The man behind the desk looked past Boris, eyeing the two small boys following him.
"They're staying with you?"
"Yeah, that's right. They can share one bed, no problem."
"Hmph. Kids like that can sleep on the floor just fine. You should save your coin. A single room would do."
The man at the front desk thought he was being helpful. That was why Boris held back the irritation rising in his chest and chose not to snap at him.
"These kids were entrusted to me by a priest," Boris said plainly. "To me, they're precious children."
The ground floor of the inn, where the front desk was located, also served as a dining hall and bar—a typical setup for inns in that area.
Around the room, a few customers sat eating and drinking, but they had stopped to stare at Bao Bei and Judy. The stares weren't kind. They were cold and full of contempt. The looks said everything—Why are kids with those disgusting rabbit ears and strange-patterned dog ears here?
Bao Bei and Judy could feel it. Sensitive to every emotion around them, they shrank under the pressure of those cold eyes.
Judy's rabbit ears drooped low, limp and defeated. Bao Bei's ears folded flat against his head, and his tail dropped down and curled around his legs.
This was the usual way the world looked at them.
Boris had grown up in the Vulpitia Village and was familiar with the church, which was why he could look at Bao Bei and Judy and see something cute, even lovable.
However, if he had never known them, if he had seen them for the first time in this place, would he have looked at them any differently than the other people in this room?
He probably would've looked down on them too, just because they were a lower class of beastmem. Just to enjoy that small, fleeting feeling of being above someone.
God, we're awful, Boris thought.
If he hadn't taken this journey with Bao Bei and Judy, he probably wouldn't have ever realized it.
Quietly, Boris used his own body to block the cruel stares, shielding the boys as he led them up the stairs to the second floor, where the rooms were.
Their room was small, with nothing more than two simple wooden bedframes stuffed with straw, a tiny table, and two chairs. Still, to Bao Bei and Judy, it felt luxurious.
Back at the church, the room they shared with other children had four tiny beds packed in tight. This room seemed like a palace in comparison.
"You two can sleep in that bed," Boris said. "It's big enough for both of you, right?"
"It's so big, the three of us could sleep in it!" Judy replied cheerfully.
Before Boris could respond, Bao Bei leapt onto the bed with excitement. He landed with a soft thump and spread out his arms and legs.
"Wow! It's fluffy! Not hard at all!"
The straw-stuffed bed felt much more comfortable than the hard wooden beds at the church. Bao Bei was amazed by how soft it was, and his tail twitched gently with delight.
Both dinner and breakfast were brought up to the room. Boris had decided it was better that way. If Bao Bei and Judy ate downstairs, they would feel nervous and uncomfortable, and the other guests would likely be bothered by their presence too.
The dinner was a stew with vegetables and a few pieces of meat. Breakfast came with dark rye bread and a salad with salted meat. Boris ordered two meals, and Bao Bei and Judy shared one between them, happily eating every bite together.
...
The next day, they left early in the morning, so they were able to reach the next town before sunset.
For Bao Bei and Judy, it was the first town they had ever seen. Several roads crossed through it, houses stood close together, and stores lined the streets. There were even food stalls in the open plaza.
It wasn't a big city—just a slightly larger countryside town compared to the village they had come from—but for Bao Bei and Judy, who had only ever known their small village, it felt huge and lively.
A church stood on the edge of the plaza, made of stone, and it looked grand enough to be a castle in their eyes.
"Is that a castle?" Bao Bei asked, peeking out from under the wagon's load to look around the town.
"It has big pillars at the entrance. And a lot of stone steps too. But there are no guards. A real castle has guards," Judy replied seriously.
There were so many people in the plaza that Bao Bei looked around nervously, only letting his face show from the wagon as he observed the bustling town.
Soon, Boris pulled the wagon around the back of a shop. He was apparently dropping off part of the load there.
"This might take a little while. Can you two wait here?" Boris asked.
"We'll keep watch over the wagon!" Judy said, tapping his chest proudly as he stood beside it.
"Be careful!" Bao Bei said loudly, waving his little arms. Even though he had turned three, his words still came out slurred for some reason.
The shop was off the main road, and the wagon was parked behind it, where there were no people around. That helped them relax a little as they stayed close to the wagon. The town was exciting, but all the people made it tiring too.
Then, suddenly, Judy's ears twitched, and he sat up alert. Bao Bei followed his gaze toward the corner of a nearby alley. Four shadows appeared from around it.
They were all boys, and each one was much taller and broader than Judy. They looked about five to six years old in beastmen years—which was around ten to twelve years old for humans. Their hair and ears were beautiful shades of blue, light blue, and green. Behind the three boys stood another child, about eleven years old in human terms, who had dull brown dog ears and was carrying a load of bags.