TMBIPYMEN Chapter 8

At the first and second inns they visited, they couldn't get a room.

Layla, who had never left home to stay elsewhere, couldn't grasp what was strange, but Yustar tilted his head with a very puzzled expression at the statement that there were no vacant rooms.

"This is strange. During this season, why would rooms be this unavailable?"

He tried to enter a third inn with the confused Layla, but before he could even push the door open, the owner rushed out waving his hands.

"Oh my, sir. Looking for a room? There aren't any, none at all. We're completely full."

Yustar asked back in a puzzled tone,

"I just heard the same thing at two other inns. What's going on? Is there some kind of festival?"

Then the inn owner looked at him with strange eyes, as if wondering how he'd come to this village without knowing.

"It's the fishing festival. By tomorrow, every street will be packed so full of people there won't even be room to step. Right now, the trout are swarming as they come down from the upper Oder River. It's half water, half fish. It's also the season for many other types of fish. So anglers come from near and far. Every room is packed."

Yustar furrowed his brow with a serious expression. Indeed, if the situation was like that, it really was a big problem. If he were alone it would be one thing, but with Layla here, he couldn't just sleep roughly in some stable.

"This is troublesome. Isn't there any place to stay? Even a very small room would be fine."

"Well, there won't be any around here. Every house is probably full, even the barns. This is a village where it's hard to make money unless it's times like this."

The inn owner, who had been speaking indifferently as if it wasn't his problem, suddenly smiled, grimacing his face grotesquely.

"If you go around to the back there, there's Mrs. Nolren's inn—try asking there. I'm sure one place is vacant. If you can sleep there, that is."

Yustar didn't like the mocking air creeping across his lips, but nodded calmly.

"It would be better than sleeping outdoors. Thank you."

The moment the two turned their backs on him, the owner said,

"Nothing is certain, sir! Sleeping outdoors might be much better!"

Though it was slightly off the main road, inns were packed tightly together even in the narrow alley in the back. Yustar and Layla walked while carefully examining the closed doors just in case, but each one had a 'No Vacancy' sign hanging.

Finding Mrs. Nolren's inn wasn't very difficult. Though shabby with most of its decorations fallen off, it was one of the few inns with a signboard.

When the two pushed open the low wooden door, a middle-aged woman who had been wiping a table in the narrow hall cast an indifferent glance.

"No rooms, sir."

Yustar said,

"Are you Mrs. Nolren?"

"That's right."

"I heard at an inn on the main road that if we came here, one room would be vacant."

Instantly, Mrs. Nolren snorted forcefully and sarcastically said,

"That must have been loudmouth Glen spouting off, I'm sure. Well, one place is vacant. But you can't sleep there."

Then Layla asked back,

"Why not?"

Thunk. A sound rang out. It was the sound of Mrs. Nolren throwing down the rag she'd been wiping the table with.

With both fists planted on her thick waist, the lady's eyes glaring at the two people were mixed with strange venom and anger. Not only that, but fear could also be glimpsed.

"If you can't sleep there, then you can't! I'm sick and tired of removing corpses from my establishment."

Mrs. Nolren, who had snapped sharply, picked up the rag she'd thrown down. But before she could wipe the table, Yustar asked another question.

"What do you mean by that, madam?"

Mrs. Nolren fell silent. Her hand gripping the rag trembled, then... suddenly began moving violently back and forth.

It isn't so much like wiping the table as it is like planing wood. Mrs. Nolren, who had repeatedly rubbed a spot she had already polished, gritted her teeth as she spoke.

"Something strange appears in that room."

"Something strange?"

The lady didn't seem to hear Yustar and just continued talking.

"You might think it's crazy talk, but it's true. Something very... very evil is there. It's definitely there. Otherwise, why wouldn't I take guests? Do you know how much I could get for renting out one room during a busy time like this? I swear to the god Kiron, if it were nothing special, I wouldn't be doing this."

Kiron, the god she mentioned, was one of the six gods worshipped by the people of Sierrow. The god was the protector of thieves, merchants, traders, and shadows. So, Mrs. Nolren, who made her living from her lodging business, would naturally revere Kiron above all others.

Yustar and Layla's gazes collided in mid-air. Mrs. Nolren, perhaps thinking the two had already left, didn't even look back and was absorbed in bending under the table to wipe the supports.

Something strange and evil...

Yustar said,

"Is what appears in that room a ghost? Or is it a monster? Either way, if we solve it for you, will you rent us the room?"

Mrs. Nolren's eyes widened like a rabbit seeing a wolf. She nearly hit her head on the table edge in her haste to stand up.

The hand gripping the rag trembled. The lady switched the rag to her other hand while busily brushing back her disheveled, graying hair.

"H-how could you two possibly...?"

Yustar opened one of the pockets in his jacket's complex structure and pulled out a small badge.

A hand with six fingers, and a single eye in the center... It was an eerie and creepy symbol, but the flawless bright golden color diverted the lady's attention elsewhere.

"Have you heard of the Knightly Order Tentinella?"

Seeing Mrs. Nolren's eyes bulge to the point of nearly popping out, Yustar smiled with a premonition that things would work out well. After all, it was The Knightly Order Tentinella, who wouldn't know its reputation? —Except for Ridgecarse village where Layla had lived.

"A-are you really? Really... a knight of Tentinella? C-can you eliminate that evil thing?"

Yustar glanced back at Layla.

"The young lady beside me is also affiliated with the knightly order. So what do you say? If you give us that room, we'll solve the problem. Then you'll at least be able to earn more money starting from next year's festival. And we'll avoid sleeping outdoors tonight and get a comfortable place to sleep."

It was a proposal with no room for hesitation. Though Mrs. Nolren wore a somewhat anxious expression, she pulled out a key without delay and started climbing the stairs. Yustar and Layla followed her.

The inn's stairs were so old that with each step climbed, they ominously screeched and screamed.

The carpet was stuck so flat to the floor it was practically one with it, and even the crude paintings hanging on the walls had faded, heightening the eerie atmosphere.

Mrs. Nolren, who had been climbing the narrow stairs ahead, said while gasping for breath,

"You probably don't want to hear this, but since you're knights of Tentinella, you'll be fine. Three people have already died in that room. The last one was absolutely horrible. Because of that incident, I thought about closing the inn altogether, but I've lived here since I was born. Without this, I'd have no way to make a living, so I have no choice but to keep the doors open... But I don't go anywhere near that room. I keep it locked tight. Do you understand what I mean?"

Yustar answered in a relaxed voice,

"Locking the door doesn't solve the problem. It's fine, just guide us there for now. If it seems impossible, we can request help from the branch."

In that moment, Layla realized he was lying. She couldn't explain how she could know that, but it was a certain, undeniable fact...

She was seized by a strange feeling again. Not only could she not refuse Yustar's words or reject his proposal, but now she even began to think she understood him inside and out.

'I might be going crazy. Mother told me. Among witches, there were many who eventually went mad. Could I be becoming like that?'

Layla thought.

The problem room was, coincidentally, at the very top.

As Mrs. Nolren had said, a large padlock hung on the door handle—a size that no one could pry off with bare hands. At minimum, you'd need a hand axe to even scratch it.

The lady tried to insert the key into the padlock, then stopped and looked back at the two once more.

"Are you really going to use this room?"

Yustar immediately nodded.

"Yes, please open it."

Mrs. Nolren's broad back shrank for a moment. When she inserted and turned the key, the lock opened with the sound of metal trembling heavily. The lady pushed the door open roughly and turned her head away as if she hated even looking inside the room.

Yustar looked inside first. Startled by the sudden draft, the thick accumulation of dust swayed as if dancing, but nothing appeared to his eyes.

"Layla, how is it?"

At his words, Layla carefully peered into the room with her hood still down. But nothing was visible to her either...

Just dust. Unless the plump black spider on the ceiling was the 'evil and strange thing' Mrs. Nolren was talking about.

Layla quietly shook her head. He might have pressed her to look more carefully, but unexpectedly, Yustar shrugged as if he'd expected this.

"Fine, let's stay here tonight then. Before that, we'll need to go eat... Madam, I'm sorry, but could you dust the room? And I'd appreciate it if you could also evict that illegal tenant hanging up there."

He pulled a gray banknote from his pocket and pressed it into Mrs. Nolren's hand. Seeing the 1-ber note, the lady was so surprised she couldn't even answer.

With that money, she could easily rent two of the cleanest and best rooms among the inns in this neighborhood. Though it was the countryside, lodging prices would increase significantly during peak season like this...

Mrs. Nolren looked into the room with a reluctant expression. After showing signs of hesitation, she stuffed the banknote into her stained pocket and said:

"Fine. I'll clean it thoroughly and bring new bedding to replace it."