57 On The Road Again
Currently, I was soaking my body in a nice hot bath. Unlike how most fantasy novels portrayed the worlds in an ancient times setting where you either used a pot to do your business or ran to an outhouse out back. And if you wanted to bathe, you needed to get some water from the well and dump it on your body one bucket at a time. Nope, nothing like that. Hot baths and proper toilets can be found in the rooms. While it wasn’t really separated except for the toilet, I did not care. To be honest, I do not know how those girls during those times could deal with it. I wouldn’t want to expose my body for everyone to see.
After a nice hot bath, I got out a new set of clothes and decided to head out to get some of those meat skewers that Fred was munching on. They smelt very good. Sadly I never did get a chance to ask Gesel if she and Fred were a thing. He seemed to stick to her like glue. Maybe it is one of those unrequited loves?
As I made my way downstairs, the innmarm stopped me and called me over. “I was so busy earlier I never introduced myself. My name is Lisa. If you need anything just call me or my daughter Becky. Speaking of that girl, where did she even go?”
Lisa looked around and let out a long, drawn out sigh. I guess her daughter is always skipping out on work. “Okay, I will! Thank you!” I said with a smile before heading out of the inn. I only planned to stay the night and begin my trip once more tomorrow. While I really like this town and how nice everyone is, I still needed to move on. Just knowing there is more than one place in this world, so accepting of demi humans is enough to let me know that I will always have a place to go.
“Now then… Time for some of those tasty meat skewers.” I licked my lips and walked over to the stall from earlier. There was a young man behind the counter working away over a blazing fire.
“Hiyo! What can I get ya?” The young man asked. He was about sixteen-seventeen, with a white bandana wrapped around his head to catch the sweat that was dripping down. His short spiky black hair poked up out the top of the bandana.
“Can I get four skewers, please?” I asked. The smell was making my mouth water. I did not know what seasoning they were using, but it smelt oh so good.
“Hiyo! Will be right up, five minutes.” The young man yelled back. I watched as he handed over the skewers he just cooked to the man next to me before taking out four long wooden sticks with points at the end of time and stabbing them into some marinated meat. Chunk after chunk of meat was added to each skewer with a few vegetables in between. He then began holding them over the fire with one hand, and with the other hand, he began adding the spices. The grease dripped down from the meat into the open flame, making it flare up. I stood there with shining eyes as I waited to sink my teeth into the tasty meat. My current state made me chuckle because I remembered a meat loving dragon in a novel I used to read back on Earth. Sadly I never got to finish reading it.
“Order up!” The young man yelled as he handed me the skewers, I took them and quickly paid. After giving my thanks, I hurriedly went to find a place to sit and eat. I will say this. If it smells good, it will taste good, and the taste was absolutely amazing! It was out of this world, and the meat was so thick and juicy! While Mother’s cooking was also very good, this was just on a whole new level. This could easily be sold in a high class restaurant back on Earth.
I didn’t eat all four, only two. I stashed the other two away in my inventory. This way, they will still be piping hot later on when I go to snack on them. With a full belly, I began looking around at the shops. There were quite a few interesting things. And quite a few things, I had no idea what they were or what they were used for. But sadly all my attention was taken when I reached this shop with a lot of shiny things. One gold coin…. One entire gold coin, and I bought the entire shop out. The old man who ran the shop stared at me as I fervently bought all his merchandise with shining eyes. I just couldn’t hold back. It was not until I returned to the inn with multiple bags full of shiny things that I realized I might have a major issue. My mother told me not to follow anyone with candy. This was easy to do, but what if they have a shiny rock? This thought scared me. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
“I need to be careful from now on….” I muttered as I put my loot into my inventory. None of the items I bought had any real use except looking pretty and shiny. I sighed and decided to just stay inside the inn for the rest of the day. It was already getting close to evening time, so I decided to call it a day.
The next morning I said my goodbyes to Lisa and finally met her daughter, who had a big lump on the top of her head. It seemed she got punished for running off. She was busy wiping tables with a sour face, so I didn’t say anything to her.
As I got to the front gate, I ran into the nice guard that I met when I first came here. I gave him my thanks and hit the open road once more. This time I hoped I wouldn’t run into any more bandits. As I walked down the road humming a song I made up on my own, I walked with my hands behind my back and a skip in my step. I am currently enjoying my solo travel. The warm, gentle breeze that swept past my face felt really good. But I found it funny that no matter how long I stay out in the sun, my skin is always white. I never get any sunburns or anything. Even as I grew up and was outside all day under the hot sun, I still never got a single sunburn. My brother, on the other hand, would turn as red as a tomato. It was kinda funny, actually. Because I would sneak up behind him and poke him on the reddest spots making him yell at me and chase me around the house.
I guess I was that annoying little sister, but even so, he would always run to my aid when I needed him. He was truly a good big brother… I paused my steps and looked up at the sky. “Hasn’t even been that long, and I am already feeling slightly homesick.”
I sighed and continued forward. While I will always remember the fun I had while growing up with my family, I still needed to venture out into the real world. I just hoped the rest of my journey to the capital will not have any more idiots in it. However, I did plan to do a bit of testing while out on this journey.
First and foremost, I needed to find a place that had tall enough trees to block my dragon body and test out whether or not I could transform with my clothes on. Now that I had plenty of clothes to spare, I wanted to be sure I wouldn’t end up naked one day if I ever needed to transform into a dragon. I also need to search for more level up spots. To be honest, when I checked my stats before, I didn’t even realize that I had gained ten levels from the nerdals. I had been so busy dealing with other things that it all slipped my mind. I had wondered where I got the skill points to even get business tycoon after the fact but didn’t dwell on it too much.
At any rate, I still need to level up. After my run in with so many strong people in a short period of time, I really needed to prepare for the day I run into some so powerful that I will get my little butt whipped. I can only hope at that time that my abilities will allow me to escape with my life. This world was big. Very big. And if there are dragons still in this world, as my father told me, then the chances of running into one that was not friendly is not zero percent. They are known to be very powerful, so I was a bit worried.
Of course, I have no plans to try to fight such creators or make enemies with them. I want to go to the magic academy, graduate at the top of my class and get myself a proper noble rank. Then I will work my way through the ranks of the military and hopefully eventually become a commander. Just remembering the battlefield, making strategies, and then watching them play out felt right to me. One of those moments that said this is where you belong. It was also the best way to ensure my place in this world and not end up standing on a stage with a collar on my neck being auctioned off to the highest bidder. That was the last thing I wanted.
If one day comes and I have the chance to abolish such a tradition, I will do it. But only if that day truly comes. Until then, I will work on becoming stronger and stronger. And see what this world will be like one hundred years from now or even a few thousand years from now if it is true that my infinite mana will allow me to live forever.
As I was lost in my thoughts, my nose twitched. “I smell blood….”