Chapter 1
TWO HOURS AFTER LEAVING Lunatic Lake, Mira lay on her back near a babbling brook and gazed at the sky. She sipped an apple au lait and watched the clouds drift by, their billowing forms changing shape like clay in a child’s hand.
It was a comfortable afternoon, and the wind gently caressed her cheeks. Leaning against Pegasus, as animals gathered nearby and the wind blew through the plain, she allowed herself a moment of total relaxation.
“How tranquil…” she murmured. Pegasus whinnied, and a few animals around them chittered in apparent agreement. This was pure bliss.
After some time to recharge, Mira jumped onto the back of Pegasus, barely noticing the dried blood on the horse’s hooves. As they rose into the sky, the assembled woodland creatures began a battle over a carcass—the carcass of a titanic bird with a distinctive, hoof-shaped hole stamped into its cranium.
Mira never looked back.
***
As the sun dipped below the horizon, a veil of darkness was pulled across the sky. One by one, stars began to twinkle in the heavens. City lights winked on in the distance, and one structure was conspicuous among them. Stretching high above the other buildings of the city, it seemed to cast a shadow across those lights.
“Finally, we can see it.” Mira held fast to Pegasus’s mane and strained her eyes in the darkness. The faraway lights slowly resolved into a bustling city center.
Silverside, the Station City. It wasn’t quite as impressive as Lunatic Lake, but it was still quite large and modern, with a railroad running straight through it.
Mira’s usual tactic was to land outside of town, then walk in to avoid attention. But it was already late, and she was eager to get settled at an inn for the evening. She started looking for a place to land Pegasus a little closer to her destination.
A long building made from wood, steel, and stone had a large sign on it that read SILVERSIDE STATION. She guided her mount to the ground beside the railroad station, congratulated Pegasus on a job well done, and dismissed it with a pat on the nose.
The crowd was shocked.
Within moments a cry had gone up, with onlookers searching for the mythical beast that seemed to have appeared and vanished in the blink of an eye. Using her [Immortal Arts: Shrinking Earth], Mira faded into the crowd and nonchalantly circled around to the front of the station.
Peeking in through the door, she saw the main ticket counter. A shade was drawn over the ticket windows that bore the words, “Today’s service has ended.” Yet even with rail service closed for the evening, Silverside Station was quite busy, filled with shops that were doing brisk business.
“This is still a fantasy world, right?” Mira marveled at the sight before her.
Stone, steel, wood: the whole building was made of commonplace materials, yet the architecture seemed quite advanced. Uniformed workers dotted the crowd on both floors of the station’s main promenade, and brightly lit shops lined the broad atrium.
The prospect of indoor shopping certainly piqued Mira’s interest, but despite the temptation, her fatigue pushed her to find an inn. There‘ll be plenty of time for that tomorrow morning, she thought as she turned to walk into the city center.
Though the hour was late, the crowd showed no sign of thinning in the Station City. The main plaza was lit by streetlights and bustling with people of various species and occupations. Some rushed home from their day’s work, some were getting pumped up for the nightlife, and many others were fellow travelers in search of a night’s rest.
Mira quickly spotted signboards from inns along her route…lots of them. “I didn’t expect this many…” she muttered.
Solomon had warned her, but she was still in awe of the sheer number.
Each inn looked unique. Some were utilitarian and apartment-like, offering a sense of security. Others promised palatial lodgings. So many distinctive establishments stood side by side that the plaza seemed more like an inn exhibition.
This could be fun, Mira decided. Despite her fatigue, she began peeking in the inns that caught her eye in search of her perfect accommodations.
The first inn she ducked into was easy to dismiss. Its lobby was visibly full, and a sign announced that it had no vacancies.
Next was an inn full of countless wine casks. Its first floor served as a tavern—a common arrangement in fantasy settings. Half-drunk men downed cask after cask, hooting and hollering all the while. Even just glancing in, Mira smelled the stench of alcohol mixed with testosterone. She departed immediately.
Third was one of the superluxury inns. Employees and patrons alike oozed high-class snobbery. It wasn’t her type of crowd, so Mira moved on.
A restaurant-focused inn that prided itself on its cooking stood nearby, with a sign saying TODAY’S CHEF outside. Pinned to the sign were photos of a very handsome man and his specialty dishes. The food looked uninspired, at best…but Mira was captivated by the photos of the food. They weren’t drawings—they were real photographs.
Cameras existed here, it seemed. Surprised at how fast technology was progressing in this world, Mira walked to the inn. The attached restaurant—visible through a large window—was packed full of female guests. She wondered if they were there for the food or the chef.
The next inn catered to guests of the opposite sex. As soon as she saw employees in maid clothing with male guests lined up to get in, she turned on her heel and walked away.
Another inn offered live music. A hired band played inside, their dulcet tones leaking out of the building and prompting Mira to match their rhythm. MINSTRELS FREE TO JOIN IN! was written on a sign out front. After listening to a song, she decided it was nice…but not what she was looking for.
Soon, she found herself standing in front of a lovely, old-fashioned Japanese-style ryokan inn. Tidy hedges encircled the site, and the building itself oozed Japanese charm. In front of the building hung a paper lantern printed with the words STARRY MANOR. Enchanted, she stepped up to open the sliding door.
The rattle of the door alone triggered a wave of nostalgia. Beyond the black-stone floor of the foyer was a low step that separated the entrance from the tatami-floored lobby. Mira couldn’t help but sigh at the familiar scent of woven rushes.
This is it!
Soft orange light illuminated everything in the lobby—from the flowers that looked like pearls, to the India ink paintings of mountains. All of it made Mira feel as if she’d found home as she took off her shoes and headed to the counter.
“Welcome to the Starry Manor.”
The female receptionist bowed politely, then lifted her head and smiled. Her black hair and eyes fit the Japanese aesthetic well. After spending a moment enraptured by the receptionist’s refined beauty, Mira realized that she’d frozen up.
“I’d like to stay a night,” Mira blurted, posing slightly to downplay her lack of social skills around pretty girls.
The receptionist nodded and offered both a check-in slip and a quill pen. Mira tried her best to look cool, a task that became more difficult when she found she needed to stand on her tiptoes to reach the countertop.
“Please write your name and occupation here,” instructed the receptionist.
“Hrmm.” Doing her best to maintain her image, Mira accepted the pen and wrote her name. After a moment’s thought, she finally wrote Adventurer as her occupation.
The receptionist accepted the paper and looked over it. “We require identification from adventurers. If you’d be so kind…” The woman placed a tray before her.
Mira nodded, reaching for the license in her waist pouch. Then she froze in place. Eurica, a clerk at the Mages’ Guild in Karanak, had put the license in a disgustingly cute leather case. The weapons-grade girliness would demolish Mira’s attempts at posturing as a worldly traveler.
She panicked, fumbling as she tried to pull it out of the card case. She settled for opening the case and quickly folding the cover behind it, hiding it under the case as she slid it onto the tray.
“That will do just fine,” the receptionist said kindly. She checked Mira’s license and noted something on her sheet of paper before picking up the case, gently closing it, and handing it back over. “The hotel offers several packages. The relaxation option comes with breakfast and dinner and costs 20,000 ducats. The economy option, without meals, costs 12,000 ducats. Which would you like?”
“I’ll go with the relaxation one…” Mira mumbled, staring at her feet and shoving the frilly license case back into her bag. The receptionist continued to smile as she made a few more notes on her paper.
“We will need you to pay up front, if you’d please.”
“Hrmm.” Mira produced a leather pouch full of money and placed two mithril coins in the tray. The bag she used as a wallet was the same one that Solomon had given her, but now she noticed how shabby it looked compared to her license case.
“Thank you for choosing to stay with us, and we hope you enjoy your time at Starry Manor. A staff member will guide you to your room in a moment.”
The receptionist bowed deeply, causing her glossy black hair to fall over her face. When she stood straight again, she fixed it with practiced grace. All the while, her smile remained intact, and her posture remained as perfect as ever. Mira couldn’t help but fall in love.
“Greetings, madam. Allow me to show you to your room.”
Mira turned to see a miao woman waving to her, looking surprisingly comfortable in Japanese clothing.
“Much appreciated,” Mira replied. The staff member gathered Mira’s shoes from the entrance and beckoned for her to follow.
Shoeboxes lay within the next room. They were equipped with lockers, and the woman placed Mira’s shoes in a vacant cubby before locking it. It almost reminded Mira of a school’s shoe rack—yet another perfect touch that she adored.
“This is where your footwear will be kept,” the miao woman explained. “You may access it using your room key, so be sure to take your shoes before returning the key to reception when you leave.”
The tatami-floored hallway leading to the guest rooms extended into the darkness like an undersea tunnel, and the springy mats were pleasant on Mira’s stockinged feet as she walked along. The lanterns mounted along the walls flickered, sending soft ripples of light along the walls and floor. Pillars painted with Japanese lacquer reflected the dim, warm light, while decorative sliding doors completed the Japanese atmosphere.
Even in Japan, it would be difficult to find a place so overwhelmingly Japanese. She couldn’t wait to see her room.
The staff member’s tail was adorned with a bell and a ribbon, which jingled every time it swung side to side. Mira followed it with her eyes as she walked along. Soon, they arrived at a door labeled SKY ROOM. Her guide opened the sliding paper door, revealing another sliding wooden door behind it.
“A door behind a door, eh? Quite the interesting construction.”
“The hallway is beautiful when lined with the painted paper doors. But most guests prefer the security of a wooden door,” the woman answered as she unlocked the room.
“Very enlightening.”
Mira looked back through the hallway and surveyed the paper doors. She had to agree with their sense of aesthetics.
Mira’s room was floored in tatami mats and had a smooth-grained wooden table in the center. On the table was a spread of Japanese sweets. A bright green legless chair sat next to a flower arrangement and a wall scroll depicting a waterfall. It was straight out of a movie set—whoever had designed this interior certainly had a taste for theatrics.
“Would you like dinner immediately?” The staff member asked.
“Hrmm…I’d like to get cleaned up first. Are there baths in this establishment?” If Mira was going to eat ryokan food, she wanted to savor it. And that meant being wholly clean in both body and soul.
“Each room is furnished with a bath, but might I recommend the communal bath? It is our inn’s pride and joy,” the woman responded pleasantly. She removed a basket from the room’s dresser and handed it to Mira. Inside were towels, soap, and other such bathing necessities.
“Oho. A communal bath?”
“If you would like to go immediately, I would be glad to show you the way.”
“I’ll take you up on that offer.” Coming here and not taking a dip in the communal bath was unthinkable.
When they left the room, the staff member locked the door behind them. “This will unlock your room and your shoe locker, so please take care not to lose it.”
Mira placed the key in her waist pouch before scurrying after the woman’s jingling tail.
***
Mira spotted several customers relaxing in the hall outside the communal bath. They all wore yukatas, and the smacking of ping-pong balls could be heard. An adjoining booth sold souvenirs, and there was a map of the building on the wall. Under the gentle light, they took a breather and enjoyed a moment’s calm.
But Mira could only stare in a mixture of horror and anticipation.
She stood before the red curtain labeled WOMEN’S BATH and cursed herself. She’d underestimated the difficulty of this moment after seeing the maids in the palace baths, but now she felt true dread clutching at her stomach.
The palace maids. Given their constant…enthusiasm when it came to helping her, she saw them more as family. It was as if she’d seen her older sisters naked. But the women beyond this curtain would be total strangers.
Perhaps everything up to this point was training, but faced with the ultimate test, Mira was clearly rattled. She’d rushed into a situation where her stress was her own worst enemy.
While Mira tried to screw up her courage, the miao woman gestured to her basket of bath products and said, “Please enjoy! I will bring dinner when you are ready.”
“Hrmm, sure sure…” Mira mumbled, distracted. Spurred by the cat woman’s words, she took a few involuntary steps toward the entrance…and then a few more.
She was across the threshold.
The tatami-floored changing room was large, with wooden lockers lining the walls and paper lanterns labeled BATH lighting the room. The skin of the women below shimmered sensually in their soft glow.
Mira surveyed the changing room. Women of all ages, shapes, and sizes were in various states of undress. Realizing that she was blocking the entrance, she scurried over to a corner locker.
She quickly found a vacant one with a key sticking out of its lock—a common setup in public baths. After opening the locker and shoving the basket in it, Mira immediately set about stripping.
Hrmm…so far so good. I can do this.
She heard families talking, friends frolicking, squeals that reminded her of Flicker, and the laughter of little girls. Mira put her underwear in the locker, grabbed a towel and soap from the basket, and locked it. She stretched the elastic ring attached to the key around her wrist and fled into the communal bath.
“Goodness…”
The miao woman had said that this was the establishment’s pride and joy. Mira could only gasp in agreement.
Everything was floored with tatami, even the washing stations. Back home this would be called a tatami bath or a mansion bath, and it was a truly rare sight outside of ryokan inns. It was Mira’s first time seeing one in person.
The humidity of the bath slicked her skin, and warmth enveloped her. The faint scent of the rushes from the mats mixed with the aroma of soap, creating the perfect sense of cleanliness. But that wasn’t all. Behind the massive bathtub was a wide panoramic view of a model Japanese garden.
Gentle lantern light illuminated the nighttime garden without upsetting its perfect blend of color. While most would simply feel a moment’s peace upon seeing the scene, it served as a stark reminder that Mira was in a different world. Nostalgia for home washed over her in a wave.
The sounds of flowing water and girls playing filled the space. After taking a few steps, Mira peered around warily and secured a washing station. There she found a silver faucet and shower—two more signs of growing technological advancement. Enjoying the practicality, Mira rinsed herself off and pranced toward the tub.
In the center of the expansive tub towered a rock nearly two meters high. Hot water poured from the back of it as small children tried to scoop the waterfall into their hands or climb its slippery sides.
Just as Mira dipped her feet into the water, someone seized her shoulder. “Hold on! If you go in like that, your hair will get wet!”
She whipped around to see a tall, muscular woman smiling down at her. Appearing to be in her early twenties with short, lavender hair, the woman gave off serious big sister vibes.
“O-oh. I suppose you’re right,” stammered Mira. She’d forgotten it was poor manners to shed hair into the communal bath, so she undid the twin ponytails that Mariana had tied for her that morning.
Then her hands froze as she finally got a good look at the woman standing in front of her. She wasn’t just beautiful, her breasts were on prominent display and well above average size.
Hngh! This is too much!
Mira somehow regained her composure and haphazardly wrapped her hair around her neck. “Thank you for the reminder,” she said curtly.
As she tried to step into the bath, the woman grabbed her again. “Nope. You can’t relax like that, honey! Here, I’ll take care of it for you.” The woman rather forcefully pulled Mira close, undid the hair tied around her neck, and skillfully began to braid it up atop her head. Her voice softened a little. “I’ve got a little sister with long hair like yours. I’m used to this. Can I borrow that ribbon?”
Mira responded with her usual “Hrmm” and offered a ribbon that had been tying her twin ponytails.
“Next, you do this…like this. There! All better now,” the woman declared, satisfied.
Mira’s new up-do was kept in place by the ribbon. She felt around her hair with both hands and found the woman’s work was expertly done.
“Now I can truly relax,” she said with a smile as her eyes lingered on the woman’s body. “Thank you.”
“No problem at all… Hm? What’s the matter?” The woman cocked her head in curiosity, before realizing what was going on. Mira was caught. “Ooh, I see. Well, you are a growing girl, after all.”
“Wha—?! No! You see, I—!”
The woman stooped forward and took a very close look at Mira’s breasts. Mira tried desperately to look anywhere else.
“Yep, you’re about the age where you’d start noticing. But it’s okay! You’re perfect just the way you are. I think you’ve got a big, bright future ahead of you!” The woman leaned in and put her hands on Mira’s shoulders.
“Oh, erm, th-thanks…”
Now that she thought about it, of course nobody would think there were dirty thoughts in her adorable little head. Mira stifled her relief and other urges as she looked down at her own chest.
Of course I’m perfect! I designed this, after all.
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