Welcome to the Ghost Story Hotel (11)
After that, things stayed quiet for about a day or two. I soothed the three kids nursing muscle aches from traipsing up and down the 32nd floor, admired Horn as he dove into new pastimes to make up for the limited billiards time, and just passed the hours like that.
Then a thought suddenly struck me. Stroking Asha, who had dozed off again thanks to Aberly's reagent, I spoke up.
"I've been mulling it over."
"Huh? What about?"
Eileen, who had been sitting on the sofa with me poking at Asha's foot, replied. The other companions whipped their heads around and sidled over slyly. With everyone gathered in the room for once, I tossed out the solution I'd been wrestling with.
"The new additional rules said they're not taking any more guests, right?"
"Mm, yeah. It's definitely gotten quieter since then."
I nodded at Horn's words and pressed on.
"Exactly. And even if they were, they'd only accepted people for a week after us anyway."
"A whole week already? Whatever, spit it out—what's your point?"
So, to cut to the chase, that's what I meant.
"Why not just extend our stay? Sure, it's a shame about the time, but we can think of it as extra rest. Extend by eight days, wait till we're the only ones left, then go full chaos mode."
"…."
They weren't banning extensions for existing guests—just new check-ins. So once everyone behind us checked out, we could break the rules to our hearts' content. No one sane like us would extend amid escalating supernatural bullshit that could get you killed.
"Of course, we'd need to break the rules one more time before the other guests bail. They only stop new guests while the weird shit's ongoing."
"…."
Well, I could practically hear the hotel owner's heart shattering, but that wasn't my problem. Hell, I wasn't even sure this ghost story hotel had an owner.
"So, what do you all think?"
I glanced around at my companions.
"You, fuck. You a genius or what?"
The others gaped wide-eyed, clapping, as Horn's admiring growl cut through.
"Puhuhu… worth those two days of brooding."
"Fucking genius idea! Let's do it—now!"
Led by Horn, the whole crew lit up, whooping in excitement.
And just like that, we all tromped down to the empty front desk and extended our stay by eight days. The golem there eyed us like it was thinking, What the hell are these idiots? But whatever.
Anyway. Strolling the corridor with Asha, I gave her the rundown.
"So you extended our stay while I was out cold?"
"Yeah, sorry for deciding without asking."
"No, it's a solid plan. Like you said, Ain—no one around means we can break rules without worry."
Asha shook her head at my answer, but her eyes sparkled like she couldn't wait to start rule-breaking. Made sense, though. She was always holding herself back, so the thrill of ditching rules and laws probably hit different for her.
I nodded and kept going.
"So, to keep new guests out, we should break rule four—or maybe six—today or tomorrow."
"Hmm… looking at the additional notices so far, breaking six seems less disruptive for daily life."
Veritas Hotel Rule 4: Do not leave your room after midnight until breakfast time.
Veritas Hotel Rule 6: Always move in groups of at least two.
Guessing from patterns, it'd probably tweak the curfew or up the group minimum.
"That's my thought too… huh?"
Mid-chat with Asha, a refined-looking woman approached from up ahead. She clicked along elegantly on her heels, met our eyes, and flashed a sweet smile—thicker toward me, but whatever.
Looks like a noble.
I clocked that and kept walking, figuring we'd pass by.
Then—
Thud—
"Kyaaak…! I-it hurts…!"
Asha, walking beside me, had lashed out with a kick right as we passed. The woman clutched her leg, shrieking. Asha, stone-faced, kicked her again.
Thump—
"Kuuh…! I-it hurts…! Why hit me out of nowhere… sob…!"
Flustered, I grabbed Asha's hand.
"Asha? Uh… this isn't cool, right…?"
"This woman's not human."
Asha shot back and booted the fallen woman hard again. Hey hey hey. No need to demonize her just for smiling.
I thought that, but froze, not sure what to do, just staring.
"Asha, um…."
"Ah, no—not weird talk. She's really not human, Ain."
Maybe catching my vibe, Asha looked uncharacteristically aggrieved. She grabbed the woman's hair, shook it wildly, then spilled the explanation.
"I noticed from the non-human mana traces, sure, but look—she's wandering alone."
"… Ah."
"Like the additional rules said: monster in human skin."
"Right."
Forgot she wasn't paired up—and that guest-skinned monsters were prowling. I'd misjudged rule-abiding Asha.
Scratching my head sheepishly, Asha narrowed her eyes at me.
"… Pretty girl smiles, and you're just grinning like an idiot."
"No."
The hair-gripped woman wailed she wasn't a monster, tears streaming, but Asha kept kicking, lips pursed.
"Like pretty girls that much? Even a monster's fine if she's hot?"
"No, not that—let her explain…."
Annoyed by the endless kyaak-kyaak shrieks, Asha swapped hair for mouth, clamping it shut. A crunch echoed.
Mages could channel mana for reinforcement, hitting superhuman levels. Her grip outdid my full-force squeeze easy.
"Idrin was right—men are all the same. Go gaga over any pretty face…."
"…."
The thrashing monster finally keruk-ed, crumbling to ash and vanishing. Asha dusted her hands, shot me a glare.
Then turned to me.
"Go on—defend yourself."
"…."
Final plea? Screw up, and I'd go from Ain to A / in?
Gazing at her pouting upward stare, the thought flitted by.
So, grievance aside, I needed to give her the answer she'd like first.
"Ain, nothing to say?"
"No, well…."
"Well what."
"Hmm, so in all my years…."
"Years of what."
"Asha, I've never seen anyone prettier than you."
"Never… huh?"
Honest truth—objectively speaking. Racked my brain, no one measured up. Nobles I'd crossed paths with, adventurers, travelers—none struck me as pretty. And Asha? Her looks alone could've multiplied the grocery shop's sales tenfold, even mid-fumbles.
That cracked the dam. Time to explain my confusion.
"So it wasn't 'cause the monster looked hot that I stopped you… um."
"Th-there… that's enough…."
Before I could finish, she snatched my hand, tugged me forward, cutting me off.
"… Explanation's not over?"
"Th-that… y-yeah. F-fine… it's enough…."
No. Not enough for me. Let me finish: you misread 'cause of that sleep-talk where you murdered a creepy smiling lady.
Of course, even as I thought it…
"Hehe… heup. Ain, let's hurry to the room?"
"Yeah."
Her lips curved up, shoulders twitching happily. Our clasped hands fidgeted, her heels clicked with weird cheer.
"Hmm~"
Then came that un-Asha-like hum.
I just watched her back in silence, lips sealed.