n

n

n

"Was it necessary to be that harsh on him?

" As soon as the three of them were freed from the custody of the local prefect, Irea was the one to pick up the mantle and start sitting on Layn's head.

n

"Yes,

" Layn answered, refusing to argue with his girl.

"If I were to go too soft on him, he would think that we are easy to push around.

" The archmage explained while shaking his head.

"I know that it wasn't a nice feeling to sit and watch how we threw verbal assaults at each other, but it was pretty necessary.

"

n

"At least we can go and finally get our rooms, don't we?

" said Pavrien while noticing how the atmosphere was slowly turning denser and denser.

n

"Rooms? That's actually a good point.

" Layn agreed, taking the simple way out of the pointless argument. For him, the local Prefect was nothing more but another random trying to flex his social standing and muscles at him in hopes of obtaining some benefit. And with his experience of working near the very top of the government of a huge nation back in the future, Layn knew perfectly well how to deal with this kind of pests.

n

"Yeah. Let's do that.

" Irea agreed while stomping her head and pushing forward all on her own.

n'I guess avoiding the topic doesn't mean she will ignore it as well…' Layn thought while shaking his head before casting a look at the girl's back, 'I should talk with her a bit, later on…'

nEven though the atmosphere wasn't all that great, the objective of Layn's group didn't change at all. First, to get the rooms.

nThis kind of task was pretty simple, especially during the off-season. From what it seemed, the entire warcamp was as good as abandoned. While the military district that was closed to the visitors like Layn was bustling with life due to the constant presence of the small army tasked with defending the place in case of an invasion from the desert, this didn't mean the rest of the city was the same.

n

"Can you believe it?

" Irea asked with excitement filling her voice. As it appeared, rather than talking things through, distracting her was an even better idea.

"I managed to get us room for less than a third of what I would have to pay during the season!

" Layn only nodded his head while hearing the girl praise their situation.

n

"That's great!

" Layn praised his girl while gracing her with a small smile.

"I hope it won't mean a worse service, though,

" he added after a momentary pause.

n

"As if that would ever happen, sir!

" Before Irea would even have a shot at answering, a new voice entered the fray.

nLayn instantly looked to the side, following the habits he attained back when traveling the world with his friends. Even since those times, whenever an unexpected voice would appear, Layn's head would instantly drift towards the source of the sound.

n

"At our Inn, we always do our best to provide the best service possible!

" A young girl, around fifteen of age claimed while approaching the group.

n

"And you are…?

" Layn asked by ending his sentence prematurely.

n

"I'm the head waitress of this Inn!

" The girl exclaimed with passion while pridefully raising her chin up.

"Whatever is it that you desire, sirs, I will do my best to provide for!

"

n'Ugh,' Layn suddenly turned his head to the side, refusing to look at the girl whose words momentarily invoked his old-man nature.

"How about we start with a meal? I know we just got the rooms, but all that talking got me hungry.

" Rather than allowing his mind to play out dirty jokes whenever he would look at the girl, Layn decided to focus on the more pressing tasks.

n

"Meals? That might be slightly problematic,

" the girl said while turning her eyes away.

"But it's not my fault! It's all my pops fault! He should be the one doing the cooking…

" The girl started, clearly not intending to acknowledge the lapse in the service of the inn.

n

"Don't worry. We understand that without many guests, the Inn will operate in a slightly different way.

" Layn said to calm the girl down.

"Could you tell us where to look for some food then?

"

nThere was no need to bully the teenage girl only because she couldn't handle all the jobs of the Inn on her own when likely every other servant and owner himself was out of the place.

n

"I didn't say we don't offer anything! I can make a rice gruel, rice porridge, rice on rice…

" The girl started from a high note, only for her voice to turn lower and lower with every abbreviation of the rice porridge that she spelled out loud.

n

"Well, rice on rice might not be bad, but we would use some meat with it as well,

" Layn answered while shaking his head. Then, he put a gentle smile on his lips before rustling the little girl's hair.

"You go and make us that porridge, and we will go procure some meat ourselves, okay?

"

n

"Yes! Right away!

" The girl didn't dare to miss such an opportunity. She instantly took off, rushing behind the counter of the Inn before disappearing into the kitchen hidden behind it.

n

"Was that really necessary?

" Irea asked as she looked in the direction where the girl ran off to.

"We could find get a proper and full meal from one of the stalls completely on our own. The prices here… Are bound to be higher than on the stalls,

" Irea commented while casting a dissatisfied glance at the archmage.

n

"I know. But try… No, that's not how I should phrase it.

" Layn attempted to say something, only to stop in the middle and correct himself.

"Look, for us, spending a few more coins means absolutely nothing. But for that girl…

" Layn once again looked in the direction where she escaped to,

"for her, this will serve as not only a good memory, but also a positive introduction.

"

nLayn winker at Irea before moving out of the building. With how deserted the town was, it didn't take him long to reach the direct middle of the warcamp, where the very few visitors and local staff spent most of their time.

n

"Anything catches your fancy?

" Layn asked Irea, turning his eyes around to cheek what she was looking at.

n

"Not really. Let's just get some meat.

" Irea replied in a tone that clearly suggested she couldn't be bothered with the topic.

n

"Oh, don't be like that!

" Layn suddenly exclaimed, just loud enough to make the point of him being angry, yet silent enough to not attract too much attention from the few men who actually lived in this place.

n

"Like what?!

" Irea asked in a harsh tone, clearly unwilling to let herself be pushed back.

n

"Tsk, that's not what I meant, not like that.

" Layn clicked his tongue before lowering his head and taking a few breaths to calm himself down.

"Dear, listen. Eating properly is one of the basics of growing stronger. I asked if you fancied anything because that would mean your body was craving for something specific.

" Layn lectured the girl in a soft voice before turning his eyes to Pavrien.

n

"This is a small bonus you will get for now. While it will be only one of the factors, you should remember this as well. Whenever our body craves for something, it usually points at the best thing to nurture the body as well.

" Layn explained as he approached one of the very first stalls that he noticed.

nWith just a small cart, a man laid it out with relatively flat stones on the insides, before covering it all with some kind of fire-resistant fabric. Inside, thick pieces of wood were burning, heating up the meat located on the grill directly above.

n

"Would you like some skewers, sir?

" The stall owner asked as soon as Layn appeared in front of him. From his bored face, there wasn't all that much traffic for his business today either.

n

"Yeah. Give me all of them.

" Pulling out a coin worth about thrice as much as all the meat that the man was frying, Layn threw it to the owner.

"You can keep the rest.

"

n

"Sir… I… Thank you for your patronage sir!

" The owner profusely thanked while ignoring the mumbling Irea to the side. On the other side, Layn ignored them both, too busy snatching all the skewers from the grill to bother with either.

n

"Now that we have some meat, how about we head back? By the time we will be back…

"

nGrumble.

nLayn's face turned slightly red.

"I said it already, I'm hungry, there is no point making a big deal out of it!

" explaining himself while turning redder and redder from embarrassment, Layn finally, although unintentionally, managed to get Irea to smile again.

n

"Yeah, let's go back now. With how happy that girl was to get that rice for us…

" Irea shook her head as a smile blossomed on her lips,

"it would be rude not to show up in time!

"

n