Chapter 207 - Frozen Inn(2)
Chapter 207 – Frozen Inn(2)
As she barked at him, she kept giving a strange eye to the bag of coins placed on her table.
"Men of this generation are so brutish. Do you think you can solve everything with just coins?" scoffed the lady.
Reve felt a headache coming as soon as he heard that. Just by her looks, it could be discerned that the lady was in her late 20s. So, what gave her the qualifications to look down on this generation?
The only answer he could think of was that she wasn't from this generation. After all, looks can be deceiving.
Despite all her harsh words, Rece maintained his composure, "Forgive me for my ignorance. I had thought to compensate you for the troubles I caused, Ma'am."
The lady was taken by surprise as she could not retort such fine words from Reve.
She nervously looked sideways and finally locked her sight back on the bag. Muttering inaudibly, she extended her hands to pick it up, "Fine, this is the problem with young men, always so pretentious."
After stuffing the bag of coins into her clothes, she faced Reve once more, hollering, "What is a fine gentleman like you doing here anyway?"
"I'm looking for a room to spend my day in. I traveled for days to get to Starhold, and having just arrived, I'm too tired," told Reve.
Right now, he was a traveler. It wasn't that important to keep up with this lie, but Reve likes to be cautious.
One can never know when the lie and identity can come in handy.
"A traveller, I see? Well, you have come to the right place," boasted the lady.
She lunged away from her seat, dashing for the counter. After reaching the counter, she then hollered at Reve, "Hehehehe. I'm the owner of this fine establishment. Now, what type of room do you want exactly?"
Inwardly, Reve rolled his eyes at this immature display, but outwardly, he dared not show his ridicule.
Donning a pensive expression, Reve spoke, "I have a detailed specification. Do not worry about the price. Money is not an issue."
"Oh, a rich young man, I see. You seem to be confident in your strength, seeing that you are not careful about your money-spending. Well, I shall not stand on a high pedestal. Young man, prepare to be sucked dry. What exactly are your golden specifications," chided the lady.
Reve went silent.
He was a bit hesitant to say the following words. Nevertheless, he spoke, albeit with a low tone, "Red room."
"I see, Re—–Wait, what did you say?"
"I want the Red room," repeated Reve.
A red glint coursed through the lady's eyes as she heard Reve for the second time. Her body jittered and a reddish smoke substance was emitting out of her skin pores.
Reve distanced himself upon seeing that, 'It seems like I touched the wrong tail.'
All of a sudden, the lady retracted her aura. She gained back her her healthy hue and smiled at Reve, "The Red room, huh?"
It has been a long time since someone asked for the red room specifically. Most people that inquire never end up well.
The lady dove straight at her desk. The sounds she made indicated that she was looking for something.
After a while, she raised her head back up and presented a large black key to Reve.
Looking at the designs of the key, Reve eyed her suspiciously, "Why is it so big?"
"You will understand when you get there. Follow me," said the lady.
Her voice was no longer like before. She lost all energetic vibe and felt more serious…too serious.
The lady led Reve to the back of the inn. She passed multiple doors until they appeared in a grim corridor where the only thing that existed was darkness.
Rev thought to himself, 'So, the red room is separate from the other rooms.'
The section they were in was different from the lodging section. Reve had passed there a few minutes ago.
This place was much more different. If not for his innate heightened sight, he would not be able to make out the doors of the rooms at the side of the corridor.
'There seems to be something at the end,' speculated Reve.
Not able to keep the suspense, Reve asked the lady, "Where are we?"
However, there was no reply from behind him which prompted him to turn backwards.
'…Damn!!'
The reason why there was no reply was because there was nobody to reply!
The lady had disappeared without him even noticing, a feat well deserving of praise. Reve's senses were sharp. Fooling him was not something so easy.
'Now, it is just me. I need to find the red room!'
Reve walked past the lines of doors. Nothing about them screamed 'red room!'.
His guess was that the authentic red room was at the end of the corridor. There was a red dim light attracting his sight coming from that end.
Reaching there, Reve touched the door. The texture seemed to be made of wood, carved from an exquisite tree. When he tried pushing it open, a few enchantments came to life.
'These are third circle….No, fourth circle enchantments! It seems I am at the right place!'
His eyes brightened as he wanted to disarm these enchantments, but he didn't have the time for that. Reve saw the large keyhole and inserted the room key into it.
*Kachink!*
He twisted the key and it got sucked further in.
The door slowly opened. Ghostly wails escaped from inside like hot air trapped in a balloon. The tremendous vile aura spewing out of the room was accompanied by the smell of stale blood that flowed into his sensitive nose.
Reve was reminded of gory scenes he had seen many times. They always had such a thick stench that would make him want to permanently block his sense of smell.
Reve could feel all his senses warning him to turn back at this instant, but his mind didn't want that.
A few seconds passed by but it felt like an eternity to Reve. The door fully opened. Its last motion ended with a vengeful screech.
Not listening to his inner alarms, Reve dived into the room