NOVPUB*Bing-Bong*
The following scene has two languages in place, which will be represented as follows: 𝓃ℴ𝓋𝓹𝓊𝓫.𝒸𝓸𝓂
Tide Tongue: <<>>
Hoof Speech: ""
That is all.
*Bing-Bong*
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The one who had greeted the scions of the Zhen Clan was a fox-like bloodliner that seemed to lean heavier on the aether beast side of things more so than his mortal side, complete with a fox-like face, ears and even a fluffy red tail.
Moments ago, the bloodliner was standing behind what was presumably the hotel’s reception desk. But, when Zhen Liu and his cousins entered the establishment, the aforementioned bloodliner immediately left his post in order to greet them.
The immediate thought that came to Zhen Liu’s mind as he stared at the bloodliner man was the memory of a stop-motion movie about a very clever fox stealing from some rather insidious farmers.
Granted, this clever fox was running a hotel instead of running cons...hopefully.
"Welcome to the Cozy Maple Hotel! My name is-ah, wait..." <<give me one second...,>>the fox bloodliner stalled while switching between languages.
<<I am the-no, it’s supposed to be name then title, unless I’m speaking in Hoof Speech...>>
Zhen Liu couldn’t help but to notice the eager and somewhat nervous way the man carried himself as he tried to introduce himself to the group.
If he had to hazard a guess in regards to this behavior, it was probably connected to the fact that the hotel appeared to be empty.
Zhen Liu and his family were probably the first guests that this fox man had hosted in a very long time, which was a pity due to how comfortable the vibes this hotel was giving off.
Evidently, Zhen Liu wasn’t the only to notice the nervous behavior of their host-to-be.
"Hey, no need to worry about choosing which language to speak for us. We know how to speak both Hoof Speech and Tide Tongue," Zhen Yue spoke up in order to spare the man any further self-embarrassment.
<<Feel free to speak the language you’re the most comfortable with.>>
"Really?"
"Really."
"Oh thank the saints," the fox bloodliner sighed in relief.
"I’ve lived here my whole life and I still have trouble speaking Tide Tongue! Literally say a word incorrectly and you might be ordering someone’s death instead of a bowl soup," the fox bloodliner lightly griped.
"Anyways, welcome to the Cozy Maple Hotel. My name is Gao Ren and I am the host and proprietor of this establishment. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
"Likewise, Mister Gao. My name is Zhen Yue, and these are my cousins."
"Hello."
<<Sup?>>
"Nice to meet you."
<<So we’re staying here then?>>
"We seriously gonna bounce between speaking Tide Tongue and Hoof Speech?"
<<Sounds like it.>>
"Anyways," Zhen Yue continued, "you wouldn’t happen to have rooms available at the moment, would you? We just arrived at the city and-"
"YES OF COURSE, I HAVE PLENTY OF ROOMS AVAILBLE!," Gao Ren interrupted in a very excited tone, shocking Zhen Yue, Zhen Liu and the rest of their cousins with just how eager he sounded.
Before any of them could ask anything further though, Gao Ren immediately ran back behind the reception desk, ducking down for a couple seconds before popping back up with a tray full of what appeared to be runestones made of hardened amber about the size of walnuts.
Tray in hand, Gao Ren returned to the scions to elaborate what the fuck he was holding and why.
It was during this action though that Zhen Feng, who hadn’t really been paying attention to the current conversation, he almost reached out in an attempt to eat what he assumed was maple candy, but was stopped by Zhen Xing.
<<The hell you doing? Those are runestones, not candy!>>
"It looks like it though!"
Ignoring the commentary, Gao Ren began to explain what these rune stones were.
"Each of our rooms are secured with a special [Locking Ivy] array that reinforces the door, as well as apprehend would be ne’er-do-wells that would dare steal and/or break into them. You’ll need one of these in order to access a room."
Gao Ren picked up one of the rune stones and handed it to Zhen Yue so that she could take a better look at it.
"Each room corresponds to one of these runestones, you’ll know which rune belongs to which room pretty easily. Now, will the seven of you be sharing one room or do you wish to rent multiple rooms? We have plenty of space to spare, but regardless of your choice, breakfast is complimentary for the duration of your stay."
"Hmmm..."
Zhen Yue was silent for a few moments as she contemplated what words to say next, until finally settling on a question that shook Gao Ren to his very core.
"We plan on renting multiple rooms, do you have enough space for fifty or so people?"
"Of course I do...huh?"
As Gao Ren processed the question he was just asked, he soon realized that he just went from having a several year long cold streak of absolutely no guests, to possibly having the busiest night in the entire history of running the Cozy Maple Hotel.
’Looks I’m going to have to make breakfast, buffet style for the next few days...,’ Gao Ren thought to himself as he realized his sudden change in fortune, ’or will it be weeks?’
Regardless of these personal thoughts though, there was someone else who was interested in this change in fortune as well, but for a different reason.
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<Strong desire detected. Consolidating into desire core...consolidation completed.>
<[Core of Hospitality] has been created, please use at your earliest convenience.>
=Huh...I suppose desires come in all different flavors. This is the third most selfless desire I think I’ve ever had the experience of condensing this time around.=
<Really? Third? What were the other two?>
=That one about motherhood that we did not too long ago and that one we made in regards to that old bard’s resolve, remember?=
<Oh yeah...whatever happened to that guy?>
=He’s still alive I think...not sure where though.=
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<<Yeesh. I honestly forgot how much of a tourist attraction this festival was to people. Never really thought much about these crowds before.>>
<<Yeah...>>
<<Hmm? You okay?>>
<<Yeah, I am. It’s just...I’m confused.>>
<<About?>>
<<Why are you slumming it out here with me trying to find lodging when, from what I’ve learned about you, you technically have an in with one of the most powerful families in the whole city and the kingdom as a whole?>>
<<Ah, that.>>
While Zhen Liu and the other scions were busy acquiring lodging at a hotel in one of Willow Scale’s many ethnic enclaves, the other groups, consisting of members of the Zhen branch clan and the Skyscales company, were still busy trying to find lodging elsewhere, unaware of this particular development.
As such, Patriarch Zhen Shi was working alongside the leader of the Skyscales company caravan, an older man named Yun Jin.
The two old fellows had developed a friendship of sorts during the course of this journey, to the point that they were now working together to find joint lodging for their respective groups.
Granted, they didn’t have much luck in that regard, having to take a break at this point at a bench they managed to find.
However, it was due to this friendship that Yun Jin couldn’t help but to question as to why Zhen Shi was not making use of the fact that he was related to the Zhen Clan to just...skip over all of this bullshit.
<<I mean...that Zhen Wang guy literally offered to have you and your family be guests at the Zhen Clan estate, literally smooth over an tension you guys might have, so y’all don’t have to be out here, especially trying to find lodging during a fucking festival of all times. So...why not?>>
<<Mmm.>>
Zhen Shi paused as he tried to come up with the reasons as to why he didn’t do as Yun Jin suggested.
As he did though, he could only come to a single answer that seemed to be satisfactory.
<<To be completely honest? I’m paranoid.>>
<<Huh?>>
Zhen Shi slumped in his seat, letting out a small sigh as he began to elaborate on his paranoia.
<<Well->>
<<Father!>>
<<Huh?>>
Just as Zhen Shi was about to explain his reasoning to Yun Shao for not taking Zhen Wang’s offer to stay with them back at the main clan estate, stemming from multiple assassination attempts, his eldest son Zhen Long appeared and interrupted him, albeit, for a good reason.
<<Xiao Long? What’s up? Did you find us someplace to stay?>>
Zhen Long shook his head before explaining.
<<The youngsters managed to find us an empty hotel that has enough for all of us in a place called Stomp Town, one of the smaller enclaves. Zhen Hai told me about it, and now we’re going around to get everyone else to head over there.>>
<<Oh, good,>> Zhen Shi nodded, <<are you heading over there now?>>
<<No, I still need to find Zhen Hou and tell him about the situation.>>
<<Ah, in that case, I will see you at the hotel.>>
<<Yes, father, see you there.>>
