The main character, of course.

I made my way back to the city swiftly yet stealthily. I could not afford to be discovered now, not after setting everything up so carefully. My champion should be able to make it all pay off, so I just had to not mess up my comparably easy part of the plan.

Upon reaching the wall at the edge of Wodegta, I carefully shifted back into my human form. From there, I took every back road and alley necessary to avoid lines of sight on the way. It made my travel longer but so be it, I could not afford to be caught.

When I at last reached the tavern again, I carefully made my way back up using the spirit to lift me and lesson my landing as I jumped up. It made more noise than I would have liked, but there was no other way that would have gotten me in fast and discreet enough.

Looking back, I could already see the faintest hints that the night would not be much longer. The stars had just begun to fade from the night sky, giving me somewhere around two hours before the sun would rise.

I made my way back into my room, and took a quick moment of looking around. I rearranged some things, putting some items around to make it look like I had somewhat settled. I remade the bed to give the impression of someone having slept in it and made it after.

I had to be certain that anyone who checked my room would not find it suspiciously unused. I cursed myself for not taking that measure beforehand, but there was nothing I could do about something so far in the past.

With that all finished, I ruffled my hair slightly, so I didn't look unreasonably tidy for the time it was in the day. I then took a deep breath, I had to be calm for this all to work, I could not ruin my acting by being too on edge. I needed to be perfect, with no room for error.

With that, I went over to the desk provided in the room. On it was an empty book, which I assume was a complimentary journal or such. I proceeded to spend the rest of my time until sunrise writing out a series of false journal entries dated since my booking of the room. I made sure to give myself a consistent writing schedule, one that happened to serve as a convincing alibi in the event I was called into question for my current or future moves at night.

At last, with a bit more preparation, it was at a reasonable hour to leave my room. The sun had not been up for long, but in these times, daylight was working time. I could even begin to see the streets become populated with the townsfolk once more.

I opened my door into the hall, looking both ways to see if anyone else was in the hall before continuing down to the tavern below. As I entered, I found a somewhat calm environment with a few stragglers about, no one sitting in the party's table, however.

I decided it would be best if I did not push my luck, and instead sat down at the bar in front of the barkeep. They were of course buffing the counter as usual, undisturbed even after I sat down. It was at this moment I realized I don't remember ever getting a proper meal from this tavern.

I decided to ask the barkeep about that, "Do you have any food on the menu? I don't believe I have had any before." The whole tavern went silent, looking over to me as the barkeep stopped what they were doing.

He looked to me without raising their head from its position angled towards the counter, "You sure about this?"

I looked around for a moment before responding, "Less so now, but I feel I should at least try what you may have."

He gave a mournful nod before looking over his shoulder, "Tris, you got a live one!" He shouted it to someone in the back room, and I could faintly hear a clattering caused by someone being startled and knocking a series of items over.

A head poked its way out from the door to the back. It was near unidentifiable, the person behind it wearing what appeared to be a crude welding mask. They had truly red hair that was long and disheveled, looking more like someone who had not cut their hair in at least a year than someone who wanted their hair long.

They spoke in a muffled voice I had to take a second to piece together, "We got an order? Who the fuck ordered something?" The barkeep gestured to me, and the new figure looked between me and the barkeep a few times before resting on me, "Fine, what am I making?"

I slowly looked to the barkeep, who was no longer looking to me. It seemed by questioning glance would go unanswered. Looking back to the masked figure, I decided to take what may be the safest or most dangerous option, "Chef's special?"

The whole tavern went up in a roar of cheers, both approving and disapproving. It seemed that some were doubtful of my decision, while others found entertainment from it. I had no idea what was going on as I simply looked around the room before looking back to the person.

They were drumming their fingers against each other like a classic evil mastermind, "The chef's special? Noone has ordered the chef's special in years..." There was a mad giggling before they slowly withdrew, as if pulled on a cart instead of walking away. I heard their voice echoing out of the back room, "This will be fun!"

I sat there taking in the chaos around me, completely baffled by whatever may be happening. The barkeep was making some gesture I would guess is this world's equivalent of the cross over chest, and tavern-goers all around were seemingly placing bets on something.

As I sat in complete confusion, I heard deep rumblings from the back, mixed with a lot of clanging and sloshing noises. I could only brace myself for whatever I was about to face.