CH 27

Aeris is coming! Chiharu was shocked. Midland was Arthur’s country. They had discussed going to the dwarf country first, and the elf country was supposed to come later. And they had never heard anything about sending troops to the dungeons.

She wanted to ask questions, but now did not seem like the right time.

“Signal us if something happens. We’ll take you away if you ever need to leave.”

“Okay, thank you.”

“Thanks for the bags.”

Sauro and Saikania slapped the pouches around their waist and smiled. Then they glanced quickly at Kaider and Nyran and flew away.

“Norfe, Chouze, why are you…”

Maki and Chiharu answered Kaider.

“We know those bird people. They are friends with Orne.”

“You didn’t know, Kaider? Birdfolk often play with children in Midland.”

“Is that so?”

He had indeed seen many birdfolk flying around the port towns.

“Now, will you introduce us to an inn?”

“Ah, yes. It’s close to the station where we’ll stop.”

There was a large inn there.

“Cozy inns are nice as well, but these bigger places have great facilities and the people leave you alone. And it’s pretty safe as well.”

“Thank you. We’ll stay here.”

“Don’t do anything crazy, okay?”

“Kaider, we’re grateful and all, but you can’t watch over us forever, you know? And it would be easier for us if you let us go.”

“But…”

“Kaider.”

Nyran came in again.

“Goodbye then. We’re going to go sell these mermaid scales!”

“Alright, see you later.”

Kaider looked worried as he walked away. It was just the two of them in a foreign country. They could at least read and write, but they had really been thankful that the dwarf looked out for them. But Maki felt that a 14-year-old needed to at least show this much independence. Chiharu chuckled as she watched Maki do her best 14-year-old boy acting.

The inn really was big. It had two floors and half of the first floor and the entire second floor were rooms. The rest of the space was for the dining hall and bar. But it was wide enough that they could avoid getting tangled with drunkards.

“Okay, what should we do, Chiharu?”

“I think we have no choice but to move to plan B.”

“Already, huh? I guess you are right.”

“We will have to go out into town tomorrow.”

“We’ll do that then.”

While it was late, they went to the dining hall to see how it was like. There didn’t seem to be any rude customers here. As they ordered a dinner of soup, bread, and boiled meat:

“Uh, I’m 14 years old. Can I get a drink?”

“Can you drink? I wouldn’t recommend it, but you aren’t restricted by age.”

“Okay, so what do you have?”

“The apple wine is popular. The stuff here is known for being very tart. Also, we have ale from the human territories.”

“Then I’ll have two ales.”

“Coming right up!”

Their drinks arrived.

“Ahh, we are finally free!”

“Sort of. Cheers!”

They clinked their wooden mugs together. They had been served wine back at the castle, but never ale. So this was their first time drinking it.

“Ahhh.”

“It’s good.”

The ale bubbled gently in their mouths. It wasn’t chilled, but there was a scent of grain and mild bitterness. It felt like a waste to drink it in one gulp, so they slowly savored it until their dinner arrived.

They started on the boiled meat first. The chunk was about half the size of a fist and was light on fat and very soft. The blocks of root vegetables that were cooked with the meat were also soft. They broke them up with a knife and fork as they ate. And took sips of ale in between. And then they when that was done, they wiped their plates with the bread to finish the meal.

As the two of them ate, they realized that half the people in the dining hall were drinking.

“Look, Maki-chan. There are quite a lot of women here too.”

“Yeah. I don’t see any human women, but there are plenty of dwarves here drinking.”

“It’s similar to a bar in Japan.”

“It is. I think plan B might just work then.”

“It will.”

The next day, the two decided to stay another night. Then they went out into town. While it was a strange thing to ask the inn they were staying at, they asked about other inns where a lot of humans were staying or inns that were popular.

As there were a lot of adventurers and merchants there, the inns seemed to crowd the blacksmith district. But they were also told to be careful when choosing a place, because there were also a lot of rough people.

They went around to different stores during the morning in order to find the store that the shopkeeper in Garonce had told them about. There they were able to sell most of their mermaid scales.

“These kinds of materials are quite rare for this inland capital. And mermaids usually don’t sell their scales. Thank you for bringing them!”

The shopkeeper was overjoyed. They were a sign of goodwill from the mermaids, but there was too much for them to keep carrying. They were sold for ten thousand gil per piece. And they had over two hundred of them. Of course, they kept a few as souvenirs. But now they were overloaded with money, and so they went to the merchants guild to deposit it. They were able to use their names, ‘Maki’ and ‘Chiharu’ for the accounts and no one knew they were the Saintesses.

While it was still too early for lunch, they could not resist trying some of the snacks that were being cooked in front of the stores, and so they bought some. It was like a crunchy cracker. Not super sweet, but the taste of slightly burnt flower was the most appetizing and they felt that they could keep eating. But they ended up just sharing one cracker.

After that, they went to see the inns in the blacksmith district. They walked for a while, searching for the slightly expensive inn that was recommended. Oh, there it is!

It was a great two-story building, with a large entrance hall with comfortable-looking wooden sofas. There were stairs in the front, and to the left side was a counter where they received guests. There was a large door to the right that was opened and connect to the dining area. The second floor was for the rooms.

“Do you need something?”

An elderly person, who appeared to be an employee, asked them.

“Ah, uh, we wanted to eat lunch at a nice place.”

“I see. It will not be cheap. Are you sure?”

“Yes, it’s fine.”

“Then come this way.”

Maki looked at Chiharu. Yes. Good. They weren’t treated carelessly just because they looked like children.

The dining hall was large, and the tables were covered in white tablecloths. The building was a typical dwarven structure made of wood and gave an overall bright impression. They were led to a table.

“Here is the menu.”

They were handed the menu. Oh! They could pick their own food. Maki and Chiharu looked through it carefully. They were far from the sea, so the only fish here was trout. But there was a wide variety of meat.

“I’ll have the light fish course. My sister will have the mutton course.”

“And do you want any drinks?”

“I’ll have some elvish white wine. My sister will have a glass of red wine.”

“Very good.”

While it was a course, it was light, with ham and vegetables, light soup and dessert. Maki’s trout was covered in a citrus sauce, and Chiharu’s mutton had a berry sauce. This went very well with the wine.

There was something about these ordinary children eating fish and mutton in so good-mannered a fashion that caught people’s attention.

Most people would think that they were nobles in disguise.

“Let’s choose this place.”

“I agree.”

The inn they were currently staying at was nice. But they didn’t need Norfe and Chouze any more. They would act tomorrow. It was time for plan B.