Chapter 153: Complaints At A Post-Town (1/2)

It was just before nightfall, when Loren’s party reached the post-town.

They had been attacked by demons and bandits multiple times that day, but they only drove their attackers back instead of killing them. Lapis said they were too pitiful, as they couldn’t even harm the party.

It was understandable though: after all, their party did consist of two twice-named mercenaries (even though one kept denying it), an Evil God and a deamonkin. Though Lapis didn’t even have to use her demonic powers, and she had nothing to do as a priest seeing that no one was injured.

“The sun has completely set.”

Just as Loren grumbled, the sun had completely set by the time they reached the town, and it was so dark that they couldn’t see a thing. The lights from the town gave the party a sense of security: finally, they would be able to sleep in an inn tonight.

But Loren voiced his worry:

“Can we still find an inn at this hour?”

If they couldn’t find lodging, they would have to camp near the town. Stores had also closed by now, and they had used up almost all of their food supply to satiate Gula’s hunger. So they would have to make do with the remaining meagre portions until morning.

“That depends on how much we’re willing to pay, doesn’t it?”

Lapis didn’t believe that money could buy everything, but in truth – it could buy almost anything. This town wasn’t that big and normal rooms were likely filled already, but it wouldn’t be strange for the pricier ones to be still vacant. The question was whether there was an inn with such rooms here, and if yes, whether they could pay for them.

“In the worst-case scenario, we can ask some travellers to pass on their rooms to us.”

If they were willing to pay, they could find someone to arrange it. In short, as long as you have money, getting some rooms wasn’t a difficult thing.

“I don’t really have any troubles with sleeping outdoors, but food is the problem. All thanks to a certain Miss Big Eater.”

In response to Lapis’ dripping-with-sarcasm remark, Gula said:

“I can still get food for us if we camp though?”

The town was small, but it did have almost all facilities of a post-town. Lapis was curious about what the hell Gula was planning to fetch and use as food, but they would be in trouble if she did something outrageous. They really should secure some rooms in an inn by all means.

So, Lapis picked an inn, told the others to wait outside, and went in to speak with its owner.

“Not sure if you guys are lucky or unlucky, but we do have rooms.”

Was what the innkeeper, an elderly man, who had already passed middle-aged, told Lapis. She told him about the number of people in their group and asked if he had rooms for one night. She thought that being able to find vacancies would be lucky enough, but the innkeeper’s way of speaking made her feel a bit uneasy.

“What do you mean by ‘unlucky’?”

Lapis called the others in and observed the first floor of the inn, which also functioned as a dining hall. The business seemed to be thriving, and the place was full of travellers coming for a meal or a pint. But when she looked closer, she could spot some empty chairs here and there in the gloomy hall.

Lapis was thinking that they really do have rooms available when Gula whispered into her ears. She had just come back from putting their donkeys into the stable.

“The stable is quite empty.”

Could it be that she had picked an inn with terrible service? Lapis was worried about that when the innkeeper grumbled:

“A rather big gang of bandits has just emerged south of this town. That’s why there are fewer people coming or leaving here.”

South was where their party was heading to.

“Are they really that big?”

Lapis slid some coins across the counter to secure their rooms and asked. The innkeeper answered while counting them:

“Ah, they’ve wrecked a couple of villages already. Done a number to the guards stationed in the region too. The soldiers in this town are fearing that they’ll come here next.”

“That’s awful. Have you appealed to the kingdom?”

“Of course we did. But it’s rumoured that the kingdom will just look on and won’t lift a finger.”

“And why is it again?”

“Didn’t we just have a skirmish with our neighbour a little while ago? There are rumours that we’ve lost quite a lot of troops in that and still can’t regroup.”

What he just mentioned was not unrelated to their party. Actually, right now the member who was the culprit’s ‘friend’ was looking in a different direction and whistling while feigning ignorance.

And among the ‘lost’ soldiers the innkeeper had just mentioned, not that many were actually killed. The true story was, many of them weren’t able to continue their soldering career after a certain event, but Lapis couldn’t tell the innkeeper that. She offered some harmless and inoffensive opinion instead.

“That’s war for you. Scary, isn’t it?”