CH 60

Chapter 60 – Glasses boy finds a bath

I also asked the gatekeeper soldier where I could find a cheap and reputable inn.

“If you go straight down the main street, you should see an inn to the right before long.

“Alternatively, if you just want a cheap place to sleep in, you can rent a cheap room at the adventurer’s guild.” The guard replied.

I wondered if the adventurer’s guild would let me rent a room when I’m not an adventurer, but apparently even non-adventurers can rent it for short-term use.

Basically, instead of having some empty lodgings that nobody is using vacant, they prefer to let ordinary people use those too, so as to make more money. It’s a smart way of going about it.

But well, things are going to be hectic from now on, so since I had already paid the entrance tax, I entered the city of Haidiga.

First things first, I hate being involved in troublesome things, so I’m not gonna get close to the adventurer’s guild. Let’s go to the inn instead.

Luckily enough, I still have money with me. I was saving money back when I was in the royal capital, as I wanted to eventually pay my sister’s debt, but I didn’t start paying it yet.

And since the Black Swan of Dawn didn’t really try pressuring me into paying it either, I was easily able to buy some supplies for the carriage trip that took me to the assassin’s village without any worries.

But even then, it’s not like I spent much on supplies, so I still have plenty of money left. For as long as I don’t buy anything luxurious, I should be able to live for twenty days without doing anything.

It’s already late at night. There are very few people walking down the streets.

The people I could see are either drunkards who have yet to go home, or merchants who are quickly walking with a sense of purpose. This isn’t the time for ordinary people to be walking around.

I went to the inn I was told about, asked the price, then paid in advance for two nights without meal.

As for the room I was guided to… Well, it was larger than the inn room at the capital, and also larger than the dormitory in the assassin’s village, but it was still a simple room with just a bed in it.

There isn’t any particular problem with that though, so I decided to go to sleep without thinking about anything else for today.

I don’t feel like I’ve eaten much, but since I ate not that long ago, I don’t feel hungry for now.

I’m also pretty tired from the trip, so my first priority is to rest and heal my body.

I took off my heavier clothes and crawled into the bed.

Soon, my consciousness faded and I fell asleep.

******

So this is what the town of Haidiga is like.

It was the day after I reached the city. I slept until early afternoon, got ready, then went outside.

After walking through the main street a bit, it seemed safe to conclude that it was just like what my previous information told me.

Basically, it’s a town filled with adventurers, and many people walk around while armed.

Even the unarmed people are often times looking pretty strong, so maybe they’re adventurers too.

This city may be smaller than the capital, but it seems to have about as many adventurers as the capital has.

Also, it’s quite the lively place. I could easily hear calls coming from food stalls, restaurants and the like non-stop.

Perhaps because they’re dealing with somewhat rough adventurers, they can’t do business in an elegant and quiet style… I’m not good with this. I don’t like places that are noisy and filled with people.

“Welcome! It’s Haidiga’s specialty meat roll! The perfect portable meat roll to fill your stomach! Get the original here!” A shopkeeper exclaimed.

I heard that while casually walking around, and I couldn’t ignore it… What’s that? A meat roll?

As a meat lover myself, I cannot ignore the call of meat. I may not show it much while eating, but I love meat even more than my sister.

Of course, she is insane though, so she isn’t compared on the same standards that an ordinary meat lover would be.

In any case, the voice came from a small restaurant along the main street.

However, it had a structure that I had never seen before. The meat roll in question was being sold at a stall-like portion of the store that was facing the road.

It’s like, the sales floor of the restaurant is facing outward? It’s a food stall inside a store? It’s strange.

Oh well, whatever.

It seems to be selling well, and while there is no line to get the meat rolls, customers are quickly coming in, buying it, picking up the meat roll and leaving. The flow of people is very fast.

Alright, let’s go.

“Hello, how much is one?” I asked.

“Thank you for your patronage.” The shopkeeper told a customer before turning towards me, “Huh? Are you a rookie adventurer? I don’t remember seeing you before.”

She was a woman who seemed to be on her twenties and was staring directly at my face… I don’t want to be seen too much…

“I’m not an adventurer, but I just arrived at the city. Is this the city’s specialty?” I asked.

If I recall correctly, the capital’s specialty was a soup pasta with large onions and blue duck.

Or to be more precise, the large onions seem to be a specialty of the entire kingdom of Nastiara. I don’t get how exactly it works, but I remember hearing that the country encourages the cities to make plenty of dishes using the special large onions.

Well, it doesn’t matter either way. Anything is fine as long as it tastes good.

“That’s right. It’s a delicious dish that you can easily eat while walking. With thin bread wrapped around pork that was grilled with a special sauce and plenty of fresh vegetables.” The shopkeeper explained.

A special sauce? Is this the selling point?

Well, as a meat lover, I should try it at least once, so I bought it without hesitation.

“By the way, I would like to ask you. Where is the hunting guild?” I figured I’d ask.

“Huh? Hunting… Guild?” She replied.

Ah, this reaction alone is plenty. There is no need to wait for an answer, so I grabbed the meat roll and started walking away.

At that moment, someone had already appeared behind me. He seemed to be strong, so he was probably an adventurer.

“Good morning, Jeri! You look very cute today too!” The man said as he stood on the same place I was at just a second ago.

“Good morning? It’s already past noon.” The shopkeeper, Jeri, replied.

The man laughed, “I had to go work last night, so I was asleep until a while ago.

“I was woken up in the middle of the night because some poorly behaved kids pulled an Ironhead to the vicinity of the city, so I had to go subdue it.”

Oh? Maybe he knows something?

I was planning on leaving this place as soon as possible, but I now got curious about their conversation, so I decided to overhear them for a bit.

“So, by the time morning came, I was still way too tired to leave bed.” The man said.

“I see. So what happened to the Ironhead?” Jeri asked.

“I killed it, of course.” The man replied.

I see… Is this guy strong, then? Well, I’m not that interested in the first place.

“Thank you for the hard work. Well then, you’re gonna buy one, right? Of course you will, right?” Jeri asked the man.

“What should I do…?” The man feigned to think for a second, but then he laughed, “That’s a lie. If it comes with your smile, Jeri, then I’ll gladly buy it.”

Jeri giggled a bit and said, “Oh, stop it.” but she didn’t seem to be serious. I don’t know much about women’s minds, but I get the feeling she’s interested in him.

Well, it doesn’t matter to me.

Let’s eat this meat roll while it’s warm. As a meat lover, I want to eat it while it tastes the best. Everyone prefers to eat food like this, in fact, even those who aren’t meat lovers.

“Oh, it’s good.” I said to myself.

Leaving aside the vegetables and thinly baked bread, the pork was grilled with a sweet and spicy sauce… How does one make a sauce with such an indescribably complex flavor? It’s even a bit fruity… I’m so curious.

Well, they won’t tell me even if I ask, so there is no point.

Meanwhile, the man was blatantly wooing the female clerk and is no longer talking about anything related to me, so I left the place while biting into the meat roll.

I didn’t come here for sightseeing, and I don’t really want to waste time doing it either.

The first priority is to find the hunter’s guild, which should also be the assassin’s guild, then listen to their instructions.

I don’t want to waste this year that is blessed with so many precious opportunities. I did need to take a break to relax, but I can’t play around, or waste my time doing nothing.

So, just like in the royal capital, I went to a weapons store, asked about a store that sold bows, then in the bow store I asked about the location of the hunter’s guild.

Although I was a bit surprised by the information I got and had to do a fair bit of walking, I ended up being able to find my objective.

I’m finally, “Here…” I muttered.

I looked at the splendid building in front of me… Goertz’s public bath.

A public bathhouse that was purchased by the Goertz company, whose president is a large merchant who loves baths.

It was in this place that the hunter’s guild used to be.

The hunter’s guild had poor performance, so it was dissolved, its building and land were sold, and now this is the result.

The hunter’s guild of this city no longer exists.

There’s nothing I can do about it, so let’s think about the next move while taking a bath.