Chapter 2: A Discovery
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Yukito pulled himself up to his feet and stared back at the church in anger. "Thanks a lot, assholes!" The world of Neverenthia sure hadn't done him any favors so far. He was still wearing his regular clothes, except that they had been altered, thankfully, to allow for his tail and he had no money or weapon to defend himself with should this world prove to be hostile. He still had no idea what, if any, power that voice had granted him or why it made him into a cat boy. 

People were openly staring at him as they shuffled by the church and on their business. He heard one older man mutter, "Damn demi-humans. They should just go back where they belong and keep out of our little country." 

He found that he wasn't particularly upset that he had ended up in another world; he would miss his parents, but he wouldn't miss the mundane life that had been laid out for him since he was a little kid. No more studying, no more tests. I can just seek adventure and actually get to live my life the way I want in a place like this. He decided to take stock of his surroundings and glanced up the cobblestone street. It wound around the small hill toward a magnificent alabaster palace that looked as though it had been plucked straight out of Disney World or something. It had beautifully ornamented spires and he could see that the thing was surrounded by a wall. There were shops that lined this street on either side and people were busily going in and out of them. Down the hill, he could see that there were a large number of houses bunched up against the base of the hill and at the edge of the town was another tall stone wall with a gate that lead out of the city. 

One thing's for sure. I can't complain about the view in this place. I need to get some information. He decided to go into one of the shops and see if someone would give him some information. There was one right across from the church with a wooden sign hanging from a pole that flapped slowly in the wind. He walked over to the building and was going to enter when he noticed a sign hanging on the shop window that read, "No Demi-Humans." 

"Really? What the hell is up with this place," he said aloud. He stalked away angrily and his tail bristled and swung side to side quickly mirroring his internal anger at the situation that he had been dragged into. He went to the next building which looked to be an Inn. There was no sign forbidding his entry, so he stepped inside. 

It was a plain looking place with small, square-shaped wooden tables spread about the common room. There was a bar on one side of the room where an elderly man stood polishing glasses. To the other side of the room was a large desk with a woman behind it. She was writing things in what was probably a ledger using a feather pen. 

"Can we help you? Bar doesn't open until the afternoon and we don't check-in new guests until midday either," the old man said.

"I'm hoping you can give me some information. You see, I was just summoned to this world by some priests in the church over there." He pointed. "They told me I was some sort of hero, but when they didn't like that I didn't know if I had been granted a power, they just tossed me out into the street."

The old man sighed. "Another one, eh? They've been at it a few times a month ever since the war took a turn for the worst. I'm sorry to hear about your situation, young man, but there is little I can do to help you."

"Is there anywhere I can go to get some work, maybe? Or do you by chance need any help with anything around here?"

"Hmmmm... Well, we don't get a lot of business this time of year, so I can't really afford to hire another person. My granddaughter Celeste and I have been running this place alone for some time now." The man scratched his short beard.

"I'll work for almost nothing. I can work for food and just a small wage, how about that? Just for a few days while I get my bearings. Please?"

"We could use some help with the cleaning and in the kitchen... Very well, young man. I'll give you a chance. You'll earn 25 vin per day and we'll also provide you with two meals. My name is Rudra, and as I mentioned earlier, that's Celeste."

"I'm Yukito. Thank you for giving me a chance. I know this is a dumb question, but... how much is 25 vin? What could I buy for that, for example?"

"It's not much, just enough to stay a night at an Inn like this one, or maybe buy a meal and a drink in a tavern. It's all we can spare, but I'm sure that it's better than nothing." Rudra stepped out from behind the bar after reaching down and grabbing a spare apron. He tossed it over to Yukito.

To his surprise, his reflexes were better than in the real world and he was able to easily snatch it out of the air. It seemed as though there were some advantages to this body. He also felt as though he could see a good deal better than he could before. At home, he needed glasses for reading but he could read the drink menu that hung on the wall of the bar from way across the room with ease. "Do you have a mirror that I could see for a moment?"

"In the washroom there is a mirror. It's over there," Rudra replied. He pointed over toward the door next to some stairs that led up to the second floor. "Go ahead and put that on. We have work to do. People will be coming in here for their midday meal soon and we have a few guests who will be checking out in a bit, so we'll need to clean those rooms."

Yukito nodded and went off to the washroom. Surprisingly, this place had plumbing and there was a sink with running water. Apparently he wasn't in as much of a medieval fantasy world as he had first suspected. The face he saw in the mirror was largely the same as at home with a few notable exceptions. He reached up and felt the fluffy, pointy, cat ears that now stood atop his head. They were sensitive to the touch and tufts of white hair came out of them. His messy, black hair was still the same length and his face didn't change, other than his eyes. Instead of the dark almond colored eyes that he had back home, his eyes were now a light green. He reached down and yanked on his fluffy tail, it hurt as expected. It could've been worse, I guess. He threw on the apron and went back out to the common area. 

"Celeste. You're going to show him what to do around here." 

The quiet girl stood up and came out from behind the desk. She wore an apron like his and was slightly taller than he. She had brown hair that was shoulder length and brown eyes. He estimated that she was probably a year or two older than he was. "This way. We need to go check on the food."

"Okay." He followed her into the kitchen, which was just off to the side of the main room. When they entered, he saw three large pots boiling with some kind of soup atop a huge iron stove. 

"Stir those. I need to get the bread ready to go into the oven."

He grabbed a large ladle that hung from a hook near the stove and stirred the soup. It seemed to be some kind of beef broth and there were large bones mixed into it along with various vegetables. It smelled delicious and his stomach growled at him. Once he was done stirring all three of the pots, he turned to see what she was doing.

Celeste was pounding dough on a large wooden tabletop that was covered in flour. She had formed 8 large loaves of bread. "Get the bread dishes. They're in that cupboard over there," she pointed.

A few minutes later they had finished with handling the food situation and she had him follow her out to the main room again. A man stood at the desk with the ledger and was talking to Rudra. "Celeste, this guest is checking out. Go up and get room 4 ready for tonight."

She nodded and took Yukito's hand, dragging him up the stairs. They went over to the fourth room and went inside. It wasn't anything special, there was a small bed on a wooden frame with a pile of blankets sitting atop it with a dresser next to it. The only other thing in the room was a wooden rocking chair. She deftly pulled all the blankets and sheets off the bed and handed them over to him in a bundle. "Take these to the wash. It's the room next to the kitchen. There are clean blankets and sheets that have been cleaned and pressed there. Bring some back. I'll wait here."

When he went back down into the common room again there were several patrons seated at tables waiting for lunch. He saw Rudra coming out of the kitchen with his hands full as he entered the laundry room. Not wasting any time, he grabbed clean linens and quickly went back upstairs. They put the room back together and then went to help with lunch. The rest of the day was spent doing this and by the time night had come his feet ached from standing all day.

"That's it for tonight. You can sleep in room #6. We'll see you in the morning," Rudra said.

"Thanks."

"Oh, and before I forget. Here's your pay for today. You did good work, I'm glad we took you on."

Yukito took the money that was offered to him. It was a silver coin with an image of the castle he had seen outside etched into the face and a 25 on the back. He turned to go upstairs and get some rest when two men entered the Inn.

"Sorry, we're out of rooms right now," Rudra said.

"We're not here for rooms, old man," the tall one said as he brandished a knife. "Hand over your money if you want to keep breathing. 

Celeste moved behind her grandfather using him as a shield. "The guards won't let you get far, how about you just turn around and forget about this?" 

"Shut up and get us the money!"

"Maybe we should take that girl for a spin, eh, Olin?" the second man said with a glint of lust in his eye.

"You can have my money, but not my granddaughter," Rudra reached into his coin pouch and pulled out a large handful of coins and held them out. 

"We'll take whatever we want, old man. You think you can stop us?" he rushed over, shoving Rudra out of the way and grabbed Celeste by her wrist.

"Let me go!" she shrieked.

I need to do something! He took a step forward to intervene.

"Don't even think about it, demi-human," the tall man spat on the floor as though the word tasted awful.

Yukito wouldn't have dreamed of getting involved in a fight back in Japan, but his body was different here. He knew that he was faster, stronger, and had a better sense of balance than before. He could fight. He dashed forward and punched the man who had a hold of Celeste. The blow connected and he felt the man's jaw crunch against his fist. The man fell to the ground and had let go of her hand. 

"Run!" Yukito said.

"Look out!" Celeste replied.

It was too late, the second man had come in from behind while Yukito was playing hero and just as he turned around he saw that the knife was speeding toward his chest and was a mere inches away from taking his life. No! Damn it! I just need a little more time!

That's when it happened; the world suddenly slowed around him. He saw the blade coming for his heart but it was like it was being shoved through a thick gel. He blinked at what was happening around him. The face of the man before him was contorted in rage and he watched as the blade inched its way toward him. I need to do something fast. He moved to the side of the blade and yanked it free of the man's hand. It now worked in whatever time bubble he had around himself and he could move it easily. Without hesitation, he rammed the blade into the man's chest. Time smashed back into normal speed and the last look on the man's face was one of utter shock as he died. The second man was up again and had seen what just happened. He ran out of the inn screaming.

"You moved like a blur... and your eyes... they're glowing!" Celeste said.

"Celeste go upstairs with him. They'll be coming. I'll stall them. Lock yourselves inside and don't come out for anyone except me," Rudra said.

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