Welcome to the Ghost Story Hotel (2)
The carriage rattled along as always. I had no idea how many years I'd been doing this, but it never got any easier. The wooden floorboards were rock-hard, and after climbing and descending mountain paths for hours—past one, two, even half a day—my ass felt like it was getting torn apart.
But even so, there was no fatigue. Sitting beside me was a gray-haired woman who kept staring at me with unwavering eyes. Green mana flickered from her fingertips, banishing any weariness before it could take hold. Even the coachman's seat, which should have felt just as unforgiving on the wooden boards, somehow felt strangely soft and comfortable.
Embarrassed, I turned to her, and Asha just beamed at me with a bashful smile.
Of course, that often drew grumbles from the back of the carriage.
“Lady Asha... You've never done that for me even once...”
“I'm sorry, but we can't waste mana when we might need it for emergencies.”
“...You're wasting it right now.”
Eileen, was it? The little girl who'd tagged along with Asha glared at us both with teary, indignant eyes, flicking her gaze back and forth.
“Haha... W-we've been riding this carriage for over ten hours too, you know...”
“Reagents.”
“I-I've been studying those ancient reagents diligently! They're truly fas-fascinating...!”
Aberly hurriedly changed the subject at Asha's curt remark, staring intently at the ancient reagents as if his life depended on it.
The kids had conked out from exhaustion as usual, and old man Horn let out a sigh at the absurdity of it all before grumbling.
“So, where the hell are we headed now?”
In truth, we'd already put quite some distance between us and the Versio Ruins. We'd been bouncing along in the carriage for a day or two now. We'd loaded Asha's carriage with just enough gear, ditched it, and slipped away carefully to avoid any paladins or the like tailing us.
With so many people witnessing Asha unleashing a storm of ash, a wanted poster might go up soon enough. But even if it did, we had no way to stop it—we just kept moving.
I mulled that over for a moment before answering Horn.
“Well... I was thinking we head to the hotel and rest up a bit.”
“...That freaky hotel?”
“Yeah, that's the one. Veritas Hotel.”
Just as I'd said, we were now en route to that Napolitan ghost story hotel from our earlier destination-planning session.
“No, that's not a place to rest.”
“Like I said before, as long as you follow the guidelines, it's a safe luxury hotel.”
“And like I said before, if it was that easy, it wouldn't be called a man-eating hotel, you little punk.”
If you memorize the guidelines you get upon check-in and follow the rules to the letter, it's basically just a normal hotel. Plus, survive the standard two-week stay and check out successfully, and you can ask the hotel's automated golem response anything you want—and get an answer.
Of course, you can't ask for stuff like how to destroy the world or commit crimes. But Veritas—the hotel of truth—answers just about everything else.
“But we're not some ragtag party anymore. We've got a powerful mage on board now.”
“You mean me, Ain?”
“Yeah, exactly.”
With a gray mage who could rip through space-time on raw emotion alone and wipe out ancient wizards fueled by malice, we were set. Even if she looked a bit dazed now, tilting her head with her hair fluttering in the breeze.
“Hmph... Fair point.”
“So now we can handle any emergencies. We'll rest easy at the hotel for two weeks, snag our check-out reward question, and call it good.”
“So I'll be a big help then, right, Ain?”
In other words, as long as we could deal with any anomalies from breaking the rules, we'd just be kicking back in luxury for two weeks.
“One question per person?”
“No, per room.”
“Ain, pet my head if I'm helping.”
Unfortunately, it wasn't one per person. It was one per room checked in, so if you wanted more questions, you'd need multiple rooms. Which, obviously, would leave you unable to respond to threats right away—fat chance.
“Hmph, stingy reward.”
“But the stay's cheap. Runs on golems, so two weeks costs about the same as a rundown inn.”
“...Quit dawdlin' and get us there. I wanna rest already, punk.”
“Your flip-flopping's on point as always, old man.”
Horn and I shared a grin, nodding at each other as our chat wrapped up.
And then.
“Eek.”
“Ain, why won't you answer me?”
A voice with a childish pout drifted over, and suddenly arms wrapped tight around my waist. A woman with puffed-up cheeks pressed against me.
“Nah, I was just caught up explaining...”
“Pet my head. Now.”
Unlike her kid days, she was openly sulking now, bonking her head against my shoulder.
So I couldn't help but chuckle at how she acted even all grown up and mature. I let go of one rein and gently stroked her hair.
“Ain.”
“Yeah.”
Her puffed cheeks deflated with a load of complaint.
“Ain.”
“What?”
Her pouty lips curved into a little smile, then a bigger one.
“...Ain.”
“Yeah, Asha.”
Her head stopped bonking and leaned on my shoulder; her arms around my waist now brimmed with affection.
“Keep petting me.”
“Got it.”
Our familiar routine from the Empire days was back in full swing.
Night fell, darkening the sky. Planning to camp after ages, I pulled the carriage to the roadside and hauled out firewood. The kids were still out cold, Aberly sprawled beside them snoring away. Old man Horn was stretching his stubby frame to shake off the stiffness, and Asha—who'd dozed off on my shoulder—was now piggybacked on me.
Honestly, over ten hours straight in a carriage was brutal for anyone not conditioned for it.
Horn finished limbering up with a thud of his foot and spoke up.
“Yaaawn... Punk, you handling the fire tonight?”
“Yeah... Same as always. Grab some kindling from around, maybe snag a wild animal or two. Our meat's all gone bad.”
He was already hefting his axe and hammer, so he'd handle the kindling for a roaring blaze and the hunt like usual.
“...That icebox sucks. Can't we just toss it and buy a new one?”
“Anything better's too pricey.”
“Buncha beggar mages.”
Grumbling as always, of course.
We divvied up tasks and were about to start when a sleepy voice came from my back as Asha wriggled.
“Ain... Yawn... Need wild game and campfire...?”
“Yeah, but sleep more if you want.”
Her voice sounded so groggy, I told her to crash longer.
But.
“Nngh, hold on...”
After a quick stretch, Asha's hands moved with mutters. Mana gathered, unknown words flowed. A magic circle etched in the air blazed brilliantly, and soon meteors rained from the sky. A boar's squeal echoed faintly in the distance.
“Got the game.”
“Uh...”
“Fire here.”
Still clinging tight to my back, she flicked a finger. Sparks flew into the gathered twigs and logs, flames roaring to life with a whoosh.
“Game's coming over. Yawn... I'ma sleep a bit more...”
“Uh, yeah...”
What would've taken Horn and me an hour was done in under a minute with a few gestures and murmurs.
“...”
“...”
The culprit snuggled her arms around my neck again, giggling sleepily as she drifted off. Horn and I exchanged glances, faces blank with futility.
And then a massive boar—dragged by ash—thumped down by the fire.
“...”
“I'll butcher the boar. Make sure she sleeps comfy.”
“...Yeah.”
Horn got to work on the boar with gusto, while I hummed a lullaby to keep Asha out. Even as the fire crackled, no words passed between us. We just sighed heavily whenever our eyes met.