The room was large enough Rick could easily see the place being used by no less than twenty odd freshmen sharing rent. Though they wouldn’t be able to pay for it even if they squeezed thirty more. He couldn’t spot the modern amenities he would’ve wished for, but it certainly looked… luxurious. The bed was made of wood, carved with iconography of women kneeling carrying plants that grew and spread across the scene, Rick noticed that the closer the carvings were to the head of the bed, the less dressed the women were.

Each of them was carved with a gemstone across their throats, blues, coppers, and golds. As the iconography continued towards the back of the bed, the headrest rose to show the image of a single woman dressed in flowing robes, without a collar, and clearly very pregnant.

They couldn’t have been more subtle about the meaning if they’d put it in bold blinking neon lights.

He had to look away from the bed, a hard task considering how much of a centerpiece to the room it was, and glanced at the other features. A desk, also wood, but carved as if to mimic the castle walls and stone bricks. Paper, actual decent paper, rested on top, blank and waiting to be used. There were drawers he was quite certain were not empty. There was also a washbasin, filled with water, right next to the bed, plated in silver or perhaps metal polished so well it could appear to be the rarer metal.

Monica snorted loudly, blowing air through her nose and rubbing it slightly. She made a face, wrinkling her features slightly as she did. It was only then that Rick caught the slight hint of incense burning. The stick was on a small coffee table on the opposite side to the desk.

Glancing over his shoulder, he spotted the two other maidens that had accompanied him into the room.

Deneva stood like the iron statue of a warrior that’s just about ready to jump into action and fight some gargantuan threat. Next to her Dia remained quiet, head ever so slightly bowed, shoulders shrunk, the pink haired maiden doing her best impression of a wallflower to avoid being seen, heard, or noticed.

“It is… a very nice room.” Rick declared to the green-haired maiden. “By any chance my companions…?”

“The Earl had offered accommodations, but they insisted on staying with… the merchant.” There was nothing in her tone to signify any emotional attachment to the statement, her eyes locked on him and him alone, even as Monica glared and kept herself almost blocking the maiden from being able to see Rick at all. “If that will be all, I will be outside.”

A curt dry bow of the head, she spun around.

The door closed with a solid thud that Rick was quite sure did not bode well for him.

Instantly, Dia sighed deeply, relaxing her whole body like an unwinding spool of yarn. She didn’t say anything, only walking over towards the bed and collapsing face first into it. The fact that she stayed there and didn’t move or say anything at all was about as sure a sign the whole experience had fried her nerves all the way through as any.

“Monica?” Rick glanced at the feline, raising his hand, the one she was still holding. “Let go.”

The feline looked at him, then at the door through which Deneva had left. Frowning, she did let go. Rick thought that would be that, up and until she walked to the desk, lifted it up, and then placed it in front of the door.

From the bed, Rick heard a muffled groan.

Monica nodded, apparently proud of herself, and sat down on the desk. “Monica protect.” She crossed her arms, smirking from ear to ear.

“For fuck’s sake…”

He really wanted to join Dia on the bed right now and groan into the white silky sheets. Instead, he first turned towards the burning incense sticks and smothered them, dropping them and the ash into the small ash-box they came in. Following this, he moved towards the window and stopped as soon as he realized what he was looking at.

A glass door embedded within a window, surrounded by softly glowing orbs that amplified the incoming natural light. At the other side of the door was a small balcony, with sights to a small garden below. There were metal shutters at either side of the window inside the room itself, they looked too heavy for him to be able to move them.

Opening the door, a soft breeze of fresh air made its way inside, and he sighed, looking down at the garden. It had a small pool of water, surrounded by some bushes with colorful flowers, and the balcony had a set of stairs leading down to the garden. Rick had to wonder what the purpose was, from up there the place looked like it led to a larger garden of some sort, but there were some trees making it appear as if hidden from sight.

“I need to clean up.”

A loud screeching sound nearly made him jump out of his skin, he spun around to see Deneva peeking into the room, face impassive. “I will call for the maids to draw a hot bath for you, sir.”

The door closed, and Monica was now glaring at it.

Had the royal knight just flexed on them?

Monica sprung into action, shoving the desk back into place, this time hurrying to pick up every other piece of furniture she could find to leave on top of it. The feline glared at the door even if she didn’t growl, and Rick was fairly sure she was trying to x-ray vision through the thing to Deneva.

“Is what she’s doing normal?” Dia asked, looking about as exasperated as Rick was.

“Everything’s new with Monica.” His answer came with a long drawn out inner grumble. He just was too tired, the Earl had been right, the trip had been wearing him thin, and Monica had not been much help in that regard either.

Now, if only he could actually believe he wasn’t deep in potential enemy territory, he might even find amusement out of this. As it stood, he was going to have to figure out how to dance around the noble without causing some sort of misunderstanding or insult, while at the same time trying to spot a potential trap. Ah, and he also had to make sure that if it so happened that the Earl was earnest and actually not out to fuck him up, then he had to make sure that opinion didn’t change.

Hopefully gifting him the demon-hog’s fur would earn him some points, Victor certainly thought it would be seen in a very positive light. Still, hopefully things were not going in a bad direction, Rick was sure the Earl wasn’t being openly hostile. If the man wanted them dead, he already had several opportunities to try it.

“You look too tired, sir, you should rest.”

“I wholeheartedly agree.” He muttered, glancing at Dia as she lay on the bed and had done barely the minimum to turn and face his way.

His eyes turned towards the blockaded door and the frustrated cat.

Perhaps Deneva had done that merely to irk Monica, maybe she’d done it to show some of the irritation he was fairly sure she must have felt for being turned into some sort of glorified maid. Or maybe she was just making it loud and clear that the walls had eyes and ears, and he was going to remain closely watched every moment he spent there.

Whatever the case, the sooner he could blow it all off and leave, the better.

Though a part of him wondered about that.

Go where?