Chapter 20 – Human Age
How many hours had passed since you left the inn?
As the sun went down and a cool breeze blew in, the heat problem was somewhat solved, but the Horde’s stamina had long ago run out.
Horde, who had lost his stamina, was slumped like melted ice cream at the promised place, and people would throw money at him from time to time, probably because he looked like a beggar.
I wanted to throw the money back and shout who beggar, but Horde didn’t even have the energy to do so.
‘Please come quickly…’
After waiting for such a long time, did the sky grant the Horde’s wish?
Horde jumped up from his seat with a cry of joy inwardly as the Hero’s party walked from a distance.
Unlike Horde, who jumped up and raised the corner of his mouth without realizing it, Hero and his party made a puzzled expression when they saw Horde covered in sweat.
“Mr Horde? Could it be that you’ve been waiting here all along?”
Anyone who saw Horde covered in sweat would think so, and it was.
“Yes that’s right…”
Horde nodded at the hero’s words, and the hero asked with a puzzled expression.
“No, you’re waiting at a store nearby. Why are you waiting here?”
“That… I’ve spent all my money trying to get a room at an inn. To use the support fund, I have to write it down in a ledger, but I don’t know how to write…”
Horde wanted to shout that he didn’t spend money carelessly because he noticed you, but he couldn’t bear to say that, so he said it back as much as possible.
“Cog… Then why don’t you ask YuRia or Mirian?”
“…”
Every time the hero said something like that, Hod suspected that the hero might actually be a very sinister figure.
The reason why he couldn’t do that was, in a way, the hero and the saint’s fault, but since every word he said touched their misery, how could he not doubt it?
And it was a more natural guess that the hero’s occasional bomb remarks were not ignorant, but aimed at them.
“… It’s because I’m ashamed to let them know that I can’t read.”
“Ah…”
The hero made an apologetic expression as if he had made a mistake, but Lina just smiled when she heard that.
“I am… I made a mistake. Sorry.”
“No. What do you have…”
The hero bowed his head to Horde and apologized properly, but Horde, whose mind was twisted as much as he could, saw all of this as a pretense or an act to feed himself.
“Next time this happens, just take it and tell me later. Actually… If you did that today, you wouldn’t have cared too much.”
“Yes… I will do that from next time.”
The conversation between the hero and the Horde ended like that, and the Hero group, guided by the Horde, arrived at the inn.
“There doesn’t seem to be a restaurant here?”
Inns usually run a pub or restaurant on the first floor, but this inn didn’t have a restaurant because there were many restaurants around.
“They say they give it to you when you order it, but you wouldn’t expect much of the taste.”
“Hmm… Then Hero, let’s go where I know today. I don’t know if they still do it, but there are places I know well.”
“You know me? Is it a famous place?”
“It’s not like that, but the owner and I know each other.”
“Okay? Then let’s do it.”
*****
Entering a room where he might stay with the Horde for a while, the warrior looked around.
The room was not a two-person room, but a room for four or five people to sleep together, so it was quite spacious for two people with Horde.
“The room is spacious.”
“Yes, I searched hard, but it was difficult to find a double or single room… Sorry.”
“Oh no! That’s not what I meant…”
The hero said it without much thought because the room was spacious, but it didn’t seem like it sounded like that to the Horde.
I tried to be careful several times when I was talking, but it kept happening.
When the atmosphere became uncomfortable for no reason, the hero spoke to the Horde to change the subject.
“By the way, Horde, is the women’s room the same as this one?”
“Yes that’s right.”
“That’s great!”
The hero, who knew that the relationship between Marta, Yuria, and Mirian was not very good, thought this was an opportunity.
Even when they went on adventures, they carried several small tents, so the three of them had few opportunities to sleep together.
The hero didn’t know that the three of them could get along a little bit by sleeping together under one roof like this today.
While the hero was thinking about that, a knock was heard from beyond the door, and the hero, whose hand was empty, opened the door.
-Smart.
The person who knocked on the door was Lina, who had changed into casual clothes.
In addition to Rina, Martha, Yuria, and Mirian were standing behind her, all dressed in comfortable street clothes.
“What’s the matter?”
“What happened… Did you forget to eat?”
“Ah… Come to think of it, haven’t you eaten dinner yet?”
Hearing Lina’s words, the hero remembered what Lina had said earlier that she had her own store that she knew well.
“Are you going to that store?”
“Huh. But it’s a bit old, so if it’s closed, let’s just eat elsewhere.”
“A long ago…”
When the word “Old days” Came out of the mouth of Lina, who was no other person but an elf, the hero became anxious.
“… Hey, couldn’t it be that the old days were like 500 years ago?”
“What? Ahaha!! It’s not like that! It was only 80 years ago, so relatively recent!”
“80 years…”
Hearing that, the hero somehow felt that if he followed Lina, he would only come to an empty lot with nothing.
The hero wasn’t the only one who thought so, but the three people standing behind her also looked at Lina and looked anxious.
But since he had to eat anyway, the warrior came out of the room without expecting much.
After that, the Horde came out, and with anxiety, the Hero and the others headed to the store where Lina guided her.
“What is that… ?”
As soon as she arrived at the store, it was none other than Lina who had guided her here.
First of all, the store seemed fine from the outside. No, it’s not a problem-free level, it’s a pretty luxurious store even if it’s not as good as the three stars I went to last time.
However, the luxurious exterior was spoiled by a single sign hanging over the door.
[Restaurant of 80-year-old original elf grandmother Yuna and Rina. Grandma’s stew is warm, so it’s good?]
Even in this darkness, the letters and borders written on the signboard sparkled in various colors, attracting people’s attention.
The hero said, seeing the rustic signboard that didn’t match the fancy shop at all.”
“Reena… Are you really right there?”
“… Probably right.”
From that powerless answer, I could feel Lina’s desire to remain as a person who has nothing to do with the old signboard.
The thoughts of the other party members were roughly the same, but YuRia, Martha, and even Horde, who did not know how to write, all had puzzled expressions.
Only Mirian was looking at the signboard with an interesting expression as if he noticed something.
“First… Let’s go in.”
Upon entering, a solemn-looking waitress stopped Hero’s group.
“Excuse me, have you made a reservation?”
“Reservation…”
Hearing that, I looked into the store beyond the waitress and saw that it was full of people despite the ridiculous sign.
“That… The store owner’s name is Yuna Summerwood, right?”
“Yes, that’s right, but… Are you familiar with the owner?”
“Go to Yuna and tell her to come down with a cane because Rina’s mother was very upset when she saw the signboard.
“Yes? Yes?”
“Just say that and they will understand, so go ahead and tell them to come down.”
The waitress went upstairs with a bewildered expression at the attitude that she would not forgive me for answering.
“Ah, I see.”
After a while, the waitress returned to the front door with Yuna, a woman in a fancy dress.
“Uh, Mom… ? Are you really my mother?”
Yuna looked at her Lina and she couldn’t believe her expression, and she was filled with tears, but on the other hand, her Lina’s expression was cold.
“… Yes, she is a real mother.”
“Mom… !!”
When Yuna, with her tears in her eyes, rushed at her Lina with her arms open, Lina avoided her embrace and then went back behind her and slapped her on the butt.
“Such a bastard!!”
“Kyaa!!”
Having slapped her on the butt, Yuna fell away from Lina and yelled at Lina, who made her face red.
“Mommy are you crazy?! It’s been a while since I met her, what’s wrong?!”
“Crazy you are crazy!! What is that sign? What? Elf grandma? What’s warm? Who in the world sold Amy’s name to a signboard like that!!”
“I have my name, so stop hitting me!!”
“Then why do you sell my name as well when you put your name in it?! More right, more!!”
When she even pulled out her bow and tried to hit her with her bow, a warrior less powerful than her held Lina’s hand and said,
“Stop! Lina, then I’ll catch someone!”
“I’m trying to catch you, so let go quickly!!!”
In the end, when her other party members and employees joined in to stop her, Lina barely calmed down and wrapped her hands around her hips and said to Yuna, who was trembling.
“First… I’m here for dinner, so set a table for me. Can you do that much to a mother you haven’t seen in a while?”
Yuna nodded her head vigorously instead of answering Lina’s words.
Guided by the waitress, Hero and the others went up to the third floor and entered a private room originally reserved only for VIPs.
And then, delicious food that was comparable to the ones from Three Star was brought in, but it was a place where a lot of cargo gathered, so there were a lot of different types.
As various foods were brought to the table one by one, Lina’s face gradually brightened, but when she saw Yuna’s face after all the food was gone, it cooled down again.
“Is Mom still mad?”
“Okay… What were you thinking with that sign?”
“I ordered a new one because it was the store’s 80th anniversary… No?”
“Of course I hate it!! To commemorate the 80th anniversary, would you like to be beaten until the 80th week of transposition comes out?”
Saying that, when Lina raised her fist, Yuna trembled and said,
“I’ll get off! You can get off!!”
“… Tsk. It should have been.”
After her signboard issue was resolved, Lina shared a drink with her daughter, Yuna, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time, laughing heartily and happily.
“I’ll introduce you to my colleagues now!”
Next, Lina and her colleagues who are now having a party were introduced, and the Hero party enjoyed a meal in a friendly atmosphere for the first time in a long time.
Seeing Lina, whose usual childlike demeanor had disappeared and her grown-up composure, made her feel nostalgic about the old days of being a hero.
And as time passed and all the dishes on the table were emptied and the alcohol in the glass ran out, the time to get up came.
“Mom…”
Yuna, who had come to the front door to see her off, held Lina’s hand as she was about to leave and put on a sad expression.
Seeing Yuna like that, Lina smiled benevolently, which was different from her usual, and she hugged Yuna tightly and said.
“If I have something to stop by here, I will definitely come back to see you. Should I be healthy by then? Got it?”
“Huh…”
“But you, a 100-year-old kid, are you still acting like a child?”
“A 100-year-old elf is 10 years old in human age, so he’s still at an age to be a fool.”
“What kind of calculations do you have? That way, my age… Oh, Evande…”
“I’ve been curious about this before, how old is your mom?”
“Noisy!!”
Rina said that and as if she was going to block Yuna’s mouth, she hugged Yuna tightly.
Looking at Lina hugging Yuna with her smile on her face, the hero seemed to know the identity of her perfume that he felt earlier.
And after a while, when Lina released her hug, Yuna bowed to Hero and the others and said,
“Everyone, Mom is a little bit like that… There are some freewheeling parts, but I am not a bad person, so please take good care of me.”
“Hey! I’m taking care of them right now?!”
“Haha!! Pretty sure it is!”
After those words, Hero and his party left Yuna’s shop to see her off.
“Lina is a mother.”
“Huh? Oh, didn’t I tell you I had a baby?”
“There is that too, just… Seeing you with Yuna, I just thought that Lina was a mother.”
Their race, personality, and height must all be different, but for some reason, the hero looked at Lina’s back and looked at his dead mother.
“…”
Perhaps sensing the hero’s feelings, Lina said with a bitter smile.
“Would you like to play a childish way with Lina’s mother here? I’d like to say, but I’m Yuna’s mother…”
As she said that, she sent her glance at Martha, and Martha, who was behind her, came forward and said,
“Warrior… She’s not a mother, but would she be kidding her sister?”
In reality, Martha was only two years old, but she was older than the warrior.
“Another prank…”
The hero, who thought he was joking like before, tried to ignore it, but Martha did not give up and said, holding her in the arms of the hero.
“… If you don’t believe me, would it be all right if I stay and go to your room?”
“Uh… ? Oh no that’s…”
When Martha’s golden eyes were visible through the slightly closed eye sight, the hero hurriedly recalled the Horde and said.
“Because Mr. Hod is in the room…”
“Then I can’t help it. Then next time…”
Looking at the fresh appearance of the hero and Martha, Lina smiled softly.
However, unlike Martha, Yuria and Mirian, who were unable to say anything, could only stare at the floor with miserable expressions on their faces.
