Two to a Room (1)
After riding in the carriage from morning until evening — a full half-day of travel — we finally arrived at the Isle of Knowledge, home to Luminor Academy.
Edan and I decided to take a room at an inn and settle in there, since the academy entrance exam would be held the day after tomorrow.
It was, in fact, a common approach for students who had traveled from far away to take the exam. Whether commoner or noble, it made no difference.
The Isle of Knowledge occupied a somewhat unusual position — more isolated than other cities — and if you were late to the exam, you risked throwing away an entire year of your life. That was reason enough.
Of course, in this world there was no such luxury as booking rooms by telephone, so naturally we had to check in person whether the inn had any vacancies.
And it was at the inn where we left the horses and carriage that Edan and I ran into a problem neither of us had anticipated.
"You're telling me there's only one room left?"
"That's right, my lord. Around this time of year, the entrance exam always fills every room."
"Hmm…."
We needed to stay at the inn for the next five days for the entrance exam, and the very inn we'd chosen had just one room remaining.
"Fine, I understand. Maid, let's take a look at some other inns first."
"Yes, my lord."
"I only mention this because I'd hate for the young lord and his maid to make a wasted trip, but I imagine you'll find the same situation at any other inn."
"…What do you mean?"
"Our inn is a little farther from the Academy, which is why we still have a single room open. But the closer you get to the heart of the island, the harder it'll be to find a vacant bed anywhere."
"……."
"And if you do come back empty-handed, I'm afraid I can't promise that room I just mentioned will still be available. We have other customers to think of, after all."
It was the innkeeper's way of stopping Edan just as he was about to step outside to search for another inn.
Judging by his composed manner, he didn't seem to be lying at all.
In fact, the faces of the people still lingering in the first-floor dining hall at this late hour only lent his story more credibility.
Most of them looked to be somewhere between their late teens and early twenties, men and women mixed together. It wasn't hard to figure out that they, like us, had come to sit for the Academy's entrance exam.
"Would you consider selling us a second room at a premium…?"
"Every other room is already spoken for. And around this time of year, young nobles like yourself come to stay even at out-of-the-way inns like this one. I apologize, but I have no intention of blinding myself with a moment's greed for coin and earning a noble's ire."
"……."
What he didn't seem to realize was that his principled attitude was, in fact, currently earning him the displeasure of the Blackwood family's rightful heir.
Well — commoner or noble, forcing or pressuring a shopkeeper who was only standing on principle would have been deeply improper conduct. Edan knew that too, which was presumably why he made no move to reveal the Blackwood crest.
"If you truly need a vacant room, you'll have to negotiate directly with the other guests staying in the rooms. But they're all students here for the entrance exam just like you, so I can't say whether any of them would yield."
"Ugh…."
"Besides, haven't you already entrusted your carriage to our inn? At this hour, hauling it back out and driving around would be no easy feat, and leaving it behind while you sleep at another inn would be its own headache."
The innkeeper was diplomatically dancing around the obvious — that the two of us would simply have to share one room.
He was certainly right that going along with his suggestion was the most amicable solution available.
The Academy entrance exam was a test with real stakes for every applicant, commoner and noble alike. No innkeeper would want to sell off a room at a premium only to have its occupant show up on exam day worn out and out of sorts.
Granted, it wasn't as if we couldn't have used the Blackwood name to pressure someone into half-forcibly surrendering their room — but that was hardly any different from the improper conduct we'd just been discussing.
On top of that, our coachman had arranged to board and eat elsewhere while Edan and I stayed here, so wresting the carriage out of the stable and moving it somewhere else at this point would only add to the hassle.
Just as the innkeeper said — the problem would solve itself if Edan and I simply shared a room.
For some reason, though, Edan seemed unable to reach that conclusion, and kept glancing over at me instead.
Is sharing a bed with his maid somehow uncomfortable for him?
Given that he'd already seen and touched everything down to my chest, it might seem strange for him to balk at merely sharing a sleeping space. But the human heart is a complicated thing.
To be honest, the thought that I might have to spend one night — or more — in the same room as him had dredged up memories of last night, and my own head was getting a little tangled too.
But that was that, and this was this.
My allowing Edan my chest had been nothing more than his reward for winning the sparring match against Harold. It did not mean I had permanently granted him rights to any part of my body.
In other words, as long as Edan didn't try anything strange, sharing a room with him wasn't really a problem at all.
Once we entered the Academy, I — as his personal maid — would be using the same dormitory room as him anyway. You could call this a dress rehearsal and leave it at that.
…The only issue, really, was Edan himself.
With the entrance exam looming, he'd want to keep himself in peak condition, and having another person lying in the same bed was bound to be an irritant.
That was probably what he was agonizing over.
Besides, if the single bed truly proved unbearable, I could always lay my clothes on the floor and sleep there. Problem solved.
Convinced I'd reached a tentative conclusion, I told Edan plainly that we should skip the wasted trip and stay here.
"As long as it doesn't trouble you, my lord, I will share your room until a vacancy opens up."
"M-my maid? Are you serious?"
"If sharing a bed with me would be uncomfortable, I will spread my clothes on the floor and sleep there instead. I packed three days' worth of clothing — I can lay one set down and cover myself with another. It's a simple matter."
"N-no, that's not what I meant when I asked if you were serious—!"
"And if the very fact of sharing a room displeases you, I will sleep in the carriage in the stable. If you would keep only my luggage in your room to guard against theft—"
"Th-the vacant room you just mentioned! How much for one night?"
"Two silver pieces a night at this time of year."
—Jingle.
"We'll take it for five nights."
"Much obliged, my lord~!"
The innkeeper, having relieved Edan of ten silver pieces, handed over the room key with an easy grin, and Edan — his earlier expression of tortured deliberation gone — hustled me upstairs to the guest rooms.
"That's settled, so let's go up and rest, Maid. That's enough of that strange talk."
"I beg your pardon?"
"It's not as if sharing a bed with you bothers me or anything. So don't go saying you'll sleep on the floor."
"Yes, my lord."
Thankfully, it seemed sharing a room — and even the bed itself — genuinely didn't faze Edan at all.
Good. Crisis of sleeping-on-the-floor averted.
⁂
Taking the key and stepping inside, we found the room Edan and I would be sharing to be reasonably spacious — more than I'd expected.
It was a small mercy that the one remaining room happened to be a double. If it had been a single, no amount of consideration on Edan's part could have saved me from sleeping on the floor.
Admittedly, even a double room meant only one bed, so it was hardly an environment free of awkwardness — but I wasn't so oblivious as to whine over something that minor.
Besides, having a private bathroom attached was plenty in itself.
Laundry could be handled by Clean magic without any trouble, but washing one's body with Clean magic was another matter entirely.
Clean can wash dishes and peel vegetables, but it can't wash a person? Why? Well, the reason is obvious, isn't it. Because the game needs to collect bathing CGs of the heroines.
Never forget that at its core, this game — dressed up as an academy game — was an eroge. However good the story and however high the freedom of play, an eroge was still an eroge.
True, the in-game lore claimed something about how the sacred act of cleansing the body must never be replaced by mere magic — but as a gamer, no matter how I looked at it, it seemed like nothing more than a convenient excuse for collecting the heroines' bathing scenes.
The fact that even the private rooms of a backwater inn like this came with an attached bathroom was proof positive: never underestimate how serious this game's developers were about their lewd CG collection.
"Would you like to wash first, Maid?"
"……."
"…Maid?"
Why does a perfectly simple question about who should bathe first feel like it carries some other meaning today, of all days?
Don't think weird thoughts. We're just sleeping under the same roof for five days, that's all.
And if a room does open up, we can move then.
The sword department's entrance exam — likely to draw the largest crowd of applicants — would begin in two days, so vacant rooms would probably start opening up one by one from the day after tomorrow.
Steeled by that thought, I shook my head at Edan and answered.
"No, my lord. However far we are from the estate, I remain your servant — it is only right that you bathe first."
"Th-then I'll go first, Maid…."
"I'll have your change of clothes ready in front of the bathroom."
"Yeah…."
With that, Edan stepped into the bathroom, off to wash away the fatigue of half a day's travel.
Once I confirmed the sound of water splashing from inside, I immediately set about unpacking our luggage and putting things in order.
Edan's bag first, naturally — before my own.
Then again, even the things in Edan's bag were almost entirely packed by me, so I knew exactly where everything was.
I set out a change of clothes, undergarments, and a towel in a neat stack, then laundered the clothes Edan had shed on his way in with Clean magic and tucked them away into the space freed up inside the bag.
Being able to use Clean magic without worrying about who might see really is convenient in all sorts of ways. Back at the estate, I only ever dared use it in the kitchen — the one place where magic use was permitted — for fear of being caught.
"I wonder if this is enough to set out for him."
We'd made do with a light preserved-meal dinner back in the carriage, and there'd be no reason to step outside the inn again tonight, so changing straight into nightclothes would be fine.
And since I'd need to bathe the moment Edan came out, I'd laid out my own clothes in advance as well.
With both sets of sleeping attire prepared, I opened the door leading to the bathroom and stepped inside.
As usual — to leave the change of clothes in the changing room between the bathroom and the bedroom.
"Lord Edan, your change of clothes is in the changing room, in front of the bath—"
"…M-Maid?! Wh-why are you coming into the bathroom?!"
"……Ah."
…Right.
We're not at Blackwood Estate anymore.