7
Chapter 7
After finishing my skill tests, I left the room and headed to the lobby.
Drek must have woken up early, as he was already sitting at a table eating stew.
He seemed to have been eating for a while, judging by the few empty bowls stacked on the table.
"Good morning."
"Mhm, yeah."
Drek silently kept moving his spoon.
Watching him made me hungry too.
All I had eaten lately was a piece of bread and some jerky.
Even with this scrawny body, it was only natural to be starving by now.
"What about Mr. Dardan?"
"He said he was going to the trading post."
"The trading post? Ah."
Right, he was a merchant.
I pulled up a chair and sat at the table as I listened.
While I was looking around wondering how to order, a waitress came out of the kitchen holding a loaf of bread and a bowl of stew.
"I haven't seen you before. You're not from around here, are you?"
"......."
The waitress asked as she set the bowl down.
From around here... Where am I even from?
"Oh my, is it a secret? I understand."
When I hesitated, the waitress didn't pry any further and quickly left.
Anyway, what kind of stew is this?
An unfamiliar spice scent wafted from the dark brown stew.
I gave it a little stir with my spoon, revealing ingredients that had been boiled so long they were mushed beyond recognition.
The only things still holding their shape were a few strands of grass-like stems.
A fishy smell stung my nose, probably because they put a lot of fish in it.
'...It looks like dog food.'
After hesitating for a while, I gathered my courage and took a spoonful.
"...Urgh!"
An intense herbal flavor exploded in my mouth.
A sudden wave of nausea hit me, making my body flinch.
I barely held it down, and it was only bearable when eaten with the bread.
'Ugh... I even ask them to take the cilantro out of my pho....'
Just then, Drek spoke up.
"What do you plan to do now?"
"Pardon?"
"I'm thinking of checking out the ruins."
I can't believe he's actually going.
Did he end up wanting those expensive relics after all? Or is there another reason?
"But there's no need for you two to tag along."
"Hmm... That's true."
As I felt in the dungeon this time, there are too many risks.
Of course, aiming for a windfall when you have nothing might not be a bad idea, but that's only possible when you actually have the skills to back it up.
In my current state of being nothing more than a 'wannabe magician,' there was no reason to take on such a reckless challenge.
"I'll tag along as far as Garnian for now."
The closest village you hit right after crossing the river is Garnian anyway.
Even if I don't enter the ruins, it's better to travel together to the village.
"Let's part ways there."
Drek nodded silently and swallowed his stew.
I didn't really have a plan, but I figured it would at least be better than the dangerous-looking ruins.
"You don't think the merchant betrayed us, do you?"
Honestly, that was what I had been most worried about since yesterday.
Given that our relationship started on bad terms, it wouldn't be strange if he betrayed us at any moment.
"You mean Dardan. Hmm, I can't say for sure that he won't, but he probably didn't."
"Is that so...."
"He's a quick-witted guy, so he wouldn't do anything that causes him a loss."
Drek didn't seem to care much.
Maybe I'm just an ordinary guy worrying over nothing.
"Anyway, why isn't Baldic waking up?"
"That guy? He drank all night with the merchant, so there's no way he's getting up."
"Ah...."
They drank together even after what happened yesterday?
Baldic and Dardan are both amazing in more ways than one.
"Groan... You guys are loud this early in the morning."
Baldic grumbled as he came out of the room with messy hair.
"You sure have a knack for hearing when people talk about you."
"Were you guys talking behind my back? Innkeeper! Get me a bowl too."
"Huh? No, we didn't say much."
Of course, I was planning to if Baldic had woken up just a little later.
He's quick to catch on when it comes to useless things.
"This beer is terrible. It's so lukewarm it feels like I'm drinking horse piss."
Baldic whispered to us quietly.
For someone saying that, he seemed to drink it just fine yesterday.
"Mr. Baldic! How can you say that after drinking eight glasses of it yesterday?"
"Oops, guess she heard me."
The waitress said in a sullen voice as she brought out the food.
Eight glasses, by the way? He drank that much when he didn't even have money?
He's quite the shameless guy for someone freeloading.
"What are you going to do?"
"What? Oh, you mean what am I going to do now?"
The question he had asked me was now directed at Baldic.
I was curious too. What would the former priest do now?
"I'll go back to my hometown. I wasn't from around here anyway."
"I see."
Going back to his hometown... I'm so jealous.
"So what are you going to do? It feels like you guys already talked about it."
"I'm going to the ruins."
"The ruins? You're going there?"
Baldic asked as if he couldn't understand.
"Tsk. Well, whatever. Everyone has their own reasons."
As Drek ate his soup with a stiff expression, Baldic gulped down his water as if he understood.
"So what are you going to do, Mr. Magician?"
"Me? I'm planning to travel with him as far as Garnian for now."
"I'm going there too. What are you going to do once you get there?"
To be honest, I was at a loss for words because I didn't have a specific plan.
"Looks like you don't have a plan either. Then how about you come with me?"
"With you? Why?"
"What's with that reaction? Are you unhappy about going with me!?"
Baldic flinched, getting angry at my lukewarm response.
"No, it's not that."
"Well, yeah. Anyway, your magic tower is in my hometown, so I was suggesting we go together."
"My magic tower... Ah, could it be?"
I had definitely heard that the Blue Magic Tower was located in the Lahazah Desert.
"Yeah, I'm from the desert too. Of course, it's an area a bit far from the magic tower."
"So you were from the desert. No wonder I had never heard of your tribe's name."
Drek nodded.
But if he's from the desert, how did he end up all the way here?
"So, are you coming with me or not?"
"Hmm... Let's go together."
Since I didn't really have anywhere else to go, I decided to accompany him.
I needed to investigate the past actions of this body's original owner.
Originally, I had thought about investigating that thatched cottage from before, but it was obvious I'd get caught again if I went there, so this was a good opportunity.
"By the way, when are you heading out?"
"We will head out as soon as the merchant arrives."
He was talking about crossing over to another territory.
It seemed like he planned to leave today.
Honestly, dawdling would only increase the chances of getting arrested.
"The merchant? When did he leave?"
"He definitely left just as the sun was coming up...."
Looking out the window, the sun was high in the sky.
What, it wasn't morning? How long did I sleep?
"And there's still no word from him at this hour? Did that bastard betray us?"
"Hmm. Let's eat and go look for him."
I quickly emptied my bowl and got up from my seat.
***
The midday heat had already spread outside. The people passing by on the street were moving busily to their respective destinations.
But the person we were waiting for, Dardan, was nowhere to be seen.
"This is strange."
Baldic frowned.
"Didn't that bastard betray us?"
"I don't know."
Drek answered expressionlessly, but his eyes wavered slightly.
It was a situation he would normally brush off, but this time, he seemed to be bothered by it too.
I pondered inwardly.
'Did he really betray us?'
Honestly, it was hard to trust Dardan 100%.
But considering that he was a quick-witted merchant, would he really have a reason to betray us?
"Let's head to the trading post for now."
Drek took the lead. Baldic and I hurriedly followed behind him.
When we arrived at the trading post, a few merchants were moving busily inside, organizing their goods.
However, Dardan, the one we were looking for, was nowhere to be seen.
Baldic frowned and looked around.
"Did that guy really just disappear somewhere?"
"Hold on, let's ask someone."
I spotted a middle-aged man doing accounting in the back and approached him.
"Excuse me. Wasn't there a merchant named Dardan here?"
He looked up, blinked, and replied.
"Dardan? Ah, that man arrived this morning."
"What about now?"
"Well..."
The man hesitated, seeming a bit uncomfortable, before speaking up.
"After buying some goods at the trading post, he talked to some people and left in a hurry. His expression didn't look good."
"He left? Where to?"
"I don't know about that. He probably headed toward the river."
Toward the river... Did he really run away?
I looked back at Drek and Baldic.
"What should we do?"
Drek kept his mouth shut, seemingly deep in thought.
Baldic, on the other hand, chuckled in disbelief.
"What is this? Did he really bail on us?"
But Drek shook his head.
"If he had run away, he would have moved more stealthily. He's not the type to move so obviously."
"So we should check out the river?"
"Yeah."
The three of us hurriedly left the trading post. The stinging sunlight hit our faces as we stepped outside.
Amidst the lingering tension, we walked briskly toward the river.
Did Dardan really betray us, or did he get caught up in something?
It was a situation where nothing was certain.
Amidst the lingering tension, we walked briskly toward the river.
Surprisingly, there was a port formed along the river. I didn't know rivers could have ports too.
Of course, it was shabby compared to a modern port, but even this scale showed that active trade was taking place.
A large arched stone bridge spanned the river, and boats busily passed beneath it.
I felt this when looking at the village walls too, but the technology here was better than expected.
But what mattered right now was Dardan.
Baldic looked around before pointing at the port.
"Hey, look over there."
Our gazes focused on one spot.
A crowd was murmuring in a corner in front of the port.
Familiar luggage was scattered among them, which was none other than the items Dardan had been carrying around.
"...This is suspicious."
I bit my lip at the ominous feeling.
We approached cautiously.
As we got closer, we could hear the people talking.
"When the hell did that guy run away?"
"I bought something from him, I won't get arrested too, right?"
"What's going on?"
When I approached and asked, a man replied in an annoyed voice.
"That damn bastard was a fence!"
"...Pardon?"
"He dropped some of his goods while trying to run! I heard stolen items from a noble family were found in his luggage!"
It was hard to properly understand the rapid-fire words.
"P-please calm down. Just who is that guy—"
"Who else! Dardan, that damn bastard! No wonder he only had a bunch of precious items!"
"...What did you say?"
My head felt dizzy for a moment.
'...That man was a fence?'
A soldier spoke with a grave expression.
"Dardan escaped on a boat right before we arrived. But after inspecting his luggage, we found a reported stolen relic from a noble family."
"...So where did he go now?"
As Drek asked, the soldier sighed.
"He seems to have headed south along the river, but... there's no way to confirm his exact whereabouts. You'd have to go further down to catch him."
We looked at each other at the absurd situation.
"Damn it, I didn't expect this kind of betrayal. No wonder he was spending money like water."
Baldic scratched his head in dejection.
I let out a long sigh.
'Why do I only get tangled up with criminals?'
Maybe crime is just an everyday occurrence here in the first place.
Just then, one of the soldiers stared intently at us and opened his mouth.
"By the way... weren't you guys with Dardan?"
The soldier scrutinized us with eyes full of suspicion.
"No, we were just mercenaries hired for a short time."
I calmly spat out a lie.
Technically, it wasn't wrong.
But the soldier's eyes grew sharper, and he soon started searching our luggage.
"Hmm... So you're mercenaries? But where did your equipment go?"
"Well... I suppose Dardan took it...."
"What...? Don't tell me you guys were scammed too?"
The soldier clicked his tongue in disbelief.
"Tsk, that's a real pity for you guys. Hey, let these guys go."
In the end, we were safely released thanks to pinning all the blame on Dardan.
However, our problems weren't over yet.
With Dardan gone, our identities had become uncertain.
We fell into deep thought.
"What do we do? We won't be able to cross over like this, will we?"
"Hmm...."
We definitely needed a clear identity or a pass to cross into another territory.
But right now, we had neither.
"In the end, we have no choice but to use the method we talked about earlier."
"Ah, there was that method."
The method they talked about earlier?
Oh, they must be talking about smuggling ourselves in.
In the end, it comes back around to crime.
What a fitting solution for a gathering of criminals.
"But guys like that are expensive. We're completely broke, remember?"
"You're right. How are we supposed to make money?"
"I definitely saw a mercenary guild yesterday. We should check it out."
A mercenary guild. I was a bit curious about it.
The guild wasn't too far from the center of the village.
A large wooden sign with a sword drawn on it hung at the entrance, and inside, hulking men were drinking and chatting loudly.
"Wow, it's more crowded than I thought."
Baldic muttered as he scanned the inside.
I pushed the door open and looked around. I worried someone might pick a fight with us, but nothing like that happened.
Perhaps because of our shabby attire, or maybe because such a culture didn't exist here, the mercenaries were too busy drinking and chatting among themselves to pay us any attention.
There was a reception desk further inside, and several mercenaries were already waiting in line.
We quietly stood behind them.
When it was our turn, a woman who looked like a receptionist looked at us and asked.
"Would you like to register a request?"
"No, we're here to make a report."
The receptionist looked up with interest at Drek's words.
"A report? What is it about?"
"We spotted a group of goblins on the outskirts of the village while traveling yesterday."
"...A group of goblins? How large was it?"
"We saw at least three groups moving in packs of five or six. It looks like a settlement has formed."
As soon as he finished speaking, the mercenaries around us all turned to look at us.
-A goblin settlement?
-If that's true, it's quite a troublesome situation.
The receptionist also stiffened her expression and asked for a more detailed explanation.
"Could you tell me the exact location?"
Drek explained the approximate location of the forest where the goblins were gathered.
The receptionist quickly took notes and immediately relayed the information to the guild internally.
A moment later, a guild manager called us over.
"Are you certain you found a goblin settlement?"
Instead of answering, Drek took out a small leather pouch hanging from his waist.
He pulled out dried goblin ears from inside and placed them on the reception desk.
The manager frowned as he examined them, then nodded.
"These are... definitely goblin ears. Did you hunt them yourselves?"
"Yeah."
"Alright. Then I'll accept this as an official request."
He immediately began organizing a subjugation squad.
Then, he glanced over us and made an unexpected offer.
"Do you have any intention of joining us?"
For a moment, we looked at each other.
"What's the pay?"
When Baldic asked a realistic question, the manager smiled and replied.
"I'll add ten percent more than the usual subjugation mission. Of course, you can receive the report bounty separately."
We thought about it for a moment, but eventually decided to accept the offer.
We needed money, and we weren't in a position to be picky.
Anyway, I really need to figure out how the currency system in this world works.
I know they use things like silver coins, but I have no idea of their exact value.
I should ask Baldic about it later.
And so, we ended up setting out on a goblin subjugation with the mercenary guild.