Free at last

I never really appreciated how beautiful the sky is. It’s funny that to truly admire something, one would need to either lose it or have it taken away. After seven days of isolation, I finally navigated out of that wretched place. It is an experience I would never want to experience again.

“It’s been seven days, and still no contact from that voice. If analytical skills are my only power left, I need to find a way to make the most of it. Although, my top priority right now would be to earn money. I can’t exactly walk around in my ragged clothes.”

It didn’t take me too much time to find a city nearby. When I walked into the city, people who walked by me gave me strange looks. Eventually, I got tired and sat next to an inn.

“Oh? Hey owner,” a person yelled, “a beggar is sitting by your inn’s doorstep. Get rid of him before he ruins our appetite.”

I looked up and saw three well-dressed boys who were not much older than me walking towards the inn I was sitting in. Their expressions are a mix of disgust and displeasure. I immediately realize that they must have thought that many people were inferior because of how much money they had.

“Hey, that’s not how you treat a person, even if they’re poor!” a voice came out of the inn.

I saw a young girl, walking by me, angrily scolding the group of boys. She was around my age and average looking; slightly prettier than Beverly.

“Are you the owner?” One of the boys asked, a little confused.

“I’m her daughter,” the girl replied, “and you guys are no longer welcome here.”

The group started laughing.

“I could have this in completely go out of business if I wanted to,” The first boy amused, “watch your attitude.”

“You could but you won’t,” the girl replied, “it’ll look bad for your family if you started using their influence to forcibly close down our inn. I wonder what punishment you will receive after losing the reputation your family cares so much about.”

His face darkened, knowing what she said was true.

“Let’s go eat elsewhere, a place where it doesn’t reek of commoners.”

And with that, the group left.

“Are you okay?” The girl asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine”

“What’s your name? You look around my age.”

“My name is Anthony, I’m sixteen.”

“I’m Arianne, I’m seventeen.”

“Looks like you managed to make another enemy,” said a voice behind Arianne, “our inn will eventually close down if this continues.”

“You’re not scolding me, are you dad?” Arianne replied.

“What is done is done,” he sighed, “nothing will change that fact. All we can do right now is get this boy to work for us. He does look like he needs a job.”

“Um, I’m not a beggar, I just happen to stop by this inn and rest.”

“As you can see, this inn just made another enemy because of you,” Arianne smiled, “so you’ll have to work here whether or not you agree to.”

I was pulled into the inn before I could respond.

“Here are some fresh clothes and a key for your room where you will stay. Go take a shower first then come back down. Then I will give you your first assignment.” Arianne said, leading me to my room. “And one last thing, welcome to Out’s Inn.”

And so, I was roped into working at Out’s Inn by Arianne. What could go wrong?