CH 25

Chapter 25 : Helping out the Inn

On the way home after the duel with Jack, we stopped by the vacant lot.

I replenished the fields with my mana, harvested some magical tomatoes, and then returned home.

「We’re homeー」

We entered from the back door instead of the entrance of the inn.

When I put the magical tomatoes in the basket in the corner, Mom, who was helping Dad in the kitchen, came to us while smiling.

「Welcome home, Mark, Nicola. How was your first day at school?」

「Un. It’s fun」

「Mamaー!」

Nicola ran toward Mom and hugged Mom’s waist.

「We will tell you about school later. But now, is there anything we can help, Mom?」

Honestly, I don’t wanna tell about the duel with Jack, because it would just make Mom and Dad worried. What I’m going to tell them later is of course, everything other than Jack.

「Hmm, let’s see… Dad is almost done with preparing the food…. So, can you wipe the dining hall tables with Nicola?」

「Okay. Nicola, let’s go」

In this world, 6-year-old children usually help out with their parents’ work.

However, the help itself is easy. I still can go to Sunday School and still have a lot of time to play.

But of course, there are also children who can’t play or attend school; they are always working all the time.

Personally, I think that all children should be going to school, but each family’s circumstances are different from one another.

I can’t thank my parents enough for letting us play everyday.

I took a table-wiping cloth, wet it and entered the dining hall.

It was right before the evening bell rings. Several guests started to look for a table to sit.

I wiped the empty tables, removed some empty plates from the table and let the guests sit.

Our inn, Peace on Journey Inn, basically only provides lodging and breakfast for the guests. You have to pay extra for lunch and dinner.

The dining hall wasn’t as big as a bar in the neighborhood, and didn’t have many menus, but there were many people eating here. Usually, they were people whose stomach had become the prisoner of Dad’s delicious dish, or the guests who didn’t wanna get out of the inn just to eat.

「Ara. Mark, welcome back~」

A woman in a black open-chest dress spoke to me.

It was Celine.

She got a job as an escort for a peddler and left the town three days ago.

「Oh. Hi, Celine. You too, welcome back. You’re back so early」

After she experienced bathing in the bathhouse I made, Celine decided to make this Fatia town as her regular base.

「Yeah. Because the destination was a nearby village. It was only about a day to get there」

People in this world might think that it’s near, but I still think that a day to get to the nearby village is a very long distance. Maybe because I used to use transportation in my previous life.

The fastest transportation in this world is carriages. And the escorting adventurers seem to be walking by foot during the mission to protect the carriage, so it’s a hard job.

Suddenly, I remember in my previous life, I had walked non-stop for almost half a day in training for new employees at the black company where I worked.

You know? When you suddenly walk a long distance while you don’t usually walk much, you will lose the feeling of your feet, and you will have severe muscle pain like hell the next day.

「Now that I got the reward, I plan to enjoy drinking, take a bath and go to bed. Aahh~ I feel like I’ve been living for this day~」

When I was remembering the trauma from my previous life, Celine’s voice brought me back to my senses.

I don’t recommend taking a bath after drinking alcohol though. But I didn’t wanna spoil her happiness, so I didn’t say it.

By the way, there were other guests who were interested in taking a bath in the bathhouse after seeing Celine use it, but they were just using it once out of curiosity because it was rare, so only Celine who used it regularly.

And maybe because they were not used to bathing in the first place, so they didn’t want to use it anymore.

Besides, cleaning the bathtub was troublesome, also the bathing fee was high.

Well, it was thanks to Celine the price was high. She paid two silver coins every time she took a bath. But eventually, I felt bad to receive so much money from her because she was always nice to Nicola and me, so I suggested a discount as a regular client, and she only has to pay one silver coin from then.

「Well then, I’ll fill the bathtub with water for you later. Be careful not to sleep in the bath, okay?」

「Okay~ As I expected from Mark. You’re such a reliable child. Ah, by the way, today is your first day going to Sunday School, isn’t it? I’m sure you will be doing just fine, but Nicola is very popular, right? Wasn’t it tough for her?」

Celine looked at Nicola who was wiping a table on the other side while showing her cute and reliable side to the guests around.

「You have a good guess. Yeah, it was a tough day, but not only for her. You know? There was a boy who persistently invited Nicola to join his group, and when we refused, he challenged me to a duel with him」

I won’t tell Mom and Dad about this matter, but it’s okay if it’s Celine. Besides, I wanted to ask her about how to deal with other kids.

I told Celine everything that happened at Sunday School.

「Bwahahaha! You made him can’t move and stripped his pants!? That’s hilarious!」

「Well, I thought it was the best way to make him give up without hurting him. I don’t know how to deal with kids like him, but is that good enough?」

「Hmm… I’m not sure. I think you should have hurt him a little just to make sure he won’t trouble you again in the future」

Uhh… As expected. People in the world of swords and magic seem to be used to violence.

「But. Well, after he knows Mark is so strong, I think he won’t dare to mess with you again. I bet you are the strongest child in this town. Why don’t you become a big boss leading all the children in this town?」

Celine’s voice heard like she was teasing me.

「Nah, you’re joking. I’ve no interest at all being a boss. I’m enough for being Boss Delica’s underling. For now, all I want is to lead a peaceful school life without incident」

「Ahh, I see」

Celine shrugged.

I left her and returned to work helping the house.

♦

After I finished wiping the tables, I decided to clean the area outside the inn.

I swept the area near the entrance with a broom.

Because Mom always cleaned it, there was no noticeable trash, but there were still leaves and branches that swept away by the wind from the nearby trees.

Oh? Found a skewer stick. Who the heck threw this away in front of the entrance?

As I was collecting the trash with a broom, I saw Jack walking over here.

Next to him was a boy around 15 years old whom I had never seen.

When Jack’s eyes met mine, he pointed at me.

「Onii-chan, that’s him!」

The boy then nodded to Jack and approached me with Jack.

「Yo. So you’re Mark, huh? Come. I’ll make it quick」

Aahh…… Here comes another trouble…..