Chapter 100
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: Shopping and Booze with Lexi
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"Handing over that kind of money without batting an eye... You two aren't up to something shady together, are you?"
Lexi, who had been trailing along beside me, said that.
"No, nothing like that."
"Come on, don't worry—just tell me. I've got a pretty tight lip, you know?"
I glanced at the elf chattering nonstop beside me.
She was urging me to spill my secrets, but given her talkative nature, she didn't exactly inspire trust.
The image of her from the short story boiled down to two main traits.
Mage and explainer extraordinaire.
And if I had to add one more role, it would be her self-appointed position as the representative of the elf race?
The actual elves would probably foam at the mouth in protest if they heard her claim that.
And for good reason—Lexi was an oddball even among her own kind.
Unlike other elves, she was friendly toward humans and dwarves, talkative, and ate meat.
She also loved desserts and had a lively personality.
She almost seemed like a young human woman who'd just happened to get elf ears.
Of course, her actual age... I remembered it being quite far from "young."
Anyway.
"You're buying all sorts of weird stuff."
Lexi muttered as she followed me around.
It was a bit of an odd shopping list, sure.
But the strangest thing there was her.
"...Why are you following me?"
I'd definitely saved her from a tough spot to build some goodwill, but I hadn't expected her to tag along on my shopping spree.
Shopping with a beautiful elf was great for a guy's ego, but it came with a ton of annoyances too.
Maybe because she felt indebted.
She kept trying to haggle on my behalf even when I didn't want her to, and it ended up hindering my purchases more than once.
In the blacksmith district, full of dwarves, her being an elf had them eyeing her warily, nearly derailing my custom order for Babel.
Something about not selling to an elf's companion.
Guess this world had that classic bad-blood-between-races cliché too.
"Ah... I just thought I could help or something... Ahaha..."
Lexi averted her gaze and laughed awkwardly.
It was the laugh of someone who knew full well she hadn't been helpful.
Her intentions were good, so I couldn't really say anything. With a sigh, I headed to the last stop.
"We're really heading back to the inn now. You don't have to follow."
"But still..."
"...If you see it as a debt, then come to the Black Knight Order tomorrow and make it up to me."
Right now, Lexi was being nice to me purely because I'd helped her out.
Elves were sticklers for favors and grudges.
That's why they held onto resentments for centuries against humans and dwarves.
Lexi didn't hate humans, but if the Black Knight Order rubbed her the wrong way, she'd give them as much attitude right back.
It had played out that way in the original short story too.
That's why I'd decided to build goodwill with her in advance.
"...Got it."
After some hesitation, Lexi nodded.
And so, we parted ways.
Or tried to.
"..."
"..."
The mood and timing of the conversation screamed that it was time to split off and head our separate ways.
But somehow, we ended up walking side by side again.
I side-eyed her, wondering if she was following me again, but it seemed like our paths just overlapped this time.
Lexi looked just as bewildered, glancing at me.
At least she wasn't deliberately tailing me...
'Ah.'
Thinking about it, it made sense for our routes to coincide.
With Cecil lying in my room, I was heading to the adventurer's district to find an inn, and Lexi, fresh in the city thanks to the Knight Order's support, needed lodging too.
Different reasons, same destination.
Awkwardly trudging along in silence felt weird, so I broke the ice first.
"...Looking for an inn?"
"Ah, yeah... something like that...?"
She clearly hadn't expected me to speak up. Lexi flinched, shoulders jumping, and answered awkwardly.
"Know any good ones?"
"Hm, it needs to be spacious, and the ground floor should have a proper restaurant, not just a tavern."
"Oh..."
I hadn't expected much, but it was solid advice.
If I hadn't asked, I'd have gone for the standard tavern-attached inn without a second thought.
That was the adventurer inn image I'd gotten from manga and novels.
As we entered the adventurer's district, the streets teemed with people.
Despite the name, it was basically the main thoroughfare bustling with the most foot traffic.
Merchants and adventurers who'd lined up outside the walls were mostly headed here, with vendors setting up shop on the ground, hawking their wares.
"Hmm..."
I watched them, lost in a wave of sentiment.
Adventurers.
If not for the quest, I'd have wanted to try it myself.
The romance of adventuring freely with a party.
It felt full of allure and dreams.
Of course, you'd only feel that with the skills to back it up.
Could I pull it off now?
The Quest Board would probably have something.
I'd have to check it out later.
"Plenty of knights envy adventurers."
"...That obvious?"
"You can tell just by looking."
Experience from age was hard to beat, huh.
I couldn't say it outright, but her being an elf made me think it.
"Meanwhile, adventurers wanna be knights."
"Huh? ...Why?"
"Uh... steady paycheck and work-life balance?"
That made sense when she put it like that.
Like a freelancer eyeing a government job?
Definitely had its merits.
Just yesterday and today, the workload was one thing, but the downtime was generous—enough to shop early evening like this.
Solid work-life balance.
Pay wasn't sky-high by my standards, but compared to regular jobs, it wasn't low either.
Above all, it was steady, with little risk of getting canned.
As long as Knight Captain Dana didn't have it out for you...
Adventurers and knights.
Each coveting the other's life.
Using Lexi's criteria narrowed the inn options down to a couple.
And in the end, we ended up at the same one.
"Guess we ended up coming together."
"Yeah, might as well. Let me buy you dinner."
She must really hate owing favors. Lexi offered to treat.
I accepted the gesture this time and took a seat.
A server rushed over to take our order.
Lexi smoothly grabbed the menu and rattled off some dishes.
Honestly, as an elf, I'd half-worried she'd order only salads, but then I recalled she loved meat in the original story.
Good thing she bucked the elf stereotypes.
She ordered greasy stuff that looked heavy and even added booze.
Right—Lexi loved alcohol too.
A lot.
Rough men, age-blind men, young men, intoxicated state.
Her kinks were pretty hysterical.
They felt mismatched for her youthful appearance.
She loved booze so much that "intoxicated state" made the list.
Before the food arrived, the server brought out the prepped drinks first.
The price was cheap, so I figured it'd be a small pour, but he plunked down what looked like two liters right beside us.
My jaw dropped at the sheer volume.
"Isn't that a bit much?"
"Pfft, this is nothing."
Confident in her tolerance, Lexi smirked at me instead.
"Can't handle this much?"
She was goading me.
I didn't drink often, so I wasn't sure about my limit, but given my current condition, I doubted it'd be an issue.
Plus, it was a chance to try fantasy-world booze.
I took the challenge, and Lexi grinned, offering a glass.
"One room, please."
"Sure. And your companion... is she okay?"
"Ugh..."
Lexi was currently slung over my back.
She was so wasted, she wouldn't have noticed if I'd carried her piggyback-style.
Her whole body demonstrated what "blackout drunk" looked like.
On top of that, she kept groaning about a headache.
The inn staff—a total stranger—even asked out of concern while I booked the room.
"Yeah, she'll be fine."
Given her love of booze, this probably wasn't her first rodeo. She'd slurred earlier that a quick nap would fix her.
I took the key and headed upstairs.
Elf thing, maybe?
Carrying her on my back, she felt surprisingly light, and an inexplicable fresh scent wafted from her, catching me off guard.
At the room door, I opened it and laid Lexi on the bed.
Utterly defenseless.
An elf.
Human-like at a glance, but up close like this, her beauty was something else entirely.
Small face, long ears, porcelain-smooth skin.
"...Hoo."
The booze hit me fast, head heating up.
I opened the window, breathing in the night air, and my mind cleared a bit.
I planned to just crash.
Until that showed up, after so long.
Bring Lexi to Climax