"Welcome to Cinnamon Inn, how can I... ah, Lord John," The receptionist's smile became more sincere as she saw you. "It's a pleasure to see you again."

"The pleasure is all mine." You returned her smile with a grin. "Looks like you got a promotion."

"Heh, I wish." She giggled. "I'm just filling in for my sister."

Bertha eats some of the complimentary foods that the hotel was giving out, while Herta just wandered about. After you and Rattica share some smalltalk she asks you what you're here for.

"I've just been looking for a friend." You proceed to name and describe Aila.

"Hmm, I don't think we have any elves called... wait," Rattica pauses "No, actually, there was one elf girl that stayed here recently. She was wearing a scarf, so I couldn't get a good look at her face. But everything else sounds just like you described."

"I see." You said.

"Also she called herself Alia." Right, that basically confirmed it.

"Could you tell me where she went to next?" You ask.

"She mentioned something about 'Oak & Iron Lodging', which is a few streets down and to the right." She tried to be helpful by giving directions, but you already knew about the place.

"Alright. Thank you, Ms. Squeek." You began to gather your wives.

"Wait, before I forget." Rattica squeaked, taking out a piece of paper from a drawer. "Mr. Tiller wanted to expand by setting up a hotel in your plaza, but he needed your approval to rent out anyplace. He was wondering if you could, uh, approve of him renting a lot there?"

"Don't you need to have a place in mind to rent out first?" You asked.

"Well, since the place is pretty much a dump—no offense—he thought you might choose a place we could demolish and rebuild from the ground up."

"Is Ein Tiller here?"

"He's at the Merchant's Guild, meeting up with some of the other hotel owners about something or another. He said he'd be there all day."

Interesting.

If you were understanding this correctly, they were gonna demolish, rebuild, and personally be responsible for fixing up a place all while giving you money for the right to stay there. You weren't much of an expert, but this sounded like a decent deal. Ayane would likely know what the right choice here was.

>"Let me make the place more presentable first, then I'll send the paperwork back to you." You wanted to at least make sure the plaza was safe before bringing any business.
>"I'll get back to you once your boss and I can talk face-to-face about it." You wanted to talk with him first.
>"Alright, thank you." It was an interesting offer, but you wanted to have Ayane's opinion about it first.
>"I'll try to get to you soon about it." You would take this deal, and next time you came to Centria you'd be sure to make a decision.
>(Write-in).

===

The large building that jutted up towards the clouds indicated your arrival at Oak & Iron Lodging. You found a few dwarves and humans running around the place.