Living as an Unemployed in Another World

7 – 1. Footsteps of the Mule (7)

7.

On the fifth day since the dungeon opened in the western mine, I idly tipped over on an empty table and touched the carving knife before falling forward. Now that no one buys it even if they make it, the motivation to make income has suddenly stopped.

“I can’t go on like this.”

If this continues, there will be no porridge or rice. I put down the piece of wood I had made and muttered, then quickly walked towards the counter. Celine dozed off with her chin resting on her chin, staring at the empty hall with her bored face, then jumped to her feet in surprise when I snapped at me.

“Ah!?”

It was pretty cute to see her drool as soon as she came back to her senses, but she couldn’t easily hide the worry that hung over her face. I looked across from her, at the bare back of her head lying face down on the counter, then gestured.

“Why, why. What. I didn’t sleep.”

“Who said what? Let’s switch I’ll look at the kitchen, so go in and get some sleep.”

“…… It’s a big deal. You said all those things first.”

Celine blinked her eyes in surprise. That’s because the guy in front of you has something to do. I shrugged.

“Sometimes you have to have days like this. Where have you two gone?”

“Yeah, to the brewery. The unsold fruits keep getting softer, so I guess they’re soaking them in alcohol before they get too dry.”

If business is getting worse, the number of bottles on the shelf will keep increasing. I didn’t refuse, got up from her seat, caught a glimpse of her yawning Celine, and even checked her way up the stairs before I turned her head.

“Hey.”

“Growl.”

“Hey Punta.”

“Dureureong.”

I looked around, then I clenched my fist tightly and swung it hard at the shiny back of the head——Tack! Aww! A dwarf screaming and jumping from place.

“Who is it! Uh…… Um, Jin, is that you?”

“Yes, you drunkard. Are you sleepy in the morning?”

“Kkeuh, you can wake me up with words, you’ve got a fist. Stop because you have a bad hangover.”

“Wipe your saliva yourself.”

I threw a dry dishcloth over my face and sighed. They couldn’t even do business, but the only guest left at the inn was a drunkard who chugged beer every day, let alone expensive ginseng. To be honest, he even made a new pricing policy because of this guy.

“If you clean it up, give it to me and pay the balance. Did you drink more than 10 cups again?”

“Grunt, yes. Did you have change?”

Punta rummaged through my bosom, the hair on her chest, and finally found a copper coin and handed it to me. At our inn, if you pay 2 copper per person, you get a basic meal per night, and a glass of beer is basically provided with that meal, and you can refill it if you want. However, since this Punta guy drank several times more beer than the other guests while eating for one person, I persuaded the Cooper couple to receive one more fairy tale for every 10 glasses.

If you consider the cost of traveling far away to the brewery, driving the wagon and rolling the heavy barrels all the way here, it would be a reasonable price to add a little more money. I tossed the stinky coin roughly into the change basket and set the pot on fire to cook Punta some thin porridge.

“When did you return to the inn? It wasn’t there until I entered the room yesterday.”

“Well, I don’t remember too well. I’m sure I remember riding the wagon…….”

“Then he spills his money bag. I don’t know who is carrying it, but what. Drink in moderation.”

Punta, who came back after a week, touched her red nose as usual. He seems to be the one who planted the prejudice that all dwarves have red and swollen noses. Queue! It wasn’t until after he even noticed the watery porridge I handed him that Punta burped and barely blinked.

“Huh, I think I’m going to live now. All humans like beer, but you never know when they get drunk.”

“You don’t know, I bet you’ll have a barrel of beer empty while you’re here.”

“hahahaha, comparing the amount of alcohol consumed by humans and dwarves is embarrassing.”

I looked at her bulging face with a confused expression, then pulled a chair and sat across from her, whispering that she had no ears to hear.

“…… So, did you find the item you are talking about?”

“No, this time it was a joke. I didn’t have enough income to say the least. I don’t know when I’ll be able to return to the kingdom…….”

I gave Punta a look of deep consolation as he touched his beard with a miserable expression. Hagisa, it would not be easy for a dwarf who has been confined to their country for the rest of his life to roam around in an unfamiliar human land.

I met him about three years after I had been staying at the inn. I became quite good at working at an inn, and one day when I stopped by the city to buy food, what a feeling it was when I bumped into a dwarf trudging along the wharf! To me, who had only heard about it but had never seen other races other than monsters, Punta was the one who personally informed me of the vastness of the world.

Punta, who was doing an unreasonable job as a diplomat in a distant Dwarf kingdom (I don’t know how high a position he held, unless he told me), encountered pirates during his voyage and took all his belongings and barely made it to a nearby port. It is said that he came aboard a small boat and saved his life, and among the things he had, it was said that there were valuable items to be dedicated to the royal family. Until he gets it back, he will not be able to escape his brother even if he goes to the royal family. Eventually, after bringing him to the inn and treating him to a cheap beer, we became friends.

From the perspective of the pirates around here, they couldn’t afford the expensive treasure, so it must have been sold somewhere.

“Well, do your best. I don’t know who has it, but if it’s a ‘cursed’ item like you said, word will surely spread someday.”

“Yes, if it were just gold and silver, I would have given up on finding it. But that item cannot be owned by one person forever! It will somehow betray or kill its owner and escape.”

Is that so? I’ve seen with my own eyes at least one person hold over a dozen cursed items. Of course, each type is different, but in the end, aren’t items made to be used by humans? Moreover, even when I asked how it was cursed and what effect it had, Punta said it was a royal secret and never told me. All I found out while drinking was that it was just a circlet-type item. It sure looks like a valuable item.

“Wait, come to think of it, how did you move it?”

“It’s me, I didn’t take it, I put it in a consecrated box and transported it.”

“That, is it only effective when you wear it? Like you said, the reason the pirates came in might be the curse of that item.”

“…… I can’t be sure, and I’d like to pass that way too, but that kind of excuse won’t work for the royal family. After all, it is a destiny that must be continuously sought.”

Punta dropped her rounded shoulders again in dejection. I put the glass of water down in front of me and turned my back. In any case, as long as you use this inn as your base, you should be able to see her face again and again as long as you don’t die. Punta put her glass in her hand and then looked around her and asked me.

“By the way, why are there so few people? I can’t even see the owner.”

“…… Mr. Cooper and Mr. Angela are out on business.”

I confided in Punta about the dungeon and the new inn in the city. He asked me, playing with his beard with his sober face.

“It certainly seems like I heard that such a place existed before riding the wagon. Even the adventurers who seemed to have returned from the dungeon headed in a different direction.”

“Have you never been? For being so arrogant. What if this place goes bankrupt?”

“When I asked why you care so much about the management of the inn, …… Do you mind if you have nowhere to go?”

“Yes. If I ruin this place with stupid words, where will I go? It’s not okay to be too busy, but you have to eat moderately to make ends meet.”

When I spoke confidently, Punta responded to me like he was full of energy.

“Why don’t you learn the technique gradually? If you don’t like the carpenter job, I might give you a recommendation for the blacksmith guild.”

“Are you talking about that again? Growing old, drinking molten metal and working as an apprentice blacksmith? For two shillings? Don’t hesitate.”

For reference, the blacksmith guild’s admission fee is more expensive than that of the carpenter’s apprenticeship.

“How old are you? At twenty, aren’t you still a new chick?”

Listening to Punta’s words, I realized the difference between them and their tribe. Dwarves live a long time, more than 300 years to be exact. Among them, people over 50 are only treated as adults, and because of that, they often show a lack of sense of human age.

“Not twenty, but twenty one. And Punta: I see you don’t know, but those who want to become blacksmiths go into apprenticeships at a high price when they are only 14 or so. If you learn the skill now, when do you think you will be great? Even if you go, you’ll be teased first.”

“What are you talking about! You have an artistic soul. It’s true. Even if it’s a little late, it’s sure to make a name for itself on the whole continent…… !”

I waved my hand again and cut off Punta’s afterword. Thanks for acknowledging my senses, but making a name for yourself? Such a terrible thing is a specification here. I didn’t tell that guy, but in the first place, I almost crossed the continent to escape from the mansion and settled here. Of course Punta, unaware of my circumstances, smacked his lips.

“Hmm, I should go there myself.”

“At that inn? What are you going to do?”

“No matter how dungeon effect it is, it’s suspicious to monopolize customers like this. If you can get it, you should get it.”

If you can ruin it, do it. I swallowed the last words.

“Take it out…… I hate to say this, but at least the adventurers won’t come back until the dungeon is destroyed. Isn’t it half a day by wagon from here to the mine? And even if it’s not for the dungeon, once you get a taste of the city’s facilities, you won’t want to come back to an inn like this that may collapse at any moment.”

You’re saying that very sarcastically. I ignored his words and went up to my room and put on his coat and came down. Don’t know what might happen in the city, so bring your bag. There’s no guarantee that I won’t run into such bad luck when I heard that Naga appeared in the port.

Then she opened the back door and Celine stuck her head out. Damn, I was just about to go.

“Jin, where are you going? If you have nothing to do, can you help me with the laundry?”

“Heaven helps those who help themselves, Celine.”

“?? What are you talking about?”

What are you talking about?

That means you have to do all the laundry yourself.

I came out of the Holladang Inn feeling a little excited about going out after a long time.