Chapter 82 - Resting at the Inn (1/2)
Ch. 82: Resting at the Inn
In the end they decided to get rooms and rest, but when they got there, Loren wasn’t sure what to do with Feuille.
He had been thinking about getting three rooms since there were three of them, even if it cost more, but then he started wondering about leaving Feuille in a room all by himself.
Although he was an elf, he was only ten years old.
Thinking that it wasn’t good to leave a young child alone, he was about to have him stay in the same room, when he suddenly started feeling piercing glares on his back, causing him to turn behind him.
They were in the first floor of the inn, which like most inns, was where they served customers their meals, and it seemed like most of the glares were from the customers sitting down there behind him.
He could tell that they weren’t filled with things like bloodlust or opposition, but he couldn’t immediately understand what was behind them.
And it seemed that for some reason, the ones from the women seemed especially cold, and as Loren rubbed the back of his neck, Lapis whispered to him.
“This is just a feeling…but I think everyone thinks that Feuille is a girl.”
When told that, Loren looked down at Feuille, who was looking up at him.
Elves were known to be beautiful, but Feuille especially looked like he could be either, so it was very difficult to know just by looking at him, and if he didn’t talk, he could easily be thought of as a girl.
Realizing too late that it couldn’t be helped if he was seen as someone who was trying to take a young girl into his room, Loren thought of putting Feuille in Lapis’ room, but Lapis frowned at the suggestion.
“Regardless of how he looks, Feuille is a boy.”
“I guess that’s true.”
“Are you telling an unmarried girl of age to spend a night with a man!?”
“…Umm, yes.”
Ignoring Lapis, who was complaining about the moment of silence before his response, Loren scratched his head, wondering what to do.
If everyone looked at him coldly if he tried to take Feuille and didn’t like it if he tried to make her take him, there was only one option left.
“How about all three of us staying a large room?”
“Oh, you guys were a family?”
The one who asked was the owner of the inn.
When the middle-aged man mentioned it, Loren thought about the composition of his current companions, but putting himself who was human, Lapis who was demon kind, and Feuille who was an elf as a family, seemed too chaotic.
“We’re not actually a family, but a lot of things happened. I’ll appreciate it if you don’t pry further.”
“Three silver coins a night for a large room for five, including two meals. Extra towels and warm water are extra charge, alright?”
The owner was trying to be sensible since they weren’t a family, but to Loren it was additional mental damage, and even with a tired look on his face, he slid three silver coins on the counter.
Although he didn’t have much money, he had a few silver coins in his wallet.
He felt that if he let Lapis pay, it would worsen his image with the people behind him, so he immediately paid before Lapis could.
Seeing the money, the owner gave him a key and told him where the room was.
Frowning at the painful spending, Loren went up to the second floor with Lapis and Feuille and entered the room for five. After putting his equipment and bags down and sitting down on the bed to take a breath, he saw that Feuille was staring at him.
“What’s up?”
When he said to Feuille, who was standing in front of the doorway, he asked him with a worried look on his face.
“Umm…What’s going to happen to me?”
It did seem that he was being a little vague, but Loren looked at Lapis, wondering how to answer him.
Lapis, who had put down her things as well and was sitting on a different bed than Loren, noticed Loren’s gaze and put her index finger on her chin, her gaze wandering about around the ceiling, and answered.
“If we think about it in an orthodox way, we would have him come with us to the Black Forest and take him back to his village would be one option.”
“If you think about it normally, yeah, but what do you mean by orthodox? Is there an option that isn’t?”
“…Do you want to know?”
“No, so keep it to yourself.”
Knowing that it wouldn’t be anything good, Loren shut up Lapis and turned towards Feuille, who was still standing in front of the door.
“If you have a way to contact your friends or family, do it. If not, take us to your village. The forest isn’t a place where a child like you could wander around alone, right?”
Feuille looked confused when Loren asked him to take them to his village, but Loren meant that they would protect him until they reached it, and as Lapis let out a nervous laugh, Loren glared at her.
Looking at his reaction, Loren thought that the elves must have a lot of trouble with insolent people going after them for their looks.
“It’s not like we have business with your village. We’re just going to take you there.”
“Will you really? I don’t have any money to pay you…”
Feuille knew that Loren and Lapis was adventurers since they stopped by the guild.
So, he assumed that since they were people who took quests and were paid for it, they were going to ask for money to take him to his village.
Loren sighed, knowing what Feuille was thinking.
“We aren’t going to take money, so don’t worry about it.”