Chapter 79: Trouble at the Inn

The territory of the kingdom of Phatar was fairly small compared to the empire's. In fact, it was not even as large as one of the empire's ten provinces.

But that was only when compared to a massive nation like the empire. It did not mean Phatar itself was a small kingdom. Besides, much of its territory consisted of flat, fertile land, so its population was quite large compared to kingdoms of similar size.

And that abundant population was not concentrated solely in the large cities, but was also spread across noble estates, villages, and picturesque towns scattered throughout the kingdom.

One such town happened to be the closest settlement to the tomb they were about to explore, so Nerez and Ily, along with Edran and his party, had set out toward it.

"I can see it!" Edran exclaimed as soon as they reached the top of the steep hill the road had led them up. "Lender!"

"The town of the blue casiolicas, the flower that glows in the dark," Yvene noted beside him.

"Oh! Is it a romantic flower?" Ily asked, drawing closer to the two of them.

"It is useful for making mana potions," Yvene, the healer, explained with a smile.

"I see..." Ily murmured, losing interest almost instantly.

"You do seem rather fond of romance, Ilyra," Yvene observed with a light laugh.

"Almost as much as drinking," Bastor added. "I don't know how so much ale fits into such a small body."

"You weren't drinking any less than me, Bastor!" the visiare protested in turn.

"But I'm two meters tall and have muscles to spare..."

"Speaking of drinking, I feel bad about letting you pay our way at inns and taverns with your party's money," Nerez said from behind the group. "Even more so considering how much Ily drinks."

"Why am I being made out to be an alcoholic?! I'm the one who has to stop Lady... Cerys when we go out drinking together!"

"You don't have to worry about that. We were the ones who insisted that you come with us on a quest this difficult for novice adventurers," Edran replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Besides, Ilyra always manages to hunt something for dinner. She has helped a lot on this journey."

"With that much time to practice, even miracles become possible," Nerez remarked, nodding to himself.

"It's not as if I was bad at hunting back then either!" Ily defended herself. "I was just easily distracted..."

"I'd say it was less that you were distracted and more that your attention has always been split among several things at once, which hasn't exactly changed," Nerez sighed. "But it is true that you've become skilled enough to accomplish whatever you set your mind to, even with your attention divided like that."

"Nerez... I don't know if that is a compliment or a criticism," Ily said, looking down.

But Nerez placed a hand on her head and playfully ruffled her hair, making the visiare blush.

***

Lender was certainly not a city, but it was a sizable town, large enough to have more than one inn.

But as it happened, when they tried to enter one of those inns, they ran into a certain group of adventurers on their way out.

"Mm? Are you adventurers too?" asked a man with scars across his face who seemed to be the leader of the group. "If you've come to Lender, I imagine you also took the quest to explore the tomb."

"That's right," Edran replied confidently. "There was no limit on how many parties could accept the quest, so I imagine there is no problem."

The man gave Edran a mocking smile and deliberately shouldered him as he walked past. The rest of his group, another seven adventurers, followed while holding back laughter.

But before the scar-faced leader had gone far, he looked back over his shoulder.

"This isn't a quest for beginners. I'm telling you this for your own good. You'd be better off going back to wherever you came from."

"Thank you for the advice. We don't plan to take unnecessary risks," Edran answered without taking offense. "If it turns out the tomb is far above our level, we will turn back."

The adventurer snorted and continued on his way.

"What an unpleasant man..." Yvene complained.

"Edran, I think we could have taught them a lesson instead of letting them walk away so easily," Bastor said, cracking his knuckles.

"Bastor, Yvene, we came to explore the tomb, not to waste our energy and risk getting hurt fighting in the streets," Edran replied, preparing to enter the inn.

"I agree. That was the right decision," Nerez said. "Besides, there were eight of them, and only three of you."

"You wouldn't have helped us, Nerez?!" Bastor asked, sounding hurt.

"Me?! Get involved in a kids' fight?! What if someone got hurt?"

"Haha, it's true that it would have been a rather immature fight," Edran agreed. "Bastor, learn from Nerez and don't fall for such simple provocations."

"Sorry..."

"Besides, if I had gotten involved, Ily wouldn't have been able to hold herself back either," Nerez sighed with a shrug.

"If any of them had so much as looked at Nerez the wrong way, it would have been the last thing they ever did."

The voice came from some distance away, and when they turned in that direction, Ily came into view, jumping down from the roof of a house while putting one of her arrows back into her quiver.

"Ilyra?! When did you get up there?!" Yvene asked, covering her mouth. "Weren't you with us a moment ago?"

"So the rumors are true after all. You really shouldn't anger a visiare," Bastor observed, crossing his arms.

"Ah! Nerez! Not the ears again! Ah..."

Ily had barely returned to the group before Nerez went for the visiare's long, drooping white ears.

"Do you want to cause a scene in the middle of town? You have to show that you have more self-control than Cerys."

"It was...! It was only a joke! Ah! My lord, please! I...! I can't take it!"

"With her archery skills and now this... Ilyra never stops surprising us." Edran gave an impressed nod. "And something tells me Nerez's abilities are just as remarkable."

"Just as remarkable? Nerez could clear the tomb all by himself!... Ah! Again! I'm sorry!"

"Why are you trying to increase my workload?!"

The three novice adventurers exchanged a look and started laughing.

***

That night, Nerez lay on his back in his bed at the inn. There was an empty bed beside his.

The inn only had small rooms with two beds, so Edran and Bastor were sharing one, while Ily and Yvene had another. Nerez felt bad accepting one all to himself, but Edran had convinced him that they could cover the cost with whatever they found in the tomb.

"If we find anything..." Nerez murmured to himself, letting out a sigh. "Well, there are always ways to get money. Even if they refuse to accept it, I will find some way to repay them sooner or later."

!!

A knock at the door pulled Nerez out of his thoughts.

"Nerez... Can I talk to you?"

It was Ily's voice. She sounded unusually soft, almost needy, for lack of a better word.

"Come in..." he replied, sitting up on the bed.

Ily opened the door and stepped into the room. The visiare wore her sky-blue hair loose, falling over her shoulders. Her magenta eyes were glistening, and her cheeks were flushed.

The most striking thing about her, however, was that she was wearing only a simple, nearly sheer chemise.

"I-Ily?!"

"My lord, I have been waiting for the chance to be alone in a room with you ever since I found out about your trip," the visiare said with a mischievous smile. "You should have known better than to put too much trust in the leader of an order of spies. Now you cannot escape me."