Chapter 5
Erza sits in her bed thinking that this Inn must be the worst one she has ever had the displeasure of staying at. Not only was the price insane, but the room isn't even that nice. Just last night, Wendy found a bug in the room and freaked out. Anna and Erza then spent the next hour trying to kill the thing. Once they finally got rid of it, another one appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and startled Wendy once more. Erza couldn't wait to get out of this place, and she feels like the sentiment is shared by the other two.
"Do we have everything?" Anna asks as she picks up her bag to go.
Erza jumps off the bed and grabs her bag, "Yeah, let's just get out of here."
Wendy silently follows the two older women out of the room and down to the reception desk. Natsu is already down there with the key to his room. He hands it to Anna to deal with the checkout.
"How did you sleep?" Erza asks.
"Perfectly fine." Natsu replies.
"You didn't have any problems?"
Natsu gives Erza a confused look, "No, did you?"
Erza proceeds to give Natsu the laundry list of problems she had with their room. Everything from the bug problem to the uncomfortable beds. Natsu meanwhile fights back the urge to laugh in Erza's face. He did encounter the same problems as the girls, but unlike them he was accustomed to those conditions thanks to living in the forest.
"What do you mean a checkout fee!?" Anna yells at the man running the desk.
The trio turn around to see their teacher fuming at the man behind the desk. She is gripping at the desk, looking ready to rip it apart.
"There's a check-out fee." The man responds, "one thousand jewels."
"I have never heard of something so ridiculous as a checkout fee! We already paid the check-in fee!"
Erza walks over to the desk and slams down one thousand jewels. She isn't even in the mood to argue with the man. She just wants to get out of this place at this point.
"Can we please just go?"
Anna gives the man a dirty look, "You should be disgusted with yourself. This is highway robbery."
"Hey, we need to make money too you know."
Anna turns around with a huff and marches away from the desk. The three kids follow her out of the building and go to grab their wagon.
"You four are mages, right?" a voice asks from around the corner.
A poor looking man steps out from the alley and approaches the group. Wendy steps back behind Natsu, while the other three stand their ground.
"Yeah, what of it?" Anna replies, clearly still angry.
"I saw you got into a spat with the owner back there. You shouldn't blame him; he's just trying to make a living."
"That's no excuse to take advantage of travelers."
The man nodded his head in agreement, "But you don't know what kind of state this town is in. If you look in any of the shops, you'll find just about everything is expensive."
"What's your point?"
"My point is our lord, Lord Luxery, is excessively taxing us. We have to charge outrageous prices, or we'll lose our businesses and livelihoods. Like how I loss mine."
"So, you want us to put this lord in his place?" Erza asks, requiping into her standard armor.
A smile graces Anna's lips, "We'd be happy to help. Isn't that right?"
Natsu and Wendy are cowering behind the two girls. Frankly, neither of them really understands what the big issue is, but they feel like it would be a bad idea to go against their wishes. Plus, Natsu has a feeling he'll get the chance to fight someone, so he is on board with this plan.
"That insignia!" the poor man gasps, "Are you related to the Belserion family?"
Erza chuckles to herself and places her hand over her breastplate, "Finally, someone who recognizes who I am. That's right, I am Erza Belserion!"
The man drops to his knees and bows before the princess, "Forgive me Milady, I did not mean to bother you with such trifling matters!"
Erza is taken aback by the man's reaction. She has never been one for the praise and glory that came with her royal heritage. There was certain amount of enjoyment she got out of it though.
"Nonsense! If a lord is abusing his power, it is my responsibility to see to it that he is properly reprimanded!"
"Oh, thank you, thank you!" The man begins to bow incessantly before her.
"Wow, you're really enjoying this." Natsu remarks.
Erza elbows Natsu in the stomach, "Now, get up good sir. Take us to this lord of yours."
The man stands up and bows once more Erza, "Of course Milady, this way!"
Anna and Erza follows behind the man with wicked smiles on their faces. Natsu and Wendy trail behind rather indifferent to the situation. The man leads them through the village. The buildings are all a dull color. The people's clothes are noticeably worn, and true to the man's words, the price of goods appears to be rather higher than usual.
The man leads them to a mansion at the edge of town. The building is blocked off by a high fence. Two guards are posted in front of the gate. Erza and Anna walk ahead of the man who falls back to the back of the group.
"We'll take it from here." Anna informs the man.
The man bows to us and runs away back to town. We walk closer to the guards, and Erza addresses them, "We would like to speak with Lord Luxery."
The guard's study us over before replying, "Do you have an appointment?"
Erza places her palm under the emblem on her armor, "I am Princess Erza Belserion. I don't need an appointment."
The guards look at each other and nod. They pull their spears from the ground point their spears at us.
"For the crime of attempting to impersonating a member of the royal family, you are hereby placed under arrest!"
"Fine then." Erza requips her sword and points it at the guards, "We'll do this the hard way!"
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