Forged Destiny [Book 2: Ch. 2]

"Welcome to the Stern and Bow, best rest this side of the Atlesian Ocean, would you all be looking for rooms or a meal?"

"Both, actually," I said with a polite nod of the head. "My friends and I are on a journey to Atlas and the ship doesn't leave until dawn. How much would it be for a room?"

The girl glanced over the assembled Heroes behind me, and her eyes widened for a second – no doubt surprised to see so many in one place. When she looked back to me, however, her face was set back in its pleasantly neutral smile. "Well, we could set you up with a couple of rooms. There are eight of you, right? Four rooms for say, two-thousand."

Behind me, I heard someone choke at the figure – and for a moment I was worried Weiss might leap over my shoulder and attack the girl. Didn't they know how it worked? The price for Heroes was that… you always price-gouged Heroes, that was just the way things were done. Heroes had more money than most, and when a group came to your town? Well, it was time to take down all the rakes and hoes on the shelves and replace them with potions, weapons and armour – all marked up through the roof, of course.

Because really, did they think you normally stocked swords and healing potions in a farming village? What were those for, the autumn turnip attacks?

"Two thousand?" I hummed. "This definitely must be the best place this side of the ocean with those kinds of rates. I take it we'd get a good meal and drink included?"

The girl paused, "Ah, well, no… food is normally an extra. Drink too."

I sighed and crossed my arms. It made my gauntlet clink against my breastplate and drew attention away from my eyes and down to what no doubt looked like valuable equipment to the untrained eye. "That's a shame… we've just had to pay three and a half thousand for transport across the ocean." The girl's eyes widened at the figure I'd just pulled out of my arse, and I caught the hungry gleam in her eye. A proper Shopkeeper could have probably hidden it, but she no doubt smelled money and to be fair, she was doing her best.

I was just better.

"Tell you what," I smiled. "I know you're filling in for a different Class, here. It must be pretty hard for you."

She blushed and looked away, perhaps a little embarrassed to be called out like that. "Samantha was sick today," she admitted, "I normally work in the kitchens but we needed someone out front and well, Martin isn't very good with people."

"You're doing a good job, don't worry about it. We're just a little squeezed for lien at the moment and can't stretch that far. Would you be able to throw in a meal and some water for free? I'd be in your debt."

"Well I…" she paused to look at the assembled people behind me, "I suppose that would be okay… Fine, I'll do it for that. We'll provide a pitcher of pure water along with a bowl each and some bread. Is that okay?"

Someone tugged on my sleeve from behind, and I heard them urgently hiss about the lien we had. I ignored them and pulled away, snatching the pouch from Weiss as I did. "Here you go," I said, and tinkled the coins out onto the wooden counter.

The woman counted them with a concerned expression, though not nearly as worried as I could feel everyone behind me acting. Really, couldn't they shuffle a little less? Didn't they know you had to be confident when bargaining? Little wonder mom always rubbed her hands together whenever she heard rumours of Heroes visiting Ansel. "This is only five hundred," the girl said, looking up at me.

I nodded. "Well yeah… you said it as two thousand for four rooms. We only need the one. We're used to sharing and are only staying for a night, so it would be five hundred, right?"

"Ah – I… No, I thought that was for four. The deal I offer-"

"You're going back on it?" I asked. My head shook as I sighed and leaned back. "I mean, it's your decision but I'm surprised so established a venue would do such a thing. I bet everyone back in Beacon would be surprised."

"B-Beacon?" Her eyes grew wide as she suddenly realised just how much the inn stood to lose. "No, no, it's fine! The Stern and Bow honours its promises, ladies and sirs. Welcome and please enjoy your stay." She fished a key from behind her and handed it over to me, along with some parchment with meal tickets listed on it. "If you take these to the counter, they'll serve you food and drink," she explained. Her face still smiled, but now it seemed brittle – tinged with frustration. "Enjoy your stay."

"I'm sure we will," I smiled and turned back to the others. "Let's go guys. I want to see what kind of food the best rest this side of the ocean offers."

Not a one of them moved. In fact, they seemed frozen in place, eyes wide as they watched me like I was some kind of Beowolf in disguise.

"Is… something wrong?" I asked.

"H-How!?" Weiss gasped. She pointed at me, then, when that didn't explain anything, pointed at the ticket in my hand – then back to the irritated girl behind the counter. "How?" she hissed, quieter this time, "How did you manage that? There's no way five hundred lien should get us that much!"

Really? Five hundred was quite a lot… it could have bought you a stay in our house back home for a week or two. Not that anyone would have wanted to stay there, since the house was filled with way too many Shopkeeper girls who liked to practice taking advantage of idiots with money, but still…

"I just haggled with her," I shrugged. "It's no big deal."

Weiss didn't seem to agree but also appeared unable to put words to her thoughts. In the end it was Yang who broke the silence through laughter. She slung an arm over the Mage's shoulder, who for once seemed to shocked to throw her off. "He did this with Ruby's scythe too," Yang said. "He got it for a fraction of the price with some big speech about doing work for Heroes and how that would spread the smith's name across Beacon."

"Is this the Charisma of a Knight at work?" Pyrrha wondered. "It's… impressive. Incredibly so."

—Forged Destiny [Book 2: Ch. 2]