Chapter 7
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Talent Search (3)
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To Kalt's question, the innkeeper replied with a bright smile.
"Yes, there is. A hero party showed up in our village nine days ago. And get this."
Placing a hand beside her mouth as if speaking cautiously, the innkeeper continued.
"They're staying right here at our inn."
"Really?"
It was an unexpected windfall.
Who would've thought they'd be staying at the same inn.
This made it easy to make contact with the Indomitable Hero Nellis Party.
"But why are you looking for a hero party?"
The innkeeper gazed at Kalt with the curious eyes of a typical villager.
"I saw their recruitment notice at a guild in another village and came over."
"Ah! So you're hoping to join a hero party?"
"Yes, exactly."
His fresh, upstanding-young-man smile as he answered must have been infectious, because the innkeeper's mood brightened too.
"Nellis and the others are in luck. With a reliable guy like you joining them, things will be a lot easier for those girls."
'At least their personalities don't seem like a pain.'
Watching the innkeeper's reaction as she spoke about Nellis's party, Kalt figured they didn't have any major personality issues.
If they were real troublemakers or the kind of hero party no one wanted to get close to, it would show in the innkeeper's demeanor right away.
You could gauge a party's social skills just from whether she seemed awkward or if anger seeped into her tone.
"By any chance, is the Indomitable Hero Nellis Party at the inn right now?"
"They should be back around dinnertime. They headed out on a request this morning. Those girls are so diligent. Thanks to them, we don't have to worry about kobolds near the village anymore."
Kobolds were bipedal monsters with dogs' heads.
In terms of subjugation difficulty, they rated D.
Stronger than E-rank goblins, they were the kind of monsters a hero party started hunting about two weeks in, then casually mopped up and "graduated" from after three weeks to a month.
And yet this party, which had been around for at least two months, was still hunting them.
Of course, if it was an essential village request, they might take it two or three times.
But only if there was no one else to handle it.
'Plus...'
Kalt glanced around the inn.
Besides the innkeeper, there wasn't a soul in sight.
Just Kalt and her at the moment.
Even if adventurers were killing time at the guild, this was still too empty.
"Are there not many adventurers in the village?"
"Yeah, it just worked out that way. They say the number of monsters in the nearby dungeon has spiked. Most adventurers headed there. It's a good thing Nellis and her group came along."
Dungeons.
Phenomena called the world's mysteries—spaces where hordes of monsters appeared at regular intervals.
Their origins were shrouded in doubt, and history recorded several cases of dungeons appearing out of nowhere.
And every so often, dungeons would produce monsters in bizarre quantities. That was called an overflow.
When overflows worsened, monsters spilled out of the dungeon, so guilds would send urgent notices summoning nearby adventurers when signs appeared.
For adventurers, as long as they had the skill, it meant more prey to hunt and more money to make, so most flocked to the dungeons.
He'd gotten the information he wanted.
No need to stop by the guild anyway—he could just wait for the hero party to return.
Kalt dropped his bags in his assigned room, then came back down and spoke to the innkeeper at the counter.
"Is there anything I can help with?"
"Pardon?"
"I just got here, so no plans for requests, and I've got nothing to do until Nellis's party shows up."
"Oh, you don't have to do that. It's fine."
"No, honestly, if I'm just sitting around without a request, I get antsy."
Kalt flexed his right arm to show off his bicep, then tapped it with his left hand.
"I'm confident in my strength, so leave it to me."
He followed up with a wink.
"Plus, I want to make a good impression by helping out a beautiful lady like the innkeeper."
"Oh my."
Blushing faintly at Kalt's flattery, the innkeeper covered her cheeks demurely.
A handsome guy like Kalt straightforwardly complimenting an "auntie" like her—even with a daughter her age, it made her happy as a woman.
Age or no age, every woman harbored the heart of a youthful maiden.
"You sure know how to talk sweet. Well then... there's some luggage that needs moving to the inn's storeroom. Could you help with that?"
"Of course."
While waiting for Nellis's party, Kalt helped the innkeeper and learned a few more things.
After moving the luggage, with no other guests around and the place feeling empty, Kalt struck up conversations eagerly. The innkeeper happily chatted with him.
The innkeeper's name was Nadia, and her daughter's was Lunia.
This inn had been built up with savings from her late husband, and after he passed from illness early on, she'd raised their daughter alone while running it.
Her daughter had grown into a truly kind girl and now served as the inn's signboard maiden.
"Lunia turned out so pretty. You know, she's the most popular girl among the village boys."
"I can imagine."
"Huh? You haven't even seen her—why say that?"
"Because if she's Nadia's daughter, she must take after you, so of course she's pretty. Naturally, she'd be popular in the village."
"Oh, K-Kalt, you... Ahaha."
Nadia waved her hands, blushing at Kalt's occasionally steamy compliments.
"You're overdoing the jokes. You can't say stuff like that to an old lady like me."
"Old lady? Nadia, you look like a lady to me."
"A lady...? "
With the young man's gentle smile and praise, Nadia didn't know what to do.
A villager from the same town saying, "Heh heh, Nadia's looking pretty today~" would just get a light "Thanks."
But hearing it from Kalt—a strikingly handsome, sturdy young man—the same words hit her completely differently.
"Mom! I'm back!"
A lively voice echoed through the inn.
Nadia's daughter, with the same orange straight hair and green eyes as her mother.
Lunia, back from shopping, had returned to the inn.
"Kyaa!"
The moment she entered, Lunia spotted Kalt, covered her mouth with one hand, and let out a small scream.
"Mom! Who's this hottie? Did we hire a new staff member?"
"What new staff? Honestly."
Nadia stood and introduced Kalt to Lunia.
"This is Kalt. He saw Nellis's recruitment notice and came over."
"You're an adventurer! But you don't look like one—you're super handsome! Most adventurers are just burly and rough-looking."
"Lunia! I told you not to have prejudices like that!"
"Right! That prejudice just got shattered. Wow, whoa... He's seriously hot."
The adventurers stationed in the village were always just average types.
Seeing a fine specimen like Kalt naturally drew gasps of admiration.
It was like kids fiddling with clay dolls their whole lives suddenly beholding a sculptor's marble statue.
"Hello, I'm Kalt."
Kalt's deep yet soft voice tickled Lunia's ears.
'His voice is insane too...!'
For a village girl like Lunia with no big events in her life, Kalt himself felt like something special.
"You're Lunia, right?"
"Y-Yes!"
"You take after Nadia—you're a beauty."
"...!"
Hearing she was pretty from a hot guy made Lunia's heart race.
"Mom!"
First, Lunia hurried to Nadia's side and lightly patted her shoulders repeatedly.
"What do I do what do I do he said I'm pretty!"
"Yes, our girl's pretty. But that's just polite talk, so don't make a fuss—go put the groceries away."
"It didn't feel like just that. I hope it wasn't...~"
Lunia's imagination was already running wild, picturing a sweet date with Kalt strolling side by side.
"Seriously, girl... Hurry up and put the stuff away!"
Smack! Nadia lightly swatted Lunia's back.
"Kyaa! Okay, okay."
Once her daughter had gone into the kitchen, Nadia turned to Kalt.
"Sorry about that. She's a bit of a handful, huh?"
"No, her energy's refreshing. Oh, and what I said earlier wasn't just polite talk."
"Huh?"
"That Lunia's pretty because she takes after you, Nadia."
"Oh, oh my. Kalt, you... "
Confirming Nadia's shy reaction, Kalt's lips curved up.
A little more prodding, and she'd fall.
That certainty sprouted within him.
Kalt stayed at the inn, helping Nadia and Lunia until Nellis's party returned.
The more he helped, the more fondly the mother-daughter duo came to regard him.
With his gentle voice and handsome looks, plus doing it out of goodwill, they never suspected a thing.
By evening...
"Thanks for all your help today. This is on the house."
"Dig in! Mom worked hard on it!"
Kalt had earned enough favor from Nadia and Lunia to get served a free dinner at the inn.
"Thank you."
He accepted it smoothly, as always.
He was used to such treatment because he was generally kind to people.
The only difference was whether he did it with ulterior motives or not.
Just as Kalt finished his dinner...
"Aah~ I'm starving~. Nadia! Dinner, please."
"We worked really hard today."
"Seriously, running into kobolds one after another even on the way back. Ugh, I'm beat."
A group of three women entered the inn.
"Oh, you're back. Come on in. Perfect timing—I've got someone to introduce."
"Introduce?"
"Yeah. You were recruiting, right? This guy's here because he saw your notice."
All three sets of eyes turned to Kalt at Nadia's words.
Kalt stood and approached them.
"Hello, I'm Kalt. You're the Indomitable Hero Nellis Party, right?"
"Pardon? Oh, yes. That's us."
"I saw your recruitment notice and came over. If it's alright, I'd love to join your p—"
Grrrooowl~
A loud stomach growl emanated from Nellis.
"... "
Nellis's face turned beet red.
The companion behind her who looked like a mage pressed her hand to her forehead and looked away, while the other, who seemed like a nun, gave an awkward bitter smile.
Kalt kept his smile and stepped aside.
"Could we talk after you've eaten?"
"...Yes."