Disturbing Shadow

After three hours of sprinting, Ayla made it back to Riranai and sent out her senses in search of Naruse Masa, the coach woman who drove the carriage for her.

Ayla entered the shadows and appeared outside of a secluded lodging house. The words "Sakura Inn" were written in white under the lantern.

'It's getting late, so I'll guess I'll rest here for the night and leave tomorrow.' Ayla thought to herself as she opened the door to the inn and entered.

Upon entering, she was greeted by an elderly woman with white hair. "Young lady, are you looking for accommodation or are you here to eat?"

"I would like to stay the night."

"Okay, it'll be 20 mon for staying the night along with the meals," replied the elderly woman with a benevolent smile.

Ayla bowed slightly and said, "please take care of me."

The elderly woman escorted Ayla into the lodging house. After passed through a corridor, they arrived at a room. Once the sliding door on the other side of the room was opened, a wooden deck could be seen running alongside the lodging house's side.

"You'll be staying in this room, young lady."

Seeing past the deck, the environment around here was stylish and well-built, adding beauty to this secluded lodging house.

"Young lady, if you walk along the deck, it will lead to a courtyard, where there is a hot spring that is open all year round. You can relax knowing that our Sakura Inn only accepts female guests. I will retire for now to prepare something for the young lady to eat," the elderly woman bowed before leaving through the door.

Closing the sliding door that led to the deck, Ayla walked over to the white, comfy-looking bed, and fell back first onto it, sinking slowly into the mattress of the bed.

'I should probably inform Masa about my return and our departure tomorrow.' Ayla thought as she stood up with some hesitation due to her really wanting to stay in the coziness of the bed.

Ayla walked over to where a small lamp lit up half the room and entered its shadow, emerging shortly after within Naruse Masa's room, getting a loud scream out of her.

"Can you not scream so loud?" Ayla said, a little irritated.

"I'm sorry, but you popped out of nowhere, so it scared me," said Masa, placing her hand over her heart.

'It seems like her mind has changed more than I initially thought, as she gets frightened easily.' Ayla thought.

Masa quickly calmed down and said, "Shouldn't you be on your way to the demon palace?"

"I already finished what I needed there, so we'll stay here tonight and leave tomorrow morning." Ayla said.

"There's no way you could be done within a day." Masa declared, displaying disbelief.

"I don't care if you believe me or not, but we're leaving tomorrow." Ayla said, before entering the shadow and returning to her room.

After returning to her room, Ayla put on a yukata that she found neatly folded at the end of the bed, and decided to take a dip in the hot spring that the elderly woman had mentioned previously.

Ayla opened the sliding door and walked onto the deck, following the instructions that the elderly woman had given earlier, soon reaching a well-built courtyard that fit the name of the inn.

Finding the fairly large open-air hot spring, Ayla walked over to it. Seeing that it was unoccupied, she took off her yukata and set it to the side where I couldn't get wet, and tied her hair into a bun.

She dipped her foot into the hot spring water. It felt lukewarm to the touch, so she quickly climbed the rest of the way in and sat down, her breasts floating a little below the water surface.

Closing her eyes, she laid her head against the rim of the hot spring, enjoying the peaceful nature without any disturbances fro—.

Disappearing from her spot, Ayla emerged behind a cloaked woman, covered in shadows and holding a dagger to the woman's throat. "Did you really have to disturb me when I was bathing?"

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but I didn't know you were bathing." The cloaked woman shuddered slightly.

"You are one of the cloaked demon assassins, and the leader of them; did you come here to avenge Shizuka or the emperor, or was it for your disciple that I killed?"

"No, not at all. I would be killed easily, but it does sadden me to lose such a good disciple." The cloaked woman said, slightly tilting her head downwards.

"Then what's your purpose for coming here for?"

"I just wanted to say thank you for killing the slut Shizuka." The cloaked woman said, giving Ayla the impression she wasn't lying.

After saying what she wanted, the cloaked woman melted into the shadows, leaving Ayla standing there alone.

Emerging next to the hot spring, Ayla grabbed her yakata and put them on as she was no longer in the mood to stay in the hot spring any longer.