After that little disruption in the restaurant, Aven took her students and left to avoid getting roped into any more problems. Just as they went through the door that led into the outside world, she noticed something about the sky.

  The sun was bidding farewell to the sky, slowly slipping away as it began to set on the horizon. They were running out of daylight. Which meant only one thing.

  “Since it’s getting dark, let’s find an Inn to stay at.”

  The siblings looked at her with widened eyes.

  “Are you sure that’s alright?” Conner asked, his tone low and hesitant.

  Aven sighed. “You two are now my students. As my students, it is my responsibility to take care of you. Never forget that.”

  Conner and Chloe said nothing as they cast their gaze down at the concrete ground. Not in shame, but...embarrassment.

  The dark fey stifled a chuckle. They’re clearly not used to being treated well. I guess that’s natural, considering their previous life before I took them in.

  Her eyes swept through the buildings around them, searching for a place they could stay in for the night. That was when she caught one of the signs swaying on a wooden beam. Engraved on bronze metal was a Bed with “ZZZ” hovering above it.

  That must be an Inn.

  She guided the siblings over to the building, ensuring they were both by her side. Getting closer, she was able to get a better look at the place before entering.

  It stood like a sentinel of warmth and comfort. Its dark oak walls contrasted with the light from the lanterns to the point where it appeared that it was actually consuming it. Lights from inside the building spilled out of the windows like molten treasure, casting shimmering paths across the cobblestone street, as if inviting any weary travelers who sought refuge.

  That was when Aven realized that this establishment wasn’t likely for beggars or even commoners. This was a place that was similar to the restaurant they went to. A place where people with money were greeted with open arms.

  And it was also the place where she planned to let her students spend the night. Regardless of whether or not they were welcomed.

  Aven guided the siblings toward the large door made of dark oak as it beckoned the trio to enter. The air inside was warm compared to the chill of the night. The scent of polished wood and a combination of floral flowers like rose and lily wafted through the air. The sound of chatter of various groups and individuals filled the lobby, making it rather noisy. The lobby was quite crowded with people roaming all over the floor.

  And these people, Aven quickly noticed, appeared to be of the same social status as the customers at the restaurant. They wore expensive suits and dresses, wielded expensive gear and equipment for adventuring, and the like.

  Aven sighed. Great. Another place that will likely cause me more problems.

  Instead of accepting defeat and leaving the place, she brought the siblings deeper inside the Inn. All three of them took in the interior as they approached the receptionist counter ahead of them. At the counter, there was an older man with salt and pepper hair and wearing a three-piece suit.

  He quickly noticed the trio as his sharp gray eyes looked directly at them. Aven noticed that the man straightened his posture ever so slightly. It was likely a habit he had when confronted with new guests and needed to look his best for them.

  Getting to the counter, the man with salt and pepper hair slightly bowed. “Welcome to the Restless Inn.” His voice was low and soft like silk. The kind of voice that would capture the hearts of young women with a single word. “Will you be staying for the night?”

  Aven let a smile touch her lips as she replied. “Yes, I would like two rooms, if possible. One for me, and the other for my students here.”

  The man nodded. “Of course...” He then paused as his eyes trailed over to the siblings.

  Conner and Chloe quickly noticed his gaze and retreated behind Aven. Seeing this, her brows furrowed ever so slightly in annoyance.

  I knew this would happen, but it still irks me that these people were treating my students like this.

  “Ma’am,” the man began, his tone slightly hesitant with a hint of what appeared to be contempt. “You asked for two rooms, yes?”

  Aven kept smiling, holding back the urge to glare at the man. “Yes, I did. Is there perhaps a problem?” She made sure to leave a bit of annoyance in her tone, just so the man knew not to push his luck.

  Thankfully, he caught on to this and nervously coughed. “F-forgive me, ma’am. It’s just that due to our rules and reputation, we cannot let...” he eyed the siblings for a moment. “Children of such a manner into our building.”

  “Is that right?” She said through her teeth, desperately restraining herself. “If this is a matter of money, then please don’t worry about that.”

  Noticing the venom in her voice, the man raised his hands as if in an attempt to defend himself. “N-no, that is not it, ma’am.” He shook his hands. “It’s a matter of our reputation and status.”

  She held back the urge to roll her eyes at his response. In other words, they don't want word to get out that such a luxurious Inn as theirs allowed just anyone to enter.

  Aven’s frown deepened with displeasure. Thankfully, she had been in plenty of situations like this back when she was Avelyn Willoway. The trick she learned with people like this man was to stand your ground and keep pushing. Eventually, they will stop being difficult.

  “Regardless of your reputation, my students and I are rather tired, and it would be troublesome for us to waste our time finding another Inn that was more suitable for us. So, we’ll be staying here for the night.”

  The man faltered, clearly uncomfortable with how the conversation was progressing. His fingers lightly drummed against the counter as he held his gaze with her.

  “As I said, ma’am,” he started slowly, keeping his voice calm and even. “We cannot allow-!”

  His sentence was cut off by the sound of clinking coins as a hefty leather pouch was roughly placed on the counter in front of him. He cast his gaze down, staring at the pouch full of gold coins inside.

  Aven observed his gaze, satisfied with his reaction. A bag filled with gold coins should do the trick. It worked with the woman at the Restaurant, anyway.

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  When in doubt, throw money at them. That was what Father used to say, anyway.

  She wasn’t the type to casually flaunt her wealth to get what she wanted, even when she held the reputation as the sole heir of the Willoway company. But, desperate times called for desperate measures.

  Leaving the Inn now would only put a sour taste in her mouth, and she refused to give them the satisfaction of chasing her away. Her pride was on the line here, and there was no way she was backing down now.

  Despite her expectations, the man suddenly took a deep breath and turned his gaze back to her. There was something different about him, though. It almost looked like he was...offended?

  “I am sorry, ma’am,” he continued, his voice hardened. “But we cannot allow you or these children to enter.”

  Aven stood there for a moment, surprised by his unwavering conviction to uphold the Inn’s policy.

  She didn’t expect him to be so strict. However, she couldn’t back down either. Even if it meant going above and beyond to get a room here.

  “Are you absolutely certain that you cannot accommodate us?”

  The man held his gaze with more fervor. “I’m afraid so, ma’am. Our Inn is very strict with-”

  Oh, for crying out loud!

  Aven didn’t let him finish and quickly pulled out her trump card, slamming three platinum coins on the counter. She slid her hand away, revealing them dramatically for extra flair.

  The man looked down with furrowed brows. Then his eyes widened immediately. It looked like they were going to pop right out of their sockets.

  His gaze darted between the coins and Aven, as if to make sure that these coins came from her. She stood there with her arms crossed, enjoying his reaction.

  You can so no to a bag of gold coins, but let’s see if you can do the same for Platinum.

  If her memory was right, three platinum coins was enough to buy a decently cheap mansion in the Nobles district of Mystmore City. There was no way that this man could refuse this kind of money.

  “I’ll ask again,” she said, her voice laced with arrogance. “Are you certain that you don’t wish to accommodate us?”

  Rejecting a bag filled with coins was one thing. But there was no way that he was going to ignore three platinum coins. It was a bit of a waste, but at this point, she didn’t care very much anymore.

  Unlike before, the receptionist’s expression showed signs of wavering. He was having a mental battle between accepting the three platinum coins and upholding the Inn’s policy. And in the end, it appeared that the former had won.

  “A-and who shall this be addressed to?” he finally asked.

  Aven smiled triumphantly, elated that she won the battle. “Avelyn Burkhardt.”

  Using Willoway would be too on the nose for a disguise. While the chances of someone actually figuring out her real identity were low, even if she used the name from her previous life, it would be best to play it safe.

  Plus, she spent her whole past life trying to get away from the Willoway name. There was no way she was going to use it in this life.

  Of course, she couldn’t help but kick herself for making her avatar’s name so close to her real one. A mistake on her part.

  “And please give us your best rooms, if possible.” Her tone implied that it wasn’t a request, and the receptionist was smart enough to catch it before proceeding.

  “Right this way, then...” He gestured for the trio to follow him.

  He swiftly moved from the counter and made his way over to the stairs, waiting for the trio to catch up. They climbed up to the third floor of the Inn and were presented with a hall of rooms before them.

  The man walked down the hall before stopping in front of one of them. Pulling out a key from his pocket, he unlocked the door and opened it to reveal what was inside.

  It was a large room with a queen-size bed framed against a wall with a chest located at the bottom frame of the bed. Located on the other side of the wall was a desk with two large bookshelves flanking its side. Several books were on the shelves, as if waiting to be read. A candlestick was placed on top of the desk, its light flickering within the room.

  Aven walked inside and admired her room. It was quite nice. Not at the level of her suite back on Earth, but certainly acceptable.

  Before the employee left, he brought out two keys and gave them to her.

  “These are the keys to your room,” he explained plainly. “The keys for the...children is room 22. Down the hall,” he gestured to their left.

  Aven nodded. “Understood. You may go now.”

  He gave them a slight bow and left with haste, no doubt to deal with the three platinum coins he had just been presented with.

  Judging from his reaction, three platinum coins seemed quite a lot compared to a full bag of gold coins. How much exactly, Aven didn’t have a clue. She could’ve asked the man about it, but figured that she bothered him enough.

  Still, there was a part of her that felt that she might have screwed up.

  He looked really surprised by those platinum coins. Hell, his eyes bulged so big that they were close to popping out of their sockets.

  But, really? Over only three? The gear that I’m currently wearing under the masquerade spell costs way more than that.

  She lightly tapped her chin, mulling over it. Back in Myein, a lot of Mythical and Divine-grade equipment was pretty expensive. They cost as much as a few hundred Celestialsteel coins. She remembered how much blood and sweat were shed to farm all that money for some of her gear.

  Just the mere thought of those times made her grimace.

  I was so preoccupied with the game that I ended up missing an important company meeting and got scolded by the directors. Those damn geezers never went easy on me.

  Once the man was gone, Aven and the siblings entered her room. Conner walked over to the desk, and Chloe made her way over to one of the bookshelves. Aven, meanwhile, went over to the queen-size bed.

  Upon sitting on the mattress, she slightly sank into the cushion as it threatened to swallow her whole. The moment she sat down, all the tension and stress from before slowly faded, leaving a wave of relief and comfort.

  Her eyes then flicked over to the siblings as they eagerly explored her room. They looked like little kids visiting their new home. It was honestly adorable to see.

  A soft smile touched Aven’s lips. It was clear that she made the right choice in taking in these two as her students. It had been a while since she felt so free and happy.

  Her expression darkened for a moment as she realized something else.

  Because I took these two in, there was bound to be trouble coming my way. Or at least, Aven Willows way. Before that happens, I’ll need to keep my identity a secret and train these two until they are strong enough to take care of themselves.

  According to Conner and Chloe, Aven was a legendary hero from centuries ago. If word got out that such a legend was currently roaming the world with students, there was no telling what kind of problems they would face.

  Hopefully, she could find her NPC companions from the game so they could help her protect them. Since six hundred years had passed, a few of them were likely long gone due to their short lifespan. Aven still had a few companions that could easily shrug off six centuries, but the idea that a few of her allies had died from old age didn’t sit right with her.

  She wished she could’ve seen them one last time before they died. Sadly, that wasn’t going to happen.

  I could probably just bring them back as spirits or something. Then again, I’d rather not disturb their rest just because I’m feeling lonely.

  Hopefully, her companions who were still alive were at Mystmore City since that was the next place she planned to travel to after Ridgeview. Her guild, and most importantly, her stuff, was still there.

  All she could hope for was that her remaining companions were watching over the place and keeping any outsiders away. If she found out that something that belonged to her was stolen, there would be hell to pay.

  With that thought in mind, Aven continued to watch her students marvel at the luxury room she was provided. She then stood up from her bed and approached them.

  “How about we go check out your room next?” She asked with a daring smile.

  Both siblings' eyes suddenly sparkled at the idea and eagerly bobbed their heads in unison. The two then sprinted out of the room and went straight for theirs. Aven followed closely behind, letting out a chuckle at their child-like behavior.

  Suddenly, she stopped at the door. Her head spun around, and she glanced out the window on the other side of the room. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

  What was that feeling just now...

  Goosebumps prickled across her body.

  For the briefest moment, it felt like something, or perhaps someone, was watching Aven.

  Her expression darkened.

  That can’t be good...