Chapter 153
Chapter 153
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Bollin
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Doni was standing guard at the village entrance.
"Time isn't passing."
"Yeah...."
Billy, who was on guard duty with him, yawned in response.
The young men of the village were taking turns as gatekeepers.
Today, too, they'd probably close the wooden gate at dusk without anything happening.
It had been the same yesterday and the day before.
It was rare to see even one person a week.
Doni, yawning as he stared down the road, suddenly widened his eyes.
"Wh-who's coming?"
"Who'd come to this backwater village..... Huh?"
There were three of them.
'One adult and two kids?'
That was how it looked from a distance.
But as they drew closer, he realized that wasn't the case.
The man was just so enormous that the people behind him looked small by comparison.
The man up front was gigantic.
Doni had never seen anyone that big in his life.
190? No, he looked over two meters tall.
As the man approached, Dony's heart pounded fiercely.
Doni glanced at his friend beside him.
The guy was completely frozen, staring blankly.
Slightly sharp eyes.
Black hair and a face with bold, thick features.
He looked like the type a mage might dress as.
But the black robe he wore was a bit too plain for a mage.
The thing in his massive hand sort of resembled a mage's staff.
"Wh-what brings you here...."
Doni blurted it out and immediately regretted it.
'You idiot. What brings you? Obviously to enter the village.'
His excessive tension had made the words spill out thoughtlessly.
But the giant man's response was unexpected.
It was a bit random, too.
"I'm a mage."
"A mage..... you say?"
Anyone could tell he looked like someone who swung a sword.
Doni had seen a mage exactly once in his life.
Compared to that mage, this guy didn't feel like one at all.
His clothes even had an artificial vibe that didn't suit a mage.
He looked suspicious no matter how you sliced it.
"You don't believe me?"
But under the man's indifferent gaze and heavy voice, Dony's legs went weak. He couldn't bring himself to say no.
His eyes dropped involuntarily.
If he misspoke, that massive fist might come flying at his head.
"N-no sir! I believe you!"
Doni snapped to attention with a disciplined tone.
"Then may I enter?"
"Yes. P-please, go ahead."
"Is there an inn in the village?"
"Yes! There's one at the crossroads if you follow the road!"
'I-I couldn't have stopped him even if I'd said no. H-he's a mage....'
Doni busily rationalized it to himself.
Honestly, mage or not, he couldn't have stopped him.
At that moment, a fragrant scent he'd never smelled before tickled his nose.
'A woman!'
A scent utterly impossible from the village's tough lasses.
It wafted from the two women who appeared to be with the self-proclaimed mage giant as they passed by.
Their faces were half-hidden in their hoods.
But from their exposed noses and lips..... and those white chins alone, Dony felt breathless.
One had golden hair peeking from her hood.
The other had silver hair.
-Gulp.
'They're incredible beauties!'
He knew it without them even taking off their hoods.
Doni stared mesmerized at their backs as they entered the village.
"You moron! They're super suspicious and you just let them in?!"
Billy suddenly exploded.
Dony, who had been blankly staring at the women's backs, snapped out of it.
And felt utterly dumbfounded.
"Fuck! Then you block 'em! You were scared shitless and frozen solid till now—what bullshit is this?!"
"Ugh....... Ahem.... Wh-what do we do?"
Billy deflated instantly at Dony's cursing.
"What do we do? Hurry up and report to the village chief."
"Me?!"
Billy scowled like he was being asked to do a hassle.
"Then, should I go?"
Billy flinched at Dony's words.
"W-well, no choice then.... I, the big-hearted one, should go."
Billy bolted into the village.
"Ugh, that coward punk."
He's only doing it because he's scared to guard alone if one leaves.
"Still, I'm better than that guy."
No matter how Dony thought about it, he figured he was better than Billy, who hadn't even been able to open his mouth out of pure fear.
According to the map, the village's name was Bollin.
The village was surrounded by shabby wooden fences.
The gatekeepers hardly qualified as guards.
Shabby leather armor.
Untended spears.
'If bandits showed up, they'd just bolt....'
Not my problem anyway, since I'm not from here.
Either way, tonight I could finally crash at an inn after so long.
Tents aren't bad.
But a proper roof brings a different sense of security.
Thinking about finally working off my pent-up urges with Ayla made blood rush below.
'We did it yesterday too, but....'
Still, there's a special flavor to it on a bed.
A rundown inn that didn't look all that great came into view, just as the gatekeeper had said.
Given the state of the village, it was probably the only one.
No real choice.
I pushed open the inn's door and stepped inside.
As expected, the place was empty and dead quiet.
"W-welcome...."
The bald innkeeper shrank back upon seeing me fill the doorway, offering a greeting.
"Two good rooms."
Obviously, Ayla and I would share one.
She'd gotten used to it by now and didn't complain.
"H-how many nights...."
"Just one."
"U-understood. M-meals...."
I couldn't expect any proper food.
And the hygiene level was....
"We'll handle it ourselves."
"Yes, that'll be 1 silver."
Compared to the inns in Erpu, the room was nothing special.
It really highlighted the city-village divide.
Naturally, I wasn't thrilled with a medieval-level bed.
I cleared out the inn bed and pulled a modern, scientifically designed one from my inventory.
I sat on the plush mattress and took the spirit seed from my bosom, where I'd stashed it.
Anise had pulled it from her subspace or something, but now that Suni was inside, it couldn't be stored there anymore.
Suni still hadn't woken up.
The seed was still emitting that black glow.
No word from Suni inside it either.
'No way it actually takes years....'
"No reaction yet?"
"Nope."
I pulled her waist toward me as she approached out of curiosity, seating her on my lap.
"A-already...."
"Still got time before dinner."
"R-right?"
Ayla was fully tamed by now and didn't put up much resistance to my bold advances.
Just as I was groping her butt to set the mood,
-Knock. Knock.
"Hm?"
"G-guest? You there?"
It was the innkeeper's voice.
"........"
I ignored it to push things further with Ayla.
(Are you insane? There's someone outside—you wanna do it now?!)
Ayla shoved me away.
In the end, I had no choice but to face the innkeeper's ugly mug.
"Grr! What is it?"
The innkeeper's face went white at my pissed-off expression.
"S-sorry! Th-the village chief wants to meet you.... He's here...."
Why would the village chief bother with outsiders?
It struck me as a little odd.
Still, I figured I'd see what grand errand this chief had that warranted interrupting my good time.
The village chief was waiting for me at a table in the first-floor dining area.
He was an elderly man in neat clothes.
"Y-you're a mage?"
"Yeah."
"I-see...."
The chief replied with a reluctant look.
When I wore armor, people automatically assumed knight.
But in a robe, more folks started doubting my identity.
"What's the issue?"
"B-by any chance, do you take commissions?"
It was a quest.
He must've pegged us for mercenaries or something.
"I'll hear it out first."
"Understood. An evil witch lives in the eastern forest. She's not only extorting our money but even kidnapped our village youths."
"You want her exterminated?"
"Yes."
"That's it?"
"Pardon?"
"No kids snatched or village maidens taken or anything?"
"N-not yet...."
"You tell the lord?"
"Yes.... He just said to wait...."
The lord wasn't bothering enough for it to be a real threat, huh?
"Hired anyone else before us?"
"Yes...."
"How many?"
"Three parties."
"Where are they?"
"........They never came back."
The chief looked grim.
Of course, it didn't move me much.
"Got it."
"We'll pay 20 gold as commission."
Seeing my apathetic face, the chief brought up payment.
Still nowhere near enough.
Might be the best a small village like this could offer, but now that I could exchange mana stones here, money wasn't an issue.
Unless it was some rare item.
"No artifacts?"
"A-artifacts? N-no such thing...."
The chief's face said what backwater would have something like that.
"I see."
As I showed no interest, the chief hurriedly added,
"Th-the witch might have rare stuff, right?"
The chief had a point.
"Got it. I'll think it over. You can go."
"Y-you'll think about it?"
"Got a problem?"
"N-no."
Dismissed, the chief slunk away, thoroughly deflated.