Chapter 15

(Syr Pov)

It was a normal evening at the Hostess of Fertility, business just beginning to pick up as tired adventurers returned from their daily grind, preparing to settle in for the night with drinks and friends, when I heard the door click open, and being the closest waitress, I turned to great the newcomer, only to freeze in my step, as my hairs standing on end as strange feeling of wrongness filled the atmosphere, as I stared upon the newcomer, a tall cat person, wearing strange clothing, who was currently looking around the entrance, before his head twisted to the side slightly, as he reached up a single, gloved hand to slightly lower the mask covering the lower part of his face, and sniffing slightly, before his eyes suddenly snapped onto me, his glowing maroon eyes boring into me, the look of caution in his eyes suddenly replaced with amusement, as he pulled his mask further down, revealing the rest of his face, holding it in place with his middle, ring, and pinky, while his index finger came up, crossing his lips in a shushing motion, as he twisted his head to the side, his eyes closing in a curled smile, as a smile that looked as natural as it felt wrong appeared on his face, before he turned away and walked to the nearest open booth.

It took till he disappeared behind the backrest of a booth and Ryuu tapping me on the shoulder before I could move again, a concerned look in her eyes, as if asking me what was wrong.

"A-ah Ryuu, it's nothing, I just need to go to the bathroom real quick, think you can take care of the newcomer?"

I could tell she was unsatisfied, but she nodded anyway, and let me go, as I rushed to the bathroom, barely managing to reach the employee restroom when I feel on the toilet, and vomited my guts out, barely managing to direct it all into the toilet bowl, as I began to shiver, a fresh stream of bile leaving my body every time I remember that "thing", yes, thing, for that was no person. That twisted, ancient, eldritch horror of chaos and death did not deserve such a moniker, again the memory of its twisted abomination of chaotic energy that tried to pass itself off as a soul returning fresh to my mind, as I retched, as if my body wished to purge itself of anything it might have had in that entities presence, although my stomach was long empty by now.

(Mc pov) 

I stared at the sign hanging above the door, "Hostess of fertility." as I closed my eyes for a moment to sniff the air, the scent of high quality food evident in the air, as I nodded to myself, satisfied with my choice of Inn, as I pushed the door open, the chime of a small bell announcing my entrance, as I strode into the hall, a medium sized room accommodating about 50 people, the sound of conversation and merriment generating a homely atmosphere, as a few girls dressed in green flitted around the room tending to customers, emphasis on "few", as I saw only 5 girls tending to the customers, when suddenly my senses were assaulted by the scent of fear, and I turned my head slightly in confusion, before reaching up to remove my mask to get a better read on the room, as while my mask did not interfere with my sense of smell, it did make it hard to pinpoint where or who said scent came from.

It took only an instant for me to narrow down the smell to one of the waitresses, a diminutive girl with gray hair, who was staring at me strangely, and although her face was stuck in a perpetual smile, I easily noticed the way her body tensed, the slight glistening of sweat on her skin, and the way the small hairs on her skin raised up when I looked at her. not to mention the obvious scent of fear and disgust wafting from her.

Strange, did she notice something? I didn't think I was doing anything suspicious, but you never know in a world of magic I guess, so best not to be to confident, and who knows, maybe she just saw me get arrested earlier, although I don't recognize her, nevertheless, I'm hungry, and I couldn't care less about some random waitress, so I simply pull down my mask and smile at her in the most natural way I can, while making a shushing motion with my finger, before I turned away and walked towards the closest empty booth I noticed.

I sat down while removing my backpack and placing it on the floor besides me, as I loosened and removed my jacket and mask, putting them on the bench besides me, feeling the cooling sensation of fresh air on my neck and wrists and face, after all, my shirt was built more for comfort than practicality unlike my jacket, and as such didn't cover as much skin. Before stretching out my limbs, only to remember in disappointment that with my optimized joints I could no longer get the same satisfying cracks out of stretching. Before settling into my seat, leaning back, and taking in the comforts of civilization once again after so long.

After a moment of simply relaxing and reminiscing on how much work it took to get here, I pick up one of the menus conveniently already placed on the table, and quickly shift through the pages before settling on a large pasta with meat sauce style meal, and a large beer with a Germanic style name -or at least more German sounding than the strange mix of multiple modern and ancient European languages they spoke her.- , after all, I didn't know what was good here, and as such fell back on the rule of thumb from my homeworld. "If you don't know what's good, get something German, they are usually the best." just in time for a tall elf girl to stop next to my table and pull out a small notepad, as I flashed her a genuine smile-after all, no need to be rude if they aren't annoying me, plus I'm exited for the food.-, before placing my order, and leaning forwards onto the table, placing my chin upon my palm, and close my eyes, as I contented myself with listening to the lively atmosphere, as finally, even after being in this world for over a month, it only now, truly settled in that I was finally free from the hell that was the trial.

(an: felt bad about how short and shit chapter 14 was so here's another chapter today, of much better quality in my opinion, hope you enjoyed, I loved writing it, it was quite cathartic.)