Chapter 8
At last, I had become an adventurer, but I still had to wait three more days before I could actually begin working.
A proper plate also serves as identification. It is also the license that qualifies you to receive jobs through the guild. Until they receive one, rookie adventurers pay the guild fifty coppers and still can't earn enough to buy food.
Apparently, country bumpkins who save up fifty coppers, rush to the city shouting, “I’m an adventurer now!” and then spend three days starving while doing odd jobs are fairly common.
The source of that information was Professor Brammathon's book. Every line of the book my advisor gave me was interesting and practical. It had kept me from getting bored even on the ship to Shehir.
Yerna? Some fucking bitch I've never heard of.
“Hmm-hmm-hmm.”
Anyway, since I had nothing to do for five days, I went looking for an inn where I could stay for the time being.
I asked the receptionist one last time where I could find a decent inn. My conscience was pricked when her face awkwardly stiffened after she thought everything was finished and finally relaxed.
‘I felt bad, but it couldn’t be helped.’
Professor Brammathon's book had said that anyone Bronze class or below couldn't stay at a good inn anyway, so they should choose somewhere with plenty of fellow adventurers or nowhere near any at all.
Rather than searching alone without knowing anything and regretting it later, it was better to simply ask, even if it felt a little awkward.
It was only natural that you couldn't rest easy somewhere with terrible food or security.
“Thief! You fucking bastard, stop right there!”
“What the fuck are you talking about? You look more like a thief than I do!”
“Buying~ broken one-handed swords~ shields~ rusty iron~.”
“You fucking assholes! Why are you making so much noise first thing in the morning!”
What a hellishly cozy village this was. I cast a pitying glance at the members of society’s bottom rung passing by. It was hard to believe the lodging I had been recommended was in a place this low-rent.
Could the receptionist have recommended it to get back at the newbie adventurer who had bothered her?
Even as I agonized over it, I somehow reached the inn. The inn was called Spring's Rest. It looked fairly large and clean, no worse than the inns where I had stayed while exploring ruins with Yerna.
However, neither a bellhop to carry my luggage nor a taciturn innkeeper came out to welcome me.
─Whoosh!
A huge man was hurled out of the inn like a piece of baggage. I was startled when he came flying toward me.
“Aagh, fuck! A flying Britannian!”
I dodged the huge man flying at me despite the weight of my luggage.
Thud!
“Gaaak!!”
The bald man, red with drunkenness all the way to the crown of his head, crashed headfirst into the spot where I had been standing.
What the fuck was going on? Dumbfounded, I turned my gaze toward the inn door the huge man had flown out of. A second, then a third, flying Britannian came through it.
─Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
─Thud! Thud! Thud!
“Ugh!!”
“Urgh!!”
“Gk!!”
The saying that those who fall have wings was a complete lie. Flying Britannians flew without wings, and because they had no wings, they fell.
Their flight was powered by a single man's strength. The man standing in front of the inn boasted muscles as bulging as Professor Post-Brammathon and shouted at the fallen drunks.
“Get the hell out of my establishment right now! If I see you in front of me again, I’ll break your arms and legs so you’ll never be able to work as adventurers again!”
He had already thrown them out of his establishment, so what kind of twisted mentality did he have to tell them to get lost? With that enormous scar on his face, he was a thug no matter how you looked at him.
“Gnnngh….”
“Urgh. Big bro, let’s get up….”
The drunken bald man and his underlings supported one another as they huddled together and left. Their faces were swollen beyond recognition; they had clearly gotten plastered, then been beaten to a pulp by that thug.
‘Let’s fucking get out of here.’
I tried to use the momentum to pretend to be an anonymous passerby, but the thug's eyes had already locked onto his next prey.
“You there, are you a guest?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Don’t give me that. You’re standing in front of the inn with a whole load of luggage.”
Fuck, I was screwed. I had never regretted not being a minimalist so much in my life.
I shouldn't have asked the receptionist to recommend an inn. This was definitely petty revenge.
“What? Did I mistake you for someone else?”
The scarred man had just beaten several people into pulp and thrown them out, yet he looked completely baffled by my reaction. That was impossible without the sociopathic mindset of someone accustomed to violence.
I silently screamed fuck about ten times before speaking.
“…I’m a guest. I must have misunderstood for a moment.”
One thing I had known ever since I lived on Earth was that there was nothing to gain by posturing in front of someone who was quick to use his fists.
Thugs and delinquents wielded violence without hesitation, so trying to act tough around them could get you fucked. It was like how, if some guy in shabby brand-name clothes demanded money in an American back alley, it was better to hand it over quietly before he shot you.
“Is that so? Come on in.”
“Yes, sir.”
Clomp, clomp.
I entered like a condemned prisoner being dragged to the execution chamber.
Telling him that the adventurer guild receptionist had recommended this place would be something only a third-rate traveler would do.
That might be a code among these people meaning, ‘This guy can be buried without anyone caring.’ The moment I mentioned the recommendation, they might drag me into a room of truth, strip me naked, bury me, or throw me out.
I looked around for a chance to bail. Like most inns in this world, the place operated as a restaurant and bar, using its spare rooms as lodging. It was unexpectedly lively, and quite a few people with ordinary appearances were there.
“Dorka! Thank you so much!”
Just then, an old man approached us. The man who had brought me inside must have been named Dorka.
“Don’t mention it. Chasing out people who cause trouble in my establishment is part of my job.”
“Heh heh. Don’t be like that. I’ll come again with my friends sometime.”
“I’ve no reason to refuse your contribution to my sales.”
“That’s just like you. Oh, is the person behind you a guest? I’ve been tactless. Go about your business.”
No, you could have kept being tactless. If possible, I would have been grateful if you had kicked me out just like this, but the old man simply moved away.
“…Why were those people just now kicked out?”
I asked while gauging Dorka’s reaction. Seeing him speak with the old man, I figured he might be surprisingly easy to talk to.
“They were causing a disturbance in the establishment. They picked a fight with regulars and even tried to lay hands on my wife when she tried to stop them. So I beat them up and threw them out.”
“I see.”
That was a far more respectable reason than I had expected.
No, it was practically gentlemanly. With muscles and scars like those, he had still let the bastards who touched his family live. Despite his appearance, he was surprisingly merciful.
Thinking of it that way made his frightening appearance reassuring. It felt like calling for a bodyguard and having a huge man with mangled ears show up.
“Anyway, welcome. As you heard, I’m Dorka. Our Spring's Rest provides everything from meals and lodging to booze. Is there anything you need?”
Dorka turned toward me when we reached the counter. Feeling much more at ease, I pointed to the luggage on my back.
“A room. I came to Sargadis to become an adventurer.”
“I figured as much. Oh, lodging is three coppers a night.”
“Pardon?”
That was fucking expensive. I blinked in shock.
A copper was the lowest denomination of currency, but it was by no means cheap.
It wasn't that there were no low-value currencies, as in old Joseon; a single copper itself was fairly valuable. This world didn't really have a concept of microtransactions.
Rather than setting prices according to the goods, people tended to sell things at prices calibrated to one copper, the lowest possible price.
A day's worth of bread cost one copper. Two cabbages cost one copper. A small roast chicken cost one copper. Things like that.
Buying a bottle of banana milk for 1,400 won was a modern person's way of thinking. If banana milk were sold in this world, I would have to bring a jar, pay one copper, and take home ten thousand won worth of banana milk.
‘But three coppers for a single night at an inn?’
Even in the modern world, cheap motels cost twenty or thirty thousand won a day, but there weren't many inns here that charged three coppers.
Fuck, was this like the motels near military bases that charged 100,000 won a night? Were they ripping me off because I was an adventurer?
“You’ll also get breakfast, and you can leave your belongings in the storeroom.”
“Oh, I see.”
In that case, it was fair. As long as breakfast wasn't just hard bread and water, the price was somewhat understandable.
Adventurers normally carried a lot of expensive equipment, including armor and weapons. Leaving all that in a room and getting robbed would be disastrous, so inns also stored their guests' belongings separately.
It was easier to build one sturdy safe than to manage every room.
If someone robbed the safe, the guards of the territory would mobilize, so it was safe to trust them. There would be no problem unless the thieves' guild, a bunch of terrorists in all but name, robbed it.
“I’d like to stay for about three nights to start with. I don’t have much money right now.”
“You just registered today, so it can’t be helped. I understand.”
He was quick on the uptake. He might even have been a former adventurer.
I took out a ten-copper coin and held it out. The funny thing was that there was no currency worth a tenth of a copper, yet there were ten-copper coins. It was a perfect example of how little the nobles here cared about the lives of the people beneath them.
“Have you eaten? Some good pork came in today, so I made a stew.”
Dorka asked while handling the coin, which was larger than a one-copper coin.
“I can give you bread, stew, and stir-fried vegetables for one copper. How about it?”
“Yes. That works out well; I’m hungry. I’ll unpack my things and come back down, so I’ll have that.”
As I had said several times, one copper was fairly substantial money. Even taking into account how expensive eating out normally was, the quality of the food here would determine whether I continued staying here.
‘If it’s no good, I’ll move.’
A master's student's monthly stipend was two silvers. Two million won. Unlike twenty-first-century Korea, that put me in the top half of earners here. It was also money that would keep coming in until I failed to produce results and was left high and dry.
‘…If my thesis hadn’t been stolen, I could’ve saved more and rented a place of my own.’
Feeling depressed, I decided to force myself to think positively. If I had rented a place, flies targeting my money might have swarmed around me because I stood out.
With my current ability, even a beggar-thief carrying a weapon was as dangerous as a tsetse fly.
Even considering the risk of theft, it was better to stay here. It wasn't as if I was going to leave expensive textbooks in my field in the room.
“Your room is the one at the far right on the second floor. Here’s the key.”
“Thank you.”
The key looked like one of those handed out by old-fashioned guesthouses. A key with a numbered tag attached to the end. The more I thought about it, the stranger this world was—medieval in some places and modern in others.
With nothing else to say, I went upstairs to the second floor. My room was tucked away in a remote corner, but the hallway was clean.
─Creeeak.
I entered the room and unpacked. It was a small space containing only a bed, a table, and a toilet. A small box that could serve in place of a wardrobe was the only other piece of furniture.
The room was bare, but I liked it because there was no mold on the walls or floor and the sheets were clean. Still, just in case, I should air everything out in the sun later.
I sat on the bed, unpacked my belongings, and organized them.
I would have to carry Professor Brammathon's book with me, since it would be difficult to replace if I lost it. I organized all my belongings except my wallet, weapons, and armor, then went back down to the first floor.
“Oh, you’re back quickly. The food’s all ready.”
Dorka had already set out the dishes on a table.
As promised, the menu consisted of stew, bread, and stir-fried vegetables. The vegetables looked more steamed than stir-fried, but they seemed likely to taste fine.
“Wow, that stew looks delicious. Your wife must be quite a cook.”
I sat down and voiced my admiration. Meat and potatoes were floating in the red stew, and it whetted my appetite without even needing any flattery.
However, Dorka gave a wry smile as he set down the utensils.
“I made the stew.”
“Huh?”
“My wife isn’t much of a cook. So I always handle the main dishes. The rest is her responsibility.”
At the spot Dorka pointed to, a young woman was busily carrying drinks and food. She must have been Dorka's wife.
I was dumbfounded for a moment, then pulled myself together.
“Hmm. I see. I suppose it doesn’t matter who cooked it as long as it tastes good.”
“Right? You know what you’re talking about.”
The innkeeper's heavily scarred face broke into a grin, making him look incredibly menacing. With that face alone, he could have been called “Big Bro” by every gangster in the area.
Still, the stew was delicious.
Delicious enough that I wanted to stay here for the time being.