Majo no Tabitabi - Volume 13 - Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

Moving Hotel Renoir

“Across the plains, thick with greenery, there are large footprints in the ground. Those huge footprints, each big enough to contain a whole human body, belong to the Moving Hotel.”

One of the stories that I heard from a merchant in a particular city was this very intriguing tale.

The Moving Hotel.

“It never appears in a fixed spot, but wanders the land on a whim. Whether or not you’ll encounter it on your journey is a matter of luck. Anyway, if you spot any gigantic footprints on your way, you might have a look around—” the merchant told me.

While I was listening to this story, I was puzzling over something. The words “footprints” and “hotel” just weren’t fitting together in my mind.

How could a hotel leave footprints?

That makes it sound like it’s a living thing, doesn’t it?

As soon as I heard the story, I began to consider such questions, but—

The fact of the matter was that this Moving Hotel thing was alive.

At first glance, it looked like a giant dragon, crawling along the ground.

Its body was covered in black scales, and it had no wings. Sprouting on its back in their place was a single hotel.

The hotel had a simple appearance—it was a wooden, three-story building. It even had a garden and seemed to have been with the dragon since antiquity, long enough that the moss growing on it showed its age.

I had heard all about the external appearance of the Moving Hotel from the merchant’s tale.

My goodness.

It was a perfect description of the building that I now saw in front of me, a curiously perfect match.

“I never thought that such a thing really existed…”

In the midst of my journey—

I pulled my broom to a stop, and gazed at the hotel in fascination for some time.

The black body moving across the plain, and the single, venerable hotel. The dragon’s long tail swung gently back and forth as it crawled across the ground on all fours.

I could see a small sign hanging on the hotel on top of the dragon’s back.

MOVING HOTEL RENOIR

As the dragon moved away with a thud, thud, birds took flight in surprise from the trees in its path. The dragon snaked along, avoiding the trees, headed off somewhere.

According to what I had heard, the Moving Hotel just wandered around without any purpose, and its gait at the moment didn’t make it seem like the Hotel was walking toward any particular destination.

Almost like it was on a never-ending journey of its own.

“…………”

I’m not sure what to make of this.

After pausing for a while, I started following the enormous footprints on my broom.

I’d heard that the Moving Hotel Renoir stopped moving whenever anyone approached, and that it guided its guests to climb up along its tail.

After I had been chasing the dragon for some time, I managed to get close enough to it, and the dragon looked back over its shoulder languidly, then immediately stopped moving and lowered its tail for me.

Up ahead, at the top of its tail that snaked upward like a hilly road, I could see the entrance to the Moving Hotel Renoir.

They’re giving me a warm welcome, I see.

I followed the directions, got off my broom, and walked up the hard, black scales.

When I arrived at the old building, which was covered in moss, I wondered just how long it had been in business here on the dragon’s back. The green moss creeping along the walls covered the whole building.

The front door was no exception; it was old and covered with greenery.

Just how long has it been since they had any customers?

“Hellooo?”

The ancient door creaked open. My intention had been to slowly crack it open so that I could take a careful peek inside, but I got an unpleasant surprise when the door made a loud shriek.

Light streamed into the interior of the hotel through the windows. The beams of light illuminated the wood grain in the floor. I could tell that the hotel had been very well cared for. The interior was old, but not a single mote of dust hung in the air, and as far as I could see, everything was trim and tidy.

Across from the front door was a reception desk.

There was a small bell sitting on the counter, with a note that read, PLEASE RING FOR ASSISTANCE. Apparently, someone would come out when called.

But there was no need to ring, because there was already a young woman on the other side of the counter.

Her hair was a light purple color. It was long enough to go past her shoulders. She was wearing what looked like the hotel’s uniform. She had on an outfit of deep green.

I couldn’t see her expression very well, much less tell how old she was. In fact, the only things I could actually tell about her were her sex and her hairstyle, and a tiny bit about her clothes.

“…And she’s asleep.”

Using her own arm as a pillow, the girl on the other side of the counter was conked out, dozing pleasantly in the peaceful sunlight.

Seriously, just how long has it been since they had any customers?

“Umm…” Trying not to startle the girl, I slowly moved closer and called out to her.

“Nnnyah.”

She looked comfortable as she breathed deeply in her sleep.

“Excuse me?” I said, trying to wake her.

“Nnnyah.”

But she was off in dreamland.

“Hello, I’d like to stay here?”

“Nnnyah.”

She showed no signs of waking.

“…………”

“Nnnyah.”

I see, okay.

Well, there’s no avoiding it, then.

“Here goes.”

Ding! The bell resounded right beside her head. It had a slightly pitiful tone, not very well suited for the tranquil lobby.

“Pyaaaaaahhh!”

Then the girl who had been fast asleep in front of me let out a pitiful shriek of her own and returned from dreamland.

The girl, who had just woken up, was wide-eyed, obviously not sure what had happened, but eventually she noticed that I was there on the other side of the counter.

A beat later, she realized that she had been doing the unthinkable—dozing off in front of a customer.

“Ah, h-hello!”

Blushing bright red, the proprietor hurriedly straightened out her clothing. She looked like she was in her mid-twenties. Her eyes were like two dark pits, and she peered at me with a downcast look.

“I’d like to ask about accommodations, so…”

When I said that, she reacted with extreme surprise. “Huh? A-accommodations…? You don’t mean…you’re a customer…?!”

“If I wasn’t a customer, what would I be doing here…?”

“You’re not some kind of apparition or hallucination, are you? You are a real customer, aren’t you, Miss Customer…?”

She was still flustered, not calm at all, and then she slapped her own cheeks and said, “Ah, ow! It’s not a dream… So this is a real customer, ahh…! Waaah…!” Her dark eyes sparkled.

This girl is a little strange…

“How much is one night’s stay?”

“I wonder how many years it’s been since we had a customer…? How delightful!”

“Um, the price for one night?”

“And how many nights will you be staying with us…? I’ll be very happy if you stay a long time!”

“Um, like I said, what’s the price for one night?”

“Eh-heh-heh.”

“I’m going somewhere else.”

I turned sharply on my heel.

“Ahhh, waaait! Don’t leave me heeere! You can even stay for free, just stay with meee!”

The girl reached out from across the counter, as if asking for help. Her slender hands clung to me tightly.

She’s really strange…

“Setting aside the question of whether it’s with you,” I said as I pulled away from her, “I did come here with the intention of staying, but…do you have any open rooms?”

“Of course! Now, please fill out this form!”

Then the girl, who had retreated to her side of the counter, slapped a form down on top of it. I did as asked and filled in my name, occupation, and so on into each field.

When I handed the completed form back to her, the girl said enthusiastically, “All right, allow me to prepare the best room in the house!” She rustled around on a shelf searching for something, then handed it to me. “This is the key to your room on the third floor!”

I appreciate the kindness, but—

“Um, as far as the cost, about how much will it be…?”

To be frank, that was the thing about which I was most concerned. I doubted that I could stay for cheap in such a unique hotel.

“Eh-heh-heh. There will be no charge,” she said in an enticing tone full of charm.

Sure, she did say that I could stay for free just a moment ago, but—

“I don’t expect it’s actually free.”

“Nope, free is fine.”

“No, but—”

“Free is fine.”

“…………”

“If you like, I could pay you to stay.”

“How long has it been since a customer showed up…?”

Ignoring how bewildered I was, the proprietor said, “Now, here you go! The third-floor key! Here, here!” and forced the key into my hands. There was an overbearing forcefulness in her attitude.

“Uh, ah…okay…”

“So then, how many nights will you be with us?”

“Umm…for now, let’s say three—”

“A little bit longer, please!”

“Huh? No, but I really don’t need to spend all that many nights—”

“How about a week?!”

“No, really, three days is—”

“Please! Please stay a long time! Please!”

“Uhh…”

Ultimately, I ended up agreeing to stay in the hotel for one week, for free.

As a traveler, nothing made me more grateful than not having to pay any money. But I was suspicious that there might be some ulterior motive behind her generosity.

Well, maybe she really just can’t stand the fact that no customers have been coming by, maybe that’s it, but…

I was both happy and suspicious, and with this strange mix of feelings, I headed up to my room on the third floor.

On the way—

“—My name is Renoir.”

A voice called out to me from behind my back.

I turned around.

The girl from the other side of the counter pointed at her name tag, and smiled. “Miss Customer, if you should need anything, please call me! No matter the time, no matter what the circumstances, I will come running,” said the girl with dark, bottomless eyes like an abyss.

The third floor—

When I unlocked and opened the door, I was greeted by a fine room.

There was plush carpet covering the floor. In the center of the room, two sofas sat facing each other on either side of a table, as if it had originally been meant for multiple people to stay in. It was obvious at a glance that the bed was so spacious that my fingers wouldn’t reach the sides even if I spread both arms out wide; it looked almost square. It was ridiculously oversized and much too large for me.

There was even a kitchen in the corner of the room. Come to think of it, there hadn’t been a restaurant or anything as far as I could see, so it was possible that the hotel didn’t offer meals. I decided that it would probably be best for me to ask about that later.

In one part of the room, there were two doors.

One of the doors led to the bathroom.

The other door, when I opened it and took a look, led to a balcony. It was a simple space, with a wooden floor and wooden railing surrounding it, and there was a similarly wooden set of a table and two chairs. When I put my hand on the railing and looked out, I was able to watch the scenery flowing past below. It was an incredibly majestic view. This place seemed like it was almost too luxurious for me to have all to myself.

“I wonder how much one night’s stay is supposed to cost…?”

Thinking about how awful it would be to be billed after the fact, I went back into the room, and opened up my bag. At any rate, I didn’t have much to do for a while, so I could spend my time relaxing and reading a book or something—that was what I figured.

However, that was exactly the moment when I caught sight of the guidebook that was sitting on top of the table.

“……?”

I tilted my head to the side, confused.

There was a piece of paper on top of the guidebook, something that I had rarely seen at other inns and hotels. On it was written the same few words I’d just heard, in handwritten letters.

“‘If you should need anything, please call my name’…?” I read aloud.

Those were exactly the words that Renoir at the front desk had said to me a few minutes earlier, when we’d parted.

I whispered in a voice that was so quiet that it could hardly be heard even inside the room, and as soon as I did—

“Miss Customer, you called?”

Bam!

Renoir energetically burst through the door to my room and in a flash was standing before me.

She had appeared with such swiftness that it was as if she had been waiting right outside the room the whole time. Then she said, “Oh, you called for me right away! I’m so happy! Please, ask me for anything!”

She was almost singing the words, spinning in place like she was dancing. Each time she turned around, her skirt buoyantly caught the air and spread out like a blooming flower.

As if to pour cold water on her extremely good mood, I said, “But I haven’t called for you yet.”

“Don’t be silly! I heard you call me clear as day, Miss Customer!”

She whirled over until she was right beside me, pressing me toward the sofa and forcing me to take a seat.

“I understand… I can see your request clearly… I understand…”

Then, with a theatrical flourish, she leaped over in front of me and said, “Miss Customer, right now, you’re feeling thirsty. Isn’t that right?” she asked with a self-satisfied look.

Her hands were already pouring me a cup of tea.

Wait, wait.

“I’m not feeling particularly thirsty, though…”

“Here you are. The tea that you requested.”

“I don’t remember requesting this…”

“…………”

“…………”

“Um…please wait a moment, Miss Customer.”

After she set the tea down on the table, Renoir whirled around and turned her back to me. Then she opened up a thick tome and started flipping through the pages in a hasty panic.

My goodness, just what book might that be?

Drawn in by the scent of something even more enticing than the aroma of the black tea, I peered over her shoulder at the book.

Renoir kept flipping through the book, and before long she started tracing a passage on one page with the tip of her finger.

“Sure enough, it says right here, ‘When a customer summons a member of the staff, most of the time, they want tea,’ and yet…”

“What’s that book?”

“Ah…! Y-you mustn’t look! Pervert!”

“Opening it up in a place like this is practically inviting me to take a look, you know.”

“Wait, so I’m the pervert…?”

“If one of us has to be.” I lowered my gaze to the book in her hands. “So, what is that?”

“Th-this…?” Squirming bashfully and casting her eyes downward, she answered, “It’s the Service Handbook.”

“Service Handbook?”

“All the ways to provide the best hospitality are written in here. It contains everything I’ve learned from customers who have stayed here previously.”

“I see. So does it say that bursting into a guest’s room before you are called is one way to provide great hospitality?”

“No, I took the liberty of using my own judgment for that one.”

“Why?”

“Because I heard you call for me…”

“…………”

She giggled and stared at me with her black eyes. Her cheeks were flushed.

She didn’t seem malicious. Though she was a little weird. Weird enough that she did make me somewhat nervous, but—

“…………”

In order to escape her intense gaze, I averted my eyes and turned my attention to my tea. The tea, which was at the perfect temperature, flowed down my throat, and hydrated my body, which was weary from traveling.

Frankly, the tea had a strong fragrance and a nice flavor, and it was good enough that in spite of myself, I let out a sigh.

I wonder if this flavor was prescribed in her book, too? Or if it’s the result of this girl herself being so eager to please?

“I-is it good…?”

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

I was sure that it had to be the latter.

Because when I nodded, she smiled at me innocently, like a child.

After teatime—

Once Renoir had left me alone in my room, I went out onto the balcony and gazed at the scenery outside.

The Moving Hotel Renoir, which sat on the back of a dragon crawling across the land, cruised ceaselessly through majestic nature. In the distance, I could see rocky mountains covered in a blanket of white snow. Like a mirror, a tranquil lake reflected those mountains and the sky above them, streaked with pale clouds.

The world felt very fresh and new, looking at it from a somewhat more elevated perspective than usual, and I stared out at it for a while.

“This is the life…”

I sat down in a chair and cracked open a book. It seemed as if any book I read in this wonderful outdoor space would somehow have a wonderful story inside.

If there’s one thing missing from this space, I’d say it’s a good cup of tea.

“If I could enjoy this scenery while sipping a cup of tea, I’m sure there could be no greater happiness—” That said, I did just receive some tea, and she just left the room, so I’m hesitant to call her back.

“My apologies for the wait, Lady Elaina. I’ve brought cookies and tea.”

In a flash, out of the corner of my eye, I saw that she was there, setting an assortment of cookies laid out on a tasteful plate down on the table next to another cup of the black tea I had just finished.

“…………”

When I looked up, Renoir was wearing a proud grin.

I never…called her…though…?

“I’m so happy to have you ask for me again.”

“…………”

Wait, but…I didn’t…call her…

“Ah, speaking of which. The fact of the matter is, Lady Elaina, that this hotel goes by the name of the Moving Hotel, and we quite literally run the place as we travel all over the world.”

“Uh-huh…”

“To that end, please take a look at this.”

She ignored my bewilderment and spread out a large map in front of me.

When I looked at it, I saw that nearby tourist attractions and spots with superb scenery had been noted in handwritten script. Since I was going to the trouble of staying in a moving hotel, it would surely be a waste if I didn’t see all that I could see.

I picked up my tea, and as I was gazing at the map, Renoir said, “Come now, tell me about your favorite spots, no matter where they are! I’ll take you there, without fail.”

“Hm…”

On the map were handwritten notes about the characteristics of all the nearby lands, and each of their sightseeing spots. The large sheet of paper was covered in writing.

I gave up on reading each note one by one, and asked, “Where are we now?”

Renoir pointed to the lower-right corner of the map. “Somewhere around here.”

“Uh-huh.”

“By the way, Lady Elaina, where are you headed on your journey?”

“I’m not headed anywhere in particular,” I shook my head, clearing away the shadow of doubt that had crossed my mind. “I’m just drifting around, going where I can go.”

“Well then, you’re the same as me. Being able to go anywhere is just wonderful, isn’t it?” she added, smiling happily.

According to her, this Moving Hotel Renoir could head for any place at all, following the whims of its occupants, regardless of how long it took to get there. In other words, we were free to go anywhere at all.

Basically, we’re both carefree wanderers, huh?

“Then, may I take the liberty of choosing our destination based on how I feel?” she asked.

“Yes, please do.” I agreed quite naturally to her proposal. “I’m looking forward to it,” I added.

“All right, allow me to show you some great tourist attractions. I know about a lot of really good places.” As she folded up the map, she smiled at me once again. “By the way, Lady Elaina, do you have any requests for the rest of your stay?”

“Requests…?”

“Fulfilling the guests’ requests to the best of one’s abilities is an essential duty of a competent hotelier… Heh-heh-heh.” She stuck her chest out proudly.

She and I were both free people.

Honestly, I’m not really that hung up about it, but since this is a rare opportunity, I guess it wouldn’t be so bad for me to make just one little request.

So, I looked straight at her and I said it.

I said—

“Before you come into my room, please knock first.”

I spent a quiet day in the Moving Hotel.

In the morning, I awakened to a pleasant aroma. The first thing that my sleepy mind registered was Renoir. She was cooking in the kitchen. She was obviously in a good mood, and she hummed as she worked, and murmured to herself from time to time, “—I hope that this will please my dear, sweet customer,” as she handled the frying pan.

She came in without asking again…

She seemed to have already forgotten what I had told her the day before. Assuming that was the case, I asked her with a yawn, “What happened to knocking?”

“I knocked before I entered the room.”

“Okay?”

“But no matter how many times I knocked, there was no answer, so I suddenly became anxious that the person called Lady Elaina who had checked in yesterday might have been a vision that I invented out of my unbearable loneliness, so in spite of myself, I just had to break my promise to you and come on in.”

“Uh, okay…”

Creepy…

The girl with the dark eyes smiled at me as I shuddered with fear.

“In any case, I believe that the best way to satisfy your customers is to cook them good meals in great places. Wait just a little bit longer please, Lady Elaina.”

Breakfast was done soon after that.

I was sitting in a chair on the balcony reading my book while I waited, when the table was suddenly garnished with an omelet, a salad, bread, and other dishes that Renoir had prepared.

I directed my gaze out from the balcony, where the scenery spread out before us.

While I had been idly sleeping, the dragon that carried the Moving Hotel had apparently climbed to the top of a rather high mountain. Orange clouds, illuminated by the morning sun, obscured the ground. Even looking down, I couldn’t see the ground, and the sea of clouds formed undulating waves far into the distance. The summits of mountains, poking their heads up through the clouds here and there, looked just like solitary islands.

“I really wanted you to have your first breakfast with me here, in this place.”

Renoir sat down across from me, wearing a broad grin.

It certainly was a magnificent view. Surrounded by extraordinary scenery, I ate my somewhat refined breakfast with relish. I don’t know if it was because of the environment around me, but the flavor of it was more than enough to wake me the rest of the way up. At the end I let out a sigh of contentment.

“…………”

But one thing that was making me uneasy was the presence of Renoir, who spent the whole time I was eating sitting in front of me with her chin in both hands, wearing a broad grin. There was a superb view spread out right there, but she paid no notice.

As you might expect, eating a meal with someone staring at me was difficult. I felt like I had to be excessively careful.

And so—

“The scenery is wonderful, isn’t it?” I casually directed my gaze outward, but—

“It sure is.” Renoir nodded indifferently, and peered at me with her deep, dark eyes.

“…Come to think of it, aren’t you going to eat, Renoir?”

“I’m fine,” Renoir said with a decisive nod. “My customers’ happiness is my own happiness.”

She was smiling brightly.

The strange awkwardness of it all had me staring fixedly at the sea of clouds.

But even after I had excluded her from my field of vision, her voice still reached me.

“—Ah, my precious customer… I just want to eat her up…”

“—She’s eating my homemade meal… I’m so happy…”

“—My dear, sweet customer…”

And so on.

She was whispering things that I didn’t know how to respond to.

I see now that I need to distract her a little, so she stops whispering troubling things.

“On that subject, your cooking is really tasty, but how do you procure your ingredients?” I asked.

I really was honestly curious about this. How did this girl, who was moving around twenty-four hours a day, get her ingredients, I wondered.

In response to my confusion, Renoir cheerfully answered, “Oh, I get money by selling the dragon’s scales.”

According to her, the dragon that the hotel sat on belonged to quite a rare species, and its scales could be sold for quite a high price. Whenever she encountered traveling merchants and the like, she apparently sold some of the scales, and used the proceeds to buy food.

I see.

“So earlier, when you were so quick to say that you didn’t need me to pay for my room, that was because you have plenty of savings, is that it?”

“No, the reason I didn’t demand payment for your lodgings, Lady Elaina, isn’t because I already have money.”

“Then why?”

“It was because I wanted to see my customer’s happy face…”

“Uh-huh…”

I don’t remember showing you my happy face, but…

I averted my eyes.

“—Ah…your confused face is also adorable…”

She was still whispering troublesome things just out of my line of sight.

I had guessed this when I first encountered her, but just as I had suspected, Renoir was indeed quite eccentric. Then again, I figured that if she wasn’t eccentric, she probably wouldn’t have been able to run a hotel like this one.

But as eccentric though she was, her skills as the proprietor of the hotel were amazing. While I was staying in the hotel, I basically spent the whole day in my room sitting on the balcony, but when it came to making the bed and cleaning the room and so on, she was able to complete her duties in the few moments when I wasn’t looking.

For example, when I went back into the room from the balcony after eating breakfast, all hints that I had used the place had completely vanished, from the bed and from every corner of the room. Any trash that I had produced from the previous day until that morning had been spotlessly cleared away, down to stray strands of hair. The books that I had been reading and other belongings that I had left nearby had been neatly tidied up. They looked as if they were on display. Everything made it seem as if I was an extremely fastidious person.

“Here, Miss Customer, please have some fresh-baked cookies.”

She did things like bake me cookies in the middle of the day while I was reading. The strange thing was that the cookies she made never seemed to run out, even though I kept eating them and eating them. She must have replenished them without me noticing, so that it seemed like there was an endless supply.

Anyway, I traveled in the hotel with Renoir, who was overly attentive.

“Please take a look, Miss Customer. Here is a nameless lake.”

In the middle of the perfectly still lake, which reflected the sky like a mirror, there was a small willow tree, growing there all alone.

Renoir pointed it out to me. “This is one of my favorite sights,” she told me.

“Is that so? It certainly is pretty.”

“Eh-heh-heh…” Renoir blushed bashfully.

“Come on, it’s not like that was directed at you…”

I let out an exasperated sigh. Just at that moment, though there was no wind, I suddenly noticed that the surface of the water was rippling. When I followed the ripples on the water with my eyes, I saw that the dragon we were riding on was drinking the water.

“This hotel’s dragon makes sure only to drink clean water.”

I see, I see.

“How elegant of it.”

“Eh-heh-heh…” Renoir blushed bashfully.

“Come on, like I said, it’s not like that was directed at you…”

“By the way, the dragon eats beautiful trees. Crunches them right up.”

“What’s a beautiful tree?”

“Eh-heh-heh…”

“I don’t really understand why you’re blushing here.”

Immediately after I expressed my exasperation, the dragon that carried the hotel lumbered over to a nearby grove, and immediately began crunching and munching on the nearest tree.

Wow!

“It’s really wild, huh?”

“Eh-heh-heh…”

“I truly do not understand why you are blushing…”

According to my host, the dragon’s movements were apparently under her control. If she decided that she wanted to go to the mountains, it went to the mountains, and if she decided that she wanted to leave the mountains, it would leave. Like a jockey gripping a horse’s reins, Renoir could make it walk or stop at will, and all of its actions other than drinking water and eating food were under her control.

“How do you move the dragon?”

“The dragon goes to whatever place I think I’d like to go,” she replied immediately.

I didn’t quite understand what she meant.

“What are you…?”

“I’m just the hotelier… Heh-heh-heh.” She snickered.

She smiled with her dark, black eyes that threatened to swallow me up if I stared into them.

“…………”

Creepy…

As frightened as I felt of the mysterious Renoir, I spent day after day in the hotel with her.

She seemed to be fairly knowledgeable about the region around us, and she took me to all sorts of places.

“Please take a look, Miss Customer.”

We were on top of a hill. Looking down from the balcony, I could see a huddle of low, white buildings near the seashore.

“The city that you can see over there takes very good care of the surrounding scenery, and the view from here is especially magnificent.”

“Wow, it sure is.”

“It’s a lovely sight, isn’t it?”

“Indeed it is.”

“Is it pretty?”

“Yeah, sure… It’s pretty.”

“Eh-heh-heh…” Renoir blushed.

No, I wasn’t saying that to you…

“By the way, Renoir, have you been to that city over there?” I asked.

“No, I haven’t,” she answered immediately.

Apparently she didn’t have much of a desire to leave the hotel.

“Miss Customer, do you know about that place? Long ago, it was used as a pathway that connected two countries.”

The next thing that she informed me about was a little, tiny forest road.

The dragon paused between two trees, looking uncomfortable. Then, just as it had when I had gotten on board, it lowered its long tail.

It seemed to be telling me to get down. I did as I was prompted, and walked down the dragon’s tail. Once I alighted from the tail, Renoir, who was leisurely sitting on the tip of the tail, pointed at the forest road and said, “I’ve heard that down this road is some spectacular scenery that you really ought to see at least once. By all means, please enjoy it.”

“…………”

I stared at the forest road. The trees, lined up neatly in rows, spread their canopies over the single narrow path, forming an arch. When the wind blew and shook the trees, countless beads of light peeking through the gaps between the leaves danced along the road.

I could tell just by looking at it.

Walking down a road like this one would be a pleasant experience.

However—

“If you like, why don’t you come with me?”

I could guess from the way she spoke that she had probably never gone down this road, even once.

I thought that it was kind of a shame that, although she knew that this little forest path was beautiful enough to show it to strangers, she had never seen what beauty it held.

“No, I have work to do.”

But she turned me down.

Work?

As far as I can see, you’re just sitting there… Well, if you say you have work, I can’t force you to come. Though I don’t really understand what you’re doing.

“Got it. All right then, I’ll go alone.”

After bobbing my head in a little nod, I started walking toward the forest.

Then I stepped under the arches of the trees.

But—

“—I wish I could go.”

“—How nice.”

“—I’m sure it’s really beautiful.”

Behind my back, I heard echoes.

When I turned around to look, I saw Renoir waving at me from the tip of the dragon’s tail. Her expression seemed somewhat cloudy.

“…………”

Turning down my invitation despite actually wanting to go was more than a shame; it didn’t make any sense.

If you want to go that badly, you ought to go.

I immediately headed back the way I’d come, and forcefully took Renoir by the hand.

“Let’s go.”

“Ah, but, my work—”

For a moment, she tried to shake off my hand, but I kept ahold of her and walked off, pulling her along.

There’s a limit to how pitiful someone can be.

“At any rate, I doubt any customers are going to show up in the middle of a remote forest,” I chided her as we started walking down the forest path. I insisted that it would be just fine to take a little walk through the woods.

“…………”

As we walked along together, hand in hand, she ignored the scenery that she had traveled so far to see, and only stared at our grasped hands.

Even though she had traveled so far, she was wasting her chance to see it all.

Once night fell, I did nothing but sleep soundly in my room, but even then, Renoir thought nothing of visiting me there.

The dragon also seemed to stop moving once the sun went down, since all the swaying and noise stopped.

I was quietly reading a book in my room late at night when I heard two knocks.

“Good evening.”

On the other side of the door was Renoir. Wearing a cheerful smile, she peeked in on me, and asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, how would you like to share a bed, or lay your head in my lap?”

I see. This must be a service they offer on sleepless nights. This place is just brimming with the spirit of service, isn’t it?

“No thanks.”

I’ll just go ahead and shut this door.

I’m not really having trouble sleeping, after all.

“But, Miss Customer…” Renoir opened the door again.

“No thank you.” I closed the door.

“Miss Customer?”

“No, really, I’m fine.”

“Well then, how about a goodnight story?”

“Nope, I’m already feeling sleepy, I’m good.”

“Humph…”

After we repeated this back and forth several times, Renoir sulked on the other side of the door.

That was generally how our end-of-the-day exchange went. When Renoir finally gave up, she said politely, “Very well, sweet dreams,” and left.

When things finally settled down, I slipped into bed and fell asleep.

Then, the following morning, I once again awoke to Renoir’s humming.

My days at the hotel passed in this fashion.

They were completely ordinary days, and if I can confess something, my entries in my travel diary consisted solely of accounts of Renoir taking me to visit places known for being scenic spots.

For example, we went to a mountainous region that I had visited once before.

“Miss Customer! Please take a look! The creature you can see over there is the extremely rare angier!”

“Um, I feel like there’s a much rarer creature right beneath us, though.”

For example, we went to the seaside.

“Miss Customer! Please take a look! A mermaid and a man are kissing!”

“It’s rude to stare.”

For example, we sat around idly while we were on the move.

“Miss Customer, you have a delightfully cute face, you know?”

“I’ll sock you good if you stare at me like that.”

For example, we went to a place known as a natural hot spring to use the baths.

“By the way, Miss Customer, why won’t you get in the bath with me?”

“Because it’s kind of scary.”

For example, she trespassed into my room at night.

“It’s kind of spooky, so won’t you sleep with me?”

“No,” I said as I drove her away. “Sleeping together is even scarier, I don’t want to.”

And, for example, we simply gazed out at the plains together.

“…Miss Customer?”

Renoir, who was sitting right beside me, plunked her head down on my shoulder.

Hey, hey, what are you doing?

I interrupted my reading to glare at her.

“…………”

Maybe it was because it had been a long trip. Maybe it was because she had been attending to me constantly for the better part of a week. She leaned against my shoulder, and fell deeply into an afternoon nap.

She must have been quite tired.

Even I couldn’t bring myself to wake her when she was sleeping so peacefully.

So I just stayed quiet, and lowered my eyes to my book.

Then, during this quiet time—

Out of nowhere, I heard a voice.

“—I wish that these days could continue forever.”

Maybe she was awake after all. Or maybe she was simply mumbling in her sleep.

But I didn’t check, and I didn’t say anything in response. I simply let everything remain vague, and kept reading my book.

I was a customer staying at the hotel, and she was an employee.

There was no way that this wish, echoing out of the afternoon haze, would come true.

And then we came to my final day.

It was time for me to disembark from the hotel.

We were in the middle of a field. In the middle of a world that was overflowing with green as far as the eye could see, the great dragon came to a halt.

“Miss Customer, will a place like this really do?” Renoir asked me from behind the hotel counter.

“Actually, it’s perfect because it’s a place like this.”

I really could have gotten off anywhere, but I had a feeling that if I made a wish to get off at a specific location, the journey to reach that place would have been marked by sadness.

So I had decided, to save myself the trouble, that I would disembark in an inconsequential place, at an unremarkable time.

As I was returning the key to my room—

“Thank you for the pleasant week. It was quite a nice stay,” I said to Renoir.

Renoir cried, “M-miss Customerrrrrr…”

She was bawling, crying great big tears like a father watching his daughter leave home for the first time. “Just getting to hear you say that means my life has been worth living… Waaah…”

“You’re exaggerating…”

“Today’s as good a day as any to mark my death…”

“You’re really exaggerating…”

With a sigh, I picked up my luggage.

Renoir watched my every movement with tears in her eyes, then bowed very deeply and said, “Be sure to come again, please, Miss Customer.”

“Yes. If I ever have the opportunity again, I certainly will.”

To tell the truth, the arrangement of a hotel that can move while you are staying in it is certainly advantageous for a traveler. On top of that, I had been allowed to stay for free, so there wasn’t a single reason for me to refuse to visit again.

Though since this hotel and I both traveled the world around the clock, I had absolutely no idea when we might be able to meet again.

“Bye, then. Let’s meet again someday.”

Even so, as Renoir implored me to come visit again, she gave just one last bow, and turned her back to me.

Then I started to walk away, but when I put my hand on the front door—

“—Don’t go.”

I felt a sharp tug on my sleeve from behind.

“…………”

Uh-oh.

I wanted to end this without any trouble, but…

Maybe I haven’t said enough in parting yet.

I turned around to face Renoir.

“…………?”

As soon as I turned around, I was met with a strange sight.

Renoir, whom I’d assumed had pulled on my sleeve, was still standing on the other side of the counter. She looked at me after I suddenly turned around, and tilted her head curiously.

“Did you forget something?” she asked.

She didn’t even seem to be aware that she had been tugging at my sleeve just a moment earlier.

Actually, not only did she not seem aware of that, she didn’t even seem to know why I had turned around at all.

“…………”

At this point, I suddenly realized something.

Something about her speech and conduct during the week I had been there.

If my memory served, she had been whispering peculiar things the whole time, but only when she was out of my line of sight.

—My dear, sweet customer.

—I wish that these days could continue forever.

—Don’t go.

Over and over again while we were together, she had whispered a number of rather forward things to me, the type of thing that I, personally, would never have been able to say.

I had been certain that she was just eccentric, and had paid no attention to it.

But there had been a definite sense of discomfort ever since I had arrived.

“Miss Customer…? Is something the matter?”

Renoir clasped both hands in front of her chest, wearing an uneasy expression. She was eccentric, and she could be a little overbearing, but—

The girl who had tried with all her might to offer me hospitality with the Service Handbook clutched in one hand, the girl who had smiled so happily she was on the verge of tears just because I told her the tea she had eagerly poured for me was tasty—was she the type to do something that would only cause trouble for her guest?

No, no, she wasn’t that kind of person.

“In which case, who…?”

If it wasn’t her, then who had pulled my sleeve a moment earlier? Who had been whispering strange things to me day after day?

That meant it had to be someone other than her, but—

But she and I were the only ones there.

It was clear that something strange was happening around me. Maybe I was just tired?

Hmm…?

“Um, Miss Customer…?”

Even stranger was the fact that Renoir, on the other side of the counter, was suddenly staring at me, and her face was as pale as a sheet. It looked like all the blood had drained from it, and her expression was gloomier than usual.

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

With her line of sight directed slightly above my head, she said, “Miss Customer… Um, would you mind doing me a favor, and coming over here slowly, right now, without saying anything…?”

“Huh?”

What’s that? Are you playing some sort of trick on me?

“Come over to me without turning around, no matter what…! Please!”

“I’m not sure if I should listen to you…”

The trouble was that it was in my nature as a traveler to want to do anything that anybody told me not to do.

If someone told me not to turn around, as a matter of course, I would start feeling like I wanted to turn around.

And so, I whirled right around to look behind me. It had taken me just about one whole second to ignore Renoir’s warning.

“…………”

And after I turned around, I stood there frozen for about ten seconds.

“Don’t go.” “Don’t go.” “Don’t go.” “Don’t go.” “Don’t go.” “Don’t go.” “Don’t go.” “Don’t go.” “Don’t go.” “Don’t go.” “Don’t go.” “Don’t go.” “Don’t go.” “Don’t go.” “Don’t go.” “Don’t go.” “Don’t go.” “Don’t go.” “Don’t go.” “Don’t go.” “Don’t go.” “Don’t go.” “Don’t go.”

Countless whispering voices assailed my ears.

There in front of me was a darkness even deeper and blacker than Renoir’s eyes. Something in the darkness was staring at me from point-blank range, close enough that I could hear its whispering voice. Its physical shape was modeled after Renoir, but it was solid black, from the tips of its toes all the way up to its eyeballs. It was just a silhouette, like a living shadow.

“Ahhh! I said please don’t turn around, didn’t I, Miss Customer?!” Renoir shouted from behind me.

At almost that exact moment, countless arms stretched out toward me from the black shadow.

“Don’t go,” it said, as it tried to embrace me.

“Miss Customer! This way!”

The real Renoir grabbed me by the hand and started running at basically the same moment that I shook off the hands of the black shadow.

Without looking back, Renoir dashed up the stairs. With countless shadowy arms reaching out and trying to embrace us from behind, Renoir led me to the room on the third floor—she shut us in the room I had been using until earlier that day, and locked the door.

I took my wand in hand and used magic to slide the bookshelf over in front of the door. In the unlikely event that the lock was broken, I figured the bookshelf ought to block any incursion by the shadowy hands.

“I’m sad.” “Don’t go.” “Please.” “Don’t go.” “I’m sad.” “I’m sad.” “I’m sad.”

Along with the sound of knocking at the door, we could hear that sorrowful voice coming through. All the incessant whining that it was emitting was in an exact duplicate of Renoir’s voice.

“What the hell is that thing?” I stared at Renoir as I asked.

Its form and its voice were just like hers.

Renoir couldn’t possibly deny there was a connection. It would be hard for her to play dumb and pretend she didn’t know anything—and judging from her reaction a moment earlier, it was easy enough to guess that this wasn’t exactly her first time seeing that mysterious black shadow.

“Umm…that is…well, it’s one of those things that’s hard to know how to explain…” Her eyes slid evasively away from me to look out the window.

To keep her from getting away, I tilted my head to block her field of vision, and smiled as wide as possible.

“What is that thing?”

“O-oh, Miss Customer… You’re so close…”

“Start talking and I’ll back away.”

When I answered her that way, Renoir gazed at me with her deep black eyes.

“Oh…so if I don’t talk, you’ll stay with me forever…?”

Then, for some reason, those words came from behind the bookshelf.

Behind the bookshelf.

To put it simply, I heard the words coming from the direction of the mysterious shadow.

“…………”

I smiled at Renoir again, pushing her to tell me what it was.

“Um…well…this is, you see…”

Flustered, she averted her gaze from me again. Her cheeks were flushed.

What are you blushing for?

Still the thing was banging on the door, and whispering in its quiet voice on the other side, “I’m embarrassed… You found me out… Don’t go…” and so on.

The things that the shadow was saying seemed to indicate that it was reflecting exactly what was in Renoir’s heart.

I’m just guessing here, but—

“That weird black shadow creature, is it like…a part of you?”

Taking all the evidence into account, it seemed only natural to arrive at more or less that conclusion. It was as if Renoir was clinging to me because she was reluctant to let her customer leave the hotel.

And my guess seemed to be generally correct.

At my words, Renoir’s expression grew bitter. “…Um.”

And the shadow whispered from behind me, “You found me out.”

I see, I see.

“…………”

Well then, I think I have the right to demand an explanation from you, don’t I?

I grinned at her without saying a word.

“…I’m sorry.”

Then, as if resigned to it, she began telling me bit by bit.

It was a story from an absurdly long time ago.

There was a dragon that traveled all over the world. This dragon, which was capable of going anywhere at all, didn’t dwell in any one specific place. It never stopped walking. It just roamed around aimlessly.

The dragon, who was timid in spite of its huge body, was always worried that it might be causing trouble for someone, and it moved through the world fearfully. Even when it ate the trees that were its food, it got terribly depressed about causing trouble for the birds when they got startled and flew away. Whenever it drank water from a lake, it drank slowly so that it would not bother the fish that were living there. And if it ever inadvertently swallowed a fish, it was so afflicted with feelings of guilt that it couldn’t stand up straight for three days.

This curious dragon was an exceptionally timid creature.

“I’m sad.”

On days when it was feeling terribly depressed, the dragon gazed at some beautiful scenery to soothe its heart.

That scenery might have been a sea of clouds viewed from a mountaintop, or a single willow tree growing in a lake, or maybe simply the mountains illuminated by the rising sun, or the view of a city where people lived.

All throughout the world, there were many things that could bring peace of mind to the dragon.

“I’m jealous.”

Among them all, gazing upon city scenery was a particular favorite of the dragon’s.

In a cityscape, when viewed from afar, there was a kind of beauty that existed nowhere in the natural world. And looking at cities meant even more to the dragon when it learned that they were built by cooperation between tiny creatures smaller than one of the dragon’s footprints.

The dragon was always fascinated by the cities’ beauty, which it could never experience in its own draconic body.

The dragon wished to have contact with humans someday, but it was difficult because its body was so large. Merely dreaming of a relationship with the humans, the dragon passed day after lonely day.

Then one day, something happened.

“……?”

The dragon, who was spending its time in solitude as always, suddenly felt a slight discomfort on its back. Like there was some sort of strange weight up there, or like the dragon had been possessed by something mysterious, or like something had climbed on board. To make it obvious, the dragon felt like some kind of house was riding on its back.

Then the dragon realized, when it went to drink water from the lake as usual—

“Ah…there’s a house riding on my back…”

And so on.

…………

Wait, wait, hold on.

“What’s with the plot twist?”

I found myself scowling.

I thought this was a story about a lonely dragon, then suddenly it takes this nonsensical turn about having a house riding on its back. What’s that about? What the heck happened here?

“Most likely, the spirits of the forest used their miraculous powers… How romantic!”

Renoir said something that barely made sense, with a deadly serious look on her face.

Well, it sounds like this dragon or whatever was eating trees on a regular basis, so most likely the magical energy that dwelled within the trees had an effect in some way that’s not entirely clear, and it probably spurred a sudden mutation.

Renoir’s story continued.

“Then, on the day the house appeared on the dragon’s back, the dragon obtained a second body. It was a tiny little dragon body, small enough that the inside of the house on the big dragon’s back felt spacious to it.”

Wait, wait, hold on.

“Sorry, but what is with that plot twist?”

“The forest spirits must have made a new body for the dragon… How romantic!”

“You seem to think you can get away with anything as long as you call it romantic, don’t you?”

According to Renoir, this small dragon body was connected to the large dragon body that walked around the outside world, like two halves of the same creature.

The little dragon lived quietly inside the house, and the large dragon wandered around the world as it always had.

A small house sitting on the back of an enormous dragon. The odd sight quickly attracted a lot of attention.

One day, some eccentric travelers came to the conclusion that someone must be living in the house.

Then the travelers jumped up on the large dragon’s back, and opened the door to the house.

The travelers were shocked.

Inside was a little dragon, just about the size of a puppy, standing there all alone.

The eccentric travelers found the idea of a house with a dragon in it quite intriguing, and they decided to settle there. Riding on the back of the large dragon, they could go anywhere in the world. As far as the travelers were concerned, there could be no more convenient means of transportation.

In exchange for living inside the house, they provided food for the small dragon, and took care of it. That was their way of saying thanks for borrowing the house.

In that way, the eccentric travelers lived their days on the back of the dragon.

Time passed, and eventually the travelers’ journey came to an end. They settled down in one location, and the dragon was all alone in the house again.

After that, the large dragon traveled the world alone for some time, but there was one thing that was different than before. From time to time, travelers whose names the dragon didn’t even know would stay in the house for just a few nights at a time.

The eccentric travelers had apparently spread many rumors about the enormous dragon all over the world. It was already a well-known fact that the house fixed to the back of the huge dragon could be used in place of normal lodgings.

Whenever travelers caught sight of the dragon crawling across the land, they would climb up to the house on its back. Every time they did, almost without fail, the travelers gave the dragon food in place of paying a lodgings fee.

The little dragon, sitting there alone inside the house, was dearly beloved by all the travelers. Even though it couldn’t understand their language, the little dragon sensed the kindness of the travelers who came to stay.

The little dragon met and parted with all sorts of humans, and each time, it came to understand them just a little bit more.

Eventually, the little dragon started to think—

“I want to become a human.”

Then, much like before, when the house had suddenly appeared on the dragon’s back, changes occurred to the little dragon’s body.

One day, when it awoke, the scales had disappeared from the little dragon’s body, replaced by smooth skin, and it had grown a head of hair. Its eyes were higher off the ground than they had ever been before, owing to the fact that it now walked upright. As you can probably tell, the dragon had taken on a human form.

“And that little dragon who assumed a human form was, to make a long story short, me.”

And once she had taken a human form, she opened a business called the Moving Hotel Renoir in the house on the big dragon’s back. Just like in the past, she desired contact with humans.

She set up shop as the Moving Hotel Renoir, and day after day, all sorts of customers came to stay with her. As a rare hotel that did not ask for any lodgings fees, her business became quite popular quite quickly.

Her hotel was beloved by many people, and many people sought her out in the course of their travels. In order to keep her customers happy, she created the Service Handbook, and devoted herself wholeheartedly to the customers who came to visit her.

The dragon’s hotel was beloved as a place where travelers could stay for free.

Then, eventually, it fell out of fashion.

It wasn’t that she had been treating her guests poorly, or that she had gained a bad reputation. It was simply that, to many of the people who visited, her hotel was seen as a thing of the past.

“After all the customers stopped coming, I started hearing strange voices, from time to time, in the hotel. Then the black shadow started to appear.”

The shadowy thing that she only sometimes glimpsed gave voice to all the emotions that weighed on her.

If she was feeling bored, it grumbled, “I’m bored,” and if she was sad, it cried out, “I’m sad.”

“I reasoned that it was probably another strange phenomenon related to this hotel, like when a house appeared on top of the dragon, or when the little dragon obtained a human form.”

“…………”

“I’m so sorry, Miss Customer… That shadow appears at times and opportunities that even I can’t predict… Really, I should have gotten rid of it before it could cause any bother for my customers, but…”

But the black shadow had manifested just as I was leaving the hotel.

“Really, I truly regret causing you so much trouble…!” Renoir said, bowing her head over and over again. “From here on out, please leave everything up to me! I will defeat it, one way or another. I know this will be an inconvenience for you, Miss Customer, but if you could please check out through the balcony—”

She rattled on and on as she spoke to me.

The pounding on the door behind us was gradually growing louder.

It was just a matter of time before the door broke down.

Renoir babbled on frantically, explaining that it was possible to leave via the balcony in case of emergency, and that she was giving me a dragon scale as a token of apology, and that at any rate she would try to settle the scandalous matter of the black shadow’s emergence.

I ignored her, and absent-mindedly mulled some things over.

The week that I had spent in the hotel had been very pleasant. I was sure that the customers who had stayed there in the past would also have agreed with me.

I knew that they must have wondered why their stay was free, when it was such a fine hotel.

I was sure that long ago, people must have flocked to the hotel when they’d heard about it, because it was free and easy. But because it was free and easy, everyone stopped coming once the excitement wore off.

It’s difficult to get people to care about something they can get for free.

People feel they ought to pay a reasonable amount for good things.

So I said something to Renoir, who was panicking as she tried to calm things down.

“Is it all right if I check out after we get the job done?”

Then I pulled out my wand.

At almost the same moment, the countless shadowy arms broke down the door.

After they broke through the bookshelf, the shadowy hands came slithering at me, and I used my wand to swat them down one by one, and crushed them beneath my boot.

“Renoir, that black shadow, what do we have to do to defeat it?”

I asked Renoir, who was panicking over by the balcony.

If it’s been with you this whole time, surely you must know how to take it down?

“D-defeat it…?”

“Yes. What do we do?”

I swatted aside a shadowy hand.

“…………”

I ground a shadowy hand underfoot.

“…………”

Finally, shaking her head very, very slowly, she told me, “I don’t know…”

You don’t know?

“Even when it appears in this form, if I ignore it for a while, it always disappears, so… This is the first time I’ve ever seen it act so violently…”

I see, I see.

I nodded in understanding, and the next moment, another batch of shadowy arms reached for me from the other side of the door.

“Hyah!”

It’s gonna be difficult to ward these off while we’re talking—I pulled out my broom, immediately kicked off the floor, and flew up into the air above the hotel, carrying Renoir, who had been panicking near the balcony, up with me.

“Pyaaaaaaahhh!”

A scream just like the one I’d heard when I first met Renoir echoed through the air.

Beneath us I could see the Moving Hotel Renoir continuing to walk along at a leisurely pace.

Dark, shadowy arms came wriggling out of the third-floor balcony, wavering unsteadily in the breeze.

Before long, one of the swaying black arms grabbed onto the roof of the hotel, and the hand swelled and changed shape, morphing into the shape of Renoir.

The ever-changing black shadow then looked up at us from the roof.

In its eyes, I could see a mixture of anger and sadness.

“Why is it so angry…?”

Confused, Renoir clung tightly to the sleeve of my robe.

Somehow or other, I had a feeling that I knew the reason why that black shadow was angry.

“Renoir. Do you remember what you said to me on the day we first met?”

“……?”

On my first day there, when Renoir had asked me where I was traveling, I had answered, “I’m just drifting around, going where I can go.”

And then, Renoir had said something to me.

“You said that I was just like you.”

“…………”

“Being able to go anywhere is just wonderful, isn’t it?”—she had said.

But I had come to doubt that as I spent the week with Renoir.

I’d wondered whether she and I really were alike. Sure, I might be the same as her in the sense that I, too, was traveling without any particular destination.

“I think that my definition of travel and yours might be different, Renoir.”

But the ways we spent our time when we got to wherever we were going were completely different.

“You said that you’ve never gone into that city before, even if it looked very pretty, didn’t you? You told me that you’ve looked at that beautiful road, but never gone down it. All of the many sights that you showed me were beautiful, but it was all just scenery to look at. There was hardly anything we could touch.”

That’s what sets her apart from me—from any typical traveler.

“On a typical trip, you eat things wherever you stay, and meet new people—but these days that I’ve spent with you, on your travels, we’ve only been gazing at those sights from afar.”

Why is that?

“Are you afraid to make contact?”

Maybe you think that you’ll break things if you touch them?

That might have been true when you were an enormous dragon, but now you’ve got a form that’s almost exactly like a human’s.

Really, there’s no need to be afraid.

“Humans are sturdier than you’d expect,” I said as I took her hand. “So it’s okay.”

If there are words that you want to say, you mustn’t hold them in. Just staying silent, just watching from the sidelines, just giving to others won’t get anyone to understand what’s in your heart.

“Please don’t ignore me,” I said. “Please listen closely to what I have to say.”

“Listen to…what you have to say…?”

“Yes.”

“But, considering the circumstances, what will talking accomplish?”

“I think I can probably do something or other about that, so we’ll be fine.”

“But—”

“Great. Okay, let’s get going.”

“Huh? No, wait—Miss Customer?”

“Okay!”

Without waiting for an answer, I stashed my broom.

Suddenly, we were falling sharply toward the ground.

Action before overthinking. You could call it reckless or haphazard, but well, aren’t such things the very hallmark of travelers?

“Pyaaaaaaahhh!”

I heard her screaming behind me as I readied my wand.

Countless black arms stretched toward us as we fell.

They were easy enough to deal with. I cast spells at them in the order they came, cutting, crushing, freezing, melting, breaking, smashing, and transforming them into flowers.

One by one, I got rid of every one of them.

Finally, the two of us fell onto the roof.

“Don’t go.”

A hand reached out.

I brushed it away with my wand.

“Don’t go.” “Don’t go.” “Don’t go.” “Don’t go.” “Don’t go.” “Don’t go—”

The hands reached out again and again.

“You can say that all you like, but—I have to check out, you know.”

Each time I knocked away an arm, I slowly closed the distance between myself and the black shadow.

Again and again, I knocked down those clinging hands.

“I’m sad.” “I’m sad.” “I’m sad.” “I’m sad.” “I’m sad.” “I’m sad—”

One by one, I knocked them all down.

When I’d first seen the mysterious shadow, I had been put on my guard—but once I’d squared off against it, I knew that it was nothing to worry about. The numerous hands might touch me, grab me, even, but they would never cause me any harm.

“What is making you so sad?”

At last, I had gotten close enough that I could touch the shadow by extending a hand of my own.

The black shadow lowered its arms, sunk down where it stood, and whispered, “Is my hotel not worth visiting more than once…?”

The Moving Hotel Renoir.

Its heyday was clearly in the past.

Now, hardly any customers came anymore. Even so, she had been waiting for the customers that might return someday, cleaning and tidying the rooms to perfection while she waited.

The days spent waiting, the days she’d spent all alone, must have given birth to the black shadow—to the avatar of her true feelings.

“…………”

I knew that she, too, must have vaguely realized the truth—that the black shadow was itself a manifestation of her true feelings, that it was a part of herself that she had been keeping secret from everybody.

Renoir stepped out in front of the black shadow, and crouched down before it.

“…For me, the days spent in this hotel were simply wonderful.”

To Renoir, who had longed to become a human, and been granted that wish, the days she spent interacting with people in the hotel must have been the happiest times of her whole life.

“So I was sad—sad that that era had passed, sad about the days when no one noticed me anymore.”

She continued, “Every single sight that I saw with my customers was meaningful, and yet…”

And yet, once she had been forgotten by the world—

Once everyone had stopped coming—

She hadn’t been able to accept that reality, and the hotel had produced the shadow.

But—

As I crouched down beside the two of them, I said, “I’m just guessing here, but—I don’t think that people stopped coming because there’s nothing valuable about your hotel.”

The hotel offered a bounty of incredible scenery, and on top of that, you could stay there for free. It was far too luxurious for anyone to dismiss it just like that.

I was certain that most of the guests felt like their days there were spent in a dream.

“I’m sure that most of your guests thought their time here in the hotel was lovely, just like me,” I explained. “But, well, simply put, it’s just a matter of them not being able to express those feelings.”

I was sure that most of the guests had felt like their days there were spent in a dream, but they probably also felt like riding around in a moving hotel that wandered across the land on a whim was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

I took the shadow and then Renoir by the hand and said, “Please, tell her clearly how you feel.”

If you don’t, she’ll never know.

Then Renoir turned to face the black shadow.

“…You’re right.” She nodded sharply to herself. “You, too, are a part of me. I’m sorry for ignoring you until now—” she said.

The black shadow heard her words, and an expression of relief appeared on its face. Then it disappeared.

It disappeared into the shadow under Renoir, on the plain where the sunlight was streaming down.

There had been many twists and turns, but I was once more facing the end of my days at the hotel.

The large dragon stopped in the very center of a field, and as a gesture of parting, Renoir bowed once very deeply.

“Please come again sometime, Miss Customer.”

She was following the manual to the letter.

“Yes. If I ever get the chance, I’ll be sure to visit again.”

And I answered her with the exact words laid out in the manual, and returned her bow. However, it was possible that she took my calm reply as nothing more than lip service.

Even though I did genuinely want to come visit again, Renoir had been unbearably disappointed in the past.

“If I ever catch sight of you again on the plains, I’ll definitely come and stay, so please rent me your third-floor room at that time.”

Renoir cried, “M-miss Customerrr…” Big tears flowed down her face. “Just getting to hear you say that means that my life has been worth living… Waaah…”

“You’re exaggerating…”

“Today’s as good a day as any to mark my death…”

“You’re really exaggerating…”

With a sigh, I picked up my luggage.

When I turned my back on the counter and walked to the door, Renoir trotted over and overtook me, then opened the door for me.

Outside, the weather was fine.

Sunshine streamed in through the open door.

I stepped into the sunlight, then turned around, and bowed to Renoir again.

“All right then.”

Goodbye—

With a wave of my hand, I started walking.

But as soon as I did—

Along with a whisper so quiet I could barely hear it, I felt someone grab onto the hem of my robe.

When I turned around, Renoir was there beside the door, head hanging low.

I touched her hand, and responded, “I’ll come again.”

So please wait for me until I do—I added.

She lifted her face and said, “I’ll be waiting for your next visit,” smiling innocently, like a child.

“Across the plains, thick with greenery, sometimes you see large footprints in the ground. It’s said that those huge footprints, each big enough to fit a whole human body, belong to the Moving Hotel.”

I had just arrived in a certain city.

A traveler who had recently gotten to the region asked me, “Know about anything interesting around here?”

I’d answered, “As a matter of fact, there is something of great interest,” and offered him a particular tale.

A story about the Moving Hotel Renoir.

“It’s a hotel that never appears in a fixed spot, but wanders the land on a whim. Whether or not you’ll encounter it on your journey is a matter of luck—”

The traveler listened carefully to what I had to say, but when I got to that peculiar trait—

“That makes it sound like it’s alive.”

He showed some real interest.

“Yes, that’s right. As you say, the hotel is alive.”

I nodded in the affirmative, then listed off the other characteristics of the hotel.

It was shaped just like a dragon. Its body was covered in black scales, and in the place where its wings should be stood a three-story hotel with a garden. It moved slowly across the plains, always traveling to places with superb scenery. Renoir, the proprietor, provided excellent service, and her cooking was delicious, which guaranteed a dreamlike stay.

“Plus”—I said to the traveler, to wrap up my story—“it’s such a nice hotel, you’ll want to go back again and again.”