We entered the Inn. I was the first to enter followed by Henry. After that Charles entered he had to bow his head to enter, sconce he was taller than the door. Lastly Erin entered, she had to bow quite a bit in order to enter. She was as tall as Charles was and on top of it she had her horns, which added quite a bit of height to her. Thus in order to enter, without hitting the door, she had to bow rather deep, as if she was bowing before someone.

When we entered we were greeted by the pleasant smell of food, we had smelled earlier when we had chosen the Inn in the morning.

We were greeted with a small dining hall and bar similar to Erin’s inn. Contrary to the Red Oni Inn however this Inn used much more materials than wood. Bottles, made of glass behind the bar, metal equipment, and the bar was made out of stone. The whole room was dimly lit by candles and the stove in the end of the room.

At the bar was a middle aged woman, who was probably the owner. She wore a simple gray dress, with a grass green jacket and a white apron. She didn’t look very pleased with our arrival. Glaring at us with hate and disgust.

We collectively ignored her glaring and went to the counter, where she was at. She should have recognized Henry and Charles from earlier this day, when they went in the Inn for the first time. If she were polite she would have already put our keys on the counter or would have tried to hide her expression. She did neither. This would definitely cause some trouble.

Her focus shifted from us to Erin after a while. It was clear as day and night that Erin was the sole reason for her behavior. Still I am surprised that this is the first time that someone had the idiocy and guts to attack Erin. I honestly thought at least someone one the Street would attack her for simply being an Oni. Surprisingly they only avoided her.

“Ogres out!”

She snarled looking at Erin. Erin didn’t react at her remark and remained as calm as ever, not showing any shred of emotions or reaction. She simply stood their and waited with us that the lady would give us our keys.

“I said Ogres out!”

The lady repeated herself. She sounded more annoyed than before. Being the owner of the Inn probably think that she has some sort of power over Erin. Erin again didn’t react the way the Inn owner would hope. She slowly moved closer to the counter staring at the Inn lady.

Standing before the lady in her full size Erin simply stared down at her with an emotionless face. The owner was of average size by human standards, but Erin easily let her seem small. She stared down on her like a human stares at a worthless thing beneath them, emotionless and uncaring.

“I agree with you, as I am an Oni, I am happy that I don’t have to share the Inn with an Ogre. So would you please give us our keys.”

Erin’s voice lacked any form of emotion. She didn’t seem to be bothered with being mistaken for an Ogre or managed to hide it completely. She just wanted to get the keys to get into the room.

“Oni, Ogre I don’t care I am not going to let a wild uncivilized beast stay in my Inn!”

The owner retorted to Erin. Glaring back at her. She was still full of confidence. Erin placed her hand on the counter. Leans forward glaring at the owner and slowly curled them to a fist. Making sure to leave deep scratches in the wood with her claw like fingernails.

“Do you want me to be a wild uncivilized beast ore are you giving me the keys?”

The moment Erin spoke the lady flinched and moved backwards. Fear was written all over her face. Erin’s voice had remained calm and emotionless, but now had a threatening undertone. Her gray eyes were filled a dangerous light that emitted a presence of a simple killer. Simple as in she would just kill you nothing more nothing less. Just a murder without fear, regret, wavering, room for negotiation or respect for the life.

The lady couldn’t handle such a murderous intent. Hurriedly she searched for the keys before handing them over. Frantically searching for them behind the counter disorganizing it completly. Sweat was running down her face and she didn’t dare to even look up or the gods behold at Erin.

“He...Heresyourkey!”

She quickly handed the keys over only to recoil back to the wall of behind the counter, when Erin teared them out of her hand. All her attitude had vanished and had only left behind a middle aged lady who was scared shitless.

Without saying a word we left the counter and went to the stairs leading to the rooms. Halfway on the stairs I reached into my one of my pockets, searching for a coin. I flipped the golden coin in my hand displaying it clearly to the Inn owner. Greed lit up in her eyes. Then I threw it somewhere behind the counter. She dove straight after the coin like a streetdog for a bare bone. Then I went up the stirs to our rooms.

“Why did you give her a gold coin?”

Erin asked me. Her voice was back to normal, emotionless. However it was clear that she was curious as to why I gave the Inn lady a gold coin.

“Its the greed trap. I gave her a gold coin to buy her, so that she won’t bother us and treat us well, even if it goes against her values.”

“That’s not worth a gold coin.”

“I haven’t gotten to the best part. A normal commoner will most likely never see a gold coin up close. So they will never no If the coin they received is real or not. They only no that they are heavy”

I grabbed into the pocket, from where I got the first coin and bring forth a second identical one. I dragged my finger over it revealing a dark gray metal beneath the golden layer.

“Lead. These are fake coins. I could use real coins the effect stays the same. The way money works renders a gold coin more or less useless for a commoner. They can’t buy anything that is worth a gold coin. The best house a commoner can possibly afford costs only silver. They won’t be able to use a gold coin for its real value. They can only make a losing business, or they try to use it for business and get the coin taken away simply because a commoner is not allowed to posses a gold coin. Most likely they hold on for it and never use it, denying its value. And those who have given the coin gain their loyalty or silence.”

Erin just nodded at my explanation. After my quick explanation we reached our rooms. They were located on the uppermost floor on the end of the hallway. According to Charles these were the most expensive and luxurious rooms the Inn had. They even had their own bathroom, something that wasn’t a given for Inns run by commoners.

“I and Erin take the left room and you to take the right one. Until the bell for the meeting rings, you can do what you want. You can use the time however you want. Any objections?”

Neither Henry, Charles or Erin had any objections. After seeing Charles and Henry of, I entered the rooms with Erin.

Just entering the room made it clear that this was a room meant only for the best paying customers. The entrance area was a small square floor separated with a door from the rest of the room. This small room had a small wardrobe designed for jackets, cloaks and shoes. Your dirty clothes you wouldn’t want to bring in your living room. Behind the entrance room was the main room of out stay. It was outfitted with a dinning table and fitting chairs, a coach and armchair with a fitting desk. The walls were ornamented with small magical lights and even two paintings. Its clear that this room was designed for traveling merchants, so that they could conduct business within these rooms without looking shabby. In this room where two other doors besides the door through which we entered. One to the private bath and one to the sleeping room.

The bath was relatively simple. It was made of stone and special wood. In its center was a big wooden tub. Next to the tub was a small cupboard with towels. On the other side was a small stove beneath a water tank. A simple and small version of the water heater noble commonly use in their homes.

Next we moved to the bedroom.

“Well… that's unexpected.” (Bara)

The bedroom was simple a wardrobe a small nighttable and a bed. One single big bed. A bed usually used by couples. The Inn lady must have thought that the two guys asking for two rooms for two had a wife or something. Those two morons! Why didn’t they explain it properly? Atleast they have to suffer to.

“I sleep in the bed.”

Erin stated matter of factly.

“OI!!! Conscience. How can you let a poor woman sleep on the sofa.”

“I never said you have to sleep on the sofa.”

“But where else am I supposed to sleep?”

“I only need one half of the bed.”

“Oh…”

I hadn’t thought of that. The bed was big enough for the two of us and neither of us tent to move much when we sleep. The bed even had two blankets and cushions. Why didn’t I think of this.

“Anyway I am going to take a long bath. I can’t wait to get all the dirt of of me.”

The bath was the best. Nothing goes over a relaxing bath after a long time in the wilds. I spent way to much time in the bath. Partly because I had to wait for the oven to heat up the water, but I made up for it by staying in the bath for as long as possible.

When I left the bath I was greeted by the image of Erin's bare feet on the table, next to the books we had bought earlier. She was sitting on the armchair legs on the table and in her hands a book.

“Get your stinking feet of the table.”

“They don’t stink.”

“I know for how long you have gone without shower.”

“I regularly clean myself using magic.”

Come to think of it her hair still looks as good as the first time we met, while mine started to look just hideous after a while without properly taking care of it. When did Erin take of her shoes exactly. I have never seen her doing this once, not even when we entered our room. No that can’t be her feet look way to clean and pure for that.

Erin must have noticed my stare because she lifted her left foot up so that I could have a better look. Just like her hands her foot nails were also claw like.

“I know this sound weird, but did you run around the whole time without shoes.”

“Yes.”

“Why?! And why do your feet look like you haven’t taken a single step outside.”

“Because I don’t have any fitting shoes for my Kimono. And for why they look so splendid. I just have a barrier on my body that keeps me save from outside threads and I have modified it to act as invisible shoes on my feet. “

Erin wiggled her toes and I could briefly see a glass like light reflection. Erin had made her barrier visible for a brief moment. Showing me what she meant with invisible shoes.

Then she closed the book she was reading until now and went into the bathroom. It seemed that even though she didn’t necessarily need to bath she still enjoyed it.

While I waited for her I looked through the books to decide which one I would be going to read first. Sadly the book I was most interested in was already claimed by Erin. Royal archivist Geril: A guide about Elysian I really had looked forward to reading the book. Well I will have enough time to read it when Erin is finished with it. In the meantime I will read Lilies under the Moon.

When Erin left the bath I had already moved from the coach to the bed to read. Reading in the bed is way better than on the sofa.

The bedroom door opened and Erin entered it already dressed in her nightgown.

“Couldn’t you choose a clean one. The blood splatters make it look dirty.”

“Its freshly cleaned and the splatters are part of the design.”

Fashion always mattered for Erin more than actual use. That’s why she wore a kimono and now the blood tainted nightgown. I can guarantee that she has this nightgown for the sole reason of scaring the ever living hell out of the unfortunate soul, who is unlucky enough to see her wearing it whilst strolling through a mansion at night. This nightgown is probably the only nightwear she will ever wear just because of the slight chance of scarring someone.

We where sitting on the bed and reading for a while, when Erin closed her book and looked at me.

“I have been meaning to ask the whole time. Whats with your title of War princess?