Don’t Run Away My Lord

15 – Salt Delivery Commotion (2)

“Welcome!”

A pretty waitress greeted us.

“Meal? Lodging?”

“We want to have a meal and take a bath.”

“Then you’ll have to stay.”

Upon hearing that, Riana turned to me with a questioning expression.

“We’ll stay. We have to wash up anyway, and we need to come up with a plan.”

“Alright. Give us two rooms. If possible, single rooms.”

However, when Riana heard the price of a single room, she seemed a bit flustered and turned to me again.

“It’s a bit expensive, isn’t it…?”

“That’s right. Then let’s just use one room. We need to save money for now.”

I said without much thought, but Riana narrowed her eyes and looked at me suspiciously.

“Lord Erga…”

“No, that will never happen. If I had any intention of doing that to you, I would have had plenty of opportunities by now. I’m just being thrifty with money, that’s all.”

“I see… That makes sense.”

I firmly shut down her suspicions and asked the attendant for a room with two beds.

“It’s fortunate, though. I thought I would be kicked out for being dirty.”

“That won’t happen, sir. If we kicked out every guest who made a mess, how would we stay in business?”

The attendant laughed cheerfully and replied.

“Lately, we’ve been getting a lot of mercenaries and hunters as well. With guests like you, we’re doing just fine.”

“Hunters, you say? This person here also came after catching two wyverns. hehehe.”

Then, someone on the other side of the table chuckled.

“With my skills, I could easily catch ten dragons with just my bare hands.”

When I turned around, there was a man sitting at the table, occupying the space and looking at us.

He was huge and muscular, much rougher than the shepherds.

There were countless scars on his arms, ranging from old ones to fresh ones.

The armor, whether leather or chainmail, was all different, and the weapons leaning against the table and the wall were also diverse.

It seemed that the sharp and fierce things they carried around were not just for decoration.

Judging by the worn leather straps on the handles, they were experienced individuals.

“You better show us a necklace made of wyvern claws or something. We won’t believe you otherwise. We’re not just spouting empty words, kid.”

“Did you really catch one? No, who are you to eavesdrop on other people’s conversations and butt in like this?”

Liana pressed on, and the man responded with a contemptuous smile.

“I am a demon hunter. It’s different from the fundamental nature of someone like you, Mr. San.”

Another hunter chimed in, scoffing.

“A wyvern? That’s not even funny. If you’re going to brag, at least do it at a believable level.”

The hunters chuckled and raised their glasses.

“Lord Erga, please show us the wyvern’s claw. These people are accusing us of being liars!”

Liana, infuriated, reached into my bag and opened the entrance.

The jagged wyvern claw came into view.

Seeing it, the hunters laughed fiercely, slapping their knees.

“That’s supposed to be a wyvern’s claw? You must be kidding.”

“Where did you bring that convincing fake from to brag in front of the experts?”

It’s possible they wouldn’t know.

Wyverns are predators that inhabit a very wide area, and their numbers are not that great.

Besides, if they were to see the wyvern’s claw up close, it would likely be their last memory of life.

Judging from the hunters who have come to the continent to hunt since their arrival, it seems like there are hardly any who have fought against large flying species.

So, it’s only natural that they don’t know what a wyvern’s claw is.

They probably wouldn’t believe it even if they were shown a wyvern’s egg.

After all, wyvern eggs are almost identical to ostrich eggs.

“It’s a real wyvern claw though…”

“Enough, Liana. Hand me the bag.”

To those humans, there’s no point in trying to convince them that this is the product of Wyvern.

After we finished the conversation with the hunters, the employee who had been waiting guided us to our room.

As we climbed the stairs, the employee spoke up.

“Don’t take their words too seriously. Demon hunters are naturally ignorant and rough.”

“It’s alright. If they weren’t like that, they wouldn’t be able to do such dangerous work.”

“While you stay here, you’ll probably meet the hunters frequently. They’ve been flocking here because of the recent rumor about a dragon appearing.”

The employee chuckled as if it was nothing.

“A dragon, really? Does that even make sense? Our lord is going as far as offering a bounty to catch it, how ridiculous…”

“Oh, well…”

Our room was on this floor, a cozy place with two beds arranged on either side.

“Put your luggage here, and if you want to take a bath, come to the makeshift bathhouse behind the inn. We’ll prepare hot water for you.”

As the employee left, Rianna was about to throw herself onto the bed but hesitated and looked down at her own body.

Wearing dusty and sweaty clothes and lying on the bed seemed unpleasant to her, so she asked me.

“Erga, it seems like we should wash up first.”

We left Wyvern’s bag with the eggs and claws under the bed and headed towards the makeshift bathhouse the employee mentioned.

It was a modest place with a large wooden tub filled with hot water inside a tent that was closed off on all sides.

The tent was divided into two, probably so that males and females could use it separately.

The employee poured the hot water he had boiled in the nearby pot into the tub with a ladle.

Rianna and I separated and entered our respective tents.

As I took off my dirty clothes and entered the hot water, I couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.

“Hmm… Feels good…”

I poured water over my head, rubbed it into my hair, and washed my face. The dried blood was washed away, and the water quickly turned a light crimson.

After washing myself with water, I noticed something I had never seen before next to the wooden barrel.

It was a smooth, board-like object with white powder inside and rough holes.

What is this?

I called out to Liana, who was right next to me, in a loud voice.

“Liana! There’s white powder and a strange object here. How do you use it?”

“That’s soap powder and a loofah! You rub the powder on the loofah, add a little water, and lather up! Once you get bubbles, you can wash your body with it!”

Soap powder? The soap powder I know?

Washing with soap powder?

I hesitated, but decided to do as Liana instructed. Bubbles of smoke appeared in the lather.

As I rubbed it on my body, the things that hadn’t come off when I washed with water alone started to peel away.

I had seen it in books, but humans really do invent all sorts of things.

That’s probably why even with a weak body, I could become one of the dominant species in the Idelight continent.

There’s so much to learn. It’s going to be an enjoyable life on the run.

* * * * *

After finishing our bath and feeling refreshed, we went straight to the first floor to have a meal.

We needed to buy new clothes and various other things, but first, we needed to fill our stomachs.

The demon hunters who had confronted us earlier were nowhere to be seen, and there were only relatively ordinary-looking people sitting here and there.

As soon as we sat down, the waiter brought us our food without us even having to order.

In the bowl floated large chunks of vegetables, bathed in a reddish and thick broth.

As I stirred with my spoon, I found unknown pieces of meat and deflated bits of sausage.

“What is this?”

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“What is this?”

In response, the waiter stared at the bowl as if there was a problem.

“Um… I’m not sure…? There’s no hair or anything like that?”

It seems there was some misunderstanding.

I asked because I was genuinely curious about what this food was. But it seems this person took offense and thought I was complaining.

“I’m asking because I’ve never had this kind of food before. I’m curious about the name.”

“Huh? The name…? It’s just stew…”

“Oh, stew.”

As the waiter walked away, looking puzzled, Liana, who had been watching, giggled and urged me to eat.

I scooped a spoonful of that stew and put it in my mouth.

As I felt the hot broth and the lumpy texture filling my mouth, I…?!

I hesitated for a moment before managing to swallow them.

“Hmm…”

“Don’t you like it?”

“It’s not as good as I expected.”

The stew was too salty.

The unique taste of vegetables, meat, and sausages was barely noticeable.

Because the strong salty taste of the broth overwhelmed everything else.

“It’s too salty.”

“I can’t help it, Lord Erga. The inn stew is usually boiled for several months.”

“What are you talking about? Several months?”

Liana told me about the grotesque food called “Eternal Stew”.

They keep adding water and boiling it with the leftover scraps when the ingredients and broth run out, repeating this process for several months.

They even proudly promote their old inn stew, boasting that they have been doing this for years.

“Wow, there are all sorts of strange foods in this world…”

Liana chuckled and ate the stew, then grimaced and stuck out her tongue.

“Ugh… This doesn’t taste like it usually does… There must be something wrong with the seasoning here.”

“Then, are stews from other places tasty?”

“The ones I’ve tried were decent. Ugh, it’s so salty.”

Liana asked a waiter to bring water and mixed it into the stew.

Now it was somewhat edible.

While having the meal, Liana asked about our plans for the future.

“What are you going to do now? You can’t just sit here forever.”

“First, let’s buy some new clothes. And, um… a map? I think we need that too. To decide where to go.”

“A map sounds good. But, Lord Erga.”

Liana blinked her eyes and leaned towards me with a spark in them.