”Where are we going? I haven’t been to this part of the city before.” Anastacia asked after catching up with the spriggan.

They had left the inn in the middle of the night, Anastacia told Gilbert that she was going somewhere with Xamiliere because she didn’t want them to think she had gone missing again. She also told the king to look after the inn since Rosie had also drunk. He and Holly will probably get along great.

“That’s probably a good thing, please don’t tell anyone about this.” Xamiliere said.

The streets were dark and empty, aside from a couple of guards, they didn’t come across anyone. Some noise could be heard from the taverns that still served customers at this time but otherwise the city was silent.

“Alright, we’re here.” The spriggan declared and pointed at a larger building at the end of the street.

The building was somewhat similar to Rosie’s inn but had all its windows boarded up. Yet some noises could be heard from inside. Anastacia couldn’t quite make out the text above the door in the dark.

Xamiliere opened the door and pulled Anastacia inside with her. The room was well lit and clean, Along the walls there were some sofas and on them, scantily clad women of all kinds of races. Next to the door, there was a counter and behind it a female sheepfolk, who appeared to be the manager of the establishment.

“What the shit, Xamiliere?! Did you bring me to a brothel?” Anastacia yelled at the spriggan. “You’re the fucking worst.”

“Nooo… Well yes, but that’s not…” Xamiliere tried to defend her actions but was interrupted.

“Gone off the deep end have we, Xammy? What is she, twelve?” Asked the sheepfolk. “You know we don’t do that here.”

“Why does everyone always assume the worst of me?! It’s unfair!” The spriggan cried. “First of all, she’s fifteen, and secondly, I just wanted to get us a proper massage!”

“Oh! Yeah, we can do that. I’m actually proud of our masseuses, but I must ask, why did you come here instead of going to an actual bathhouse? Considering you have a kid in tow.” The manager asked.

“I’ve been banned from them…” Xamiliere explained hesitantly.

Xamiliere handled the payment and other details while Anastacia did her best trying to not look around. She was slightly disgusted by the fact that they knew Xamiliere by name, but spriggans were rare in general so maybe they remembered her because of that?

They were directed into a room with two massage tables and next to them, two masseuses who had obviously just been told to dress properly and were now wearing just plain clothes instead of the outfits the rest of the brothel’s employees used.

“Just take off your clothes and get on the table. We can just let them do their work and talk about what’s bothering you.” Xamiliere suggested and started opening her own shirt.

“Rosie and Gil will kill you if they find out you brought me here.” Anastacia noted and laid down on the table.

“Rosie would, but Gil comes here all the time too.” The spriggan said sneeringly. “Anyway, is there something specific that’s bothering you about the whole ordeal with that Alizarin guy?”

“It’s just that it’s entirely my fault, what if I drop the ball again and one of you guys die? It happened again in the forest when the forest king and I were fighting some beasts. As soon as something went a bit wrong, I just lost it and couldn’t do anything.” Anastacia explained.

“That’s a thing everyone here has to get used to. We see new adventurers come back alone from a quest and blame it all on themselves, most people who stick with it go through a couple of parties in somewhat short amount of time before finding one that works for them. If I remember right, even Gil lost his new party on the job he found you on. It has happened to me too before I found the guys, in fact, they’re my seventeenth proper party.” Xamiliere said and smiled wistfully.

“Seventeenth? How?” Anastacia was surprised by the sudden seriousness and got curious about it.

“I’ve been at this for a long time. You humans tend to think that elves and dwarfs live for a long time, but to us, they are mere children. I had been here for ages before Dammar was even born, and will be here long after you guys die. The one nearest my age would be the simulacrum you brought here.” The spriggan sighed.

“That’s actually kind of sad…” Anastacia admitted.

After getting over the fact that someone she didn’t know was groping her, Anastacia could feel the massage working. Despite being slightly painful at first, the tense feeling on her back was going away. She couldn’t help thinking about whether the girl working on Xamiliere would get splinters, or if spriggans even have muscles to work on, this might just be one of those things she does that don’t make any sense.

“Back to the matter at hand, you don’t need to worry about us, we’re all experienced adventurers and won’t die just because someone messed up a bit, that happens on like every single trip. And that todger dodger of a priestess apparently has a goddess watching her back, plus she’s clearly seen some actual combat at some point. So if I had to guess, you’re the one you need to worry about.” Xamiliere said. “My advice would be to just get back to work, do a couple of small-scale quests with someone and keep the ball rolling.”

The advice made sense to Anastacia. She just needed to get used to danger and over time get more competent to be able to deal with less than ideal situations. Maybe she should do a couple of short quests with Gilbert, like the one that was supposed to be just deer hunting. They still had money left so not getting paid as well wouldn’t be a problem.

“I think the girls are about done with us, so let’s move on to more important issues. What the fuck is up with your hair?” Xamiliere asked and got up from the table.

“I woke up like this, think the goblins got to it. Pretty sure one of them had some of my hair.” Anastacia answered and ran her fingers through her messy hair. “I was thinking about cutting it shorter but this isn’t exactly what I had in mind.”

Xamiliere whispered something to one of the masseuses, who ran off somewhere and came back with the manager.

“Is something wrong? I’m sure the girls here followed the instructions you gave.” The manager asked

“No no, the massage was great as always, but I was wondering if you could give Anna here a haircut. I know you do them for your girls.”

“That’s not really something we usually offer, but you’re a valued customer and I really don’t want someone leaving here looking like that, it’d ruin our reputation as a classy establishment.” The manager agreed and took a better look at Anastacia’s hair. “Yes, I believe I can save you, honey. Put some clothes on and come to the back room so I can sort you out.”

Anastacia put her clothes back on and thanked the girl for the massage. She felt a lot better than before, because of both the massage and the talk. It helped to know that most new adventurers had similar issues, even if the circumstances were a bit different.

The back room could be entered from a door behind the counter. In it was a line of chairs in front of small tables and mirrors, no doubt for the girls to groom themselves at. The manager was sharpening the scissors by one of them and noticed Anastacia.

“Sit down here so we can start. I was thinking about giving you a bob cut that’s short from the back and a bit longer in front, does that sound alright, honey?” The manager suggested and snipped the scissors a few times.

“Yeah, you probably know more about this than I do, ma’am. So just do whatever you think works.” Anastacia said and sat down.

The manager began by combing what was left of Anastacia’s hair. She was probably in her late thirties or early forties and gave off a certain kind of elegant feeling.

“Since you hang out with Xammy, I take it that you know Gilbert as well? He’s this really huge old guy who lives in the same inn as Xammy and her party.” The manager asked, trying to start a conversation.

“Yeah, he’s the one who brought me to Valor.” Anastacia answered and hoped that the conversation would change direction before going into details.

“I see. So you’re the little necromancer he was talking about. Nice to meet you then, everyone calls me Dam. I run this little slice of paradise. Technically it’s illegal for you to be here, so I have no idea what that twig is thinking. You’re not traumatized or anything, are you?” The manager asked jokingly.

“I think I would be in trouble as an adventurer and as a necromancer if a bit of extra skin would freak me out.” Anastacia pointed out. “Really, the massage was great. It might have been illegal to bring me here but I think it was a good idea.”

They continued to talk about life in Valor and what an idiot their mutual spriggan friend was. After a quick wash Dam had a couple of the girls who worked there come and show their hairstyles, so Anastacia would know what she had meant earlier. Undoing the goblin’s handiwork took more time than they had thought and by the time they were done, the sun was about to come up. Anastacia and Xamiliere hurried out before there would be too many people outside and they would be seen leaving.

Back at the inn, Gilbert and Dammar were still up.

“Where have you two been?” Gilbert greeted the duo. “Anna, did you get a haircut? In the middle of the night?”

“We were out on a walk. By the way, Dam says she misses you.” Anastacia snickered and headed upstairs for a nap.