Chapter 6: Isekai Life & Lazy Ox

The ferry docked with a clunk, and passengers were let off while the peddlers go their wagons ready. The docks were busy, as travellers departed riverboats, new arrivals asked for directions, longshoremen hustled about their work, and sailor meandered about.

“Aaaah!” Katriana sighed aloud while stretching her back, or at least as much as she could in her mail, once we were on shore. “Wooden benches don’t work for me. I’d almost rather have had to swim.”

I glanced around the busy docks, only pausing to grab one of my belt pouches and glare at a street urchin who was fumbling furtively at the drawstring. “Maybe we should get out of the crowds before we decide what to do next? It’s a little close down here.”

Katriana nodded, and lead the way onto one of the thoroughfares coming off the dock, and deeper into Tresens.

The city seemed to be shaped like a half-wheel, with the river as the hub, and large, wide streets radiating away like spokes. The cliffs of the mountains above hugged the sides of the city, including what seemed to be a large fortress built into one of the cliffs, and above on a series of escalating terraces crops were grown.

Opposite the fortress, there was a large, circular structure- the arena or hippodrome or whatever it is that the tournament itself would be held in, I presume. The streets were packed with merchants, visitors and citizens alike, making travel through the city to be something of a slog.

After my close call at the dock, I kept a careful eye on my belt pouches. I never realized just how easy a target you become if you keep your inventory this way.

“We’ll need an inn to operate from, so we can leave our things in relative safety,” I mentioned to Katriana.

She nodded in agreement. “You could do with a bath before we go meeting prospective employers, as well.”

The streets were too busy to argue that last point. Having no local guide or even much idea of how the city was laid out, we wandered freely until we finally discovered an inn.

The buildings was on a side street, near what appeared to be an open market. The sign had no lettering, just the image of a farmer napping while leaning on a large horned animal, and below that the universal images of a keg, a bed, and a crossed knife and fork. It seemed a warm and welcoming place, and even now, just after midday, the sounds of friendly talk, laughter and music drifted out of the doorway.

As we entered, a boisterous and fat man in fine clothes and a fresh apron greeted us. “Welcome to the Lazy Ox Inn!” he said with a smile, “Two of you, eh? Well, I hope you don’t have horses, because there’s no room in the stables. But I’m sure we can cram you in somewhere. Will that be one room or two?”

“One room with two beds, if possible, please,” Katriana said returning the man’s smile. “We’d also like a bath before dinner if we could.”

“Well, then! It’ll be seven silvers for the night, and baths are five copper for hot water, though if you don’t mind a cold bath we’ll not charge.” The innkeeper nodded as if agreeing with himself. “Evening meal is extra but porridge and bread in the morning comes with.”

I felt my sadly flat and limp coin purse, did some mental math and sighed. Such extravagance would leave me with less than a single gold piece remaining.

By the time I came back to the conversation, though, Katriana was already counting coins out to the innkeeper. I hope she had saved more than I did. That splint mail wasn’t cheap, and she had a longsword, warhammer and shortbow besides.

Satisfied, the innkeeper summoned a pair of serving girls in white and red livery, which I suppose was the official uniform for the inn. One was instructed to lead us upstairs to our room, while the other was to heat up the “boiler out back” and get the bath ready for guests who were bathing early.

As we heading up the stairs to the third level, I had opportunity to appreciate the cute, nubile serving girl in her frilly apron and knee-length skirt.

But that came with it a question. Had I actually dug myself into a hole with Katriana? A close, big sister character was fine for eventually giving me access to an army and keeping me safe, but if I H her, what opportunities would I then be squandering with other characters? Katriana, after all, would be a more or less permanent party member.

And then there was the question of my unappealing look. Perhaps a somewhat unsightly but magically impressive and accomplished wizard might end up a womanizer, but surely any harem situation would be off the table?

Katriana wanting to share a room was also an ambiguous sign. Did she want her brother to see her naked, or did she see him as such a sexual non-entity that it didn’t matter?

Why was Heaven so difficult?

Our room was small, with two beds and just enough room between them to sit across from one another without our knees touching. A medium-sized chest with a flat top also served as a nightstand, with the only place to put a candle being the floor while you rummaged around at night. A single high-set window with shutters but no curtain let light into the room. As it turned out, the door could be barred to prevent entry at night, but the chest did not come with it’s own lock- that we had to provide for ourselves.

Of course, I never realized it would be a problem, so I didn’t buy one. Neither had Katriana.

Still I had some idea at how to protect ourselves from theft.

With the majority of our belongings pack away (except for Katriana’s armour and arsenal, which would not have fit, I crumbled the tip of the slightly used candle’s wick between my fingers and rubbed a reasonable facsimile of a mystical sigil onto the chest.

“What are you doing?” Katriana asked, “The inn has guards on each floor, although I’m sure you missed seeing them with how spacey you’ve been today.”

“I don’t know how much to trust the people of this city yet,” I replied, “So until we can get a decent lock, I want to protect our things. Besides, everything is precious right now. How much do you have remaining after paying for our bath, room and meal?”

Katriana grimaced. “Four silvers and a handful of copper.”

Ah, so she was beggaring herself.

She must have noticed the dismay on my face. “I will not stand for my brother to go around road-stained and smelling like a mule!” She then drew a little closer to me. “You’re a prince, little brother. My prince,” There was a heavy emphasis on the ‘My’, “Please, it hurts my heart to see you dirty and ragged like some refugee.”