Chapter 13: The "Big" Inn Spirit
When the Panda saw that his stance relaxed and his tone had softened too much, he couldn’t help but look suspiciously at him.
Finn pretended not to notice the bear’s look and sat down next to the panda.
The redhead stared at it. Now that his guard had been sufficiently lowered, his hand was getting itchy to pat the panda’s head and maybe even poke that flabby—really flabby—tummy.
Did he really base his form on his memory? He didn’t seem to recall that panda toy being so fat...
Boink
"What are you lookin at?" he asked, voice still small. "Is this Great Spirit’s form so amazing?"
He might be tiny and cute, but his arrogance was as big as the mountain behind them.
Boink
And every move it made, something boinked. It was seducing people to squash him to death.
Sadly, this one was a speaking and intelligent being. This meant that it was more likely to have the concept of a private space, so he still needed to ask for consent. "Can I pat you?"
"Huh?" it asked, its eyes were big and large, and Finn’s hand moved on its own, kneading its head. The panda was a bit confused at first, but it ended up relaxing, as if it was being massaged, and Finn chuckled a bit.
"Do you have a name? And are you a boy or a girl?"
"People call this Great Spirit Inn Spirit No. 095, la, or just Great Spirit 95. I’m technically genderless, but my previous masters refer to me as male."
"...I’ll call you Pang."
Pang, as in chubby and cute. The Spirit, though, thought a one-syllable name sounded good, strong, and intimidating. It nodded. "Well, this Great Pang agrees."
Heh, the little guy adjusted to the name pretty quickly.
"So...what do you do, exactly?" Finn asked. He also wanted to ask more about the previous masters eventually, but there were more important questions to ask first.
"Pang just assists the innkeeper in handling inn-related problems," he said, laying on his tummy, and closing his eyes.
"I see..." Finn mumbled, looking at the inn. He continued to pet him for a while longer, though his arms were getting tired, so he’d have to stop soon.
Well, considering his stats meant that he was strained, he ought to stop soon.
So he did, and the panda flinched, looking at him as if he betrayed him.
"..."
Amusingly, this seemed to have reminded the Panda he had a job to do.
Pang looked at him up and down, starting to enumerate a few things. There also seemed to be a system window in front of him, though Finn couldn’t see it.
"Finnick Altheus Solthar, 27 Earth Years," he said, nodding, patting his chubby paws on an invisible floating screen. "Inn Name: Wanderer’s Refuge."
"Does the name have a meaning?" Pang asked. "We try to make a record of everything for future reference."
At the question, Finn’s eyes glazed a bit in nostalgia. "It’s the name of my parents’ Inn," he said. "I spent my happiest memories there."
When he was very young, he often looked at the signage for a long time every time he passed it. The nameplates and signs were quite well done; His father carved them himself.
He remembered the time when he asked his parents why they named it like that. It was his mother who answered his childish questions.
"First, our place is so far away. We encounter a lot of wanderers," she told him, looking at the forest that surrounded them. "People who may have lost their way—in many senses of the word."
The inn back then was located near the main roads, but the closest town was a few kilometers away. In the midst of a vast rural landscape, their small building was really something that stood out.
"Because our inn is more than just a place to sleep, it’s a place to rest," they told him. "As long as one is tired from a long journey, then they deserve a place to do so."
Sleep versus rest? At the time, he wondered what the difference was. He didn’t even remember his mother’s answer when he had asked.
Feeling complicated, he lay down on the ground, he looked at the clear skies. There were many things he ought to check, like the inn, like the barrier, but now that there was no immediate timer—and perhaps because he had a cute ’spirit’ next to him—he felt...tired. Like he could barely move.
Remembering what he had to go through to get here, he turned his head at the panda and went straight to the point. "Tell me why I am here, Pang. Why did you guys take me?"
The panda looked at him, looking a bit confused. "Why are you asking Pang, la?"
"...you don’t know?"
"Pang only exists with the inn, and Pang only awakens once the Inn is activated, la!" he said. "Plus, this is an entirely new place. No data in our database yet!"
Silence
Finn had always liked the idea of being a pioneer. Now, he dreaded it.
It was awkward for a moment while Finn thought of his next question. It was here that he remembered his words from before. "You mentioned before that you have never seen someone carry over so many non-combat skills before?"
"Yes la, you must’ve been really good. This manly spirit acknowledges your manliness." Pang said this with his chest puffed up while sitting, though it wasn’t obvious because his stomach was too big.
Finn didn’t comment on it though. "What does it mean?"
"Carrying over means to gain a previous skill you mastered, and the cosmos would calibrate it to be useful in the world where the Inn will be built!"
He nodded, kind of understanding it. Well, he could use all the skills he could get, though he wasn’t sure how that’d help him deal with monsters...
Was he supposed to cook monsters or something?
He loved cooking, but... he’d rather stay alive first.