We both kept walking with Bella in the lead, supposedly 'guiding' me throughout the town. Things went awkward after we both exited the guild and can barely make small conversation between the two of us.

   Should I say something here..? this is awkward…

   I started noticing that all the people on the streets are avoiding me and Bella, with fear and wariness written on their faces. I can also hear their whispers as they avoid us.

“Hey, look…”

“Watch it, don’t get to close to her…”

“…”

   Why are these people so afraid..? what is actually going on he-

“Dian…” Bella suddenly called out to me.

“Whoa! Y- yes?!” I answer as I almost crashed to Bella.

“This…” Bella said softly, stopping in front of a building.

“This is an inn… a place to stay… for adventurers…”

   An inn? That explains why there are so many adventurer-like people going in and out of the place… the sun is setting, I should tell Bella to end the guide… I don’t want to bother her… Bella is probably exhausted this day…

   Bella starts to walk again as I was lost in my thinking.

“Bella!”

   Bella stopped walking and looked at me with a faint confusion.

“What is it… Dian..?” Bella asked curiously.

“Uhh… Bella, what if we end the guide here and we continue it tomorrow..? the sun is setting and is getting dark outside, you must be tired too, right..?”

“…” Bella paused and looked at me while tilting her head.

“D- Don’t be mistaken! I just… don’t want to weigh you down…”

“…” Bella paused again, still wearing her blank expression.

   She then averts her gaze to the ground.

“O- okay… if that’s what you want…”

“So, uhh… while we are in front of this inn… I want to rent a room.”

“Is that so..? then, I’ll come with you…”

“Oh. You’re also staying in this inn, Bella..?”

“Yes… for a long time now…”

   I thought Bella have a house of her own… a girl like her staying in an inn..? heck, I thought she lives in a mansion... she looks like a noble, so gracious and dazzling…

“Uhh, anyways! Let’s go in, then…”

“…” Bella nods silently.

   Bella and I went into the inn together. The Inn is so lively with all the adventurers and people drinking, playing cards, and talking as if a party is held in the Inn. There are also a fair amount of maid-like employees servicing the customers of the Inn here and there with swift and quick motions, looking pretty busy.

   What a crowded place. To be honest, inns are full by night time, or so I learned from the games that I’ve played before… it’s pretty noisy, the tables are full of people that are having a feast and drinking ales…

   Bella starts to walk and I follow right after, the noisy chattering and lively atmosphere in the Inn suddenly went a bit quieter as Bella and I enter the Inn, with some of them staring at Bella.

   And it happened again… I could feel the stares of these people around us. Bella is ignoring the gaze with her blank expression as if… she is used to this…

“Hey, Isabella! You’re back already!” shouts an old woman by the inn’s counter as she waves her hands towards us.

   Who..?

   I looked over the counter and I saw an old woman behind the counter, waving her hand cheerfully and putting a smile towards Bella.

“…” Bella waved back to the old woman silently.

   That old woman… greeted Bella..? with open arms and a warm welcome… thank goodness…

   We walked closer to the counter.

“What’s the matter, sweetheart? It’s rare for you to come home this late?” The old woman asked with a puzzled look on her face.

“Today’s work… only a few… aunt Loris…”

“Is that so? Thank goodness, then! You need some rest, young lady!” The old woman said with a happy look on her face.

   The old woman then paused as she looks at me behind Bella.

“And who is this? Are you a customer?” the old woman asked curiously.

“Umm… I-“

“He’s… my new friend… his name is Dian…” Bella said softly.

“A friend?! Seriously?! Oh, what happy news!” The old woman said with a joyous expression.

“Uhh…”

“Oh! Sorry, sorry! Are you looking for a room to rent?” The old woman said eagerly.

“Yes… miss..?”

“Loris, just call me aunt Loris! I am the innkeeper of this establishment along with my husband, the head chef of this inn.”

“Y- yes… I’d like to rent a room…”

“Dian… aunty… I’ll go ahead to my room…” Bella said.

“Oh! Go right ahead, sweetheart! The meal will be delivered right away, okay!”

“See you later, Dian…” Bella said as she walks upstairs and shyly waves her hand to me.

“O- okay…” I said as I waved back at Bella.

“Ohohoho… so it’s like 'that', huh?” aunt Loris said with a smirk on her face.

   Oh no… it seems like aunt Loris might’ve misunderstood something…

“Anyways, how many nights will you stay here?”

“Umm…”

   Now that I think of it, I don’t know the prices of staying in an inn… that should be common sense for adventurers to know the price… how am I supposed to explain it to her..?

“Oh, are you perhaps not used to inn fees?” aunt Loris asked curiously.

“I uhh… yes…”

   She’s probably thinking that I’m weird…

“Aah! It’s okay, you must be from a faraway place, right?”

   What..?

“Y- yeah… how did you know, aunt Loris..?”

   Is it because of my name..?

“This is the first time that I’ve heard of a person with the name Dian, and I’ve served as an innkeeper for 21 years.”

   Just as I thought, my name is very unusual in this world… the people that I’ve met have this middle age century names and names that belong to their race like Clara and Ellie’s father… my name is from the modern era… I wonder if I should have an alias to cover people’s curiosities about my real name…

“If so… how much for a night..?”

“A night costs 2 iron coins, but if you plan to spend a few nights here, the price depends too. The meal service also depends.”

   2 iron coins for a night… that is not a bad price… I wonder how much will it be if I order a meal…

“If possible, I’d like to try for a night… and I’ll order a meal…”

“Certainly! What’ll it be? A regular or a special meal? The regular one costs an extra 1 iron coin while the special one costs an extra 3 iron coins.”

   An extra iron coin… totaled to 3 iron coins per night… I still have 7 silver coins, so I can spend around 23 nights if I stay the night with the “regular” bundle while it’s 14 nights if I order the special meal...  I am thankful that Garren gave me these silver coins... so I don’t want to spend it haphazardly. Maybe I can take on a quest in the Adventurer’s Guild. For what I know, you get paid for quests that you complete… I can make that my source of income for now.

“I’ll take the regular meal, then…”

“Okay! It’ll be 3 iron coins, please!” aunt Loris said with a smile on her face.

   I reached to my pouch and took a silver coin, then I hand it to aunt Loris.

“Thank you! Here’s the change!” aunt Loris says as she handed me 7 iron coins.

   Aunt Loris then reaches her hand under the counter.

“Here it is! Room 21.” Aunt Loris said as she handed me a key.

“Up that stairs, turn left, and your room is at the end of the hallway!”

“Thank you…”

“Do you have any more questions?”

   Questions… wait, is it possible..? is there a clue of Mika’s whereabouts?!

“Umm! Aunt Loris! Do you know of a girl named Mika?!”

“Hmm… Mika..?” aunt Loris murmured with a puzzled look on her face.

   Please… I hope Mika has been here…

“Sorry… there is no one named Mika that has entered here…” aunt Loris said with a sad look on her face.

“She has dark-chocolate colored and short hair, wearing the same outfit as me but a skirt instead!”

   Aunt Loris paused for a second and tried hard to remember.

   She then puts a sad expression as she shook her head at me.

   Drat! I hoped that Mika’s here… or been here before… how long do I have to search for you…

“I understand, aunt Loris… thank you…”

“Once again… sorry, Dian…” aunt Loris said with a sorry look on her face.

“It’s fine, aunt Loris, it’s not your fault…”

“Then, I’ll head to the room, aunt Loris…” I said as I started to walk away and head into the stairs.

“Okay! The meal will shortly arrive!” aunt Loris said eagerly and back with her cheerful expression.

   I took a turn left and walk through the corridors as I search around for room 21.

   Room 21… room 21… ah, there it is.

   I unlocked room 21 with the key that aunt Loris gave me. I saw a dark room with a comfy looking bed, wooden chair, and a table with an unlit candle on top of it. Only the moonlight illuminates the room through the window. I then close the door behind me as I lit the candle on the table.

   This room is pretty cozy for just 2 iron coins…

   I put my backpack and sword beside the bed, then I tumbled onto the soft bed.

   Even the bed has this fluffy and soft feeling… not good, I could fell asleep if I stay like this for another second. But, I can’t sleep yet. I haven’t checked the notifications I got from killing those goblins before… [Menu].

   Technique… huh..?

   I pressed the (?) on both of [Technique(s)] and [Swordsmanship]

   DING!

   As I thought… I used a sword during that battle… even if I’ve never held a sword before and not very good at it, I can be good at it if I keep practicing it, so the description said… I wonder, can I get arts if I use different types of weapons..? I’ve never properly used a real weapon before… except for a stick that I use to duel with Mika back when we were little…

   Whatever, what’s tomorrow’s plan… buying clothes… do quests… and… oh yeah. Bella’s guidance… to be honest, I can’t wait to stroll around this town… I’m intrigued by what this world has for me-

Knock Knock Knock

   Sounds of door knocks were heard.

“Excuse me… your meal is here.” Said an unfamiliar voice from the other side of my door room.

   Who’s that..?

   I closed the [Menu] windows, then I got up from the bed and head to the door. I then opened the door and I saw a girl with wolf ears and tail, wearing a maid-like outfit holding a wooden tray with meals on it.

   Whoa… it’s one with animal ears… she looks so cute…

“Thank you for waiting, your meal is ready.” The girl said shyly.

“Oh, umm… thanks.” I said as I take the tray from the girl.

“I- I hope you enjoy your stay!” The girl said with a fluster as she awkwardly bows her head and then walks off downstairs.

   Well… that was something…

Clack

   A sound of the door opened beside my room and I saw Bella, picking up her tray of food on the wooden floor.

“Bella..?”

“D- Dian..?” Bella said with a surprised look on her face.

   We stared at each other awkwardly in confusion as Bella’s and my face reddens.

“I- uhh… didn’t know my room is beside yours…”

“Yes…” Bella said softly as her face gets redder and redder

“W- what a coincidence…”

   Why is my room beside Bella’s room?! What is this??? Wait a minute…

   I saw a note on my tray that said “Enjoy your stay with her, Dian!” on it.

   I knew it… aunt Loris probably didn’t give me a random room key… this is all a setup…

“…”

“…”

   We kept staring at one another awkwardly, waiting for each other to start conversing.

   When I look closely… she is pretty… w- wait! Snap out of it!

“S- So! Umm…”

“…” Bella still stays silent with a shy expression on her face.

“T- Tomorrow! The guide, I mean…umm… is your schedule free tomorrow..?”

“Y- yes… it’s all clear tomorrow…” Bella said as she averts her shy gaze from mine.

“I- Is that so? Thank god, haha…”

“Yeah…”

“…”

“…”

“Umm… Bella, I just want to say thank you… giving me a guide… even though you’re probably busy…”

   In my whole life, no one’s willing to help me… just my mom and Mika…

   Bella then stared at me again.

“It’s… not a problem, Dian… after all… you are… my friend…” Bella said softly with a blush on her face.

“…”

   I paused for a second, speechless.

“Y- yeah… friends… haha…” I said as I put an awkward smile on my face.

“Alright… once again, thank you, Bella… let us eat our meals while it’s still warm…”

“… Let’s…” Bella said with a faint smile at me as she turns back to her room and closes the door.

   I then turn back to my room and close the door behind me as I put the tray on the table.

   A tear dropped from my left eye.

“Her friend… huh..?” I said as my tears began flowing and I swept it my left arm.

 

 

…

 

 

“Hey, Dian, want to go to the canteen?”

“Sure, let’s go.”

   I closed my textbook, then went to the canteen together with my classmates. The 3 of us are chatting on our way to the canteen, it was a delight that I made friends on the first day of the new high school I'm in, I thought it'd be another agonizing year of school that I have to experience.

“Yeah, right? Should've just gone for her, dude!” Said a faint and familiar voice.

   I looked towards the familiar-sounding voice and saw him in front of the canteen, squatting and chattering with a couple of students. My heart skipped a beat when I saw him, I was shooked and I started to have cold sweats.

   As we walk closer, I hid behind my classmate.

“Huh? Dian? What are you doing?” Said my classmate that I am hiding behind.

“P- please, don’t say anything…” I said as I shiver all over and having cold sweats.

   Why is he here..? I thought that I’ll never see him again once I got in this school…

“Hmm? Was that..?” He said with a suspicious look on his face.          

   He then slowly looked around him and finally heads toward us.

“Hey, are you the one that mentioned the name ‘Dian’?” He asked my classmates intimidatingly.

“Uhh… yeah, here he is behind me.” My classmate said nervously as he points to me.

   W- why did he?!

   He then looked behind my classmate and he puts a sinister smile at me.

“Diaaan! What a surprise! What are you doing there? Come here!” He said as he happily dragged me to him.

“Uhh… Dian? You know him..?” Said one of my classmates.

“I…”

   I turned a little bit pale and is shivering, can’t even say anything.

“Of course we know each other! We went to the same middle school, right?” He said to me with a terrifying smile on his face as he puts his arm around my shoulder.

“R-… right…” I said with an even paler face.

“There! How come I didn’t see you at all?”

   He tightens his arm around my shoulder.

“By the way… what are you doing so early here, Dian?” He said as he smiles at me.

   My voice paused, unable to speak out of dread for a while.

“W- I- I was just going to grab some food…” I said in a stutter.

“Oh really? Why don’t we talk for a second! HEY! You two don’t mind, right?”

   I stare at my classmates, hoping that they denied what he said and come to rescue me. The only thing I saw was their terrified face, trembling in fear.

“C- Can’t be helped, we don’t mind, haha…” My classmate said nervously.

“Y- Yea! We’ll go ahead, Dian!” My other classmates said nervously as he pulls my classmate with him.

   They both hurried to the canteen and left me.

   Why…

“Hehe… I didn’t expect you to be here…” He said as he peered at me with his sharp eyes and a smirk on his face.

“Hey, ----, Who is that?” Said one of his groupies curiously.

“Oh! Let me introduce you! This here is Dian!”

 

...

 

“AGH!”

   I almost fell when I snapped from that horrendous memory, but I hold my ground as I pant and tremble.

   Why.. WHY… am I remembering all of that again..?

   I was on the edge of puking as I was nauseating right after I snapped.

“Haa… haa…”

   Don’t… don’t be scared, Dian… didn’t you promise you’ll change yourself for the better..?

   I looked down and realized that I was still holding the tray.

   For now, I’ll just eat this and go to sleep…

   I then sat on the chair beside the bed and put my tray on the table.

   This looks pretty nice… the smell too…

   I then ate the food and finished it.

   It’s… plain… I can’t even taste it… even though it looks so good… whatever… 『Absorb』.

DING!

[Absorb] – Activate

DING!

[Absorb] – Failed

   Failed..? is it possible that the meat that is used in the dish is rabbit meat..?

   I felt a pulsing headache as I close the black window.

   Ouch… what..? a headache..? I’m pretty tired… is that why..?

   I got up from the chair and tiredly collapsed to the comfy bed and slept in a count of seconds.