet. And from the smoke he could see coming out of the chimney, he assumed that the kitchen ovens had just been lit to prepare dinner for the residents.
It seemed big enough to double up as a tavern...though there was still something vaguely familiar about the place. He wasn't given much time to think about it though as he suddenly felt his arm get hooked by someone else's. Since he had been holding his hips and his elbows bent outwards, his arm made a perfect loop for someone to just put their arms through and hook him.
Two very soft sensations hugged his arm as the person hugged it into their bountiful chest. At the same time, a voice called out to him from the perpetrator's mouth, a voice that just screamed young, cute and female from the sound alone.
"Hey there! You just came to the city right? Welcome to the Gate Inn!" The girl said to him and he turned his head to look at her.
...
And for a split second, his mind became numb as he saw the owner of the voice. One part of his brain instantly connected the dots between what the drunkard had said and who was shamelessly hugging him now. Given how well endowed she was and how young she actually looked, and with the enthusiastic way she had welcomed him that was textbook enticing people to come and stay at her establishment, she was easily identifiable as the owner's daughter. Her being outfitted in a waitress's apron solidified that assumption.
It was more so that he recognized her. He'd seen her before...except somewhere else which was certainly not supposed to be this place here, in this damned city, in this damned world even.
She was dark haired, the healthy young strands a lovely shade of chocolate brown which was tied up in a pony tail that was bound at several points by hair ties. Dark bangs hang about a flushed face with smooth skin and beautiful big brown eyes that had the same colour as healthy soil which had just been watered. When one thought the words 'cute girl', this was such a female to come to mind.
Had he not been raised a particular way in both his lifetimes, he was sure he'd be tumbling head over heels for her already...or his blabbering doppelganger in this world would already be floundering with embarrassment in his place. But just to confirm what he was seeing, he activated one of his special powers.
'Appraisal'
+++
Name: Martha
Age: 13
+++
He didn't need to read any more beyond that despite so much more being displayed. He didn't need to. Because first and foremost...
'What the hell is she doing in 'this' world?'
"You've probably just come into town right?" Martha said as she hugged his arm tighter, using her ample chest to entice the older boy in as she learned to do with some gullible young men, just so her mother's inn would have more people to stay in it. "If you want somewhere to stay the night, you've come to the right place. We clean the sheets daily and we have some of the best food around. And the beds are warm, especially during the winters. If you pay a little extra, we can even give you a room with a small fireplace in it."
"And I suppose I will also have to pay a little extra for the firewood as well?" Ryo raised a brow. Martha noticed that not once did his eyes travel down to her chest even as she made a point of hugging him tighter.
"No. The extra you pay for the room also covers the firewood." She tried to walk forwards and pull him along inside, but instead of him stumbling forwards and being made to walk beside her, he stood solid in the same place. She was even unable to move his arm and instead pulled the tendons in her own a little as her grip on him broke with her walking forwards. She looked at him, a little embarrassed at what had happened but also curious now.
"You don't have to make such a desperate attempt at a sales pitch." Ryo rolled his eyes. "I was already advertised plenty to this place, and I was just admiring the front view before going in. Though I will applaud the effort...I can respect you pulling customers in through any means possible."
"You're a tough one huh?" Martha smirked as she leaned forwards. "You know...it's a good thing you were already coming in. I tend to like a bit of a challenge, so I would have found a way to bring you in at some point."
Ryo gave her a half-smile and walked by her, leaning over to her ear as he did so.
"I'm not certain a girl your age should be doing 'those' kind of things just yet." He said to her and Martha just looked up at him surprised. "Leave that for when you're actually an adult."
"How did you know that?" Martha raised a brow as she folded her arms under her mature chest. Though Ryo was certain for some reason that she was not emphasising it this time. "Anyone who I meet for the first time always assume I'm already over fourteen."
"You've got a good act going on." Ryo said as he faced the door. "Just not good enough."
"...I think I'm going to like you." Martha smirked as she just put a hand on his elbow. "My name's Martha. Don't be a stranger now. What's yours?"
"Ryo." He said simply. "Just Ryo."
"Alright then 'Just Ryo'." Martha pushed the door open. "Let's go in and see mom. She'll give you a room tonight I'm sure."
---
(The Gate Inn - Front Desk)
"Mom. I brought in another customer!" Martha shouted to a woman in her thirties that was manning the desk.
"Darling...you didn't just pull him in did you?" The mother said, whom Ryo knew was the proprietress. A quick appraisal on her confirmed to him what her name was.
"Ryo, this is my mother Mosa." Martha gestured to the older woman. "She runs the Gate Inn."
"Ryo is it? Well then, welcome to our establishment I guess." Mosa smiled warmly at the boy as she observed him and he too observed her.
Mosa was most certainly a woman who looked like someone her age, being in her early thirties and all, and you could see where Martha got her looks from. She had the figure of what the English would call 'a portly woman', though her plumpness did not take away the signs that she was a housekeeper.
Her rough hands and toned arms seemed to imply that she spent much time cleaning and polishing, which meant that as owner, she took personal pride and care in running the place...something he respected quite a lot. Her aura was motherly and full of warmth, and one could guess that she also took the same kind of care in her parental duties.
Ryo did like staying places run by people like that. You could bet on getting what you paid for.
Mosa meanwhile observed him as well. To her, he looked pretty much the same as other young men aspiring to be adventurers, or at least that was her guess from his armour and all. He was quite tall for his age, and even as an older woman, she could admit he was handsome. Her Martha certainly seemed to appreciate his company, as she stood a little closer to him than other people that her daughter had a habit of just dragging into their inn. There was a smile on his face that reached his eyes, and for the moment he looked like a jovial person that was just currently looking for a place to stay. He had none of the roughness that men who'd been on the road usually came with and there was not a shred of malice about him.
...and yet, something about him was off.
Mosa couldn't really place it, but there was something about this kid that tickled her woman's intuition a little bit. She was no stranger to unpleasant guests, and over her experience, she'd managed to build a sort of radar within herself to detect shifty people. Right now, it wasn't going off but something in her gut told her that...at the very least, the boy wasn't all what he seemed.
It was a quick, fleeting feeling though and she shrugged it off. Her job was to house people for a night and feed them, not snoop around for their backgrounds.
"It's 400 Valis a night for a room." Martha said. "420 if you want a fireplace. The oven is on in the kitchen at the moment and we'll be serving dinner in a couple of hours. Meals are paid for separately though."
"I'll be staying here for approximately a fortnight then." Ryo said as he dropped a bag of money on the counter, the same one he'd tempted the drunkards with. "Keep the change."
"Hmm, quite generous." Mosa commented as she took it off and poured the contents onto her palm.
"No. Just in case I stay a bit longer than is planned." Ryo said.
"Right, you're the business type. Less talk and more action is your thing huh?" Mosa smiled as she pulled out a key from under the counter and tossed it to him. "I suppose you want your room right away then. Martha, show him to Room 4 please."
"You got it." Martha said as she pulled Ryo towards a set of stairs. "Come on big guy. That's the room Yuni just finished cleaning, so you're getting fresh service."
"Yuni?" Ryo raised a brow.
"A local kid mom employed." Martha said as they walked down a corridor. "She's a hard worker you know."
"If her aura suits your mom's, then I wouldn't be surprised."
"I'll take the compliment for her." Martha said. "But don't think those are going to get you discounts."
"I'll take my chances." Ryo said as they reached his door and he twisted the lock. "After all, you're no stranger to the concept either."
"You're talkative." Martha said. "I think I'll enjoy your company while you stay here."
"Don't count on it." Ryo said. "I'll be quite busy in the few coming days, and you'll find I'm not that nice when I'm busy."
"What a strange thing to say." Martha put a finger on her chin before she smiled. "But it always gets fun around here when strange people stay over."
"I suggest you get rid of that attitude if you're going to take over." Ryo said. "I'm a business orientated person, and strange to me means a possible chance of trouble. You'd better start thinking the same if you're going to take over for your mom."
"Pfft." Martha put her arms behind her head. "I don't want to take over. Too much work."
"Well what do you want to do?" Ryo asked flatly.
"Find a capable, responsible, handsome boyfriend. Marry him and then have him take over while I just do the odd bit here and there." Martha answered before she eyed him suggestively.
"...I'll be 20 next year." He said.
"And I'll be fourteen and an official adult." Martha grinned. "I do have a thing for older guys you know. And you don't look like someone who would mind the age gap."
"Not very good at taking hints are you?" Ryo said as he closed the door. "Later Martha."
"Laters." She waved at him with her cute grinning face being the last thing he saw before the door closed completely.
The pleasant act dropped instantly then, and his cold aura returned as he stared at the number that was also carved into this side of the door. An Appraisal on the number gave him the Japanese equivalent of the carved number. The pop up screen gave him translation in whatever language he pleased out of the many that he knew, but since he'd reincarnated as a Japanese boy, right now that was the language staring at him.
"The number 4 in Japanese, whose name can also mean death in the same language, and is the reason why it is considered an unlucky number in Japan." Ryo muttered. "And it happens to be the room I get. The irony. And some say destiny isn't a thing."
He turned around to get a proper look at his room. Medieval standard, with a bed in the corner, a small table and chair next to it and a fireplace on the other side with the window dead centre in the wall. He could see some wet patches just drying on the table which meant the Yuni girl must have left the room minutes before he entered. But it was no more than he was expecting.
Now he was fully situated in Orario...somewhat. The question was, how was he to spend his first night?
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