Esdeath blinks in slight surprise.
"Where did that come from?" she asks.
The owner scratches his head with a small smile. "I mean you walked in, in the early morning. This is most vampires' sleeping time. Besides there's not a single redness or burning mark on you from sunlight," he answers, his eyes scanning her from head to toe with a knowing look.
"So I thought you are some rich noble lady who ran away from home," he adds, leaning a bit against the bar counter, completely at ease.
"Ohh," Esdeath quickly turns her ZK-20, which was in her wrist as bracelet, into an umbrella immediately. The metallic bands shift and reconfigure with a soft whir, expanding into a black canopy. "See? I got this. Besides I said we came here from far away just last night. That's why I'm looking for a room to sleep comfortably," she answers, immediately handling the situation without missing a beat.
"Ohh, I'm sorry, Forget I said anything," he shakes his head immediately, holding his hands up in a gesture of peace. "Umm... About your gold, Well you are from countryside, So you certainly won't have its bill, right?" he asks.
"Bill?, What the...these demon guys turned out to be more advanced than anastasia," Maruti thought to herself but didn't let any shock show on her face, keeping her expression carefully neutral.
Esdeath lightly shakes her head.
"Well it'll be very hard to sell this gold then, At least not here. Maybe in black market but it'll take time as well," he says with a sigh, running a hand through his hair.
"How about this, I'll help you out. You can stay here for one day by then you can look for some work and earn some many or sell you gold in black market, Then you can repay me later on," the owner suggests, his tone friendly and genuine.
"Thanks for being generous," Esdeath smiles, extending her hand. The smile doesn't quite reach her eyes, but it's convincing enough.
The owner does as well, Shaking Esdeath's hand. "I'm Cerise, Lizard demon," he says, The horns coming out of his head were more like an bone spike covered with green coloured skin, Clearly Indicating his identity. They catch the dim light of the tavern, giving him a slightly menacing look that contrasts with his friendly demeanor.
"I'm Esdeath bloodborne," Esdeath replies, Turning towards maruti. "She's Casca cranel," she adds, giving Maruti a quick glance that tells her to play along.
The owner just smiles at them and nods lightly. Then he turns around, Going behind the counter and takes out a key. It's an old brass key, worn smooth in places. "Second floor, Room 3," he says, Handing the keys to Esdeath.
After taking the keys, They don't go towards the room but decide to eat something before sleeping.
They don't eat much, Knowing it might upset the owner, Specially when he was showing kindness by giving them room to stay for a day. They just order some simple stew and bread.
As they were having their breakfast, one of the customers comes and sits besides them, the stool scraping softly against the wooden floor.
"Yo! Ladies. New here?", he says, his voice a little too loud, a little too friendly.
"Yes", Esdeath replies flatly while having her breakfast, not even looking up from her bowl of stew. Her focus is entirely on her food, a clear dismissal.
"What made you come here?", he asks again.
At that moment, Esdeath was going to make some excuse, but then Maruti leans towards him slightly, a mischievous glint in her eyes. She whispers to him, her voice low and clear.
"To kill the demon king", she says without any fear.
The food almost gets caught in Esdeath's throat and she immediately gives a piercing glare at Maruti, a look that could freeze fire.
Meanwhile, that demon just stares at Maruti without blinking, his expression stuck, a moment of pure, unadulterated shock.
And then—"Hahaha....", he laughs out loud, a sudden, booming sound that breaks the tension. He pats Maruti's back, a friendly, solid thump. "Never knew bull demons also got some humour, Haha...Enjoy yourself", he chuckles again, before leaving their company, his laughter echoing as he walks away.
As he goes away to his own seat, Esdeath's lips twitch in anger. "You better keep your mouth most of the times", she says, her voice a low, dangerous hiss.
"What?, I knew he would take the joke, You are the one who got no humour.", Maruti sighs, a wave of her hand. She continues her breakfast again, as if nothing happened.
After having the breakfast, they quickly went to their room to sleep. They've been walking straight all night, of course they were feeling sleepy, specially Maruti, whose steps were getting heavier with every passing moment.
Once they slept, they directly woke up at dawn, the sun was slowly going down, painting the sky in shades of orange and purple. The room was given to them for one day, its validity was for next evening. By then they could tour around and find something to earn money.
But why would they?
It's not like they were going to stay here for a few days before continuing their journey. All they needed was a place to rest for a few hours and they already did.
Esdeath and Maruti take a shower to fresh themselves and changes their clothes to different ones.
"Let's go", Esdeath says, ready to depart.
"Wait a minute", Maruti says.
She takes out a gold biscuit and then a paper and writes 'Sowwy, We like being being unemployed' and then wraps the paper around the gold biscuit and throws it on the bed.
Esdeath just stands there seeing what Maruti was doing. "What's the point of doing it?", she asks, a confusion in her voice.
"I hate owing favours", she says, "Let's go", she adds opening the door.
Once again, they were on the street, walking around to cover the distance.
"Why can't we just fly?", Maruti says, a whine in her voice.
"It'll be fine for you, But a vampire flying without it's wings? It'll be way too suspicious", Esdeath replies.
"Besides, I actually want you to get familiar with demon realme, Specially this city", she adds.
"Why?",Maruti asks.
"Soon enough, We'll come here to kill the demon after all, Our final mission", Esdeath explains.
Maruti just nods knowing what Esdeath was talking about.
With that they resumes their journey. In no time, it was already night. Lanterns and magic bulbs were everywhere lightening the streets and shops.
Many new shops were opened, gambling, meat shops, and there were even candle light dinner restaurents.
They even saw multiple succubuses walking around in the streets. Maruti was still feeling very weird that she was surrounded with different types of demons, she was feeling like a spy of humans.
"What's that? A competition?", Maruti asks, pointing at ahead.
There was a stage with quite the crowd to watch it, there were posters and banners inviting competitors and explaining rules.
"It's an essence stone refinement competition", Esdeath replies, "Any awakened demon can show their skills, using different types of styles to refine given essence stones", she explains in short words.
"What do you say? Wanna participate?", Maruti asks.
Esdeath shakes her head and points at one of the poster hanging at entrance.
"No vampires allowed? Why", Maruti reads the posters.
"Just like elf, Vampires have great talent in Refinement as well, It'll be unfair", Esdeath says, although she was not a vampire but a human, still she was introducing herself as a vampire here.
"You wanna show off?", Esdeath asks, telling her to participate alone.
"No, I lost my interest. I only wanted to defeat you", Maruti exhales, turning around and starts walking again.