Year 141_Keireki Era_Spring/08
Yo.
It’s me, the guy who’s been half-asleep all this time.
Yeah, I slept.
I slept like I was dead.
Slept so much, you’d think I’d passed away.
It was luxurious.
For someone like me, just surviving from one day to the next is a luxury, and now I’m being given such an amazing bed? I can’t thank Kagnat enough for this.
Oh, right. Kagnat.
Let’s rewind a bit.
After I received my reward and was wondering what to do next, Kagnat approached me.
She said she wanted to express her gratitude properly.
Both Iserina and the guild wanted to go beyond just monetary compensation and show their appreciation.
Apparently, the former Guildmaster was quite well-loved.
Having nothing better to do, I agreed.
From an outsider's perspective, it probably looked like I was parading around with the guild’s idol and some ghost executive girl no one had ever heard of.
The stares from the other adventurers stabbed like needles.
Roam, rubbing his forehead like he had a headache, muttered something about how he told me to "lay low for a while."
What’s done is done; you can’t take back attention once you’ve drawn it.
If nothing else, I’m a master at giving up.
Since the current Guildmaster was unavailable, Iserina was left in charge of the situation, alongside Kagnat.
And then there was me, the so-called hero.
The three of us sat down for a meeting.
Without much preamble, the questions started coming.
“Is there anything you want?”
That kind of unexpected question is always a bit of a head-scratcher.
“I’ve already received extra rewards, so…”
“We mean on behalf of the guild. We haven’t really thanked you yet.”
“Hmmm… I honestly can’t think of anything.”
It’s not that I’m without desires.
I’d love better gear, interesting jobs, and, sure, the company of beautiful women.
But all of that feels like stuff I should earn for myself.
Maybe it’s the long years of living as a bandit, but that mindset is ingrained in me, and it’s not going anywhere.
“Oh, actually… I don’t have a place to stay yet. Could you recommend an inn where I can get a good night’s sleep for a reasonable price?”
“In that case──”
Kagnat suggested transferring to me the rights to a private room in the guild, one of the perks of being an executive.
Of course, transferring those rights required the Guildmaster’s approval and a bunch of paperwork, so for the time being, I’d borrow the room from Kagnat.
That’s how I ended up in a nice, quiet room.
And I slept like a log.
No, worse than a log. A corpse would have been livelier than me.
I slept for days.
Eventually, Iserina and Feli came to check on me out of concern.
When they woke me up, I shuffled to the guild hall on unsteady legs, still groggy from oversleeping.
I wanted to sleep more, but I hadn’t eaten in so long that I was feeling faint.
Like a hibernating animal, I wanted to sleep through the winter.
Even though spring was just around the corner, I couldn’t help but wish for more hibernation time.
After several days of sleep, the stares from the other adventurers weren’t so sharp anymore.
At least peace wasn’t completely shattered.
Relieved, I ordered bean soup and bread for breakfast.
The cheapest meal in the hall.
It’s not like I was trying to save money.
But after so many years as a bandit, my taste buds are more attuned to simple fare.
Of course, the bean soup and bread here couldn’t even be compared to the “bandit cuisine” I was used to:
“Almost-boiled-bean-water, with a hint of salt,” or
“Something that was once bread, now with bonus mold (a touch of spice!).”
Honestly, this was gourmet in comparison.
“Yo, newbie! Eating that crappy meal, huh?”
“Didn’t you just score big? You oughta have a warm purse, don’t ya?”
Wow, there are guys like this in the guild too?
Man, don’t make me feel all nostalgic.
The ones talking to me were two young men: one with reddish hair, the other slightly overweight with brown hair parted in the middle.
They didn’t smell sour or rancid. Nope, not bandits.
Yeah, adventurers. Definitely not bandits.
You’re keeping yourselves clean, huh? Good for you.
Their gentlemanly efforts made me smile.
And then I thought about myself.
I’d slept for days, and the most I’d done before crashing was a quick wipe down.
I sniffed myself but didn’t notice anything. Still, just in case…
"Ah, we’ve tangled with a real weirdo."
The two young adventurers, Nasda and his friend Thomas, were clearly regretting their decision to approach me.
At first, they’d been annoyed by how Iserina, their guild’s idol, seemed to favor him.
They’d thought they could scare him a bit.
Even though he must’ve had money, they noticed he was eating the cheapest meal: bean soup and bread.
And not just any bread—“leftover bread,” stale and tasteless.
The soup was made from scraps and vegetable peelings, the kind of meal green-ranked adventurers relied on when they were down and out.
It was so bad it had earned the nickname “Loser’s Set Meal.”
Yet there he was, eating it like it was the finest cuisine, savoring every bite.
Even the poorest of vagabonds probably ate better than this.
Still, Nasda and Thomas weren’t about to back down.
Determined to provoke him, they brought up my food.
But for some reason, he suddenly started sniffing the air and even leaned closer to smell them.
(Wait, do we smell? No, we can’t possibly. Both of us bathe daily, to uphold the reputation of our beloved Luluciette Adventurers’ Guild!)
(But… what if this guy… is sniffing us to see if we’re edible? No, that’s absurd. Isn’t it?)
Then he grinned.
A sly, almost predatory grin.
They had no idea what it meant.
After sniffing them, he sniffed myself, almost like he was grounding myself in a familiar scent.
"Ah, we’ve tangled with a real weirdo."
The two regretted approaching him, convinced he was some feral child who might actually eat people.
What do you think about this chapter?
