Chapter 35

“I’m home, Melt.”

“Ah—welcome back.”

As dusk settled in, I left the clan home and headed straight back to the inn I was staying at, the Hamusutei. There, in the first-floor dining area, I called out to Melt.

“Hm… Same, I smell blood on your hands. You fought someone, didn’t you?”

“…You’re amazing, you caught that? It just kind of happened. But it’s fine, it didn’t become a problem.”

“Really? Just don’t do anything bad, okay?”

Feeling a little guilty, I went to the wash area in the backyard of the inn to clean my hands.

Looking around, while this inn doesn’t have a bath, it does have a space for washing your body, with an enclosed shower-like area for privacy. This would be perfectly fine in hot weather.

After freshening up, I paid the hostess for my dinner and waited for the evening meal.

Looking at Melt, who had already started eating, I saw a pile of animal bones in front of her.

Ah, meat! Nice—wonder what kind of dish it was.

“Did you finish your errands, Same?”

“Yeah, for now. I’ll be heading back to the Pigeon Trading Company tomorrow, though. What about you, Melt?”

“Can I go too? I wasn’t planning on taking a job tomorrow, so I’ve got nothing to do.”

Melt then pulled a small pouch from her pocket and placed it in front of me.

“Here, I kept some for myself, but that’s seven gold coins and eight silver. I’m giving this to you.”

“Huh? What’s this money for?”

“For the inn, clothes, underwear—you’ve been covering everything. I’ve just been relying on you. Is it enough?”

“Hmm, that was money I spent to help a friend, so you don’t have to repay it. If anything, when we get a house, use that money to buy the things we need. If we’re living together, I’ll be using those things too. So, in the end, it helps me as well. That’s why you don’t need to give me money.”

Melt really does seem determined to repay everything.

But there’s no need. Just having her around keeps me emotionally grounded.

I even learned to read and write because of her. Honestly, in terms of repaying debts, she’s already given me more than enough.

“Is it really okay? I feel like I’m just taking.”

“I’m actually receiving a lot too, you know.”

“Eh! What did I give you?! What did you take from me?! When?!”

“You taught me how to study, remember? And I still want to learn more from you, Melt. I don’t know anything about nature or the mountains. I’ll definitely need your help in the future.”

Even if I settle down in a house, I’ll still be taking adventuring jobs and fighting against nature.

Just having Melt and her knowledge would be an enormous help.

She might not realize it, but the knowledge she has would cost dozens of library fees to even come close to replicating.

“Hehehe… Alright, I’ll keep teaching you lots of things then.”

“Please do.”

Just as Melt put away her pouch again, my food was brought over.

“Thanks for waiting! Tonight’s dish is Orange-Braised Dawn Chicken!”

“Ooh! That sounds delicious.”

“You can get two extra pieces of bread for a copper coin, by the way.”

What was brought out were four small pieces of bone-in meat, a side of potatoes and salad, and three slices of baguette—pretty filling!

“Same, that’s really tasty. The chicken is super tender. If you hold the end of the bone and put the whole thing in your mouth, the bone slides right out!”

“Whoa! So it’s been stewed till it’s that soft, huh?”

…Wow! She’s right, the meat just falls off the bone!

It tastes wilder than regular chicken. I wonder if a character with maxed cooking skills would be able to describe this better than me…

“This is so good…”

“Right? Being able to eat a variety of food every day—cities really are amazing, huh?”

“Yeah. Once we’re done with errands tomorrow, what should we eat?”

“I’m too full to even think about that!”

Fair enough.

The next morning, I head to the public bath again.

Morning baths are the best! They give your day structure right from the start.

“You really like baths, huh?”

“I’ve gotten really into it… Don’t you want one in the morning too, Melt?”

“Of course I do! It totally wakes you up. And the mountain grape juice afterward—now that’s divine. I’ve come to understand the true bliss of that one drink.”

Ooh… she gets it.

We paid the fee and went our separate ways into the men’s and women’s sides.

“No one’s in the changing room… but I guess I’m not the first.”

There were signs someone had already undressed.

I stripped down, wrapped a towel around myself, and stepped into the bath.

“Phew… Feels so good.”

The temperature of the rinse water soothed the early morning chill.

I washed away the cold from my body’s surface and moved toward the tub.

“Hm… The water level’s a bit low…?”

Last time, the water reached up to my neck when sitting, but today it was only up to my chest.

…Is it just the time of day? Or is it a water shortage?

“Ah… must be because the river’s water source is unusable. So they’re using groundwater now?”

Most likely due to that incident when I was acting as Silent.

The river and water source haven’t been fully purified yet.

These kinds of high-water-use facilities usually pull from the river, but now they’re relying on groundwater.

“That’s correct. But the general public doesn’t know the river source is down. Who are you, exactly?”

At that moment, someone else already in the bath spoke to me.

The man approached, causing ripples in the water, his tone a bit rough.

“I came back to the city two nights ago. On the way, I passed by a farmhouse where the folks seemed troubled. I asked what was going on and… well, I checked the mountain too. Looks like some guild has sealed off the water source area. You can kind of guess why—the river smelled awful. But let’s stop. This isn’t bath-time conversation.”

The man’s face looked rather rough. Not quite burly, but clearly very well-trained.

Adventurer, mercenary, or maybe a knight?

His body was covered in old scars—it was obvious at a glance he was someone who lived by the sword.

“I see. You a mercenary? Don’t recognize your face.”

“I’m an adventurer. Moved to this country about a week ago. I’d been out of town on a job. What about you?”

“I am a mercenary. You’re new, so I guess it makes sense you wouldn’t know. I’m kind of known in mercenary circles. Sorry, didn’t mean to ruin your bath with talk of blood and rivers.”

“Please don’t say it out loud again…”

A man with a slightly dangerous air about him.

The kind of danger where, if you’re overly cautious, he’ll sense it—and that would be even worse.

“You’re not the type to be squeamish. You’ve got the body of someone who’s killed more than just a few people.”

“…Well, I won’t deny it.”

I haven’t, personally! But given Same’s background… he’s definitely gotten his hands dirty with blood.

At the very least, he’s completed all of the character quests. And those memories exist in my mind as “life experiences.”

“Kill everyone responsible for your downfall”—that’s the story arc for the character quest when you combine swordsman and thief.

“Well then, I’ll be heading out. If you hear any interesting rumors, post a request at the mercenary guild. These days, all the dangerous jobs are getting dumped on the adventurer guild. Better to give them to us and avoid unnecessary deaths. It’ll cost more, though.”

“Haha, you’re right. If any trouble comes up, hiring some mercenaries might be a good idea.”

“Exactly. You give off a bit of a ‘troublemaker’ scent. And I’ve got a damn good nose for that—no, not just good. I’m never wrong.”

With that last remark, delivered half-jokingly, the man left.

…He’s probably not a bad person, but among all the people I’ve met so far, he feels the most dangerous by far.

When I got out of the bath, surprisingly, Melt had already finished before me.

Her tail and hair were thoroughly dried—she must’ve washed quickly and come right out.

“Melt, you were quick.”

“Oh, Same! Listen—there was some weird person in the bath! He kept touching my tail, so I washed up fast and got out of there.”

“…Yikes. It’s not like beastfolk are rare or anything…”

“Maybe it’s because my fur is just that pretty?”

Hmm, she’s not wrong. It’s shiny, silky, and perfectly fluffy.

“Yeah, I think your tail is really lovely.”

“Right? I knew it! It’s my pride and joy.”

And warm, too. During the trip from Golda, being wrapped in that fluff was pure bliss.

“Alright then. I’ll grab a drink and we can go have breakfast.”

“They said they’re out of wild grape juice—because of me.”

“Hmm, in that case, I’ll have…”

I ordered “Mountain Kiwi Juice” from the shop.

Do kiwis grow on mountains…? I have no idea. I need more knowledge.

I took a sip of the bright green juice that was handed to me. The refreshing tartness and light sweetness slid down my throat into my stomach, spreading a soothing feeling through my warmed-up body.

“Ahh… that’s good.”

“Give me a sip!”

“Sure.”

Melt, who had already finished hers, looked at me like a starving puppy—so I gave her a sip.

“Mmm, tasty! Oh… mountain kiwi, huh? Ohhh, you mean those little oval-shaped ones!”

“You know about them?”

“Yeah, sure. Herbivorous monsters in the wild love to eat them.”

I see, I see… maybe I should try spending a few days as a character with maxed-out cooking skills.

Using a female character might mess with my psyche, but if I can gain food knowledge and experience, it’ll definitely enrich my future life.

“Alright, let’s go eat breakfast and head out.”

While munching on the sandwich we received at the inn for breakfast, we headed toward the Glory Knights’ clan home.

I wonder if it’s actually called a “sandwich” in this world, or if my mind is just translating it that way.

Well, either way works. Being able to eat while walking is great.

“Sandwiches are delicious, convenient, and just the best, right?”

“Yeah, it’s nice to be able to eat something well-balanced while walking.”

Watching a girl enjoy her food so happily makes me feel happy too—so that makes it even better.

“Today’s filling is ham. Ham from Hamusutei’s Tavern!”

“But… hamsters aren’t the meat used in ham… right?”

“Of course not, obviously. Hamsters are a spirit species, so they don’t have a physical body!”

“Seriously…? So if they’re a spirit species, that means hamsters aren’t actual animals?”

“Hmm, maybe they’re more like small animal spirits? Spirit species in this world—or maybe in some other world—are beings that lost their lives and became soul-only existences. So I guess at some point, they probably were animals in whatever world they came from.”

“I see… so that’s how it works.”

Maybe they actually came from Earth.

There was that internet meme—something about hamsters going to a place called Hamuland after they passed away.

It’s a lovely idea. I used to have a hamster too… I wasn’t able to give him a long life, but I hope he’s happily living in a world like that now.

“Hmm… I really want to visit that country called Hamsterdam someday.”

“If we’re talking about places we’d like to visit, I’ve got a ton too. Did you know? On the southern side of the neighboring continent, there’s a place called a ‘desert’ where almost no plants grow. It’s all sand, but there are still people living there, relying on the few plants that do grow and building a unique lifestyle around them.”

“Whoa… a desert, huh.”

Things that are common knowledge to me—like terrain or cultures—are completely new and fascinating to Melt.

So, she wants to see a lot of places…

“Once we get our base, I’d love to travel around to different regions.”

“That sounds like a lovely idea! If we could find some long-distance jobs along the way too, that might be an even better deal, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, long-term requests usually pay really well.”

As we chatted about our dreams, we arrived once again at the Glory Knights’ clan home, just like yesterday.

“What is this place?”

“This is our stop for today. It’s where the strong adventurers gather. We’re going to meet someone here first, then head to the Pigeon Trading Company.”

“I see… What a fancy mansion!”

“Right? It’s really impressive.”

“Our house doesn’t need to be this fancy, okay?”

“Haha, of course.”

And so, after giving our names to the gatekeeper—who was a little cautious since it was only the day after our last visit—we opened the doors of the mansion to meet with Shuris-san.

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