Chapter 6- Still alive.

I eventually settled on a small inn in the vicinity of the bazaar from which a delicious aroma that is flowing out through the spring of a window and sets my hungry stomach to growling for food.

"This should be as good as anywhere. Let's see what this smell is coming from…" I mumble to myself as I walk up to and push the door open.

As the door opens the first thing I am hit with is an even more concentrated blast of the delicious smell.

The smell reminds me bit of the smell of freshly baked bread, mixed with the smell of some kind of grilled meat and something that reminds me of mashed potatoes, but at the same time not; The familiar smell of mashed potatoes has an unfamiliar hint of spiciness to it that stings my nose and makes my face scrunch up slightly as the intense aroma hits me.

As the door swings up and I get a proper look inside, I take a moment to sweep my gaze over the decently big room inside; The room is clearly something close to a tavern: It is lively and loud with around two dozen people cheerily eating aromatic food and drinking a dark liquid, which I assume is some kind of beer, from large mugs. There are also a few waitresses running between the kitchen and the tables, taking orders and delivering them with due haste.

"HEY! Shut the #[email protected] door already! You're letting in the damn cold!" A patron to my right, one of the people closest to the door, irritatedly yells at me as I am lost in my inspection of the room.

Hurrying inside, I quickly shut the door behind me before I stutter a "S-sorry" in broken Gallian to the middle-aged man and make my way over to the reception and the receptionist beside the staircase up to the second floor, which I assume all the rentable rooms are.

The receptionist at the reception is an elderly man who looks like he is well into his 70s, but otherwise looks healthy enough and also has all his teeth, that I notice as he smiles broadly at me. "Welcome, welcome! Do you seek #$&$?" The old man asks me cheerily.

"Sorry? I am not from... this land. I want to… stay here. How much to... sleep here?" I ask in slightly less broken Gallian than before.

'One day soon, I am going to be able to speak like a normal damn person again!' I exclaim in my mind before I shake my head slightly to dislodge the thought out of my mind as I return my attention to the receptionist to get an answer.

"I see… You want a room for the night, right? One night costs 5 copper coins." The receptionist says slowly and clearly, likely for my benefit.

'5 coppers? I have 30 silver coins, so that should be fine.

… Wonder how many coppers there are to a silver? 100? 10? … Guess I'll find out soon enough' I muse to myself before I pull out one silver coin from my coin pouch and place it on the reception counter. "One room, one night." I say, and the receptionist gives me a nod and hands me back my change: 9 copper and what I assume are 5 bronze coins.

'So 10 coppers to the silver coin it is then.' I monologue to myself as I nod at the elderly receptionist and receive the key he is holding out.

"Your room is 201; Up the stairs and it is the first room on your left, can't miss it." He says and smiles at me.

Thanking him and turning to go up the stairs, I am suddenly reminded by my growling stomach about my other dilema and stop short: Food.

'Oh, right. Food. I need food.

...I wonder if I can get food sent up to my room?' I ponder as I turn back towards the old receptionist and smile embarrassedly as he grins at me meaningfully.

"You want to order some food?" He asks me and chuckles. "It's 1 bronze coin for the daily dish, 2 bronze if you want #$# to go with it."

'I assume that means a drink, some kind of salad or something of that kind of sort? … I may as well try it.' I decide and hand over 2 bronze coins to the man. "Can I eat in room?" I ask the old man in my still broken Gallian.

He simply nods and smiles at me and says he will bring it up in a minute.

Saying my thanks once again, I turn and start making my way up the stairs.

'Up the stairs and the first on the left…' I repeat as I arrive at the top of the staircase and turn left.

Just as the old man said, just a few meters to the left of the staircase there is a solid wooden door with a 201 marked into its heavy wooden frame.

Walking up to the door, I slide in the key and open the door without any real difficulty and make my way inside.

Once inside I take in the room: it is a small room, but it is clean and furnished with a bed, a small chest by the foot of the bed, a desk and chair as well as a basin of water, complete with some kind of heater.

The room is completely made up of wood, and has a slight scent of a wood that I am not familiar with, but nonetheless somehow reassures me with its soft woody scent.

Taking a long and deep breath, I slowly exhale before I walk over to the bed and fall face first into the soft and inviting bed.

"I am still alive… I made it somehow." I mumble quietly to myself as I ease the hold on my emotions and the trauma that I have held bottled up since I arrived in the new and strange world. "I am still alive…" I repeat as I turn around and stare up at the wooden beams holding the ceiling up as tears start streaming down my cheeks like a river given an outlet.

A moment passes until I am brought out of my emotional turmoil by a knock on the door. "Sir, I have come with your food." The voice of a young woman comes through the door.

Wiping the tears and mucus from my face on my sleeve, I roll off the bed and stand up. "You can leave it by the door." I say as I finish wiping the worst from my face.

"Alright. If there is anything else, let us know." She says and a few seconds later I hear footsteps going down the staircase.

Once I no longer hear the footsteps, I walk over to the door and open it.

Opening the door, I look down and see a big tray with a generous helping of a hearty stew with meat, beans and what looks like potatoes, if they were violet. Along with the bowl of food is a big salad, some bread and a big mug of whatever the people downstairs were drinking.

Picking up the tray, I take it and walk over and set it down on the desk before sitting down on the chair and promptly digging in.

The food tastes a-m-a-zing.

It must be the tastiest meal I've ever had. Now, that may just be my food deprived body talking, but as far as my mind is considered, this is seriously the one single most tasty food I've ever eaten in my whole life, right here, right now. The drink is also really good: It is closer to mead than normal beer, but it is sweet and delicious while still retaining the slight buzz one might get from drinking a mug of dark beer.

Before I even realize, I have already finished all of the food and find myself looking around for more, but there are none to be had.

"...Guess I'll order another serving. And some extra bread, too. That bread was to die for." I mumble as I get up from the chair and make my way over to the door with my new goal in mind: More of the delicious food and drink to devour before I let the sweet oblivion of sleep take me away into the world of dreams.

End of chapter 6