Chapter 28

Chapter 28. "The Dark Elf, the Dwarf, and a Single Rose." 8

"Welcome. Are you guests?"

Snap!

Flash! Flash! Flash!

"Ugh...."

As I spoke and snapped my fingers, the people raised their hands against the light pouring down from the ceiling, then slowly lowered them again once they realized it was not all that blinding, and replied in somewhat dazed voices.

Since it was magical light, it did not hurt the eyes very much. It only gave one a strangely peculiar feeling if one kept staring at it.

"Ah. What sort of place is this? It looks exactly like a pub."

"Yes. It is a pub. Or, in other words, an inn."

When I answered with a faint smile, the middle-aged man in stiff, suit-like clothes and a large cloak stroked his chin a little while looking up at the ceiling, then lowered his head and spoke.

"Seeing as it stands in a dangerous forest like this, it does not seem to be any ordinary inn."

"As for that, why not stay here first and judge for yourself?"

At my answer, the middle-aged man gave a good-natured chuckle. Just then, from behind his large cloak, a young lady who looked barely into her early twenties peeked her head out and quietly began staring at my face.

Did she have something she wanted to say? When I tilted my head and looked back at her, the lips she had been pressing tightly together slowly began to part.

The young lady was dressed in leather trousers and a jacket suitable for travel, but judging by the lace-trimmed blouse she wore underneath, she did not look like an ordinary adventurer or traveler.

"Um...."

"Yes. Please, go ahead."

The moment I replied with a bright smile, the young lady's face suddenly turned bright red, and she immediately hid behind the man's back.

I slowly thought over whether I had made some mistake because of the way she reacted, but I could not think of anything I had said that would count as a blunder. What is that about?

Just then, the man with the large scar slashing diagonally across his face, who had been watching her behavior with a crooked grin, loosened the pack and sword strapped to his back, set them on the table, and said,

"Anyway, this really is an inn, right? Much obliged. You saved us. And let me ask one thing. Where is the toilet? I have been holding it for a while now, and I am starting to see stars."

A young man with the speech of the back alleys. These really were entertaining guests. I raised a hand and pointed to the corridor right beside the stairs where we were standing, and the man smiled and walked off as he spoke.

"Hey, Kal. I am having beer. Order mine too while you are at it."

"All right. Hurry back."

The middle-aged man in the large cloak said that, and the scarred man slowly walked off and disappeared into the corridor where the toilet was.

And the brown-haired young lady was staring fixedly at his retreating back. Hm, what was the reason for that? Beside me, Rene was smiling with a look that suggested she understood something, but the guests came first.

I could ask her later. For now, I looked around the hall and began checking the number and faces of the people who had entered the inn.

First, the man the scarred fellow had just called Kal. He was dressed in a stiff-looking suit and wore a large cloak that reached all the way to his ankles.

The only thing he had for a weapon was that long rod in his gloved hand. But no matter how I looked at it, it seemed to be a bow without a string attached.

Wait, was there even a bow of that length? As far as I knew, a bow like that was.... Oh? If that was the case, then hoh~ I had not expected there to still be a human who knew how to use one of those.

Then there was the brown-haired young lady hiding behind him. She wore leather trousers and a blouse with a jacket over it, and her long hair was left loose rather than tied up.

Since she did not appear to be armed, she was probably either a mage or someone who played an important role. And behind her stood two huge figures, each larger than the average person by far.

Their heads and bodies were wrapped in black cloaks and cloth, so I could not see their faces, but they seemed about the same size as Exel.

But were they even breathing? They looked like statues. And the last was the scarred man who had just gone into the toilet.

That, then, was the appearance of the people who had interrupted Rene's and my morning. Just then, Rene, who had been standing beside me blankly looking at them, slowly stepped forward and said,

"Now then, please do not just stand there. These seats are not here merely for decoration."

"Ah, yes...."

The brown-haired young lady stared at Rene with wide eyes, then answered with a slightly flushed face and hurriedly sat down properly where Rene had indicated. Behind her, the middle-aged man, smiling faintly as he watched her, sat in the seat beside her and said,

"Ah, then miss, two mugs of beer and one cup of hot black tea, please."

"Yes, certainly. But what about these gentlemen?"

Rene looked at the two giants, who remained standing in their original positions, silently glaring straight ahead at the stairs.

Just then, the young man who had come back wiping the water off his hands with a handkerchief answered her question.

"Just leave them be, miss. They do not even have mouths, so they would not be able to drink anyway."

"They cannot drink because they do not have mouths?"

"That is right."

"How unfortunate. A little tea would have warmed them up.... Then two beers and one black tea. Understood. Please wait a moment. And if you need anything else, ask Han."

Having said that, Rene clasped her hands behind her back and looked up at the two hulking figures for a moment. But the two giants merely stared ahead and did not react at all.

So she gave them a small smile and walked straight into the kitchen. I watched her retreating figure for a moment, then lifted my head and looked back at them. Right now, there was only one thing I was curious about.

How had those huge bodies managed to get through our front door? While I was entertaining that pointless thought, Kal, who had been turning the object in his hand over several times, spoke with a troubled expression to the scarred man sitting before him with one arm slung over the chair and his gaze still on the ceiling.

"Is there no way you can fix this with your skills?"

"Just throw it away. How many times do I have to tell you that a string for a brutish bow like that is not something you can pick up just anywhere?"

He said that without even lowering his head from where he sat staring at the Light Ball on the ceiling, and Kal looked down at the thing in his hand with a regretful expression.

I was a little interested in the abnormally long bow he possessed, so I walked over to Kal and spoke to him.

"You are Mr. Kal, yes? Excuse me, but I happened to overhear. Shall I repair that for you?"

"Hm? You can fix it?"

At his words, I answered with a smile.

"Yes. I happen to have some interest in such things. I still have spare materials for a bowstring, at least, so I should be able to replace it for you."

"Ah, then please do. I will count the payment toward the inn fee."

"Very well."

Kal smiled brightly and handed it over, and I took it in my hands. It was more than twice as heavy as an ordinary bow. Well, with it being even larger than a longbow, perhaps that was only natural.

A bow like this would suit Exel, or those great hulking fellows over there, perfectly. For an ordinary person to fire it, it would be too large to shoot standing upright, so it would have to be shot sideways.

To do that, one would need tremendous strength in the arms. While I was touching the broken bowstring he had roughly tied back together, Kal, who had folded his arms, gave a bitter smile and said,

"It is quite a long bow, is it not? It is called a Great Bow. I dug through old records on weapons of past wars and made it exactly as described. Since I had heard there were many monsters around here, I brought it on purpose, and yet it snapped after only a few shots. I nearly ended up in real danger."

"Have you ever considered that it might not be the weapon's fault, but rather the negligence of its owner?"

The scarred man lowered his head from the ceiling and said that. At once, Kal made an uncomfortable face, unfolded his arms, laid his right arm on the table, and said,

"Quiet. I hired you to ensure our safety more thoroughly, and yet look what happened. You clearly said that road was one where monsters seldom appeared. If I had not brought these two along, the young lady might have been placed in danger...."

"I never said there were none at all. I merely said there were fewer than usual. And since the subject has come up, are you people truly in your right minds, coming all the way in here for that? Are you sane?"

The scarred man spoke while casting a sharp gaze at the brown-haired young lady, who sat beside them in a tightly hunched posture listening to their exchange.

She lowered her eyes beneath his stare. Kal let out a grunt, bared his teeth, threw his head back, released a short sigh, folded his arms again, and replied in his original slow, deliberate tone.

"So what exactly are you going to do about it? Just guide the way and take the money you are given."

At that, the scarred man, who had been continuing to send heated looks toward the brown-haired young lady, flicked a glance at Kal, relaxed his expression, shrugged, and said lazily,

"Do not meddle too deeply in a client's affairs. That is what my master always said. Very well, then. But that aside, you there, standing around like an idiot holding that useless stick and staring at us, do you need something?"

He was talking to me. Smiling, I set the stick I had been holding against the wall beside the fireplace and walked toward them.

"It is not I who has business, but our guests. Is there anything more you require? Armor, perhaps. Or weapons."

"Weapons? You sell weapons here too?"

"Yes. We do."

The moment he heard me say that, the man brightened and started to rise from his seat. Kal, apparently displeased by that very sight, hurriedly spoke to me first.

"Before that, we will need to stay here for about three days. What do you say? Business goes well here, does it not?"

"No. Business is not good at all, so the rooms are always empty. How many shall I prepare for you?"

At my answer, Kal smiled faintly and held up three fingers, and I too smiled faintly and replied,

"Understood. My wife will show you to your rooms. And, ah, your name?"

I asked the scarred man, who was glaring at Kal before him with folded arms and an overbearing posture. Without even turning his head, he answered in a voice that matched the pose quite well.

"Jeff."

"As my wife has told you, my name is Han. Please follow me. I will show you the armory."

At my words, Jeff grinned and unfolded his arms. Kal, still seated, looked at Jeff as if he had just swallowed something bitter and said,

"You there. Just because it is not coming out of your own pocket does not mean you should go around buying whatever catches your eye. Understood?"

"You are frightfully stingy, old man. If you hired a guide to lead you into a place like this for that price, you could stand to be a little more generous. If you live like such a miser, you are bound to be punished for it."

"You rascal! In what way do I seem like a miser?!"

"Hmph~ If you are a steward from some notable family, then pinching pennies must already be in your blood. Am I wrong?"

Kal flung back his large cloak, clenched his fist, and started to rise, while Jeff only shrugged and gave a snort through his nose, provoking him even further.

And then, just as Kal, no longer able to restrain himself, lunged at Jeff and began throttling him with both hands, the brown-haired young lady, who had been sitting quietly alone in her chair, lowered her head and began letting out little stifled giggles.

Perhaps it was because the sight of them was a little comical. And when Kal heard her laughter, he quickly let go of Jeff's neck, cleared his throat, and went back to sit beside her, while Jeff braced one hand on the table, coughed violently, and glared at Kal.

"Cough, cough... urk! Ahem! ...Trying to kill a man just because I teased you a little. The title of steward of the Imid Family must be weeping."

"That wretch, even now!"

Once again Kal sprang forward and grabbed Jeff by the neck, shaking him back and forth wildly. The brown-haired young lady lowered her head and began giggling once more.

I folded my arms and decided to stand there and watch until they separated on their own. Had it been a real fight, I would have stopped it, but this was only half in jest. Watching them, I suddenly remembered something I had heard from someone once.

Who was it that said humans were creatures that reacted at once the moment they were given a shock?

"What are you thinking about?"

"Ah? No, it is nothing."

I turned toward Rene, who had somehow come up behind me and spoken loudly into my ear, and gave her a grin.

Rene tilted her head slightly, then noticed the two men behind me waging their bloody struggle and stared at their playful fight with wide eyes. Smiling faintly, I placed a hand on her shoulder and said,

"They are not really fighting. They are only playing around, so...."

"Ah, I know that too. At first I did not understand because I was not used to it, but after enough time passed, I came to understand. So now I can understand their behavior as well."

Urk, had I really behaved so meaninglessly in front of her before? While trying hard to remember whether I had ever acted like that, I lowered my hand from Rene's shoulder and took the tray she was holding instead.

At once, Rene called out to the two childish humans throttling each other in front of us.

"Everyone? That is enough now. What you ordered is ready."

Hearing her words, the two men, still in the middle of choking each other, turned only their necks with effort to look at Rene for a moment, then quickly removed their hands from each other's throats, cleared their throats a few times, and walked back to the table as though nothing had happened a moment earlier.

"You wretch, that young lady just saved your life."

"My thanks, old man. Fancy saying what I was about to say for me."

"What? Old man?! You ill-mannered brat!"

"Why? Do you object to my manners?"

Once again they bared their teeth and glared at each other, their fingers trembling, and had Rene not mediated once more, the brown-haired young lady and I would have been treated to a very entertaining show indeed.

In any case, they sat down at the table, and Rene set a mug of beer before each of the men and a teacup before the young lady, wearing an expression so ambiguous that it seemed halfway between a smile and none at all.

And then something happened that always happened at least once whenever human guests came to our inn.

No matter what had been set before them, the two men did not notice because they were busy rubbing their necks and shooting each other dark looks.

But the quiet brown-haired young lady, who until now had scarcely said a proper word and had been watching the teacup being placed before her, and Rene's face above it, with slightly flushed cheeks, saw it.

"Ah...."