Wiping the sweat from his balding head, the hotel owner put the painted handkerchief in his vest pocket. Then he smiled, rubbing his hands together.
Morvian counted the money in Dil's ring, then placed it on the wooden counter with a dull thud.
The man quickly grabbed a few coins, and his smile grew even wider.
"Welcome to Butler's Hotel! I hope you enjoy your stay!"
Morvian nodded but did not respond. His gaze quickly scanned the staircase and windows—he still did not feel safe. But he dismissed these thoughts and turned to Erida.
The blue-haired beauty stood silently beside him, examining the room.
Morvian also quickly glanced around the room, assessing the hotel.
There were a couple of leather sofas and paintings depicting someone hunting.
The entire hotel was built of dark wood, which made the room quite gloomy, despite the many lamps.
The owner of the establishment stood behind a wooden counter, and to his left was a staircase leading to the second floor. That's where the living quarters were.
Morvian was not particularly interested in the hotel's appearance. The most important thing was the presence of a bathroom where he could finally wash off all the dirt he had accumulated over several days of trials.
Morvian and Erida began to climb the stairs, accompanied by the creaking of the boards.
An unpleasant voice came from the first floor, which belonged to the hotel owner.
"I'll bring you food in an hour!"
Ignoring the man, the couple finally made it to the second floor and walked down a narrow hallway.
Numerous doors surrounded them and crowded together, as if the hotel was too small for so many rooms.
Finding their room, Morvian opened the door with a worn key and went inside.
A musty smell hit his nose, and the golden-haired girl grimaced slightly as she looked around the room.
Erid entered behind him and her reaction was similar.
The modestly furnished room was too small for two people.
It had two beds with mattresses that hadn't been washed in a long time and had something spilled on them, as well as a wardrobe with a desk. The room felt even smaller, and there was almost no free space.
The lone window was closed, and Morvian quickly went over to it, opening it to let in some fresh air.
Finally breathing freely, he took some fabric out of his spatial ring and placed it on his bed. Then he repeated the same trick with another piece for Erida.
As he fell onto the bed, a cloud of dust rose into the air, causing him to cough.
Eridas smiled slightly at the sight, but her comrade's angry gaze dampened her mood.
The blue-haired girl carefully sat down on her bed, leaning against the wall.
"By the way, who's going to the bathroom first?"
Morvian looked questioningly at the girl who had asked the strange question.
Understanding his gaze, Erida was slightly embarrassed and looked away.
"Y... you're a man in the real world, aren't you...?"
"Well, yes."
"And now you're in a girl's body..."
"Oh."
Perhaps this was the best conversation Morvian had ever had. However, he understood his partner's embarrassment.
He looked at his dirty body.
Before the trial, he couldn't have imagined that he would end up in a woman's body. And the initial awkwardness of this fact had long since passed for him.
However, now it was a minor problem, because he couldn't go to the men's bathhouse. And going with Erida was too much for the insecure girl.
Therefore, Morvian decided to act like a true gentleman and let the lady go first. Even though it hurt him deeply.
Since the girl had no spare clothes, Morvian used Dil's ring again and took out a set of clothes. Although they were men's clothes, no one complained.
Erid took the clothes, thanked him, and left the room.
Morvian remained alone in the room. The stale air no longer seemed so suffocating, but there was still silence in his head, strangely pressing on his ears.
He lay down on the bed, put his hands behind his head, and stared at the ceiling, where the wooden boards formed patterns resembling a spider's web. His thoughts slid by like raindrops on glass.
Everything came back, like an obsession that couldn't be shaken off.
He remembered how the elderly man's voice, calm and harsh, sounded in the office, where everything seemed to be carefully calculated, just like Mostono himself.
"Angelo is not your problem, so don't get involved."
Eridas pursed her lips at the refusal, and Morvian decided to intervene.
"It is our problem. We think that such a large gathering of slaves could have attracted the beasts of the abyss, which is why our parents died."
Mostono studied the faces of the two girls for a few seconds, who were now looking at him with more confidence.
He had met people like them before in his life, but he didn't like them very much. And every time, people like them died before his eyes. Why?
Maybe because he didn't interfere?
The elderly swordsman sighed, then walked over to the table, took out a piece of paper, and began writing something on it. A couple of minutes later, he stamped the improvised document and handed it to the blue-haired girl.
She took it and began to read.
A moment later, her eyes lit up, and she looked at her sister, who also cautiously glanced at the papers.
After that, they bowed slightly and thanked the old man.
Mostono smiled faintly, leaning back in his chair.
"Since you are the daughters of a distinguished merchant of the city, you will be able to go there without any problems. I hope this satisfies your desire. Good luck to you."
Sitting in his hotel room, Morvian held the very same letter in his hand.
More precisely, it was not a letter, but an invitation to a party organized by the king.
Angelo would be there too.
Morvian was sure that the true purpose of the test was related to this man. However, he did not know exactly how.
Should he kill him? Or, on the contrary, protect him from something?
There was no point in guessing.
Especially since... it seems that Erida knows who Angelo is.
'Her reaction near the wall when the guard said his name. I'll have to ask her more about it when she returns.'
However, he certainly wanted to wash and eat first. And then deal with the problems.
With nothing else to do, Morvian began to sort through the things Dil had given him shortly before his death.
The memory of the valiant knight evoked little emotion in him.
Did he feel guilty for effectively killing him? No.
Nor did he feel guilty for facilitating the lich's spell, which ultimately destroyed Leah.
They were all just projections of memories that came to life during the trial. However, he used to feel at least something about their deaths. Now, nothing.
He forgot them too quickly, and that was a little scary. But it also pleased him, as it was an important factor in the life of a revenant.
Morvian understood perfectly well that by embarking on this path, he would lose a lot in his life. However, what he gained would outweigh the losses. At least, he hoped so.
Fortunately, quick footsteps coming from the corridor saved him from reflection, and Erida entered the room.
The girl was dressed in new clothes, more suitable for hiking than what she had been wearing before.
Her blue hair, wet from the water, lay on her shoulders and fell down like a waterfall. Her satisfied and relaxed eyes were lost in space. Meanwhile, a translucent mist rose from her body.
Morvian had noticed the beauty of the body that Erida had taken on during the trial from their first meeting.
A slight dissonance arose in his heart.
'After the trial is over, it will be a little strange to see her in a different body. Wait... who said we would even talk to each other?
Morvian had already thought about this before. And he could say with confidence that he was not eager to continue communicating with Erida or Elias.
However, as he had told his first companion on the boat, he did not disdain using people for his own purposes and did not refuse to interact with them.
He simply felt more at ease when he acted alone and kept everything under his control.
Eridah landed softly on the bed and looked at Morvian, who was lost in thought.
"Are you... going to wash up?"
The girl's uncertain question brought the guy back to reality, and he nodded briefly. Then, taking a change of clothes, he left the room and walked down the narrow corridor to the stairs.
When he reached the first floor, the hotel owner showed him where the bathroom was. However, his gaze was a little strange and lingered too long on Morvian.
It turned out that the bathroom was right behind the reception desk.
Morvian opened the wooden door and steam gently caressed his dirty face.
Morvian entered the bathroom and carefully closed the door behind him.
Warm steam still hung in the air after Erida, settling on the mirror in a thin veil. He froze for a second, looking at the reflection—a girl with golden hair was looking at him from behind the glass veil.
It wasn't him. And yet, at the same time, it was him.
He took off his clothes and stopped, looking at his new body as if it were someone else's mask.
Numerous scars and bruises covered the fragile body, but they couldn't break it completely.
Morvian knew how a woman's body worked. In theory. From books. Or... somewhere.
But now it was all practice, and he felt like he was reading instructions in a foreign language.
He stepped cautiously into the water, as if afraid of doing something wrong. How do girls... start?
With their hair? Their face? Or the other way around?
He poured shampoo onto his palm at random and began rubbing her hair — too sharply, too clumsily.
The foam got into his eyes and into his wounds, which hadn't fully healed yet.
He cursed.
He tried to wipe his face carefully, but remembered that his eyelashes were now longer than anyone else's he knew. And it seemed that they were also suffering from the foam.
He did everything as if he were in someone else's body. Because that's exactly what it was.
After finishing washing, he dried himself with a towel and put on new clothes. They were a little too big for him, but he didn't dare complain.
He reached for the handle and pushed the door, but something on the other side prevented him from opening it. It was as if it had been propped open with something.
A strange noise and banging could be heard from outside.
Frowning, Morvian pulled the door again, and this time it gave way.
The musty smell greeted him again, along with the hotel owner, who was sweating profusely and keeping his distance, as if he were hiding something.
Morvian quickly glanced at the bathroom door and saw several cracks in it. They weren't very noticeable, but you could see everything through them.
Realizing what was going on, Morvian sighed heavily and went back up the stairs to his room.
To be honest, he didn't feel anything special about it. The realization that it wasn't his body definitely played a role in this. And also the fact that, being a man in reality, he didn't care if someone was peeping at him. But of course, he would have preferred that this incident had not happened.
However, a slight dislike settled in his heart when he realized that the hotel owner had done the same thing when Erida went to the bathroom.
Returning to his room, Morvian fell onto his bed and breathed a sigh of relief. His wet hair spread out on the pillow, leaving dark spots on the fabric.
Eridah looked at it in horror, jumping up abruptly.
"N-no, you can't do that!" she blurted out, running over. "Your hair... you have to dry it!"
"What?" Morvian sat up, not understanding.
"If you lie like that, it will get tangled, and then..." She stopped short. "And then it will hurt!"
Morvian raised an eyebrow.
"I'm sure I'll survive somehow."
"No, you don't understand!" She threw up her hands, then grabbed a pillow and shoved it under his back. "Sit up. Now."
He obeyed, surprised by her abruptness.
Eridan sat down next to him, took a piece of cloth, apparently a napkin, out of her pocket, and began to gently blot Morvian's hair.
"It'll be impossible to comb it now if you don't dry it... And then there'll be knots, and then..."
"And then I'll die in agony," Morvian muttered quietly, staring ahead.
"Exactly!" Erida replied dramatically, not understanding the sarcasm.
He sighed. Soft hands gently, awkwardly dried his hair, and for a moment it seemed... homely. Too homely.
"By the way, I'm still a guy," he reminded her, without turning around.
"I... I know," Erida replied and immediately dropped the cloth. "But you don't look like one now. And if you treat this body like that, then... then... everything will start to fall apart!"
"Fall apart?" Morvian was genuinely confused for the first time in a long time. "What will start to fall apart?"
"Your hair!" she exclaimed with a note of tragedy in her voice, clutching her head. "God, you don't know anything..."
Morvian shook his head and muttered:
"I just wanted to relax..."
After a while, Erida finally finished, and Morvian sat down on his bed, and she on hers.
He looked at her seriously, his golden eyes deeper than before.
"Tell me everything you know about this Angelo."