134 – Reunion that was quite bitter
The scenery of the inn we arrived at was nice to see.
A two-story white-walled, blue-roofed building next to a beautiful lake.
The beautiful inn, which seemed to come out of a watercolor rather than reality, won the admiration of the party.
As expected, it was the second best place in town.
To put this in a more adult perspective, it was that the inn was the second most expensive in town.
“Here you are.”
After carefully counting the coins I handed over, the innkeeper took out four keys with wooden plaques from under the counter.
“Please go up to the third floor.”
“Thank you.”
“Mr. G-House. The price range is a bit high, but isn’t it too much?”
Priyanian, who was watching from the side, whispered as if he was concerned, but he shook his head and said the reason.
“Miss Priyanian knows that, too. It will probably rain in the evening, and then you won’t be able to rest properly.”
You have to dry the tent after it rains, which is not only time consuming, but also pretty nasty if you dry it incorrectly.
I’d rather stay in a cabin with a view of the lake than sleep soundly and stay in the carriage all day smelling of dried ponchos.
“And everyone must be tired, so wouldn’t it be better to take a proper rest at a time like this, even if it’s a little expensive?”
“Even so.”
“Now, take one. It is a single room.”
I handed out the room key to the group.
“Then everyone has worked hard since daytime. Let’s unpack, get some rest, and see you in the evening.”
“Doesn’t the mercenary go up together?”
“I have work to do, so the three of you should go up first and rest.”
After sending the party up like that, I parked the wagon at the stable and took the things I had left inside.
The moment I was about to go up to my room with my luggage on my side.
Kikkik.
The front door opened before my eyes.
And, quite familiar faces were coming out from inside.
“Wow, that’s damn expensive.”
“Well then, let’s do this. Huh.”
“No, do you stutter if you don’t drink?”
“It’s like that. It’s not like I’ve had one or two adventures.”
A man wearing a straw hat and a hairy boy holding an axe, a guide holding a bow but more familiar with a dagger, and a swordsman holding a long sword.
“Anyway, since Lily and I are in the same room, you can take care of yourself. Right, Lily?”
“Of course not! Perun!”
“Damn it. It’s a good time.”
I met the gaze of the hairy boy who was turning his head to the side while pretending to be nauseous.
“Huh? Uh?”
“What is it, Blender? You also got a stutter from Sten- …Huh?”
The adventurers’ eyes turned to me, and I nodded as I held my luggage in my hand.
“Nice to meet you. I never expected to see you again in a place like this.”
Really.
The man in the straw hat asked me.
“That, that. Is it G-House?”
“That’s right. Sten, this is the first time I’ve been in charge of escorting the upper tier in the North.”
At that, he lifted the brim of his straw hat with one hand and gave a friendly smile.
Then he came up to me and asked for a handshake.
“That, nice to meet you again, G-House.”
From noble mtl dot com
“Nice to meet you too. Sten.”
The reunion was quite bitter.
***
They dragged me to a nearby bar. It’s a reunion after a long time, so let’s drink.
That’s why a drinking party like a cushion of thorns was less tense than sitting next to a professor.
Five glasses of frothy beer were placed on top of the two tables, and they collided.
Due to the national rule that the first cup is not broken, the adventurers cheered when they had no choice but to empty the cup.
“Empty that one at a time.”
“hahahaha! Are you thirsty?”
The blender, with beer foam on his beard, smiled, ordered another beer, and turned to me.
“By the way, aren’t you active in the North? It must be a long way from the Hebrides to here.”
“Is there any other reason for free mercenaries to roam?”
At those words, questions from the adventurers poured in.
“A free mercenary?”
“Aren’t you a member of the mercenary group?”
“Where is the leader of Priyanian’s squad going, and Mr. G-House is going alone?”
Squad leader, that’s a title I haven’t heard in a while.
“Now I am out of the Mercenary Corps. I have work to do.”
The drunk Sten said without stuttering.
“Are you traveling alone?”
“Why do you ask that?”
“I thought it would be okay to go to a party with us if you are as talented as you are. How is it?”
It was an unexpected offer to me, but we were off-limits from the first meeting.
So the offer was unexpected to me.
Remembering the two people I can’t remember anymore, I shook my head.
“I already have someone I go out with. And it’s because it’s a commissioned situation.”
“Sorry.”
Sten passed the alcohol down his throat again, and Lily, who reacted to the word that he had a companion, asked back.
“…Isn’t the person you go with the leader of the Priyanian squad?”
The woman’s intuition was quite frightening.
As I nodded slowly, a low exclamation flowed from the table.
The response was that it seemed so.
“Do you go alone?”
“Yes.”
This time I heard Blender banging on the table.
“Then are you two dating?”
I shook my head at Lily’s question, which seemed somewhat recalled.
Then their faces changed strangely, and Sten asked rather cautiously.
“…You don’t have a problem with that, do you?”
“I’m sure you didn’t come to the East to check that out yourself.”
After answering that, I took the beer the waitress gave me and drank it again.
“By the way, why did people who are active in the central region come to the east?”
After hearing that, the adventurers sighed and explained the reason.
“Hey. Have you heard the rumor that the undead popped out during the territory battle in the middle?”
“Ah.”
Everything had cause and effect.
“Well, since you are a mercenary too, of course you are well aware of that incident.”
Seeing my reaction, he nodded.
“Then the industry went into chaos.”
Sten let out a deep sigh and told me about the aftermath of the incident.
Adventurers who normally don’t come except when they’re being healed knock on the door of the cathedral to get some holy water in case of an emergency.
The merchants who sold ghost-fighting amulets in front of the adventurer’s guild branch were accused by the priests.
Even the fact that the average unit price of the request went up because no one went to the side of the grave or around the place where there were ugly rumors.
The result of an old man with dementia who used the world as a wall to cast a huge sh*t was pretty big.
While Sten, the indirect victim, drank for a while, Blender continued.
“Even Death Knight came out, so I ran to the East right away.”
“You didn’t run, you ran, Blender.”
At Lily’s point, Perun, who was squeezing her hand beside her, continued her words.
“…No matter how much adventure we like, how can we not do a Death Knight? It must be a disaster.”
“Doesn’t the Death Knight have subjugation requests?”
Then they looked at me like crazy, and I nodded.
In the world, there are things you know even if you don’t tell them.
“I also have Lily, but she’s crazy, she’ll fight the damned thing. It’s best to avoid regions that are said to get stronger with time, like wine.”
“As expected, there is only one reliable Perun. To be wise.”
Blunder, who saw the two people’s affection, turned his head as if he saw something he couldn’t see and said.
“Anyway, that’s how it turned out. At least a goblin is better than an animated corpse.”
“I will. At least she screams when she gets stabbed.”
After catching both, I shook my head like that, drank beer and rubbed peanuts.
As I felt the savory taste of the peanuts crush the bitterness of the beer in my mouth, I thought of one thing.
‘Then they have quite a bit of knowledge about the East.’
I thought maybe I could get some information on the way forward.
“Then, have you guys been active in the east so far?”
“At least I was running around blushing. Searching for dungeons, and something like that.”
“As a bonus, I got a lot of kobolds and goblins. All battle areas are marked.”
After hearing Blender’s words, I asked with a smile.
“Are you thinking of free drinks?”
There was no one here who didn’t know what that word meant.
After a while.
The smell of ink wafted through the pungent aroma of beer.
“How about Lichen Gorge?”
“That area is dangerous. There are a lot of monsters.”
Jokes on Sten while jotting down notes on transparent paper.
“Seeing that adventurers are afraid of monsters, they must live a long time.”
“Do you like war? It’s similar We like adventure, not monsters.”
“Then how about this one?”
“Lily, didn’t you see the dungeon over there? Queue.”
“Good job. Tell me all that Anyway, Mr. Ghouse. Don’t go there And can I have another drink?”
“…Sure.”
***
The adventurer’s information sharing came to an end after leaving behind a slightly slender money bag and a dense piece of paper.
It was a pity that the places they mostly went to were different from the direction we were supposed to go, but
At least this level of harvest wasn’t bad.
It was already evening when we left the bar like that.
Sten, wearing a straw hat, handed over a handshake to say goodbye.
I asked him one more question while holding his hand.
“By the way Mr. Sten.”
“Huh?”
“Do you know what the area called Parki is?”
Then he looked at me with a slightly stiff expression.
It was a reaction only seen by people who have been through sh*t.
“You can’t believe that’s where you received the request, right?”
“Yes, but why?”
Sten frowned for a moment, then rummaged through the pocket next to him.
“Lily, give me the leftovers of the repellent.”
“Sten.”
“Come on.”
At his urging, Lily pulled out what seemed to be a small tub of wax.
“Come on.”
Sten said as he handed me a repellent.
“If you use it sparingly only in case of an emergency, you will be able to use it for a long time.”
“If you look at the price of the alcohol I bought you, can you tell me more specifically?”
Only one word came out of his mouth as he nodded.
“There are too many monsters.”