The Steamy Something Incident

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Daniela was resting her chin on her hand in a blatant display of displeasure as I sat down next to her.

 

“Ah, sorry, I’ll have what she’s having.”

 

The bartender only glanced at me, but I was sure that he had heard. I would be pretty annoyed if I didn’t get my order.

 

We sat in silence for a while until our wine was served. Clank! The light yellow drinks were placed noisily on the counter. My hand stretched out.

 

“Daniela, let’s make a toast.”

“To what?”

“To your beauty.”

“F-f-f-fool.”

 

We clink the wooden mugs against each other and I drain mine in one go. It had a refreshing taste, quite to my liking, actually. Awesome. Daniela’s cheeks were slightly flushed now as she sipped more timidly and glared. Oh, she was easy to pacify. But her stare could bore holes in you all the same.

 

“Here you go.”

 

As we continued to stare at one another, the bartender set out two plates of meat for us. It smelled good. I cut off a piece with a knife and throw it into my mouth. Juicy, and incredibly delicious. Was this boar meat? I’ve had it once before.

 

“It’s good.”

 

I say to the bartender who is noisily washing his tools. He only offers me a glance before returning to his work. Wasn’t much of a talker it seemed. Was he shy?

 

“By the way, we are looking for an inn around here.”

 

Ohh, it was unusual for Daniela to start a conversation. She was usually much too busy eating… I thought, as I looked at her plate…which was empty. Was she even chewing?

 

“There is an inn. Here.”

“I thought that this was a bar?”

“It’s a bar and an inn.”

“Hmm…”

 

Daniela folds her arms and thinks. I was busy eating my food. I would leave this one to her. After all, she had more experience traveling, she would know how to handle this. I think.

 

“How much for one night?”

“Three silvers.”

“Asagi, I think this might be the place.”

 

The price was fine. But I was pretty sure that her only criteria for choosing this place concerned the meat.

 

“Mmm…yeah, I think so too. Food’s good too…”

“It is settled then. We will take two rooms for the night.”

“Thank you.”

 

I was quite satisfied for my part in pushing Daniela a little. The barkeeper left and then came back with two keys. He handed them to us and began to explain about the inn.

 

“The rooms are on the third and fourth floors. The fourth floor is for women. The bathroom is on the first floor. There is no bathhouse. If you wish to bathe, there is a hot spring near the western cliffs.”

 

A hot spring! Now that was something I couldn’t miss as someone from Japan. I would go with Daniela later on. We then finished our food, paid, and climbed the stairs together. The sound that the steps made as they creaked under our feet was something frightful. But it would at least alert you if an intruder was coming.

 

“Daniela, we got to go to that hot spring.”

“Agreed. We should go as soon as we place our belongings in our rooms.”

 

We promised to meet in ten minutes and headed to our rooms. My key had a ‘303’ written on it, so that must be my room. As I walk down the hallway, I can see through the windows that it was already dark outside. There were bonfires lit in different points around the town, illuminating the streets.

Strange. It seemed too early for the sun… But then I thought about it. This town was between two mountains, and those mountains were on the east and west sides, so the town would fall under their shadows quickly. I remember going mountain climbing with a friend a long time ago, and a similar thing had happened, much to our horror. It was the same feeling. But that meant that this town had very little time with sunlight… They would really only see it when it was at its peak.

…Ah, I better get to my room. It wasn’t too far down the hall, and I quickly found room 303. I push the key in and turn it, before opening the door. The interior of the room was, well, on the nice side. Or it might be more accurate to say that it just wasn’t dirty. And I had been expecting the room to be covered with dust, just because this was a mining town. There were even odd decorations and magical lanterns here like there were at Spiris. And as it was now dark outside, I turned on the lights before entering the room. Woah, it was bright.

I take off all my gear and throw it into the hollow bag and pull out a clean change of clothing. But then I worry.

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Isekai ni Kita Boku wa Kiyoubinbode Subaya-sa Tayorina Tabi o Suru Jack of all Trades