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THE group was staying in some lodging fairly close to the center of Alhyura, the sort where they rented a whole suite.
The main room was so large you could probably have a practice swordfight in it. Elegant artwork-like furniture, polished up like precious gems, not a single speck of dust or nick in sight, was arranged stylishly throughout the room.
The large windows allowed you to step out directly onto the balcony to a view over the bustling city, the buildings jostling inside the city walls as if floating on the canals.
“There ya are, Timm, Lushera,” said Weyne, waving from his position lounging on the sofa.
There was also a woman who appeared to be roughly in her sixties. “Oh, welcome back, Timm!” she greeted.
“Um…who are you?” asked Lushera.
“Sh-She’s my ma…” said Timm.
“Wait, she’s your mother?!” cried Weyne.
Timm’s “ma” greeted him like this was their own home.
Her gray hair was dyed purple, and she was rather tall for a woman, with a strong build, which did imply she shared genes with Timm. She was also so plump and white that someone might mistake her for a snowman if she walked down a snowy street.
“Really now, dear, you should have told me ahead a’ time you’d be visiting Alhyura. Oh, is this little girl Lushera? Oh my word, she really is as cute as a pickle! My name’s Mira. I hear you’re a new member of the Golden Helm? Is it true you’re really strong even though you’re so cute? And, what is it like being a girl when you used to be a man? Do you like oranges?”
“Uh, I, um…”
Mira swept up and took Lushera’s hand, assaulting her with an avalanche of questions, but Mira’s attention shifted elsewhere while Lushera was still shocked and frozen, unable to process what was happening.
“Oh my, you must be the dragon of Mount Kugus, is that right? And you’re so gorgeous. I never met a dragon before. I see dragons can turn into people too. You look just like little Lushera here. Oh, but…why? I thought children looked like their parents ’cause they gave birth to them, but, do they just grow up to look more and more like them? Do you like oranges?”
This time she took Kaphal’s hand and pumped it up and down in an emotional handshake. Kaphal still couldn’t fully utilize their human language and was quite simply overwhelmed, so she let Mira do as she pleased.
“Weyne. You told her ’bout these two?” asked Timm. “They’re still supposed to be a secret from the normal citizens.”
“…Sorry. But she just kept on like that, asking questions about every tiny little thing, and I told her everything. Seriously, countries should use her instead of torture for getting intelligence.”
“We can all chat later, but we should let Lushera and Kaphal rest too. After all, we did just arrive in Alhyura,” said Viola from the kitchen where she was prepping some food.
“Oh, that’s right. I am so sorry. Have you eaten lunch yet? I’ll whip something up for ya,” said Mira. She joyfully pulled out an apron she had brought along with her, put it on, and went to the kitchen, which looked as clean as the day it was built.
Yes, this room had a kitchen en suite, and it was a fairly top-of-the-line one, too.
“Wow, I’ve never seen an inn that has a kitchen, and a magic range in that kitchen,” said Lushera with a gasp.
There it was, a range that required no kindling. You simply pressed a button and flames appeared on the burners. It was a unit with a built-in oven, too, also magically operated.
Most cities had a magic supply grid running to homes and businesses but, even if there was enough magic to power these sorts of appliances that emitted fire spells, the appliances themselves were rather pricey items. You didn’t generally see a magic range outside the kitchens of mansions.
“It’s a nice room, but the rent must be expensive. You could have all fit back in the house. And if you have to cook your own food, that’s no different from staying back home, is it?” said Mira with a sigh, but Timm shook his head.
“I don’t mind if it’s a cheap place or even back home, but we kinda gotta keep up a certain level of appearances when we’re in the capital. Especially when we’ve got a dragon with us. But I just don’t feel comfortable in a super fancy place where everyone’s constantly bending over backwards for you and everything’s so frilly. So, I avoided that by picking somewhere like this.”
Timm spread a protective sheet in a corner and started removing his armor. Even a warrior in full armor didn’t go about their daily lives wearing it.
“By the way, Lushera, do you know how to cook?” asked Viola. She looked just as witchy as ever, the only difference being she took off her belt with its odd tools. She stood next to Mira, taking ingredients out of a paper bag and her magic bags, lining them up on the counter.
“I do!” said Lushera. “I had to cook for myself when I lived out in the wild.”
“Aw, that’s cute. But this is a little different. When you’re out in the wilderness, you’re always cooking something that can just nourish you while using as few cooking implements as necessary, right? That’s just survival cooking. It’s not quite the same as culinary cooking.” Viola wagged a finger, her glasses gleaming. “And Kaphal, I imagine you know nothing about cooking, right?”
“I never cooked.”
“That’s what I thought.” Viola nodded, unsurprised.
Since dragons could live just by consuming large quantities of raw meat, cooking was nothing more than a curiosity to them in the end. Some dragon flights did apparently employ monsterfolk servants to cook for them, but that was only to enjoy the flavors of small amounts of food while the dragons were in human forms, since cooking quantities large enough to fill a dragon’s stomach would be too difficult. Their situation was quite different from the humanoid races, where cooking was synonymous with making the food necessary to continue living.
“All right, here starts the first of Viola’s Cooking Classes!”
“Are you really that good at cooking, Viola?” asked Lushera. Her impression of Viola was closer to someone who would rather nibble on biscuits while reading a book before even getting dressed in the morning, but perhaps that wasn’t the most flattering impression to hold.
“Is it really that surprising?” asked Viola. “To be honest, I never even went near cooking when I was a child. But then one day, I just had the burning desire to learn to do everything I needed to be able to do in order to live, and I did.”
“She is pretty good,” added Timm. “She’s even taught us a few things.”
“Even though I said you don’t need to help with the cooking.”
“I’d feel bad if I didn’t,” said Timm with a sigh, though Lushera couldn’t tell why he sighed.