Side Story 01 â A Certain Innkeeperâs Reception
The side stories will primarily be from the perspective of other characters, and unlike the main story, the tone will be more serious and more horrific.
However, having already read the main story and knowing full well how things are actually progressing, I think that the readers will instead read the stories with a grin and find them fluffy instead.
â¦I canât imagine that there are any people out there with weird reading habits like reading the side stories before the main story, but if you do exist, you were beyond my expectations, so please go ahead with this in mind.
There will be 11 side stories in total, and the length of each one varies.
Letâs start with a bit of a jab.
âOh, a guest? Welcome, this is an inn.â
Around the time when the sun was about to set, hearing the sound of the door opening, I turned and greeted the customer. They looked suspicious; clad from head to toe in a black robe, but having worked in an inn for many years and having seen countless customers before, I could immediately tell from her figure that she was a young girl and so I wasnât particularly suspicious of her. If a young girl walks around with her face showing sheâll meet a lot of trouble after all, so itâs natural to protect herself.
Now then, for some reason it feels a bit colder in here but⦠Well, Iâm sure itâs just my imagination.
âHow much is one night?â
âOne night is 1 silver, breakfast is 5 coppers, dinner is 10 coppers, and a tub of hot water is 5 coppers.â
Itâs a little more expensive than other inns, but I think our rooms and food make up for it. We arenât connected to a tavern so it isnât noisy, and there arenât any rough customers either, after all.
âFive nights, with the food and water too please.â
With those words, I was handed some silver coins. One, two, three⦠Mn, there are certainly 6 here. Most customers pay by the night, but she seems to be quite used to spending money. I hadnât even told her how much it was yet, and sheâd already calculated it herself after all. She must be the daughter of some major merchant, right?
I donât think itâs the case, but it couldnât be that sheâs a noble, right? The robe sheâs wearing is quite well made, though. No matter how much better our inn might be compared to the others, this isnât a place that a noble would stay.
âGot it, your room is on the second floor, the final door on the right. This is the key. Do you want to eat straight away?â
âYes, if thatâs possible.â
âRight away. Iâll prepare it now so wait in whichever seat youâd like.â
After handing her a key attached to a wooden plate, I went to the kitchen to tell the innmaster to prepare a personâs share of dinner.
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âââââââââââââââââââ
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Because the girl I mentioned didnât seem to be a very talkative person, we never even chatted so I didnât know her name. Seeing as she always keeps her robe on whether sheâs going out or eating dinner in her room, Iâm sure she has some circumstances. Iâd be lying if I said that I wasnât interested, but it isnât good to pry into the business of the customers after all, so Iâm not going to ask.
But still, although she told me not to clean the room or change the bed sheets while she was staying there, she isnât doing anything weird in there, is she? Iâm a little worried.
Eating breakfast, going out, and then returning at night. The girl continued to repeat this, but after a few days, there was a time when she came back earlier than usual. Although she was silent, she would at least reply when you called out âWelcome backâ, but that day for some reason as soon as she entered the inn, she immediately headed for the stairs. Wondering what was wrong, I looked towards her, and through the gap in her robe, I saw her face for the first timeââââ
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ââââââ!? W-, What the heck was that!?
Her face was more beautiful than expected, but more importantly what was with those eyes!?
Anger, hatred, disgust, disdain, bloodthirst, resentment, anguish, grief, despair; those black eyes were filled with every negative emotion imaginable. In my years working here Iâve seen the eyes of all sorts of customers, but this was the first time in my life that Iâd seen eyes like those.
No, those arenât eyes that a human would make. Theyâre the eyes of something much more sinister and terrifying. The moment I saw them, it was like my heart was in a vice-grip. Aahh, how terrifyingâ¦
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Aahh, just what kind of customer are we hosting.
If possible Iâd like them to leave right this instant, but theyâve already paid for two more nights. If I could return that money then I would do so this instant, but if it flew into a rage and attackedâ¦
Thereâs just two days left. Just two more days. Itâs been fine so far, so it should be fine for two more days. Thatâs right, isnât it?
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After that one day that was different, the thing that looked like a girl went back to normal. Fortunately it seems that she didnât realise I had seen her face.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
I was so afraid that I almost couldnât do it, but so that it didnât show its true colours, I had to talk to it like normal, after all. If it knew that I had suspected its true form, I canât even imagine what itâd do to me. Please deliver me from evil.
And like that, I somehow managed to pass the two days.
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âââââââââââââââââââ
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Aahh, itâs finally goneâ¦
That thing that looked like a girl was talking about extending its stay, so after pleading with it, I somehow got it to accept my refusal. To be honest, the whole time I was afraid running a cold sweat from worry of being attacked, but it seemed to have sensed something because it obediently left.
Completely exhausted, I collapsed backwards into a chair. Thereâs no doubt that these last two days have taken three years off of my lifespan.
I took a rest on the chair for a little while, but pulling myself together, I decided to go clean the room. If possible, I want a decent customer next.
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Wai-, what is this!? Whatâs this black canopy bed!?