Book Three - Chapter One

A belch, louder than Lusya would have thought Ariya’s small body capable of producing, echoed through the room as Ariya finished her milk, capping off her fourth breakfast at the Happy Elephant Inn. She let out a contented sigh and leaned back in her seat. Her burp had not filled the air with a pleasant scent. Odd how foul morning breath could smell. Her breath was not normally so fragrant.

Lusya had finished her meal several minutes earlier. The inn’s food was well-made, if not exceptional. They used a bit too much salt for her tastes, but not enough to bother her. Then again, she was not a picky eater in general, so that was to be expected unless the food were truly awful. It was possible others would take more issue with it, though Ariya had not complained. Whatever the case, that summed up the establishment in general: good, but not outstanding. Its name was the most interesting thing about it along with its proprietor.

Lusya had heard about elephants, the strange giant beasts found beyond Ysuge and even seen drawings of them—aside from the one on the sign outside—but it was unusual for anyone else to know of them, let alone name a business after them. The owner had seen one during a trip and become fascinated by the creatures, or so he said. The underlying purpose of said trip was “just traveling,” according to him.

The inn was not busy either. At the moment, there were two other parties in the dining room eating breakfast, one of which was a single woman who lived in the city and came for breakfast every day. Even during peak business hours in the evening, it was rare for more than three or four tables to be filled, supplemented by a patron or two at the bar. For a country inn, that would have been bustling. For one in one of the largest cities on the continent, it might as well have been empty. Considering the apparent dearth of revenue, the place was in remarkable shape and quite clean. More so than many more successful inns, in fact.

Not only was it well-maintained, the beds were of higher quality than average, she had seen some customers ordering rather expensive wine—or rather, wine known to be expensive that was being sold at a modest price—and the place was dotted with expensive oil lanterns for lighting at night, themselves covered in ornate ornaments and engravings. Nothing was quite at the level of the most upscale establishments, but it stood out in what seemed to be positioned as a mid-level inn. The place could have just been new, but Lusya doubted that. The innkeeper had made statements implying he had been running it for quite some time.

As an interesting side effect of the lack of business, the air was less pungent than in most similar establishments. Scents of boiling stew and baking bread still wafted into the dining room from the kitchen, but, with fewer dishes in the room itself, it was a subtler scent than most. It was also quite quiet. Ariya’s belch had been the first sound other than silverware on plates since they had started eating.

“How much longer are we gonna stay here?” Ariya asked.

Lusya blinked. “Two more days.”

Ariya gave a thoughtful hum and a nod in acknowledgment.

Assuming the tailor was on time, Lusya’s new blouse would be ready tomorrow. Not including today, they had already been in the city of Zentril for three days, and he had said five to finish. She had gotten lucky with his schedule. It would have been difficult to convince him to prioritize her order in one of largest cities in Ysuge. This was not a village in the middle of nowhere, where he had no one to turn to if she threatened him, and she had no desire to provoke the city guard. They were no threat to her, but it would still be trouble to have them trying to apprehend her, including not getting her shirt replaced. She could have shopped around, of course, but there was no guarantee any other tailor would be done faster.

“I am surprised you would ask,” Lusya said. “You often advocate for us to remain in place for longer.”

“Well, yeah,” Ariya said. She beamed. “I would love to stay here even longer. It’s fun.” Her smile faltered. “But it’s still weird. We almost never stop longer than a day or two.”

“Proper tailoring takes time.”

Lusya’s white blouse had been ruined, leaving her with only one upper garment, so she had needed to have a replacement made. After all the things that shirt had been through, receiving minor repairs along the way, it had been the sleeve getting caught on a stray branch that had damaged it beyond salvation. Getting a new one was an inconvenience, but having only the gray blouse more so. With only one shirt, if it was ruined, she may have appeared “indecent,” drawing unnecessary attention. If it was dirtied or received lesser damage, it may have compromised the effect her attractiveness had on others.

“I guess so,” Ariya replied. She cocked her head and blinked twice. Lusya was not sure if Ariya was imitating her on purpose or not. It would not have been strange for a child her age to pick up Lusya’s mannerisms without realizing it, from what she had read. “Why don’t I get my clothes tailored?”

“It is unnecessary and expensive,” Lusya said. “I would also settle for the best ready-made fit I could find if I did not have to be ready for combat.”

Ariya pursed her lips and made a skeptical grunting noise. “I think you just like wearing shirts that show off your boobs.”

Lusya tilted her head and blinked. “You are mistaken.”

It was a matter of function. She wanted to be sure she was not hindered in the event of a fight. Aesthetics were, admittedly, a nice bonus but not the focus. She hoped two months ago would be the last time she needed to fight during this journey, but somehow, she doubted that.

Two months ago…She still did not understand her actions back then. The ferocity with which she had butchered the bandits. Thinking on it had given no answers, nor had any epiphany come when it was not at the forefront of her mind, as sometimes happened with a difficult problem.

It remained a mystery, and none of her concerns on the matter had been resolved. If anything, the incident with her blouse had caused them to grow a bit. She had been distracted contemplating the issue when her sleeve had gotten caught. That was a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things, and all she had been distracted from was walking, but it did not bode well. A repeat in a more dire situation could be devastating.

After all this time, if an answer had not come, it seemed the best course of action was to put it out of mind. So, that was what she did. Either an answer would come, or the incident would fade into a distant memory.

Of course, she had already resolved to do the same many times since then. Yet the issue kept crawling back to front of her mind. She had no doubt it would do so again. Still, she could avoid thinking about it for now.

“Are you okay?” Ariya asked, her eyebrows knit in concern.

Lusya cocked her head, blinking twice. “I am fine. I am unsure what led you to believe otherwise.”

“Okay,” Ariya said, her gaze fixed on Lusya’s.

Spurred by thoughts of those events, Lusya took a moment to consider Ariya. Her seed of Malice had grown quite a bit from when they had first met, but it was still small enough to be called a seed. It had started out minuscule, though, so it was still a smaller amount of Malice than most any other human by a large margin. She was still the purest mortal Lusya had ever encountered, and she looked on track to remain so until her purpose was fulfilled.

Her analysis concluded, Lusya stood. “I assume you would not like to remain in the inn all day. How would you like to spend the day in the city?”

Ariya rested her chin in a hand and hummed in contemplation. Zentril abounded in activities and sights to partake of, many of which did not even cost any money. There was no reason to hole up in the inn, and this seemed like a fine opportunity to provide Ariya with plenty of rest and entertainment. Lusya was wondering if Ariya would be able to go longer without another break after this. It was doubtful it would be enough to make repeated similar stops worthwhile, but it did not hurt to know a little more. So, they had gone to see multiple attractions every day so far. Most were of little interest to Lusya, but a few had been interesting.

“I’ve still got recommendations left, if you’d like to hear ‘em,” the innkeeper said with a grin. He stood behind the bar counter, using a rag to polish a tankard that already all but glowed in the light.

“I do not suppose you are ready to tell me about your past?” Lusya replied.

The innkeeper’s smile grew as he shook his head. “Nope. My lips are sealed, and no questioning, violence, or torture can open them. Which isn’t to say there’s no way…” His eyes ran over her and he winked. “But I might be a little old for you. Or is it a little young?”

The man seemed to be about forty. That made him over twenty years older than her. If she had been a reltus, however, going by appearances, he would have been several years younger. It was not the first time he had implied sex would loosen her lips. After the third time she had asked, in fact, he had done so every time. She did want to know. Something was going on. Ordinary innkeepers did not travel to far flung continents and somehow have the money to maintain a business that seemed to be scraping by at best while underselling expensive goods and putting up expensive decorations.

Her first guess was that he was a criminal, former or otherwise. Not a common thief, of course, but perhaps an assassin or a member of a local organized crime syndicate. He could have ample savings from something like that, and, even if he was no longer active, his former associates likely would have seen value in providing him with funds to keep him quiet if they did not think it worth the trouble to kill him.

Failing that, she suspected a former government official, perhaps a diplomat. That would have given him plenty of reason to travel, and many of the same justifications for his ability to maintain this business applied.

There were other possibilities, of course. He could have been a bored nobleman who decided to try his hand at running an inn. Or perhaps a simple explorer who had stumbled upon wealth. She ranked such possibilities lower for various reasons. The former actually did some of the least traveling among citizens—especially outside of Ysuge—despite their resources, since they had to maintain their lands and guard it from rivals. The latter, meanwhile, would have required him to be absurdly lucky to be able to afford this business over an extended period of time. It was all quite the mystery, and Lusya’s curiosity roiled like a stormy sea in response. Still, it was not worth the potential complications of his stated conditions.

She did not necessarily believe him about violence, but interrogating him that way did not seem prudent for much the same reason as intimidating the tailor. Even if she had been leaving immediately, it would have been unwise. People had seen her in his inn, so she would be a potential suspect. She did not want to know badly enough to deal with that inconvenience.

“What if I showed you?” she asked.

He arched his eyebrows. “Everything?”

She nodded.

The innkeeper gritted his teeth and let out a breath in a slow hiss, his eyes once again scanning her form. “You drive a hard bargain, but no deal. It’s all or nothing here, I’m afraid.”

“I see. I do not believe we will be able to come to an arrangement, in that case.”

“No hard feelings?”

She shook her head. “I will not retain a grudge if you do not.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Ariya said, her brow furrowed in confusion.

“It is none of your concern,” Lusya said. She turned her attention back to the innkeeper. “I would like to hear your suggestions, if you are willing.”