As Melina left the ship and its crew behind, she looked at the pier of Sunglow Town. It was much smaller than the one in Tuvia City, the cargo ship she had arrived with being the largest vessel in the port. People were already excitedly approaching the ship, eager to see the goods it had delivered. But Melina was just relieved to finally get down on solid ground. She took one last look at the ship and saw the Captain looking at her. He smiled at her and gave a curt wave, and she inclined her head towards him and also waved goodbye.
She truly felt grateful towards the Captain and even more grateful towards Brock, despite all the hard labor he put her through. But her feelings towards the crew were less than pleasant. Even now she saw how their gazes bore into her as she left. Melina didn't linger at the pier for long and instead headed into the calm streets of Sunglow Town.
It truly was a small town, barely being larger than a village. One main street stretched ahead of her with the main buildings of the town standing out among the wooden houses. There were a few rowdy pubs where she could hear music and loud chattering as people relaxed after a hard day of work. For a moment, she considered heading inside one of them and asking for directions but hearing that the people had already had their fair share of drinks, she decided against it.
How hard can it be to find the local inn? This place isn't that large so I'll look around for a bit longer.
She kept walking down the main street, looking at the houses—some clearly old and requiring restoration, some completely new although the newer houses were a vast minority. There were also some shops along the way, as well as what looked like a town hall. Soon enough, she saw a large building which looked like the definition of an inn.
Red tiled roof, large open door from which came delicious smells and many, many windows some with closed curtains, some with open. But the place clearly was bustling with life. Melina didn't hesitate and headed inside, her sack draped over her back.
"Welcome to Fireside Inn! Are you looking for a place to stay for the night? Or perhaps for something to eat?" A woman with long brown hair and cheerful smile sat behind the counter and greeted her with a smile. With the corner of her eye, Melina noticed some people sitting in the adjacent dining room and eating. Her stomach gurgled and she decided that she'd go to grab herself a bite afterwards.
"Hello. I'm looking for a place to stay for the night. Or perhaps two. I'm not yet sure how long I'll need to stay here," she said, a bit of fear returning to her. She hoped that the prices would not be too high for the night, in case she needed to stay for longer.
"That's alright. You remain as long as you like, but you'll have to pay for your room upfront each day," the woman said, opening a large book in front of her and looking through it. "Currently we can offer you a premium double room, premium single room, simple double room, simple single room and budget room."
"What is the difference between them?" Melina asked, although she was already rather sure that she would go with the budget option. As long as it didn't have cockroaches in it…
"Premium rooms come with an adjacent bathroom, simple rooms don't have a bathroom but are still rather spacious, while our budget room is rather small, meant for travelers who either don't need a lot of space or are looking to save some money. But I assure you that budget rooms are just as clean as the other rooms. They are merely smaller in size," the innkeeper explained, no doubt already sensing which room interested Melina the most. Although that much was already clear from her rather scrawny appearance.
"How much is the budget room?" she asked as she pulled a stray lock of her hair out of her face and secured it behind her ear. She still wasn't quite used to the fact that her hair was long again, having lived with short hair for a long time.
"Budget room is one silver coin and eight copper coins per night. I do have to mention that breakfast is not included with the budget room, you're going to have to purchase it yourself."
"That's alright. I'll take one of your budget rooms for two nights for now," Melina said and set down four silver coins on the counter. The innkeeper smiled and quickly collected the coins.
"Excellent choice. You can always remain for longer if you need to. I'm just going to need your name, miss," the innkeeper said, grabbing the pencil and preparing to write it into her large book.
"Melina Dufour."
"Melina. Noted. My name is Erina Kruger and I'm the innkeeper here. If you have any problems, then don't be shy and come straight to me," Erina said and then put a key and four copper coins on the counter which Melina promptly collected. "Your room is on the second floor, at the very end of the corridor, number 39. The bathroom is on the opposite side of the second floor."
"Thank you very much," Melina said and headed upstairs. The wooden interior of the inn was rather simple however it was well-kept and clean. As she walked through the long corridor of the second floor she saw several other people there, cheerfully chattering among themselves and not paying her any mind.
Once she got to the end of the corridor, she worried that the budget room she had just paid for might have been a bad choice as the corridor seemed darker on this side. However, as she unlocked the door to the room, she realized that her fears were unwarranted. The evening sun was shining in through the window and illuminating the tiny room.
It was really, really small with the bed taking up most of the space despite being a rather small single bed. There was a narrow wardrobe in the corner and the tiniest table next to it with a stool underneath. Melina was sure that some people would have been repulsed by the almost claustrophobic size of it. But she, on the other hand, closed the door to the room and promptly fell into the bed.
It was by no means the softest bed in the world, but for her it felt like the finest sleeping place. The stay on the ship had been much rougher than she initially anticipated, especially with all the work that she had to do. But if she were to become an apprentice and later make her own living, she'd have a lot more hard work ahead of her.
"I just want to sleep," she mumbled into the pillow, but as if on cue, her stomach grumbled. After laying in the bed for a few more minutes, Melina reluctantly got up and headed downstairs in hopes of grabbing something cheap but filling to eat.
"How'd you like your room?" Erina asked with a smile as Melina passed by the reception counter.
"It's got everything I need, thank you. I assume that the eatery over there is open for guests," Melina asked, pointing into the adjacent room where she could see people eating.
"Oh, yes. The cafeteria is open for everyone, guest or no guest. Guests however get a nice discount. Just show the key of your room to the employee at the counter and you'll get 20% off whatever you order," Erina said with a proud smile.
"Really? That is rather generous of you," Melina noted. Erina snickered and beckoned Melina to come closer. She approached the counter and Erina whispered.
"Actually, the discount is just 10%, but I apply extra costs to non-guests. The folk from the town watch especially have caused quite a lot of damage to my inn, so this is my way of getting back at them."
"Wouldn't they notice the price difference?"
"Oh, they know about it alright, but I got the best chef in the whole town so if they want to eat her food, they have no choice but to pay up," Erina laughed triumphantly. "Enough about that. I'm sure you must be hungry. Go on and enjoy your meal."
"Thank you very much," Melina said and smiled at the innkeeper. Her cheery attitude was just too infectious. Perhaps, that was the real reason why the locals didn't mind paying a bit extra.
She went into the dining room and saw how spacious it actually was. There were more than twenty tables in the room, some large enough to accommodate ten people at a time. At the end of this dining hall there was a large table crammed full of various foods, above which stood a large blackboard with all the prices listed.
Some people were already standing in the line, slowly piling food onto their plates and later taking it to the register where one of the kitchen staff, a young and scrawny looking boy, was putting the food on scales and then listing the price of the food. Thanks to this line, Melina could take her time looking over the prices and admiring all the mouthwatering food.
How interesting. All the warm dishes are stored in metal containers above what look like a stove. They must be using coals to keep the food warm. It's not quite magitech, but the materials certainly are interesting.
Melina chose potato mash, a few small sausages and a simple carrot salad as they were some of the cheapest items on the menu. It took a lot of willpower to walk past the large, succulent-looking shrimps, but their price was a good deterrent. In the end she paid four copper coins for her meal which was an absolute steal in her opinion.
Settling down at a small table on the far side of the dining hall, she slowly enjoyed her meal and observed the people. Few of them were clearly tourists, their clothes looking like typical traveler's clothes meant for comfort or far too fancy for the place. The local people were far more subdued in how they dressed, but their attitudes were more relaxed—clearly this was a place that they frequented.
The atmosphere is rather pleasant here. I understand why they'd come back. It's not as rowdy as a tavern, but this must be one of the social hubs of this town. It'll be good if I'll need to gather some information in the future.
As she continued eating her meal, a new group entered the cafeteria—loud and rather rowdy compared to everyone else. They were all dressed in the same dark green uniform and each of them had some sort of a weapon with them—a sword, a spear or a bow.
That must be the town watch that Erina was talking about earlier. Is it alright to enter a place such as this while carrying weapons?
Some of the people looked in their direction, but they didn't appear bothered and continued eating. Melina did the same while keeping them in her peripheral vision. Once they had gotten their food sorted, the guards took the largest table, depositing their weapons either underneath it or propping them against it. They also took down their helmets, and that's when Melina barely managed to contain their surprise. Two of them were elves—laughing and hollering along with their human colleagues.
I can't believe it! Elves working for the town watch. Why? How?
However, the oddest thing was the reaction of other people in the cafeteria. Some of them looked at the elves, but most didn't seem to care in the slightest.
So does this mean that these elves have been here for so long that everyone has already grown accustomed to their presence? I'm sure that if an elf appeared in Tuvia it would cause an uproar. Some would want them gone, others would try to win them over for their gain. It'd be absolute mayhem. Yet the reaction here is so… lackluster.
Suddenly, Melina realized that her plate was empty. She had been staring at the elves for so long that she hadn't even noticed that she had eaten everything. Slowly, she delivered the dishes to the kitchen staff who was stacking them on a trolley. It was difficult to tear her eyes away from the elves, their grace and beauty standing out above the rest. But she knew that she'd attract unwanted attention if she kept staring, so with great effort she tore her gaze away and left the dining hall.
"How was your meal?" Erina asked while she was busy arranging some flowers in a vase.
"Oh, it was good," Melina replied, although she honestly could not remember much about the flavor of her food.
"Something wrong? You look a bit shaken," Erina asked, lifting her gaze up from the flowers.
"Oh, no… It's just that I saw some… unusual guests in your cafeteria," Melina finally admitted.
"Oh, you must mean the elves. Yeah, we're a small town so any new addition to the town is welcome. Even non-humans," Erina chuckled and returned to her task.
"So they just… live here?" Melina prodded, despite realizing that she was being a bit nosy.
"Oh, yes. Besides, elves are not the only non-human race around these parts," the innkeeper smiled mischievously.
"Not the only one?" Melina's eyes widened in shock. Elves already caused a big enough stir among humans, so thinking that there were other non-human races here seemed ludicrous to Melina. Yet Erina claimed that they just lived among the populace here?
"Yeah. If you remain here for longer, I'm sure you'll meet them soon enough," Erina said.
"So the people are alright with these… other races living here?" she asked, still unable to process the fact. After all, as an [Archmage] she had been often asked to dispose of these non-human races that got too close to humans.
"There are a few squabbles now and then, but nothing too crazy. You've never met anyone from another race have you?" The innkeeper asked. Melina was about to say that she had, but then again those couldn't exactly be called meetings. Those were battles.
"There are only humans in Tuvia where I grew up," she said instead.
"Yeah, it must be rather weird for you then. But don't worry, they're all harmless—I promise you that. You'll understand if you decide to live here."
"I hope to remain here for a long time, but I'm not sure if I will."
"How so?"
"I'm hoping to become an apprentice of the local baker here, but I don't know if he'll accept me," Melina explained, and Erina's expression instantly grew darker.
"Oh, you're gonna apply to be Gilbert's apprentice? He's… He can be tough to deal with," Erina said as she put the last flower in the vase and nodded at it with satisfaction. "I'd like to reassure you and tell you that he'll surely accept you, but Gilbert can be… quite rough. If his bread and pastries weren't so good, I doubt customers would want to deal with his grumpy attitude."
"I'll do my best," Melina replied, clenching her fist. She had to make this work. She wanted things to work out.
"Oh, and go to sleep early. The bakery opens at seven and he won't even look at you if you arrive anytime after eight," Erina added. Melina nodded and headed back to her room, all sorts of unpleasant scenarios playing out in her mind and keeping her awake for far longer than they should.
Can I really do this?