## Chapter 13 – Cockatrice Hunt
The Adventurer’s Guild bustles at night, as the first floor doubles as a tavern. With liquor and food sold right next to the counter, it’s even more rowdy at night than during the day.
Of course, the drink prices were a bit steep compared to other taverns, but the advantage of being able to brag about a successful quest with the reward money in hand made it a popular spot.
Entering the guild with my luggage, navigating through the crowd was a chore. It seemed something was causing the heavy congestion.
Turns out, some muscle-bound adventurer was loudly recounting his success on a godawful quest. People were gathered around him. He probably bought a round for the adventurers nearby.
Looking at his face, I vaguely recognized him… I think he was a D-rank. A truly heartwarming scene.
Anyway, I moved my luggage to the counter. As if they were waiting for it, merchants swarmed in and rummaged through the bags. William controlled them while discussing prices.
“Hmm… the beak is quite large.”
“The crest is a deep color too.”
“I’ll buy the eggs.”
As expected, the cockatrice loot was popular, and prices were quickly set and sold. Winia and William, raking in tens of silver coins in an instant, seemed quite composed. They probably handle that much money all the time.
A mage and a skilled warrior – that combination must make earning money easy.
“Here, this is your share, 20 coppers.”
“Thank you.”
After some haggling, William paid me for the cockatrice chick I killed. He said it was very fresh, not even a day old, so the price was good. Just 20 coppers for two monsters – it was an unbelievably generous price. It was probably an inflated price because there weren’t any cockatrices around here, even if it was just a chick.
With the money in hand, I headed to the counter. I had succeeded in a D+ rank quest. I felt like I was flying. But thinking about it, I hadn’t checked the reward when I accepted the quest, but since I already had 20 coppers, it wouldn’t matter if it was a little low.
“Oh, Mr. Katt, you’re here?”
The receptionist was there. I felt like tears were streaming down my face. After all, she was the one who arranged this quest for me. I wanted to treat her to a meal if I could.
“Hehehe, I’m so glad to see you. I perfectly succeeded in the quest you gave me last time. I can’t even imagine how to repay this kindness.”
“You’re finally starting to act like a decent human being. To be honest, I was thinking, ‘Oh crap, what am I going to do if he fails again?’ But seeing that you succeeded, I feel relieved.”
Hearing the receptionist say that relieved me too. In this screwed-up world, she’s the only one who’s kind enough to think of me. I was a little scared that I would drag her kindness through the mud.
“More importantly, aren’t you tired working overtime? I feel like I should buy you a bottle of holy water or something. No, not as a come-on. Just out of gratitude.”
The receptionist had dark circles under her eyes from working late. Seeing that made my heart ache as if it were my own problem.
“Don’t talk nonsense. Mr. Katt, just because you succeeded in one quest after a long time, don’t get cocky and do something stupid again, or you’ll still be in danger of being demoted, so be careful from now on, okay?”
“Of course.”
Even though she spoke harshly, she was such a good person that I couldn’t help but agree. Still, demotion? It was a D+ difficulty quest, so I probably wouldn’t be demoted even if I screwed up a few quests in the future.
“This is your reward, 35 coppers. Next time, when you make or join a party, be selective about the people you work with. Goodbye.”
“Oh! Thank you! Have a good night!”
Having achieved the unbelievable feat of earning 55 coppers in a single day, I was so happy that I jumped up and left!
Now, all I had to do was take a bath at the bathhouse, hole up in the inn, and sleep, and it would be the best day ever. But before that, I had to say goodbye to William. It was basic etiquette. I don’t think I need to say goodbye to Winia, but if I don’t, she’ll probably make a fuss, so I should do it just in case.
Finding fault for no reason was Winia’s specialty. She possessed the creativity and eloquence to scold me all day just for breathing.
“Hey, William. Thank you for today!”
“Why are you thanking me? Get home safe.”
I said goodbye energetically, and William simply waved back. And when I looked to the side to say goodbye to Winia, as expected.
“Hey, Darkie. Isn’t it common sense to greet me first?”
“Thinking about it, you’re right. My bad. Please forgive me.”
“Darkie, you want me to forgive you?”
“Hey… I listened to you today…”
As expected, Winia was making me uneasy by finding fault with something ridiculous. She was smiling, but she seemed quite displeased that I hadn’t greeted her first. My heart pounded with every word she spoke.
I was very anxious, wondering if she would start some kind of nonsense again after seeing me for the first time in a while.
“Hmm… well, whatever. Darkie, are you going home now?”
“Where’s my home? I’m just going to crawl into the inn and sleep.”
Literally an otherworldy homeless person. I didn’t have a home. Just a life of earning money every day and sleeping at the inn. But did Copson already leave? I can’t see him anywhere.
“…Really? William! See you later! I’m leaving!”
“See ya.”
Winia, who was thinking about something in response to my answer, cheerfully greeted William. Her attitude was so different depending on the person – a typical otherworlder.
But after greeting William, Winia suddenly hooked the ring part of her staff around my neck. I was flustered and tried to escape, but I couldn’t because of the difference in strength. I was dragged along.
Seriously, what is this, a dog collar?
“Then let’s go!”
“Hey, let go of this… Where…?”
“I need to know where our Darkie lives!”
At this point, I realized that I was in bigger trouble than I thought. My brain was spinning rapidly. What is she going to do after finding out where I live? Should I lie and sleep somewhere strange tonight?
“I’ll kill you if you lie.”
Looking at her sincere eyes, I seriously wondered where I went wrong.
I guess it was a big mistake to draw my sword and challenge Winia to a duel back in the day. From then on, my otherworldy life was screwed up. I didn’t just misbutton my shirt, I screwed it up pretty badly.
It clearly started as a bit of hazing towards a barbarian rookie adventurer…
Did I know it would turn out like this?
“Aren’t you going?”
“Okay, let’s go… I’ll show you where I live…”
Saying that, she finally removed the staff. I couldn’t possibly resist Winia, so I quietly headed to the inn where I was staying.
I had no idea what she was planning to do after finding out where I lived. But what was clear was that an unfortunate future awaited me.
Great.
Next time, I should do something like escorting a caravan to the next city. Thinking about it, this city [Krasheim] where I’m active isn’t my hometown, it’s just the place where I was first summoned. I’ve been here for too long. I have some money saved up, so I’ll figure something out.
I should take this opportunity to go to another city.
Eventually, I arrived in front of the inn where I was staying.
“Here it is.”
“Hmm… Darkie, you’re staying here all the time?”
“I don’t really have anywhere else to go. I usually sleep and eat here, but if I have work, I go somewhere else to sleep. Actually, just sleeping here is a big blessing.”
“It’s too shabby. No, sorry. I misspoke. It’s too damn shabby.”
“Say that to the innkeeper.”
“You have a problem with that?”
“Of course not. I was thinking it was shabby too. The innkeeper probably thinks so too?”
Winia’s eyes narrowed at the sight of the unexpectedly shabby inn, and she looked back and forth between me and the inn with a strange look. A mage like Winia probably couldn’t imagine staying in a place like this. She must be living in a nice place like a magic tower. Or a fancy inn.
Look at how much money she makes.
She wouldn’t be living like me.
“Okay. Well, Darkie, see you later.”
“Haha, yeah, let’s definitely see each other again.”
“You seem to be lacking sincerity in your answer again?”
Winia’s expression turned ice-cold in an instant.
“No, no! Don’t go, please! I want to be with you even a little longer!”
“Kyahahahaha! Darkie wants to be with me? Do you like me that much? Huh?”
“Of course, I fucking love you!”
“Okay, okay! Then see you later, Darkie!”
I don’t want to see you if I can help it.
No matter how pretty you are, I can’t forgive you.
After awkwardly saying goodbye to Winia as she left, I finally entered the inn.
The innkeeper greeted me with a tired face, waving his hand casually as usual. The first floor of the inn was bustling as it was dinner time, and everyone was eating here and there. So I got a bowl of soup and ate it too. As expected, it was terribly tasteless.
It was a little late to go to the city’s public bathhouse, so I just went upstairs and fell asleep. I’ll do the annoying things tomorrow.
***
I woke up after sleeping in, and it was still morning. I thought it was late last night, but I must have gone to bed earlier than I thought. At least I woke up during the day, so I felt like I gained some time.
Anyway, I decided to take a break on my own for the first time in a while. My pockets were full, so I could afford to be lazy for a day. Then it would be right to enjoy the holiday.
After preparing breakfast, I immediately put on my clothes and ran around the outskirts of the city. The morning breeze was refreshing, but after running for about an hour, my whole body was soaked in sweat.
For an adventurer, physical strength is an asset that cannot be exchanged for anything. For adventurers who do rough and violent work, physical strength is directly related to survival. Sometimes, when I have time like this, I run around the city to train my physical strength.
“It’s so hard, damn it!”
Back on my home planet Earth, I had such poor physical strength that I felt like I was going to die after running just two laps around the playground. But after struggling hard in this world for several years, I became a reasonably fit monster, able to run for about an hour and still be relatively okay.
After exercising, it’s time for a bath. I paid 1 copper with trembling hands and went into the public bath to soak my body and scrub off the dirt. No matter what else, I felt as comfortable as I did back home when I was bathing in the bathhouse.
Even though I came out feeling refreshed after taking a bath, it was still morning. I thought about stopping by the blacksmith, but my sword and armor were all fine, so I didn’t go. There was nothing to do outside but spend money, so I bought a few skewers to eat for breakfast and lunch and headed to the city’s library.
“Welcome.”
The library is open to anyone with a clear identity. Of course, F-rank adventurers can’t even dream of it, but as an E-rank, I could borrow books at any time. The rental fee for a general book was 1 copper for two days.
Information has always been incredibly important, regardless of the era, so since becoming an E-rank, I’ve been borrowing books from the library whenever I have time to learn about this world.
I was suddenly dropped into this world without any notice, so even though it’s been several years since I arrived, there are still many things I don’t know.
“Where…”
I’ve always liked reading books. This other world didn’t really have any cultural activities, so naturally, I didn’t have any hobbies to spend my holidays on other than reading. So I naturally became an avid reader. Of course, I don’t read books often because I don’t have the money or the time.
I chose a book. Even though they’re just books, they just look like fantasy setting books to me, so any book I choose is pretty fun. For example, the Introduction to Otherworlder Languages that I just picked up.
A book called Basic English Introduction is boring and awful, but if it’s called [Introduction to Otherworlder Languages], it just looks fun, doesn’t it?
I borrowed the book and returned to the inn.
