Seeing the inn in the distance pulled a sigh of relief from my battered body. It wasn’t anything special, the only notable thing really being the way its stone walls seemed to glow under the sunset, but it signified something far greater than that.

Safety.

Sure, it was just a building by the road, but it was a hell of a lot more than a tree to sleep in. A glance over at Kate showed her as transfixed as I had been. The girl looked as tired as I felt, with bags under her eyes from two days of chaos and moving through the wilderness. Her tunic was also in bad shape, with more than a few tears from branches that were sharper than they had any right to be. She hadn’t ever complained though.

“Let’s keep going, almost there,” I said gently. She took a deep breath, nodded, and set one foot in front of the other. I joined her, taking care to keep an eye on the trees creeping up on the side of the road. We hadn’t seen anyone, for good or ill, since the attack at the river.

That didn't make me feel safe, though. We'd stuck to the forest until we hit the road. Then we'd circled away from the road to move forward, before returning to ensure we stayed on track. 

I'd decided we should move to the Eastern city. Any commander worth their meals would expect us to head north after taking out their trackers. This way I was still gambling, really, but it gambled on the enemy being competent. 

Worst case, they were and we had the entire army on our heels but their leadership was shoddy. More likely, in my mind, was that we'd either shaken them entirely or would be seeing about half of the army. 

In either case, moving an army was difficult and took time. It was something I had plenty of experience with. At worst we'd have a day to rest up here. Three was more likely, but not worth the gamble. No, we'd spend the night and then continue around noon. 

We neared the Inn slowly, both of us lacking the energy to move any faster. It’d been too long since I’d gone this hungry, and I’d learned quickly that it was something I wasn’t used to anymore. Kate, for her end, seemed far worse off. We hadn’t talked much, both on account of safety and the quickly forming exhaustion, but she’d been slowing down.

Still, our biggest problems would be solved soon. A good night’s sleep and a full belly would change everything. At least, that’s how it felt. Travelling to the city afterwards was something that did concern me, though. From what I knew, it’d be a week’s journey and it wasn’t like we were outfitted for anything like that. That was a challenge to face when it came, fretting over it before wouldn’t change anything about it. Not really.

The building rose in front of us, and I finally got the chance to have a good look. It was, well, massive. Dozens of feet wide, and a sprawling second floor to boot. Windows dotted the side, and I could hear laughter from inside.

It was a sound that sent a relief through me that was unexpected, but very welcome. If they were laughing, they hadn’t heard about what happened yet.

I gave Kate a soft push to get her moving and stepped up to the door without hesitation. It opened easily, revealing a large dining room. Within, a dozen tables filled the floor with Mikare, both bunny and cat, seated at most. A large bar was set at the back of the room. A tall, older, bunny mikare was almost dancing as he moved cups and dishes around.

The room fell silent as we entered. The men and women stared at me as though they’d never seen a man in proper armour before, and I rested my hand on my blade’s hilt as I turned my head to ensure that none of them had ulterior motives. Surprise can bring out the worst of stupidity in a man, after all.

The guests seemed almost frozen, clutching utensils they’d been using to eat food that probably wasn’t half as good as it smelled.

“Carry on,” I said, when it became clear to me that I’d have to break the stalemate. They didn’t respond. Annoying. Worse was that I had no clue how to break the stalemate. Moving forward would probably be seen as a threat. Retreating wasn't an option because we needed to eat. 

I was still trying to figure it out when Kate pushed by me. A couple of the guests flinched at the sudden movement, but settled down after a glance my way. My hand clenched around the hilt of my blade as she moved between the tables to the bar. Then, I followed. This place did not seem hostile, despite the nervousness of the other occupants, but that didn’t mean I was about to risk one of the guests standing up and stabbing her because I was too far away to protect her.

By the time I caught up the girl was leaning over the bar, already talking to the man behind it. 

“A room,” she was saying with far more energy than I’d have expected, “and food. Do you have meat?” she asked. I smiled at the eagerness in her voice. I could understand, of course, but it was the first time she’d seemed happy since I’d met her, and I couldn’t help but wonder if she liked meat that much, or if it was the relative normality around her.

The black eared man looked at her and I could see his nose crinkle up in disgust before his eyes dipped lower. Her cleavage was fairly impressive, so I could understand that much. His lips started to twist into a leer. I coughed to grab his attention. His eyes widened when he saw my armour, and he swallowed before turning back to Kate.

“Of course, lady. Just have a seat and I’ll have it out before you know it,” he said quickly. 

Kate nodded and turned away, quickly heading towards an empty table. I stayed, staring at the man. He couldn’t see my eyes, not unless his eyes were significantly better than those of his counterparts in my old world, but he returned it. A long second passed before I nodded.

“Don’t make a foolish mistake,” I said with more calm than I felt. Looking, and appreciating, beauty was fine in my book. I’d had the sense he was about to push the issue, though. That very much wasn’t. He flinched, before swallowing. I raised an invisible eyebrow, wondering if he was about to do exactly what I just told him not too.

“Yes, Han,” he said before bowing at the waist. I ignored the unfamiliar word and merely turned around and headed towards our newly claimed table. Kate was already sitting, having sunk low into the wooden chair with her legs stretched out below the table. Her eyes tracked me as I sat in the opposite chair, but she gave no further reaction. Not that I blamed her, I was at least used to little sleep. It'd become very clear, quickly, that she wasn't. 

The wood beneath me creaked as I shifted my weight, before I reached up and took off my helmet. I shook my head a bit, a futile effort to clear my hair of the accumulated sweat and grime, and put it down on the table. I had no real idea on how to talk to Kate, if I was honest with myself. We hadn’t conversed much during the flight, and what we had talked about had barely been more than question and answer. I leaned forward while smiling at her.

“So, what does ‘han’ mean?” I asked. No reason to break something that worked. Kate looked up at me with surprise written on her face, but then chuckled.

“A Han,” she began, and I could hear the capitalisation, “is the head of the family. He leads and protects the women and children. It’s not really used much, except for the higher ups. Lords, really. Outdated, you see.” She shrugged.

“Guess I’m a lord, then,” I joked, and she looked a tad confused before I nodded at the bar. A small smirk formed on her lips.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing.” I kept my voice flat, but the look of pure certainty she gave me cracked me in about a second and I laughed before leaning in with a grin. “I just told him not to do anything stupid. That’s it.”

“Uh huh.” It’d been a long time since I heard a sound that sarcastic.

“No, really-” I was about to say more, but a long-eared girl shuffled up to the table with two big bowls. Kate remained silent, and I decided that discussing anything within direct earshot of our hosts would be too risky.

The girl herself was pretty enough to steal my breath away anyhow. As tall as me, even without taking the long black ears into account, and a large bust. She gave me an almost nervous smile as she put down the bowls, and I returned it with a nod. 

Then, I noticed the bowls were filled with stew. A stew with big, juicy pieces of meat strewn on top that smelled delicious.

By the time I realised what had happened I had three empty bowls before me. Looking up from the sheer depression that their state induced, I noticed Kate had what seemed to be her own third bowl raised to her face. She wasn’t even trying to mind her manners, slurping up the food. It was loud enough that I could easily hear it, and I saw a male cat stare at her with what seemed to be horror and respect all at once. 

I didn’t stop her, though.

It wasn’t long before she lowered the bowl, her eyes meeting mine and a flush crept up her cheeks. She gave me an embarrassed grin, but I shrugged. I rightly didn’t care beyond the fact that it was kind of cute in a way. No, far more important was the warmth of a full belly.

I leaned back with a satisfied sigh. The food had been, well, different from what I was used to in some aspects. The core was the same though. Something that resembled potatoes closely enough, some vegetables, and ridiculously juicy meat. Kate looked at me as though waiting for something, but I gestured at her bowl.

“Finish up, I’ll go see where our room is.” I stood, not really paying her further attention as she grabbed her spoon to gather the last of the stew. 

I moved to the bar, where the bunny quickly spotted me.

“I’d like to know which room you prepared for us. We’ll be heading up,” I said. The man twiddled his thumbs for a moment before nodding.

“Certainly, Han.” He said before hesitating again. His eyes were almost searching my face. He leaned over the bar, closer to me. “You liked Emirillia, yes?” I gave him a blank look. “My daughter?”

“Sure.” She’d kept our table stocked well enough. Hadn’t said a word, but that’d been fine with us, really.

“A harcor for her?” Was he asking for money? Really? A tip? Honestly, thinking about it, I might have. Unfortunately I hadn’t actually discussed money with Kate yet. I didn’t even know what sort of currency they had here. Gold had been the coinage of my previous world, and I had some stored in my pocket dimension. Same with a couple other metals, now that I thought about it.

I shook my head before giving him a smile.

“Just the room. Oh, and if she could bring up some water for us to wash with?” I asked. I didn’t want to pull him away from the bar, and he seemed fidgety enough that he’d probably take it literally if I’d said ‘you’. 

He nodded, almost seeming to deflate on the spot. Pointing at one of the back doors, he started to explain.

“Through there, up the stairs. Your room’s at the end of the hall.”

He offered me a fairly large, wooden, key. 

“Thank you,” I said. No reason to be impolite, after all. “Emirillia will be up soon?” He sighed, almost seeming dejected for some reason.

“She will be ready for you, Han.”

I raised my eyebrows. Interesting phrasing, that. Though I was quite sure I was misunderstanding. Oh well. That’d be a bridge to cross when it came, I’d say. I turned away and headed to the door, Kate meeting me halfway and following.

Time to see what our room was like.