Book of Fire Ch. 01

"What are you doing?" Katriana asked, "The inn has guards on each floor, although I'm sure you missed seeing them with how spacey you've been today."

"I don't know how much to trust the people of this city yet," I replied, thinking back to the urchin at the docks, "So until we can get a decent lock, I want to protect our things. Besides, everything is precious right now. How much do you have remaining after paying for our bath, room and meal?"

Katriana grimaced. "Not enough. I see your point... still, don't go making a mess that the maids can't handle, okay?"

"Maybe I wouldn't have to if you didn't insist on spending extra on a hot bath," I complained. Did this woman not know how to optimize a budget? "The innkeeper said cold water was free, you know. We didn't need to spend extra."

Her brown furrowed in anger as she pulled herself up to her full height. "I will not stand for my prince to go around road-stained and smelling like a mule!" She then drew a little closer to me. "You're a prince, little brother. My prince," There was a heavy emphasis on the 'My', "Please, it hurts my heart to see you dirty and ragged like some refugee. Have some pride in yourself, at least enough to take a hot bath."

I shifted my feet, feeling my cheeks heat in response to her onslaught of a lecture. Well, I guess at least she was looking out for me. "I hope you know how to find work, fast, then," I muttered, but left it at that.

The maid was waiting outside for us to finish getting settled, and lead us back downstairs to the bath. This time I noticed there were guards- on our floor, it was a heavy set, thuggish looking guy with a crooked nose. He had a heavy looking cudgel on his waist and wore a coat in that same red and white pattern as the maids. I wanted nothing to do with him, he looked like the kind of person who could have killed me with a single punch even before I ended up reincarnating with one HP.

The serving girl must have noticed me staring, because she piped up. "Brandl looks dangerous, but our guards are very dedicated to their jobs. They keep the inn safe, nobody will disturb you while they're here." I was somewhat skeptical of that, considering the number of adventurers in town, but hopefully the security theatre and good intentions of the other guests would be enough.

The bathhouse was a sunken, stone-floored room with four large kettle-like baths. Two of the baths were already partway filled with steaming water, with a spare bucket of hot water standing by. The maid moved a cloth screen to separate the room in two before giving us a curtsy and leaving. The implication was clear: boys' side, girls' side.

I stripped and bathed in silence. It felt somewhat awkward, washing just a few feet away from a beautiful woman I was lusting after, with only a screen in between us. In fact, by the time I finished scrubbing and settled into the tub, I was treated to an image of Katriana's silhouette through the screen, giving me a good idea of her armour-less curves.

Now, I enjoy porn on a pretty regular basis. At least I did, before I died the first time. But for some reason, the silhouetted suggestion of hip, leg and breast had a very powerful impact on me. One that carried through to my cock.

Well, when else would I enjoy this level of privacy? I sank gratefully into the hot water, and wrapped my hand around my shaft. Fixing Katriana in my mind, I closed my eyes and just tried to relax and enjoy myself.

"Are you alright?" Katriana said after awhile, from her side of the screen. I could see a vague silhouette of her head sticking out of one of the tubs. "You're being awfully quiet, Theodore."

"Oh, I'm just relaxing," I said, trying to cover for myself, "Don't worry about a thing!"

I looked ruefully down at my own dick, and released it with a sigh. This was too embarrassing, and of course Katriana would be concerned about my safety if I was too quiet. Someone with as poor health as me passing out from the heat of the water would be a real possibility. I would just have to endure.

Later, after finishing with the bath and getting dressed in fresh clothes, Katriana and I made our way to the common room for dinner, having sent a maid back up to our room with our bundle of laundry. How we would manage with only two changes of clothes each, I had no idea. I could only hope laundry didn't cost that much extra.

I thought the Lazy Ox had been busy before, but now it was positively packed with people. A dozen servers in white and red rushed around with trays of drinks and food, people talked ever louder over one another in an attempt to be heard, and a pair of musicians playing a flute and a fiddler respectively were almost completely lost in the din.

Katriana and I managed to snag a spot on a bench opposite another adventurer- a medium built man in mail with a sword on his back and a spear leaning up against the wall nearby. Nobody had the seat on the bench next to him- I guess he had come alone. While a serving girl plopped frothy mugs of ale in front of us without asking, the adventurer smiled, mainly at Katriana, of course. A little green monster inside me started to scream, but I tried to keep it down. After all, I doubt this guy was a prince in disguise, so I had at least one thing over him.

"I'm Voss!" He said over the noise, and gave us both a nod, "You look like adventurers, too! You here for the tournament?"

"No, just looking for work," Katriana replied, "I'm Katriana, and this is my cousin, Theodore."

"My cousin" she had said. Was she being honest about our relationship to make herself seem more attractive for this guy? I reflected about maybe being further off her radar than I thought. I guess it could be worse, I could have been "just" a cousin.

"What about you?" Katriana continued, my inner turmoil not affecting the conversation in the slightest. "Same," Voss replied, as a serving girl came by and put down dinner rolls before us.

Soon, a thick vegetable and mushroom stew arrived, though I noted with some jealousy that Voss had been able to spring for a version with meat in it. Oh well, less chance of food poisoning for us this way. I dipped my bread in the gooey meal, surprised by how hungry I was feeling suddenly, and listened to my precious Katriana talk with a certain unimportant douchebag.

"Is it just you two?" said douchebag asked, still straining to be heard over the crowd.

"For now," Katriana replied noncommittally. I nodded in agreement. Smart girl, that kind of answer implied we might be meeting up with someone later.

"Sorry for prying, it's just that a party always finds better work than a solo adventurer," Voss continued, his eyes flicking over to me, perhaps sensing my unease at his probing.

"You worked with a party before?" I asked, frowning, finally deigning to interact with this guy. "What happened to them?"

"No, actually," Voss explain, waving a hand as if it could dispel my poor opinion of him, "I was a soldier, part of the house guard for one of the nobles in this city." He shrugged, putting down his spoon so he could spread his hands. "Figured if I was to get anywhere in this world, I ought to strike out on my own and try adventuring."

It didn't register as odd to me before, but I suppose that's why he had the same accent as everyone else.

"So how about it?" Douchebag offered with a broad smile, "I wouldn't mind partying with a mage and a pretty one like you."

A "pretty one"? I clutched my spoon a little more tightly, trying to keep my face neutral. I couldn't take this guy without magic, and a bar fight might result in my death to a punch in the head or a thrown chair or something.

"We'll see," Katriana replied with all the grace and patience I couldn't find in myself, "If we find work that could use an extra sword, we'll keep you in mind. Voss, right?"

I was surprised to find that my stew had disappeared in no time, and I was stuck forlornly running a finger through leftover gravy once my roll had vanished. I must have been much more hungry than I realized. I guess I was used to snacking being more convenient in my previous life.

Suddenly, a hand fell on my shoulder. I startled, dropping my spoon, and craned my neck around to see a slender, weedy-looking guy in blue and black livery looking down at me. Whoever he was, he definitely wasn't associated with the inn, even though her had the look of a servant.

"Excuse me, you are a magic user, are you not?" he asked with a self-important air, "My lord may have a use for your talents, if you'd care to hear him out."