"The horse gets your very best care," Pei Ye said. "And I'll take the remaining basic room."
"That already comes to two hundred wen. How about a discount? Two hundred and fifty, with the same best care for your horse, and we upgrade you to a middle-grade room."
"No need. That'll do."
"Certainly." The attendant led the horse toward the back. "Please register with the proprietor."
Pei Ye paused, not understanding what that meant-he had only stayed at inns twice.
He was about to ask, but the attendant had already led the horse toward the rear courtyard, so he simply stepped through the entrance.
At the counter, the proprietor was bent over a ledger by candlelight. Pei Ye tapped the counter lightly. "Proprietor, I'm staying here. The attendant said I needed to register."
The proprietor looked up at him, pushed the ledger aside, and picked up another book with a greasy black cover. Turning to a blank page, he dipped his brush in ink and held its tip over the paper, his head lowered, ready to write.
Pei Ye watched him attentively.
Two breaths passed in silence.
The proprietor looked up with a frown. "Well, speak."
"Say what?" Pei Ye paused. "Oh, um, I'm staying in a basic room."
"...Who cares what room you're staying in? Your registration details."
"What details?"
"Your name, where you live, what business you're on, where you've come from and where you're going. Who'd dare take you in without knowing all that? Never stayed at an inn before?"
"I stayed two nights in towns outside the city. They didn't do any of this."
"Outside is outside. Get on with it." Ink dripping from the brush had soaked the first line, so the proprietor started another.
Pei Ye answered truthfully, and the proprietor recorded each detail.