Stepping into the Inn felt like entering a whole different world.
Such was the contrast between the dark, evil-looking streets and alleys of the dieval town at night, illuminated by an occasional shine escaping from a nearby window or a rare street lamp.
Just the difference in the presence of light and its lack wasn’t enough to describe it, though.
No.
When stepping through the doors to the inn, for the very first ti, I felt like I really was in a fantasy-borne dieval world.
And it left so stunned, I ended up standing in the doorway for long enough that one of the nearby patrons gave a look dirty enough for to shake my head and move.
The reason for his simple and short-lived anger was quite clear — with the nights growing quite cold, I was wasting everyone’s warmth by keeping the doors open!
Still, an encounter like that?
I shook my head.
’I can almost hear a dieval tavern soundtrack running in the background of this place...’ I thought, easily imagining the sound of a harpy, so strings, and maybe an improvised percussion set mixing into the endless noise of the locals chattering, the mugs clanking, and the boots constantly stomping on the inn’s weary, old floor.
"Go get that back of yours back to the room," Saintess, oblivious to my stun-locked amazent, got moving with a simple pat to the back. "I will order sothing to eat and drink in the anti."
Sent away like the youngest in the family to take the bath first, long before the water would get hot enough for a bath to be comfortable, I attempted to rush up the stairs to the second floor where our room was located—
Only to slow down to a re crawl in an instant, where the muscle pain caused by the recent sprint promptly said hello.
Step by step, I dragged myself up the stairs first, unlocking the room with a key before stuffing my backpack into the room’s chest, taking a mont to catch a breath, and then slowly making my way back.
There was a hint of fear that I would stumble upon soone aggressive on my way back. In this town, a single far was all it would take to end my life, after all!
Thankfully, while I’ve received so glances from the few patrons I’ve passed, no one appeared to be interested enough in to even bother bullying for no apparent reason.
’Maybe I just look poor?’ I thought, before dismissing the idea when I finally managed to safely stumble down the steps and be smacked right in the face with the mix of simple flavors filling the air of the inn’s ground floor.
The chatter now appeared to be even louder than just a mont ago, as if the closing of the town’s gates was rely the call for everyone in the town to gather for a drink.
It was a notion that I soon confird by taking a single look at the busy hall, only to then realize just how much trouble I was in.
With so many people inside... how the hell was I supposed to spot Selia?
I gritted my teeth and stepped ahead, feeling like a child lost in a massive store with my mother nowhere to be seen.
Thankfully, even in the inn’s dining hall no one found it worth their ti to bother , with everyone too occupied with their own drinks and conversation to pay any attention.
"Over here!" Selia called right as I finally spotted her, sitting at one of the smaller tables positioned to the dining hall’s rear, a bit away from the long tables running almost from one end of the hall to the other.
"Haaah..." I’ve heaved a long sigh as I finally got to sit down.
Just by resting my ass on a simple, backrest-free stool, I felt as if all the energy left in was nothing but an illusion, but a bunch of fus that I took for fuel.
Thankfully enough, by the ti I’ve reached Saintess’s table, it was already set with a bunch of bowls, each filled with a different kind of food.
There was sothing that looked like a hearty, aty stew. The other one housed a simple vegetable soup. Then there was a small, half-open box full of flatbreads.
The chief among all the dishes, however, had to be the massive mug, easily as big as my entire forearm and capable of housing twice the minimal intake of fluids for an adult male.
With a single sniff, I also confird the obvious — it wasn’t water, tea, or any other mild, comforting brew.
No, this mug was filled to the brim with the staple of every dieval and fantasy world — a slightly warm ale topped with a generous serving of white, thick foam.
"Co on," sitting opposite , Selia didn’t even bother reaching for any of the food, opting to just rest her elbow on the table and then her head on her hand while looking up and down, like a mix between a mother lovingly looking over their child and a lover enamored with even the simplest actions of their other half.
’It’s a weird feeling, to be stared at like that,’ I thought while gulping down a mouthful of saliva, a product of all the different flavors mixing in my nose and causing my stomach to remind just how insanely empty it was. ’But not a bad feeling at all. Not bad at all.’
I took a deep breath before picking one of the flatbreads and then tearing it in half, only to dip the freshly-made corner into the stew and scoop a chunk of at with it.
"Enjoy your al," Selia encouraged with yet another of her smiles, only to then watch while I bit away the wet part of the flatbread before taking my ti grinding it down with my teeth as much as I could, against my stomach’s protests, before finally allowing it to slide down my throat and enter the cycle of my sustenance.
’Maybe that’s what my system was all about?’
With the first chunk of food now entering my digestive system, I took a mont to think.
’It would be normally impossible for anyone to go that long without any food, while not feeling hunger or thirst at all. It’s too unnatural!’
Thinking about it, I scooped another bit of the stew, this ti managing to score both a chunk of at and a piece of so kind of watered-down vegetable.
’So, rather than calling a failure... Is it so sort of a parachute for soone destined to live through failures?’
As generally flavorless food with only the minimal amount of spice in it started to fill my stomach, my thoughts started to wander.
’It would surely be one hell of a help not to worry about food or shelter in case of an ergency...’
I took another bite before finally taking a sip of the warm ale.
And surprisingly, while the food was as filling as it was perfectly bland taste-wise, the drink...
Its fruity flavor, slight, refreshing acidity, and then a solid hit of honey-based sweetness struck the insides of my mouth.
Then, I understood.
People here didn’t co to eat.
Food here was but a staple, sothing people stuffed themselves with to abate hunger.
But the ale?
With such a great booze, it was no wonder this inn, already packed to the brim, still continued to fill in with even more custors!
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