For the first day, it was still safe in human settlement areas. They still had inns on the first day; for the rest, they would rest inside the carriage since winter camping in the wilderness was not ideal.
Traveling with a big group was cheaper by carriage; if they used trains or automobiles, the journey would be shortened a bit, but the price would be too much for a group of mercenaries, especially when business hadn't been doing well since the vampires hadn't stirred up anything too big in the last 20-30 years.
Sylene got his own room while the mercenaries roomed in groups of three or four. The carriage driver had already retired to their room — they were quieter and not that big, so rooming with any driver didn't seem to be a problem for them.
It was different with the mercenaries — a group of big, burly men had to room together. Michel was suddenly popular since he was rather small compared to them, making him a preferable roommate as there would be more space.
Sylene was left alone, and although they didn't bully or treat him badly, they didn't recognize him as one of them. He felt there was some kind of wall between them, but he was fine with it. He didn't fit in anywhere anyway. He never had.
The inn was small and crude. It was in the middle of nowhere, and the nearest villager's house was at least 500 meters away. There was a thick, lush pine forest, and they arrived very late at night. Sylene was tired. After paying for his room, he quickly retired to his room while the mercenaries, still full of energy, argued over room assignments. The woods were creaky, and the inn had medium occupancy. There weren't many people, but there were still some staying at the inn.
The sad part was that the bathroom was outside. He wasn't sure about washing outside, but he couldn't stand being dirty if he had the chance to be clean. His cloak was a dupe by Bryent's opinion.
The boy noticed there weren't many people near the bathroom, so maybe this was his chance. He would wash quickly to avoid being caught by the eleven burly mercenaries—it would be too cramped otherwise.
After checking that his hair and eye camouflage was still in place, he stepped into the corridor leading to the bathroom. Inside the large room were six stalls, two of which were occupied.
Sylene stealthily rushed inside the inner stall, sighing in satisfaction as he showered. He only had soap, and it didn't feel good. It didn't lather well. He kept rubbing it and felt refreshed after 10 minutes. The water was warm and comfortable, the stall old and creaky, with some cold air seeping through quietly. Not too cold, but not that warm either. He stuffed everything into his toiletries bag, quickly put on his clothes, although his skin was still damp, and kept thinking about the bed. The boy walked out of the stall, but his path was suddenly blocked.