Led by a tour guide who also served as a translator, Anna and the others checked into a rustic, half-stone, half-wood hotel.
Although the village hotel was simple, it was kept spotless. The hotel owner and staff were also unusually welcoming, almost to an unsettling degree.
When Anna went to change her shoes, an eight-year-old boy even knelt on the ground to help her. The guide said it was a local custom, but Anna clearly sensed a hidden fear in the child's eyes.
Sitting in a lounge chair on the vintage stone balcony, Anna enjoyed the warm sunshine while on the phone with the God of Shattering.
"Heh, you people are quite interesting. I never expected you to be running a tourism business while being pursued by the IMF. It seems even the most mysterious organizations run short on cash."
"If they were that ordinary, the IMF wouldn't be bothering with the Blind Sisterhood."
"Oh? Do they do anything else? Human sacrifices or something?"
