The landlady impatiently blew out a smoke ring. "Just an ordinary room in a normal town, one Silver Scale per night. Want a bath? The communal bathhouse is on the first floor. Ten Copper Nails per use."
Annis looked thoroughly disgusted, but she knew there was no better choice at the moment.
She counted out the coins from her purse. "All right, three rooms and two baths. That comes to fifteen Silver Scales and twenty Copper Nails, right?"
Unlike the pampered Annis, He Xi thought the conditions were pretty good.
After all, most of the places he had stayed along the way had been communal rooms with straw mats, costing twenty to thirty Copper Nails a night.
"That's all," the landlady interrupted Annis. "There's only one room left. One person can sleep in the storage room out back, though. I'll charge you less—one Silver Scale."
"Miss, I'll sleep in the storage room."
The coachman Fred was quick on the uptake. He immediately tossed down a Silver Scale, grabbed the key, and dashed away, afraid of getting dragged into the awkward situation that was about to unfold.
At the counter, only He Xi and Annis remained, staring at each other.
There was only... one room left?
He Xi's heartbeat skipped.
Could this... mean...
Several hours later, He Xi lay on the carriage's soft seat and let out a satisfied sigh.
It felt wonderful after a hot bath. His entire body was filled with refreshing clarity.
As Annis herself had put it: "I'll just endure it for now. We'll deal with it tomorrow when we reach Rose Town. I don't care where you two sleep, but you have to take baths. I don't want to travel while smelling two sweaty men. It would seriously ruin my mood."
He had his eyes closed, but his thoughts were racing.
He repeatedly went over his plans for what came next:
Once they reached Rose Town, he first had to register as an adventurer, then find a way to take on a few well-paying jobs... Although the Appraisal Spell and Labeling Spell cost the astronomical price of five Gold Shields, he still had to find a way to learn them first.
Perhaps he could first find out whether anywhere was recruiting Apprentice Mages. He might be able to learn some basic spells from others.
He Xi had no idea what Annis was going to Rose Town for. Perhaps he could cling to this powerful backer a little longer?
Just as his thoughts ran wild, Bruce, who had been dozing at his feet, suddenly raised his dog's head without warning.
It warily looked toward the carriage door, its ears twitching slightly.
Seeing this, He Xi also snapped out of his thoughts and immediately listened closely.
A few seconds later, two deliberately softened footsteps and a hushed conversation indeed came from outside the carriage.
They seemed completely unaware that anyone was still inside.
"Dimi! Have you gone mad?! Are you really going to steal this carriage?" one voice said nervously, hesitation in his tone.
"Shh! Damn it! Don't say my name!" the other voice replied. "Rupert the bastard won all my money! This carriage is obviously worth quite a bit, and that Black Horse is stronger than an ogre!
"It probably has some kind of monster bloodline. If we sell them, we'll have enough to enjoy ourselves for quite a while."
"B-but... what if we get caught..."
"What's there to fear? The people in the carriage must be sleeping like logs at the inn! Who knows what that dainty little girl and that pretty boy are doing right now?
"How could they notice what's happening outside? Let's hurry. We'll lead the horse away, take the carriage with us, and sell them somewhere. No one will ever know..."
He Xi quietly moved to the carriage window and used a finger to part a tiny gap in the curtain, peering outside.
Under the moonlight, two of the men who had been playing cards at the inn earlier were sneaking around Black Night. The one called Dimi had already reached out to untie the reins!
He withdrew his gaze, a mischievous smile curling at the corners of his mouth.
He then gently patted Bruce, gave him a meaningful look, pointed toward the carriage door, and mouthed, "Talk."
Bruce gave him an I-understand look. A low rumble rolled up from his throat as he solemnly intoned toward the carriage door:
"What is it... that awakens... the sleeping dead..."
The sudden voice made the two men outside shudder from head to toe.
"Who is it?! Who's pretending to be a ghost?! Come out, you bastard!"
Dimi abruptly drew the dagger from his waist, but his trembling wrist betrayed his fear.
He Xi hid in the carriage window's blind spot. Seizing the moment, he suddenly shoved the carriage door outward!
"Clang!"
The two men outside cried out in fright and took a step back. Then they instinctively looked up—
Under the moonlight, there was nothing at the carriage door.
Then their gazes lowered.
Suddenly, a flash of white light appeared, revealing a scene they would never forget.
Beneath a glowing orb radiating a faint white light was a deathly pale dog's face.
Those deep-set dog eyes now gleamed with an eerie green light.
"A... a dog can talk?! Who... who's putting on this act?" Dimi's companion's voice had changed pitch.
Bruce spoke again, deliberately dragging out the ending:
"Greedy... thieves... your footsteps... have defiled... the resting place..."
"An... an Undead Dog! I... I've heard of them in stories!" Dimi was so frightened that he could barely hold on to his dagger. His teeth chattered. "I clearly saw a pretty girl and a pretty boy in the carriage... How could there be an Undead Dog?!"
"Idiot!" his companion shrieked, scared out of his wits as well. "That coachman! The coachman who never says a word! He must be a necromancer! The girl and the beggar are both disguised servants!
"I've heard necromancers love playing these kinds of tricks! This dog must be the undead guardian he summoned!"
That explanation seemed to make everything fall into place.
"Spare us, Esteemed Undead Dog! We were wrong! We didn't know this was the carriage of an Esteemed Mage!"
Bruce spoke again:
"Leave behind... your... offerings... of atonement... then... leave!"
Dimi was the first to react. In a panic, he fumbled with the dagger at his waist and threw it onto the ground with a clang.
The other man was even more straightforward. He threw over his entire money pouch, which landed with a crisp jingle.
"An offering! This is all the money I have! Please let me go!"
Bruce tilted his head. Beneath the glowing orb, his gaze seemed to grow even colder. "Not enough... your filthy... bodies... have also defiled... this place... Leave... everything... then... leave!"
Everything?!
Dimi and his companion froze for a moment, then exchanged terrified looks.
"Ta... take off our clothes?!"
"Take them off! Do you want the necromancer to capture us and turn us into skeletons?!"
The two men no longer cared about anything else. In a frantic hurry, they began undoing their belts and buttons, stripping off their coats, trousers, boots... and even their undergarments.
In the darkness, two miserable men covering their private parts vanished from the roadside inn.
Only then did He Xi slip out from behind the carriage door and pick up the dagger and money pouch from the ground.
He weighed the heavy pouch in his hand, but something about its contents felt wrong.
He opened it.
"As expected, it's all Copper Nails."
"Well, even the tiniest fly is still meat."
Before you continue