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nCh. 82: Resting at the Inn

nIn the end they decided to get rooms and rest, but when they got there, Loren wasn’t sure what to do with Feuille.

nHe had been thinking about getting three rooms since there were three of them, even if it cost more, but then he started wondering about leaving Feuille in a room all by himself.

nAlthough he was an elf, he was only ten years old.

nThinking that it wasn’t good to leave a young child alone, he was about to have him stay in the same room, when he suddenly started feeling piercing glares on his back, causing him to turn behind him.

nThey were in the first floor of the inn, which like most inns, was where they served customers their meals, and it seemed like most of the glares were from the customers sitting down there behind him.

nHe could tell that they weren’t filled with things like bloodlust or opposition, but he couldn’t immediately understand what was behind them.

nAnd it seemed that for some reason, the ones from the women seemed especially cold, and as Loren rubbed the back of his neck, Lapis whispered to him.

n“This is just a feeling…but I think everyone thinks that Feuille is a girl.”

nWhen told that, Loren looked down at Feuille, who was looking up at him.

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nElves were known to be beautiful, but Feuille especially looked like he could be either, so it was very difficult to know just by looking at him, and if he didn’t talk, he could easily be thought of as a girl.

nRealizing too late that it couldn’t be helped if he was seen as someone who was trying to take a young girl into his room, Loren thought of putting Feuille in Lapis’ room, but Lapis frowned at the suggestion.

n“Regardless of how he looks, Feuille is a boy.”

n“I guess that’s true.”

n“Are you telling an unmarried girl of age to spend a night with a man!?”

n“…Umm, yes.”

nIgnoring Lapis, who was complaining about the moment of silence before his response, Loren scratched his head, wondering what to do.

nIf everyone looked at him coldly if he tried to take Feuille and didn’t like it if he tried to make her take him, there was only one option left.

n“How about all three of us staying a large room?”

n“Oh, you guys were a family?”

nThe one who asked was the owner of the inn.

nWhen the middle-aged man mentioned it, Loren thought about the composition of his current companions, but putting himself who was human, Lapis who was demon kind, and Feuille who was an elf as a family, seemed too chaotic.

n“We’re not actually a family, but a lot of things happened. I’ll appreciate it if you don’t pry further.”

n“Three silver coins a night for a large room for five, including two meals. Extra towels and warm water are extra charge, alright?”

nThe owner was trying to be sensible since they weren’t a family, but to Loren it was additional mental damage, and even with a tired look on his face, he slid three silver coins on the counter.

nAlthough he didn’t have much money, he had a few silver coins in his wallet.

nHe felt that if he let Lapis pay, it would worsen his image with the people behind him, so he immediately paid before Lapis could.

nSeeing the money, the owner gave him a key and told him where the room was.

nFrowning at the painful spending, Loren went up to the second floor with Lapis and Feuille and entered the room for five. After putting his equipment and bags down and sitting down on the bed to take a breath, he saw that Feuille was staring at him.

n“What’s up?”

nWhen he said to Feuille, who was standing in front of the doorway, he asked him with a worried look on his face.

n“Umm…What’s going to happen to me?”

nIt did seem that he was being a little vague, but Loren looked at Lapis, wondering how to answer him.

nLapis, who had put down her things as well and was sitting on a different bed than Loren, noticed Loren’s gaze and put her index finger on her chin, her gaze wandering about around the ceiling, and answered.

n“If we think about it in an orthodox way, we would have him come with us to the Black Forest and take him back to his village would be one option.”

n“If you think about it normally, yeah, but what do you mean by orthodox? Is there an option that isn’t?”

n“…Do you want to know?”

n“No, so keep it to yourself.”

nKnowing that it wouldn’t be anything good, Loren shut up Lapis and turned towards Feuille, who was still standing in front of the door.

n“If you have a way to contact your friends or family, do it. If not, take us to your village. The forest isn’t a place where a child like you could wander around alone, right?”

nFeuille looked confused when Loren asked him to take them to his village, but Loren meant that they would protect him until they reached it, and as Lapis let out a nervous laugh, Loren glared at her.

nLooking at his reaction, Loren thought that the elves must have a lot of trouble with insolent people going after them for their looks.

n“It’s not like we have business with your village. We’re just going to take you there.”

n“Will you really? I don’t have any money to pay you…”

nFeuille knew that Loren and Lapis was adventurers since they stopped by the guild.

nSo, he assumed that since they were people who took quests and were paid for it, they were going to ask for money to take him to his village.

nLoren sighed, knowing what Feuille was thinking.

n“We aren’t going to take money, so don’t worry about it.”

n“T-then you’re going to take it from my parents…?”

nLoren couldn’t stop himself from thinking, ‘I see’.

nTaking money from Feuille, who was a child, wasn’t the proudest thing to do, but taking a lost child home and receiving gratuity didn’t seem like a bad idea.

nBut Loren shook his head and chased the thought out of his mind.

n“We don’t do jobs that deliver lost children home and take money for it.”

n“Then…”

n“Finding you must’ve been something more than chance, so might as well see it through. We’ll take you home and won’t ask for money, so don’t worry.”

n“Why would you go that far…?”

nSince Feuille looked surprised and didn’t seem to believe him, Loren wondered how he could convince him, but then realized that there was no need to.

nIf he accepted their offer, that was fine, but even if he didn’t, that wouldn’t trouble them either.

nEven if they parted ways with him at the edge of the forest, it wouldn’t hurt them at all.

nIt would in fact be easier for them if they did, but he was reluctant letting a powerless child walk all alone inside a forest, since it seemed like something that could keep him from sleeping at night.

n“There’s no reason. If anything, it would be…”

n“That this person is very soft-hearted inside.”

nLapis interrupted Loren.

nLoren was about to argue that he wasn’t soft-hearted, but what he was doing right now indeed looked like he was, so when Lapis looked at him, asking if she was wrong, he couldn’t say anything.

n“So how about going along with his suggestion, and after you get home safely, if you want to pay him back somehow, then I think you could give him something in return.”

n“R-really?”

nFeuille looked relieved at Lapis’ kind words and moved from where he was standing and sat down at an empty bed.

nIt was supposed to be a room for five, but there were only three beds, so Loren, confused, looked around and saw two long sofas, and guessed that they were meant to be used as beds as well.

nAs Loren thought that they were fortunate to have enough beds to use between the three of them, Lapis said to him as if she had just remembered something.

n“So, Loren, all we do know is eat and sleep, and enter the Black Forest tomorrow.”

n“What about it?”

n“This inn. The owner said that extra hot water and towels were extra charge, right? You see, I’d like to clean myself before I go to bed…”

nLoren recalled what the owner had said while Lapis complained at the bad service.

n“I mean, he said extra, right? Water and towels should be included in the room charge.”

nAs Loren said so, knowing that his memory wasn’t wrong, Lapis asked him another thing with a confused look.

n“Then would ordering extra water and towels mean that they won’t give us enough to use?”

nLoren thought that wasn’t true.

nNo matter how cheap the inn, they would provide enough hot water to clean one’s body, and since they were renting a room for five, it wouldn’t be a problem to order enough water and towels for five people, and it was hard to imagine that wouldn’t be sufficient for the three of them.

nIf there were a problem, it would be that Loren and Feuille would have to step outside while Lapis was washing herself, but that wasn’t much of a problem either.

n“I’m fine with one person’s worth of water and towels, and Feuille probably won’t use much either, so you can use the rest, you know?”

n“Thank you, but…then what was the owner talking about when he mentioned extra?”

n“No idea. Maybe some customers use a lot of water and towels? Or some of them spare no expenses?”

nAlthough Loren didn’t say out loud, he understood that the owner had mention extras because he was being sensible about a whole different thing.

nIt was because his companions were a girl named Lapis, and a boy named Feuille who looked like a girl.

nLoren had thought that since she was Lapis, she would catch onto it, but apparently it wasn’t understood to demons.

nLoren guessed that since they were used to taking baths, even if they were in a situation where they needed extra water and towels, they would just wash themselves in the bath.

n‘Onii-san, could you explain what he meant to Shayna?’

nAt the voice that rang in the back of his head, he almost told her that it was ten years too early for her to know, but the voice belonged to a consciousness within his astral, who was also a No Life King, and undead of the highest rank.

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nShe wouldn’t become an adult after a mere ten years, so he wasn’t sure if he should say it was too early for a child to know, or if he should say he’ll explain when she becomes an adult.

n‘Onii-san? Did Shayna ask something bad?’

nSeeing Loren’s reaction, Shayna started worrying that she had done something wrong, but Loren, who regained his composure when he heard her voice, dodged the question by saying he’ll explain when he felt like it, and laid down on his bed.

nPrevious

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nHey guys Kaoto here.

nAhh dang it my phone broke…

nI was planning on upgrading soon, but not this soon.

nWas thinking in like two or three months when I saved up enough.

nOh man I don’t want to spend extra money that I didn’t plan on using, but I don’t want to downgrade either.

nThis…is a tough decision.

nIn any case, it seems that Loren just unlocked some new titles for himself.

nWill he live up to them?

nWe’ll see.

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