Caelus Online

12. Building Connections

Heaving a sigh, Astaria pushed herself up from the bed, the cover falling away to expose her clean, perfect skin with only a crude white bra to cover herself.

Feeling the rush of blood going to her head, she experienced a slight bout of dizziness from having laid down for so long, steadying herself up with a hand.

After her vision cleared, she looked around the room. Seeing its clean state, she was somewhat surprised. Realising that she should be covered in blood, the hazy memory of that waitress lady stripping her came back to her mind as she remembered what had happened. With her cheeks becoming tinged with red realising that some random woman had stripped her down and wiped her all over while she had been unconscious, she was incredibly embarrassing. That was not to mention that she had not even checked out her own body yet.

‘Ugh, get such thoughts out of your mind…’

Purging the thought, Astaria sat there, her mind turning to her new body before her hand rose to cup her right breast. Feeling a comfortable and relaxing feeling spread over her body from her warm hands touch, a slight smile made its way onto her face.

‘So, this is what it feels like… I expected something a little more… erotic.’

She gave herself a slight squeeze, the warm, comfortable feeling becoming a little stronger, while it further relaxed and calmed her mind.

‘I should stop wasting my time here, now I have calmed down and straightened my mind out a little. Especially having now gotten a decent amount of sleep, even if it contained some horrible memories. At least now fighting goblins shouldn’t send me crazy. That was just all too much piled up for one day.’

Swinging her legs down to the floor, Astaria spotted her clothes on a chair, now cleaned, and folded neatly. Smiling at the incredible service the inn had provided her, she quickly got herself dressed and started to figure her way downstairs. Because of the state she was in last night, by the time she made it into Haligrad the only things she remembered was focusing on walking while following the guards back, then being led by the hand to the room she woke up in.

After taking a wrong turn and walking into a dead end in the labyrinth of the old building, she found the stairs and made her way into the entry hall. It was a small room with a desk to the left of the stairs. Beyond that was the bar and dining room filled with tables and chairs, most of which were empty.

“Oh, you're finally awake!”

The energetic voice of the waitress from last night called out from behind the desk.

“I was wondering if I should go and wake you up, but was unsure since you seemed so tired yesterday.”

Blushing after remembering this was the woman who had cleaned her, Astaria awkwardly replied.

“Ah, um, yes… thanks for your help last night. I only remember being led to the inn and you cleaning me…” with her voice becoming quieter at the end of her sentence she arrives at the front desk.

“Oh, no need to be embarrassed, you are just so beautiful, you should be proud of it! Oh, and you shouldn’t put yourself in such a vulnerable state and follow a random guard you just met, especially with your looks! You are lucky it was Gerald you met!”

With her hands on her hips, she sighed.

“But what happened to you? Gerald mentioned you might be one of those Immortal Warriors? And that you had said you slaughtered goblins?”

Letting out a deep sigh, Astaria started to explain, unsure how much of her story would be believable to the woman.

“Well, it’s like this. I first arrived in the world yesterday after finding out that the gods had just turned my life upside down. I originally had plans to kill goblins, so made my way over to where I could find some while trying not to think about the big changes I was going through.”

Astaria paused in thought as she decided how to explain the next part of her story.

“Well, I guess it all got to me a bit too much and by the time I started to hunt, my emotions were quite volatile and some memories of past atrocities I had seen the goblins commit came to mind, and I sort of went on a rampage…”

Awkwardly smiling, she hoped that the waitress would not ask anything more.

Hearing Astaria’s story, however, she came out from behind the desk and wrapped her in a hug.

“Oh my, you poor thing. That explains why you were in such a state when you got to the inn… come, let’s get you some food.”

Taking Astaria by the hand like the previous night, she leads her to a table. Thankful that Gerald had led her to such a good in, she mentally made a note to repay the favour.

Looking towards the kitchen, the waitress called out.

“Jorn, one bowl of soup and a sandwich please!”

“Got it.” Jorn's deep voice called back.

Realising she still didn’t know the waitress's name, Astaria spoke up, her once flat voice having regained much of its original vigour.

“By the way, I never asked your name? I feel bad for not asking until now.”

Opening her eyes in slight surprise, the waitress finally introduced herself.

“Oh, I am Anna, and that big lug of a man is my husband Jorn.”

Bowing her head slightly, Astaria replied in kind.

“Ah, a pleasure to properly meet you, my name is Astaria, a new adventurer. That said I do still need to register with the guild.”

Smiling, the two then continued to make small talk while Astaria ate.

“So, what are your plans from now Astaria?”

Thinking for a moment, she answered.

“Well, I am going to see if my friends are still around, we were supposed to meet up in the market square 2 hours ago, but I imagine that they have likely already left. After that, I’m going to register with the guild and hand in all of the many proofs of subjugation that I collected yesterday.”

Widening her eyes slightly, Anna tilted her head slightly.

“Oh? I didn’t see any goblin ears on you?”

Remembering that the NPC’s are not yet familiar with players, she explained.

“Ah, you see us Immortal Warriors have a storage space we can access anywhere we are.”

Saying so, Astaria opened her inventory and looked at her currency counter. 2 gold, 36 silver, and 78 copper. Surprised at the amount, she sent a silent thank you to Fortuna for the blessing of luck.

Astaria quickly calculated the average inn price at the current time in Caelus from her memory, selecting 5 silver which appeared in her palm.

With eyes full of surprise at the silver coins appearing from nothing, Anna exclaimed aloud.

“Oh wow, that’s amazing! I can imagine how helpful that storage must be!”

Gently picking up Anna's hand, Astaria droped the coins into her palm.

“This is payment for the room and meal, as well as thanks for everything else you did for me. Your kindness will not go unforgotten.”

With a thankful expression, Astaria moved her hand back as Anna gave a reluctant smile.

“Oh my, there is way too much! Just 1 silver will more than cover everything!”

Gently closing the hand that was trying to return the silver, Astaria smiled encouragingly.

“Please, accept my thanks. If it is really that hard to accept, just get Jorn to sneak me some extra potatoes in the soup next time I am here.”

Lightly giggling, Astaria stood up while Anna happily nodded upon hearing her suggestion.

“I must apologise, but despite how I may look, I really am quite pressed for time, even more since I incapacitated myself yesterday. I must get going.”

Nodding in understanding, Anna also stood up to see Astaria out.

After reaching the door Astaria gave the kind woman a warm smile and waved her hand.

“Thank you for everything, I will visit again when I next get the time.”

Like a mother seeing her daughter depart on a trip, Anna called out as Astaria exited onto the market square.

“Our doors will always be open to you. It’s a shame we don’t have more time to talk, but I look forward to when we next meet. Take good care of yourself and be careful!

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