Chapter 115: Misthaven
"Are you sure you don’t want to stay at our place just for tonight?" Noir asked them.
He stood opposite them, just in front of the half-open door that led into the house.
The sun had set, taking with it its light, and the world was plunged into pure darkness.
The only subtle sources of light were the twin crimson and blue moons in the sky.
Azrael shook his head.
"Don’t worry, we will rent an inn."
Noir nodded with a sigh.
"You can try Misthaven. It is located in the left wing of the village, not too far from here."
"Thank you," Azrael said with a smile.
They bid each other farewell with waves.
Azrael and Zephyr walked out of the small compound and came back into the busy streets of the village.
Even though it was already late at night, the villagers were still buzzing with vigor.
The ones who had been setting their stalls up were finally selling their stock.
Azrael and Zephyr continued walking in silence, neither of them saying anything.
"Why didn’t you allow us to stay at their place overnight?" Zephyr finally asked Azrael in a slightly hushed tone.
"We already concluded on not sleeping there before," Azrael said in an indifferent voice.
"But..."
Before he could complete the sentence, Azrael cut him off.
"I only let you because it would have been disrespectful if I spoke there, but don’t use my dignity for something so stupid again."
The words sent a shiver down Zephyr’s spine.
He had never heard or seen this version of Azrael before.
And it was shocking beyond measure.
"Oh, I am sorry," Zephyr said slowly.
Azrael nodded in response.
He did not intend to drag the matter on too long. He only wanted Zephyr to be aware of certain boundaries.
The inn was a two-storey building painted white.
Its structure was supported by two large pillars. A crest was attached to the top of the building.
The crest was a mist-like building.
Simple but elegant.
But all of these were not the reasons that made Azrael like the place.
Looking at the building that looked like one brought out of a sci-fi movie, he could not help but marvel.
This was his first real sighting of science in this world.
He had been confined within the walls of a clan that tried their absolute best to minimize the use of science.
Zephyr was also stunned by the sight.
They did not know when their legs carried them into the building.
The interior was made with luxury.
Everything was painted white.
Even the large reception desk opposite the door was a large, white wooden desk.
At a glance, anyone could tell that it was made with a high level of meticulousness.
Standing behind the desk were two ladies.
They wore the same white shirts with the Misthaven crest attached to the breast pocket.
Beautiful smiles played on their faces as they looked at Azrael and Zephyr.
’Humans,’ Azrael mused with a calm smile.
"Welcome to Misthaven," they said uniformly with a slight bow.
Azrael nodded as he reached the counter.
"Are you lodging together?" the lady on the right asked, still carrying a gentle smile.
At this point, the smile seemed to be a normal state of their being.
Azrael looked at Zephyr.
Zephyr did the same.
Both of them furrowed their brows before shaking their heads.
"People do that?" Zephyr asked with raised brows. "Isn’t that feeling too gay?"
Before he could complete it, Azrael covered his mouth.
"Separate rooms."
The lady nodded.
"Please, one of you should come here," the other lady said.
Zephyr nodded before taking a single step to the left.
In front of Azrael, a screen flashed up, projecting the list of available rooms and their prices.
There was the Basic Room, which cost a hundred credits per night.
Then there was the Deluxe Room, which was five hundred credits, and the Premium Deluxe Room, which cost a thousand credits.
Azrael stared at the list.
He had over six thousand credits in his account, but he was not prodigal enough to spend 1,000 or even 500 credits on just one night of sleep.
"I would take a basic room," Azrael said without much internal thought.
"Okay," the lady said with a bow.
Azrael nodded as he waited for the lady to process his request.
He turned to Zephyr’s position while he waited.
"Huh?" he muttered with raised brows.
’He is flirting with this one too?’ Azrael wondered.
He had thought Zephyr only liked Jasmine, not knowing it was just his nature.
’Good thing he knows the boundary and is not trying any of this in the clan.’
Just then, the receptionist called Azrael.
"Sir, I have generated the account."
Azrael nodded, opening his connector to scan the code.
Within moments, the transaction was completed.
"Thank you, sir," she said with a bow before handing Azrael a card.
"The last room on the second floor, sir," she said as Azrael collected the card.
"Okay."
Azrael walked past Zephyr without saying a word.
The stairs were long and round.
"Seems like they were unable to install an elevator," Azrael mused as he took his first step.
But to his surprise, the stairs shifted, moving on their own.
Azrael paused for a few seconds before he spoke again.
’Maybe I underestimated the technology of this world.’
Before Azrael knew it, he was at the top of the stairs.
As he reached the top of the stairs, what he saw was a long hallway lit softly by warm golden lights that came from the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.
A red carpet was spread from that point to the end of the hallway.
The hallway was perfumed with a sweet scent of lavender and rose.
Soft mists rolled through the air, making the temperature as comfortable as possible.
It was neither too hot nor too cold, just normal.
"This is really lavish," Azrael muttered beneath his breath.
With a sigh, he began walking towards his room.