As we made our way to the hotel that Elyscia mentioned, we came across a market, just a little detour. I did say it would be nice to eat on the way. The market was bustling with activity, more than the street we came before. There were vendors on the sides of the road, selling assorted types of fruits and vegetables. I approached one stall.
“Hey missy, found something you want?” the vendor said to me.
It was then that my reflection appeared and leaned on the wooden beam. She stared at the fruits and vegetables. “So this is what you humans are up to now? Just selling these strange, colorful things. Oh yeah, you need food to survive. How weak.”
Have you ever, ever, eaten something like this?
“Why should we?”
Of course you haven’t. You’re the one missing out.
“And you have no need for these things anymore. What you need are souls. Look around, just see how many souls you can have here, human souls.”
Sucking the life out of everyone here would be the height of foolishness. So just shut up. You never intend to help.
“Hmph. Do whatever you want.”
She walked away, looking at the humans nearby. I approached the vendor and grabbed a pair of apples. I threw one at Elyscia. She curiously caught it.
“See if we can taste them. And please pay the man.”
“Yes.” She handed some coins to the vendor.
I stared at the apple in my hand, feeling a bit nervous. Could I even taste normal food? I had not even tried it when I was in that village, didn’t even think of it. I was a bit afraid of figuring it out. Taking a deep breath, I bit the apple. I chewed and tasted the fluid in it before swallowing them. I lowered the apple.
I closed my eyes. It was the same. The true taste of an apple. It was normal. I was absolutely relieved deep within my heart, I almost wanted to cry. Finally, there was still something good that was left. I smiled in happiness, relieved that I was not robbed of my sense of taste.
I glanced at Elyscia, she was still biting on her apple. “How is it?”
“It tastes normal.”
It would seem her sense of taste was not affected too. Very good. But then again, we still feel pain, so I suppose it was expected that we would maintain our ability to taste. We could even sense warmth or cold. But still, this was a good confirmation.
“You are unlike any common undead, of course you still have those.” She looked around. “Honestly, this place truly has a crowd, it’s annoying. Syndra, reduce their number.”
You have no command over me.
She was the one being annoying, disrupting my moment of joy. Every time I see her, it just sucks the good emotions in me. Always being reminded of what I was in the past.
I bit the apple again before starting walking.
My reflection kept popping up everywhere.
“Ugh, these little humans…” She referred to the children playing. She seemed disgusted. “So feeble. So ignorant, clueless, about everything. But, if they ever suffer, I’m certain you can do the job, right, Syndra? It’s not gonna be the first time you kill a child.”
I clenched my fists. I never felt good about killing children. It was out of necessity.
“And you’ll keep doing it again and again. What’s the point of being hurt by it now?”
If only she would just shut up, stop making me agonize. As she was well aware of my thoughts, my reflection merely chuckled.
I looked around and saw a peculiar shop. I saw a kid go away with something interesting in his hand.
Ice cream?
They had ice cream? Like how? How did they manage to do that? They didn’t have those before.
“Elyscia, let’s go over there.”
“Yes.”
I rushed over to that spot and took a close look. It was indeed ice cream, the vendor scooping it from inside a box and to a cone. My classmates had been very busy bringing stuff from our world, huh?
“What’s this?” Elyscia asked.
“You don’t know what that is?” I asked.
“No. I am not up to date with the latest trend. This is new.”
So they have only recreated it recently. Interesting.
“It’s ice scream,” the ice cream vendor said. “It’s pretty good! Don’t hesitate to give it a try.”
“Let’s have some, Elyscia.”
“Of course, milady.”
We both had ice creams for both of us. It only had one color, white. It would seem they had yet to figure out making other flavors. But this was pretty impressive.
I walked away and Elyscia followed beside me, still staring curiously at the ice cream. I licked the ice cream — if you bite on ice cream, you’re insane. The sweetness melted and spread all over my tongue. It was incredible. Elyscia observed how I consumed the ice cream, and she followed suit. And she smiled, she seemed pleased.
“You like it?” I asked with a smile.
“Yes. It is excellent.”
I nodded. Simple as it may appear, it was very good. It made me a bit nostalgic about my original world.
My reflection appeared in front of me. “I have to admit, you humans did pretty well in building your cities.” She looked at the surroundings. “To think you have progressed this far. That ice cream also seems rather interesting.”
Oh, you like it, huh?
I noticed that she just used a singular pronoun to refer to herself. It would seem they still had some individuality.
She frowned. “A mere momentary pleasure in the sea of eternity.”
I shook my head, and we continued on our way as we ate our ice creams. The streets were pretty clean, with plenty of trash boxes in places. And the people were starting to hang some colorful pieces of fabric on ropes between buildings. An air of excitement exuded from everyone. A festive season indeed.
Eventually, just as we had completely consumed our ice creams, we arrived at the hotel. I looked up at the building. It was a three story building, designed in a beautiful and fancy way. Walls embedded with gold and silver. Wide window panes on the sides of the rooms, which would give you a wide view of the city. Truly a place of luxury.
We stepped inside, going through the double doors. The men in formal clothing opened it for us.
And the inside was even more luxurious. Wide lobby, large chandeliers hanging on the ceiling. The decors were beautiful, comfortable looking couches too. Fancy people were around talking to each other.
We approached the front desk, and Elyscia took a step forward.
“Hello, Alban,” she spoke to the lone man overseeing the desk.
The man smiled the moment he recognized her. “Is that you, Lady Elyscia?” He was a man in his forties, short sleek hair, short beard, and wearing a formal white and black suit. “It’s been some time.”
Elyscia smiled. “Yes, it has indeed. I see you’re still watching the front desk yourself. You should really consider hiring a receptionist.”
“It’s my business, and I’m fine being here. Beats being bored doing something else. Besides, I can directly learn what the clients would need.”
Elyscia chuckled. “You do what you do.”
“So you’ll be staying here again, then?”
“Yes.”
“And you have someone with you?” He glanced at me and bowed. “Greetings, Miss.”
I nodded. I decided to let Elyscia do all the talking.
“Friend of yours, Lady Elyscia?”
“She’s a VIP. Here to see the upcoming festival.”
“A VIP, you say? I understand. Then, what kind of room would you like?”
“I would like one on the highest floor, please.”
“Oh wow. They are still available.”
I was a bit surprised she would pick that floor, really giving me the best of the best. Do we even have money for that? But then again, she was supposedly a noble, so she should have a lot of money. Guess I didn’t need to worry about that.
“Good. Give us a week. If the mistress requests something, or any food, just put it in my tab.”
The man smiled. “Certainly.”
Elyscia gave him a handful of coins. “Oh yes, I would prefer you not to tell anyone as important as the mistress being here.”
“So we keep it quiet then? Of course.” He handed her a key. “Here’s your key, feel free to look around if you want. Welcome to the Heavenly Wine Hotel. I hope you enjoy your stay.”
Elyscia and I climbed up the staircase until we reached the highest floor. We searched for our room number, and Elyscia gave me the key. I opened the door, and my eyes widened the moment I stepped inside. It was an incredibly spacious room. Like, wow!
I walked over to the window, and the view was beautiful. I could see a whole wide area of the city from here. There were a couple of soft looking couches and chairs, a glass table and a marble one, marble floor, paintings, chandeliers, and so on. In the bedroom, there was also a king sized bed!
“You picked a beautiful place, Elyscia. Thanks.”
“Ah… T-Thank you, milady.”
“By the way, can we really trust that man won’t say anything about me to anyone?”
“Yes, they are professionals. And secrets are common in these kinds of establishments. Our case is not unique.”
“I see.”
My reflection suddenly appeared and casually sat down on a couch. She was just doing what she wanted, huh? How annoying.
I looked out the window. “... I’ll stay here for now. You can go and join the others. Your presence might be needed.”
“Very well. Should we send someone for you later tonight as guard?”
“You guys are free to stay here for the night if you want. That being said, I might need to go out tonight.”
“Go out?”
“I need to feed.”
“Finally, you realize.”
“I understand. Will you feed on humans?”
“Hmmm. A bit risky here.” People might go searching for the missing. “Is there any pauper zone here?”
“... Not really. The hero got rid of intense poverty.”
“Wow… Amazing. I really didn’t expect it from him. At any rate, I’ll figure something out. Oh, before going, bring our horses here, in case I’ll need it.”
She did mention she knew where those two were planning to leave the horses. I could also just find it and retrieve my horse if needed, but it would be a pain.
“Understood. But before I leave, do you need food? I can order some for you.”
I slowly nodded with a smile. “Oh yes, please. You choose whichever you think is best.”
“Do you wish for dessert or main courses?”
“The latter would be nice. I already had ice cream. So I’ll get dessert later.”
“Very well. I’ll have them delivered here.”