Tomorrow, 8:00AM—
Syla woke up after sleeping soundly for the entire night, as she gradually opened her eyes and letting the light went through, the first thing that she saw was the room's window, where it had its curtains closed.
"Mrrggh.." Syla raised her upper half and sat on the bed, after scratching her eyes, she then stood up and walked towards the window.
Srrrkk!
The curtains was opened, and Syla could see the view outside, the entire town of Beakwood was visible, with few other two floored buildings blocking some of the view there, but Syla didn't care about it, she then proceeded to open the window and letting the chilly morning air to hit her face, it was cold, but not too cold to make Syla shiver.
"Hmm, it's nice." She said, thankfully the sun was rising on the opposite side of her, otherwise she would be blinded by it when she opened the curtains earlier. "Oh right.. there's no bath here, but there is a bath house, i could try going there one day.. But for now, i think i'll explore the town and the wilderness around it."
Syla spend a solid minute just admiring the morning view from the window, although she didn't really stood that close from the edge of the window, she still enjoyed the moment.
'If i stand at the edge, other people could see me, and they'd realize that im a demihuman, since i haven't seen any other demihumans or even other species in this town, it's a bit worrying– Though i knew that at some point, people would find out about it, that's why im gonna try to test it today.' Syla thought as she turned back to her clothes.
After changing her attire and covered herself with the dark cloak, Syla then left the room before locking it with the key that was given by the gentleman from last night. Syla took a couple steps until she was at the staircase that leads to the first floor, she could hear the chatter that was coming from the customers and other people that also stayed in this in, after a few seconds of standing still, Syla then opened her hood and walked down to the first floor.
Step!
Step!
"Hehe, like i said earlier, we should try doing a harder quest this time, like that orc exterminatiion quest that kept being posted over and over again!" Said one of the customer to his friends, he was different from the yesterday's adventurer.
"Im not sure man, there's way too many orcs right now, i think there might be a tribe of them somewhere in the forest." Another man who looked muscular but have a soft face was somewhat puzzled with whether they should go on a harder quest or not.
Amidst their conversation, Syla then came from the second floor, she revealed her face to everyone in the Inn, including the gentleman that served her last night, and when they get a glimpse of her beauty, their attention was instantly hooked.
Syla ignored the gazes from the people beside her and just went to the counter table, where she then sit on one of the chair and looked at the same gentleman that was in the middle of cooking.
"Good morning." she said.
"Good- Morning.." The gentleman was clearly stumped, he seems to not know how to react infront of Syla and didn't remember having someone staying in the Inn that resembled her.
"You said breakfast are free right? Can i have a normal roasted beef?" Syla asked.
"Huh? Ah, sure.. You're the one who stayed last night right? Sorry, i didn't expect you to be the one beneath that cloak." The gentleman apologized before turning back to his stove, where he had a fireplace below that burns continuously in the morning.
"I don't mind." Syla replied calmly.
At first, she thought that everyone was fine having her in the Inn, since they didn't show any hostile reaction to her being a demihuman, but while she was watching the gentleman infront of her cook the food and preparing the spices for it, a voice suddenly whispered out to her.
"A demihuman? Seriously?! I thought they only lived in the woods, what is she doing in a human town.." A man whispered to his friends on the back, a little bit far from where Syla was sitting.
"Maybe she got lost?" The man's friend responded.
"But she has a sword and a cloak, you won't find those in the woods, that means she killed someone and stole their equipments.." Another one said, his face looked disgusted at Syla, though he tried to hide it from her.
Then, the last member of the man's group, a girl who has a sword on her back and short hair then said a contradicting statement.
"Yeah but what if she just got it from another town? Like Direwell for example, that town basically accepts all races as equal to human."
"That could be possible, but still.. Demihumans aren't the type to go alone, even if they're expelled from their tribes, most of them stayed in the woods and never went into human settlements, and even if they do, i never see one going to another town by their own will– To be honest they should just be called a monster, if it weren't for them, my parents would still be alive." The man said while furrowing his eyebrows, it seems like he harbors a deep hatred towards demihumans specifically.
The four them thought that their conversation were too quiet to be heard, since they were whispering the entire time and none of the people around them heard what they were talking, but what they didn't know is that Syla obviously could hear it, although she couldn't hear it clearly due to them being too far, but she was still able to make out most of the words they've spoken.
'I see, not everyone likes a demihuman.. But that man atleast had a reason, i could understand why he would hate an entire race if they killed his parents, but it's still not right...' Syla thought. 'As for that man's friend.. They don't seem to hate me that much, but i wouldn't want to be near them.'
Syla kept her head down as she waited for her breakfast, she heard more whispers from the back, not just from that man earlier, but also from the other customers on a different table, they expressed their opinions on Syla, some praised her appearance, while some detest her for being a demihuman, no matter which one of them was the loudest, Syla could tell that there were more hatred in the air than appreciation.
'I can hear all of you, you know..' Syla said to herself, tapping one of her leg onto the floor when the gentleman infront of her suddenly slides a wooden plate beside her.
"Here's your order." He said.
Syla looked at the meal, it was appealing, it looks like the gentleman cooked it perfectly, and there was no sign of burned meat. After staring at the roasted beef for a few seconds, Syla picked up the fork on the plate and took a bite out of the dish.
'...It's good, he gave me a delicious food even after knowing im a demihuman.' She thought.
It was relieving to know that there's atleast still people that treated Syla just like a normal person, she raised her head to look at the gentleman and he soon gave her a smile, that smile was something that she needed for today.
"Enjoy it." He said.
"Thank you." Syla gave his smile back to him with her own before continuing her breakfast.
.
.
5 minutes later—
As time passed by, Syla eventually took the last bite out of the roasted beef, the gentleman then grabbed the wooden plate from her and washed it, Syla felt satisfied now that her belly was full, before she stood up from her seat, Syla took something from her satchel, it was a couple of copper coins, she placed it onto the table and let the gentleman sees it.
"Thanks for the meal." She said before heading for the exit door.
The man inside the counter table could only watch as Syla left the inn, with the copper coins still at the table, he took it with a sense of gratitude and placed it within the drawer beneath the table.
"I have no idea how that demihuman got all that money, i feel like she robbed a carriage on her way here." One of the customer said.
Hearing the blatant hatred towards Syla, especially demihuman in general, the gentleman suddenly furrowed his eyebrows, his face turned grim and he then told everyone with a stern voice.
"If you talk like that to my customer again, don't be surprised if i kicked you out of the inn." He said, his lips was frowning. "Oh, and if you're staying? You'll have to get out and find another Inn, no Refund. Because I own this place, got it?!"
Suddenly, everyone in the inn fell into complete silence, their face looks embarassed and they couldn't bear to see the Inn's owner with their own eyes.
"Tch, treating them as if they're equal, you gotta be kidding me.." A whisper was heard, but no one knows where it came from.