A year has passed and you're back in college, though it's not as much fun as it was when you didn't need to worry about where your tuition was coming from or having something like a job.



Finding time to study while running the inn is difficult, but fortunately your mother picks up some of the slack when you really need time. You've also managed to re-establish some old contacts with people you were "friends" with before your "break". Most of them are ahead of you and some are getting ready to graduate. While none of them bothered to stay in contact with you (so much for education breaking down class distinctions) a few of them are still willing to help you out by selling you books for cheap or giving you some of their old notes. Every little bit helps.



As for the inn, it's doing well, but you constantly worry about its future profitability. You've got a much broader customer base and even classed the place up a bit, but this isn't without its drawbacks. Namely the Flying Griffon Inn has stepped up its efforts to get back its customers. This has so far involved an aggressive advertising campaign, hiring a bunch of sexy barmaids and special deals. So far it has helped them a lot and if they continue to succeed, your inn is going to start losing money and you can't have that. It doesn't help that your place isn't in as good of a location as the Flying Griffon



So first things first, you need to figure out how to deal with Flying Griffon and you call a staff meeting in the hopes of getting some other ideas on how to deal with them.



"Why don't you just hire someone to cut up their slutty barmaids? I mean that's what's mainly getting the main draw right? Seems like you could easily solve the problem by getting rid of them." Rita says. Naturally this doesn't go over well with the others.

"That's horrible!" Eliza says

" What? I didn't say kill them, they'd still be able to work and shit. They just wouldn't be pretty anymore."

"Have you gotten so jealous that you've gone completely barmy? By the gods, we're not doing that, we're not the Crimson Talons!" Wendy shouts.



As much as disfiguring Flying Griffon's staff would solve some problems, you hesitate to resort to such measures.



"Maybe we could offer deals to traveling merchants like Flying Griffon does, like they get a discount on their rooms?" your mom suggests.

"Not sure if that's going to help us a lot, unless we make an addition to the inn. It's not like our rooms aren't being used. If we start giving discount to merchants we might attract them, but we might not have enough rooms to accommodate them or we'll be accommodating them, but won't be accommodating adventurer types who are paying full price." Wendy says.



"Well if you're so knowledgeable Wendy, what's YOUR solution?" Rita sneers.

"We have a lot of Klyton Milita that come here to drink now don't we? Why don't we get some of them to help us? Seems like some very public investigation during heavy business hours would help out a lot and ruin the reputation of Flying Griffon. Hell, maybe they'll even find something and we'll really get lucky."



You take all these suggestions into consideration, but you can't help notice that Eliza looks like she wants to say something.



"Eliza, do you have a suggestion?"

"Huh? Oh. Um…yes…but I... Just forget it. It's silly anyway. The rest of your ideas sound better."

"Eliza, just spit it out!" Wendy demands.

"It's okay, just tell us." You say with a lot less intimidation.

"Well okay, but it's silly. I was going to suggest getting someone on the inside to spy on the place and finding something to use against them. It seems odd that they are managing to attract that much attention with just pretty barmaids when we have our own. I think maybe something else is going on there, like an illegal brothel or something."



Most of you are surprised that Eliza came up with something so complex.



"Well, that's a very elaborate plan Eliza, but I think we could accomplish the same thing just by sending in our militia buddies to harass them. Like I said, if they do find anything actually incriminating, then its even better."

"Yes, of course. That sounds like a more efficient idea." Eliza says.

You go with your mom's idea

Mom's idea seems the least underhanded so you decide to go with that. You realize that you're going to have to spend more money in actually building the place up, but you figure that you'll earn more in the long term.



So you start to build. It's a lengthy and expensive process, and the Flying Griffon's success hasn't been slowing down and it's starting to cut into your business. Meanwhile you're having a hard time concentrating on your schoolwork due to all the stress, you start snapping at everyone which makes the overall atmosphere of the inn a little tense.



Eventually your additions get done, and for a while it helps, but ultimately you've spent more money than you're gaining, because whatever the hell the Flying Griffon is doing, they're still getting more customers. At this rate you won't make enough to pay for your tuition and you'll have to drop out again and that won't exactly endear you to the university who frown upon such chaotic patterns to higher learning even you do manage to raise the money to get back in again.



One night it all comes crashing down.



"Yes sir, you'll get your breakfast in the morning at twenty five percent off, so that's three gold and 4 silvers." You tell a fat Delantium merchant.

"Huh! Highway robbery for a place like this! But I suppose I have no choice as the Flying Griffon is filled up tonight…"

"Flying Griffon…Flying Griffon…" you say with a smile before you grab the merchant by his throat.

"Hey, ulp!"

"You like the Flying fucking Griffon so much well get the fuck outta here and sleep in their doorway you fat piece of shit!" you shout, releasing the merchant roughly so he falls to the floor dropping his coins all over the place. Everyone in the place stops what they're doing to watch your outburst.



As the merchant tries to get up and collect his dropped possessions, you grab your dad's Troll Gun and point it at him telling him to hurry up or you're going to blow his head off. At this point several of the Klyton Militia customers tell you to calm down and draw their own weapons, some of which have small flintlock pistols of their own. You mother and several of your staff pleads with you to calm down.



It works and the merchant leaves the inn as quickly as possible along with several other customers. The only ones who stay are the militia who insist that you hand over your weapon or they'll actually arrest you. You comply and state you have to go lie down. When you get to your room you collapse on your bed and fall asleep.



When you wake up the next day, you feel like you're in a daze. You aren't sure how you're going to proceed, but your mother has already stepped in for you.



"You're selling the inn?" you say with a sense of familiarity.

"Yes, I'm selling this place, it's going to be the best thing for both of us! Especially you!"

"Bullshit! You just don't want to be here anymore! You've said it yourself! If you really cared about me, you'd try to help me with finishing my education. You know like YOU and DAD wanted me to? But why bother right? It was all fucked from the moment dad ran out of money and had to borrow from a loanshark. I never had a chance."



At this point your mother takes your hand.



"Son, I'm sorry. We really tried the best we could. We really did want the best for you, but maybe we just aimed too high and as a result you had a lot of pressure on you. I never thought I'd ever see you pull a gun on someone in anger. It was scary to see that side of you because I didn't raise you to be that way. So I'm going to do the only thing I can think of to help you. I'm selling this inn and you can have ALL of the money I get from it. I don't know if it'll be enough that you'll be able to finish up your classes, but maybe it'll help. Now doesn't that sound a little easier?"



You have to admit, it does though you're still concerned about finances. Proper medical school is still really expensive, but you guess you'll figure something out.



"I just want you to know that if something doesn't work out though, that you'll always be welcome at your aunt's house in Teckleville where I'm going to stay. I love you."



You and your mom hug and at that point you feel a little weight lifted off your shoulders.



Your mother ends up selling the inn to Frank, the owner of the Flying Griffon. He mentions that he's a little surprised at the offer considering the new additions built onto the Traveller's Inn, but he's willing to pay more than the city will. It's a lot, but not enough for medical school.



You decide maybe while you can't be a doctor, maybe you can still choose something in medical field, presumably something you'll be able to afford and not be as stressed all the time.



You ultimately become a veterinarian and feel a great sense of accomplishment. The only problem is they aren't in great demand in Klyton and the few that do exist in the city have the market pretty much cornered, but you do know of a place where they might need one…



You move to Teckleville where you make a living treating farm animals and pets like kitties and puppies. Occasionally someone has something more exotic like a purple tailed glittermane, but it's a quiet life for the most part. You eventually have a family and live the rest of your days there.



Sometimes you wonder what would've happened if you'd done things a bit differently at the inn, but all things considered it worked out.