(MC POV)
All of us turned in the direction of the voice to see a man dressed in fine clothes storming towards us.
Judging by his demeanour and the way he's dressed, I'm assuming he's the manager of this establishment.
He stormed up to me and gestured towards the direction of Manami, Kiyomi and our four dearest escorts, "Are you the owner of these slaves?! Don't you know that slaves aren't allowed to step foot in here?! Get them out of here now!"
I tilted my head at him, "Is this how you treat a paying customer? I worry for the future of this place if it is."
He pointed his finger at me, "Who do you think you are? Do you even know what this place is? You think a nobody like you is qualified to even step foot in here? This place only serves the elite of the elites!"
I scratched my chin, "Is the royal ambassador of Beiyang Empire not good enough to stay here as well?"
"Hmph! If such a person comes, then tell him to come speak to me then!"
I tilted my head at him, "Actually, you're speaking to him right now."
He looked me up and down and broke out into laughter, "Hahahaha! You? The royal ambassador of Beiyang?! If you really are then I'm the king of Sun!"
I faked a gasp, "Oh! I didn't know your highness would come all the way out here to meet me! It is very nice to meet you finally!"
He scowled at me, "Stop joking around. Anyone can see that you're no one important, much less the ambassador. So get your sorry self off the premise now."
Brendan raised an eyebrow at the man in front of me, "Are the people of this country all blind or something? How can Master be a nobody and get a group like us following Him around?"
The 'king of Sun' waved his hand at Brendan, "It's obvious all of you are just paid actors. You can get your money from him and leave already, no need to continue this charade anymore."
Wow… I'm pretty sure if I showed him the royal carriage outside, he's just going to claim I stole it or made it myself.
My alchemist nodded his head, "Ah I see. They aren't just blind, they're also stupidly delusional. That explains a lot."
His face turned red, "How dare you?! Do you know who I am?! I'm the floor manager of this inn and a single word from me can ensure that no other inn around here will let you stay there! I hope you enjoy sleeping out in the wilds tonight!"
Not that it would really matter to us even if we had to sleep outside, but I'm sure the girls all want a bath and a bed to sleep in tonight instead of in a tent. I could always just create a house too I suppose, but let's just try to do things normally first before I resort to that.
"What do I need to do to convince you that I'm really the royal ambassador from Beiyang?" I asked.
He crossed his arms, "Hmph! Nothing at all. I know you're a sham so get your little group and vacate the premises."
I was about to suggest looking for another place to stay when Diao Chan stepped forward.
She materialised a coin pouch that I have never seen before from her storage ring and poured out several gold coins onto her palm, "Not even this would convince you?"
I'm pretty sure just a single gold coin or two would be enough to get the best rooms in this inn, so the small pile of it in Diao Chan's palm could possibly buy out the entire inn if we wanted to.
I swear I could see that manager's eyes light up at the sight of the gold, "Oh my! Forgive this useless one for not having eyes! It seems sir really is the royal ambassador of Beiyang! Please forgive my rudeness from earlier!"
Well would you look at that? Of course money would be the real king here which makes perfect sense, what an oversight on my part.
If I had shown the stallowner from several days ago some gold, his attitude might have flipped too. Right, just make a mental note to start flashing money while I'm here.
As expected of our noble woman to know how to deal with them… And she's definitely going to ask me for a reward for this so I better get ready to spank some bottoms later.
Diao Chan turned to me with a playful smile, "What should we do, Master? The customer service here seems to be pretty bad, I do not believe this place is suitable for your esteemed self. Perhaps the Inn across the road which looks to be their competitor would be a better choice."
The manager's face immediately turned into one of panic, "Wait, wait! Please forgive this one who was too stupid to see sir's Majesty! As compensation, I can give sir our best room, free of charge!"
I turned to Diao Chan who was wiggling her eyebrows surreptitiously at me and I understood what she was hinting on.
I crossed my arms, "Hmmm… I don't know… Maybe the manager of the other Inn would allow my precious youkais to stay with me instead of the stables…"
"Ara, ara~ Master called us precious~" Manami giggled while the others blushed.
Come on girls, at least be a little bit more subtle… It's ok Xun Guan, no need to purposely push their tails away like that.
I thought the manager would at least hesitate on this point but one glance at the gold Diao Chan was still holding was enough for him to change his bias.
He gave a fake laugh, "Ahaha! For such an important guest, of course all your companions would be allowed to stay here! They can even stay in the same room as sir!"
How considerate of him.
Just in case you actually think he had a change of heart, spoiler alert! He didn't.
He only offered my room free of charge so we're still expected to pay for the other rooms we'll take for my disciples to stay in. The fact that he specifically said to let the youkai girls stay in my room meant he did not want them staying in another room by themselves.
Well not like money is an issue for me right now anyway and I don't mind staying in the same room as them either so win win.
I was just about to agree to his terms when Diao Chan shook her head, "Do you think that we would forgive such a terrible attitude with just this? You even tried to claim yourself as the King of the country of Sun, isn't that pretty much lese majeste?"
The manager paled, "That… That was… That was just a joke… Ahaha… Just a bad habit of mine to lighten the mood!!"
Of course it is.
"Mmm… I think we can stay here Master," Diao Chan concluded.
The manager brightened up but before he could get too happy, my Witch turned back to him, "However, for the audacity of disrespecting our Master… Go kneel over there and slap yourself and ask for forgiveness until our Master is satisfied."
Err… What? Isn't that kind of extreme? I'm pretty sure he won't… HE'S ACTUALLY DOING IT?!
He really went down on his knees and started slapping himself! And it's not the halfhearted kind of slaps either, he's really going to town on his own face with those slaps.
"Please forgive this pitiful one! I am scum! Forgive this pitiful one! I am scum! Forgive…"
"Perfect, Master. Let's go get our room keys then~" Diao Chan chirped, pulling along my arm towards the inn's reception desk, the staff behind it looking at us with obvious trepidation.
Er… You're really going to just leave him there? Ok then… I guess I'll come back and ask him to stop when we're checked in…
