Lodging
After being rejected at the most expensive inn in the town, Seth kept looking through the inns in the area, looking for a different place where he could stay.
After walking for a few minutes, Seth saw a slim little girl waving a heavy plaque desperately in front of a pretty rundown place. The same image popped into his mind from his memories, and Seth made his way toward the girl with a wide smile.
The little girl could only see the ground in front of her because of the plaque, and when she saw a pair of bare feet walking toward her, she excitedly let down the plaque and quickly asked, “Do you need a room?”
She was so excited to have a customer that she didn’t have time to check Seth’s outfit before asking.
Smiling at the energetic girl, Seth nodded and said, “Yes. Could you help me?”
The girl finally got a good look at Seth, and her excitement died down as she asked hesitantly, “Does big brother have copper coins? Father said you need ten copper coins to stay one night at the inn...”
Seth pushed one silver coin toward the girl and asked, “Is silver alright?”
The excitement returned to the girl’s eyes as she snatched the silver coin and dragged Seth inside by his cloak, forgetting about the sign she dropped on the ground.
Once they were past the doors, she yelled frantically, “Father, father, I found one. I found one.”
Seth’s face turned slightly awkward after hearing the girl’s words, feeling like a fish caught in the net, but he followed after her nonetheless.
A middle-aged man walked from a room in the back, saying: “Molly, how many times do I have to tell you? Be quiet, or you will bother the other customers. Also, no running inside the inn.”
The girl didn’t mind getting reprimanded as she jumped on a stool and then on the counter before placing the silver coin in front of her father with shining eyes, waiting for praise.
Her father rubbed her head and turned towards Seth with a wry smile, “I apologize for my daughter’s behavior. I'll even give you a discount if she somehow offended you. Do you want a room here?”
Compared to the previous inn, the change in attitude was quite obvious, the middle-aged man giving Seth the respect a customer should receive despite his appearance not changing at all.
“I don’t mind it, and there's no need for a discount. I'm not lacking coins. Her attitude is quite refreshing.”
The man nodded and picked a key from the hanger behind his counter before saying, “A silver coin is enough for ten days. No meals included. This is the key to your room. All the way in the back, last on the left. Anything else I can help you with?”
Seth picked up the key and said, “Sign me up for five days and keep the change. Also, do you have someone to buy some stuff for me from the marketplace?”
The man looked at his energetic daughter and asked, “Molly, will you buy something for our customer here?”
Molly nodded and turned with an overly serious look toward Seth, “Big brother, Molly will help you.”
Seth smiled and gave the girl ten silver coins before saying, “Molly, I want you to buy two clean sets of clothes for me.”
Molly looked confused at the coins and then at Seth before asking, “What clothes does big brother want? Also, what if they don’t fit big brother?”
“Just buy whatever you think looks good. As for size, grab something that you think might fit me. It doesn’t matter if they don’t fit exactly.”
After a quick nod, the girl grabbed the coins and rushed out the door, fleeing toward the marketplace.
Molly’s father looked at Seth with a raised eyebrow, “You will probably not like whatever she buys. Also, I would appreciate it if my daughter won't get into trouble because of your need for a proxy, so can you tell me the source of those coins?”
“I stole them from a rich merchant, but I’m having you send someone since it would make things easier, not because I’m afraid anyone might recognize me. If I show up like this, they'll most likely try to scam me or outright ignore me,” replied Seth as he placed one gold coin on the table. “Coins, even stolen, should still be good with you guys, no?”
The man smiled and pocketed the coin, asking," What do you need?"
“Some energy vials and information.”
“Energy water comes at one gold per vial. That’s not enough for information as well.”
Seth placed the other two coins on the counter and said: “Two vials. I also want to know if you guys have any brothels and a list of the richest merchants in the Calibrum Inn, complete with their room numbers.”
The man took the other two coins before saying, “I’ll bring the vials and the merchant info to your room this evening. Brothels we don’t have, but there’s a running slave house if you are interested.”
“No, thank you. I’m not interested in slaves. Any other place where I could blow off some steam?”
“Hmm, the servers at the gambling parlor might agree, but that’s not a service we could guarantee. It depends on the weight of your wallet and or charms.”
“Alright, bring me the address with the other stuff. Also, tell Molly to bring the clothes to my room when she returns.”
“I will. Have an enjoyable stay,” replied the man as he returned to the room in the back.
‘Underground guilds. As reliable as ever,’ thought Seth as he approached his room. Once inside, he lay on the soft bed, channeling the negative perception energy into his source.
‘It will be tough to keep the balance. It looks like I need to do some good deeds as well.’
Molly brought him his clothes two hours later. They amounted to just over seven silvers, and Seth told her to keep the rest. This brought him some good perception, but it was still not enough to balance the negative perception energy he got from stealing all those coins.
He also planned on robbing even more people, so he also needed a reliable source of positive perception energy.
When he looked into the bag of clothes, he cringed a little when he noticed they were all red but changed into the new set anyway. They were way better than the rags he was wearing now.
After changing his body shape to fit them perfectly, Seth lay on the bed and started planning for the near future, going through the list of things he need to prepare before leaving for the Capital.