Still Awkward with Each Other
Lahan came out of the room, leaning his back against the door as he stood there.
"...Sigh."
Without realizing it, he had done something embarrassing.
When that realization came, belated regret flooded in.
Lahan shook off his thoughts and descended to the first floor of the inn.
There, he saw the innkeeper Eri spotting him on the stairs.
"Ah, where are you going?"
Eri was counting the silver coins in the pouch she had received from Lahan, placing them on the counter once more.
Lahan shook his head.
"No, is it possible to have a meal?"
"Ah..."
When asked if dinner was ready, Eri showed a slightly troubled expression.
"Sorry. There are no ingredients right now."
Lahan said it casually.
"Ah, then it's fine. I can go out and eat. I'm okay."
"Sorry..."
"No, then from when? Tomorrow?"
"Yes. I'll make sure to prepare for lunch starting tomorrow morning...!"
It seemed like she was going to buy the ingredients that fell in the morning.
Lahan nodded.
"Okay. Then."
"Yes! Have a good day!"
Receiving Eri's lively greeting, Lahan left the inn.
Today, I shouldn't eat with Estella...
It was awkward to face each other.
Still, just in case... I should buy something. She probably doesn't have money now.
Recalling that point, Lahan headed towards a place where he could pack food.
* * *
Knock knock.
"...! It's Lahan...?"
Estella asked with that voice when the door knocked.
Estella was back in front of her room.
"Eh, it's me."
"..."
With Lahan's voice from outside the door, Estella hesitated and opened the door.
Creak...
Opening the door, Lahan stood there with the same awkward face, unable to meet her eyes.
"..."
"..."
After a moment of awkward silence, Lahan gathered courage first.
"This... I brought it because I thought you might be hungry."
In Lahan's hand, he held a brown paper bag containing something that still looked warm.
"Since there aren't many places that can pack food nicely... I don't know if it will suit your taste."
"...Thank you."
With a rustling sound, Estella received it.
"Then, since I handed it over, I'll go now..."
"Yeah. Thank you, good night."
"Ah, you too."
Creak, click.
The door closed, and Estella leaned against the door.
Then she exhaled the long breath of tension she had been holding.
"Haaaaah."
She hadn't expected it to be this awkward.
She thought it would be okay when they met again after some time...
"Really... why did I do that? Idiot, idiot!"
Estella hit her own head with her fist, "thud, thud".
She had made an unnecessary provocation,
and the relationship with Lahan had become a bit awkward.
Estella thought about that and looked at the brown envelope Lahan had given her, which she was holding.
"..."
Rustle,
Then she took it out and checked the contents.
It was a simple snack made by kneading flour and baking it to an appropriate crispness,
one of the city's famous snacks.
"...This was something I liked."
With the rustling sound, when she put her hand into the bag and took out the food, a small stick was stuck in it so she could hold it.
It was a simple snack with a round size, crispy outside and moist inside,
with a small piece of seafood with good texture inside.
Estella put it in her mouth with a "slurp", and soon "how, how" as she blew on the hot contents to cool her mouth so it wouldn't burn.
It was still quite hot inside.
* * *
The next day,
early morning.
Lahan woke up from sleep and raised his upper body.
Chirp chirp,
Sparrows were chirping outside.
After sleeping well in a proper place for the first time in a while, he felt more refreshed than usual.
But the first thing that came to mind when he opened his eyes was the incident with Estella yesterday.
"..."
Lahan shook his head again to shake off his thoughts and got up from his seat, put on the clothes he had taken off, and went outside.
Probably, I need to buy some extra clothes for today.
He didn't have any clothes to change into.
The clothes he had were the ones he wore during hunting, so besides underwear, he had taken them off when sleeping.
They were dirty, and even if he brushed them, a lot of dust would stick to them.
Then, I need to earn money hard today too. Maybe start with morning jogging.
Lahan's daily routine was morning jogging every day.
During the long journey to Crying Heaven Territory, there wasn't an environment to do morning jogging, so he hadn't been able to do it often.
Coming out early in the morning, there was no one on the first floor.
Is he still sleeping? Estella is probably the same.
Lahan quietly found a place with water.
Because his throat was dry in the morning.
Fortunately, there was water nearby, so he found it quickly and drank.
Gulp gulp, after drinking a cool glass of water, he took the kettle back to the kitchen on the first floor where it was.
Then he went out again, opening the door to the counter and outside.
Since it was still early morning, the city was quiet, and a hazy morning fog was spread everywhere.
Lahan went down the few steps from the inn door and immediately started light stretching in front of it.
Then he began morning jogging.
While running, he could enjoy the quiet street that was deserted unlike during the day, alone.
At the same time, by repeatedly breathing in the fresh morning air and exhaling, his mood naturally improved.
After running for a while, he circled the neighborhood and returned to the entrance of the Abundance Inn, knelt down to cool his good sweat with sweat drops.
"Sigh."
Lahan wiped the sweat on his forehead with his sleeve roughly and entered the inn again.
There, unlike when he had come down earlier, he found the innkeeper Eri, who was diligently sweeping the floor alone with a broom about her height and moving busily.
"Ah, good morning! Good morning!"
"Good morning."
Eri greeted him brightly first, and Lahan smiled a little and greeted with the morning.
"By the way, what is your name? Since we'll be seeing each other for a long time, it would be better if I knew your name!"
"Ah, I'm Lahan. You can call me as you like."
With Eri's sociable words, Lahan allowed her to call him by his name casually.
"Yes! Lahan-ssi!"
"Yeah, Eri. Please take care of me from now on."
"Yes! Me too!"
After finishing the greeting, Lahan was about to leave when Eri suddenly said as if remembering.
"Ah! As I said yesterday, it seems that meal preparation will be possible starting from lunch today! Shall I prepare lunch for you?"
With Eri's words, Lahan showed a look as if thinking for a moment.
Then he shook his head.
"No, lunch is fine. I'll ask you for dinner from today. How about the meal cost?"
"Ah, 60 copper per meal!"
"Then, pay in advance for a month while staying. Since I'll probably be away for lunch because of work, could you please prepare lunch every morning in bento form? I'll definitely pay the corresponding labor fee."
It was rare for inns to provide bento even when not busy.
"Ah! It's fine! Rather, if you do that, I'll be more grateful! I'll prepare the meals for lunch starting tomorrow morning!"
"Thank you. Calculate the cost and tell me tonight. I'll pay then."
"Yes! Thank you."
"Right back at ya."
Probably, Eri doesn't look like she has a good situation, so if I can earn more money, it would be better. Lahan and Estella can solve lunch, so it's good.
It's good for the sister and good for the sister-in-law.
This is not a symbiotic relationship or win-win, what is it?
But what happened to Eri's parents? Did they both pass away first?
In that case, it's a pity.
A young girl alone trying to operate the inn alone at this age and trying to become independent.
Lahan decided to guess only up to there and stopped worrying about Eri's situation.
It was funny for an outsider like himself to directly ask the person involved and meddle alone.
Don't meddle unnecessarily and worry about my own business.
The money he currently had was only 10 silver.
To solve the meal expenses during her stay as I said to Eri earlier, he had to go earn money for lunch starting today.
Lahan asked Eri one last time.
"Is there a place to wash separately?"
Since this is the medieval era, probably the only place is the well.
"Yes! If you go behind the inn, there will be a well with a curtain!"
Probably Eri washes there every morning behind the curtain.
In the medieval era, this is inconvenient in many ways.
There was no proper place to wash.
"Yeah. Thank you for telling me. Then."
"You're welcome!"
Waving a light hand gesture, he went outside again.
It was just to wash simply as Eri had told him.
He went to the well behind the inn, lifted the bucket with a rope, poured water, washed his head once, took off his upper body, and did a bath on his back.
It somewhat refreshed the feeling of the cold yet refreshing water being sticky.
After roughly shaking off the dripping hair, he put on the shirt he had taken off again and entered the inn.
He happened to see Estella wearing a pointed witch's hat, rubbing one eye as if half-asleep, coming down the stairs.
"..."
"..."
"Good morning..."
"Yeah, good morning."
We are still a bit awkward.