She Professed Herself The Pupil Of The Wiseman (WN)

While Martel still had the upper hand with salads, the garlic rice and potage had an exquisite taste that could not be matched by merely combining raw ingredients, and more importantly, their warmth had a strangely comforting quality to it.

Martel could create fruits and vegetables that surpassed those of the highest quality. Only cooked food held a chance of competing against that. Those were the thoughts circling around Mira’s mind as she ate, while also dreaming of the day she could let Martel taste some delicious food that would leave her speechless.

Once she was done eating dinner, and the tableware was carried away, Mira headed to the bathroom. A night in that room cost 150,000 Rils, so having a private bathroom was essentially obligatory.

「This is quite the view as well.」

After getting undressed in the changing room, Mira entered the bathroom and looked out through the large window on the other side of the room, sounding quite impressed by it.

The window offered a vast view into the streets of Gran Rings. Mira quickly jumped into the bathtub to submerge herself, then stretched her body while letting out a satisfied groan and looked at the city.

「It looks really lively out there, though it’s pretty quiet around here.」

Far on the other side of the district, around the area where the Adventurer’s Guild was located, there were many buildings open and bustling. There was likely a large amount of adventurers still moving around there. Meanwhile in the lodging district, especially the area with the most expensive locations, it was much quieter and calmer.

There were fewer people walking on the streets down below too, and most of the light came from street lamps placed on regular intervals.

「Ah, those must be the guards on patrol. They’re such hard workers.」

Two knights in matching armor walked by the inn. They were the city guards that could sometimes be seen on the streets. The fact that they were two patrolling together also gave an increased sense of security, which Mira appreciated.

But then she noticed the two knights stopped walking, looking at something. Soon after both were squatted down.

Mira looked more attentively, extremely curious at what they were doing, though it was nothing of importance.

It was just a stray cat, which the two knights were trying to lure closer.

Eventually the stray cat got closer so the two picked it up and began playing with it, and they even had some cat food for it. The cat also seemed rather used to people, not making any efforts to get away even while they carried it. It almost felt like the knights were there specifically to feed that cat.

「They’re completely open to attacks now…」

Seeing that worried Mira slightly, as it was the perfect chance for a criminal to act unseen. Not to mention that accomplished merchants and wealthy tourists stayed in that district. But the knights guarding the streets were completely entranced by a stray cat, creating the perfect hunting grounds for someone with high ambitions and low morals.

And then it dawned on her.

(Now that I think about it, there’s also high level adventurers staying here. Anyone who tries anything shady around here would likely get caught instantly.)

That was also part of the demographic staying in that district, adventurers of such caliber that not even the guards could stand against, and who would gladly claim bounties from criminals. Whoever tried to break the law there would need to face such powerful people, making it an extremely unfair endeavor.

If anything, the guards were there to break up scuffles between adventurers.

(Maybe that’s why they’re acting so carelessly.)

Mira looked at the guards again and saw that one figure and two kittens had joined them. The figure looked like a woman, likely an adventurer staying in one of the nearby inns. Mira could obviously not hear anything from that distance, but it seemed like they were talking about the stray cats. Considering the kittens were still small, they were likely the first stray’s offspring. Then the adventurer took out various items from her Item Box and gave them to the cats.

It was a peaceful and quiet night in the streets around the inn.

Mira continued watching the cityscape through the window, her body soaking in the bath while being illuminated by the soft light of the bathroom. 「So peaceful…」 she muttered, then turned to look around the bathroom again.

「Hm…what’s that?」

The bathroom was outfitted with every luxury possible, but a certain glass wall caught her attention. Behind the glass there was a device with a strange horn on top.

Wondering what that was, Mira got out of the bathtub and walked closer to the glass wall. Upon closer inspection, she understood what it was.

「I think this thing’s called uh… gramophone.」

It was essentially a record player, and a rather fancy one at that. It was bulky, with many switches on it, which operated a mechanism to automatically exchange records.

(I see…they even managed to replicate vinyl records.)

As she looked at the device, Mira realized she had never really looked into this world’s music. All she could remember was Leticia’s songs, and the troubadour Emilio who she was thinking about not too long ago. She had also caught bits of songs during her stays at inns before, but she never paid attention and hardly remembered what they sounded like.

(I’m sure Emilio’s songs will also be put on records like this one day.)

His singing ability was impressive, and if someone involved with the creation of such records heard him, he would likely be recruited straight away. Thinking of that, Mira continued looking at the device, and noticed a piece of paper listing all the available songs.

「A personal jukebox for a bathroom though, that’s quite the luxury.」

The glass wall likely existed to block steam and moisture from reaching the record player, extending its lifespan. But that would also make operating the device tricky, so there were switches extending across the glass, covered in a soft vinyl-like material to keep them dry. That way whoever was taking a bath could freely choose songs to listen to. All of that made Mira feel like the price of 150,000 Rils for a night was justified.

「Let’s see…what songs do they have here.」

Wanting to thoroughly enjoy her stay there, Mira quickly read the list of songs.

There were around fifty songs listed there. The criteria by which those specifically had been chosen was a mystery, but some of their names were things like Under the Light of Dawn, Lorric Hymn, Dandelion Bouquet, A Bunny Lured by the Moon, Magical☆Happy Smile for You, Till how I might I only get Potatoes, Will you put that Scallion in the Pot?, and many more. Some sounded more serious, others more idol-y, and some felt like inside jokes. It was quite an adventurous lineup for a fancy inn.

「…I’ll avoid these, but the rest might warrant a try.」

Eventually Mira was done picking a song, so she quickly operated the switches. Then there was a soft electrical hum as the device turned on, a mechanical arm grabbed a record from the lineup, and placed it on the turntable.

The record began to spin, then a needle was gently lowered on it.

When the needle made contact, a slightly retro or old-fashioned sound filled the bathroom.

「Ohh, not a bad choice.」

She had picked a song that sounded somewhat classical. The pleasant melody was perfect for her to return into the bathtub.

Feeling an even higher sense of luxury, Mira submerged herself in the hot water while happily muttering 「This is heaven…」