The Life, Death, and Relife of the Mushroom Mage

Chapter 3

Mally tied up Rat outside the inn and made their way inside, the rain pattering on their waterproofed cloak. They had made it to Tremblay, in the opposing territory to their father's, and everything was going well so far. No one had stopped them, and they were doing great, minus the rain.

Tremblay wasn't as well off as Darven. That was a pity, because the inn was not as well kept as the inns in Darven. But, the town, because it couldn't really be considered a city, was also considerably smaller. Mally was traveling to the capital, where adventuring was most lucrative, but they had to figure out how much money they had left first. Which they would not do out here.

Mally walked up to the innkeeper, and she smiled at them as they pushed down their hood.

"Hello, dearie!" she said with a glance to the sword on their hip. "What can I do for you?"

"Hello," Mally greeted her politely. "Can I have a room for one night, dinner, and food and board for my horse outside?"

"Of course!" the innkeeper replied. "That'll be three coppers."

Cheap, but Mally would take it. They took out their regular coin purse they were using to hide their wealth and counted out three coppers. They handed it to the woman, and she tucked it all into the apron around her belly.

"If you want to take your horse around back to the stable, I'll get something dished up for you!" she said, and Mally nodded and walked back outside, flicking up their hood and untethering Rat from his place at the post. They led him around back towards the stable and found a clean, dry stall for him. There was hay he could munch on, and water, and they set to the task of taking off all his tack. He was wet, but it was warm and dry in here, so he should be fine. Swinging the saddle bags over their shoulder, they closed the gate on his stall and headed back out into the rain.

There were two carriages in front of the inn when they arrived, and they blinked at them and the men milling around outside, but then they dismissed it as they came inside out of the rain.

"Ah, there you are, dearie!" the innkeeper said, and Mally waved. She was standing with two people with their backs to them, and Mally eyed them. Both were wearing extravagant cloaks, but it was debutante season, so they were probably traveling to the capital soon. "I'll get that food for you in just a moment, just take a seat!"

Mally obediently sat down at a random table as more people poured into the inn, and the innkeeper smiled at the noble lady and noble man facing her.

"Unfortunately, since there's two of you, with entourage, I don't think I'll be able to house all of you," she said, and rapped her nails on the counter. "I think I can do double upped rooms, but one of your men will have to share with that young man over there, if he agrees."

Mally looked up, and the two nobility turned to them.

It was about then that Mally's eyes bugged out of their skull, and they realized a problem.

They read a manhwa. That was a Korean webcomic, and it wasn't as often explained where people went as in actual physical locations. What was more, Mally read the damn webcomic three weeks before they died, and by then, the details had already become hazy, on account of an astounding case of ADHD. The rain should have tipped them off, but, really, they didn't think rain was a big deal.

The teenaged boy had white hair and red eyes. He looked as though he had sprang from the pages of the manhwa itself, and Mally recognized him in an instant. He was the heir apparent to the Dukedom of the North, Edwin Harwith. And the teenage girl beside him...

She was tall, and Mally didn't know she was supposed to be tall. Her hair was falling down in perfectly curled sheafs, with big golden eyes, and Mally's heart was hammering in their chest. She was in robes, with a cloak around her shoulders, and they probably should have recognized that white cloak as belonging to the church, but in their defense, their family didn't go to church often, though they did make hefty donations.