Chapter 171: Gift (1)
“Dammit, I can’t eat this.”
Weizen put down the bowl he was holding, along with the spoon. The light and heat from the blazing bonfire fully illuminated his disgruntled face.
“What can’t you eat?”
“Is this even human food? No matter how rough I am or how many battlefields I’ve been on, this is inedible! I’d rather chew grass like a horse!”
“. . . . . .”
Weizen pointed angrily at the bowl he had set down. Inside the moderately sized wooden bowl, a murky liquid of indeterminate color floated beneath the dark night sky, with unidentifiable chunks bobbing around.
Russell looked down at his own bowl. It contained the same stew as Weizen’s. He looked around at the others on dinner duty.
“What do you think, Calia?”
“. . . . . .I’m sorry. I haven’t had much experience cooking in my life.”
Calia said this with a helpless smile, her expression apologetic. Weizen sighed heavily.
“I’ll just do it myself from now on. I guess it’s true what they say about wizards being useless when it comes to cooking. Even during the war.”
“What are you talking about? Wizards can’t cook? I haven’t noticed anything wrong.”
Aellasis asked, setting down her empty wooden bowl. As a dragon, or perhaps because her taste buds were misconfigured when she transformed into human form, she didn’t express much preference for food. She did, however, show some interest in alcohol.
“Did you two raise this little one from a young age? Then I can understand why she doesn’t react much to this kind of food.”
“No, shut up and go to sleep when you’re done eating. You’re doing the dishes from now on.”
At Russell’s words, Weizen grumbled and collected the bowls his companions had used, walking towards the stream. When he was out of earshot, Calia shrugged and said,
“He’s a bit rough around the edges and honest to a fault, but he’s not a bad guy. He does his sentry duty and cooks without complaint.”
“That’s because he’d get beaten up by Russell if he didn’t.”
Aellasis laughed, making a fist and punching the air.
After Weizen returned from washing the dishes, the group spread out their sleeping bags and blankets and settled down as they were used to. The bonfire burning brightly in their midst would provide warmth throughout the night.
It had been over a week since they had left Zahard’s territory. For several days, they had traveled along the main road without incident. By urging their horses and pressing on, they had almost reached the Jayviden territory in the western part of the central region.
There had been few attacks by bandits or monsters during their journey. Russell’s right hand, concealed beneath his coat, had also been quiet. All that had happened was Weizen making pointless jokes and lewd remarks, only to be frozen by Aellasis’s magic or smacked on the back of the head by Russell.
As if to show that autumn had fully arrived, the leaves were turning vibrant shades of color. The midday sun shone brightly as the group rode their horses down a winding path through a valley.
The autumn sun was hotter than it looked, and the wind was cold. They had long since become accustomed to the double-edged pain of warmth on their heads and bitter cold on their faces.
As they reached the bottom of the valley, the sun began to set. This was because the tall mountains and valleys made the days shorter. Of course, the approaching winter also meant that the sun was setting earlier.
A village appeared before the group. It was the first village they had seen in two days, and as such, everyone was feeling a bit irritable, whether they realized it or not.
If not for Calia’s or Aellasis’s magic, they would have been in an even dirtier and more wretched state.
The village, with its jumble of houses, was a valley village, and its palisade was not very large. This meant that there were not many monster habitats nearby.
Weizen said,
“Let’s stop there. It’s a village I passed on the way, and the fish dishes were quite good. It was a shame to leave after only one night.”
Russell’s group followed his suggestion and walked slowly towards the village. The ground was covered in gravel, making it less than ideal for riding horses.
Suddenly, Russell looked back. He could see the rough gravel road they had traveled, the large rocks, the dense vegetation, the distant white mountain range on the horizon, and the few clouds floating in the sky.
“Hey, buddy? Are you not coming?”
“I’m coming.”
Gradually, the gravel on the path was pushed aside, and signs pointing to the village began to pop up. Soon, they were close enough to the village that the guards could spot them from the palisade.
However, there was no one standing in front of the palisade. Not a single guard in quilted armor, with a worn iron helmet and a spear with a blade attached to the end of a long shaft, could be seen.
“This is strange.”
Weizen, who had been chattering noisily, shut his mouth and passed through the palisade. The streets of the village were deserted. Calia blinked in surprise at the sight of not a single person passing by, and Aellasis looked around.
“Why isn’t anyone around?”
“It’s not that there’s no one around. They’re all hiding in their houses.”
“Huh?”
At Calia’s words, Aellasis looked at the buildings, houses, and windows on either side of the street. She could soon spot eyes peering at them through the cracks in the windows, shutters, and doors.
“Why are they hiding and watching us?”
“It seems like they’re wary of outsiders. . . . . . We’ll have to find out the reason.”
“Follow me.”
Weizen took the lead again and walked through the empty streets. The sound of their horseshoes echoed loudly in the quiet village.
“This is the inn I stayed at last time.”
The inn had two stories. As with most inns, the first floor was a dining room, and the second floor had narrow, dirty rooms where three or four people could sleep.
In contrast to the quiet village, the inn was buzzing with activity. The sound of many people talking, glasses clinking, and something falling or breaking with a loud crash.
Russell looked around. He could see horses in a large stable in one corner. There seemed to be about six of them.
The group tied their horses to the same stable. There was no stable boy in sight, so they had to tie the reins to the posts themselves.
Weizen opened the door to the inn and stepped inside. Russell followed him.
Russell’s eyes were drawn to the bar, the display cases of empty bottles of alcohol, and the rectangular tables.
Inside the inn, six men in armor were drinking, their helmets off.
They wore sturdy armor consisting of thick quilted armor, thin chain mail on the outside, and a breastplate made of hammered steel. The knights all appeared to be middle-aged.
Three tables had been pushed together, and they were laden with plates of roasted chicken and fish, as well as jugs of beer and wine.
Apart from them, the other customers were young men who appeared to be villagers. With their muscular arms exposed and scars on their foreheads, noses, and cheeks, they stared intently at Weizen and Russell, who had just opened the door and entered.
The men who seemed to be knights also stopped talking abruptly when they saw Russell’s group suddenly enter the inn.
“. . . . . .”
“. . . . . .”
For a moment, they all sized each other up.
Russell’s gaze swept across the interior of the inn. The first thing he noticed was the men in armor, their longswords leaning against the wall or on the tables.
Their unkempt hair, beards, and old scars on their faces indicated that they were men who had experienced war.
Just then, Aellasis, who had been about to follow Russell inside, pushed him aside and entered the inn.
“Why are you just standing there? Come in.”
“Oh, Aella, wait a minute, don’t pull me like that.”
As Aellasis and Calia entered, all eyes were on them. Aellasis, with her unusual white hair and her beauty that suggested she might be an elf, and Calia, with her mature appearance and figure, were stunning enough to captivate the men’s attention in an instant.
“Where’s the innkeeper? We have guests here. Innkeeper!”
The knights’ eyes, which had been sparkling as they looked at the women, turned towards Weizen, who was calling out loudly for the innkeeper. Soon, a man with a half-shaved head emerged from the door leading to the kitchen.
“Ah, yes! How many of you are there?”
“Four! We’ll each have a meal, please. And a place to sleep.”
“Oh, a place to sleep. . . . . . It might take a little while.”
The innkeeper’s eyes glanced at the knights, who had fallen silent. A few beads of sweat trickled down his plump face. Russell nodded and said,
“I understand. Please bring us our meals first.”
“I will!”
As the innkeeper was about to re-enter the kitchen, a bearded man nearby grabbed his forearm.
“Yes, yes? What is it. . . . . .”
The bearded man, who had been speaking to the innkeeper in a low voice, took a coin out of his pocket and handed it to him.
“Then I’ll have another drink.”
“Ah, yes sir. . .”
Calia gestured towards Russell, who was staring blankly at the innkeeper as he entered the kitchen.
“What are you doing standing there? Come and sit down.”
The group gathered and sat down in a corner of the inn. As they moved to the corner, the inn became noisy again. The knights, who had removed their helmets but still wore their breastplates, gauntlets, greaves, and boots, were clinking glasses and chatting, while the young villagers in another corner continued their conversation, which was laced with more than a few profanities.
Russell looked at Weizen. His expression had hardened a little.
“Was it always like this here?”
“. . . . . .No. It’s always noisy in an inn, but there weren’t any guys in that kind of armor hanging around. The village wasn’t this quiet either.”
Just then, the innkeeper came out on his own, carrying a large tray with plates of stew and bread, as well as wooden tankards filled with beer.
“We didn’t order any beer?”
To Weizen’s question, the innkeeper wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel tucked into his waistband and said,
“Oh, it’s included with the meal. Please enjoy.”
The innkeeper muttered something as he wiped his sweat and hurried away. The group began to eat.
Russell’s hand tore the bread in half, then dipped it in the stew and brought it to his mouth. The slightly salty stew softened the hard bread.
“It has mushrooms and onions in it. I didn’t know those two would go together so well.”
“Wow. Can you make this later?”
“You learn what you don’t know, and you practice what you can’t do.”
Calia was enthusiastic about the next dinner, looking at the ingredients in the stew, while Aellasis brought the tankard of beer to her lips.
Only Weizen ate with a somewhat suspicious expression on his face, then took a sip of beer. And the expression on his face froze as soon as he took a sip of beer.
“This. . . . . .”
Russell also took a sip of beer, prompted by his ominous reaction. The sour taste of beer and the smooth flow down his throat were followed by a subtle sweetness on the back of his tongue.
“What’s wrong?”
“I think it’s drugged?”
“Drugged?”
As Russell finished the rest of his beer in one gulp, Weizen fell into thought.
“What are you doing! I said it’s drugged!”
“This way, things will go more smoothly. You’re a mercenary, yet you don’t know this?”
“No, what the hell. . . . . . Huh?”
At that moment, Weizen shook his head, holding his temples. His vision blurred, and he saw things in twos and threes. He hurriedly tried to summon his magic to dispel the effects of the drug, but that only backfired.
As soon as his magic moved, the effects of the drug spread rapidly throughout his body like a boat on a fast-flowing river.
“Damn it, this is shit. It’s Echilus. . . . . .!”
Weizen’s hazy mind recalled his knowledge of potions. The blood of the demon beast Echilus, when mixed with magic, caused a rapid diffusion reaction, and when consumed with alcohol, it created a powerful anesthetic effect.
It was a drug that was essential for various surgical procedures, but at the same time, it had endless possibilities for misuse.
Aellasis’s head drooped and she collapsed onto the table. A soft snoring sound could be heard. As Aellasis collapsed and Weizen stumbled, the young villagers and knights in the inn, which had suddenly fallen silent, suddenly stood up.
“What are these idiots doing in this cramped village anyway?”
“Well, we get to have some fun. . . . . . Hahahaha.”
“Hey, back off. We’re first.”
As the two thugs were bickering, a man with a headscarf tied around his head stopped the two men. Then, the knights, who had now taken up swords in one hand, stood beside the thugs, stroking their bearded chins. The one who stepped forward and spoke to Russell, who was watching them, said,
“Who are you guys? Are you nobles?”
“What if we are?”
A knight with a long scar on his eyebrow scratched at the scar and said,
“Even if you are, you’re probably fallen nobles. You don’t have any servants or attendants with you. You seem to have some money, so we’ll have some fun with you and then kill you. How does that sound?”
Russell looked them over. There were three hairy thugs with daggers, and six scarred knights. They were all looking at Russell’s group with sparkling eyes and excited expressions, as if they had already confirmed that they had drunk the drugged beer.
They had faces that were eagerly anticipating what was to come.
Russell nodded after looking at their faces carefully and said,
“Sounds great.”
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