- Shari -

We arrive at the inn.

I am not expecting very much as all the sign reads is "Inn", not really implying that this place is up to keep the worth of its name.

Or any name people should remember.

Nonetheless, with my dwindling resources and the urge to avoid questions and well-frequented places; it seems this is now my location to be.

I ingrain once more into Liqu that under no circumstances she shall speak.

Also, I applied emergency powder over her tear streams which ruptured through the coverage.

Can’t hurt to be a little bit more prepared on our first visit.

I open the door and a bell rings through the room.

Soon a woman attends to the counter.

She is tall, bulky, and I feel that her preferred weapon is either a great axe or a huge mace.

Either way, it must be something that leaves a lasting impression if used.

Maybe that's necessary when you have a special kind of patronage.

"Can I help you somehow?" (Innkeeper)

"Ah, yes. We would like to rent a room for two. But can you first tell us the price?" (Shari)

It's not that I'm too keen on sharing a room with Liqu, but leaving her out of sight for the night would be even worse.

Like leaving your child with a burning candle alone at home.

Yet, this would still be much safer.

So a room for two.

I hope the woman does not get any weird ideas.

"Are you sure? This is not really a place where girls of your age should stay." (Innkeeper)

Don’t you dare to mention your age, Liqu!

But it's assuring that at least the owner is concerned about us.

If she would try to lure us in this might indicate ill intentions towards us.

"Don’t worry, we are more than able to protect ourselves. So, how much?" (Shari)

"For a double room, it would be twenty copper the night. Nobody is going to charge in here because of you two, right?" (Innkeeper)

Does she really expect a positive answer to this?

She might think we are runaways or worse a couple that eloped together, and now we flee from our families.

"I don’t expect anyone, aside from some friends for tomorrow. By the way, if possible no one shall enter the room, not even to clean it." (Shari)

"That wasn't going to happen in the first place." (Innkeeper)

Charming!

I am still unsure, what to do with the damaged coins, but I have enough good ones right now and pay with one silver for five nights in advance.

However, when I hand it over she addresses us again.

"Do you really want to stay here? The likes of you might find it lacking!" (Innkeeper)

You do a really bad job at advertising your business lady.

"No problem, I am accustomed to less-pleasant resting places!" (Shari)

I can list slime-filled caves, drenched beds, and the open wilderness.

"Fine! But don’t say I didn’t warn ya!" (Innkeeper)

She leads us to the second floor and opens a door, before giving me the key and leaving without even introducing the room to us.

I peer inside and… am back in Liqu’s cave.

Mold on the walls, the beds are concerning at best and I ask myself what the original color of the sheets was.

My analyzing awareness of the air tells me it’s filled with sickly moisture.

And the floor raises the question if something died here and had enough time to completely decompose and turn into dust, bones included.

"Wonderful! What a great place to be! It’s so humid. You are so good to find such a cozy home for us." (Liqu)

Sigh, figures!

I guess even the critters I am expecting to find here, are for her just a welcoming snack.

It’s not like there would be a risk to get bitten.

Nonetheless, for me, this is a problem, as I feel a bit averse to those small critters.

You simply can’t overcome this only because the situation has changed.

I wouldn’t say that I am overly phobic, yet I was never on good terms with those miniature monsters.

After all, it is perfectly reasonable if you see a spider, to grab a pan, club, chair, or table and crush this disgusting existence.

Could I manage now to touch them directly with my slime?

I might probably burn right through the wood during that attempt.

Aside from the issue of unwanted roommates, there are other matters.

"Ahem, I don’t believe I am proficient enough to pull this off, but do you think it's possible to clean the mold on the walls, you know by dissolving, without damaging them?" (Shari)

"Yes should be possible. I dislike plants too. They always try to leech you with their appendages when you are not paying attention. One time there was that big one, which tried to suck my slime dry. The vines just kept coming! But at one point I had dissolved enough of them and the plant had nothing to work with anymore. So I devoured it. Annoying pests!" (Liqu)

On one hand, we have here Liqu, who again completely lost her focus.

On the other, I just came to learn about leeching killer plants.

There are things you really don’t need to know about.

I for sure would rest better without that knowledge.

But for now, let's help Liqu get back to the topic.

"So you can remove the mold?" (Shari)

"Yes, sure!" (Liqu)

In a blink, her clothes slide down and the powder on her face is dissolved.

Maybe I should have given this more thought.

But the mold was very irritating for me and after Liqu’s talk about getting sucked dry, I feel even less like sleeping with the walls like this.

The instant she is naked again, she throws herself at the wall.

Then her body spreads on the surface till it reaches the ceiling and encompasses a fairly big range.

A moment later she starts to move.

With a rather decent speed, she slides along the wall.

And everywhere she passes the wall is completely clean.

Like this, after a good minute, the entire room is treated and all the mold is gone.

However, in its stead, there is now a shallow layer of slime.

Okay, this might've been a bit short-sighted.

There is no way I can explain this.

Even without the slime, I have no way to explain the clean walls?

At the moment I can just hope the innkeeper really won't enter anytime soon.

Yet, if not for that this might be the business.

Just think about it: "Slime cleaning! Get your whole home clean in seconds!"

Well, since that isn't possible we will instead face quite some suspicion.

So I need to get rid of that stuff.

"Is there any way to make the slime disappear?" (Shari)

"Why would you want that? It just felt like home." (Liqu)

"Because my dearest, as soon someone enters we will directly get exposed." (Shari)

Oh no!

She stands still, holding a trembling hand in front of her mouth.

"D-Dearest?" (Liqu)

"JUST A FIGURE OF SPEECH! Concentrate!!! How do we dry the wall?!" (Shari)

"Okay. Just open the window. The liquid will dry, as long there is not too much moisture in the air. And the remaining residue is not giving anything away." (Liqu)

Good, fine! Let’s just open this window.

If she was right then it shouldn’t take long until the walls are normal again.

And mold-free!

Shouldn’t we get rewarded for helping out like this?

I doubt we will.

But at least that problem is solved with this.

The other problem is the usage of the beds.

We all know why I cannot sleep in them.

If I could just lie down on something that won't soak completely from the slime as the sheets would, this would be great.

But I don’t know about any material with such properties.

Well, glass or metal, but that seems impracticable to create.

So I have no other choice, but to place myself in a corner of the room left to the window, after I locked the door.

Liqu is settling herself in the opposite corner.

I made her!

However, while I start to disconnect, I notice how Liqu constantly takes glances at me.

I hope she won’t try something weird while I am out.

As I am used by now to bearing such a distressing atmosphere, I can still manage to calm down enough to get into that disconnected state of mine.

Maybe I will call it standby-mode.