15 The Cozy Inn

Batu, Louise and Chin walked along the streets of Nexus, passing by businesses and restaurants. For a place that practically had no rules, it was much more orderly than Batu had expected.

However, every player here seemed more on edge with each other. It was as if they were waiting for someone to jump them.

Some of them threw glances over at Batu's group, judging whether or not they were a threat to them.

Most players walked in small groups, either with close friends or trusted allies. There were rarely a few that were lone wolves.

There was a weapon shop that had caught his attention earlier. However, the weapons that were displayed were way past what he could afford.

Either that was a high end shop or he was just plain broke.

As of now, Batu was looking for a place to stay. If they had to stay here for the next week, they needed somewhere to crash. However, they'd been searching for nearly half an hour, and they still couldn't find a single inn.

"Ah, look over there!" Louise pointed with excitement. After experiencing the horror back there, she needed a good rest to calm her nerves.

"Where?" Batu didn't see jack shit.

"Are you blind? Over there, you doofus!" she pointed much more aggressively at an inn just ahead.

"Ah... I think I see it now," he squinted his eyes a bit more.

'The Cozy Inn," the sign read.

It was quite small, quaint and away from the crowded streets. Billowy smoke rose up from the chimney, slowly fading away into the air. The inn was reminiscent of a typical fantasy style in your usual isekai animes.

"I smell somethin' good cookin' in there," Chin inhaled the delicious aroma that permeated from the inn. His belly suddenly grumbled with hunger, "I'd say we go check it out."

As the trio walked inside, they were greeted by wood walls and natural decorations. There was a counter by the corner that was attended by a receptionist.

The receptionist was a woman, strawberry blonde hair, brown eyes and completely bored out of her mind. Not quite like the beauty of Lu Mei or Louise, but she was still pretty in her own right.

She was currently kicked back against the chair, and her attention was lazily focused on the TV.

'What kind of magical device is that?' Louise stared at the weird 'moving-picture' machine with confusion. How were there people inside of the flat-looking box? She had so many questions that remained unanswered.

"Excuse me, how much is for one room, please?" Louise asked.

The receptionist swiped a glance at the trio then focused back on the TV, "60 a night, food included." She yawned out.

Louise had a noticeable twitch in her eye. The gall of this... commoner! Louise never experience such rudeness from a peasant before. Louise was a noble, for goodness sakes!

'Don't let it bother you, Louise,' she took in a deep breath and let it out. She wasn't in her own world now. But still, the receptionist should at least care one bit about her job!

"Then, we'll take 1 for a week," Batu butted in. "Hey, Chin, go pay for your own room."

The price was a bit steep, and Batu didn't want to pay a total of 840 points. That would be a huge cut in his wallet.

"Yeah, yeah. I ain't that cheap, y'know," Chin waved his hand off.

"Alright, just hand me over 420 points," she lazily raised her hand out.

Batu scratched his head in confusion. How exactly was he suppose to send the points over? Lu Mei never really explained anything about that at all.

"Um... I'm not sure how I'm supposed to pay you," Batu said with slight embarrassment.

"Hah? Are you a new player or something?"

"Pretty much," Batu nodded. "We just arrived here not to long ago, actually..."

"Didn't the Angel's servant explain anything to you at all?"

"Um, Lu Mei only explained the rules to us and left." he answered.

"No wonder; you had her as a guide," the receptionist facepalmed herself with a sigh. "Here, grab my hand. Just say 'Transfer Points' and the amount you want to send, then voilà, I get the points. Simple as that."

Batu nodded in understanding and held the receptionist hand, "Transfer 420 points." he said.

[420 points has been transferred.]

She was right; it was easy. Essentially, point transfer worked by contacting the hands of another player.

Chin did the same thing and paid for his room as well. Once the receptionist had her points, she tossed out two keys onto the counter.

"Your rooms should be upstairs near the end of the hall; dinner is at 6 PM sharp," the receptionist then turned her attention back to her movie, not wanting to be bothered again.

Batu and Chin took their respective keys and went upstairs. However, Louise gave the receptionist one final glance before she followed behind Batu.

The dimly lit hall was quiet with no one around. They soon made their way down towards the end of the hall where their rooms were.

"You gonna be around for dinner, boy?" Chin asked.

"Actually, I'm probably gonna skip out on it," Batu answered. "I'm all burnt out; I haven't slept once since I got into this whole mess."

"What about you, Louise?" Chin looked at her.

"I'm not that hungry. I'll eat in the morning."

"Oh, I see how it is," Chin said, wiping a fake tear away from his eye. "You guys just don't want to hang out with poor, little me."

"Whatever, dude, you'll live," Batu rolled his eyes at him.

Batu unlocked the door to his room and walked in along with Louise. He then closed the door behind him.

The interior of their room was quite modern; a total opposite of the fantasy vibe that the inn had.

There was even a TV here.

"Fine, be like that," Chin pouted with arms crossed. "Who says I can't hang out by myself?" He marched right into his own room.

Batu sighed out with pure relief. He threw himself on the soft bed that laid by the edge of the wall.

He can finally relax.

Today had been a complete horror show for him, and he felt mentally drained. A good rest was all he needed.

Meanwhile, Louise inspected the room in great detail. She needed everything in perfect condition. As a noble, she would not live in a room if it was not up to her standards.

Clean? Check. Mirrors? check. Large cabinet for her clothes? Check. Bathroom?

Louise quickly made her way to restroom and turned the lights on. Her eyes suddenly sparkled as she gazed at the large, white tub by the wall. That was all she needed.

"This room would do quite nicely," Louise walked out with a pleased smile. "Although, it still doesn't compare to my room back home." She haughtily said.

Then, her pink lavender eyes glanced over at the bed. Louise's body suddenly turned stiff.

There was a problem, a big one.

There was only 1 bed here.

"Batu!" she cried out his name in indignation.

"What..." Batu didn't bother to open his eyes; he was just too tired.

"W-why did you get a room with 1 bed!"

His eyes immediately shot wide open. Crap, he didn't even notice that. But, that shouldn't really be a problem, right?

"Louise, it isn't that bad..." Batu tried to reason with her. "The bed has plenty of space for the both of us."

"Are you crazy? I demand that you sleep on the ground right now," her fingers pointed directly at the wood floor.

"Wait, hold on! Aren't I supposed to be the master here?" Batu cried out due to the unfairness of the whole situation. "Why do I have to sleep on the floor?"

"Because I'm a noble," Louise crossed her arms. "As a noble, I get to be the one who sleeps on the bed."

"Don't care," Batu turned over to the other side; his back now facing her instead. "This is my bed now."

"You!" Louise gritted her teeth angrily.

She suddenly grabbed Batu by his feet and attempted to yank him off the bed with all of her strength.

"Get! Off!" Louise tried to pull Batu away, but he had an insane death grip on the bed. She couldn't budge him one bit.

"No!" Batu shouted back in defiance.

"Now!"

"Never!"

Suddenly, the wall across from them banged loudly, startling both Louise and Batu. They stood completely still like frozen statues.

"WOULD YOU BOTH SHUT THE FUCK UP!" a man's voice yelled through the walls.

Louise finally let go of Batu's legs; her face had blushed red with shame. She didn't even know people would be able to hear them.

"Fine," she finally came to a compromise. "I will allow you to... share a bed with me." Louise couldn't hide the blush from her face.