The Price of Fame (for Jinchu)

[MajorMimosa]

The fire at the hearth had long since died, yet the coals still emitted a soft warmth to them. The tavern was close to barren, with barely more than a handful of souls occupying the bottom floor of the Big Pilgrim Inn. Then again, the emptiness of the more social area of the inn was to be expected this early in the morning. One of those souls belonged to the young man seated directly beside the hearth, his crystal blue irises intensely studying a piece of paper clutched tightly in his hands. This was was Niyal Redfellow, a young, decently-known sellsword. He had been attempting to grow his fame recently, between doing odd jobs and slaying the occasional pair of goblin raiders. Unfortunately, at least in his mind, those things were too small for a legendary hero like himself! He should be out taming dragons, slaying giants, taking on a hundred bugbears with only a raw trout and a stick of great sharpness! Niyal was an impatient one, and didn't really know how not to upset others. And no matter how many times the lesson was taught, Niyal never seemed to learn...

The redheaded sellsword groaned, tossing the parchment to the floor in frustration. He had tore it from the bulletin board on the outside of the tavern, as it seemed to be the only one that paid any real money. Unfortunately, it was another simple task: go and kill the monster in the cave. He was growing sick of this! Sure, he may not have been the absolute greatest hero ever, but he was above fighting some oversized spider or bear! With another groan, he picked up the ad and looked it over once more. "Well, at the very least, I'll have the gold to go somewhere interesting." He sighed.

[Jinchu]

Petra Woodm an owner of the inn, was a tall and buxom woman in her early 40's. Her simple practical dress couldn't hide the massive breasts and wide hips, but her torned up sleeves also exposed strong arms of a woman who owed her wellbeing to herself only. Her two daughters, also very... gifted by the mother-nature, were working in the inn as waitresses and maids.

Petra frowned and walked to the young customer, seeing him throwing papers on the floor even across the room. "Hay, young master. I'd appreciate if you would stop that. If you do not need this, put it there it was, so other good people can see it. And since I'm alraedy here, then are you going to pay for your bed and food, young master?" she asked in a deep and sound voice.

[MajorMimosa]

Niyal looked up at the older woman, not seeming particularly interested in what she had to say. "Oh, right. Sorry, I just need to go over these a few more times." Suddenly, the aspiring hero became painfully aware of the lightness of his coin purse. His eyes widened slightly, but he quickly recovered. Maybe he'd be able to talk his way out of this? Of course, this woman would surely be willing to make a tab for someone of his caliber!

"Well, you see, I actually...don't have the coin on me." He nervously rubbed the back of his head, quickly adding, "But I'll be sure to return as soon as I get paid for my next job!"

[Jinchu]

The woman frowned. Petra had to support herself and her daughters and she was very, very serious about payments in time. Of course, she could give a credit tosomeone she knew well,s omeone who was trustworthy and had some kind of stable income... and that someone was most certainly not sitting in front of her.

"The job you're crumbling in your hand? Well, as far as I understnad, you have a good chance to die, doing it, young master. And in that case I won't get payed. Even more so, you might survive and just run away, you might even simply lie to me and not go fight any monsters at all, m? Then you came here two days ago, I asked for a good bed and plenty of food and guaranteed me a proper payment. If your wallet was empty at the moment, that seems like a blantat lie to me." Petra sounded more and more angry with every word, towering over the young hero.