The rest of the journey was as bland as the starless sky. The sandstone-made polished road came in sight, sharp after about 1 hour, from the incidence with Scorpy. The quadbike glided on the road. The small gate was already in my view.

The gate was a big, metal door of some sort and was guarded by high-rising wall. It was made of rough stones, which were arranged in decisive precision. Even without cement or any adhesive, it seemed sturdy, just fine.

Squinting my eye, I could see silhouettes of armed troops on a lookout on the wall, and the weapon of their choice looked similar to Winchester model 88.

It might be just my eye deceiving me.

“Took you a while to return, Tsukiko-chan,” the person greeting Megumi was a dwarf, with light plated armor, beneath which was a dress made of thick fabric which had a scaly appearance and the lower arms were covered by vambraces, it had layers of rounded leather on outer sides, with a very detailed intricate pattern.

That didn’t matter anyways because he had magazine pouches in his belt and was armed with a freaking assault rifle, which looked like L88 minus the scope. He scanned me top to bottom, “And I don’t think I’ve seen you in the town before. May I see your identity card and what purpose you might have?”

Megumi stopped the quadbike beside him before I Could answer him Megumi, “Bryan, he is my savior, and so I invited him over to our humble town. Take another good look at his face, and he’ll be staying in for a while.” Megumi waved her hand towards another dwarf slumped on a tool and was slightly snoring. He wore heavy plated armor and had a battle-axe almost the same size as of him.

Megumi greeted, “Hey Fizzz, how’s Maddy? Did she recover?”

“Oh, Tsukiki-chan, took you long enough.” Fiz got up from the tool he was sitting on, and his armor rattled with each step. I could feel a beast lurking in the shades. Must’ve killed a lot in the younger days. He checked me narrow-eyed; his face was only a few inches away from mine. Gosh! He stank of cheap alcohol and puke.

“You’re one dangerous lad, ain’tcha?” Fiz then laughed and slapped on my shoulder. He has some heavy meaty palm, felt like getting hit by a bear.

“What’s yer name?” Fiz asked.

“It’s Blackburn. Wilhem Blackburn” I affronted him with a handshake, he replied happily, “I’m Fiznac Marlebane, pride of Dertorhm.” Then another rail of laughter later, “You didn’t make much this time, Tsukiki-chan? And Maddy recovered quite a lot. Do visit her tomorrow. She’ll love it.”

Megumi laughed slowly, basking herself in self-glory for a moment, “Thanks to Ga..., Ahem, I mean Will-san, I made the biggest scavenge in my life. I will finally be free.”

Megumi revved the quadbike, “See you guys tomorrow!” And entered the town. I first sensed the dreadful smell of oil, coal, and heavily polluted air.

The air was heavy with chimney smokes and other pollutants exhausting from the industries. The brick walls of most houses had marks of accumulated soot over the years. Oily black shades of grim overcoated the redness of the brick. Surprisingly, the roads were much clearer and had the signs of being cleaned with care now and then.

It wasn’t a heavily industrialized town, but it was filled with smithies and smelting shops. The buildings were mainly two-storied and mostly made of bricks, except the one-storied shopping spaces, few hotels, and brothels. They were made of woods, and some were of stonework.

“So, Megumi,” I hopped off the quadbike, “Guess I’ll stay in a hotel or brothel whatever. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to find hotels in faraway desert towns. They are stay-able, right?”

“Why did you introduce yourself as Wilhem Blackburn?” Megumi asked with one eye raised, “Which one is your real name?”

“Both,” I replied without batting an eye. I pulled out a kimono from the spatial ring and gave it to Megumi, ”Here, wear something nice in a while.”

Megumi caught it awkwardly midair. She caressed the linings of the kimono, her eyes growing wider each second. “This is one of the finest kimono, and if I’m not wrong, it even has magical enhancement of highest quality, and you’re just throwing it like that?”

“Give it back then,” I approached to take it, but Megumi showed her tongue, “It’s rude to take gifts back.”

I laughed at that, “By the way, how do I find you tomorrow?”

“Just ask for Tsukiki,” Megumi reversed the quadbike and vanished in some alleyway, waving. I stared at the dint-less road.

Sigh~

“Sandy, do you have any idea about the day-night cycle?” I asked while strolling on the deserted road. Only my footsteps echoed in the narrow street and rowdy noises of faraway brothels.

I could hear the cheers and shouts of the drunkards—the sounds of stress-melting after a busy day.

“In accordance with Earth’s reference, it’s roughly 72 hrs,” Sandy replied.

“But it doesn’t feel that long...”

“I don’t need to explain biological clock now, do I?”

“No, thanks. By the way, why do you sound so exhausted?”

“It’s because of the plant that you planted; it’s hard to fend it from eating all that mana in your subconscious space.”

“Hmm, must be tiring; hang in there!”

“Thanks, Master.” Sandy popped beside me in her pixie figure. Whenever I saw her in this form, I really wanted to squeeze her cheeks.

“You know what, Master?” Sandy grumped, “I can hear your thoughts.”

Sandy pouted, “You are not allowed to do that.”

“Oh, I will,” I darted forward to pinch Sandy’s cheek, and she squealed, “Meanie!”

And Sandy left for my subconscious space, and I could hear her complaining. My heartfelt laughter echoed. The dead part of the town was finally getting livelier as I approached the central region. It was packed with hotels and brothels on each side of the road.

It had a mushy stench and was overfilled with the sweet scent of freshly baked bread and ale. At least one hostess, most of them were demi-humans, waiting outside to get another customer.

“Hey, hon!” A tanned hostess winked, “Wanna crash for some drinks, first round on the house.”

She wore a loose shirt and jeans. Her hair was braided. She had alluring curves, and she wore no bra. I’m inquisitive about the culture and technology of this world. Except for the unnatural existence that I saw, including myself, everything seemed like a meshed version of medieval-themed city and modern technology.

“Another time,” I waved the lady, flashing her a smile.

“One peg won’t hurt. We even have the best girls in the town. Name your type, and we also have some finest alcohol on the top shelves.”

“I stopped doing both,” I walked onwards, getting similar offerings and advertisements from the brothels, “Indulging myself in hooters and alcohol.”

“Maybe, I’ll try living healthy this time,” that said I stood in front of a three-storied hotel. It had a plastered wall, with some of its collapsing, revealing the rough texture of the cement and red bricks. The gate was adorned with vined flowers. The windows were all covered by curtains. But I was sure the hotel was more or less empty.

The gate also had an antique vibe to it. It was made of twisted, rusted rods. The rods were arranged in a helical structure, creating an archway of sorts, and the vines that were supposed to adorn the top of the arch were already dried in husks, withering.

I touched one of the vines, imbibing it with a little bit of life. But it gulped greedily on the last bits of the spark I provided for it, bursting in life with green and red. The flower was something I’d never seen before. It was red streaks, with a white line in each petal, and arranged in a cluster. It had a faint sweet scent.

I walked to the entrance, which led me to a darkly lit hallway. The supposedly red carpet was worn out and lost its lusters ages ago. It was torn at places, showing the loose fabrics. Unlike other places, no one came to greet me.

I peered n the darkness to find a person in white clothing sitting at the reception. I approached him, greeting him friendly, getting a hollow question, “What brings you here, good sir?”

“Uh, to stay for the night, I guess,” I replied, confused, scratching my stubbles. Not the friendliest bunch of people.

Getting no response, I asked, “You guys are renting out, right?”

I got a half-hearted nod in reply.

“Uhm, I think I’ll be taking my leave,” I turned around to leave when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I instinctively shook it off, taking two steps away. I didn’t even feel any presence.

Despite my perfect night vision, I was only able to make out the attire. He wore a buttoned-up white shirt with a fitting navy-blue bow tie. Over it was a sleek, dull grey coat extending a bit more than the normal ones. He wore black shoes and formal trousers with matching shades of the coat.

His face was still covered by shrouds of darkness as if its darkness materialized just to hide his face. He had a gruff voice, “Oh, dear customer!” He made a stern bow to apologize, “Please forgive the rudeness of our receptionist.” He then disappeared and reappeared with the receptionist and forced him to grovel.

“It’s totally fine,” I shuffled the back of my hair.

Calling out Sandy to analyze the situation.

“No, no, it isn’t,” the guy in the formal dressing then approached me with measured steps exuding a certain level of aristocracy. He handed me a key, it said 309, in the keyring, “As an apology, please accept this token of gratitude; your stay will be for free.”

I heard Sandy reply, “No hostility detected, but this place doesn’t seem welcoming. I suggest bailing out.”

He paused, “You just need to pay for the meals.”

He extended his arm, giving a friendly smile, “Trozzugatt Siggal.”

I could now see his face. He had combed grey hair, extended grey brett. His skin was pale. Eyes glistened in dull green, and it radiated something very sinister. His facial structure was more on the square side, with a deep scar running along with the right temple. Overall, he exuded a deadly presence.

I shook it, his hand was firm, and I could feel the blisters. “Wilhem Blackburn,” I returned him the smiling gesture, “You can call me Wil or Black.”

“Mr. Black would do just fine,” his smile didn’t meet the eyes, “Feel free to call me Sig.”

“Sure, Sig,” I broke the handshake, “Now, if you don’t mind, can you please lead me to my room? I had a really tiring day.”

“Oh, you jest,” I heard his muffled laughter, “This way, please!”

I followed Sig quietly. The hallway was quite long, and at the end of it was a stair, covered in green carpet, and an elevator. The railing of the stair was made of polished wood, curved nicely.

Feels like I’m going to meet the big boss of the mafia. I chuckled inwardly. Sig tapped the button of the elevator to reveal a much spacious elevator. The red carpet on the flooring was still bright.

Sig gestured to get on. First, I obliged, and he followed. Thankfully, he broke the awkward silence, “Mr. Black, what can treat you?”

“The best delicacy in the town, of course,” giving him a toothy grin.

“I take you meant in goodwill,” Sig smiling faintly, “I didn’t take you for that type!”

I wasn’t sure what he meant, only to realize a second later. I laughed it off, “Oh, I’m a saint.”

Sig burst into a peal of fake hearty laughter. The elevator opened up with a ding, and I stepped outside to step on another very long and dark hallway.

I looked over my shoulder, “After you, please.”

Sig nodded and strode the hallway. Heavy footsteps resounded in the hallway. And Sig came to a halt at the farthest door of the hallway.

It’s a wooden door with a carved floral pattern, and the flowers were all colored in baleful black, the door itself was red, and the vines had the texture of dried branches. Not sinister at all!

Sig pulled out a keyring with all the master keys. The door opened without making any sound. Unlike the hallway, the room was lighted brightly. I stepped in and turned around to wave Sig goodbye, “I’ll be waiting for a hearty meal,” slowly closing the door, “Now, if you excuse me.” And locked the door with a thud.

The room was quite spacious. The interior was relatively modern. It had two sets of black couches aligned parallelly against the wall. The wall was colored in a hue of light olive. The ceiling amazingly didn’t have any bulb or tube-light of sort. I was some kind of eager to see them.

I could sense minuscule mana coming off from the corners of the ceiling. Must be the light source. The bed was king-sized and had the same design matching the couches; a few feet in front of was a cupboard, made of obsidian, and something shiny, giving the same shininess as aluminum.

Well, honestly, I won’t be surprised to find aluminum in here. After seeing gun, sigh~

There are two armchairs in an angled alignment. At another end of the room was a sliding door wardrobe. And there was a square gap in the middle of the wall. It was at a straight line along the line of sight, from the bed. In the square gap sat a very familiar rectangular-shaped object.

Are you kidding me? They even have tv in this world? What am I gonna miss?

I checked the washroom; next, it had a simple design, with a big pool-like tub. Damn, one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

I was excited to let my stress melt away in the tub, but I heard the bell ring. Wait, I didn’t see a bell. Anyway, I opened the door to see another dude in a white robe; it shared similarities with changpao. The scent of freshly grilled meat and the sweet aroma of honey-soaked duck? Anyway, since it had the same scent, so I’ll call it by the same name. The scent already watered my mouth.

He left the plater on my cupboard and told me to leave the dishes outside my doorsteps after I was done. I was busy shooing him away and indulging myself in a moment of pure bliss.

I uncovered the cloche to discover tender, juicy braised short ribs, and the next one did have a roasted duck glazed in caramel color. And the last one had a glass of mocktail. I hope it’s not alcoholic; I took a snip at it; it had soft notes of raspberry, with a bit of tangerine. I’m sure I’m not familiar with the ingredients—another jug of water, and last but not least, a perfect crème caramel.

I’m so gonna be stuffed! I covered the dishes with cloches. I knew they, too, had some tweaking to keep the food fresher and tasty.

I took a quick bath as quickly as possible, wore a more casual yukata, and started with the ribs.

The moment I took a bite, it betrayed me. It didn’t have the oomph that I was expecting. Well, it was still tender, the slight sweet aftertaste of onion, and the perfect spiciness of the sauce was a bit lacking, but it was appreciable.

With renewed appreciation, I took another chomp.

I need moooaarrr!