Chapter 39: Guide, Inn, and One Room

Wilfred left before the others.

The forty-something middle-aged adventurer simply bid farewell, then laboriously and carefully dragged the five demon wolf corpses alone, staggering off on the arduous journey to find a fur merchant.

“He should borrow a cart.” 

Leo said helplessly. 

“Even if it costs a bit more, at least it wouldn’t be as strenuous as now.”

The middle-aged adventurer with poor hearing gave one last glance in his companion’s direction, then turned and waved to Ed and Bailis.

“Come on, the inn isn’t far from the town entrance. I’ll take you to see it.”

With that, he took the lead.

The boy and girl exchanged a glance and quickly followed.

Loren Town—that’s what Ed remembered it was called.

The not-so-spacious town was encircled by a simple wall four or five people high, built from a mix of wood and stone. 

Arrow towers stood behind the walls in four directions, with lightly armored soldiers in pairs on the towers, holding bows or crossbows, their gazes cautiously scanning around, trying to spot any potential dangers outside the town.

Just from the soldiers’ expressions, Loren Town’s situation was quite grim.

Once inside the town, this became even more apparent.

On the streets, aside from shops frequented by adventurers—weapon stores, armor stores, and the like—few other shops or stalls were open, and even hawking cries were scarce.

This was probably because beasts had surrounded the town, preventing caravans from coming and going freely. 

Ed thought.

Deeper in, as several wagons bearing the Merchants’ Association emblem came into view, it confirmed his guess.

“Those are caravan wagons.” 

Leo saw Ed seemed somewhat interested in the connected wagons and took the initiative to explain. 

“They’re trapped in town like us. I heard the lead merchant even argued with the town mayor a few times recently, but it seems they didn’t get any concessions.”

As he said this, the middle-aged adventurer chuckled gleefully.

“If you ask me, they brought it on themselves—when the beasts first surrounded the town, it wasn’t impossible to get out yet, but these merchants wasted that chance just to earn a bit more money. Utterly foolish!”

This wasn’t good news. He and Bailis couldn’t walk all the way to Mitia and Nolan; hitching a ride with a caravan was a suitable option.

But now, even caravans that often hired adventurers as guards were trapped in town, so the situation outside might be dire beyond imagination.

“Are there many beasts around town now?” Ed asked. 

“On the way back, aside from that wolf pack, we didn’t encounter many other beasts.”

The middle-aged adventurer dropped his joking demeanor and nodded gravely.

“A lot—very many.” 

He said. 

“The area around town looks relatively safe, but that’s the result of our daily clearing. A bit further out from where you appeared, the beast numbers become quite dense. We usually don’t venture into that territory alone, because it really could get you killed.”

At this point, the middle-aged adventurer’s eyes darted around.

“So, if you want to leave town, it’s best to find more helpers—like a level-two adventurer kid who’s pretty capable and sharp, plus a pretty little girl who knows potion brewing.” He hinted not-so-subtly.

The adventurer kid—Ed could guess who he meant.

As for the little girl who knew potion brewing, from Leo’s look, he figured it was probably that Kelta adventurer’s family, friend, or lover.

This seemed normal. Back in Hilos as an adventurer, Ed often saw pairs of brothers, lovers, or even whole families taking and turning in quests together.

But before personally confirming these two’s abilities, he wouldn’t rashly decide to recruit them—that would be too irresponsible.

“I’ll think about it.” He replied perfunctorily.

The middle-aged adventurer scratched his cheek, too embarrassed to push further, and turned to seriously guide them.

Leo hadn’t lied—the inn wasn’t far from the entrance. After a few more steps, they saw the shop with the “Inn” sign.

“This is it.”

The middle-aged adventurer strode over and pushed open the door.

Noisy sounds drilled into Ed’s ears.

He squinted, realizing it was noon—lunchtime.

The inn’s first floor had plenty of tables and chairs, each surrounded by crowds: some gnawing bread with vegetable soup, others tearing into golden roasted meat on their plates—the meat looked quite appetizing; he even seemed to hear someone swallowing saliva.

Gulp.

Ed shifted his gaze to the girl beside him.

She was staring straight at the oddly fragrant roasted meat, her mouth unconsciously open.

Well, perhaps someone really was drooling.

But it wasn’t her fault—who wouldn’t look like this after days of plain grilled fish without seasoning, upon seeing normal food again.

“Don’t rush.” Ed said softly. 

“Later, after picking a place to stay, we can eat.”

Bailis’s brows drooped slightly.

“Oh…” She said sullenly, but couldn’t help glancing at the meat again, nearly drooling once more.

Ed cleared his throat lightly and, led by Leo, entered the inn.

“Hey, isn’t that Leo!”

As soon as they entered, a man in iron half-plate armor sat on a chair, greeting the middle-aged adventurer with a smile.

At the same time, he noticed the two figures behind Leo.

“Good luck today.” 

The man dressed like a guard raised an eyebrow. 

“Found two unlucky ones? Why not go to the church—instead brought them here?”

“What unlucky ones?” 

The middle-aged adventurer glared at him. 

“Roen, you’d better respect these two. Without them this time, I might not have made it back!”

At those words, the armored man grew a bit serious.

“What happened?” 

He straightened up and asked. 

“I remember you and Wilfred took a safe patrol quest. That road’s been cleared many times—it shouldn’t have dangerous beasts.”

“Don’t mention it.” Leo waved tiredly. “I’ll chat about it at the tavern tonight if there’s a chance. Now, I’ll help them find a place first.”

The man glanced a few more times at the two behind Leo, retracting his gaze with slight concern.

“If there’s any incident, make sure to report to the town mayor or your guild rep—don’t forget.” He instructed Leo.

“Relax, I remember clearly. I won’t joke with my safety.” Leo replied while heading to the inn’s front desk.

“Boss, any rooms left?” He asked the boss.

The inn boss was a rather plump man. He looked up at Leo, then pulled out a ledger from the cabinet and flipped through it.

“Yeah, there are.”

“Good, then give these two behind me two rooms.”

“Two?” The plump man’s face showed difficulty. “But there’s only one room left.”

“One?”

Leo frowned, looking at Ed and Bailis.

“You two, what do you…” He probed.

The girl tugged at the boy’s sleeve.

Ed was silent for a moment.

“Are there other inns?” He asked.

“The town’s inns are basically full.” The plump boss spoke before Leo.

“Besides here, there probably aren’t places left for temporary stays.”

The boy and girl stared at each other.

“What do we do?” Ed asked.

“Just… like this.” The girl said dryly. “I don’t want to sleep on rocks anymore.”

“Alright.” Ed sighed, holding his forehead. “One room then.”

The fat man laughed.

“Got it—one single-bed room!”

“Single bed?!” The girl whispered in shock.