CH 8

Chapter 8: Rumors at the Tavern

When I descended to the dining hall of the first floor of the tavern and inn, a meal that looked like a set meal was prepared in the seat at the far end of the counter.

It consisted of black bread, a deep dish with a stew-like dish, and a small bowl filled with a mountain of beans.

Come to think of it, it had been half a day since my last meal since breakfast in my original world. Moreover, it was a little unsatisfying in terms of volume after moving my body so much, but it seemed that I could get seconds of the black bread.

"Drinks are charged separately, but you can have Elan water for free."

I asked back, "Elan water?" but what was served was a slightly sour water with a citrus scent. It was something like lemon water. I'll just understand it as orange or lemon for simplicity's sake.

I drank it all up because I was thirsty and the old man replaced it with a bewildered expression.

Come to think of it, I hadn't had anything to drink since finishing the "Here's your tea" PET bottle that was in my backpack's pocket on the way.

As for the food, it had a bad reputation among the guards, but how was it?

In the deep dish of cream stew, there was a little bit of meat that I didn't know what it was and various vegetables that I didn't know the type of, but there was plenty of it.

I picked up the purple vegetable that looked like carrot but tasted surprisingly good. Of course, it could be because I was hungry. I don't have a gourmet taste, so it might be because my tongue is not refined.

However, the savory flavor of the simple taste like salt and pepper was enhanced by the sweetness of the purple carrot, and the more I chewed, the more delicious it became. The cream stew itself had a light taste, but the taste of various ingredients came out in the appropriate thickness, and I thought it was quite good.

This is my food review, Shiro.

I tried eating them in order, the ones that looked like paprika or potatoes, and this one is clearly onions, but all the vegetables were delicious.

Maybe it's because it's a rural town and agriculture is thriving.

However, I couldn't eat the meat that was in there in a small amount. It was crumbly and had a fairly strong smell.

What kind of meat is this? As far as what I've eaten before, it's similar to sheep, and not lamb, but adult sheep, or maybe something like bear meat that I've only eaten once.

Maybe this is the reason why the reputation among the guards was bad.

Three men were drinking at a table near the counter and they just called out to the old man.

"Hey, don't you have any Chocobo or Yamaga meat?"

"Sorry, we haven't had any in stock for a while. The monsters have increased and the guy from Den said they can't hunt properly. When they go into the mountains, they end up having to exterminate Kobolds or magic boars."

In order, they were a level 4 merchant, a level 8 merchant, and a level 6 blacksmith.

"I don't want any stinky magic boar meat. I heard you can eat Tori meat at Gunz's shop."

"It seems they get crushed Chocobo from the Douglas Guild there. Some soldiers who were drinking there the other day were talking about it."

The old man listened to the men's conversation with a scowl, then returned to the kitchen.

Kobolds are a staple low-level monster, right? Depending on the game, they are small humanoid monsters with animal-like heads. Are magic boars monster pigs?

I wonder if this dry meat is monster meat. I'm scared to check if it's safe to eat.

Then I mustered up my poor communication skills and spoke to the men.

"Excuse me, where is the restaurant where I can eat Chocobo meat?"

"Oh, you heard us? It's Gunz's tavern, located at the corner of the square towards the lord's mansion. I ate there just last week, so I'm sure that's it."

"We used to eat Yamaga meat here all the time."

"It can't be helped. Since the count has gone into hiding, the town has been declining. Recently, even the main road has been infested with monsters, and the caravan has started to avoid it."

The men seemed to have been living in this town for a long time. They were quite drunk, so much of what they said was incoherent, but it allowed me, a person with poor communication skills, to listen to their conversation without suspicion.

"You can't expect a young girl like that to be a good lord. She's been in the monastery all the time and doesn't understand the world."

"Hey, hey, stop bad-mouthing important people. The walls have ears, you know."

"Who cares! Everyone must be thinking the same thing. Actually, since the monsters started roaming around and they only donate to the temple and orphanage instead of immediately exterminating them, we can't do mountain work, the economy is getting worse, and the merchants are running away, so this is how it turned out."

It seems that in this country, monsters are appearing here and there, and labyrinths are being created. The lord nobles must subdue them to protect the people and maintain the safety of the roads within their domain in order to be granted territory by the king.

However, it is said that the count's family who ruled this region, had the misfortune of finding several labyrinths within their domain at the same time, and failed to defeat them. As a result, they lost much of their military power against the ever-increasing threat of monsters, leading to their decline, and were forced to cede their territory to the surrounding nobles. Finally, the count and his heir were said to have died in battle.

It's a depressing story. The people within the domain, who are exposed to the threat of monsters, must be even more depressed.

Therefore, Carrena, a girl who had been in a monastery, was forced to return to secular life and act as a substitute for the lord. However, the count's family, who originally owned one large city and seven villages, now only governs this town of Suctari.

"Also, this is just between us, but..."

The oldest man whispered. He was a man who owned a large general store.

"If the labyrinths within the domain cannot be defeated by the next celebration, the count's family will not be recognized as heirs, and the family will be extinguished."

"Hey, the celebration is in just one month! That's not much time!"

"You're so loud. When I went to Doulas to buy goods the other day, I heard from a merchant who was doing business with Viscount Brel directly, that this was a reliable story."

"If he went all the way there just because he couldn't get paid, that's pretty serious. It's finally time for us to cut our losses too."

"Don't joke around. I've been a blacksmith here since my grandfather's generation. Even if I bow my head to the guilds in Doulas, they won't let me have a shop there."

"Even so..."

Carrena and her companions are in a precarious position.

After hearing this story, I couldn't bring myself to say that I met Carrena and the others today or that I was invited to the mansion tomorrow. I didn't want to be thought of as the lord's spy.

However, the lord was too poor to gather enough soldiers or adventurers, so the princess herself had been hunting monsters or rather, being chased by them. Well, it was good that I was able to help people, but I didn't want to get into any more dangerous situations.

Since I had been reborn after supposedly dying once, assuming this wasn't a dream, I wanted to accomplish things that were impossible in the real world. As for the goal of becoming a doctor that my guardians had imposed on me, it didn't matter. I just wanted to do what I liked, see rare things in this other world, eat delicious food, and create a harem of beautiful women and girls to live happily every day.

As I thanked the three drunkards and said it was time to go, they tried to keep me there and talk to me. But they bought another round of drinks for each of us, and I joined them in good spirits as they sent me off, saying they should drink together again.

As I climbed the stairs and looked down, the blacksmith uncle seemed to have fallen asleep, with the two of them pounding his back as he slumped over the table, but they seemed to be having fun.

When I realized I was muttering out loud, "I wish I could live a laid-back life without hunting monsters," it was probably a flag.