The Fortified Inn and the Strange Men
Two weeks had passed aboard the carriage, and at last the Fortified Inn came into view!!!
Wait… they'd called it a fortress-like inn, but this was just a fortress, wasn't it?
It was ringed by dense, towering wooden palisades, and inside, regular soldiers made their rounds on patrol.
At this point, wasn't it basically a military base?
My animal companions, the merchant party, and I arrived at the Fortified Inn's entrance and underwent inspection. In my case, I held a Church travel pass, so I was waved straight through.
"Hmm? This pass? Oho—the seal of the Order of Justice and Virtue. You may enter at once."
"Would it be all right for these companions of mine to pass as well?"
"Of course! With the Church's seal, it'd be strange to turn them away. Though the wolf will have to stay in the stables with the other animals."
"Understood."
"Much obliged! A wolf of that size would frighten the other guests, you see."
"Heh heh… As expected of the Golden Wind—to receive Heaven's own token…"
When Alberic presented a pass similar to mine, the gatekeeper took one look and snapped a salute.
"Lord Alberic Bemil—welcome to the Fortified Inn."
"Think nothing of it… O guardian of the gates to the Resting Place of the Lake. Your labors are ever appreciated."
Alberic struck yet another peculiar pose, gazing at the gatekeeper with eyes full of melancholy. The man's expression curdled on the spot.
"Y… yes… thank… you…"
After that, the rest of the party cleared inspection without trouble and entered the Fortified Inn.
"Ah! Sir Haren—thank you so much for everything! Please take this."
"Oh, no. You've all worked hard enough as it is."
"We really are grateful! Sir Haren."
"Your fine stories kept the journey from growing dull."
"Handsome big brother! See you next time!!"
Beira and the mercenaries pressed a pouch of silver into my hands by way of farewell. They would probably buy horses, rest a few days, and be on their way.
The silver pouch… oh? This much? They were giving me a fortune.
"Golden Wind."
"Alberic?"
"How deep shall you take root in this Resting Place of the Lake?"
Ugh… we'd grown close on the road here, so I figured I ought to play along.
"O Man Who Contains the World… this one intends to take root only lightly."
"Ahh… Then will you not board the same vessel upon this lake as I?"
"Oh?"
Oh? So Alberic wanted to stick together at the Fortified Inn. Fine by me—traveling with a friend was always better. And with him around, things wouldn't get boring. He overacted at everything I said, which was oddly entertaining in its own right.
"I too shall board that vessel, 'sworn friend.'"
"Ahh… To hear the Golden Wind call me 'sworn friend'… An event worthy of inscription in the ledger of a lifetime."
So Alberic kept a diary, did he…
I asked what the others planned to do. He said this place had been their destination from the start.
"I, Alberic Bemil, and those who revere gold, met our fated bond upon the earth. And we have merely drawn the red thread as far as this tranquil Resting Place of the Lake."
"Ahh… I see."
So they'd met on the road, paid their fare, and ridden the carriage. Got it. Time to move on.
Some time later, strange men appeared at the Fortified Inn.
I excused myself to Alberic and went to the stable master to leave Hati in his care.
"Uh… a wolf…?"
"Will this much coin suffice?"
"Ah!!! I'll even comb the wolf's fur for you!!"
As expected, money talked. With that generous tip, the stable master gave us a stall large enough for a carriage.
"Hati, stay here quietly for me~"
"Woof woof woof~"
Hati seemed pleased with the soft, clean straw, rolling around as if to say he understood.
"Beep!"
"Hmm? Hugin? You want to stay here too? Good—having you here puts my mind at ease."
"Beep!"
Blanc, for her part, was smiling brightly and clinging to me.
Leaving my two animal friends behind, I rejoined Alberic, who was leaning against the inn wall in one of his peculiar poses. Instantly, stares poured over us from every direction.
We both had our faces hidden by hoods and hats, but we were obviously handsome, and our attire and mannerisms were so unusual that people kept glancing as they passed.
"You have come… Golden Wind…"
"So I have. Sworn friend."
"Heh heh heh… Your companions need not worry. I shall not forgive any stone that would cast ripples upon this tranquil lake."
According to Alberic, the Fortified Inn enforced extremely strict rules.
Touch another's belongings: hanging.
Attack another: hanging. Self-defense was permitted, he added.
Steal from a shop: hanging. And so on.
In short, every offense ended with the offender becoming fruit for the trees. That was why security here was as solid as the imperial capital's. There was even a noble on site authorized to try crimes, which made the Fortified Inn thoroughly reliable.
"But tell me, sworn friend—which vessel shall we board?"
The Fortified Inn was vast enough to offer a range of lodgings. Counting them, there were maybe seven or eight? Where should we stay?
Hearing me, Alberic put on a greasy expression and spoke.
"Golden Wind… I have received many brilliant jewels from you. Therefore, this time, allow me to offer you a few small gems of my own."
He then led me to the center of the Fortified Inn, and we arrived at a building that looked like an extremely magnificent mansion. It was ringed by iron bars, with regular soldiers on patrol… There was even a gatekeeper at the entrance, just like at the Fortified Inn's main gate.
"This place is…?"
"Ahh… The vessel of the noble ones…"
This was the nobles' inn.
Showing our passes to the gatekeeper, we secured rooms without a hitch.
The room was vast and lavish. A huge carpet, a fluffy bed… a wine display, a table, even a fireplace and a rocking chair… Wow. The design rivaled anything from the modern world; I was genuinely stunned. And for nobles, all of this was free for a whole month…
I found myself deeply agreeing with one of life's eternal truths: It's good to keep well-placed friends.
I left my luggage and robe in the room and walked the inn corridor… Hmm? Not locking the door? There were no locks on the doors here. Was this noble confidence?
In the corridor, servants and maids cleaning the inn were visible. The maids glanced at me, startled, then lowered their eyes. Seems they even trained gaze etiquette here.
Being a mansion-like inn, it even had a separate dining hall. There was a bar for wine and liquor as well… As expected of nobles who monopolized over ninety percent of the nation's wealth.
"Golden Wind, I am here in this place!"
Alberic, dressed in light attire, called to me with a wine glass in hand.
"Haha, sworn friend—so this is where you were."
"Ahh… From past to present… Truly the Golden Wind… The lofty gods of the heavens must have been sculpting you when they accidentally dropped you upon the earth…."
They say the face completes the fashion. My clothes were shabby leather, but combined with my face they magically looked like stylish leatherwear.
Alberic and I shared wine and cheese while we talked.
"Sworn friend… I see…"
"Indeed. Golden Wind, I blossomed from the cradle known as Viscount Bemil's house."
Alberic was the third son born to a viscount family. He had talent and many followers, but grew sick of the succession struggle and left…
"That cradle… was rotten… I nearly rotted with it… And so I cast myself into the vast firmament."
"Hoo… Sworn friend… You have climbed a great mountain…"
Together with Alberic, who squeezed his eyes shut and downed his wine, we spent the time sharing our stories.
And so night fell. I escorted the thoroughly drunk Alberic to his room, then returned to my own and slept.
The next morning I went to Alberic to explore the Fortified Inn together, but he said he couldn't because of his hangover…
"S… sorry, Golden Wind…"
"It's fine! I'll look around on my own."
Before leaving, I received a token from a butler-like man at the inn entrance counter. The token was for re-entering the inn—show it to the gatekeeper and you passed freely. According to Alberic's TMI from the day before, it had been created because constantly carrying the pass around was inconvenient.
Hmm… I had meant to head straight for the shops, but there was a marketplace?
Perhaps because people gathered here, the market was lively, and seeing the stationed regular soldiers buying goods, it didn't seem illegal. Looking around, the goods were definitely more varied and higher quality than those in Gelin Village.
Oh?! Cloth?!
Reasonably thick and in various colors—if I bought this and combined it with the leather I had made, I could put together some clothes.
"Oh my, handsome young man—what are you looking to buy?"
"These cloths here."
"Oho? How much have you researched?"
A merchant with the speech of electronics sellers from a certain region. Big raw hides had been six silvers, so how about offering five?
"How about five silvers a sheet?"
"Eight."
"Have a good day~"
"W-wait!!"
I read the merchant's thoughts—he thought selling at five silvers would be a huge profit, yet he'd asked for eight? An obvious rip-off; no reason to buy. When I started to leave, the merchant instead offered less than my proposed price.
"Four…"
"That's reasonable enough, isn't it?"
"Fine. One of each color—four sheets, please."
"Heh heh heh, very well! Here you are."
Reading his thoughts, he'd bought each cloth for three silvers. Inflating three silvers to eight… Merchants really did need faces of iron, I guessed.
The merchant rolled the cloths like gimbap and tied them with rope. After that I looked around the market and found the shop not far away.
Inside the shop, with display cases stretched out in a long row, there was a counter and the owner; each display held only one type of item.
Oho? One gold coin, or thirty silvers? So the currency rate here was 1:30… If there was a coin higher than gold, would one of those be nine hundred silvers?
Anyway, this shop worked by picking what you wanted from the displays and retrieving it at the counter. I looked around. This was flint… this was hardtack… salt….
Uh… uh?! Salt!!! It was salt!!!
I shed tears of gratitude in my heart. I remembered grilling meat with no seasoning at all until now. The first bite was tasty enough, but after that it was like chewing tough rubber bands—I only ate to survive. But with salt, everything would change.
And… oh? Pepper too! Wow… all the essential seasonings were here! There were even needles and thread. Since clothes often got damaged during travel, they sold them here, I supposed. Looking at this, I should make some clothes while I was at the Fortified Inn.
I picked various things at the shop and went to the counter… The price was…
"Pepper and salt are four gold each, or one hundred twenty silvers each!?"
"It's bound to be expensive here~ To buy cheap, you'd have to go to a port city~"
Like rest-stop premium pricing in the modern world, they were selling at over three times the normal price. And fixed prices, so no bargaining…
"Still, if you just go to a nearby city, you can get them for about one gold coin."
This world's prices were truly insane… Nameless gentleman who became an undead I met in the mountains… thank you.
"Here."
"Yes~ Your items are here."
I bought seasonings like salt and pepper, hardtack, needles and thread. They also sold a small hand axe and a small dagger, but damn—both demanded three gold coins. I was going to the city even if just out of spite…
By the way… how was I going to make money? Take mercenary work? Or maybe sell the large tanned hides at a stall. That could work. Raw hides had been about six, so ten each when tanned? Come to think of it, I had sold them ridiculously cheap back in the village…
After that, I returned to the inn and spent my days making clothes. In between, I went to play with Hati and Hugin, and met Alberic for meals and drinks. Alberic seemed unused to someone who played along so well; we kept growing closer and became best friends.
"Huk… Th-this flavor…"
"Magnificent… Indeed… A meal aboard the vessel of the lake shines as brilliantly as the stars…"
Seasoned steak with vegetables, warm stew and soup. Truly fantastic!! And all of it free!!
And so a week passed since the strange men had arrived at the Fortified Inn.