After retracing our steps to the marketplace, finding the inn was no trouble at all. A large wood carving of a mermaid’s tail hung over the doorway leading into the inn. The building seemed to be made of wood and stone, and featured an impressively sturdy-looking oak door. 

The overwhelming stench of booze hit us as we entered the pub on the first floor, and I scrunched my nose in disgust. Several crudely fashioned wooden tables and chairs haphazardly dotted the floor, with almost every one of them occupied by sailors and merchants getting their fill of food and beer.

Kei headed towards the bar to get us rooms and some food while the rest of us scanned the crowd for an open table. I was the first to spot Kriffin seated amongst the patrons, who waved us over to his table.

“I hope we’re not getting in the way of your work,” Nina apologized as we sat down.

Kriffin gave his signature chuckle. “Not at all, friends. I was hoping to run into you again, actually. I’ll explain once Kei joins us.”

As if on cue, Kei broke through the crowd and joined us at the table, tossing a keychain towards Alec, who caught it. “Your room is the first one on the second floor,” she said. “Nina and I will take the one down the hall. No problems with that?” 

A part of me wanted to protest sharing a room with Alec, but I’d already spent a night on his shoulder, and it really couldn’t be worse than that. I shook my head, which got a smile from Kei.

“Thought so.” Kei turned her attention towards Kriffin. “Hey. Long time no see.”

“Indeed,” Kriffin laughed, but his expression hardened a bit afterwards. “I wanted to apologize. Those anti-cheat goons grabbed me and forced me to tell them about you. They know you’re here, but I threw them off, saying you were headed towards the other side of the city.”

“Shit, they’re right on our tail!” Kei cursed. “What’s our move, everyone? I doubt Robin has the ship prepared yet.”

“It’s probably best to hide here tonight.” Kriffin offered. “It’s likely that they already have eyes on the streets.”

Nina gave a nod of agreement. “We can’t get to Kin no Kaigan without a ship. We’ll just have to sneak past them and get to the docks first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Do you think that mean sailor will try to stop us?” I asked. Another run-in with that guy would definitely slow us down, especially if he ratted us out to the nearest guard.

“I see you met Jasper,” Kriffin frowned. “That man needs to get his ego under control.”

Kei raised an eyebrow. “You know him?”

“There’s not a merchant around here that doesn’t. He hates anyone who isn’t human, but he has a special vendetta against beastfolk. From what I hear, the higher-ups in the merchant fleet turn a blind eye, since he’s their top navigator.” Kriffin turned to me. “I wouldn’t put it past him to sabotage you all. Try to avoid him if you can.”

One of the barmaids brought our food, and conversation died off as our plates were set in front of us. Grilled fish and potatoes made up the majority of the meal, and a small chunk of bread sat off to the side. It was a little bland, but the company was not. Nina talked about her adventures with me as a player while the rest of us listened with increasing interest. It was one thing to press some buttons and watch through a screen, but to actually live it? The thought filled me with excitement, and hearing the tales only fueled my imagination. Kei and Kriffin weren’t about to be outdone though. Kei shared stories about the raids and dungeons the guild had cleared, and Kriffin had plenty to share about the people and towns as a traveling merchant.

After we had finished our food, we exchanged a few more pleasantries with Kriffin before heading to our rooms. Nina and Kei headed off to their room down the hall, and Alec opened the door to ours.

The main room was pretty spartan. There were two small beds separated by a nightstand with a lantern set on it, shining brightly with an almost electrical strength. On closer inspection, the source of the light seemed to be a light elemental stone set in a small circle of runes within the casing of the lantern. We found a few extra light stones in the nightstand’s drawer, so we assumed that meant we would just need to take the stone out once we no longer needed the light.

There was another doorway on the wall opposite to the entrance that led to a fairly modern bathroom, surprisingly. Several elemental stones, along with a variety of spigots and handles were combined to afford us the luxuries of the modern-day, but it looked pretty out of place against the medieval feel of the inn with its wooden walls and creaky floors. Nevertheless, I silently thanked whoever brought the appliances over from our world into this one.

After exploring the room, we each claimed a bed, collapsing onto them nearly in sync. I had a newfound appreciation for these elemental stones. They were certainly useful for everyday life, and seeing the applications gave me some more ideas for battle combinations. Speaking of which, what did I do with that bag of stones Nina gave me?

I sat up and patted around myself, trying to find my bag. I must have forgotten it somewhere, but I strangely felt like I still had it somewhere.

Alec sat up from his bed and gave me a look of concern. “Everything ok, Syl?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “I don’t know what I did with my bag of elemental stones. I don’t think I dropped it.”

“Did you forget it on Kriffin’s carriage?” He asked. He began scanning the room, double-checking the surroundings.

“No, I think it was missing before then.”

“Maybe it went into an inventory?”

I stared at him, bewildered by the suggestion. “We’re not part of the system, remember? Why would we have an inven-” I was cut off as a floating console similar to the ones Nina and Kei used materialized around me. Unlike theirs, this one looked damaged. A few of the screens were cracked, and the whole thing flickered between transparent and opaque. I sat there, dumbfounded. 

Alec looked equally shocked.  “Huh. Well, I was joking, but maybe it’s there after all. That console looks pretty beat up though. Are the menus working?”

I stared at the floating blue screen, trying to read the menu options. It looked like the game’s menu, though the settings and log-out options were missing, probably because the characters couldn’t use those anyway. That aside, I located the inventory tab and opened it.

A lot of the slots in the menu looked buggy, and I counted three that weren’t flickering in and out. And sure enough, in one of those slots was the bag of elemental stones. I tried tapping the screen, and the option to equip it appeared. I pressed it, and there was a weight on my thigh as the bag appeared there in the form of a small pocket on my dress. The pocket was empty, but I could still feel the pull of the stones when I put my hand into it. I looked back up to check another menu, but the console had vanished.

“Well, I guess I found it,” I said. I was pretty confused by all of this. How did I put the stones away? How did I even summon the console in the first place?

Alec, meanwhile, was waving his hands around, trying to bring up a console of his own. He gave up after a few tries and shrugged. “That’s both cool and worrying that you can bring up your own console like other characters can. We should probably show this to Nina and Kei.”

I nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I’m gonna go talk to them.”

“I’ll clean up and then meet you there. That way you can take as long as you want in the shower after.” Alec gave me a knowing smile. Sure, I liked long showers, but why is he smiling like that? I didn’t have a reason to spend longer than normal in there, did I? Unless… 

The innuendo hit me like a sack of bricks. “Ew, no way!” I shouted.

Alec merely stared confused. His eyes widened as he realized what his words must have sounded like. “Oh, no! Not that!” His face was beginning to heat, and he pointed towards my shoulders. “Your hair! Long hair takes forever to wash properly, that’s what I meant!” His face was bright red, and for the first time since I’d known him, Alec actually looked flustered for once. 

I quickly scrambled to come up with a good lie to cover my own embarrassing misconception. “Long wet hair just sounds kinda gross ok? I wasn’t thinking of anything dirty like you are!”

Nailed it.

A pillow found its mark in my face. “Yeah right! Ugh, just get out already!” He was such an adorable dork when he was flustered. Even still, I can kinda see why he likes teasing me so much. Here was a prime opportunity to turn the tables, and, well, I couldn’t miss my chance, could I?

A little plan formed in my head and I fought to keep the mischievous grin off my face. I stood up and headed towards the doorway. “As you wish,” I said. As I turned the knob, I glanced behind me. “Oh, and Alec?” I asked, trying to sound as innocent as I could manage.

“What?”

“Pervert.” 

I watched as his face got even redder, and he lined up another pillow shot at me. I’m sure my face had a big stupid grin on it as I shut the door, and there was a soft thud as the pillow hit the door. I broke into a fit of giggles. Goddess, that was fun! Despite everything that had happened today, I was in a pretty good mood now.

At least I was until I turned around to find a knife at my throat, and Jasper towering over me.

“Hello, brat.”

Ninichu

And we're back! Sorry about the delay! I was finishing up a summer course, and the extra study time took away from my writing time. But we're done now, so I can start posting again! I'm going to start aiming for at least 2 chapters a week now that I have my free time back again. Thanks for your continued support!