by Funa
They’re like saiyans!
After many nights of traveling and camping out, stopping now and then along the way to do some hunting and gathering, or exterminating monsters, the Crimson Vow finally arrived in Shaleiraz, the capital of the kingdom of Vanolark, through which they currently were traveling.
Vanolark was adjacent to Mile’s home country, the kingdom of Brandel, in the direct opposite direction from Tils, the home country of the other three members of the Crimson Vow and the place where Mile had first become a hunter. Naturally, not a hint of any rumors about some party of rookie C-rank hunters from another land would have made it this far. Therefore, they decided to make a home of this capital for a little while, not as a party who had made something of a name for themselves by standing out a little too much, but instead, as just another bunch of no-name rookies. That would be their objective, at least for the moment.
Back in the capital of Tils, they had become a little too well known, thanks to the graduation exam. Having a reputation that was a bit beyond one’s station could only be a barrier to leading an honest life.
“First off, we find an inn. We’ll be staying there for some time, so we better pick a good one. After we book our room, we pop in at the guild, let them know we’ll be around for a little while, and gather some information. And then, for dinner, we feast! To celebrate the start of the third chapter of the legend of the Crimson Vow!”
“Yeah!!!”
“Wait,” asked Mile, “What were chapters one and two?”
Reina smiled at this naive question and replied, as though the answer were obvious, “Our meeting at the Hunters’ Prep School was Chapter One, and our adventures in the capital of the kingdom of Tils were Chapter Two. Somewhere around Chapter Ten, we save the kingdom from danger and become S-rank hunters!”
“………”
***
“This is the place!”
The Crimson Vow stood before an inn. Indeed, it was the inn where they had chosen to stay while they were in this city.
At first, they had stopped by the guild to ask for recommendations, but they had been met with refusal, and the explanation that, if the guild recommended any one specific inn, this would be seen as favoritism and a disruption of fair trade. It was annoying, but it made sense. In a small town, they could expect to get information in the event that the town’s two inns were clearly divided into one for the wealthy and one for the common man—or if there was important background knowledge that would safeguard them against unfortunate happenings. However, in a large place with many inns, one had to choose for oneself.
Now that they thought about it, in the town where they had found the House of the Maiden’s Prayer and the Wild Bear Lodge, both inns had been meant for commoners, and yet the opinions of the guild staff had been incredibly split, which had been quite a problem.
Probably what had happened when they asked was that the people there thought they were being helpful to some strange little girls who didn’t know the way of things in that town. They decided not to dwell on it.
At any rate, the four of them went around to a number of inns, examining the exteriors to see if they were clean and well maintained, checking any rates posted outside, and paying attention to the sort of people who were entering and leaving. After careful consideration, they made their decision. If this inn turned out to be a dud, they would simply reflect on their failure of judgment and use the experience to help guide them next time.
Plus, they weren’t taking on a monthly contract this time, so if it was a dud, they could simply change inns the next day.
Ka-cling!
“Welcome!”
As the four of them entered the inn, they were greeted by the chime of the doorbell as well as the cheerful voice of the young girl at the front desk.
Why was it always a young girl at the front desk of inns?
Well, the answer was obvious.
In this world, the death rate for children was particularly high, so everyone had a lot of them. Well, actually, the death rate was high for people of all ages, but children were, of course, most susceptible to illness and accidents. So when one had both boys and girls, which of the four major job types—jobs requiring strength, dirty jobs, dangerous jobs, and jobs where you dealt with customers—were the girls most likely to be directed toward?
It was barely even worth thinking about.
The only time you didn’t see a girl at the front desk was at inns that were staffed only by one family, when that family had no young daughters of their own.
When hiring someone for the job, of course one would hire a young girl, preferably one who was not yet of age. That way you could pay them less. Of course, there was, well, that… which should go without saying.
And so, it was no surprise that at this inn, as with most inns, the one at the front desk was a young girl.
“W-we’ve gotta stay here! For a while! In fact, why don’t we live here forever?!”
Mile tugged on Reina’s arm, her eyes glinting.
“Wh-what’s gotten into you?”
What had gotten into her was this: The girl at the front desk of this inn was a very young girl of five or six. And atop this girl’s head were a pair of ears.
Er, well, every human in the world has two ears on their head. However, this little girl’s ears were not on either side of her face but on the very top of her head.
Indeed, she was what the youth might refer to as a “catgirl.”
“A-a beastgirl…” said three of the Crimson Vow.
“We’re in luck!”
One voice stood out—and you should already know by now whose it was…
“Sorry, did my daughter do something?”
Hearing what sounded like a quarrel, a man suddenly came rushing out of the kitchen, flustered. Given that he had referred to the girl as his daughter, he was likely the manager of this inn. In other words, the owner.
With a beastperson as the receptionist, it was probably not rare for guests to try and pick a fight. He was probably used to such a thing.
However, judging from his looks, the owner appeared to be a normal human. Was his wife a beastwoman, then? Or did he have one somewhere in his bloodline?
Sure enough, the beast blood in the young girl appeared to be weak. The beastfolk they had met in the forest were a lot more bestial, with a layer of fluffy fur, but this girl appeared to be mostly human. Except, of course, for the ears.
What about a tail? Did she have a tail? Mile couldn’t help but wonder.
“Ah, no, everything’s fine. This one here is just kind of a beastfolk enthusiast…” said Reina.
“B-beastfolk enthusiast?”
The owner appeared to be in disbelief.
Indeed, the fact that Mile was something of an anthro-lover was a well known fact amongst the Crimson Vow. They had heard from her, again and again, just how terribly splendid beast-eared girls were. Again and again, to the point of fatigue…
“U-uhm, can I touch them?” asked Mile, a peculiar glint in her eyes.
Reflexively, the owner moved to stand between her and the counter. Perhaps sensing danger, he stepped forward to tend to the reception duties himself.
“So, were you looking to lodge at this inn?”
“Yes. We wanted a four-person room for an indefinite stay. Might you have any rooms available?”
Glancing Mile’s way, the owner looked ready to refuse, but after several seconds of internal conflict, finally he squeaked out, “U-unfortunately, we do…”
“………”
“Have some decency, Mile! Keep a handle on those weird desires! You made us look ridiculous out there!”
The moment they entered their room, Reina immediately began laying into her teammate.
“B-but she had cat ears! Cat ears!”
“There were people with cat ears at the ruins, too!”
“Th-that was different! Those things on the tops of stinky old men’s heads were different! They may have looked the same, but they were co
mpletely different!!!” Mile protested desperately, bristling at Reina’s assertion.
Unable to understand why Mile had gotten so terribly worked up, Mavis and Pauline stood slack-jawed.
“Hang on, I’m going downstairs. Be back in a minute!”
Barely a few moments had passed since they entered their room on the second floor, but now, for some reason, Mile was heading back down to the first.
“………”
There was no point in stopping her. Seeing how she kept fidgeting, she would be useless in any further discussions. They would have to give up on going by the guild today. Having come to that conclusion, they decided to let Mile do as she pleased.
Mile’s heart was pounding with joy, but she crept down to the first floor, walking silently so that the owner would not take notice of her, and took a seat at the table closest to the front desk. She then removed from her inventory some jerky, some dried sardines, some milk…and some catnip.
This was just unfair! Mile was playing dirty!
In her previous life, too, Mile had always kept some fish sausages and Baby Star ramen in her bag, just in case she should run into a cat or a pigeon. (Baby Star ramen is very popular with pigeons, you see.) So of course, she would never go about unprepared in this world, either.
In her storage, she had jerky and dried sardines that were low in sodium; milk that was nutrient-rich and free of lactose, which cats could not properly digest; and a small sprig from a catnip-like plant that she had spotted one day while in the midst of a gathering request. All of these she had stored away in the inventory for safekeeping.
Jerky and sardines that were meant for humans were too salty for cats, and the cow’s milk that was drunk by humans did not have enough nutrition for the little creatures either—plus they got diarrhea from the lactose, and under the wrong circumstances, they might perish. Mile would never allow herself such a misstep, yet the catnip was still rather dangerous.
Catnip affected a cat’s central nervous system, so in some very rare cases, their breathing could become over-labored, which too could lead to death. Yet as long as it was only used in small amounts under observation, there wasn’t a huge danger of that, at least.
And so, Mile looked over to the front desk and the girl who stood there, and began to wave at her, sprig of catnip in hand.
Twitch.
The young girl’s ears perked up in Mile’s direction.
Sway sway.
Twitch twitch.
Sway sway sway…
Twitch twitch twitch…
Sw—
Grab!
“Gyahh!”
“Just what do you think you’re doing?”
The owner stood behind Mile gripping her by the head, an expression of pure anger on his face.
“I, uh, well I was…!”
Mile panicked.
“My daughter is not a cat! Catnip has no effect on her!”
“So you’ve tried it, then?”
“Er…”
It would seem that he had.
Well, there were, in fact, many cases where catnip had no effect on a kitten or female cat to begin with…
After an extended discussion with the owner, Mile somehow managed to get across the fact that she harbored no ill intentions. That said, he still refused to believe that she had anything but a wicked heart. However, Mile could not even bring herself to accept that.
“So you don’t hate people with beast blood—in fact you adore them. But still, what the hell were you thinking? Are you stupid?”
“Are you really one to say that?!”
“I, uh, well…”
Indeed, as Mile implied, he certainly was not one to talk.
Finally, after Mile promised the owner three things—one, that she not give the girl so many snacks that it would interfere with her eating three square meals; two, that she was forbidden to use catnip or any other suspicious items on her; and three, that Mile not interfere with her work—she was granted permission to play with his daughter, little Faleel.
Still, when Mile requested that, at the second evening bell, after Faleel finished her work at the front desk-slash-dinner register, she come up to their room to play until she got sleepy, the owner screamed, “Then when am I gonna get to play with her?!”
It was a reasonable objection.
***
“You really brought her up, huh?” Reina asked wearily.
After her discussion with the owner, Mile had returned to the room, and the four discussed their upcoming plans. Afterwards, they returned to the first floor and ate dinner. Mile waited with baited breath, and when the second evening bell finally rang, she swept Faleel up princess-style and carried her back up to their room.
At the moment, the owner was busy cleaning up the kitchen and getting started on the next day’s preparations. As soon as he finished, he would come up to collect his daughter.
Mile hugged Faleel from behind, sitting the girl on her knee. And then she began scratching behind her ears, just at the base.
“Bwah, that tickles…”
Faleel was in turmoil.
“Stop that!”
Crack!
The side of Reina’s hand smacked down upon the crown of Mile’s head.
“M-my turn next!” Mavis cut in from beside her.
Naturally, Mavis, the youngest of her family, who was always one-sidedly doted upon by her elder brothers, had aspirations… of spoiling and cherishing a little brother or sister of her own, that is.
“Wh-what about my turn?” Pauline asked, fidgeting. She was nostalgic for the days when her little brother was young and she had to look after him while their parents were busy at the shop.
“You all, I swear…”
With a weary face, Reina rebuked all three of them.
“Obviously, it’s my turn next!”
***
About an hour after the second evening bell rang, the owner came up to the girls’ room to collect his daughter.
“Wha…”
He knocked and opened the door, then stopped, his eyes wide in shock at what he saw inside. It was Faleel, playing with the Crimson Vow, rolling around laughing.
“I-Is that really my shy little daughter?”
Indeed, those who patronized the inn never discriminated against or bullied little Faleel, whose beast lineage was quite clear. Anyone who might be keen to do would flee the inn the moment they saw her sitting at the desk—or if they were to make a fuss about it, the owner would chase them off. Nonetheless, the girl maintained a rather reserved manner, very unlike the overly familia…er, not thinking of guests as gues…ahem, um, friendly sort of manner that little Lenny had with her customers.
Of course, Lenny was ten years old, while Faleel was only six. She had few topics to make conversation about, most jokes went over her head, and so forth.
At any rate, until now, the owner had never seen Faleel even smile, let alone roll with laughter, around anyone who wasn’t her family. Come to think about it, though she was a shy girl, he could not recall ever having seen her laughing so joyfully before, even around her own family.
“………”
Though working at the inn did keep him busy, perhaps there was a problem here.
The owner hung his head in shame.
Chapter 45:
A Suspicious Request
The next morning, when the girls descended to the first floor for breakfast, the owner was nowhere to be seen. He was most likely away in the kitchen, leaving little Faleel to tidy the room and set the tables, along with two slightly older boys.
Wait, he has three children? I wonder if his wife is off in the kitchen, too.
Mile pondered this as she looked at the three children but then noticed something strange: both of the boys appeared to be normal humans.
Hm?
All four girls were curious about this, but while the family was busy running around with breakfast preparations, they wouldn’t have time to be answering any questions. Unli
ke during dinnertime, the guests who were present for breakfast would all be showing up rather quickly, within a brief time frame. Even if the menu was fairly truncated compared to the dinner spread, they would still be quite busy. It would go against common sense to try and take up an employee’s time with frivolous things during a rush like this. Instead, the common etiquette for any diner would be to eat quickly so that his or her table could be freed up for others.
Thinking this, the Crimson Vow sat quietly, all their attention on their meals. However…
Huh?
Mile tilted her head yet again. Just now, she had caught a glimpse of a woman in the kitchen. More than likely, she was the owner’s wife—in other words, Faleel’s mother. However, yet again, this woman appeared to be nothing more than a normal human. Of course, she had only caught a glimpse, so perhaps Mile had missed something. Perhaps Faleel’s features were merely some atavistic, recessive trait—or there was some other peculiar circumstance at work. However, whatever that might be, as nothing more than a group of overnight guests, it was really none of their business to comment on.
Mile pretended that she hadn’t seen anything and silently returned to her meal.
After eating, the Crimson Vow popped back up to their room, strapped on their dummy packs, and then left the room behind, completely empty.
They did, of course, intend to stay at this inn again tonight, but depending on the job they took, there was a possibility that they might end up leaving the city for a short while. Should that happen, they would not wish to leave anything outstanding, and so, they decided to settle up the bill for now as well.
“We’d like to pay now, please,” said Reina at the desk.
“Huh? Big sisters, you’re leavin’ already?!”
Faleel was startled by the request, and a look of sadness spread across her face, but Mavis quickly explained.
“No, no, it’s just that we might have to go far away for a job, so we just want to take care of our bill now. If there aren’t any good jobs, or there aren’t any jobs that need us to go away overnight, then we’ll be right back here tonight! Even if we have to go far away, we’ll definitely come back after.”