14 – 1. Footsteps of the Mule (14)

14.

The next morning.

I had a grueling morning as usual today. Celine, that guy, being so angry that he told me to stay in my room for a while. Last night, he came to my room and scratched at me with a red face, so I kicked him out because he was tired. Thanks to that, he doesn’t even make eye contact with me in the morning.

“Jin, did you fight with Celine again?”

Oh my god, she couldn’t stand it and told Angela about it. That pettiness is hard to believe even for me who thought I knew Celine well. I tried to hide my absurdity and said.

“It’s nothing special. I went to the East Side yesterday. He must be upset because he won’t have a chance to go out very often.”

“So what? I don’t think it’s because of that…… Didn’t it take quite a while to get to the city anyway?”

“Of course I took Isaac’s wagon. It is harvest season now.”

“I see. Well, you two were famous for being close, right?”

Of course. I don’t know if Isaac thinks so either. Isn’t friendship established when one party is devoted? I responded to Angela with a smile.

By the way Celine, do you know how much I struggle to keep this inn? If you know that yesterday, you worried about me and manually kicked out the uninvited guests, you would be grateful to me even a little bit. Of course, these are things that a 17-year-old girl doesn’t need to know, so I won’t say anything about them.

After talking with Angela, I lay back on the bed in my room. It’s not sleeping, it’s contemplation. As I continued to reflect on myself, I suddenly realized one fact.

Although the number of customers has rarely decreased recently, isn’t it a bit of labor to rent Isaac’s wagon and go to the city or visit a competitor to conduct market research? Dare to go against the principle of sincerity.

To compare it to office workers, it was like a freelancer who was accustomed to working from home, who was out of town for a company that was suddenly in the red. At this point, it wouldn’t be strange at all if the inn gave me a vacation.

Okay, I’m going to stay in my room all day. After all, it’s dangerous outside the blanket. I put on a cotton blanket.

Sniff sniff, did Celine suck it up? The soft blanket smelled strangely of citrus. Did you change her soap for a good one? They nag me so much about not wasting money, but it seems they can’t compromise on cleanliness. In this part, she was definitely like a girl of her age.

… ….

If that’s the case, should I live in a house, as Celine said? I recalled numerous items sleeping in my ‘cool bag’. Excluding the cursed items that can never be sold to others unless they throw the world into chaos, if you sell just one or two of the items that have a relatively light effect, you can get dozens of gold coins right away, but the reason I haven’t done that so far is that It was because she was concerned that the item she left would find its owner and flow into her hands.

The belief that if she had skills that no one could match, she would surely find me by reading my history from the item.

Also, in a special situation like yesterday, each one of them would become my lifeline, so it meant to hold them off as a last resort.

But what use is all the effort so far if the person in question is nearby? It would be better to go to the city right away and sell all items worth money to get gold coins, and then leave this town together before the magicians chase it.

After settling in any other manor, first of all, you should buy a mansion that is as good as the witch’s house, hire a lot of servants, and make Angela feel good. Will Punta return to the kingdom by then? Well, Mr. Cooper can allow you to give him a master bedroom. As long as I become the landlord, it’s okay to take a small revenge, such as getting a full monthly rent.

And to Celine…… I put on a pretty short maid outfit, and she watches me oversleep every morning. Her original industrious Celine will swallow her resentment when she finally sees the day she has become a full-blown unemployed man. Just imagining it would be happy days.

Yes, that kind of life is enough.

Without being disturbed by anyone, never doing hard work, with the people I love…… How many times have you dreamed of those days? Whether this is the world I originally lived in or another world, my wish was always the same.

And.

And…….

I can’t do that either. I struggled to get out of bed for the second time.

Yes, as someone said, once the dungeon crisis is over, there will be adventurers looking for the inn again. Even if we can’t enjoy the boom like before, we won’t starve to death.

But…… What if she is what I guess is the identity of that lurking in the middle of the dungeon? Even if she was sent back once she had lost her memory for her fun, there was no guarantee that she would do the same the next time. No, maybe it’s already too late. No matter what her purpose is, mere adventurers will never be able to stop her existence beyond human reason.

Gerald.

Hilda.

Jenice.

Bald monk…… I will have to memorize her name soon.

Unlike Celine, I don’t love all adventurers, but at least there were those I didn’t want to die. If anything, I wish that only those guys would run away.

“… ….”

From nob le mt l dot com

No.

Actually, I don’t want anyone to die.

The genre I want to be in is not a tragedy in which no one survives. It has to be a terribly boring group play in which no one is eliminated.

From morning till night, idiots spilling beer on the table with drunken faces and talking about their heroic stories. This world does not exist until the one-act plays they draw continue. This inn has meaning because of them.

It’s okay to say it’s stained. The ‘Golden Mule’ needs them. I mean, my world already needs idiots who throw their lives at useless dreams and never lose hope. Seriously, if all the adventurers die, who will be looking for the inn?

Thanks to my long thoughts, it didn’t take long for me to make up my mind. I slung the bag I had hidden under the bed over my shoulder and tried to pass quietly through the hallway to avoid making footsteps, but before I could reach the doorknob, the door burst open.

“Celine?”

“Jin, uh. Uhm. So, I came because I have something to tell you.”

“Uh, what are you talking about?”

“Well, yesterday I… ….”

I stared blankly at the licking lips. Looking at it, it seems that he came to apologize belatedly for scratching the raffle yesterday. This cute thing.

I was seized with the urge to hug her little head and blow her a kiss, but I didn’t have the confidence to do so, so I gently pulled her soft body into my arms.

“Huh!? What, what are you doing!”

I got hit in the pit of the stomach. Damn, I’m not doing anything out of place! I clutched my throbbing chest and stumbled down the stairs.

“Again, where else are we going!”

Wherever.

I said with a broad smile.

To the guild.

Emily, a third-year employee of the East Side Adventurers’ Guild and just 20 years old this year, groaned as she ripped at her curly blonde hair.

Adventurers are ignorant. That was the absolute truth and truth given by Emily, who had entered her third year of guild work.

Putting aside the various prejudices ordinary citizens have about them, the adventurers she actually judged as she looked at them without her tinted glasses were actually simple and ignorant in most cases.

Then, why are adventurers made up of idiots, and isn’t it possible that their shallow intellect has been transferred because they are covered in the flesh and blood of monsters every time? There was a time when I genuinely questioned that. However, she changed her mind when she saw that a high-ranking wizard who had spent her life looking through magic books from time to time also volunteered to become a member of the adventurers.

Then why? First of all, the entry barrier is low. One day, when a goblin, separated from the group, attacks the village, the young man with the thickest arms shows off his muscles and beats the goblin to death with a club while the women and girls are frightened. After that, if you bring the cut ear to the guild, you can become an adventurer as it is. Really!

Besides, that is the way guilds work. Rather than leaving young people without much education to go down the path of boring and boring engineers, they spread stories about treasure-filled dungeons and plant the illusion of making a fortune. Only idiots so possessed become adventurers. Although Emily doesn’t like the way they instill false dreams, she takes the opposite stance, which is the secret to the guild’s ability to produce high-quality adventurers.

Of course, there are very few people who achieve that dream. I’ve never seen them, but people who discovered the arrangements of the really distant past, acquired enormous wealth, or had excellent skills to begin with, who would have lived on no matter what. A skilled adventurer who has survived several dungeons is equivalent to a knight.

However, the majority still struggle in the gutter. As some of them realize the reality belatedly and retire, they have already spent dozens of silver coins on their swords, axes, and weapons, and they have no skills to learn, so they have no way to live. So in the end, I couldn’t throw away my lingering feelings and kept throwing myself into the labyrinth. Now you can understand why there was such a high proportion of fools among adventurers.

And today, another person stepped into the den of fools. Staring at her slowly opening door, Emily raised her head as she slammed it into her table with a look of disgust on her face.

In the midst of the Amnesia Dungeon and all, the industry was confused, the reason why such a young man visited the guild was obvious. Another victim will be transformed into an adventurer today.

By the way…… It was strange to be an adventurer. His muscles were not excessive, his height was moderately good looking, his face was pure white without blemishes as if he had not seen sunlight, and his features were harmonious. Emily, who uses soap that is slightly better than her common people’s, has inimitable black hair slicking in the sunlight…….

There’s no way you can forget that kind of appearance. Emily suddenly woke up. A young man like a flower appeared in the middle of the raging giants.

“Welcome, Mr. Jin!”

“Hello. Hey, where is Frederick?”

“Senior is in the office now!”

Emily brushed her hair behind her ears, flushing her cheeks like a romance heroine. Gerald was also on good terms with her adventurer, but she had a knack for falling in love with someone else in an instant…….

Soon afterward, a young man named Jin was guided by her and half-forced into the office. Her boss, deputy guild leader Frederick, sighed as soon as he saw that handsome face. As long as the dungeon is open, he will grow pale with each passing day. Then the young man opened his mouth.

“I’m going to the dungeon.”

“What?”

“I’m going with Gerald’s party, so arrange something small like a wagon.”

Her boss, who didn’t seem to be surprised by anything, opened his eyes wide for the first time in recent years. It was the first time Emily knew that his eyes were so big.

As far as she knew, a young man named Jin didn’t seem to be an adventurer. Seeing her boss in trouble, it was clear that he was a child of a noble family like him, but it was against the law for non-adventurers to enter the dungeon. Emily said she thought she would restrain him if the boss didn’t point it out. A novel in which the male lead leaves from the beginning is something that shouldn’t exist.

“…… Why should I?”

Frederick crossed his arms and nodded his chin. Indeed, it is as she expected. However, it is a little questionable that she has no interest in reasons or principles of action. Soon he dismissed Emily’s question with one word.

“Artifact, I will bring it to you. Can you answer me?”

“… ….”

You would have thought that was an absurd statement. If only it was Emily alone in her Oval Office. Before long, Frederick only asked one question without adding any rhetoric about how or what.

“…… Can I ask you one thing?”

“If I can answer that.”

“Why do you go to such lengths for that inn? You hate to work. If business doesn’t go well, isn’t it good for you because you have nothing to do?”

Looking at Frederick’s face, he was sincere. Then the young man laughed at him.

“Are you stupid? When the inn goes well, I can continue to sit down. If you fail, what else do you do other than get kicked out?”

“A guy like you is really… ….”

Frederick shook his head in disgust and sighed heavily. Then she replied that she would be more than happy to know, which for Emily she couldn’t believe.

As soon as Jin left the guild, Emily left her desk and ran straight to her office. And she threw her question at Gearko senior. She couldn’t stand being curious any longer. Frederick nodded his chin as if in anticipation of her aggression.

“Senior, who the hell is that person?”

“…… I do not know either.”

“Yes?”

“I said I didn’t know.”

Frederick was unusually reserved. If there’s one thing he knows, it’s that in today’s world you have to be careful and be careful of people like him. He usually doesn’t move, but the fact that he’s prowling here and there when necessary means that he’s not just a big liver, but that he has a corner to believe in.

First of all…… Even though you consider yourself like a lazy unemployed man, when others see you, you are moving as fast as a mule on foot. The quality is also poor in terms of embracing contradictions that you didn’t realize.

“Just, don’t get involved. That is all I can say for you.”

Muttered Frederick, touching the deep darkness around his eyes. He is not a good person to be involved in with an ignorant young lady. If you approach me because of my appearance, I’m sure you’ll end up in a bad mood…….

“Shall we go to an inn on a day off?”

Did you listen to me? Frederick was seriously concerned about what to do with this tomboy and his junior.

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