Nothing happened and we were able to see the morning sun.
「……the sun looks yellow……」
People wake in the morning and sleep at night. This is the time when you understand that this is the right way to live.
「Takato-san. Rondario-san and the others are awake」
While I was soaking in the sunlight, Razul called out to me. When I looked down, Rondario-san and the others were getting up.
Now that the sun was up, no monsters besides goblins would appear. I climbed down from the mound.
「Would you like some coffee?」
I was tired, but not that tired. A cup of strong black coffee would wake me up.
「Yeah. I’ll take some」
Since he said that, I made coffee for everyone. Instant, of course.
「Shall we warm up the curry after we finish the coffee?」
The portable battery was still alive, so the food was warm. Better eat the curry and curry porridge before the battery ran out.
I had the boys start a fire and waited for the food to heat.
「Are the goblins gone?」
「It seems like they returned to their original spot. There are still more than a hundred of them」
Probably the females and children. That was the feeling I got.
「What should we do? With Rondario-san and the others’ legs, it shouldn’t be too far」
「No. I pushed myself a bit too much. We’re going back this time. We need to think about what comes next」
「About what comes next?」
Did he mean going forward as a contractor?
「Yeah. We’ll be hunting goblins from now on, so I’m thinking of buying a wagon for travel. There’s a limit to how much we can make these guys carry」
Travel, huh. Moving from town to town really does take time. A vehicle would help shorten that.
「A-are we getting fired?」
「What are you talking about? Your work is only going to increase. I’m not firing you」
The boys sighed in relief that they weren’t getting fired. Good for them.
「Here」
Rondario-san handed knives to the three of them.
「Go collect goblin ears. Did you forget that you can sell them at the Adventurer Guild? Gather a lot. The reward will be yours」
There are over two hundred of them so that’s going to take a lot of work.
「Eat the curry first」
I stopped the boys who were about to rush out and made them eat breakfast.
Ladarion woke up too and ate most of the curry porridge. After resting a bit, he helped Rondario-san and the others throw the goblins into the trench.
I was sorry, but I needed to sleep until noon. It would take half a day to get back.
I slept until noon and started getting ready to return once I woke.
I had Ladarion return to his original size, pack everything into his backpack, and shrink again. Yeah. Don’t point out that I should have done that from the start.
Once we were ready to head back, everyone ate what they had bought for lunch.
「Alright, let’s go home」
Goblin extermination wasn’t over until we made it back to town. Without letting our guard down, we started the return trip.
We arrived in the town of Mars by evening without any trouble. First, we headed to the Adventurer Guild.
「We’ll go turn in the goblin ears!」
The boys rushed inside the guild.
「I envy their youth」
「Yeah. It’s getting harder for us to recover from fatigue」
The gap between my stamina and Rondario-san’s was like heaven and earth, but once you pass thirty, you start to notice the difference compared to your twenties. Really, getting older is no fun.
「We’ll head back to the inn first」
There was no need to wait for the boys to finish their exchange, and it wasn’t even a request we took. There was no reason to stick around until the end.
「Alright. Get some good rest」
We split up and headed to the inn.
「Welcome back, mister!」
Ah, I forgot. To reach the inn, we had to pass by the tax collector.
「Do you work from morning till night?」
How much did they want to take? This was as bad as a checkpoint in the Warring States era.
「Yeah. Without donations, I can’t buy food」
An orphan, maybe. I didn’t know, but he lived in a harsh environment. Still, I didn’t feel like sympathizing. Things were tough for us too. I didn’t have the luxury to worry about others. He had to rely on his own effort.
I took out a silver coin and dropped it into the box.
「Thank you, mister!」
「Yeah」
I accepted the thanks without making it complicated and headed for the inn.
There was no one else there yet, and a girl was doing some sewing at the counter.
「Ah, welcome back」
It had been a long time since anyone said welcome back to me. I almost felt like crying.
「I am back. I would like another night. Do you have a room available?」
「Yes. The same room as yesterday is open. Is that all right?」
「Yeah, that works」
I paid and went to the same room as yesterday. After entering, I locked the door and returned to the Sefuti Home.
「Ladarion. Take a shower first. Ah, is grilled eel over rice fine for dinner?」
「The premium one?」
「Yes, the premium one. Do you want yakitori too?」
I felt like eating gizzards.
「Yeah. I want beef skewers more than yakitori」
「I will make yours beef skewers」
He smiled from ear to ear and headed for the unit bath.
Once Ladarion finished, I also took a quick shower. We toasted with beer and juice, downed them in one go, and ate our fill of premium eel rice and yakitori.
「Ladarion. We are going back to Lasagna Village tomorrow」
I talked about tomorrow while drinking my second can.
How many days had it been since we left Lasagna Village? Four? Five? Well, it had not been fifteen days yet, so whatever.
Before we went back, I needed to buy something for travel. Could I bring it out of the Sefuti Home? I should buy something small and test it.
While thinking about all that, the alcohol started to hit me.
「Ladarion. I am going to sleep first」
My thoughts would not come together anymore. I headed for the mattress but collapsed halfway there and drifted into the world of dreams. ZZZ…….
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