The rest of the ride to Hovora is mercifully uneventful, with no further disruptions to the caravan's progression... or to my mental state, which is honestly what I'm way more thankful for.

Because for whatever reason, Yahanaseara just kind of keeps to herself while quietly watching the scenery instead of taking advantage of the fact I'm a prime target for further bullying.

Hell, she doesn't even try using me as a headrest or a lap pillow like she had been...

...not to say that I'm disappointed by that or anything.

Nope, it's nice to just have some peace and quiet for a change.

We finally make it into town around dusk, which only serves to drive home just how short most fights tend to actually be.

Even taking into account the fact that the pre- and post-battle preparations for the caravan took considerably longer than the part where I killed a bunch of guys did, we still got here only a little while later than our original estimated arrival time of late afternoon.

"Hey, adventurer ladies?"

A voice calls out from the front of the cart.

"Yeah?" I respond to to the driver.

"Nils said to drop you off at the Adventurer's Guild building, is that okay with you?"

...come to think of it, I never specified where we were going other than "Hovora" itself.

"Yeah, that should be fine," I reply.

"Alrighty, we should be there in a couple of minutes."

And true to his word, the cart stops in front of a familiar building not even five minutes later.

While most of the rest of the caravan happened to scatter almost immediately after crossing the town border, a few carriages and carts do end up stopping here with us, the most prominent of which being the extra fancy-looking one that Nils was riding in.

As the guy who's paying us, I guess he wanted to see this job through to the very end. There's also a couple of cargo-laden carts that I guess belong to him, and... oh.

I almost forgot that the rear cart was still towing that bubble that I filled with the surviving bandits.

"Looks like this is where we part ways..."

The driver of our cart whose name I'm honestly feeling bad about not asking for walks up to me as I'm brushing the wrinkles from my clothes and extends a hand.

"Thanks for the ride," I reply with a respectably firm handshake.

"And thank you for keeping all of us from getting murdered," the driver laughs. "I'm still amazed that the two of you were able to take care of an entire bandit gang by yourselves!"

"Meh, just doing the job I was paid for," I shrug.

"Speaking of which..." a semi-familiar voice joins in.

Oh, it's Nils.

"...here you go," he says, handing me a stack of five silver coins. "The original amount was deposited with the Guild so you'll have to pick it up from them, but here's the difference that you're owed."

Oh, yeah.

I completely forgot about strongarming him into paying double for pissing me off.

"Thanks," I nod.

"Now regarding the bandits that you captured..." he gestures towards his... nephew?

It was his nephew who I tethered the bubble to, wasn't it?

At least, I think it was...

...but anyways, he gestures towards the large bubble that's trailing behind the younger man who's approaching us.

"You brought them in, so the bounty's yours," I say to him.

"Eh!?"

Nils, his nephew(?) and the driver all stare at me like I just said something insane.

"But you risked your life-"

"And now I'm exhausted from everything that happened, so I really don't feel like dealing with the extra hassle of processing the bounties," I say, shaking my head. "Just consider it as a moral reward for sparing their lives or whatever."

"Are... are you sure?" Nils asks.

"Yup, it's all yours," I reply. "And let the Guild people know that we won't be reporting in 'till tomorrow 'cuz I genuinely am too tired for any of that right now."

"Umm, if you insist..."

After a few more words of gratitude, Yahanaseara and I say our goodbyes to the grateful caravan people and head off to find some proper lodgings.

Or to be less obtuse, I make a beeline for the same inn that I stayed at the last time I was here in Hovora. It's the best place in town, with good food and reasonable prices and surprisingly high-quality rooms and I even actually find the staff on the pleasant side somehow!

Which is really saying a lot, considering the depths of my antisocialness.

...

......

.........well, shit.

Upon opening the door to the inn, I'm immediately struck by the sheer density of the crowd in here. It's only the downstairs eating area, but there isn't a single open table in sight.

Which means that there's a fairly high risk of there not being any open rooms...

...but I quickly shove that particular anxiety into the corner of my brain where all the other anxiety already lives, don my mask of indifference and make my way to the front counter.

"Oh my, hello again!"

Where the girl standing behind it greets me with a cheerful, beaming smile.

"I never expected that you'd be back so soon... it hasn't even been a week since you checked out!"

"Yeah, well..." I shrug.

Nineteen years of experience has taught me to just roll with it when people act like they know me, since more often than not they actually do. My brain tends to purge its memory of the names and faces of strangers almost immediately after they stop being relevant, but I've learned that that's not the case for the vast majority of people out there.

But with that said, it seems that my memory of this inn clerk girl is still mostly there.

As one might expect of a girl who interacts with customers at an inn, she's the cute and friendly type. With long, curly waist-length blonde hair, big hazel eyes, a pretty face with the slightest bit of babyfat on her cheeks to add some youthful charm, and a petite-but-not-too-petite build that's contrasted with an ample bosom that's filled with maternal appeal.

In short, she's the polar opposite of my androgynous ass.

"Oh no, did your research not go over well?" she asks with an air of concern that's undoubtedly melted the hearts of countless lonely men. "You seemed so sure when you left last time..."

"Nah," I shake my head, "it was an, uh... massive success, actually. Probably the biggest of my entire life."

"Wow, really?" The clerk's eyes widen. "That's wonderful!"

"Eheh..."

Though I can now feel the gazes of the other patrons of this fine establishment burning holes into my head, such things are of no concern to me.

"It's a shame that I'm on the job right now, I really would love to hear all about it..." she sighs. "...though I'd hate to hold you up when you look so tired."

"Guilty as charged," I reply with a forced chuckle.

"Were you planning on another extended stay?"

"Yeah," I nod. "In the best room you've got, same as last time."

"Hmm..."

As the clerk girl rifles through a couple of papers on the counter, her smile gradually shifts into a frown.

"Looks like we only have one high-class vacancy left..."

She tilts her head to peer behind me, and then her frown deepens.

"...and it's a single-bed suite. The same one that you were in before, as luck would have it."

Oh, nice.

"I'll take it," I reply immediately.

"Wha?" She flinches. "C- certainly!"

Flashing a considerably more artificial-looking smile than the one she initially greeted me with, the clerk presses the room key into my hand.

...I'm somewhat curious as to what spoiled her mood just now, but that's none of my business so I'll keep my questions to myself.

"Oh, and here are a couple of menus for room service if you happen to get hungry."

"Thanks."

With that, I bid the friendly clerk girl adieu and make my way to the stairwell that leads to the inn's rooms. As per the usual for such things, its highest-quality ones are on the highest floor... which also means that I'm stuck walking up four flights of stairs to get there.

Ugh.

"...aaaand here we are."

click

Upon opening the door, I'm greeted with the familiar sight of the hotel suite that once served as my base of operations for the better part of a month.

...which was barely a week ago.

Time really does fly.

"Nghaaaaaaaaaa~"

With a long groan, I stretch my sore back and my sore legs and then I carefully place my staff on the couch so I can stretch my sore arms too.

And now that I'm all limbered up...

whump

I slide off my upper robe and chuck it in the nearest corner.

thunk thunk

I untie my boots and kick those off into the next-nearest corner.

fwip

My hairtie is thrown wherever so that I can finally shake my shoulder-length mane free.

fwump fwump

My pants and shirt and socks are tossed into the same corner as my robe.

"Haaaaaa~"

And now that I'm finally free of all those heavy clothes, I allow myself to collapse atop this room's king-sized bed and take in the pleasant sensation of its cool fabric against my bare arms and legs.

"I missed laying in an actual beeeeeed~"

Face-down, I flail my limbs around like I'm trying to make snow angels in the comforter. Yes it's childish but who gives a shit I don't care what anyone thinks and even if I did it's not like anyone's watchi-

"........."

I roll onto my back and push myself fully upright and Yahanaseara's right there standing at the foot of the bed with a wide smile on her face and what the fuck is wrong with me she was being so quiet that I COMPLETEY FORGOT SHE WAS HERE

"A blue-and-white striped half-shirt, with matching bottoms..."

Yahanaseara casually describes the underwear I'm wearing.

"...very practical."

Because I casually stripped down to my underwear in front of her without thinking.

"Yet somehow also adorable."

I want to die.