Chapter 101 - Back to Plate Town

'Yo man, have you heard of the rumor already?' one young adventurer spoke to his friend, as they seated on a table while having a quick drink.

'Rumor? About what?' the adventurer's friend raised his eyebrows, seemingly oblivious to what his friend is talking about.

'You haven't heard of it yet?! Ugh, fine. I'll tell it to you,' the young adventurer scratched his cheek in dismay. 'you see, there's this one beautiful girl that came here in our town and man, that girl instantly became a conversation topic for many of our fellow adventurers who have stopped by here in Plate Town! How crazy was that?'

'Ehh...but there are already tons of beautiful girls here in our town. I can't see anything special about the girl you're taking about.'

'Yeah, I'm also feeling skeptical about it but after hearing so many stories from so many fellow adventurers, I think that girl must be really that beautiful to become an instant headliner! Not all girls had that kind of treatment before!'

Those two are the only customers inside the Plate Town Adventurer's Guild HQ's mess hall on a mild hot afternoon and as such, they are free to raise their voices without inconveniencing others—as long as they don't do anything stupid like standing n.a.k.e.d on top of the table out of drunkenness or littering inside the premises.

'What do you think, should we see for ourselves if the rumor is for real?'

'Hmm...let me think for a moment,' his friend took a sip from his glass for a moment and then, 'Alright. Seems like I still have enough spare time to waste, so let's go.'

'Woohoo! I knew you won't miss this one out!'

The two immediately went out of the mess hall to look for the girl in the rumors, but not without paying for their drinks.

Meanwhile—

"My, you've been staring at them for quite some time now. Be careful though, that's a recipe for disaster if you get caught by those guys."

While sitting at the bar far from the table where the two was seated I unintentionally listened to their conversation, my eyebrows frowning at the excitement one of them was showing to his friend about their topic, which was all too familiar to me.

The reason why I'm here is to validate my promotion as an E-rank adventurer. I was supposed to leave as soon as everything's been processed, but I heard those two and I just can't leave without hearing the whole conversation.

"I..." dumbfounded at her words, I looked at her and asked, "am I staring at them all this time?"

Alisha nodded. "From the looks of it, you're certainly intrigued by their conversation. Why? Do you know the girl they're talking about?"

It's only been a week since we came back from our trip at Harlin and just as I expected, Miss Lerish's sudden arrival already made waves throughout the town's households, despite her real identity being concealed. Even Alisha—who has 'ears' all around the town— still doesn't know who she is nor haven't met her face to face yet.

"I-I don't know who that person is..."

"Don't lie to me, kid," Alisha clicked her tongue as she shook her head. To keep her hands occupied, she took a tall glass from under the counter and filled it with a generous serving of mead.

She's still on her duty, and yet she's already drinking. Is that even allowed in her job as a clerk?

"I can clearly see in your face that you're acquainted with that girl. Come on, spill out the details now; I need something 'spicy' to accompany this drink, you see? Don't worry, no one's around right now to eavesdrop on you."

Being pestered by this woman who's only a few years older than me, I grumbled for a moment before telling her the gist of what's going on.

"I see, I see," she placed her hand on her chin, trying to absorb the things I've said to her. "So that girl really has some things going on for her. Not only that she's beautiful and has a good heart, she also came from a well-to-do family from the capital. Geez, how lucky can that girl be?!"

"Yeah, it looks like that...more or less," I said, while trying to keep a straight face in front of her. "and the reason she's here is because her parents wanted her to learn more about life in general. You know, some sort of soul searching? I still don't know if Plate Town is the right place for her to do that, but here we are."

To be honest, I'm not confident with the outcome of this situation. Aside from the weather, the environment here in the town is just too rough for a royalty like her. At best, she might last here for about a year before giving up and going back to the palace, never to return again.

"And now that there's rumors circling around the town about her, I—as her guardian—just can't help but to feel worried for her well-being. Maybe, I'll just hope that everyone's hype will die out sooner than later, so that I could regain my peace of mind once more."

When I said that, Alisha—

"You kid...aren't you thinking about it way too much?"

"Huh?"

"Seriously, you need to calm down," she poked my forehead with her finger. "Based from what you told me, it seems that she's already used to grabbing the attention of everyone around her, so being too worried about it is just a moot thing at this point. Still, you shouldn't fully let your guard down either, since there are as many creeps as good men here in Plate Town."

She advised me to only act when Miss Lerish herself asked for it, or she's in danger. At first I refused to believe that I can do that, but I have slowly come to agree to her point: at the end of the day, Miss Lerish is not a child anymore. Her Highness can easily handle things even without my interference.

"So...have you already collected your thoughts?"

"Nn. I feel like an idiot for panicking here. Thanks, Alisha."

"Can't blame you for that, kid," she replied after taking a sip from her mead. "After all, she's a good catch. This might be a good opportunity for you to get closer with that girl. Who knows, you two might be meant for each other."

"A-As if that'll happen!" I quickly stood up from my seat, which made her tease me even more.

Good grief, what is this woman thinking?

"Oh, you going home already, kid?"

"Yeah. Aoi will get really mad at me if I leave her alone back at the inn for a little longer."

Taking another sip from her drink, she said: "Alrighty then. Tell that friend of yours that I want to meet her some time."

"Nn."

While walking back to the Sandy Fish, I remembered the words Alisha said to me, and the tiny hairs on my arms suddenly started to rise.

There's no way that will happen...right?

-----

Unlike most parts of Narashel, Plate Town generally only has two seasons: the 'extremely dry' season, which lasts for almost three-fourths of an entire year; and the 'extremely cold' season, for the rest of the months. We're already in the transition period, so the weather here currently is just like what I experienced when we're in Harlin, something that I wished to remain as always.

I'm not the only one who wanted this mild weather though, for many adventurers time their travel into these parts of the country just to experience the rare and short-lived temperate climate. This in turn brings an influx of income to many businesses just like the Sandy Fish, who depends on traveling adventurers in order to survive.

"Ughhh...I'm so tired..." Saku groaned as he rested his head on the table.

"Me too, Big Bro...I don't think I will be able to get up from our bed tomorrow," his sister Saki also spoke, as she rubbed her eyes with her hands.

It's already closing time, and everyone has just finished cleaning up the entire place after a whole day of serving a shocking amount of customers—most likely because Miss Lerish served as the receptionist today.

Even though Sandy Fish is an inn, almost all of its income comes from serving meals and drinks to its customers, so one could say that it's more like a restaurant than anything else.

"Thank you for the hard work, everyone," Miss Lerish said, bringing over a tray containing a few small cups and a teapot. "I know that everyone gave their utmost effort these past few days, so I thought that I should make tea this time, to alleviate everyone's fatigue and to aid in sleep..."

"Ahh...you really are a godsend, Your Highness! Thanks for the tea—"

Just as when Saku was about to take a cup of tea, Miss Lerish lightly slapped his hand, which made Saku to instantly back off.

"You seem to be forgetting something, Mister Saku. Do you have any idea what could it possibly be?"

Meeting her sharp gaze, Saku was confused and terrified for a moment, but then—

"Oh? A-Ah, I'm sorry, Miss Lerish. I tend to forget it sometimes. Hehe..."

"T-Thank you very much, Big Sis Lerish!" Saki expressed her thanks as she called Miss Lerish in a way that is preferable to her. She lightly patted Saki's head in return, causing her to become giddy.

In just a short people of time, the balance of power has tilted towards her. At this rate, it won't be long before this entire establishment gets handed over to the Narashel royal family.

"And lastly—for you, Ren. But, uh..."

"Hmm?"

"I...I was just wondering if Miss Aoi has already retired for the night before everyone else does, because I haven't seen her around after we had our dinner a few hours ago."

Ah, that little girl...

"Yeah, she already went to sleep. Maybe tomorrow I should start lecturing her about not doing chores and stuff because unless I do something to correct her, she'll only get lazier and lazier everyday, until her title changes from Death Goddess into a 'No Good'-ess."

When I said that, she started to chuckle very lightly. I asked her what's the matter, and she replied:

"Oh. My apologies, Ren. It's just that...I find that term strangely risible. Perhaps, the reason why is because I have never heard someone slander a deity like that before."

Slander?! But I'm not badmouthing Aoi though...maybe she doesn't know yet how siblings call each other names sometimes...

Ah, I see—I forgot that she's the only child in her family. Of course she won't know it.

"Anyway, the night is about to get deeper. Let's all drink our tea now, shall we?"

-----

The Rainens immediately became sleepy after drinking the tea Miss Lerish made, and they already went back to their room. The drink has also took some effect on my system, but for some reason Miss Lerish is still wide awake while reading through sheets of paper, as if the tea had an opposite effect on her.

"I can't sleep just yet," she said to me. "I still have to settle Sandy Fish's expenses for the week."

"But Miss Lerish, can't you just do it tomorrow instead?"

She shook her head and replied: "No can do, Ren. Once I started something, I have to do it until it's done."

'After all, I'm already used to this type of work,' she said with a confident tone. Being a public servant and such, her office would often be filled with paperwork that she had to spend sleepless nights just to finish them all.

Hearing her story, I instantly felt guilty of my past, where I also stayed up all night but only playing video games.

Because I can't do anything to stop this lady, I sat beside her and took a page filled with rows and columns of numbers and started computing.

"R-Ren? What are you doing?!"

"Like what you said just now, settling expenses."

She asked me if I also had experience with these kind of things, and I said that I did things like this before where I came from.

Upon checking the sheet that I have for mistakes, she nodded as she said:

"Nn. Perhaps I could use some help this time."

With the two of us working together, the task was done in less than an hour—something that surprised both of us.

"I never knew you're also good with numbers, Ren."

"D-Do I look that dumb to you?" I looked at her with a shocked expression. "Actually, numbers are my weak point, but I could still do stuff like this to some degree, you know..."

Man, I never knew Miss Lerish could be this savage. So what if I'm not good with math? I can survive with what little knowledge that I have.

"Fufu, you're not dumb, Ren...at least, that's what I believe," she said. "Rather, my impression of you as a reliable person is further cemented in my mind. I am very fortunate to meet someone like you in my life."

When she looked at me, her green irises sparkle like leaves wet with summer rains. She's not crying, but they're moist for some reason.

"If not for you, and your companions as well, I wouldn't be able to confidently interact with this new world that I'm in. I wouldn't be able to go to places I seldom visit, I wouldn't be able to meet new people I haven't seen before, I wouldn't be able to experience new things I never knew existed—without you, who kept me safe and welcome all this time. I know that as long as I'm here the burden I've placed on your backs will just keep on piling up, that's why I want to express my apologies to you in advance."

"Y-You don't have to say that, Miss Lerish," I waved my arms at her. "We're also glad to have you here. In fact, we should be the ones thanking you instead."

At least, the fact that the King himself promised to subsidize the inn's expenses as long as she's safe is already enough of a reward for all of us here. With the amount of money we received as initial deposit, we could easily run the business for years without problems.

However, it seems like Miss Lerish has something else in mind. After mustering her courage, she looked at me again and said:

"If you want to, I could also give you a reward...after all, you've done so many things for me..."

"E-Eh? M-Miss Lerish?!"

"But...I don't have any experience yet, so please...be gentle with me..."

While saying that, she had already unbuttoned the top of her blouse, revealing a glimpse of what's underneath her clothes.

W-Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah!!! Hold up, you're being too fast!!!

"P-Please fix your clothes, Miss Lerish! I-I, I can't ask something like that from you!"

"But if this is not what you wanted, then what?"

She quickly leaned closer to me, not minding that I could already see her...

Averting my gaze, I said to her, "I-I-I just want to be your friend!"

Friend...iend...end...

Awkward silence. Because we spoke of stupid things to each other, it felt like the night has turned even slower for the two of us.

"Friend, you say..." Miss Lerish asked, her cheeks becoming as red as a tomato.

"Y-Yeah. At least, let me be your friend first," I replied.

Now I've done it! I'm screwed for life if this will end up poorly between us.

As her face showed disappointment from my request, I expected that she would reject it, but—

"Very well then, I will be your friend from now on," her face brightened up into a smile. "Although I'm already treating you as such all this time, I'm still glad to hear those words from you."

Ah, so my request is but a formality at this point. Wow, I should've thought of another reward while I still had a chance.

"I'm also glad...Lerish," I said, completely dropping the 'Miss' honorific from her name.

"Ren...did you just..."

"Uhh...you asked me before to call you that way, right? Now that we're formally friends, I can now confidently call you by your name, without using any honorifics or titles. What do you think?"

Lerish, Lerish...now that I realize it, her name is indeed beautiful. How come I only realized it now?

Hearing those words from me, Lerish placed her hand on her chest and said:

"Yes, please continue doing so!"