The place where we were drinking had no spare room. 

First I have to look for another inn.

It’s almost nightfall, camping inside town would be putting the cart before the horse.

The three of us wander aimlessly.

“Brother, you looking for something?”

Just when we are about to enter a nearby inn, somebody call my from behind. I turned my head.

There is a saucy-looking kid in dirty clothes, possibly just over 13 years old.

“If you give me some cash I’ll guide you round. Newcomers always get lost around here.”

Just in time, I was just thinking that it’s too much effort to visit all the inns and ask what they have.

“Right, show me an inn where you can take a bath and a money changer.”

All we have on us are gold coins.

I’m going to need silver and copper coins for payments.

The boy’s eyes glitter slightly.

“All right, s’just over there. Come with me.”

We walk behind the boy, following him.

The money changer seems to be somewhere a bit away from the main road. The boy walks towards a row of houses.

"Hiro..."

Right the moment we suspect something is amiss, the boy stop walking.

There are only run-down buildings that doesn’t seem to be inhabited there, let alone money changers.

“Where are the shops and stuff?”

“Uncle, you’re such a lunkhead… you still not getting it?”

Teenagers come out from the run-down houses one after the other.

They are of different ages, from ten to fifteen, but they all are wearing filthy rags.

I see, so it’s something like this.

“You should’ve said so if you weren’t planning to lead me around, I said I needed to find an inn and a money changer, didn’t I?”

The boys look at one another.

“Uncle, you’re a real dolt, are you. You can’t run anymore. Hurry up and hand over the cash. Since you were going to a money changer then you must have a lot.”

“Hand ’em over or you’re gonna get beat!” “You’re in for a world of hurt!”

The surrounding brats are holding broken sticks, and the ones on the roof seem to be ready to throw stones.

Sekrit signals with her hands, ‘come and get it’.

"Don't kill them." Ivanna reminds her.

"Haaa. I know. I know."

“Get ’em!”

Simultaneously, stones rained down from the rooftops and the kids holding sticks comes to beat us up.

We brush only the stones that are on their way to hitting our face with our hands while Sekrit easily dodges.

Ivanna grabs the kids who comes over to hit us with sticks and throws them behind us.

They still have the light bodies of children so they go flying humorously.

But because they aren’t injured the boys’ morale doesn’t dampen and they rush in one after the other.

There’s just no end to them, so we might have to throw a stone and hit one on the head, I consider, but just at that moment one of the kids on the roof shouts.

“Move over!! We’ll hit ’em with this!”

They somehow bring a large log, carrying it between three people, and flung it down from the roof.

The log gains momentum as it falls and is about to hit us.

Suddenly, it stops in mid air. It is stopped by shadow. It's Mirai. 

The shadow throws it to the side.

"Brats. Do you desire to die so much?"

The boys gawk when they turn to the source of the voice. 

Three girls in unusual outfit are walking on the walls of the building without falling down. They are Kurotsuchi, Mirai and Hanabi. 

“YOU SHITTY KIDS!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!”

Because we made quite a racket, several guards came along.

“Crap! Run!”

The boys disappear in a blink.

“Those shitheads, I’m gonna get them all someday!”

“So, they seem to have been ganging up on you but you’re uninjured?”

“Yeah, no problem. It’s just child’s play.” Sekrit answers nonchalantly.

“Though they were kids, you sure held your own against so many. It didn’t look like you took out your weapon. Allow me to ask why are you in this kind of place?”

“Yeah, one of the kids led me here and this happened.”

The guards look at me and laugh.

“Man, you are something! I’ve never heard anyone so stupid to casuall follow a kid in rags into the slums!!”

“In public those kids can only do stuff like shakedowns and pickpocketing, but once you’re in the slums they’d gang up on you.”

“Anyhow, it’s good that you’re all right. We’ll get them what they deserve someday, but before that, where did you intend to go?”

Looking at how the surrounding guards silently look at us, this one must be the captain.

“I was looking for an inn where I can take a bath. Also a money changer.”

The four guards look at each other before the captain replies,

"Well, we all live with our families. Except one .."

They turn their head towards one guard. 

Standing there is a woman. She could not be older than 20, most probably in her late teens. Her dark red hair is cut short for ease of movement. Even if you want to look at it favourably, it is not evenly cut. It looks like a bird’s nest.

Her face is not the prettiest but her nicely proportioned face can be considered pretty, but her eyes are sharp, and I feel that her look is nice to look at, despite obviously even a shred of makeup is never applied on her.

The worn out leather armour she is wearing has a thin strap of metal attached, a thumbtack is hammered to it. Probably because she has no money, a large iron place is stuck. A sword hung from her waist.

"How many of you? Men? Women?" She asks. I think she has a nice voice.

"Five girls and me." I answer while scanning her from top bottom.

She ponders for a while, then replies,

"Fine, follow me."

The three girls appear from the darkness. 

We follow the female guard. 

She strides silently as if to save energy. 

"Thanks. For helping us." I open the conversation.

It takes some moments before she replies,

"No choice. It was a command from the captain. He is the son of baronet, second son though."

Her lengthy answer makes me think she will start talking a lot but after minutes, she barely say anything.

"My name is Hiro. Today is second day here."

She glances at and continues walking.

"Brita." 

"She is wounded." Kurotsuchi who approaches my side, whispers.

Indeed, she is limping. 

It is hard watching her struggling like that but after minutes, we arrive at a run down two storey building. 

There is a signboard but the words are not clear as rust is everywhere.

Upon entering, there is broken counter with bald man sitting there with bottles of liquor on the table.

"Grem. Six. They are staying for the night."

"Two gold coins." He immediately say. A hoarse voice which reminds one of a cracked bell spoke towards us.

"Hey, Grem. You are overcharging.."

Before she could finish, the man bark at her,

"Shut up, bitch. You are even late on your rent."

In front of a voice with rage that would make the stomach churn, we don't  break our peaceful expression. It is a face that an adult would make when faced with a child’s temper.

"Tskk." Annoyed, Brita climbs the obsolete stairs. 

Ivanna throws two coins to him. He just give hand signs signaling "Get out if here."

When we climb, there are several windows open to let the light in, and it is completely different from the first floor. 

We follow Brita to her room. Brita grips the doorknob right next to her and turned. The door creaks as it open.

Inside are eight shabby beds made of wood.

There is a crystal light but it is quite dim, perhaps due to obsolescence.

 Since the window is open, the outside air and light enters.

The frame is made of wood, and on top is a thin layer of straw. In place of a mattress is straw, and so to prevent bugs, it should be thrown away after usage. Because wheat is the staple here, acquiring straw should not be that difficult.

And on top of the straw are sheets. Rather than white, they are dirtied and are a greyish colour. Hanabi brushes her hand against it. It is a rough feeling. It is probably hemp.

Several strands of straw fell onto the floor.

Inside the room of eight beds, six chests are shut tight.

The girls and me perform our usual routine before sleeping. We take out our toothbrush and toothpaste. 

Brita seems puzzled. Mirai grabs Brita's hand and put a spare toothpaste and toothbrush into her hand. 

"What is this?" 

I walk down the stairs to the annoying man.

"Mister. I need a pail of water."

He stares at me before pointing to the corner. There is several pails of water.

"Take two only." He orders.

I carry two pails in both hands and asks,

"Where to take bath?"

"Damn. You ask too much! In front of your room there is veranda. There!"

I return to the room.

"The bathing place is there." I lead the girls to the veranda. Mirai actually pulls Brita's hand and brings her with us.

The veranda is exposed but there is something like bamboo mat covering most of it.

We start brushing our teeth. 

After being insisted by Mirai, Brita follows our action exactly.

It takes about fifteen minutes before completion.

We return to the bedroom. 

"Keep them." Mirai rejects when Brita tries to return those items.

We take off our shoes and climb onto the bed. The bed creaks under our weight and we could feel the hard surface of wood through the thin layer of straw.

Even if you want to praise it, it is not a good bed. If we sleep here, our body would be sore the next day. 

Brita drops her waist onto what is probably her own bed. A loud thump is made as the bed raises a voice in protest.

Ignoring it, she unfastens the armour strap at her side, and removes her armour. Letting it down quietly onto the floor, she casually strips off her hemp clothes. Being very cramp, her well rounded breasts are crushed.

I am watching from the end of other side and she probably notices, but she continues to remove them.

If one evaluates the half-naked woman’s body, rather than a woman, Brita is a warrior.

While there is a bit of fat under the skin, most is muscle. Her abdominals are completely split into four.

She looks less toned than Clementine. Brita's toned body reminds me of Ivanna except Ivanna has no packs of muscle visible on her navel area.

Because she has probably trained her chest, a large volume hanged downwards, and thrust forward strongly. It is about there, so the woman feels it.

Ignoring my gaze, the half-naked woman takes out a bag and a bottle from her luggage.

Her body is covered in bruises, and looks like she is made out of them. There are many scratches and bruises. She takes out a moist towel from the wooden bucket, and begins wiping her body with it.

Her chest seems quite soft and shook.

While I am aimlessly watching, the woman who has finished wiping then opens the bottle.

When she opens it, the smell from the inside paints the air.

The girls have a face of disgust at the strong smell. It is probably the smell of randomly crushed herbs, and the strength of it stung one’s nose, and make tears well up.

The woman lifts out a green viscous fluid from the bottle, she covers her bruised body with it.

Other girls have a worse face on.

Brita does not notice it, or maybe she ignores it. She then begins to apply a bandage to it.

The girls make a completely disgusted face, pinching their nose, and watch the woman. 

“Excuse me—-”

Brita turns to face me. And her full chest, slightly bigger than Clementine's shakes with a considerable volume.

“So you saw something good?”

The woman thrusts her naked chest while smiling.

Ivanna is already losing her patience.

Before anything happens, I say,

"Wait a moment!"

While being bewildered at my reaction being different from what she expected, she exposes her face through the gap. Without looking at her, I reach into my bag and draw out a potion.

I walk and pass to her before turning my back to the woman and lied down.

***

Her knowledge of is not much, but even in her experience, she has never seen this before.

It is actually a healing potion made by the herbalist, Selene. She uses her elven herbal expertise combined with magical aura to create very powerful healing potion.

Brita removes the seal, and picks it up and smells it. There is a smell of apple and orange.

 She stuffs her finger inside and swirls it, causing the liquid to be stuck to her finger. She then put it to her mouth.

“Oh, it’s unexpectedly delicious?”

A sweet taste fills her mouth. Her tongue is entranced by all the flavours. The woman glances at Hiro, places her hand on her hip and drinks everything in one gulp. When everything is in her stomach, she becomes surprised.

Instantly, she feels the wounds on her body heat up. And she becomes really surprised in the next moment.

The bruises she had until earlier completely disappears. Even the scratches that felt hot, and the sprains as well.

 The pain of her body completely disappears.

“Is this……A healing potion?"

"Yes, it is."; Sekrit answers while lying on her bed.

Brita knows about magic potions that  heal a person in hours. Those that heal in hours are very expensive top class portions. Such best portion could cost 100 gold coins. Brita's monthly income is merely about 300 copper coins. But the portion she drank just now healed her bruises immediately. Her rough calculation estimates the potion she drank just now could cost her 1,000 thousand gold coins. 

As knowing how to handle money is not required by city guards, she has neither used nor thought about it. What the heck is that man who would simply give such crazily expensive thing?

While the Brita is bewildered, she is lost as to whether to speak to Hiro. However, when she sees his sleeping face and feels embarrassed , she closes her mouth.

She has thought that she needs to rest to let her body heal, but fortunately she could move immediately. Anyway she should wash off the smell of the cheap medicine. If she does not, the girls might get angry at her.

“I’ll go wash my body.”

With a voice that would not anger them, she takes out a towel from her chest, along with other things that she needs for changing.

“Fu~”

Brita breathes a sigh of relief when she left the room. While thinking why would a man that would willingly give out a thousand gold coins worth of potions be in the worst class inn.

A man that would willingly give away that sort of potion, must be wealthy. 

"Maybe the women are his servants." Brita ponders.

“Why, am I sharing a room with that guy?”

While wealth is not everything, sharing a room with a person that is a many times wealthier than herself weighs on her.

“Forgive me.”

The woman breathes a deep sigh.