What if I just called for help as soon as I saw her? If I called enough attention to myself, maybe someone kind and brave enough would’ve saved her.

But no, all three of us would be dead if I did that.

My hands find themselves gripping my hair.

I need to stop thinking about that! The sun is beyond set at this point and I’ve walked up and down the main street enough.

What’s something that could distract me…

I look up to the sky. Compared to being in the city back on earth, this is a sight one would die for.

Not a single cloud blocks the gorgeous collection of stars twinkling in the night sky. Taking the cake are the two full moons, proudly shining upon the earth, or I guess, Camavira. One is the same colour as the one back on earth, just seemingly slightly larger, while the smaller blue one next to it appears farther away. 

The combination of the two makes the night here much brighter, so none of the street lamps are even lit.

Not exactly sure how those work, or even how it affects waves and things like that. I think I watched a video on twin stars before, but I’m not sure if moons can do that back in my old world.

Okay, now to solve my accommodation problem. If I have been handed cards to deal with, then I will use them.

Currently, I have eight coins. Each coin has a hole in the middle. Five of them have five etchings of lines surrounding the hole, while two are the same except with two layers of metal. 

Are these lines or does that mean these are five vira each with the two-layered ones being double value? 

Also how much even is a Vira? 

If three ‘blacks’ which I presume are apples are sixty Vira each like the Dwen from before said, since a decent apple in real life is around a dollar, then twenty vira equals a dollar. This must mean that four of these coins or two of the double-layered ones equals a dollar.

So around $3.50? That poor woman.

In the past hour that I’ve been walking around since that encounter, I’ve been looking for a cheap-looking tavern or some inn to sleep in.

I know not being picky and sleeping in a stable or an alley would be the better and cheaper option, but I don’t want to sleep in the smell of manure or get assaulted in my sleep. Even if I get to sleep in a bed for one night I’d be happy.

I’ve had no luck on the main road so I’ve decided to try my luck on the branching streets. 

I make a turn down a road and a humble building with a wooden sign with a bed and spoon carved into it shows itself at the end of the street.

Unlike the others which had large stables or well-maintained walls made of polished stone bricks, this establishment’s stable is smaller in size and is more modest-looking, being made out of wood. It has two stories, with the top floor having two glassless windows looking into the alley next to the house, a common sight with buildings here. Not many people are entering or leaving. There’s also the fact that this street is silent compared to the main street.

It seems I have found my lodging for tonight, I hope I have enough. 

Wait. Would $3.50 even be enough for me to stay? 

This may be falling apart already. 

But a fantasy inn is right here in front of me…

Maybe I’m underestimating the value of these coins and those ‘blacks’ are high quality. But the Dwen did give me one as a sample…

I go ahead and enter the premises anyway. It doesn’t hurt to try, does it?

If it doesn’t work out, I’ll leave and sell the sword, then come back in for money, otherwise, I’ll be hitting the hay.

The charm isn’t an option though. I won’t be able to sleep at night knowing I sold what I think is a dead woman’s keepsake.

Inside the inn, a sparse amount of people are sitting on wooden benches, silently eating some sort of soup or porridge out of wooden bowls. A middle-aged fatigued man with blue hair stands at the counter, wiping a wooden tankard with a darkened cloth.

No candles or any other light source are lighting up the place, the light is coming from the moonlight from the windows and it surprisingly is enough to light up the inside well.

Stairs leading up to what I assume are the bedrooms lean against the wall next to the counter.

I approach the Innkeeper, then I point upwards and tilt my head into my hands, gesturing that I want to sleep upstairs.

The man yawns and slowly blinks with his veiny eyes.

“Is this some sort of mockery? I have a bed, you know. Passed down from my grandfather, a mattress made from wool and all.”

He says, struggling not to yawn at every pause. 

At this point, it’s safe to say that the default accent of every human in this country is British, as even this man speaks with it.

Anyways, shouldn’t this be a simple thing to understand? Is he too tired to get it? 

I repeat the gesture, this time pointing to myself.

His face wrinkles into confusion. 

“With you? I don’t understand your incentive boy. I already told you I have my own bed. If you have nothing reasonable to ask for, I suggest you leave our establishment.”

Well, this is going great.

“What’s going on here?”

A middle-aged woman with blonde hair walks out of a door behind the counter.

The man turns to her.

“Dear, this strange boy wants me to sleep with him upstairs.”

At least he got the sleep and upstairs parts.

The woman looks at him, scratching her head.

“Yeah. He said it to me like this!”

He then repeats my attempted sign language.

The woman looks at me, then at the man, then back at me, then back at the man again.

“Are you stupid? Can’t you see that’s clearly a foreigner? He means he wants a room! I’m the only one kind enough to sleep with you, you oaf.”

She turns to me once again.

“Isn’t that right?”

I nod. They at least understand this gesture.

“Can you speak Cordia?”

I shake my head.

“See? It’s obvious.”

“I don’t have your intuition Marida, there’s no way I could’ve understood a foreigner! How did this guy get in Astata anyways?”

Astata? Is that the name of this city or the country? The question of my entrance is brought up again. Is this country closed off to foreigners? 

“It doesn’t matter. If he’s got coin, then he gets a room.”

The man scoffs.

I guess he lights up when talking to his wife.

“Anyways, that would be 15 vira for a night, and 30 for both the night and breakfast, deary. A basic meal would normally be 20, so I’d say this is a good deal to go with, don't you think?”

Breakfast? Now we’re talking. 

Though, I’m surprised at how cheap the room for the night is. Either this place is dirt cheap, or those blacks were some deluxe stuff. It’s a possibility I was getting scammed too.

I take out both my double-layered coins and two single-layered ones and slide them across the table. 

Spending this much now should be fine since I’m planning on selling my sword.

“Wonderful choice!”

She hands me a wooden plate with three lines etched onto it.

“I trust you can find the room with the same markings on it.”

I nod and start making my way up the stairs.

“Come down and ask if you need anything!”

The hallway is much darker and has a candle mounted on the wall unlike below. Out of the three doors to my left, the one at the end has the three markings on it. I’m assuming the fourth door in front of me is a storage room or a toilet.

Entering the room, inside I see a singular relatively large bed, as well as two chests on each side of the room. A curtain drapes over the window above the bed, blocking the moonlight from getting in. 

The bed itself is quite interesting. The bed frame is a simple wooden box, with the mattress inside covered in what I think is a hemp sheet. The filling appears to be a strange-looking loose material.

What’s awful, however, is that there are no pillows. Oh well, for a cheap inn I guess I should’ve expected that. 

The bed is big enough to fit about two people though which is interesting. More space for me to roll around in then.

I proceed to take off my shoes and lie down. As I lay down, I feel something poke my back. My hand goes to feel around for it until I feel a sort of needle thing.

I pull it out of the bed and hold it to the light.

Hay. 

In the end, it seems that I’ve ended up sleeping on hay anyway. I hope that that’s the last one, otherwise, I’m not getting sleep tonight. This is at least better than sleeping on the ground I guess.

After a while, I’m able to lie down and get comfortable, using my hoodie and my arm as a pillow. 

It’s more comfortable sleeping with just my undershirt and track pants anyways.

With nowhere else but beside me to place my glasses, I hope I don’t roll over into them.

What a strange day it has been. I went from being transported to another world, to being with a stranger in her last moments, to sleeping in a mildly uncomfortable mediaeval bed.

Learning how to speak and read Cordia is a top priority. As I learned here hand gestures won't get me far. It’s incredibly peculiar how I can understand their strange words. It’s as if there is a translator within me telling me what every single one of their words means. 

No use pondering about it. I can use this to my advantage. The first thing is I’ll learn their greetings and ways of giving gratitude.

It is a strange language in the fact that sometimes instead of a structured sentence, what they say just sounds like blabbering, but it’s most likely just because it’s an otherworldly language.

As I’ve experienced today, expecting everything to be like earth can be the difference between life and death.

A way to earn money is a top priority as well. There was that one anime where the guy and his goddess companion got into a construction job quite easily, so I can probably gun for that. Though if possible, a farmer's hand or a cleaner or something would be good too.

Of course, this isn’t my plan forever. I will get out there into the world, as an adventurer. An opportunity like this was something completely impossible back on earth. 

I’ll stay and gather resources here, then after returning this sword and tracking down the poor woman’s relatives, I’ll leave to see the world.

A fresh start. I’ll get used to this world in no time.

My stomach then growls. Oh, I cannot wait for breakfast tomorrow. I wonder what kind of mediaeval food I’ll be having.

As I close my eyes and my mind starts to drift, the door slowly creaks open. Out of the darkness, a titanic behemoth creeps out of its den and enters the room.

“Oh hey there, sorry I woke you up. Just go back to sleep. I’ll most likely be gone once you’re awake.”

“Wth.. wath… wth.”

My mouth is rendered useless. A large man has just entered my room and started placing his items in the chest to my left.

With a smile, he then approaches the bed and sits down next to me.

“Just scootch over if you will, it’s a bit rude to take up the whole bed innit?”

My heart jumps. This man’s back has made contact with me. This creep is trying to sleep with me. My whole body shudders, launching me out of the bed. My mouth finally musters all of its strength.

“You alright?”

“HELP! HELP! THERE’S A MAN IN MY ROOM!!!”

The man just stares at me confused and shaking his head. Fast heavy footsteps bolting up the stairs can be heard, as well as sudden bursts of conversation from other rooms. The blonde woman from earlier kicks the door open.

“What is going on here?!”

“I was just going to bed and this weirdo started screaming!”

She turns to me, her face red and her brows furrowed like a freshly ploughed field of molten lava.

“Ok lookie here Mr Fancy Spectacles, just because you might be used to sleeping alone doesn’t mean that we poorer folk have the luxury to afford the same! In Astata, heck in all of Camavira, all of us have to share beds in the common inn. So if you’re going to sleep in one, don’t make a commotion over something as simple as bedsharing. Even spoiled children don’t complain about it! You’re lucky I didn’t make you pay extra despite how wealthy those spectacles make you look. But if you’re desperate enough to stay in my tavern, then I suppose maybe you're in a bit of a bind. So if your majesty is going to stay at my inn, I suggest he stays silent and lets the others sleep. You got that?”

Her sheer speed and attitude shake me to my core. Even though my balls have shrivelled up, I can at least nod.

“Good. Sorry about that sir, may you rest well.”

She gives a bow and leaves the room.

Her footsteps audibly walk through the corridor, while stopping at every other room to apologise to the other guests.

The large man silently lies down, clearly avoiding looking at me. Though reluctantly, I lie down on the opposite side of the bed.

I can’t believe the first time I’m sharing a bed with someone other than my parents is with some stranger.

I then feel another piece of straw poking my back.

Perhaps getting used to this place is more of a fantasy than the world itself.