Volume 17 - Like Family, Chapter 134 - Economy of Scale, part 1

A black SUV with dark tinted windows pulled into the Mountain Lily Inn's parking lot and came to a stop. A side door opened and a woman stepped out, her golden jewelry glimmering in the October sun. She tossed her long white hair back over her shoulder, tugged her midriff-baring top and low-slung pants into place, then stretched her massive red wings.

Despite her reptilian scales, the cool mountain air didn't bother her in the least. "Ahh, it feels good to move around again, and the air is nice and fresh up here," she said in an unplaceable but sophisticated accent, like a mashup of all the world's royal and high-class cultures.

She turned back and addressed the two black-suited bodyguards that were already unloading luggage from the vehicle. "I can handle booking my room. You two can go stay somewhere in town." Her hefty tail, covered in sparkling red scales, swished side to side happily while she spoke.

Both of her bodyguards went still, other than some slight shivering from the cool breeze. Then one meekly raised a scale-covered hand. Her scales were the same lime green color as her hair, which was pulled into a tight ponytail. "I'm sorry, Miss Horo, but we must stay here with you. Your father told us not to leave your side," she said, bowing respectfully.

The other guard, a woman with yellow scales, tan skin, and orange hair, bowed as well, her wings folded against her back. While all three of the women had wings and a tail, only Horo had horns. That difference was the clearest indicator that her bodyguards were just dragonewts, reptilian liminals with non-functional wings, while Horo was a full-blooded dragon, gifted with immense strength, an incredibly long lifespan, and the ability to fly.

Horo stamped her foot, her ornate gold boot leaving a small crater in the gravel. "I don't care what Daddy said. This is supposed to be a vacation, and I can't relax with you two hovering around all the time," she whined

"But Miss, we need to protect—" started the woman with orange hair.

Horo cut in, "Look at this little place. It couldn't be further from trouble. I'll be fine." She reached into her purse then thrust a huge wad of cash at the two dragonewts. It contained both Japanese yen and US dollars, and every bill was a large denomination. "Just take this and get yourselves rooms in town for three nights. Keep the change."

The guards' eyes glinted with temptation, but they took no action. Their loyalties were not with Horo, but rather with their employer, her father.

Horo sighed, then added, "I promise I won't tell Daddy about this if you won't, and you know my word is as good as gold."

The dragonewt women shared a glance, then the green-haired one stepped forward and grabbed the cash with both hands. She smiled and said, "We'll see you in three days. Stay safe."

As they climbed back into their rented SUV, the other guard said, "Please call us if anything goes wrong. It is our job to protect you, after all."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Horo muttered, thinking their protection totally unnecessary.

Like many teenagers, she thought she was indestructible. As a true dragon, that was actually mostly true.

The SUV rumbled back down the driveway and Horo easily lifted her heavy luggage. She marched up to the little inn, which was far less fancy than she was used to, but it had a nice sort of rustic charm. The door was wide open to let in the fresh fall air, so she stepped inside.

She approached the front desk, where a human woman with black hair was typing on a laptop. Without even bothering to read the prices displayed next the desk, Horo said, "I'd like your best room for three nights, starting now."

Yuisu looked up from her research and was a bit stunned by the beautiful and majestic woman before her. The visitor stood tall and proud, her natural height increased further by the heels of her ornate boots and the large horns arcing up from the sides of her head. She wore golden bracers over her scale-covered arms, and a matching headband that featured vivid red gemstones.

The woman's revealing crop-top and tight pants also caught Yuisu's attention. The outfit looked more suited for a nightclub than traveling, but Yuisu wasn't complaining.

After a second to compose herself, Yuisu said, "All of our rooms are all basically the same: a private bedroom that shares a kitchenette and bathroom with another bedroom." She didn't mention the larger cabin, since it was currently occupied by large liminal guests.

Horo frowned. "Hmm, that won't do. I don't want to share the cabin with anyone. I want both rooms."

Yuisu glanced at a chart of available rooms, then said, "Oh, uh, I don't know if I can accommodate that on such short—"

"I'll pay five times the normal rate," Horo cut in. With that, she placed a stack of large bills on the desk, far more than necessary even for the increased price.

Yuisu blinked a few times, thinking, Two rooms for three nights at five times normal rate… Not gonna turn that kind of money down. Then she smiled and said, "May I get your name for the reservation?"

"Horo Aurubeum," the woman responded. Yuisu could tell the family name wasn't Japanese, and she would have struggled to even pronounce it, so she just typed her best guess at its English spelling into the computer. If needed, she could ask to see the woman's ID later.

Yuisu counted out the agreed-upon total from the stack of bills and returned the rest, then stood up from the desk and bowed. "Please come this way to our sitting room. I'll bring you some refreshments while we get your cabin ready."

She beckoned Horo to follow her to the living room. As they walked the short distance, she said, "My name is Yuisu, by the way, and if you have any concerns or requests during your stay, you can come to me or my maids Rem and Sya, or call the guest services number posted by your cabin's phone. Please take a seat while I get those refreshments."

"Thank you," the dragon-woman said as she sat in a large reclining chair and looked out the window at the picturesque hillside. Despite her tendency to solve problems with money, Horo knew that being polite had value of its own.

With that, Yuisu zipped away to prepare some coffee, tea, and snacks, and to tell Rem and Sya to get a cabin ready. As luck would have it, a guest had just checked out of a room in an otherwise vacant cabin, so they only needed to clean it up.

Just fifteen minutes later, Sya jogged up to the front desk from the kitchen. She'd entered the back door and cut through the house to save time. "That cabin is all ready, Yuisu," she breathed, panting from the exertion of cleaning and running back afterwards.

Yuisu looked up from her computer and said, "Wonderful. Thank you so much for doing that. Can I ask you to show our guest Horo to her cabin? She's waiting in the living room."

Sya pushed her glasses into place, then nodded and answered, "Absolutely." She spun on one paw pad and started toward the living room, smoothing out her outfit as she walked.

She entered the room, stood up straight and proper, and said. "Good afternoon, miss Horo. My name is Sya, and I am the head maid for the Mountain Lily Inn. I can show you to your cabin now, if you're ready."

Horo had her gem-bedazzled phone held out at arm's length and she was posing for the camera. She was in the middle of taking a selfie. After snapping a few shots, Horo dropped the phone into her purse and looked up at Sya. "Sure. Lead the way."

"Shall I carry your baggage?" Sya asked.

Horo shook her head and lifted a huge suitcase in each hand. "I've got it."

Sya lead Horo to the back door, stepped onto the porch and waved her through, then closed the door after. Every movement was done with grace and efficiency.

Horo found Sya's regal poise somewhat familiar, so she asked, "If you don't mind my asking, where are you from?"

As they started moving again, Sya said, "I'm from Old Moscow." Then, in case Horo was familiar with the political scene there, she added, "I'm part of the Nadezhda family."

Horo nodded knowingly. "Old Moscow, huh? My dad has a lot of contacts there, and the name Nadezhda is familiar. Upper crust, if I remember correctly." Then she asked, "Has the city finally gone public with humanity?"

Sya shook her head. "No, they admitted that Old Moscow exists, to explain where all the liminals were coming from, but mankind still doesn't know where it is or how to get in."

Horo shrugged her shoulders. "Hmm. The way things were going when I visited in the 90's, I expected them to have opened their borders by now."

Sya blinked, puzzled. "The 90's? I wasn't even born yet in the 90's, and you look the same age as me."

Horo laughed. It was a deep, powerful sound. "Oh right, you must age like humans. I'm 49 years old, almost an adult dragon. Not that my dad understands that. He wants to keep me in a glass case like a piece of treasure, or a fragile hatchling."

Sya said, "I feel you there. I joined the Exchange Program to be independent for once, but my host family is overprotective. They treat me like a child, though it did get better once I started working here."

Horo nodded, her eyes wide. "I'm impressed that you got away from the noble world and landed a job out here at your age. That's no easy task."

"Thanks," Sya said, but she started to fidget. "On that note, I have some maid work I need to wrap up before the end of my shift. Sorry."

Horo waved dismissively. "Don't worry about it! It was great meeting you, and I'd love to hang out more, if you get the chance."

Sya smiled wide. "That sounds wonderful. You're here for three nights, right?"

"Yep." Then Horo grinned. "Ooh, I have an idea: you should ask your host family to stay up here tomorrow night, and we can make a girls' night of it."

Sya blinked a few times. She'd heard of sleepovers, but had never actually participated in one, and doing it at an inn sounded fun. Her normal intense look reappeared and she said, "Alright, let's do it."

The next day, Horo just lounged around the inn, relaxing and enjoying the scenery. She quickly ate through all her favorite snacks in the mini-bar, so she called the guest services number that Yuisu had mentioned.

After mere seconds, a slightly high-pitched voice answered, "Guest services, this is Rem. How may I help you, miss Horo?" It was clearly a rehearsed line, but knowing the name of the guest that was calling was a nice touch.

"I ate all the beef jerky and Kit-Kats. Can you bring more?" Horo said. She wasn't embarrassed by her gluttonous appetite, since it was just part of being a dragon.

"Absolutely. Do you need anything else?"

"Nope," Horo said simply.

"Alright. I'll be right there," Rem said, then she put the comically large phone back in its cradle and leapt off the hall table, heading for the storage room. Yuisu wanted to get cordless phones for Rem and Sya, connected to the guest services line, but she couldn't find one small enough for Rem to carry with her. For the time being, Rem just got good at sprinting to the phone.

Moments later, Rem knocked on the door to Horo's cabin, then stepped a couple feet back.

The door opened and Horo predictably peered around to the left and right, looking for the person that had knocked.

"Down here," Rem called out. "I brought your snacks." She was holding a full plastic bag larger than herself on her back, like a miniature Santa Claus.

"Oh, sorry, you didn't sound so small on the phone. No offense," Horo said as she stepped back and waved Rem inside.

"No worries," Rem said cheerfully. She skipped inside and jumped up onto the kitchen table. Then she dumped out the bag, which held two large bags of beef jerky and a big package of assorted Kit-Kat flavors, from Green Tea to Strawberry. "This was all I could carry in one trip, but I can bring more if you'd like."

Horo shook her head. "This should be fine." Then she held something out to Rem and said, "I already wrote down the other stuff that I ate, on that clipboard. This should cover the stuff you brought, and your help."

Rem reached out to take the offered money, then froze as she realized it was a US one-hundred dollar bill. Even a rough mental conversion to yen told her it was way too much for the three packages of snacks.

"Keep the change. I don't like dealing with small bills," Horo added.

Rem gently took the bill, then smiled up at the high-rolling guest. "Thank you very much. If you need anything at all during your stay, do not hesitate to ask. I am at your service."

Thus began a period of hyper-attentive service. Rem was highly responsive for the rest of Horo's stay, acting almost like her personal maid. She even made sure to check in while Horo was soaking in the hot spring at sunset.

"Can I get anything for you while you relax? Perhaps some sake?"

"Nah, I'm good," Horo mumbled, not lifting her head from her folded-towel pillow. She was reclined against the side of the hot spring, in the hottest part of the pool.

Rem barely heard because she was too distracted by Horo's nudity. The dragon-woman had a supermodel-tier body, and her boobs were much larger than Rem was used to from Mara and Tsuen.

Rem had never cared much one way or the other about physical assets, or gender for that matter; she was more drawn to personality. But after spending some intimate time around Tsuen's breasts, she'd found things to like about them. And now she found herself quite distracted by Horo's larger, bouncier pair.

But she reminded herself that she was at work and that Horo was a client, and a well-paying one at that. She pried her gaze away and told Horo to call the guest services number if she needed anything. "I'll be on call all night and ready to provide whatever you might need."

Horo opened her eyes and looked up from her cozy nook. "Alrighty. Oh, and can you send Sya over when you see her? I have a question for her."

"Of course!" Rem answered, skipping away toward the changing room. Her shift was almost over, and though she'd be on call she knew Horo would make it worth her while. When she added in the time she'd get to spend with her girlfriends, the little gremlin had a lot to be happy about.