9 Chapter 9 An Expensive City

The wait to enter the city was longer than Ichiro had originally expected and not because of the length of the waiting line, but because every present man had wasted time flirting with Akeno and Cattleya which, after a whole group had moved almost to pull away Ichiro, they had begun to throw glances full of disgust and silent anger; even some guards had tried to make allusions, trying to promise some exemptions from entrance fees in exchange for 'services'.

All this ceased with the arrival of a woman wearing a dress similar to an office dress that sharply retorted the guards and adventurers who were causing the line to be blocked with their flirting.

The woman was about twenty with short purple hair and green eyes, the office dress gave her and accentuated her small body, especially the black skirt at thighs and the black blouse that accentuated her thin waist; against the tone shown to the guards, she turned to Ichiro and the girls and lowering her head and said: "I apologize on behalf of my office, I will immediately report on the bad behavior of my subordinates and please accept as apology the exemption for today from city entry 's taxes "

Ichiro, shaking his hands and trying to take on an embarrassed expression, replied: "there is no problem, on the contrary, it is I who should thank her for taking us out of that situation ... Miss ..."

"Aina, and I thank you again for not doing anything inappropriate, if a fight had begun in front of the gates we would have had to punish both sides," she said gratefully, then looking better Ichiro and her group she asked "are you by chance adventurers? in that case you should visit the Guild, the city of Aster is an important commercial hub and there are lots of requests for adventurers "

Ichiro, always trying to keep an embarrassed air, put his hand behind his head and said: "in reality... we came here to Aster just to register as adventurers, we had heard that it is a great place to make a career given the numerous opportunities. .. would you have some inn to advise us that does not have a high cost? unfortunately most of our savings for the equipments and the provisions "

Anna, happy to have solved the situation smoothly, replied kindly: "certainly, I suggest you look for the inn of the Green Stallion; the owner is an old grumbler but he is honest and serves customers well, tell him I send you and he will give you best room at a great price "; having said that she winked at Ichiro and left with a group of her probable colleagues, seeing that they were wearing the same uniform.

Once the problem was solved, the line began to flow again and Ichiro and his group finally managed to enter; the city inside seemed to have come out of a painting: the main streets were paved in stone and well kept, every street branched off into an intricate maze of secondary streets where, at first glance, there seemed to be small houses and shops; in the larger streets it was possible to see, in a row, a long series of stalls displaying fruit, vegetables and meat that Ichiro could not recognize, or they exhibited small artisanal products such as toys, jewels and someone displayed strange flasks claiming they were potions but Ichiro didn't give him much credit.

They continued to roam the city and once they passed that street market, they entered a street with a more elegant appearance full of large shops; they were buildings with at least three floors, built with what appeared to be expensive materials and exhibited wonderful objects: armor made of unknown materials, blades of all kinds and length, real potions, jewels and any other kind of magical objects that would have been bought only by nobles or high-ranking adventurers: the first solely to show off their rank and riches, the seconds to increase your chances of survival during arduous missions.

Akeno was attracted by many jewels displayed in the windows and strangely interested in buying some poisons, but was discouraged at the exorbitant price, while Cattleya spent almost an hour discussing with one of the store's blacksmiths, a dwarf with a long brown beard and wearing an apron, gloves and boots covered with ashes and burns, about their forging knowledge and if Ichiro had not convinced her to go, he probably would have spent the whole day there.

After this long tour of the city and its shops, they finally found the inn that Anna had recommended to them: it was a beautiful white brick building with a red roof, it had at least four floors and from the entrance you could hear music and laughter of residents; as soon as the owner entered, or at least the person who seemed to fit in with Anna's description, they came to meet him and almost growled, and said, "Well ... did you come to eat, take a room or do you just want to stand still like statues?"; he was a demi-human with characteristics similar to a bear: a large and massive body, black eyes, a long and untidy beard and finally a pair of animal ears on his head; he wore an apron that partially covered what looked like peasant clothes and heavy and huge boots.

Ichiro, without any doubt about the identity of the man, presented himself: "Hi, my name is Ichiro, my companions and I were looking for an inn where we could spend the next few days, Anna recommended your inn to us; we would like to know the prices of the rooms and if you can recommend us some armory or shop ".

The man looked at him initially with an angry look but as soon as he heard Anna mentioning him he seemed to soften and took on a more calm tone: "ah .. then Anna sends you ... that girl ... I told her I don't need to recommend clients ... but since she did me the favor let me make the necessary presentations: my name is Bearnard, I am the owner of the inn, the rooms come four silver coins per room for two nights; the rooms are normally equipped with two beds, a bathroom and a veranda but from what I see you are in good company, so since Anna has recommended you I will add an extra bed "

Ichiro checked the purse with money and gulped, he had six silver coins left and only three gold coins; they were just enough for a couple of weeks and not counting any future daily expenses. He absolutely had to go and join the Guild of Adventurers and start making money; this city was damn expensive and for this it was already beginning to hate it and disconsolate he paid Bearnard the room for a week giving him one of the remaining gold coins, muttering to himself without being heard: "and Anna had said that it wasn't very expensive".

Bernard angrily barked at one of his employees to accompany Ichiro and his group to the room; in a moment a gnome, a human being with human features and a small body, accompanied him to the second floor and once he arrived he showed them the room, he made sure that the water in the tub was filled and heated, I checked that the beds were and told them that breakfast was included in the price paid and left.

Ichiro would have been normally very tired after such a day, but thanks to his new body he hardly felt any tiredness and saw that the inn's room was large enough for three beds and a bathroom with a much larger bathtub compared to that of the inn of the village, he decided to 'take advantage' of his new companion-servant: since the three beds were single, he moved them to attach them to one another and once he was done he lay down on his back and, addressing the girls, said: "Cattleya, please sit on your knees on the bed and stay only in underwear; Akeno, on the other hand, massaging my feet, after all these days of walking, I think the calluses came, and you stay only in your underwear and bra ".

Cattleya and Akeno, with smiles entranced with the idea of serving their Master, obeyed: remaining alone with underwear and a bra, Cattleya sat on the bed as ordered by Ichiro, who took the opportunity to enjoy a lap pillow with a perfect view of the the woman's titanic tits, while Akeno got on her knees at the edge of the bed and began to massage Ichiro's feet from first using her hands then, to show him her skills, he began to suck his toes with her tongue.

Ichiro enjoyed the wonderful situation: on one side the soft thighs of Cattleya were perfect pillows and the perfect vision of his breast sent him into ecstasy; from the other Akeno with a simple foot massage stimulated him endlessly.

In the end Ichiro went to sleep with the two beautiful women by his side and with a smile on his face and soul.

The next day Ichiro and the others went to the guild office to register as adventurers, they didn't take long since, firstly, they had been given directions from Bearnard and, secondly, the building was easily recognizable given the which was a huge building whose facade was decorated with the official symbol of the Guild of Adventurers; they noticed a great coming and going of people, probably adventurers who were starting or redeeming quests, and numerous waiting areas managed by guild hostess groups.

While they waited in line they heard a familiar voice call Ichiro: "Ichiro, this way! My door is free"; it was Anna who beckoned them to come closer waving her hand to greet them, Ichiro and the others took advantage of it and went towards her.

Ichiro asked curiously: "Anna, so you work at the guild? You didn't mention it ..."; Anna smiled jokingly and said "ahaha! I know I wanted to surprise you, I asked a colleague to let me know as soon as you arrived so I would have saved you that long queue".

Ichiro thanked her several times, giving her an embarrassed smile and once they had finished chatting, they filled out the forms needed to register; however, there was a doubt that was forming in him: should he start from the lowest level, accepting boring requests like collecting herbs and the like? he absolutely wanted to avoid ending up in such clichés.

While he was immersed in his doubts, Anna saw him thoughtfully and called his attention: "er .. Ichiro ... Ichiroooo! Okay well, then as I just told you, remember to go tomorrow so we can make your and your companions' evaluation "; Ichiro, distracted from his thoughts, took on a dazed look and all he said was, "eh?"