By the time I finally made it back to Lasagna Village, the sun was already starting to set. Damn, that city’s way too far!
It was only a bit over ten kilometers, but somehow I felt more exhausted than when I’d gone hiking through the mountains. Dealing with the Adventurer’s Guild and the church must’ve drained me even more.
I didn’t even feel like reporting that I’d returned, so instead of going into the village, I headed straight for the house behind it, only to see lights on inside. Was that Ladarion?
「Wait… did the house ‘change’!?」
When I’d left, it had been just a small hut, but now it had turned into a proper stone house.
There were two doors, one big enough for Ladarion and another human-sized one for me, and even a chimney for what looked like a fireplace.
I went through my own door and found an entryway, with stairs leading up on the left. I could hear Romy-san and someone else talking on the other side of the wall.
Climbing the stairs, I found yet another door. The attention to detail here was absurd. Seriously, how does a giant even make or attach human-sized hinges? I don’t get it.
When I opened the door, I stepped into what looked like a living room.
「Ara, it looks like you’re back.」
I turned toward Romy-san’s voice and saw her, the other inn ladies, and Ladarion sitting together in the giant-sized section of the room, enjoying tea.
「What the hell happened while we were gone?」
「The tools rented from you were so good that we just had to rebuild your house to get the job done. Well, it’s so comfortable that we’re using it as our hangout place.」
「I-I see. Well, feel free to use it as you like. We’re hardly ever here anyway, so… enjoy yourselves.」
Yeah, no way I was joining a ladies’ tea party. I slipped into what was probably my private room and returned to the Sefuti Home.
First things first, I took a shower to wash off the city smell. Once I was feeling refreshed, I cracked open a beer. Aaah… that hit the spot.
I was halfway through my second can when Ladarion came back.
「Where are Romy-san and the others?」
「They went home for dinner.」
Right, it ‘was’ getting late. Couldn’t expect them to chat forever.
「You should take a bath too, Ladarion. It’s a bit early, but why don’t we have dinner?」
「Yeah. I walked a lot today, so I wanna eat a lot.」
「Then let’s go with the ‘giant portions’ series. Hamburg steak sound good?」
「Yeah. And a jumbo parfait too.」
A “jug parfait” was one of our jumbo-sized menu items, a parfait served in a beer mug. It easily weighed around two kilos.
After dinner, we held our usual report meeting. I started by asking about Ladarion’s day, then talked about mine.
I wasn’t sure how much she really understood, but I drew a rough map of the city and a diagram of the Adventurer’s Guild’s interior, explaining that this too was part of communication.
「Tomorrow, I’ll talk to Gorg and then head back to the Adventurer’s Guild. You take care of the goblins around the village.」
「Romy-san said she wants tea. And some sewing needles too.」
Sewing, huh? I guess just scissors and needles would do. Threads and fabric would have to wait because of the fifteen-day restriction.
「Got it. I’ll clean the guns first, then look it up on the tablet.」
I cleaned the Benelli M4 and the L Sniper, washing away soot with parts cleaner, wiping them down with a rag, and applying some multipurpose lubricant once they were dry.
Ladarion also cleaned the Benelli M4 he’d probably used heavily, then hung it on the rack.
「You go through a lot of ammo?」
「Yeah. The goblins around here move fast. Hard to hit them.」
「Figures. Goblins that eat properly are always more trouble.」
This area had something like a cedar plantation, with trees planted close together. Swinging a long weapon in there must’ve been a pain.
「Then how about using the SCAR-L? It’s got a suppressor and scope, so you can pick them off without moving around much. Besides, the ammo’s been sitting for over ten days. You’d be doing me a favor by using it.」
Handling every single item I’d bought was a hassle anyway, and Ladarion needed to get used to the loaned gear too.
「Yeah. I wanted to try that one.」
Ladarion looked surprisingly happy. Huh? Wait a second. Don’t tell me… she actually ‘likes’ guns?
「I’ll buy a few different types. You can figure out which one suits you best.」
「Okay. I’ll try them all.」
Once we finished cleaning the guns, I grabbed the tablet and started shopping.
「Might as well buy another refrigerator while I’m at it.」
「And a freezer too.」
Ladarion came up beside me and begged for a freezer. That was unusual.
「We’ll eat the older stuff first, so don’t worry.」
Well, her stomach isn’t that picky, but I warned her anyway. I can’t manage it myself.
I expanded the central room a bit, bought a fridge and a freezer, and then filled them with whatever Ladarion demanded. Money makes it hard to hold back.
I stocked shelf snacks too and left the organization to Ladarion. Her memory and motivation for food are endless.
I also bought a few cheap wines, and even a whiskey.
Basically, I’m a beer person. I drink wine sometimes and I don’t hate whiskey. My salary used to be low so I rarely drank it and stuck to bottles under a thousand yen, but if I can drink it, I want to. I always sort of envied the idea of drinking whiskey from a hip flask like in war movies.
Of course I wouldn’t get drunk on the job, but a sip during a short break should be fine.
I bought three hip flasks for about three thousand yen each and poured some inexpensive whiskey into them. The rest I drank right away.
I stocked two cans each of the tea powders Romy-san and the others like to drink, lemon tea and milk tea. Oh, and stick coffee too.
I saved photos of scopes and suppressors from gun magazines onto the tablet and bought about five kinds.
「This APC9 looks good. Maybe something like this would be best in town.」
A Glock alone felt unsafe, so a submachine gun would be wise. It’s not more expensive than an assault rifle.
I picked one with a folding stock, a suppressor, and a dot sight. I also bought a sling so it wouldn’t fall off.
After strapping it on to check how it felt, I finished preparing for tomorrow.
Leave a Reply