You don’t even waste your breath; your confused blink quickly turns into an icy glare, one that would make even the hardest thug think twice. For a moment, the man had thought he had found another easy target, but he quickly falters before his face crumples into another sneer as he turns away, waving at you dismissively.

“Ehh, you ain’t worth my time…”

He mutters a little under his breath (most likely directing some curses your way) as he resumes scanning the room. He continues his general complaints and rambling until the barkeeper attempts to quiet him down; either buy something and shut up, or go be annoying somewhere else.

With no one responding to his prodding, and the wind being taken out of his sails a little bit by your response, he decides that this place sucks and that he’d find more life in a graveyard. So, with one final angry rant, he decides to take his leave (speaking as though some other establishment will appreciate his presence), and jostles the woman ahead of him out of the front door; she looks as though she’s accepted her fate.

When the door finally closes, the rest of the tavern collectively breathes a sigh of relief, and the peaceful atmosphere quickly returns as the barkeeper moves over to pick up a stool the man knocked over on his way out. Ameronis leans back in their chair.

“Charming fellow. I’m sure he’ll be welcomed with open arms wherever he decides to go next…”

Ameronis stands and stretches, glancing at the clock on the mantelpiece above the fireplace: 22:36.

“After all this excitement I’m pooped. I’m heading up to bed, so I’ll see you when I see you. Maybe.”

Ameronis waves and you nod in return. Yeah, maybe…
You watch them go, then stare into the fire idly for a while, picking up your thoughts from where you left off before you were rudely interrupted. The clock chimes for 23:00, snapping you back again. You rise, stretching yourself, the stiffness from your earlier battle settling in further. Some rest would definitely be a good idea.

---

You shut yourself in your room upstairs, put your stuff down and promptly collapse into bed. While it’s no 5-star hotel, the room, plainly furnished, is clean enough as far as you can tell, warm and dry, and the bed is comfortable; certainly in comparison to the floor you slept on in your sleeping bag last night. Initially, you lie in the darkened room listening to the faint sounds from all around but soon fall into a deep sleep.

You are woken moments later by some commotion outside. At least, you thought it was moments later; you glance at the window and see pale daylight creeping in past the edge of the curtain. What was that noise? You listen for a while and conclude that some delivery guys accidentally dropped a crate of something they were carrying into the tavern, and are now attempting to deal with that mess.

You sigh; having been jolted awake suddenly, you now have a headache and feel a bit dizzy. You could close your eyes and sleep it off, but then wonder; wait; what time is it? Has Ameronis gone already? They did say they’d be leaving early, though it doesn’t seem to be too long after sunrise, judging by the light…

You stare up at the ceiling and decide to…

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