MBOMEN 08

Chapter 8: Conditions for Free Lodging (2)
2023.12.08.

At the first and second inns they visited, there were no rooms available.

Laila, who had never stayed anywhere other than her own home, couldn’t quite sense what was strange, but Eustar looked puzzled and tilted his head at the owner’s words that there wasn’t a single vacant room.

“That’s odd. There shouldn’t be no rooms available at this time of year.”

He tried to lead Laila into the third inn, but before they could even push the door open, the owner ran out waving his hands.

“Hey, customers. Looking for a room? There’s none, none at all. Everything’s full.”

Eustar asked with a puzzled expression.

“We heard the same from the previous two inns just a moment ago. What’s going on? Is there some kind of festival?”

The innkeeper looked at him strangely, as if surprised he didn’t know.

“It’s the fishing festival. Tomorrow, the streets will be packed, no room to even stand. Around this time, the trout coming down from the upper Ordus River are swarming. Half water, half fish, you know? Plenty of other fish too. That’s why anglers come from far away. Every room’s packed tight.”

Eustar furrowed his brow seriously. If that was the case, it was indeed a big problem. If he were alone, it might be manageable, but with Laila, he couldn’t just crash in some random stable.

“This is troublesome. Is there any place to stay? Even a very small room would be fine.”

“Well, I don’t think there’s anywhere around. Every house, even the barns, are full. This village hardly sees any money except at times like this.”

The innkeeper, speaking indifferently as if it wasn’t his problem, suddenly twisted his face into a strange grin.

“If you go around back, there’s Madam Nollan’s inn. You might ask there. I’m sure there’s one place free. If you can sleep there, that is.”

Eustar didn’t like the sneering look spreading around the man’s mouth but nodded calmly.

“Better than sleeping outside, I suppose. Thank you.”

The moment the two turned their backs and walked away, the innkeeper called out.

“Who knows, sir! Sleeping outside might be better!”

Though slightly off the main street, narrow alleys behind also had inns lined up closely. Eustar and Laila carefully checked every closed door, but all bore signs saying ‘No rooms available.’

Finding Madam Nollan’s inn wasn’t difficult—it was one of the few with a sign, though shabby with most decorations fallen off.

When the two pushed open the low wooden door, a middle-aged woman cleaning a table glanced at them with a bored look.

“No rooms, customers.”

Eustar asked.

“Are you Madam Nollan?”

“That’s right.”

“I heard from the inns on the main road that there’d be a free room here.”

Madam Nollan snorted sharply and spoke sarcastically.

“That must be that glib Glen talking nonsense. Well, there is one room free. But you can’t stay there.”

Laila questioned.

“Why not?”

With a thud, Madam Nollan threw down the rag she was wiping the table with.

Hands on her thick waist, her eyes shooting daggers mixed with anger and a strange kind of hatred—and also a hint of fear.

“If you can’t stay, then you can’t! I’m sick of cleaning up corpses in my own house.”

Madam Nollan picked up the rag she’d thrown but before she could start cleaning again, Eustar asked.

“What do you mean by that, ma’am?”

Madam Nollan fell silent. Her hand trembling on the rag, then suddenly started moving back and forth fiercely.

Not wiping the table, but as if planing it. She kept rubbing repeatedly over the already spotless surface, gritting her teeth as she spoke.

“There’s something strange in that room.”

“Strange? What do you mean?”

She didn’t seem to hear Eustar and kept talking.

“You may think it’s crazy talk, but it’s true. Something very… very evil is there. Definitely. Otherwise, why wouldn’t I rent it out? Do you know how much money I could make renting out a single room during such a busy season? I swear to the god Kiron, I wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t serious.”

The Kiron she mentioned was one of the six gods the Seirou people believed in—the god protecting thieves, merchants, traders, and shadows. For Madam Nollan, who made her living in lodging, Kiron was the most important deity.

Eustar and Laila exchanged looks in the air. Madam Nollan seemed to think they’d already left, for she bent under the table and focused on cleaning the floor without looking back.

Strange and evil…

Eustar said,

“Is it a ghost that appears in the room? Or a monster? Either way, if we say we’ll solve the problem, would you rent the room to us?”

Madam Nollan’s eyes widened like a rabbit seeing a wolf. She nearly bumped her head on the table edge as she hurried to stand.

Her hands trembled as she gripped the rag, then switched it to the other hand while frantically brushing back her graying, messy hair.

“W-what power do you have?”

Eustar opened one of the many complicated pockets on his jacket and took out a small badge.

A hand with six fingers, and a single eye in the center… a strange and eerie symbol, but its flawless golden glow diverted the woman’s attention.

“Have you heard of the Tentina Knights?”

Madam Nollan’s eyes almost popped out. Seeing that, Eustar smiled, feeling things might turn out well. Who hadn’t heard of the Tentina Knights? Except maybe Laila’s village, Rizikus.

“R-really? You are… really a Tentina Knight? You can get rid of that evil?”

Eustar glanced at Laila.

“The young lady beside me is also with the order. So, how about it? If you give us that room, we will solve the problem. Then, at least from next year’s festival, you can make more money. Also, we get a comfortable place to sleep tonight instead of sleeping outside.”

It was an offer with no room for refusal. Madam Nollan looked somewhat uneasy but without hesitation pulled out a key and started climbing the stairs. Eustar and Laila followed.

The inn’s stairs were so old that every step creaked ominously with a screeching sound.

The carpet was almost fused to the floor, flat and worn, and even the crude paintings on the walls had faded, heightening the eerie atmosphere.

Madam Nollan, climbing ahead on the narrow stairs, caught her breath and said,

“You might not want to hear this, but since you’re Tentina Knights, I guess it’s okay. Three people have already died in that room. The last one was awful. I almost gave up running the inn because of it. But I’ve lived here since birth. There’s no other way to make a living, so I keep the place open… But no one dares go near that room. It’s locked tight. You understand what I mean?”

Eustar answered leisurely.

“Locking the door won’t solve the problem. It’s fine, just show us. If things get bad, we can ask the branch for help.”

At that moment, Laila realized he was lying. How she knew, she couldn’t explain, but it was certain…

She felt that strange sensation again. Not only could she not refuse his words or proposal, but now she felt she almost understood him completely.

‘Maybe I’m going crazy. Mother said that too—many witches ended up losing their minds. Am I going to be like that?’

Laila thought.

The room in question was coincidentally at the very top.

As Madam Nollan said, a large padlock hung on the doorknob—too big to be removed barehanded. At least a hand axe would be needed to even scratch it.

Madam Nollan stopped before inserting the key into the lock and looked back at the two.

“Are you sure you want to use this room?”

Eustar nodded immediately.

“Yes, please open it.”

Madam Nollan’s broad back shrank suddenly. Turning the key, the heavy metal trembled as the lock clicked open. She pushed the door open with a jerk and turned her head away as if not wanting to look inside.

Eustar looked inside first. The thick dust scattered by the sudden breeze danced and fluttered, but he saw nothing.

“Laila, how is it?”

At his words, Laila cautiously looked inside, lowering her hood. But she saw nothing either…

Only dust. Except for a fat black spider on the ceiling—if that wasn’t the ‘strange and evil thing’ Madam Nollan mentioned.

Laila quietly shook her head. She expected Eustar to urge her to look closer, but unexpectedly he shrugged as if he had expected that.

“Alright, let’s stay here tonight. But first, we should eat. Madam, sorry, but could you dust this room a little? And if you could chase away that illegal tenant up there too, we’d appreciate it.”

He pulled a gray bill from his pocket and handed it to Madam Nollan. She was too surprised to respond.

With that money, she could have rented two of the best and cleanest rooms in the village’s inns. Although it was countryside, prices spiked in peak season…

Madam Nollan looked at the room with a troubled expression. After hesitating, she stuffed the bill into a stained pocket and said,

“Alright. I’ll clean it well and bring fresh bedding.”