“Uh... Well, yeah.” I scratched my head. It felt like she’d just seen straight through me and guessed exactly what I was thinking. The way she’d said it, so casual and matter-of-fact, made me feel like a total novice. But she also didn’t sound like she was complaining.

  Liluetta glanced back over her shoulder. She seemed to be looking up at the sky or at the setting sun, which had almost disappeared behind the hills.

  “You see, Yune? This is exactly what I was saying. No matter what, we always end up getting back at this time of day,” she said.

  “That’s true,” Yune agreed. “And if we’re walking home in the dark every night, it might be a little risky. But that’s just the way things are, right?”

  “I should’ve done something about it sooner,” Liluetta replied.

  The two of them chatted easily between themselves like usual. Normally, I would just let them talk without trying to keep up. But this time, I had a feeling I was going to get involved somehow.

  We do always finish our adventures at sunset and walk home at night, I thought. Sure, that’s dangerous, but what are they going to do about it?

  “Hey, Kiri,” Liluetta said. “We were thinking about moving into an inn near the guild. Would you mind giving us some advice?”

  ***

  “You girls are looking for a place, huh? Whatever you do, don’t pick a room here at the guild,” said Waine.

  Since I was still new to this town and had no idea which inns were good—I’d never even stayed at one before—I wasn’t sure how to give Liluetta and Yune any advice. So I’d asked Waine for help, which had earned me a sour look from Liluetta and an awkward, apologetic smile from Yune. But I really didn’t have many people I could go to for this kind of thing.

  “And why, exactly, shouldn’t we stay here?” Liluetta asked coolly.

  “You’ll see. Come on, I’ll show you,” Waine said with a smirk. He led us up the wide wooden stairs at the back of the guild.

  The second floor of the guild doubled as an inn for adventurers. Like the first floor, this area looked old but sturdy. The walls were built from solid red brick, and the dim glow of oil lamps cast the whole place in a kind of rugged charm. It was kind of cool, and I couldn’t help feeling a little excited.

  That changed when I grabbed the handrail. The wood felt rough and weirdly uneven under my fingers. When I glanced toward the wall, I saw deep scratches and scuff marks all over the bricks. Even the stairs had dents in them.

  “When guys in metal armor go stomping around, all that shoulder plating grinds the walls up like this,” Waine explained.

  Sure enough, most of the scuff marks were at about shoulder height for an adult. That answered one question, but what about the dents in the stairs and the handrails? I didn’t get the chance to ask before we reached the top.

  “This here’s the dorm,” Waine said casually, resting a hand on the closest door. “I crash here too.”

  He pushed the door open without knocking. It was a big room with hardly any furniture. One beat-up desk sat tucked away in a corner with a stiff-looking chair that would probably hurt to sit on. There were no shelves and no wardrobes. Instead, piles of rumpled blankets and personal belongings were scattered all over the wooden floor.

  In the middle of the room, half a dozen men with blankets over them were lying on the floor in a loose circle and chatting away. When they stopped to look at us, it made me feel a little guilty for barging in.

  “Yo, sorry,” Waine said, lifting a hand. “Just showing some newbies around.”

  His friends grunted their greetings and went back to their conversation. None of them seemed upset about us coming in without knocking. Apparently, this was just how things worked here. Plus Waine had said he lives here, so they had to know each other pretty well.

  “No. Just...no,” Liluetta muttered. After a single sweep of her gaze around the room, she pressed her hand to her forehead like she was dealing with a headache. “I could say a lot about this, but first of all... Isn’t this a men’s dormitory?”

  Well, yeah. Even I can tell it’s not the kind of place a rich girl’s supposed to be in.

  “It’s not like women aren’t allowed just ’cause it’s all men right now,” Waine replied. “We’ve had a few from time to time. There are gutsy ones who’re tougher than any guy here and desperate types with no coin to their name. Still, when there’s a girl in the room, we all end up walking on eggshells. It’s awkward, so do us all a favor and don’t stay here.”

  “Hmm, okay. But why did you bring us up here, then?” Yune asked.

  Waine looked at her. “If I didn’t, you’d be curious about it. Right?”

  So Waine hadn’t been expecting Liluetta and Yune to live here. That made sense, and so did his answer. If we’d skipped the first room on the floor, I probably would’ve wondered about it too.

  Anyway, the dorm was a no. The real option must be one of the smaller rooms up here. From what I’d heard earlier, Liluetta and Yune wanted to rent a room together. Hopefully there was something that would work for the two of them.

  “What is it now?” Liluetta snapped all of a sudden. The tone of her voice was sharp with irritation.

  When I turned to look, she had her hands on her hips. Her eyes were narrowed, and her glare was fixed on something inside the dorm. I followed her line of sight back to the men under their blankets.

  “Nothin’,” one of them said with a grunt.

  “Yeah. Nothing at all.” This person sounded just as grouchy.

  They both looked like they were about fifteen years old. One of them had messy black hair and wide-open eyes, and the other was pale with his ash-brown hair tied back. Liluetta had been staring at them, and they were staring right back at her.

  “Do you know them, Liluetta?” Yune asked.

  “Hmph. Let’s see the other rooms. Pardon us.” Liluetta strode out of the dorm like she was done with the place.

  “Sorry for the intrusion,” I added, bowing toward the people in the room—especially those two—before following her.

  Yune trailed after us with a confused look. I could tell she hadn’t recognized them, but I had.

  “That was awkward...” I said. Those two were the guys who’d tried to recruit Liluetta and had gotten a loud earful in return.

  ***

  “Adventurers tend to be drifters. Some of them ran away from home, and others got kicked out. Most end up renting somewhere,” Waine explained. “Of course, they wanna be as close to the guild as possible. That makes these small rooms really popular... Well, two of them are available right now.”

  There were six small rooms in this part of the guild, and apparently all of them had the same layout. The two empty ones were the third and fifth down the hall from the stairs. Waine led us to the third one, which was closer to us.

  “They’re popular, but there are two vacancies?” Yune tilted her head as she reached for the door. “That’s convenient, but...” She pushed it open.

  The room was more spacious than I’d expected. Waine had called this a “small room,” but it was big enough to have two beds. It seemed like these rooms were meant to be shared, which was good for Liluetta and Yune because they wanted to live together. There was also a table, a chair, and a shelf. Everything looked clean, and there wasn’t even any dust. From what I could see, this seemed like a really nice room.

  “This is a pretty good room, huh?” Yune remarked.

  “Agreed. It’s not as bad as I expected,” Liluetta said.

  I could tell just by looking at her face that she was in a good mood.

  “Still,” she continued, “it’s a bit cramped. If we add a wardrobe and bookshelf, it might feel even tighter. We’ll have to be selective with what we bring.”

  I thought the room was plenty big, but Liluetta’s standards seemed to be different.

  What kind of place does she live in right now? I wondered. Probably something bigger than the church or the village chief’s house.

  Waine scratched his head and leaned back against the wall by the door. He frowned at the two girls warming up to the place. “I’ll say it again. Like I told you earlier, I don’t recommend this place. I’m only showing you around ’cause you insisted. Take my advice and go somewhere else.”

  “Why?” I asked. “I mean, from what I can see, it’s a pretty nice room.”

  “Yeah, what’s the issue?” Yune chimed in.

  “I’d like to know too,” Liluetta added sharply. “If you’re just making things up, I won’t let it slide.”

  “This room’s not for everyone,” Waine said. “The kid might be fine here, but you two? I don’t think so. Don’t forget that an adventurer’s guild is basically a gathering spot for a bunch of riffraff.”

  “Ohhhh... You mean...” Yune took a step back like something had just clicked for her.

  The crooked smile on Waine’s face made him look just like the one of the riffraff he’d been talking about. He seemed to be satisfied Yune was catching on and nodded. “Yeah. We’re right over the tavern, so you’ll hear drunk nonsense every damn night. Past midnight, even—”

  Before Waine had finished his sentence, a chorus of rowdy shouting echoed up from beneath our feet and vibrated through the floorboards. When I listened closely, I could actually hear what they were yelling about. Not that it’s anything worthwhile. Just drunken noise.

  Liluetta winced. Yune, for some reason, had a strained half smile on her face.

  I nodded to myself. Waine had said these rooms were popular, but two of them were empty. Now I understood why. Plenty of people want in, but they can’t put up with the noise and leave right away.

  “Have you people ever heard of the phrase ‘noise complaint’?” Liluetta muttered.

  Waine shrugged. “Don’t go expecting adventurers to care about stuff like that.”

  Yeah, fair enough, I thought.

  ***

  “So that’s how you ended up here, huh?”

  We were at the only inn I knew of besides the one above the guild: the quiet, old-fashioned building where Chikka was staying. Even though it was already late in the evening, she was quick to welcome us and show us her room.

  “Skipping the rooms over the adventurer’s guild was the right call,” she told us. “Adventurers don’t give a damn about bothering other people. If you two rented a room there, all the other women at the guild would be lining up at your door, booze and complaints in hand.”

  “So that man was trying to be considerate.” Liluetta furrowed her brows.

  “What a cursed place...” Yune added.

  They stepped inside with looks of resignation on their faces, and I followed them.

  I’d been to Chikka’s place once before, back when I’d helped her clean this room. That had been a total nightmare. It had taken nearly the whole day just to get the place to a state you could maybe, just maybe, call clean.

  I looked around the room, then turned to Chikka. “Uh. It got messy again.”

  “When I’ve got money to spare, I just end up buying stuff,” she said with a shrug.

  The pile of fishing gear in one corner was a given. But clothes were scattered across the floor, the shelves were stuffed to bursting with trinkets, and what looked like doodles hung on the wall as “art.” A wood-carved cat as big as me sat next to a table, and some strange musical instruments, big and small, were half buried under other things.

  But we just cleaned this place. It wasn’t even that long ago!

  “Hey, it’s better compared to before. You can still see the floor,” Chikka said with a grin.

  “If you don’t keep it clean, the innkeeper’s gonna yell at you again,” I warned her.

  “In that case, I’ll just hire you again, tiny. Count on it.”

  Yeah, at this rate, that day’s probably coming soon. Whatever. If it does, I’ll drag Liluetta and Yune along.

  “This is a nice room,” Yune said. She sounded really impressed. “I was a little surprised at first by all the stuff lying around, but the layout’s spacious, it feels cozy, and the construction looks solid.”

  “And it’s close to the guild too,” Liluetta added, nodding as she glanced around. “Most importantly, no racket from downstairs.”

  While I was still preparing myself for the inevitable future cleanup, the two of them were already giving approving nods at the layout. They seemed to like it a lot.

  The building looked fairly old, but it had clearly been well cared for. It was charming in a way that made it feel nicer than newer places. I remembered being impressed the first time I came here to deliver a message. That memory was why I’d brought Liluetta and Yune here. Judging by their reactions, I’d made the right call.

  “That said,” Liluetta began, “I’m guessing the rent here is pretty steep?”

  I tilted my head at her question. “Wait, you care about the rent? But aren’t you from a rich family?”

  “Of course I care,” she replied. “If I’m going to work, I want to support myself. I might have to rely on the Magnan family at first, but that’s just to get started. The goal is independence.”

  Huh. I’d just sort of assumed someone born into money would just use it, but it seemed like Liluetta wasn’t like that. Honestly, I kind of admired that about her.

  Liluetta looked around. “This place faces the main road, has historic architecture, and both the exterior and interior are clearly well maintained. The rooms are spacious, and it looks like a very comfortable place to live. There’s no doubt it’s a great property, which also means it has to be expensive.”

  “Well, you’ve got the merchant eye, that’s for sure.” Chikka grinned. “But yeah, rent here would be rough for a Rank F adventurer without a license.”

  “We are just beginners, after all. That’s the truth,” Liluetta agreed without a trace of denial.

  I thought the room was amazing too. And the fact that Chikka could afford to stay in a place like this made me remember that she really was a skilled adventurer. Not that she acted like one most of the time... But she was Rank C, which put her three whole tiers above us. No wonder she had more money to spend.

  “It’s unfortunate, but we’ll have to pass on this room. It’s just not realistic for us right now,” Liluetta concluded with a crisp, no-nonsense shake of her head.

  “Yeeeah. Too bad.” Yune sighed.

  Somehow, even without asking, the two of them already knew they wouldn’t be able to afford living here. Meanwhile, I really had no clue how much rent would be.

  “But hey.” Liluetta turned back toward Chikka with a small smile. “Just getting to see a place like this gives me something to aim for. Thanks for showing us around. And thank you too, Kiri, for bringing us here.”

  “Oh, no problem at all,” said Chikka. “We’re fishing buddies now, remember?”

  I responded at the same time. “Uh, right. Yeah.” I didn’t expect her to thank me. We haven’t even found a room they can stay in... Liluetta really is thoughtful and sincere at times like these.

  “Ah, that reminds me.” Liluetta pressed her hands lightly together in front of her chest like a thought had just popped into her head. Then she leaned in a bit and looked at me with curiosity. “Kiri, where do you live? I mean, you came here from the countryside, so are you renting a room somewhere in town?”

  ***

  We returned to the adventurer’s guild, and I led Liluetta and Yune around back to the stable with its bare dirt floor and stalls divided by walls made of wooden planks. A simple fence gate at the front of each stall made it easy to see inside. Valenwort, the big horse who usually slept next to me, wasn’t around today. Maybe he was out on a stroll or something.

  I pointed to the last of the four stalls. “This is where I sleep. Not sure how useful this is for the two of you, though.”

  There was a bed of straw on the ground and a change of clothes hanging up to dry. Since Sheya’s magic textbook was valuable, I hid it under some straw. Other than the gear I was wearing, this was everything I had.

  The smell of dirt, hay, and animals hung thick in the air. I had only shown the girls where I sleep because they had asked me to, not because I was expecting them to live in a stable. I just couldn’t picture them doing that.

  “What the...?” Liluetta froze before finishing her sentence. Her face was a strange mixture of shock, despair, and about five other emotions. With the magic light from her wand casting dark shadows across her features, the parts of her face I could see looked unnaturally pale.

  That light spell seems really useful, I thought. I can even read my magic book at night if I learn how to use that. But I have to read the book before I can use magic... Yeah, that’s a problem.

  Yune didn’t say anything. She seemed like she wanted to but couldn’t find the words. Instead, she stood in silence with a sad expression on her face. It looked like her knees might give out at any moment.

  “Hey, what’s the matter with you two?” I asked. I really didn’t get why they were just standing there like they were stunned or something. Aren’t they overreacting a little?

  “Kiri. Your parents?” Liluetta asked.

  “I don’t have any,” I replied.

  “You left your village and came here all by yourself?”

  “Hmm, well, something like that.”

  “On your own? Even though you’re just a child?”

  Is that really important? I wanted to ask, but I answered her instead. “An acquaintance brought me here. They tried to sell me to a slave trader, I ran, and that’s how I ended up here.”

  Honestly, I didn’t want to tell them about what had happened because it was kind of embarrassing. I’d gone along with someone I never should’ve trusted, and I didn’t even realize what he was doing until it was almost too late. Looking back on it now, I felt pretty stupid.

  Yune finally found her voice. “Ohhh. And that’s why you became an adventurer.”

  “Yeah, pretty much.”

  When I said that, Yune stared at me like she was both impressed and a little horrified. The way she was looking me over made my skin crawl, so I wanted to end this conversation as fast as I could. Liluetta was obviously from a wealthy family, and I was pretty sure Yune had a similar upbringing. The more I talked about myself, the more pathetic I felt. Telling them any more than I already had would just start sounding like I was trying to brag about how miserable my life was.

 

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