chapter 6 Hostess of Fertility

Following Miss Rose's advice, even though Neos could have just used the cloaking spell, wishing to experience more of his given chance of life, he wore his hood over his head. 

While walking in the direction Miss Rose gave him, he saw a street lined with bricks, which is where the Hostess of Fertility is located. With the depth of a well-kept inn, it's a two-story stone structure. Given that it's situated along Western Main Street, a lot of people appear to frequent it.

The front door features a pair of doors with frames embellished with wood carvings. A number of the pub's front facades feature carvings. A sign with a crossed fork and knife and the Hostess of Fertility is visible on the left side of the entryway.

When he entered the Hostess of Fertility, he saw numerous patrons eating and drinking, and he also noticed that they seemed to only employ women.

The owner appears to be the only one wearing the blue above-the-knee dress without the white headband.

The others all wore black leggings, short brown ankle boots, a small orange bow under the collar, a white apron, and a green dress with long puffy sleeves and a white collar.

They appear to be three beastkin cats, two humans, a dwarf, and an elf in order of appearance.

Except for the cat-beast kin he detected seeming to be in the kitchen, all of them appeared to be waitresses, and the dwarf appeared to be the owner based on her clothing and presence of command.

He went to a counter that seemed to be empty of people.

"Hey, kid, no headwear or hoods inside my pub," said the dwarf with brown eyes and long brown hair, with her being the only one wearing a dress as blue as she gestured to his hood.

"Sorry for the hood; I was not aware of the rule," he said as he removed the hood from his head.

"I haven't seen your face before in my pub, lad," the dwarf said to him, as she didn't recognize her anywhere, and Neos nodded at her words.

"Yes, ma'am, I'm new to the whole city, and when I visited the guild, Miss Rose recommended me here if I needed lodging." He informed her about his need for lodging as he sat in the chair by the counter.

"That girl Rose recommended my pub hu," surprised by the recommendation, "so do you need a room for the night or the whole week, lad?" the dwarf asked him.

"I would like to stay for the whole week," he told her of his requirement.

"Just wait for their lad while I have someone prepare the room, and the name is Mia Grand, lad," Mia said to him while gesturing for a human girl who had brown eyes and medium-length brown hair to come over to her as she asked the girl to prepare a vacant room.

The girl nodded to Mia, who then went upstairs to prepare the room.

"My name is Neos, Miss Mia." He exchanges his name with her as he makes a small bow.

"So, how about I take your order while Lunoire finishes preparing the room for you?" Mia asked for his order as she prepared for it.

"I do not know what to have, Miss Mia; I don't have enough knowledge of your menu," Neos told her about his ignorance of her menu.

"How about I just give you our special for this day?" Mia suggested it to him.

"Sure, Miss Mia, I would have your special for today," he said, accepting her suggestion with a small nod.

"Syr!" Mia, seeing that Syr seemed to be just standing there while looking at the new face, shouted at her to get her attention as she gestured for her to follow his order.

Syr, a waitress at the pub, couldn't help but stand at her spot and look at the young man talking with Mia, curious why she couldn't see anything on him; it was like something was blocking her discerning eye.

Syr looks like a typical human girl. Her hair is blue-gray and is pulled back in a ponytail with a tiny knot. Her flawless skin is a light peach tone, and her eyes and hair share the same hue. She's dressed in the pub's maid's outfit.

Ryuu, noticing her friend, Syr, standing still at work hours at the pub, couldn't help but nudge her for Syr to notice Mama Mia calling for her.

Ryuu, a female elf with green hair and sky-blue eyes, works as a waitress at the Hostess of Fertility. She's wearing the maid's uniform from the pub.

"Ryuu, sorry about that; it seems like I was lost in thought," she said sheepishly, embarrassed of having to be nudged by her friend to get her to notice her friend.

"Do you need something, Mama Mia?" Syr asked Mia as she walked or sprinted to them.

"Yes, can you please get our special for today for our new face here?" Mia gestured for Neos, who nodded as a greeting to the Syr.

"Okay, Mama Mia," she said, going to the kitchen for the special.

When Neos saw Syr bringing him his meal, he stared at him, remembering how long he had eaten anything.

It should have been when he was still in his infant stage that he ate the corpses of the lesser void beast raw, because a demon can never eat anything, and they can slowly turn them into mana to nourish their bodies with. The raw, void-filled meat would always taste wrong. 

But with time he couldn't taste anything anymore, and with time he would grow up and naturally learn how to absorb or eat the mana around him for nourishment. Seeing that he stopped eating the raw corpses of the void beast if he could just devour their mana instead of devouring their corpses, he stopped.

He looked at the people eating at the nearby tables and imitated them in how to use the utensils. He slowly ate it; what he tasted was unexplained to him, and unaware of it, he started tearing up again at the new experience, but he continued with eating everything. Both Mia Grand and Syr saw him with tears coming down his throat.

"Boy, what's with the tears? Is something wrong with the food?" asked Mia Grand, concerned, while inspecting the food for any problems.

"Yes, this is the first time I've eaten something like this," he said while tears kept flowing down his eyes as he ate everything in record time, still feeling the want of the food he asked for a second.

"What do you mean by that, lad?" Mia was concerned by the words Neos said to her while gesturing for Syr, who was listening closely. Seeing Mia gesturing at her, she took it back and went back for another order.

"This was the first time I have ever eaten anything with any taste before," he told her while looking at the kitchen for a second, while his hands holding his utensils were shaking, what Mia could guess was excitement.

"What do you mean by that, kid?" Mia asked with her hands on her waist, as she was curious as to why anyone would not have eaten anything with taste before.

"When I was a child, I would only eat raw meat because those were the only things I could get. Then I would learn a type of fire spell that would burn the raw meat, and because of that, I would be forced to eat it. With time, I would learn that I was capable of burning the raw meat slowly while making sure not to burn it to charcoal. I would grow up and stop eating anything with time," Neos informed her, and he finally stopped with his flowing tears as he saw Syr coming back with his seconds.

"Boy, you seem to have had a hard life," as she processes the information she just got from him.

"It was my life, yes," he said as he ate the seconds that Syr had given him, thanking her as he ate them.

Syr just nodded at his thanks, as she was still trying and failing to use her gaze at him.

As Neos finished eating the seconds, "May I ask for both the payment for the meal and room?" he asked as he cleaned himself of the meal.

"For the food, it will be 500 valis, and for the room, it will be 5000 valis," she informed her while getting someone else's order beside her.

"Here, Miss Mia," as Neos gave her the total amount.

The girl from before, whom Mia said to be Lunoire, has come down to inform Mia she is done. Mia has her guide Neos to his room.

Neos was finally in his room, lying on the soft and warm bed. He tried to stay awake to reflect on what had happened in this short time, but because of the warm and soft bed, he couldn't help but go to sleep.