Chapter 162
Chapter 162
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 162
Chapter Title: New Business
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Scratch, scratch.
The receptionist girl's hand, which had been scribbling away, came to an abrupt halt. Then, as if the strength had drained from her fingers, she let the pen slip from her grasp, rolling it across the table with a clack.
"...Mr. Hassan, last time... when was the final measurement? It's been about two months since you joined, so that must have been the last one...?"
Daphne wiped the sweat beading on her forehead with a trembling hand.
"Um, something seems off. Could we measure again? Try pricking a different finger."
Daphne's reaction was different from what I'd expected, narrowing my brows.
"...What, exactly, is the problem?"
"It's just that in one or two months, your stats can't change this much. At this growth rate, it's almost on par with Ms. Hippolyte from back then...."
Leveling up to stats comparable to Hippolyte's. It was undeniably impressive, hard to believe. So, as Daphne suggested, I pricked several fingers on the pen tip.
Scratch, scratch.
But the results remained the same.
"The Grace category has changed to 'Shining Hand' as well.... Honestly, this seems beyond my authority to handle."
Daphne acted like she was holding back her words. Even so, her eyes stayed glued to my altered stats, refusing to budge.
"Mr. Hassan, just out of curiosity... is there any royal bloodline with divine heritage in your family? Or perhaps you're the son of a famous tribal chief from the Samaritan wilderness...?"
"Not that I know of."
"You're certain both your parents are alive? That your parents haven't been strange since childhood...?"
"My parents are strange?"
For a moment, it felt like I'd been hit with a pad lip, my head tingling. Asking if my parents were strange— who knew this world had such an archaic insult.
Of course, Daphne didn't mean it that way. Still, hearing it right in front of me felt strangely off-putting.
"They're probably both still alive. It's been a while since I last saw them."
"Is there any chance they're not your biological parents...?"
"No, what are you even trying to ask?"
"It's just the standard procedure; I have no choice. Mr. Hassan, I'm wondering if you might be a demigod like Ms. Hippolyte."
"A demigod? Me?"
"Yes."
"Pffft."
At those words, an inexplicable burst of laughter erupted from deep in my gut. Had I heard anything this amusing lately?
"Hassan, breathe while you laugh."
Luna patted my back to calm me down, and I kept laughing for a while.
"That's absolutely not the case, so no need to consider it."
"Hmm."
Daphne furrowed her brows with a gravely serious expression at my response.
"As expected, there are too many things beyond my judgment. Mr. Hassan, how about visiting Delphi?"
"Delphi, you say?"
I'd heard of Delphi before. The city devoted to the God of Light, famous for its massive Sun Temple, a major tourist spot.
The priestess Cassandra, who once stood watch with me, had come from there. She'd even invited me to visit sometime.
"Why Delphi all of a sudden?"
"Many people go there to receive oracles to awaken their divinity. The Church of Light handles such matters."
"Ah."
I didn't quite get it— like a genetic test via oracle? Of course, as a pure Korean, I had no need for such a test.
But—
"Luna, what are you doing?"
"Shh, be quiet. I'm catching a fire cricket here. If it's noisy, it'll fly away. Who knew fire crickets were in places like this.... Shhh.... 20 copper...."
Luna, crouched on the tent floor catching bugs, seemed like she could use an oracle. She was definitely Nox's daughter, after all.
Of course, I wasn't sure if I should decide that on my own.
Why was Nox hiding Luna's identity?
Families came in all shapes and sizes, so there were probably circumstances I didn't know about.
I shouldn't shatter that or meddle and ruin it.
But if she's a goddess's daughter, she'd be treated like royalty here— so why was she catching crickets over there?
I was a bit curious about the reason. There was still so much I didn't know about Luna.
The unknowns about her made me uneasy, as they could potentially harm our relationship.
"See you later, Daphne!"
Anyway, the long-overdue guild business was wrapping up.
"If you decide to go to Delphi, let us know. The guild can cover the travel expenses!"
Delphi.
Luna and I were busier than ever, so I didn't know when we'd go, but a tourist trip there didn't sound bad.
* * *
A rare day off.
I had quite a few tasks to handle during this leisurely time.
For instance, I still hadn't received the reward for fetching that black spring water or whatever for the Venus Temple.
So, I headed there with Luna for a lazy afternoon date-like outing. But we only got word that the Saintess of Venus had a schedule and left, so we turned back empty-handed.
Screw this, are they stiffing me on the reward?
Worries crept in.
That's why direct contracts without the guild need caution.
Though I doubted the Saintess, head of the Venus Temple, would scam an adventurer....
Surprisingly, high-ranking folks often ignored laws and feared no heavens, pulling rank. It was the same in my old world, let alone this barbaric one.
"Hassan, look! Blue roses!"
While my stomach churned over how to get the reward, watching Luna frolic through the colorful garden lifted my mood a bit.
A garden buzzing with flowers, butterflies, and bees. The fountain with white swans splashing cool water sprays, faint rainbows shimmering.
Luna, joyful amid the bright sunlight, looked quite pretty and cute. Exaggerating a bit, like a fairy or young goddess.
Munch, munch.
But what Luna had been munching on since earlier bugged me. I finally asked.
"Luna, what've you been eating?"
"Roses!"
"...I see. Hungry?"
"Yeah! How'd you know?"
Luna smiled shyly, chewing rose petals.
"Since we're on the topic, where should we eat?"
"Yeah!"
We'd planned lunch together, but Luna had skipped it moving jars because of work. Dragging her around was my short-sighted fault.
Experienced daters do it better; as a former virgin, I sucked at planning dates. Damn, stupid Hassan.
At least Luna wasn't prickly, thank goodness.
"Let's stop by home first! I have something to show you, Hassan!"
I'd thought of a nice restaurant street, but Luna wanted to hit her hut.
Something to show me?
Curious, I followed with slight anticipation.
Her hut had expanded sideways a bit. Long wooden planks clumsily attached, forcibly widening the space?
"What's that?"
"The bathroom. Built it all morning! It was tough."
Luna rubbed her shoulders and arms like it really hurt.
Knowing Luna's clumsy handiwork, I could picture the struggle to expand that one-pyeong space to two.
"You built it yourself, Luna?"
"Nah, Paranoya did. I watched."
"I see. Thought you'd slaved over it."
I recalled Paranoya lately helping daily with potions on the first floor, worked like an apprentice. Now construction too.
Thought she was a dumb nymph, but skilled. I mentally bumped her score up half a star.
Wonder if she's paying her properly. Nah, Luna and Paranoya handle it.
Anyway, a bathroom.
"Come see!"
Accessible from inside the first floor. Tight for two people. Looked slapdash outside.
Surprisingly, the floor had proper drainage and tiles.
"You pulled plumbing? Didn't it need paperwork and lots of money?"
"Got it cheaper than usual! Cool, right? Thief Guild disbanded, prices dropped!"
What did the thief guild have to do with plumbing? Oh, right— Hydra controlled central underground water, profiting.
Sewers unmanaged, whole city stank like a sewer. With them gone, maybe cleaner now.
"Turn this for cold water! You've never seen one, huh? They call it a faucet!"
Creak, creak.
Rusty faucet turning. Water soon streamed from the overhead iron pipe.
Splash.
In this world, non-rich us having a private bathroom. Amazing.
Luna's hut getting a bathroom thrilled me too.
Hygiene and cleanliness were key in this barbaric world.
No more trekking to distant bathhouses— quality of life up.
And maybe, living together, we could share soft, steamy, naughty moments.
Just imagining made me hard.
Luna looked so happy now; buy nice dinner, set mood, maybe get frisky tonight?
Stomach full without eating, mood soaring.
* * *
Nymph's Wings Inn.
Buzzing with customers lately. Evening peak for inn and tavern doubled the noise.
Reuniting with Elfriede here recently nearly shocked me to death.
Rumors spread: Calcuta's adventurer guild's Rose fled before the thief guild— her party vanished from Sodomora, no face-to-face.
They retreated to cut losses, but image matters for adventurers; probably laying low till rumors die.
Or disband.
Lurking or disbanding.
Like idol groups whitewashing scandals, adventurer teams fixed most issues that way.
But none of my business.
"All picked?"
I kindly asked Luna pondering the menu. My voice sounded cringier than imagined, startling me.
Luna didn't mind.
"Really all okay?"
"Yeah, pick anything. My treat today."
"Shh.... Hassan, something good happen?"
"Nah, nothing special."
"Hassan, you're broke."
"Money coming soon."
I'd slain the thief guild Hydra, so victory over Rose of the Silver Guild. Expect decent reward from Sodomora's count?
How much?
Might cover Hippolyte's aura rush fee.
Luna and I ordered everything on the menu to taste. Even all, barely 2 silver for two— great value to stuff ourselves.
"I swung the enchanted Silence Totem like whoosh, thieves all fled! You should've seen it, Hassan!"
Free tasty food and booze reddened Luna's face; she seemed happier, clearly drunk unlike usual.
Looking this good, home bath, grope her breasts maybe.
Soft boobs.
If mood's right, tipsy Luna might lick me off— blood rushed south hard.
Mood and buzz ripening. Drunken songs and chatter fading into background.
Clunk.
Door opened; someone shouted.
"The Baron Fleur will soon grace this inn! All, show respect...!"
Baron?
Noble, right?
Not rich East Gate, but deep West slums. Noble visiting odd.
Customers stared blankly at each other.
Step, step, step.
Armed soldiers filling the inn. No Sodomora yellow flags or crests— private noble guards.
"Sheathe weapons!"
"Remove sharps!"
"You, what's that pointy thing in your pocket!"
"Mine's."
"Ah, right."
They glared around, aggressively securing space and safety.
Boozy patrons annoyed, but numbers and shining armor/spear tips quelled anger.
Swoosh.
Red carpet rolled out. A man stepped on it, crunching.
Black outfit fully covering skin, wide-brim sombrero-like hat.
Hot day, all-black— grim reaper? Sweat just looking.
Innkeeper frowning, what the hell?
"B-Baron Fleur!"
Black-veiled face under hat man spoke.
"If promised, shouldn't you keep it, Barugo? My patience ends today."
"Th-that is...."
Innkeeper's frantic eyes scanning landed on me, boozing in corner.
Those desperate eyes reminded me: I'd promised to meet 'Baron Fleur'. Too busy, forgot. Didn't expect personal visit.
Baron Fleur spoke.
"Fetch that skilled healer at once. My daughter needs urgent treatment."