The town was quite a bit smaller than Illion, but they considered that a good thing. It meant it would be easier to escape if it came to that. Anaya had considered taking off her armour but realized that what she wore under it wasn’t exactly appropriate for strolling into town and would likely garner them even more attention. Rue had suggested that she could go alone to get her a different outfit, but Anaya decided against it. If they were split up and trouble arose, it would make things much more difficult. Now that Rue was back to her normal strength, she likely wouldn’t have too much trouble outside of an ambush, but Anaya herself could be in trouble if faced with too many opponents, especially since she certainly didn’t want to kill any guards of this town.

 They approached the last stretch to the town via the road going from south to north, as doing otherwise would’ve seemed suspicious. It turned out to be easy – a guard was posted there, but she just waved them along after barely a glance. Based on the regulations in Illion Anaya had expected there might be some questions about her armour and weapons, but apparently things were pretty relaxed here in that regard.

 The first order of business was to find an inn to stash their things and stable the horses. They simply took the first one they came across while going along the main street. It was shortly before the city centre, from what Anaya could tell. Thanks to the loot from the bandits Anaya had enough money to pay for it while still having enough left over for their modest shopping needs.

 It was well into the afternoon when they walked out of the inn and headed for the marketplace, which as the innkeeper had confirmed to them was just a short way down the main street. Unlike in Illion, here in Hurlann – which was the name of the town, as they managed to learn in a roundabout way – the city centre was also the marketplace. In Illion that was only true during larger festivals and the like. Upon arriving there, they could see that it was quite lively, but even in the crowd, it didn’t take long to locate vendors selling clothes.

 “Should you get some spares too?” Anaya asked her companion, who was looking around her with little interest.

 “I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”

 Just as Rue had said that something caught Anaya’s attention. It was a hat. It was a brown wide-brimmed hat with a floppy conical top, and at the base of the top was a black ribbon. It looked almost like it was made for Rue’s outfit. She picked it up and approached the unsuspecting witch whose attention was elsewhere. She plopped the hat down on Rue’s head. Somehow her companion had managed not to react, which was a little disappointing to Anaya.

 “Looks like just your colour and style,” she commented as Rue turned toward her.

 “Does it, now?” Rue took off the hat, examining it by turning it this way and that in her hands. Eventually, she shrugged and put it back on. “I will take your word for it, then.” Anaya smiled. At least in her opinion, it fit perfectly.

 They picked out some other clothes, with Anaya splurging for a bit more than just one outfit, such as undergarments. They then headed back to the inn since it was so close. They wiped themselves down with towels and warm water that the inn had provided, and afterwards changed into their new clothes. Anaya felt relieved and refreshed to be wearing something other than her guard uniform and armour.

 As they headed back out, Anaya smiled – Rue had kept the hat on. Despite also having changed clothes to something a little less unique in style, the colours were still all shades of brown. Anaya’s own clothes were mostly cream and light brown. She looked much like any of the townsfolk that were out and about.

 They set out to procure food supplies first and ended up filling a whole basket with various things they couldn’t easily get on the road but would keep well, such as flour and potatoes. Rue also picked out some herbs and spices that she noted she hadn’t come across for a while.

 As they were circling the edge of the marketplace, a notice board caught Anaya’s attention. It contained things such as bounties, requests and the like. Indicating it to Rue, she got closer, checking to see if there was something about the two of them on it. However, that didn’t seem to be the case, and she breathed out a sigh of relief.

 After acquiring a few more miscellaneous supplies they headed back to the inn once more. After storing their new supplies, they enjoyed a meal in the inn’s main hall. It wasn’t particularly tasty compared to Rue’s culinary wizardry, but it filled the stomach just fine. And the ale was decent – something they hadn’t been able to enjoy while on the road.

 Upon returning to the room afterwards, Anaya sat down on her bed. They were planning on moving on early next morning, so the intention had been to sleep early. Even with that being the case… the room had two beds, but Rue’s inviting smile irresistibly lured Anaya to a shared bed. Sleep had to wait a little while longer.