Chapter 23 – Two People, One Bed

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Finding a place to stay proved difficult.

It just wasn’t easy to find one.

Even if the area was popular,
I figured there had to be at least one vacant room somewhere,
or so I thought…

“‘All the rooms are booked. You’d better look for another place.’”

― That was the first response.

“‘Sorry, the register is completely full.’”

― That was the second.

“‘There are rooms available, but they’re not for rent right now. They’re undergoing repairs and aren’t in a condition to accommodate guests. Today just isn’t possible.’”

― The third.

― Et cetera, et cetera.

…And so, in this way, I was turned down by various places.
It wasn’t that I was being lied to or unwelcome;
the rooms were simply all booked.

（…At this rate, I’ll end up sleeping rough. I want to avoid that.）

The weather was mild, and if that were all there was to it, camping might not have been a problem.
But just a moment ago, I was nearly mugged by a 【子どものひったくり犯】.
Since I was carrying a decent amount of cash, I wanted to avoid spending the night outdoors.
Even when traveling by carriage, I made sure to stop at an inn in every village or town, and now that necessity felt even more urgent.

I wandered around the post town for a while.
Then, I arrived at a place where one establishment still had an available room.

“—There’s just one tiny room available. It comes with a double bed, so technically it can accommodate two people.”

It was my first time encountering a double bed.
Until now, every place I had stayed on my journeys featured either twin beds or separate rooms for each of us.
I’d always made sure to keep those separate.
Even when I was living in a cabin, we never slept together.

However, I doubted that searching for another place would yield any results.
If I could get a room, anything would do.
After all, I could just sleep on the floor.

“Alright. I’ll lower the price a bit, and you get breakfast included, plus you can use the large communal bath. Both have fixed schedules, so be mindful of that. … And by the way, the room is really small. No complaints, alright?”

Complaining was out of the question.
I agreed, paid the fee, and received the room key.

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Complaining was unthinkable.
I had thought so just a few minutes ago, though…

……Now my mood had shifted—I even felt a slight urge to complain.

I stepped into the room, only to find it even smaller than I had imagined.
First, the passage from the entrance to the bed was so narrow that I had to turn sideways just to get through.
And the area beyond was crammed on all sides with a luggage stand and the bed.

（I’m really curious how they managed to fit the bed and the stand in here… Did they take them apart and reassemble them neatly?）

Well, aside from that.
In a room like this, there’s no way I can sleep on the floor.
Unless I squeeze into the passage—it might just work…

What method should I choose?
I needed a little time to think.
Now that I recall, they did mention a large communal bath.
First, I’ll take a bath and figure things out.

There had been baths at inns before, but this is the first time I’ve felt so grateful for one.

“I’m exhausted; I’ll take a bath first. …I don’t think I’m all that dirty, but who knows—I might be sweating without realizing it.”
“…Yes. I was thinking I’d like to take a bath too, since this room is so small.”

Ati’s voice sounded a bit nervous.
After all, being a girl, she might be more concerned about smells.
But I didn’t think there was anything to worry about.
I casually moved closer to Ati and pressed my face against her neck—so close that I could feel her breath.

“—Ha-Harold-sama.”

A soft, pleasant scent greeted me.
It wasn’t unpleasant at all.
See? Nothing to worry about.

“Uh, um…”

Even without looking at her face, I could tell she was flustered.

“Sorry for springing this on you…”
“N-no…”

As I slowly pulled my face away, Ati began repeatedly stroking her neck—just as my lips nearly brushed against it.

“…I’m off to take a bath.”

With that, Ati set down her luggage and hurried off toward the bathhouse.

…Maybe that was a bit sudden.
But I had planned to gradually close the distance between us.
So I had to at least do this much.

“Well then…”

After Ati’s footsteps faded away, I headed to the bathhouse to take a bath.