Chapter 37:

37. Jimdar

Waldina - Journey as a ninja in another world


The next evening Waldina and her group reached Jimdar’s towngates. Waldina and Kris got easy entry to the town as they only needed to show their adventurer cards. Kiandra got in by staying hidden somewhere within Waldina’s long purple hair. As for Claudia, Waldina opted to buy her a separate pass for the town. They didn’t stop by town that much during their journey so a one-time pass was the best choice. That way they didn’t need to get Diaz any proper documentation ensuring there’d be less traces of his journey. The less traces the better. Not to mention traces of Claudia herself - as a noble she automatically had a traveling documentation for any towns in Lucitania, her home country. But as Diaz she couldn’t just take out those documents meant for a fair lady or the disguise would be all for naught.

The evening sun reflected off the light-coloured buildings of Jimdar, creating a beautiful landscape. The city was built on a small slope, and the buildings rose behind each other like waves. This made the town look majestic, and the sun shining on it gave the town a diamond crown.

If not for the constant walk uphill, Jimdar was a completely average town. It was way bigger than either Twande or Inizio yet they had the same basic constitution. Jimdar had a lot better services to offer for both travelers and townspeople. There were two main streets going through the town. At their meeting point there was the usual round square. In the middle of the square was, of course, a fountain.

The towns in this world so far seemed like they were drawn with a straight ruler: they were all so symmetrical and similarly shaped. Though knowing this world’s similarities with the game Adventurous Online it was actually quite possible that the towns were drawn using rulers and circles. Waldina doubted that game designers had an endless pool of ideas nor time to personalize each town. She had a hunch that villages would look even more like they’d been copypasted.

Yet Jimdar wasn’t exactly symmetrical as it was built on an uphill. The buildings rose one by one higher than the one in front of them, offering a nice change of view compared to other similar towns.

Waldina and her company leisured around the streets, heading towards the square at the center. They were taking in the sights an unfamiliar town had to offer. During this time of the day there was a constant flow of people walking around yet without any hurry. They were surrounded by calmness and a certain happiness. The workers of the day were able to go home for the day or, who knows, visit one of the many taverns in the town. The workers of the night on the other usually got more gratitude as they made it possible for others to relax. At least that was what Waldina wanted to believe.

Around the square there were a lot of majestic, detailed buildings. They were artistic, from their curved designs to the small details decorating the window frames. One such building had a sign ‘Hotel’ on top of its door. Kiandra flew to Waldina’s eye level and glimmered with hopeful blue color.

“Can we please please stay over there tonight?” Kiandra rounded her eyes in order to seem even more adorable than usual.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’re trying to hit on me,” Waldina chuckled and forced herself to look away from the fairy. Kiandra really knew how to pull her strings. Though obviously staying in a hotel sounded tempting to her as well.

“Maybe I am trying,” Kiandra winked at the ninja once she’d managed to land back on her line of sight. “If I buy a similar artefact-” Waldina’s terrified eyes got Kiandra to quickly close her mouth. She glanced at Kris who was raising his eyebrow in curiosity.

“A similar artefact to…?” Kris voiced expectantly and he had no intention of letting such a chance slip by.

“As one of my owners had in the past,” Kiandra finished her sentence in discomfort. Talking about owners was perhaps an uncomfortable topic for her yet at least it was a topic that took the attention away from her earlier plunder.

“Owner?” Kris seized the new opportunity presented to him, his eyes filled with curiosity and pity.

“Yes. Kiandra was earlier caged into the grimoire, as I briefly mentioned to you. Thus she’s always seen the grimoire owners as her owners,” Waldina explained so that Kiandra didn’t have to dwell on her uncomfortable past more.

“But to reply to your earlier question, Kiandra, perhaps we could ask if the hotel has empty rooms for the night,” Waldina continued, giving in to the fairy’s plea. Perhaps after having to talk about such things, a quick breather was deserved. Besides, the ninja was more than pleased with the idea as well. On top of that they had money thanks to the funds they’d gotten from Claudia’s knights - and hopefully more money was coming their way soon after they’d completed this mission and reached Xunte Sintra.

Kris didn’t press the issue more, though his observing gaze remained on Diaz.

The decorative hotel on the square was almost as artistic on the inside as it was on the outside. A ribbon imitating a climbing plant ran along the edge of the ceiling, its shiny surface reflecting the rays of light from the ceiling lamp. The rays of light bouncing around the ceiling and other surfaces added to the atmosphere of the room. Opposite the door was a small counter with a huge potted plant on either side—or a tree, depending on how you wanted to think of it. Behind the counter was a young man, and an older lady commenting on his actions.

“Hello, do you have room for two travelers?” Waldina called out as she reached the counter. Hearing her words, both of the employees turned to look at her. The older lady sharpened her gaze before smiling stiffly, though friendly.

“Welcome. Yes we have. I suppose you meant two vacant rooms? There’s three of you after all,” the lady began as she looked from Waldina to Diaz to Kris. Kiandra was once again hiding somewhere behind the ninja’s purple hair.

“Oh no, I just need two one-person rooms, one for me and the other for my companion,” Waldina pointed at Diaz, standing by her side, and Diaz bowed a bit out of politeness. Kris, standing on the other side of Diaz raised his eyebrow in question before stepping away from them. The employees seemed to get the hint, not once mentioning Kris to them again.

Waldina really wanted to keep a certain line between her and Kris. He could travel with them all he wanted, but they wouldn’t become best buddies. And she didn’t deem it needed to pay for others than her close friends. Besides, it would be utterly wrong to pay for the lodgings of Claudia’s chaser with the money she’d received from Claudia’s knights.

And yet she felt a sharp sting in her heart as she pushed Kris further away from their group. She wanted to pretend they were real friends for even a one fleeting moment.

The hotel was way larger compared to any inns they’d stayed before. It had a built-in restaurant which offered breakfast in the mornings, other times it was a regular restaurant. The building had overall four floors which meant there were tons of rooms in there.

The rooms Waldina had gotten them were located on the fourth floor. The windows pointed away from the square meaning it offered a view of the town below. They could clearly see the other side of the beautiful town and the buildings rising up floor by floor now descended before them. It was a dizzyingly gorgeous sight, the kind you don't come across every day. The buildings in the city centre were all taller than the ones on the edges of the town which meant they didn’t have any window neighbors from the buildings in front of them; they were after all too high up for that. That gave them a certain feeling of calmness in the middle of the busy town.

Besides the rooms, landscape and restaurant, the hotel had a small spa. The group didn’t go to take a look at it yet but Waldina promised Kiandra they’d swing by later, after having dinner. Claudia on the other hand wasn’t thrilled about the spa, even after Kiandra commented on how relaxing it was to bathe at such a place. In the end Claudia agreed to decide on the matter later, right now she just wanted to focus on anything else. The spa was an understandably uncomfortable place for her, even if she’d gotten used to bathing as Diaz. Yet it hadn’t prepared her for bathing with other naked men, hence her hesitation on the matter.

Kris joined their company after a while and they walked through the streets in search of a place to eat. Although Kris’ room was on the same floor as theirs, Waldina was sure that the man had other means to stalk their actions as well. At least the gaze she felt on her at all times, was a sign of that. Yet she didn’t think for a minute that Kris would leave them alone for too long. He didn’t want to miss any chances of interrogating them about Diaz, after all.

“Do you have any preferences on where we should eat tonight?” Waldina asked after they’d been walking around a couple of minutes around the lively streets of Jimdar. From the square where their hotel was located, it didn’t take long to walk to the closest restaurant and cafe street. It was full of people and a constant chattering had surrounded them the minute they stepped on the area.

“Some tavern,” Kris suggested with a glimmer in his eyes. “If we’re not travelling tomorrow, I’d gladly like to drink a couple.”

“Haha, fine by me,” Waldina nodded, accepting the half-hearted challenge. She may not have had enough age for drinking in this world - though drinking wasn’t illegal for underages - but in her home world she had more than enough experience of drinking. Drunkards were usually more talkative and Waldina wouldn’t pass by such an opportunity. As Kiandra and Claudia didn’t dare to argue with the plan, the purple haired ninja went to look for a suitable tavern.

After ten more minutes of walking they finally stopped in front of a certain tavern. The front of the tavern was filled with drunk and less drunk people enjoying the evening sun outside. The tavern seemed comfortably stylish: Not too expensive yet not the cheapest possible either. It was perfect for Waldina’s purposes. She needed a nicely drunk place so she’d get Kris to talk more. Yet not any pub would make the cut so that Claudia wouldn’t feel so out of place.

With a satisfied smile on her face, Waldina stepped into the tavern. She was faced with a faint smell of alcohol and loud noise. If it had been noisy on the street, it was even more so on the inside. Closed space and a couple of drunkards didn’t exactly mesh well together. Though if one needed noise it was the perfect choice.

Waldina headed towards a free table at the back of the tavern and signed for the others to follow her. The table was nicely on the side so one could still somewhat hear their thoughts and still not miss out on the events at the tavern.

“Welcome, what would you like?” a red-haired waitress asked them as they’d settled around the round table.

“What do you have on the menu?” Waldina inquired about taking the lead in the conversation for both Claudia’s and Kiandra’s sakes. Kris could have probably done the talking as well, but the ninja just happened to be the first to open their mouth.

The waitress recalled the tavern’s short menu and the group ordered right away. Kris ordered beer as well and Waldina some wine. Claudia’s judging gaze pointed at Waldina, as she didn’t approve of her drinking but the ninja couldn’t care less. She had far more important goals right now, than appealing to Claudia.

“So what’s our schedule for tomorrow?” Kris asked as they waited for their meals to arrive.

“We’ll get Waldina some new clothes,” Claudia stated with a quiet yet enthusiastic voice.

“And to you,” Waldina added with a meaningful smile on her lips.

“And to me,” Claudia nodded in approval.

“Understandable. Anything else?” Kris pressed on weirdly curiously.

“I’ll stop by to sharpen my weapons,” Waldina replied, turning to Kris with her eyes squinted ever so slightly. “Do you have somewhere you wish to stop by?” Because Kris obviously had something on mind as he kept on asking about it so much.

“No I don’t. Was just thinking,” Kris evaded the question, sharpening his gaze before pointing it to Waldina.

“So shopping for clothes. I get Waldina but why for Diaz as well?” Kris turned the tide of the conversation away from himself and to a much more interesting topic. One could never know for sure where they’d find the crucial tips and secrets.

“Diaz uses basically two different sets of clothes. He can’t go on dressing like that,” Waldina laughed amused. She shut down the topic almost as fast as Kris had brought it up. Kris clicked his tongue and admitted having lost this one, mentally declaring Waldina the winner of this one.

“You’re free to stay back at the hotel tomorrow or go on with your business as you like,” Waldina suggested. “Shopping for clothes for us must be boring for you.”

“Well, well, it’s not boring to look at such a beautiful lady trying on different dresses,” Kris returned to his usual flirting smile and Waldina rolled her eyes, annoyed. The man still flirted way too much, especially when he knew she knew of his relationship with Rubin. He was nice company yet as a person he was unbearable at times. At least his company taught her that one shouldn’t fall for the charms of flirting jester. Like ever. Or at least one should make sure that the jester was actually serious.