Episode 15

As we were walking through the streets of Solaire, the first thing we decided to do was try to find an inn in which we could stay for a bit to freshen up.

But the search continued far longer than I imagined so I abruptly spoke out, "This is so annoying, why are all of the inns full and have no spare rooms for us?!"

"Ugh, why do you have to whine about every situation we get stuck in...?!" Tokiya spoke rather coldly.

(Hey, I don't complain about everything! For the record, I think you complain way more than I do!)

I didn't speak my mind though because I was in no mood of bickering with that jerk right now. As we kept walking and going to any inn we could possibly find, eventually, we reached the last one in the kingdom.

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"Please, please have an extra room!" I prayed while looking at the huge, automatic glass door in front of me.

As we entered through the door, we were greeted with a single old woman sitting at the front desk. It seemed like she hadn't noticed our arrival considering she didn't welcome us and was busy with her work.

"Umm, excuse me, ma'am. We were wondering if there's an extra room in your inn?"

Even though I asked, the woman still didn't respond. The silence in the lobby was unsettling and this occurrence left me confused.

"That's odd..." Momoi muttered with a confused look.

I tried asking the women again but she still didn't show any sort of reaction. Then suddenly, a man appeared from the door behind the desk. He seemed to be in his late 30's, his white, shaggy hair and red eyes looked really uninviting and there seemed to be an unapproachable air about him.

"Ah, what do we have here, customers! I'm Koume Kodou, nice to make your acquaintance." He exclaimed, a wide grin on his face.

"Oh, umm... Nice to meet you, Mr. Koume... We were wondering if you had any extra room for us?" I asked hesitantly, still feeling uncomfortable about the whole situation we were in.

"Ah yes, we have plenty!" Mr.Koume beamed, his expression even happier than before.

Momoi then questioned while pointing her finger at the woman, "Oh, that's great. But, we were wondering, is something wrong with her...? She didn't seem to hear when we arrived earlier."

"Oh, don't mind this old bat, she's simply gone mad. Ah, anyway, back to your rooms! Here are your keys."

After saying such an insult, the man casually handed us keys to the room, acting like nothing even happened.

"Umm, thank you, I guess..." I took the keys and lead the others to the room.

Upon entering the room, we were surprised by the classy decor and furniture we saw.

(For a really abandoned inn, this room is surprisingly cozy!)

"Hey guys, don't you feel like something was off about Mr.Koume...?" I decided to speak up while sitting on the bed.

"Yeah, you're right! I dunno how to say explain it but, his figure alone gave me the chills!" Nagi exclaimed, shivering just by remembering him.

"And he called the woman 'mad'? Not just that, he also insulted her... He seems a bit violent, don't you think?" Momoi asked with sad eyes.

"Yeah, that's true..."

"Anyway, we don't have time to think about Kodou. We need to freshen up and head out immediately." Tokiya instructed as he headed for the bathroom.

(Wow, no honorifics and calling him by his first name? It's honestly not a surprise coming from Tokiya though...)

"Yeah, it will be nice to take a bath after so long." Momoi added.

"Oh, uh, yeah..." I spoke, feeling sort of disgusted after I realized that none of had showered in a while.

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After around an hour, we all were finally done with taking a shower and were ready.

"Ahh! That felt so good!" I exclaimed, feeling totally rejuvenated as I walked out of the bathroom.

"You sure took a while. Anyway, we need to get going if we want to make any kind of progress with this mission." Tokiya instantly got up off the sofa and walked out of the entrance door.

"It's good being active Tokiya, but you need to wait for your teammates too, you know?" I commented as I, along with the other two, caught up to Tokiya.

While we were walking through the corridor, we could hear a couple of shouts as we approached the staircase. The closer we got, the louder they were sounding.

"H-Hey! That sounds like Mr.Koume!" I accidentally blurted out.

"Shh...!" Tokiya gave me a nudge with his elbow as he glared my way.

"S-Sorry...!"

While we stayed as quiet as possible and tried to make up Mr.Koume's shouts, Momoi suddenly broke the silence as she got up from her spot and began, "I'm going to check it out, I can't stand these yells anymore..."

"Hey, Momoi, wait-" Nagi tried stopping her but she was already gone by the time he reached out his hand.

Momoi's POV

Stepping down the stairs, the feeling of nervousness only grew worse and worse as the shouts grew louder.

"THIS IS WHY I TELL YOU NOT TO SIT AT THE FRONT DESK! YOU ONLY MESS EVERYTHING UP AND I HAVE TO COME TO CLEAN UP YOUR STUPID MISTAKES!"

(What...? Why is Mr.Koume saying such things...?)

I reached the last step and took a peek of the lobby, seeing a truly disturbing scene in front. Mr.Koume was yelling while kicking the old woman, who was lying helplessly on the ground but Mr.Koume continued his brutal behavior, showing no sign of stopping.

"YOU'RE USELESS! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY YOU'RE STILL ALIVE AND BREATHING! THAT ILLNESS OF YOURS SHOULD'VE KILLED YOU BY NOW! IT'S SUCH AN EMBARRASSMENT TO BE CALLED YOUR SON!"

(W-Wait... What...? That woman is his... mother?!)

Seeing this and hearing that word come out of his mouth, tears began to form in my eyes. I couldn't understand why anyone would be so ruthless and treat others like animals. And moreover, their mother...?

"HUH?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Mr.Koume's voice suddenly rang out as he turned my way, his eyes locked on me.

"W-What...?" I was still too shocked that I didn't quite understand what was happening.

Mr.Koume then suddenly dashed towards me, a knife in his hand, and only did I realize what was happening when he was only a few feet away from me. I hardly dodged the attacked as I hastily moved to the side, a second too late and he would've surely cut through me...

"YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO DODGE MY MOVE?! NOW YOU'LL TRULY FEEL THE PAIN!" Mr.Koume roared in anger, as he swiftly moved his hand which was handling the knife.

He tried to strike me but I somehow managed to duck, making him miss again. This move only added fuel to the fire as he became even more enraged than before.

He once again attempted to hit me and this time, I wasn't able to avoid his attack. He was too fast and managed to make a clean cut in my right abdomen area.

"Ngh!" The sudden impact made me fall to the ground.

"Hehe... This will teach you not to mess with your elders...!" Mr.Koume spoke under his breath, standing in front of me as he readied himself for the final blow.

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