CH 138

Chapter 138 : Illegal

「A dwarf, huh…」(Mark)

When I unintentionally muttered that, Nei approached our table. It looked like she heard my mutter.

「Are you curious about dwarves?」(Nei)

「Ah, u-umm… I’m sorry if I offended you…」(Mark)

Uhh… I shouldn’t have muttered like that. It might have sounded like a racist remark…

However, when I lowered my head and apologized, Nei smiled at me.

「Don’t worry. Honestly, I don’t really care about that. Dwarves are rare around here, so it’s only natural that a kid like you is curious about them. By the way, I look like the same age as you, but actually, I’m already ten years old!」(Nei)

While saying that, Nei tapped my back.

It’s good that I didn’t offend her, but… Ten years old? I thought she was an adult woman but it appears that she was actually a child… This is so confusing…

『When you thought that she was a “legal loli” and turned out that she was a legit child… What is this feeling of disappointment…』(Nicola)

*/Legal Loli is a term applied to fictional females with prepubescent physiques while at the same time being older than the legal age of consent

Nicola’s ‘poisonous’ telepathic message came into my head but I ignored it.

She said something about “legal loli”, but in the first place, you can get married from the age of twelve in this world, so I don’t think that term has meaning here.

「I see… From the way you talk to the customers, I thought you were way older than you look.」(Mark)

I was convinced that she was an adult dwarf after seeing her talk with customers with a harsh tone, but it looked like it wasn’t the case.

「The way I talked? Ah, my appearance won’t change much when I become an adult, so my dad told me to imitate the way he talks so that people won’t look down on me. By the way, now that you know that I’m not an adult, you can relax when you talk to me.」(Nei)

While saying that she tapped my back again, but this time was a bit harder.

「I-I see. Alright then.」(Mark)

「Good. Oh, yeah. The beautiful lady over there, I heard from the customers that you are looking for a merchant who usually goes to the town of Fatia. Actually, I know that person. I can give you information about him after my work is done if you want.」(Nei)

「Ara, really?」(Celine)

It looks like Celine had been gathering information before Nicola, Delica and I came.

「Yes. The merchant you’re looking for is Bian, right? He lives next to my house. Well then, I’ll talk to you later.」(Nei)

「Okay~」(Celine)

Celine waved at Nei who rushed to another table to pick up orders from customers.

――――――

After we’re done eating, we children returned to our room on the second floor while Celine stayed to drink for a little longer.

By the way, I didn’t order another serving of rockworm soup even though it was so delicious because it was originally a menu for adults, so the amount was a little bit too much for a child like me. I was full just from drinking the entire soup.

Nicola and Delica seemed to be overeating as well. They looked a bit in pain, especially Nicola who stole some of my rockworm meat.

I sat down on my bed and took a breather for a while.

I want to sleep but it seems that Nei will come here to tell us about the merchant later. Well, I can just leave it to Celine, but I want to learn more about adventurer’s job, so I guess I will join them later.

While waiting for them, I think I should clean my body. I feel uncomfortable with all this dirt and sweat on my body, especially my face.

Since I can’t take a bath, I guess I’ll just wipe my body with a wet towel today. However, I can’t do it in this room since Delica is here.

If I’m not mistaken, the landlady said that there was a well at the back of the inn. I think I will do it there.

「Guys, I’m going to clean my body at the well at the back of the inn. In the meantime, you guys can clean your body here.」(Mark)

As I said that, I took out a bucket and two towels from my Item Box, and then I poured hot water into the bucket for them.

「Thank you, Mark. I was thinking of cleaning my body too.」(Delica)

Delica thanked me as she received the towels and the bucket.

Actually, we should have cleaned our bodies before having dinner, but… Oh, well. It doesn’t matter now.

『Onii-chan, if you come back a little early, you may be able to worship our naked bodies.』(Nicola)

『Why are you telling me that!? I won’t return for a while, so you can take your time!』(Mark)

I denied Nicola’s stupid farce and left the room.

――――――

When I went down the stairs to the first floor, I saw Celine drinking alcohol at the counter. Currently, she is dealing with a guy who seems to try to hit on her.

After she was telling the guy something, the guy shrugged his shoulders and went away. I think he made the right decision to leave Celine alone. If he persistently tried to talk with Celine, he might have ended up licking the floor while being stepped on by Celine in the head.

For some reason, I feel like the number of customers has increased. There are more customers now than when we ate our dinner.

Because Nei is the only waiter here, she has to move around quickly, serving all the customers. She moved so fast even though she was small, and she could keep doing it without rest for a while.

I wonder if dwarves have different muscle strength than humans.

When I was wondering, Nei approached the closest table from the stairs where I was, and suddenly, a customer stood up from his chair and collided with Nei.

The tray with several empty mugs slipped off Nei’s hands, and the mugs broke into pieces as they hit the floor.

「Aa! I’m sorry, Nei! Are you okay?」(customer)

The customer who seemed to be drunk apologized to Nei with a worried face.

「I’m okay. Don’t worrー Ughh…!」(Nei)

It looks like she was injured. She must be hit by some of the pieces of the broken mugs that were scattered around.

I hurriedly went down the stairs to check her condition.