I started following as we walked past several buildings. The texture and architecture of buildings were very different from that of earth. To be blunt these buildings were outdated, being made with basic construction techniques. But, as God said this world is behind in technology, so it's as expected. Most of the buildings were made of wooden logs, unlike the use of bricks and cement from earth.
As we walked through the town, I noticed the guard used only main roads which were wide and avoided the much narrow and dark alley ways. The wide roads had lamps on the sides with some kind of light shining on the top of them. The lamps were almost 10 feet tall, as I was observing the surroundings, the guard said "these are night stones, these stones glow at night. It is said that they absorb sunlight in the day and release it at night. These stones are the reason that we are living at such a low crime rate,” as the guard explained this, I nodded my head, showing that I understood what he said.
As I was observing the buildings I saw no shops or stores. Maybe this is the residential area. As I was wondering things, the guard said "we are here," pointing towards the board of a building he said "The Moonlight inn".
I looked at the board which was visible at night due to all the stone lamps and fire lamps, I sighed deeply. I cannot read the language, the only thought that ran through my mind was I will have to learn how to read and write. Crying on the inside we reached the inn.
The inn was nothing unusual, a tall 3 story building with a wide front. The front side had many windows. There was nothing unusual and we entered the inn. I was greeted with a strong smell of food and loud noises of merry people, drinking and eating. There were many tables round in shape with I believe even unknown people eating and drinking together. We went inside, the people looked towards us and continued merry making.
We went up to the bar and the guard pointed towards a seat for me to sit. The waitress behind the bar went somewhere and came back with a big, healthy man, with red hair and beard. With what voice he said "what does the master Robert wish?". The guard understood his meaning and handed him the letter.
The big man read the letter and looked towards me, he again read the letter and then again looked towards me, then he laughed heartily. Sighing with relief the guard left after bowing. "Master Robert says good things about you." the big man said to me as he folded the letter and put it in his pocket.
I just held him up and helped him climb the carriage. I don’t know what all did he tell him, as I was thinking about this, the big man said "I am the owner of this place Marcel and this is my daughter Brice," he said pointing towards the waitress I first saw behind the bar. She was a young girl, probably my age with a beautiful white face and brown eyes. She was of average height and a sweet voice. Bowing her head she said "Hello". I got out of my thoughts and replied "nice to meet you, I am Dave Martin, a wanderer on a journey".
"What kind of room do you want Dave," cutting to the chase Marcel asked me. After thinking a little I said "a clean room with a bathroom and cupboard".
"So you want a room for important people. Well what can be done, you have a decent letter. The cost of a one day stay at the room will be 1 silver, we will give you hot water every morning and evening. As for the meals it's 5 copper coins per meal with one glass of any drink you want. So your one day total is 25 coppers," said Marcel, switching to business mode.
One room and 3 meals will cost me 25 coppers. He said the room for one silver, that means 1 silver is 10 coppers. Hmm, this is convenient, "25 coppers for a day is a bit too much, won't I get a discount for the letter you have," I said, hoping for a discount. "Young man there's no room for negotiation, I am offering you this much because of the letter only." said Marcel pridefully.
" What if I stay for a month and pay in advance," I said, trying to get a discount. After pondering a little Marcel said "I can reduce the price to 50 silvers for 30 sunrises,". The reason for giving such a heavy discount to Dave was because in the past year no one has ever been to the room because of the price. He tried to salvage the room by renting it out for a long time.
"Go to the stables and clean yourself up, while we prepare your supper. We will have enough time to clean the room, while you have your dinner," said Marcel pointing to a young waiter. The waiter came up to them and gestured to Dave to follow him. Dave followed the waiter to the stables and cleaned his face, hands and legs. He took a rag cloth and cleaned his clothes with a damp cloth, which he didn’t realise was unnecessary. After doing so, he came back to the eating area and took a seat where the waiter pointed.
Dave looked around the area, to notice that only drunk people were left. "It's around 9 pm and only drunk people are left. The people of this world start their day early and end it early as well," said Dave to himself.
After waiting for a while his dinner was laid on the table. For 5 coppers this is too much, thought Dave as he looked at the food. The food smelled great and his mouth started watering. The food in front of him was a combination of a stew with meat and vegetables floating in it. There was a side of butter and 3 pieces of bread. There was a side of some type of salad with some crispy chips. As I was thinking this, the waiter put down a mug filled with some sweet smelling red colored juice.
As I tried the food, I was surprised that the food tasted good. The meat in the stew was a mixture of beef and chicken. The vegetables were fresh as well. The bread was ordinary one but the butter had a rich taste. The crisp chips were made of potatoes and the juice was fresh cranberry juice. I ate the dinner slowly, enjoying every bite.
After having my dinner, I walked up to Marcel and thanked him for the delicious food. I took out the 5 gold coins given to me by Robert and paid Marcel in advance. He took out a register and wrote my name with 30 days and 5 gold in front of it.
Then he pointed to his daughter Brice and said "follow her to your room,". I started walking when I saw the boy waiter bringing 2 buckets of warm water with him, following me and Brice.
We went up one flight of stairs and took a left and entered the 2nd room on the left side. As I entered the room, only a neutral smell entered my nose. There were 2 cupboards on the left side and a double bed in the center of the left side. At the front there was a window looking down on the street. A small door was on the right side leading to the bathroom where the boy waiter put the 2 buckets.
The 2 left the room and finally I was all alone in the room. " I want to have a bath," I thought and removed all my clothes, "now that I noticed the clothes dusted themselves but not on a fast pace," seeing his clothes were completely clean and odor free he sighed happily. He went into the bathroom, took a bath and came out wrapped around the bedsheet he took from the cabin. During the bath he cleaned the dirty bucket and chest he found in the hole. The chest came out to be a regular one, made of wood and has a keyhole for lock. It had golden colored rims on the sides.
Dave got out of the bathroom and sat on the chair of the study table provided in the room on the right side by the window. He tried to open it from the front and realised that the keyhole was open, but the lid was fixed with basic nails. He pressed on the head of a nail and rotated it on its spot, to his surprise the nail moved and easily came out. Similarly all the nails came out of the wood one by one. "Huh, the nails must have lost their grip and came out easily," said Dave as he finally opened the lid of chest.
Nothing unusual happened when he opened the chest. There were gold coins in the chest and a parchment paper. He then took out the gold coins. There were a decent amount of coins in the chest.
I believe I don't have to worry about money for a good while. He took out the parchment paper next and opened it. Something was written on the paper, “looking at the parchment paper and the style in which it is written, it’s some kind of magic skill. Now I have to learn how to read and write for sure,” with strong dedication he said to himself.
He cleaned the gold coins thoroughly and shoved them in the storage pocket of the jeans lying on the bed. He then took the parchment paper, put it in the chest and kept the whole thing in the storage pocket as well. He then moved his chair to look out the window to the sky. He sat like that for some time.
He got up when he got bored and felt sleepy. He put all the clothes from the bed on the table and snuggled on the soft bed. Lying in a stretched out position he dozed off as the night darkened.
