Chapter 14: Leon's rewarding moment
Leon and Louise headed straight to an inn after asking for directions to the best one.
It's been a long time since both tasted warm food and water. Leon, in particular, survived so long without eating solely because of the system's level-up function. Louise leveled up, too, so she was in the same boat.
After entering, the pair noticed many people, mainly tourists, sitting by wooden tables, slurping on a hot soup and biting off pieces of bread. All were satisfied with their meal. Leon grew jealous of them, picking up his pace to face a plump lady behind the desk, clearly the receptionist here.
"Hello, I hope you have free rooms. Anyway, we'd like to eat first." Leon impatiently requested a dwelling and meal for both of them — his partner nodding a few times, her scarlet bangs dancing.
The receptionist smiled brightly as though she had sensed their hunger and jealousy and passed them a menu. She barely stifled a chuckle after Leon picked it up in a flash, only to blink at him, confused.
He skimmed through the menu in less than five seconds, then gave it back. "All of it."
"Do you have enough-" the lady asked an obvious question, but Leon chimed in midway, stopping her for the second time. When silver coins rolled on the desk, her eyes lit up since it was an exact amount of money for the whole menu, and she lifted her head to look at Leon differently.
Did he know the price already? But why would he take a quick look at the menu if he knew?
"Forgive me for asking stupid questions, sir. Please, take a table and wait for our chef. He'll make a fast meal for you two first!" the receptionist promised, took the money, then ran to the chef and his workers to pass the news of the wealthy man in their inn, which surely turned upside down the entire kitchen.
Leon waited for her to return to ask about a price for a few nights. She didn't misunderstand him, talked about a few coppers, then Leon and Louise went to the table.
But while Leon expected two rooms, he'd receive just one. Thus, the receptionist actually misunderstood him.
A few minutes later, a waitress came to them with two plates. She promptly said another meal would be in just a few more minutes, then excused herself with an awkward smile as Leon and Louise had already started digging in.
The first meal in another world was delightfully copious.
Bystanders couldn't fathom how such a short lady like Louise could eat as much as Leon did, and murmurs about them being monsters in disguise spread across the inn. Well, Louise had lovely fox tails and ears, but even those didn't stop some idiots from thinking of her as some demonic monster.
Fortunately, the inn's owner was clear-headed, and he dealt with those rumors silently and swiftly, not affecting his clients' lives and dwelling in his inn.
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Leon and Louise entered just one room, realizing that the plump lady misunderstood them. They had spent a pretty eventful first day and even slept in turns while being close to each other, but their relationship wasn't that of lovers, and it wasn't appropriate for them to stay in the same room.
"We'll save some coins," Leon joked to lighten the nervous and tense mood, knowing that Louise had many of her thoughts doing a marathon in her head. "I'll sleep on the ground, just a pillow will do. I actually have some experience sleeping on a floor, you know?"
"No, no, no!" Louise shook her head, then pointed at a bed. "It's spacious. We can sleep together, can't we?"
Leon glanced at her from the side, questioning her instead.
Knowing that her Master was such a considerable person, Louise didn't allow him to sacrifice his comfort and the bed, which in her belief, everyone deserved. She threatened to sleep on the ground if he followed his idea. And that worked as Leon said they would sleep together in one bed.
It was embarrassing, for Leon didn't mean anything sexual, yet it sounded like that.
To change the topic, Louise asked whether she could take a bath first.
"Rock paper scissors," Leon replied unexpectedly, though. He saw that, though Louise had freed herself from the chains and collar, some of her still thought of herself as a slave.
The way she's been calling him was just one example. Leon never tried to touch that, for he never wanted to force her, but now her question was just another instance.
Clueless about his thoughts and a plan to use rock paper scissors to help her with her mindset, Louise agreed with Leon but asked nonetheless. "I don't mind playing games to decide who takes a bath first, but didn't Master pay for this room? It's the Master's privilege to enjoy a bath first. I can wait."
For the first time, Leon blankly stared at Louise, his cheeks scarlet, and he was at a loss for words. He was actually wrong about her and misunderstood Louise's intent!
Louise didn't know what had occurred in his mind, but he turned so cute she tilted her head to the side a few times, remembering his expression brushed with the embarrassment. It was an adorable side she hadn't expected at that particular timing — it made her heart skip a beat!
"Master! We can play! It's okay." Louise cheekily smiled and extended her clenched hand forward.
When Leon did the same, both of them shook it a few times, and as the moment to see who was the winner came, Louise's fox tails swept through the room, going forward and eclipsing her little hand.
Leon stood with a paper, confused. "What?"
Louise glanced at his hand, took away her tails, then innocently said, "I won, Master." She lifted the scissors! "Next time, I will go easy on you!"
"You literally waited to see what I chose!" Leon stared at her with the peculiar expression of someone who had just got played.
Louise adorably tilted her head, "Does Master have proof?"
"What proof?"
"Proof of me doing that, of course!"
Leon didn't utter a word, gazing at her with trembling lips.
Turning around while giggling from ear to ear, Louise waved her tails at her master and happily ran away to the bathroom. When she was inside, her heart seemed to jump out of her chest, and she had to grasp her breast. But while her ears drummed with nerves, she looked too ecstatic — her smile was uncontrollable.
On the other hand, Leon swallowed his pride, took a seat on the bed, and whispered, "She's doing much better, and it feels rewarding."
While Marco and his farmer friends would drink tonight and enjoy their rewarding moment, in Leon's case, a girl's smile was precisely that moment. Though it wasn't Athena and someone he'd met just a while ago, it was what Leon had been missing for a long time.
"How should I pay back?" Leon pondered this question like a mischievous kid, quickly finding a good idea to make his partner get as embarrassed as he did.
And then, he opened his system, for it was time to check how much it had changed after the forest events.
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