It was dark outside.

And your wives excused themselves to go to their rooms and get some rest. Understandable, since it has been a long day.

Productive, but exhausting. You almost felt like it stretched for weeks, even.

Yes, all of your wives went to their respective rooms, all save two; Mel and Cattleya.

You found your Cat having found a nice box to curl around and sleep in.

"Hey, Catty," You said, almost feeling bad about waking her up.

"Guh..." Cattleya wakes from her cat nap at your voice. "Wot's happenin', guv?"

Seeing her in a wooden box (sadly cardboard hadn't been invented yet) almost made you grin.

"We're gonna find out Rostchilde's plans," You said with a grin, "You in?"

"That even a question, luv? Count me in." Cattleya responded with a determined and predatory grin of her own.

"Good." You said. "Do you know where Mel is?"

"Y'called?" Said Mel, suddenly appearing behind you.

"Good timing. We're just about to snoop around, sort of like last time the two of us went to find those mercenaries: Gather info, follow leads, that sort of thing."

"Sounds good to me." She said with a smile.

With that, you were off.

===

The lamplighters began to make the quiet of this peaceful neighborhood blink awake with streetlights. A few of them were kind enough to greet you, and wished you a good stroll.

It was a rather beautiful night. A shame that the smog and steam tended to cover most of the stars.

But one thing was clear: The more you left the neighborhood, the less peaceful it was. You knew there were cities with active night life, the type that 'never sleep'— in fact you'd lived in a few before being reincarnated— but Centria's activity tended to wax and twist depending on what part of it your fancy took you towards. The most dramatic shifts, as far as you knew, were between the kitsune neighborhood and the capital of Centria itself. It was almost like stepping into two different countries; one was traditional and had a tight knit community of merchants and adventurers, while the other was cosmopolitan and deeply Victorian with entrenched interests of those in power.

It was like night and day.

The day was something you're used to, but now you were finally seeing the night.

You and your two wives gravitated to the cafe— the one where you visited a few times before. You were all becoming a regulars at this point.

"Alroight, wot's the plan now?" Meowed Cattleya.

"There were three people messing with some of the hotels and causing trouble in them." You started with what you all knew. "And Rostchilde's Bed and Barn Inns are doing pretty well for some reason, despite generally being terrible."

"They're definitely hiding something." Mel stated. "Um, I mean, that's obvious. But there's something else going on. And Ruby didn't hear anything about them raising their quality or lowering their prices. Though she did say they were building more places."

"But we already knew that bastard was expanding his shit, mate." Cattleya said.