Fireflies Inn

Soon after Lyla left in search of Raymond, Felix found himself back in his room.

Now that he had sent away his two partners for the evening he had nothing better to do. So he took a bottle of wine from a nearby shelf and started pouring himself a drink.

Halfway through the pouring, his hand stilled in midair but the wine freely flowed into the cup. Felix felt the cold sweat trickle down his back.

He was all too familiar with this feeling. It was something he only felt in his lord's presence.

Fear.

Felix felt the fear welling up inside him as he noticed the silence around him.

"Shit! What happened?"

Felix muttered out loud as he circulated mana inside his body to keep himself composed and ready to attack at any moment.

-Swoosh~

He heard a sound from behind him and quickly turned around. He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the shadows swirling to take the shape of a man.

"My lord, welcome to my humble abode."

He quickly knelt on the ground with reverence and awe etched on his face.

No matter how many times he had seen his lord he couldn't help himself from being awed by his lord's majestic aura.

Just his sheer presence alone was enough for Felix to bend the knees and worship his lord.

"Cough, I have a task for you."

The mysterious figure shrouded in shadows spoke. Felix instantly noticed the slight vibration in the voice and could tell that his lord was not in his best condition.

"My lord, are you perhaps injured?"

"Never mind that! Cough, I want you to do something for me."

Felix shuddered at the thunderous voice of his lord. He probably shouldn't have mentioned the injuries.

Fortunately, his lord didn't seem to be keen on punishing him as he asked him to do something.

"Someone has killed my contracted beast, quickly investigate who did it. Use your best agent and find the culprit as soon as possible."

"Y-yes my lord."

Felix opened his eyes wide in horror at the mention of that contracted beast.

'Damn! What kind of a freak was able to kill that wyvern?'

He had seen that demonic wyvern once and he couldn't sleep for a week after that. He was terrified of that blasted creature.

"Good, there is one more thing you need to do."

The shadowy figure spoke in a serious tone.

'Didn't you say you only had one task for me?'

Felix screamed in his head. If he kept getting tasks from his lord when was he going to enjoy himself? Felix groaned inwardly.

Of course, he wasn't suicidal enough to say it out loud. He dearly cherished his life.

"In a week or so the third prince will leave the capital city to collect taxes."

Felix had an ominous feeling when he heard that.

"Form a team of trusted and capable individuals by that time. I need you to ambush him on the way and catch him alive."

Felix helplessly nodded after hearing the order. He was definitely going to be in trouble if he was caught abducting an Imperial Prince.

He couldn't refuse his lord also. If he did he wouldn't even know how he died.

'Dear god! What did I do to deserve this?'

Felix weighed his options, on one hand, if he refused he would be killed by his lord in anger, on the other hand, even if he was caught by the third prince and his guards he was sure that he wouldn't die.

After all, his lord was stronger than the emperor and his Imperial Guardians. So he could only hope that his lord would rescue him if he failed in his task.

"As you command, my lord."

Finally, after thinking for a few seconds, Felix bowed his head in compliance.

"My lord, regarding your healt—"

He was cut off by a snort from his lord.

"Why do you think I am telling you to kidnap the third prince?"

Realisation dawned upon Felix when he heard that.

"My lord, you don't mean…"

"Yes! Injuries from the death of the contracted beast cannot be healed so easily. And mine was a Level 9 beast, do you think some shrubs growing in your garden can heal me?"

Felix shook his head after realising his foolishness.

"No, my lord."

"That's why I want the third prince. I have heard that Phoenix blood makes for an excellent panacea, Hahahaha."

Felix cringed as he heard the hoarse laugh from his lord.

*******

'Fireflies Inn'

After enquiring around the city square for a while this inn was referred to Raymond by most of the locals he asked. According to them, it had neat and sizable rooms and the service was also pretty good.

Holding onto a big bag on his back, with Jasmine by his side Raymond entered the inn. Instantly he was hit with the pleasant smell of spices being used in the kitchen and the sound of food being prepared.

"Lalala~ lalala~"

He soon spotted a short middle aged lady behind the counter. She was humming a tune as she tidied up the counter neatly making sure everything was in order.

Facing the counter were rows of tables and chairs placed at equal distances. As it was evening time the inn was filled with customers.

Unlike back in the mercenary guild people here were a lot more well behaved and ate in silence rather than causing a ruckus.

This already improved Raymond's impression of the inn. He always liked to eat in silence and didn't want to be disturbed during his meals.

The brown haired inn lady noticed the duo of Raymond and Jasmine coming towards her and ceased her work to greet them.

"Hello, welcome to Fireflies Inn. How may I help you?"

The lady beamed at them and asked in a cheery tone.

"Hello miss, we would like to rent a room please."

Raymond smiled back at her as he replied.

The lady was taken aback by his politeness. Judging by his appearance she was sure that he was from a noble background. And her previous encounters with nobles weren't all pleasant.

She was expecting him to look down on her and talk to her haughtily. But contrary to her assumptions the young man in front of her smiled back at her and talked politely.

'Huh, not all nobles are bad I guess.'

The inn lady mused as she looked up the duo in front from top to bottom.

"Hmm, what is your price range? We offer three types of rooms to our customers. Copper, Silver, and Gold graded rooms."

Raymond's interest was piqued when he heard that. He had read about the new inn system introduced by the emperor's council.

Its goal was to make first class inns available for all kinds of people from society be it poor, middle class, or rich.

After hearing about the description of the rooms from the inn lady, Raymond decided to rent a Silver graded room. It was within his budget as he had earned 10 silver coins in the day.

'Hmmm? Now that I think about it, Jasmine was the one who completed the mission.'

Raymond looked behind him where Jasmine was curiously looking around the inn.

'Hehe, as long as she doesn't realise it, it's fine.'

Raymond took out 5 silver coins and handed them to the inn lady. It was enough to rent a room for 2 days and Raymond was confident that he would earn more money from tomorrow.

Not many knew it but Raymond was a very stingy person. Even Jasmine was unaware of this fact. He had managed to hide this fact due to being locked up in his family compounds for most of his life.

Now that he was going out into the real world his hidden trait was coming out. Raymond felt his heart bleeding when he had to pay 2 gold coins for his dress. If not for the fact that he had sex while wearing that dress he would have never brought it.

But now when he paid 5 silver coins that Jasmine had earned he didn't feel as much pain as before.

'Wow! I am such a tight-ass.'

Raymond thought proudly as he patted his back in his mind. Obviously, if anyone else called him that he would beat them black and blue. Only he was allowed to call himself that.

That aside, he wouldn't starve people who were dependent on him to death just because he was stingy. He would surely feed them enough to keep them alive. He wasn't a monster, thank you very much.

Raymond shook his head to get rid of these thoughts. Now was not the time to think about these things.

"Hey, room boy! Come here."

He heard the inn lady calling to one of the attendants. A man in his twenties walked towards them with a white towel in his hands.

"Quickly, take these guests to room number 208."

Raymond and Jasmine followed the attendant as he led them towards their room. They climbed the stairs to the second floor where their room was located and after bidding goodbye to the attendant Raymond stepped into the room.

The room was spacious and gave off a warm feeling. Its white walls were speckless and the floor was neatly cleaned. It had a big bed in the middle that was wide enough to fit four people.

The bed sheets were neatly folded and the bed looked like no one has slept in it before. Raymond nodded his head in satisfaction after looking at the room.

The room also had a writing desk by the bedside and a cupboard across it. There was a divan placed at the opposite end of the bed. Next to it was a door that led to the bathroom.

Raymond placed his bag on the bed and went to check the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Jasmine checked the room thoroughly, not even missing the corners. After making sure that the room was spotless she went to unpack the bag.

Just as she started to unpack she felt two hands hugging her waist.

"Jasmine, leave that for later. Come, let's take a bath."

Raymond whispered in her ear as he pushed her hair to the side and kissed her along the nape.

"Ah! Master, hold your horses. Let me finish unpacking."

Jasmine shivered, feeling his wet tongue working on her nape.

"Hmph, the horses have long fled the castle gates, it's time for the dragon to rear its head."

Raymond turned her around and lifted her by the thighs.

"Kyaaa! Stop it master~"

While ignoring her mock protests he carried her to the bathroom.