Lina’s eyebrow twitched and she stared jarringly at one of the townsfolk that she’d pulled off the street to ask about finding a lodging for her and her friends. The man had just told her that Japama was so small and adrift from the major cities that they didn’t have an inn. No tourists ever came to the town and most travels only came to stay with family or friends because of that, operating a inn would be pointless.

“What type of dive doesn’t have a inn? Now I’ll have to sleep on the hard ground again tonight, while everyone else is in their warm beds!” Lina wailed, then stomped her foot angrily.

“But miss Lina, we’ll be sleeping on the ground too,” Amelia pointed out to the distrait sorceress. Lina turned to her and hissed, not caring if her friends would be joining her on the ground. Amelia retreated behind Zelgadis, trying to escape the wrath of the cranky redhead. Seeing that she’d gotten her message across, Lina sighed.

“Oh well, at least I’ll have a full belly when I go to sleep tonight on the hard ground,” Lina said to herself. That cheered her up a bit; having a full tummy would help her to forget about her woes.

“I hope you aren’t planning on eating her,” The bystander comment softly. He had no idea who these people were, but the redhead was scary. Especially when she started staring blackly after mentioning food.

“Why not?” Gourry asked, still nursing his burns.

“All the food in town was sent to the Goddess’s temple for the annual offering. There isn’t a crumb left in the city.” Lina looked at the man, her mouth gapping open in a very convincing impression of a fish. No shelter was one thing; she could sleep on a bed of hot coals and still be happy if she got her dinner. But no dinner meant one thing to Lina, Hell. Forget Rezo, the Lord of Nightmares, Ruby Eye Shabranigdo and all the other freaks Lina’s faced, they were nothing compared to the horror of going a single night without food.

“Waaaaaahhh! But I’m hungry!” Lina cried. What was she going to do without any food? She’s starve and grow thin and her bust would shrivel up. What did that stupid Goddess need with all the food anyway? She thought about all those meats, stews, vegetables, fruits, grains and so much more, sitting on the temple floor, with no one around to eat it.

“Wait a sec,” Lina mumbled and rubbed her chin. The food was just sitting there, waiting for a Goddess that may not even exist to eat it. It was pretty much free food, the best food in the world. Lina got a wicked smile and rubbed her hands in excitement.

“Oh no, I know that look. What are you planning now, Lina?” Filia said, all too aware of Lina’s lack of principles.

“Nothing much, just thinking of going up to the shrine to wish for some rations,” Lina innocently said. Filia groaned and closed her eyes to think.

“Lina, if you are planning to take the food from that temple then stop. Eating other people’s food is one thing, but taking a Goddesses offering can get you into a lot of trouble. Most curses are created because someone angers a deity and if you go any where close to that shrine, you are going to pay dearly. So please, use you common sense and don’t do anything stupid.” Filia looked up at Lina, but saw that she was already gone. Filia turned to the remainders of the group.

“How long ago did she leave?”

“About when you said that eating other peoples food is wrong,” Gourry answered. Filia exhale noisily and looked around her, did they really want to follow Lina to the temple or could they just let her commit heresy alone?