Thurman
"Haaah..."

A relieved yet exhausted sigh escaped from Yumiko's lips once she finally arrived to the tavern. The girl who entered looked rather ragged. Her clothes, seemingly of eastern origins, were marked with stains, tears, and slight rips. Even after washing the excess blood and grime it had accumulated over her adventures, the once pristine outfit had now become a barely functioning shadow of its former self. Disappointingly, she concluded that it needed to be discarded soon.

Making her way over to the counter, she rummaged through her coin purse, drawing fifteen silvers and setting them onto the table.

"Your best room," She requested, voice lower than usual. "I'll be staying for around eight days and seven nights. Include breakfast meals please."

Once she eventually got her room key, she left the area quietly and swiftly. The amount of Macen in that room sickened her. Not that she couldn't live with it— she just preferred not being around them.

"Moons, these last few days were exhausting." She said, yawning to herself as she stepped into the confines of her new room.

Her muscles ached. Even for a trained warrior like Yumiko, exhaustion and stress still affected her, especially when she just did two quests back to back. With those jobs completed, hopefully the guild would be able to witness her merits and allow her better privileges in the future. Yumiko had heard of enchanting and training services. It would do her good to take advantage of it.

With that thought, she began preparing for downtime. 

She set her equipment in one of the corners of the room, letting her inventory gather in a messy pile she could hardly be bothered to sort at the moment. Yumiko stripped her worn out yukata, replacing it with an attire more reminiscent of the Salvainese. She outfitted herself with a buttoned up cotton blouse and a red, calf-length skirt. Under the blouse she wore a tight shirt and under the skirt she wore leggings. It was baseless paranoia, but Yumiko preferred it if she could shed her outer clothes to effect a disguise at any time. 

Now for the last part.

**"Concealment."** She spoke, the word that left her mouth carrying a power to it. Immediately, her ears and tail disappeared from view, all features of her outwardly Oriate appearance vanishing. It was a trick any Oriate with the right amount of mana could do. Her people were a mystical one, it was only natural that they developed a way to hide it.
Heather
*The dark elf, Nagnis, stayed within the tavern downstairs. He had stayed there for a little while, cleaning out from mugs and afterwards he swept the floors, keeping them nice and tidy. Even to the point where he'd move the chairs and tables out the way to sweep even the corners of the tavern.*
Annie
Lilium would open the door to the tavern, looking into it. She'd notice that there were an abundance of people at the tavern. Not only limited to Macens, though they were the vast majority. They were all happily drinking and cheering— a rowdy bunch. She'd slowly slip into the tavern with her bloodied stave, quickly walking towards the counter. She'd undo her leather coin pouch, quickly giving the counter 9 silvers she dug out from the pouch.

" I-I'll stay for a total of 5 days.. " She passed the 9 silvers to the counter. Looking down onto the wooden planked floor. She was afraid of what the man at the front desk would say— I mean, Lilium was aware of how she looked now. Others might even consider her a psychopath roaming the streets with her stave bloodied in that manner. 

The man at the front desk would pass the key to Lilium, " Room number 203, also, may I ask— " 

Before the man could finish his sentence, Lilium took the key and dashed up the stairs, to where the rooms were located at. Soon, she'd reach the doorstep of her allocated room. She inserted the key into the keyhole and with a twist, the door would become unlocked. 

She'd enter the room, taking the key with her as she'd shut the door tight behind her, locking it. Lilium's thighs ached. She quite literally, chased down a knight. She wasn't one for physical labour and this was unexpectedly, tiring. She'd leave her bloodied stave in the toilet as she headed to the bed. Fatigue would soon catch up as she simply collapsed on the bed, not even bothering to wash-up. 

—In the matter of a few seconds, Lilium would be deep asleep.
Thurman
Yumiko slipped out of her room and locked the door right afterwards, slowly making her way down the stairs and into the tavern. She hadn't eaten for a while, and figured she should probably stuff herself with something before she went out and explored the city. 

She approached the counter and gave her most genuine smile to whomever was tending it at the moment. The girl's lightly pink hair seemed to almost reflect the light of the nearby lanterns. It was currently long and loose, as she didn't need to tie it back for combat anymore. She liked it this way, even though it often got in the way more than she preferred.

"Wine please, nothing expensive or anything." Yumiko requested, "And could I get something to eat as well? Some decent quality bread and some cheese would be lovely."
Heather
*The dark elf looked up from behind the counter over towards Yumiko, his bright yellow eyes on her. He gave her a smile before turning towards her and giving her a nod of the head.

**"Of course. Today's special to eat is tomato soup with cheese and garlic bread, if that sounds to your liking. Otherwise I can quickly whip something up not necessarily on my menu."***
Thurman
Soup. That was always filling, no matter what sort of meal it paired up with. She wasn't exactly sure about the science behind it all, those questions were better left for scholars of the academia to answer.

"Ah... Yes, that should be fine." Yumiko nodded. "How much would it cost me? Or is this part of the free breakfast I paid for earlier?"

She leaned against the counter and propped her head up with a single hand, an air of aloofness radiating off the girl. Yumiko regarded the dark elf with inquisitive eyes. She had seen quite a number of them already, especially within the presence of the Empire.
Heather
*He gave a nod of the head.

**"With every purchase for a night at my tavern, you get a free breakfast and drink in the mornings. After that, you would have to pay for your foods and drinks."**

He then begun to roll up the sleeves of his white shirt so they were just above his elbows. He seemed to have rather strong looking arms.

**"Some wine and food coming right up, madam."** He spoke cheerfully before turning and going through a door to begin making the food.*
Thurman
"I appreciate it." She thanked, waiting around in silence for her meal to be ready. Though she could only manage to keep that up for so long until she became... Rather bored.

"Were you born around here?" She inquired, "I don't know much about dark elves. You guys seem to be all over the place."
Heather
*He soon came out again and moved over towards her, getting a bottle of wine and a mug ready.

**"No, I'm from Wakazu. Quite honestly, I haven't seen many other dark elves except my family."** He uncorked the bottle and poured some wine for her. **"However, I prefer it here. It's a beautiful, quaint little area."**

He pushed the mug towards her. If she noticed, he seemed to have a golden band around his index finger.*
Thurman
Yumiko reached over and wrapped her fingers around the handle of the mug, taking a long sip from the cup before she spoke again.

"Wazaku huh..." She murmured longingly. She had never been, though it was one of the places she wished to see someday. In fact, she had never travelled anywhere near Silnaria.

"Salvainia is beautiful I suppose. In it's own, **Unique** Way."

The ring on his finger earned him a raised eyebrow. Yumiko never understood why people bought rings in the first place. They didn't seem like very comfortable adornments. The only reason she'd probably wear a ring if it were enchanted with some sort of spell. Perhaps he liked to show off his wealth to others? In that case, it would make her slightly ticked off.

Wait... She had heard of this before. Her people didn't practice it, but individuals would use rings to signify that they were married. A golden manacle that signified an eternally bound love between two people.

Eugh, what a horrible concept.

"Are you married?" She decided to ask. "Forgive me if that's too forward to ask. I'm rather new to the... World outside. The ring you have around your finger is supposed to signify that yeah?"
Heather
*He blinked in surprise that it was mentioned. He looked down at his ring and gave a faint smile.

**"I was."**

He gently removed the ring to look at it from different angles, moving it between his thumb and index finger that it just came off of.

**"I was married some years ago to a Macen. I unfortunately outlived her, for I'm 156 years old. She told me, on her death bed, to move on and find someone new when the time was right. I did not want to remove and discard my ring she got me. As a result, I'm wearing it on my index finger."**

He placed over his ring finger on his right hand.

**"If it were here, it would definitely be a symbol of being married. But, since I am no longer married, it goes on my index finger."**

He then took it off and placed it on his index finger, still on his right hand.*