First came the room number. This room was marked "1024," meaning it was on the inn's 10th Floor. Judging by the numbering, this floor had at most one hundred rooms, from 1000 to 1099. But the corridor itself was extremely dangerous, so even after being here for so long, they had not fully explored this floor.
"Most of the rooms here contain something, and their locations constantly change, though thankfully only within the same floor. Don't remain in the darkness for too long, or you'll encounter danger. But you also can't casually light a source of light, or you'll become the most conspicuous target in the darkness. Light created while casting spells counts as well."
Lady Gerd, the middle-aged witch introducing the situation to Shade, said this and then pointed at the fireplace:
"The safe way to create light is with matches—special matches from this inn. It doesn't matter what you ignite, but the Fire Seed Source must be one of this inn's matches.
"The flame lit by each match can only last for a certain amount of time. Once that limit is exceeded, it goes out. Flames last longer if you stay still; the farther you walk, the more easily they extinguish. These are the most precious supplies in this inn. We can endure without food or water, but we absolutely cannot do without fire."
She did not tell Shade how many matches they had in total:
"Miss Coens' current condition came from the last time we went out to search for matches. We unexpectedly encountered something in the corridor that resembled a slime monster and could spit clumps of mud. After Miss Coens was touched by one of those clumps, she lost all feeling in her lower body, which then began turning into stone."
The Twelfth Order Bloodkin