Chapter 27: Five Months Later

Jenny and I stood in front of the inn.

“You’re here.”

Though we were wearing tattered cloaks, the little kid who greeted us recognized who we were and welcomed us warmly.

“Of course, we know our kids.”

“Sure. You even feed them well.”

The kid grabbed the reins of the horses that Jenny and I were leading and skillfully guided them into the stable.

This kid was the innkeeper’s youngest daughter, a ten-year-old girl with emerald eyes and bright green hair.

She helped her hardworking parents by taking care of the horses’ feed, and her actions were so endearing that the mercenaries who stopped by loved her dearly. Perhaps it was also because she had a good memory and greeted everyone by name.

“This is a gift. A noble’s treat I sneakily swiped.”

“Wow!”

As I handed over the two candies—each about the size of an adult’s thumbnail—the child’s eyes widened in amazement, and she carefully tucked them into her clothes.

For commoners, such sweets were a rare luxury.

I had received these as a bribe when meeting a noble earlier, and I had secretly passed them to Amy.

“Thank you, mister. By the way, my father said this is the last day for the five months’ advance payment.”

“Alright.”

I ruffled Amy’s green hair and patted her before taking off my cloak and handing it to Jenny outside the inn, then went inside first.

It had already been five months since my first battle.

During that time, I took as few rest days as possible and constantly sought out battlefields.

After rolling through the dusty battlegrounds day after day, my appearance had changed considerably.

The boyish face I once had had grown somewhat masculine.

When I first fell here, my hair was short, but it had grown long enough to tie back, and my once fragile body had become solid muscle.

My black eyes and hair—rare in the Creseria Continent—drew many curious glances, and with my horse’s striking red coat, I was impossible to miss.

“Still alive, huh?”

“Do you want me to come back dead?”

“No, I don’t do business with ghosts.”

As soon as I entered, I exchanged greetings and small talk with the innkeeper.

A former mercenary himself, the innkeeper was a burly man with a sturdy build, though his tight-fitting shirt always looked a bit uncomfortable on him.

“You’re here. You’ll use the room like always, right?”

“Yes. Also, this is a gift.”

I pulled out a handful of flowers from the Subspace.

His wife, a fragile woman who ran the inn, always welcomed us warmly and was very attentive, so whenever I found rare flowers, I gave them to her as a gift.

“Oh, Flower of La Grass. Its meaning is ‘Thank you for your kindness.’ It suits you perfectly.”

“Is that so? Then my feelings must have been conveyed.”

“Thank you, Ers, Eks. Could you bring water to Solo’s room?”

“Yes, sir!”

The innkeeper’s two sons answered loudly and moved quickly.

Being strong, muscular brothers, they could prepare everything in no time.

While we chatted, Jenny came in.

“Hello.”

The innkeeper’s wife, wiping water off her hands, smiled and gently touched Jenny’s face as they chatted amicably.

“Isn’t she kind?”

“She really is. She seems too good for her older brother.”

“Only because she’s talented. Heh heh heh.”

She handed me a glass of ale.

It was just what I needed; the cool ale soothed my dry throat.

“Ah… Amy mentioned that? Has the advance payment period really ended already? I thought there were a few days left.”

“Exactly two days left. You said you’d come around then, so I told her.”

“That’s nothing. You don’t know how terrifying I’ve become lately.”

“Hmm. Has the ‘Battlefield Butcher’ been acting up today as usual?”

‘Battlefield Butcher.’

That was the nickname people had started calling me recently.

About two or three months ago, there had been a large-scale territory war.

It was a fairly big conflict with many troops and mercenaries participating.

Back then, I had gone all out with magic, wanting to raise a ‘circle,’ and many soldiers were swept away by my spells.

That was when the nickname originated.

“You know about it too, huh…”

“I’m sorry…”

I didn’t like that nickname.

It meant many had died by my hand.

Of course, I had grown tremendously because of it.

When I fought my first battle, I was level 19; now I was level 42.

‘Status Window.’

I had grown fiercely strong.

I distributed my points moderately between Strength and Intelligence, then invested everything else into Vitality and Mana.

Thanks to that, my mana pool had become enormous.

Lately, I hadn’t even felt my mana drop below half, so I had no plans to invest more in magic for a while.

Instead, I planned to focus on Vitality going forward.

Looking down the skill list, it was so massive I could barely read it all.

I had also gained some new skills.

Since I frequently rolled around battlefields, I had become proficient with Lightning Bolt and Grease magic.

I didn’t use Sleep magic often, but I had learned it well enough to employ it occasionally.

Becoming a 4th Circle Mage, I bravely learned three powerful 4th Circle spells:

Frozen Orb.

Wind Blade.

Inferno.

All three boasted tremendous power.

When I first learned these, I was full of dreams.

“Master 4th Circle Magic all at once! And then, glory.”

I imagined myself unleashing magic with overwhelming might.

But surprisingly, 4th Circle magic wasn’t cast instantly; I needed a casting time.

For example, a 10-second incantation of some unknown words.

Still, compared to others, I was fast.

Most mages took about a minute to chant, so my 10 seconds was almost cheating.

But I mostly preferred to use 2nd or 3rd Circle spells that triggered immediately.

They were more convenient, and by now, my level and power were high enough.

Lastly, I gained a cooking skill.

Knowing Jenny’s cooking was terrible, I had taken over the kitchen.

As a result, cooking became a natural skill for me.

‘At first, I had high expectations. But man, she was really awful!’

One of the novels I read had a character with suspiciously overpowered abilities because of their cooking skill.

So I cooked like crazy.

I deliberately fed the other struggling mercenaries and even made their ingredients myself, growing my cooking skill steadily.

But the miracle I hoped for never happened.

“All done.”

While I was spacing out staring at my Status Window, the announcement that preparations were complete made me hurry to my room.

This time, the journey was a bit far, so after several days of travel and riding horses all day, my body was caked with dust, and I hated it.

I quickly took off my armor and heated water to wash up.

Splash.

The dusty water flowed out through the drainage hole I had made on one side.

This room was on the first floor and had been arranged comfortably by the innkeeper at my request.

I had blocked the floorboards to prevent splashing, and the floor was slightly slanted.

At the end of the slope was a hole to drain the water outside, channeling it through pipes I had installed.

The bathtub was the same barrel I had used last time.

At first, it was just a normal barrel, but I had cut off the top so I could lie down inside now.

I warmed the water and got in.

As my body relaxed, tension melted away, and I made a satisfied sound.

“Ah, that’s refreshing.”

I closed my eyes, and before long, I heard the sound of water splashing nearby.

Jenny was the only one who would use this place, so I ignored it.

Plop.

She climbed into the tub.

When I peeked at her, she was naturally inside as if it were nothing.

Still, even though we were man and woman, she wasn’t shy or embarrassed.

Instead, she seemed to relax and enjoy the cool water.

I flicked some water at her playfully.

“Used to be shy, but now you’re really bold, huh?”

Jenny laughed and replied.

“We’ve seen it all and done it all. Isn’t that normal?”

“True enough.”

I nodded in agreement.

Jenny, who had been sitting a bit apart, slowly slid into my arms.

“Ah, this is nice.”

She rested her head on my shoulder and leaned close.

This cheeky slave might be a handful outside, but when it was just the two of us, she treated me comfortably and served me wholeheartedly.

I didn’t mind it at all.

In this world, slaves were treated worse than beasts.

Since this was the imperial capital, I had seen many slaves and how they were treated.

But I never treated Jenny that way.

There was no reason to.

“Solo, please warm the water.”

I heated the water with magic.

Steam briefly blurred our vision before clearing.

Meanwhile, Jenny gently stroked the wound on my thigh.

“If I were a bit stronger, I wouldn’t have gotten hurt like this…”

“Could be. But in the end, we both survived.”

Once, during battle, a knight charged at me.

Jenny tried to block the attack but couldn’t overcome the knight’s swordsmanship, and I wasn’t able to cast magic properly.

That left me with this wound.

It had hurt a lot then, but now it was just a small scar.

“I got a pretty bad one this time, too. I should rest for a few days.”

“Yes, rest is important.”

Over the past five months, I had made a killing.

Starting from 8 gold from my first battle, I made 20 gold in a single month.

Back then, there was a team between the client and me.

But from the second month, my name gradually became known, and I earned 50 gold.

By the third month, I made 100 gold.

Now, after buying this and that and equipping Jenny and myself with good weapons and armor, I still had 300 gold left.

That was only enough to buy a few slaves.

But that wasn’t all.

During the war, I had used my Inventory and Subspace to pilfer armor used by knights and soldiers.

About 70 sets, roughly.

That alone was a considerable fortune.

I planned to sell them later since selling here would draw suspicion.

That meant I had over 500 gold in total.

“Ugh!”

I stretched.

When I lowered my arm, something soft touched my hand.

If it had been the old me, I would have instantly grabbed it.

But now, I was different.

I gently touched it, enjoying the soft texture.

“Hey, no rushing, okay?”

Jenny sat up.

Then, after a long time, the two of us shared a passionate moment.

***

After a deep sleep, we started by preparing for the day.

Even though rest was important, there were still things to do.

Jenny began washing laundry early.

This expedition lasted two weeks, so there was plenty of clothing to clean.

While she worked, I visited the blacksmith to repair weapons and armor.

At first, the repair fees were hefty, but I had become skilled, and there wasn’t much to fix anymore.

When I returned, Jenny had finished the laundry, and we took a quick stroll around the market.

Now that I knew what foods she liked and what to cook, shopping was quick and easy.

We briefly peeked into the Mage Tower to see if there were any worthwhile spellbooks to learn.

Jenny also looked for swordsmanship manuals suitable for her as we visited various shops.

It was a refreshing break after such a long time.