He finds a peculiar sight

Earnest was very exhausted, his undershirt was soaked with his sweat despite the chilly night air. There were no passenger carriages that regularly traveled to Knottori, the remote village where his childhood friend ended up after she left the capital city. He was supposed to hitch a ride at the nearest town, but he couldn't find any carts that traveled to Knottori. Not wanting to wait for one without any certainty, Earnest decided that he'd just walk there.

Earnest had to travel along a rough road, clearly only occasionally used by carts and carriages. Someone in the previous town told him that he should have already arrived in Knottori before the sun set if he started early in the morning, but he had been walking for a couple of hours in the dark now. The trail was definitely dangerous at night, but he pushed on with a torch in his hand. More than once he was afraid that he had lost his way, but thankfully the trail was unmistakable despite its roughness, as it only led to one destination.

Finally, after hours of trekking in the darkness, Earnest's eyes could spot a small settlement in the distance, a faint glow of light in the dark landscape. The exhausted young man wasted no time, jogging forward despite his fatigue, eager to enter the village. The village did not even have a proper gate, only an entrance on a ring of simple wooden fence, only useful to deter wild animals. There was a single guard on duty, sitting on a chair with an oil lamp illuminating his corner. He noticed Earnest approaching and initially took a defensive position, a wooden pole pointed at the knight.

Earnest managed to calm him down, thankfully. The guard then allowed him to enter after he mentioned Rosalind's name and introduced himself as her childhood friend. He also told Earnest that Rosalind was most probably taking rounds around the village, and Earnest smiled knowing how hardworking his childhood friend could be. He mentioned to the guard that he'd like to stay at an inn, as he was too tired to walk around looking for her, and managed to enter the village without any issue.

Knottori was very empty and quiet at this time of the day, only crickets and other small critters made up the background noise. There were no lights coming from the windows from the houses he passed by, possibly opting to save fuel by sleeping in the dark. The walk to the inn was not long, but it felt like an eternity to Earnest's tired body. The inn was quite unmistakable since it was the only building with a second floor, as the guard described.

When he arrived at the doorstep, which only had a simple wooden swing door, he saw an unusual sight. There was a young girl laying on top of the inn's countertop in a weird position, her stomach laid flat on the counter. She was not moving, either asleep, ****, or worse. Her skirt was lifted, and Earnest could see her bare buttocks even from the entrance. Her face was obscured from his view.

Earnest cautiously entered the premises. He looked around, but he saw no one else in the reception area. He carefully approached the **** girl, examining her condition. Her breaths were deep and even, and her skin was warm to the touch. She did not appear injured in any way, thankfully. However, there was also a strange scent hanging in the air, a mix of urine smell and something else.

Earnest wanted to help the girl, but he did not dare to touch her body too much. He only put her skirt down properly, covering her private area. Earnest hesitated, trying to decide what to do in this situation. He was worried about leaving her alone, but at the same time he did not want to be involved in an incident like this on his very first day. There's also the problem of him being very tired and wanting to crash in a room as soon as possible. He looked around once again, finding a door that seemed to be leading to the innkeeper's room, if his experience served him right. Earnest tried opening the door, but it was locked, and nobody answered when he knocked on it.

Earnest sighed defeatedly and finally decided to wake the girl up. The girl groaned and stirred when Earnest shook her shoulders.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"...hnngh," the girl mumbled, blinking blearily while she tried to lift her head up. It took her several seconds to recognize that someone had spoken to her, "who..?"

"My name is Earnest," he answered, "I am a traveler and I want to rent a room. But I found you here, ****. Are you alright?"

That seemed to slap the girl awake from her grogginess. She pushed herself down from the countertop and stood behind it. Her face was flushed red, likely due to the embarrassment of being caught in such a state by a stranger. She soon covered her face with her hands in shame.

"Oh my goddess, I'm so sorry, d-dear customer. I've shown you something unsightly," she said, her voice muffled.

"Ah... It's okay," Earnest replied, concern coloring his face and voice, "but... did something happen to you?"

The girl shook her head, and muttered a response, "n-no, it's nothing... I was just... I only... fell asleep on the job, yes."

The girl clutched her dress tightly, feeling self conscious under Earnest's gaze. Meanwhile, Earnest perfectly knew that she was hiding something, but he was too tired to investigate this matter any further right now.

"Right, if you say so... So, I need a place to stay the night. Can I get a room?"

"Y-yes! Certainly!" she replied enthusiastically, grateful to have something to divert the attention away from her, "here's your key, it's the last room on the second floor."

The girl did not even ask for his coins and basically shoo-ed him away to his room. Earnest decided not to embarrass the girl any further and just accepted the key and walked up to his room, closing the door behind him. He put down his luggage and undid his armor, placing it on a chair, leaving only a shirt and his pants. The bed creaked a little when Earnest laid down onto it. It was far from luxurious and a little too hard, but his tired body was grateful for it. His eyelids were heavy, and he fell asleep almost instantly. The thought of looking for Rosalind tomorrow accompanied him as he drifted off to sleep.

The gentle morning sun that passed through the window of his room did not wake Earnest up. It had been a while since he pushed himself that far, and his exhaustion got the better of him. His commander Roland would be disappointed if he were to see this sloppy performance. Earnest finally woke up several hours after the sun had risen, judging from the position of the sun outside the window.

Earnest changed into a clean shirt and pants, which he should have done before he went to sleep last night. He was about to re-equip his armor when he changed his mind. Knottori seemed to be a peaceful village, so he decided he wouldn't need his armor and put away his sword as well. He should try to maintain a casual atmosphere in this village for now, lest he bring unwanted attention to himself. He walked downstairs, now feeling hungry more than anything.

When he reached the ground floor, Earnest saw a burly, middle-aged man sweeping the front porch of the inn. If Earnest had to guess, he seemed to be the innkeeper. The man spotted Earnest and looked at him with a questioning look, before changing it into a slight smile.

"Good morning! I didn't see you check in yesterday. Did you come last night?"

"Yes, sir. I arrived here quite late yesterday, and a young girl gave me a room."

"Ah yeah, it must be my daughter, Nana. I did tell her to handle any guests when I was out on an errand, but it's quite strange. She did not tell me that anyone came to stay."

"Yeah about that..."

Earnest hesitated. Should he tell the innkeeper about what he saw last night?