Chapter XIX: Red Road Hotel – Lupa of the Dinning Table

(This… is good…)

With a spoon in her mouth, Alexandra had a thought that surprised her. While she only accepted to have dinner there because of her "little sister", she wasn't expecting lower ring level of food to be this high. That was at least one thing she couldn't complain about.

Well, no. She could do without Minium's enthusiastic munching noises but she would tolerate it. For today at least, someone had to teach her manners.

"So? Is it good? Anju's cooking is delicious, right?" Lupa suddenly asked. She was sitting in front of Alexandra, her chin resting on her palms with a little smile on her face.

"Why don't you have a taste? That's better than asking for my opinion," Alexandra replied with an irritated tone. For some reason, the question slightly annoyed her so she decided to play dumb.

"Come on! That isn't how this works you know?" replied Lupa, still smiling as if nothing happened.

This seemed to confuse the girl a little, leading her to answer nonetheless, although with an unusually sheepish tone, "... Well, I suppose it gets the passing grade."

It was a really simple dish; fish and vegetable, fried, seasoned, nothing fancy truly. However, Alexandra had to admit that it was good though admitting to herself that food made by a lower ringer was delicious was beyond her capacity.

Unconsciously, she glanced at the girl who cooked the dish. In a corner of the room, she was handling other clients while ignoring what was going on outside of her work. In that context, she looked somewhat stunning. Still intense, but on the safer end of the spectrum if she could say it like that.

"So, on to the matter at and." Lupa broke in.

This woman doesn't lose time, Alexandra thought. In the short time she spent here, she was able to confirm it in the way she handled clients. It was as if she was some sort of predator always ready to jump on a prey – that was not helped by her usually fox-eyed expression. Anyhow, she seemed to have ulterior motives – that or she was genuinely affable.

"I thought about it and ended up concluding that we should take you in."

Alexandra's eyes narrowed. "...Excuse me?"

"You know what a hotel is, right?"

"I am familiar with the concept, yes."

"I heard that you just came into town. You must be looking for a place to stay and a job, right? I can give you both if you choose to work here," Lupa said before noticing how the girl's face suddenly took on a more serious expression. "Something's wrong?"

"... Why?"

"Hm?"

"Why would you do that? I heard getting into a hotel is nigh impossible without proper connections. Do you have an ulterior motive that can't be confessed?"

Alexandra's gaze was sharp. She wasn't sure if Lupa had an ulterior motive actually, she was asking her to disclose the one she was sure she had. At least that's how Lupa understood it.

The young woman flashed a smile. "Well yes! I told you, didn't I? I like girls like you!" Her tone then dropped making it sound serious. "You see, one of my workers had an accident recently and that leaves me with more work than I can handle."

An accident? Alexandra asked herself.

If she was talking about a vigilante, that could only mean being heavily injured or worse.

"Don't worry! All I need is someone handling quests!" Lupa exclaimed as if reading her mind. She walked behind Alexandra and put her hand on one of her shoulders. "So? What do you say? Interested?"

"Aren't we too touchy all of a sudden?" Alexandra said, taking off the hand with an annoyed expression.

"Oh my. Excuse me. But you see that ability to voice exactly what bothers you. That interests me."

"Weren't we supposed to talk about compensation for your employee almost killing me? All I hear here is you talking about how I should help YOU."

"But you do gain something, don't you? I get help, and you get a place to stay, free meals, and even money!"

Alexandra snorted a smile that could easily qualify as evil drawing itself on her lips. "Hmph. My mother always told me to be wary of offers that sound too good to be true. Why would you need someone to handle quests in the first place?"

Alexandra pointed at the red-clad girl. "She is here, isn't she? And from what I could see, she is exactly what you are looking for. Can't she handle the quest?"

"That is what she does!" Lupa replied cheerfully.

"Huh? Don't tell me… You are asking me to work with her?!"

"Calm down. I wouldn't ask something like that even to my worst enemy."

Then why are you asking me that?!! Alexandra thought. Wait. Is that girl that problematic? Well, she did try to kill me, but…

"Anju is going to leave the Red Road Hotel soon and I won't have anyone at the post," Lupa explained. "To be honest, I was agonizing over this. Like I said earlier, I have a lot of work on my hands recently and I can't afford to play the girl receptionist."

"But you are slacking, aren't you? If you really are that busy, should you have the time to talk with little me?"

Lupa sighed and shook her head. It seemed that the conversation wasn't going anywhere.

"Oh well… You are a tough one, you know that? Makes me want you even more. However, from our conversation, I can tell that you are quite ignorant."

"Ignorant?" Alexandra asked, furrowing her eyebrows and unconsciously glaring at Lupa. Now that was the funniest thing she heard in the whole day – a lower ringer calling her ignorant.

"Wow there, don't take it the wrong way! I am just saying you don't know how hotels work! If it seems to you I am slacking, then you probably didn't hear about… Hm. Whatever… I will let you think about it. I hope you will give me another answer tomorrow! Or you know, an… answer? Any? Anyway, see you later!"

"Yes, yes, see you later," Alexandra replied monotonously.

With a nod, Lupa made her way to the other clients and a discussion immediately started between them.

Alexandra looked at her from the counter without a specific thing in mind – actually, she already knew about Lupa and her proposal thanks to that weird doll.

"The Red Road Hotel's owner – Lupa – is going to ask you to work for her," she said. "Tonight is the first day of the 'ball'. Long story short, hotels will compete to see which can slay a powerful target called a 'prince' before midnight and that for 3 days. At least that's how it is supposed to be. It will last as long as the prince doesn't die."

"The ball?" Aside from sounding weird, this whole situation also seemed familiar for some reason…

"Lupa might be trying to avoid a regrettable accident by keeping you inside the hotel. While she isn't acting out of pure altruism, you can trust her for the time being."

"You just like ignoring me, don't you?"

The doll raised a finger as if to insist on what she was about to say. "Staying out tonight is dangerous so when she asks you to join her hotel, just say yes. Don't go out. Don't go out even if your life depends on it."

"Aren't we doing this so that I don't die?"

"Oh… that's true…"

"..."

Everything went just like the doll 'predicted' from the encounter with Rouge to Lupa's proposition. However, Alexandra was growing more suspicious by the seconds. She just realized something, a reasoning error that the doll pushed her to make.

Let's say that this doll could truly see the future or at least possible futures. That didn't prove her goodwill at all. In fact, she could be working together with her rumored master so that Alexandra would end up dead. It would be unusual to mention her master's intentions then, but if that was their plan, she had to admit it was clever. You wouldn't suspect someone trying to save you, at least usually.

Of course, there was still the possibility that the doll was sincere. But even then, she couldn't be sure she could trust it.

She had proof that it lied to her or at least didn't tell her the whole truth. For instance, she didn't mention Rouge, well, Anju's reaction. Of course, if the doll had asked her to get close to a person who would almost kill her, Alexandra would not have obeyed, but this leaves the question of how many other things like that she chose to leave unmentioned.

To put it bluntly, Alexandra had no control whatsoever over the situation and that worried her to no end. When she chose to trust that doll, she thought it was a logical and clever decision but now, she realized that it was totally baseless.

"*sigh*"

"My mistress…"

"Minus 3 points."

"Huh?! What did I…"

Looking at her mistress's face, Minium could tell that she was seriously thinking about something. Maybe she had a plan in mind after all. Probably, otherwise, she wouldn't have ignored the recommendations of the doll they met earlier. Besides Minium was suspicious of the latter and as long as her mistress didn't let her down, she would make sure to be as silent as possible...

She would try anyway.

"..."

Well then, how was she going to get rid of this problem?

Something had been stuck in his throat for some time now, and it wasn't just words.

She tried to swallow forcefully, but it didn't help at all. In fact, the situation had gotten worse. Now it wasn't just itchy – it had become painful. Should she try to take that thing out of her mouth with her hand? Yes, it had to be the right thing to do. She just needed to...

"*blerg*"

Had she just done... and on her mistress?

"... What is-"

"I-I'm sorry!!! I-I'll clean you up right now!!!"

"W-What's wrong with you?!! What do you think you're doing?!! Do you even have an idea of— Argh!!! First this stupid doll, then this stupid girl, and if that wasn't enough, I realize I just spent most of my money on a stupid piece of furniture!!!"

After her outburst, Alexandra squeezed the area between her eyes and breathed heavily, making a noise like a steam engine trying to forcibly cool itself.

"Calm down. Calm down, Alexandra. It's only the first day. You can't break down now," she said in a low voice.

Minium, for her part, had tears in her eyes.

Was it because of his mistress's reproaches? Or was it because of the reproaches she made to herself? She couldn't say it. All that overwhelmed him was fear and shameful smells. She couldn't help but sob quietly. At least as quietly as a child could.

Quite quickly, the noises she was making annoyed her mistress who gave her another murderous look.

"What? What again? Why are you crying? Did I do something to you? Hey, I didn't touch you, did I? Or do you want me to give you a real reason to cry? I'd be more than happy to do that, you know? So before you force me to do something I'll regret later, shut the hell up."

While Alexandra's voice wasn't as strong as earlier, her tone was considerably more menacing. Minium tried to stop crying but only choked herself as a result; thanks to that, her sobbing got louder the more she failed to stop herself.

Alexandra's gray eyes were growing more and more metallic. It would have been no surprise if she suddenly raised her hand on Minium at that point. In fact, it was somewhat surprising for the latter to not have beaten up by now. But if she didn't stop herself soon, that would probably be the least of her worries.

She had to stop somehow. She had to. But she couldn't. The more she thought she had to, the more she failed and the more her master's gaze was growing cold. She would be thrown away. If this continued, she would be thrown away. Actually, she believed it to already be the case prompting her to cry even louder. There was no end to this.

"Dear customer, dear customer."

A gentle voice interrupted the scene by redirecting Alexandra's death glare to its owner. It was the blonde girl from earlier, Anju. She had a hard-to-decipher expression on her face that made her instantly look more mature and level-headed. Alexandra had never seen one except for her, but, in her mind, she looked just like a hotel receptionist should.

"What is it now?" she asked as politely as she could in her current mood; that is to say, not politely at all.

"If you may allow me to show you the way to the facilities, I would be very honorated."

"... That's honored. Either way I—"

"Excuse my mistake. Not just now, but earlier too. Allow me to apologize properly." The girl bowed deeply before pursuing, "I beg of you."

"... Why so polite all of sudden oh girl of nobility?" Alexandra asked, visibly on guard. "Behaving that way with me now won't change my opinion of you."

"Please," the girl pleaded, standing back up.

Alexandra got even more confused. The girl before her sounded truly apologetic. It was to the point she wouldn't have gotten surprised by Lefresne barging in to take a meal, probably dragging Zazzera with her.

"...Hmph. If that humors you. I am not so heartless as to ignore an attempt to sincerely apologize," Alexandra said after a short pause. She didn't fully understand why she even bothered. Maybe thinking about her former friends softened her a little? "Either way, I am giving you a chance to amend yourself. You had better live up to my expectations!"

Anju bowed again. "But I will."

And with that, Anju turned to Minium, making a faint smile. The little girl's eyes opened wider in incomprehension but she didn't have the time to think about it.

"Of course, I will take care of your doll later too."

"I don't care either way."

Anju nodded while Minium stayed silent.

"Here, dear customer. Follow me if you would."

"Let's go already."

Alexandra walked as if she already knew where to go. In fact, she was going in the right direction to Anju's surprise.

Well, it wasn't as if they were hidden. Maybe she just noticed earlier, she thought following the one who was supposed to follow her. Now she just had to wonder: did that girl actually knew what she was getting herself into? Probably not. And even if she did, winning over someone like her would be interesting.

For once, Anju found herself excited by the thought of doing her job.