Two shabby-looking twins holding a small box appeared in front of me.
The moment I recognized them, our eyes met. I instantly looked away.
Tax collectors. Tax collectors had appeared. Damn it, I let my guard down. They weren’t in Misrim so I forgot they existed.
I turned around to escape. One of the twins appeared right in front of me with an overly bright smile. But I was hardened by this world. My heart had been scraped down. I wasn’t going to be swayed by a smile like that.
I pretended not to notice and turned around again. The other twin was already blocking my path.
「「Please help the poor children」」
A stereo attack from both sides. Their synchronization rate was over one hundred twenty percent.
Damn it. Was this mental interference? I wanted to flee but couldn’t. Their teamwork made it impossible to escape. What were these twin tax collectors?
Realizing there was no escape, I reluctantly took out a silver coin and dropped it into their box.
「「Thank you, mister!」」
The twins took the money and left immediately. This town had some outrageous people.
「……Takato, you’re too easy……」
Ugh. Ladarion’s truth knife stabbed straight into my chest. Please stop hurting me.
I had no strength left to walk around anymore, so I returned to the Pioneer, pulled out my flask and drank whiskey. Drinking and driving? If they wanted to arrest me, they could try. I didn’t care about getting my license suspended in another world.
Even after draining the entire flask, I didn’t feel drunk at all. Diluting it with oolong tea had been a mistake.
Thinking about the extermination we had to do in the afternoon kept me from opening a second bottle, so I settled for hot black coffee instead.
As I watched the carriages and people passing through the plaza, I saw the huge man over two meters tall who was called Ogu Slayer at the Adventurers Guild.
…If I remembered right, his name was Alzrise or something.
He must have come from the city because he was carrying a huge amount of luggage. Maybe he worked as a sherpa besides being an adventurer.
When Alzrise looked our way, a chill ran down my back.
I already thought he was a monster, but feeling that chill was something I had not experienced since seeing that mysterious black creature and that red dragon.
Alzrise quickly looked forward again and walked off.
「……I really don’t want to get involved with someone like that……」
I especially did not want to become his enemy. I was sure he could kill me in a second.
「Takato. It is almost lunchtime」
I checked my wristwatch at Ladarion’s words and saw it was already past eleven thirty.
「Yeah. Let’s head to the branch. Once we meet up with Kainzel-san, we can eat」
I had no idea what he was discussing with Mizuho-san, but two hours should be enough to finish their talk.
We boarded the Pioneer, left the town once, entered again from the east side, and headed for the town hall.
When we reached the branch, Kainzel-san was already waiting.
「Sorry to keep you waiting」
「No, my apologies. I ended up shifting the schedule」
「It’s fine. Let’s eat first before we begin. Is there any dining hall around here?」
It was inconvenient that Kainzel-san could not enter the Sefuti Home, but trying food outside was important too. We needed to find good places.
「Then let’s eat over there. It is popular with adventurers at night and with the town hall workers during the day」
With that, we headed to the dining hall he pointed at.
Since it was still before noon, the place was not too crowded, with only a few adventurers who looked like beginners.
After securing a table, I returned to the Sefuti Home, bought Miriel’s lunch, grabbed a bag with seasonings, and went back. Just in case the food here was bad.
「I ordered a bit of everything. What about wine?」
「I will have just one glass please. Kainzel-san, drink as much as you like」
I did not really like the wine here, but refusing completely would look strange. One glass was enough.
「I will also have only one. Ever since I learned how thin the wine sold through the request card is, I can hardly drink it」
It seemed there were good wines in this world, but they were expensive and shipped off to other territories. Ordinary people only had access to watered down wine.
Come to think of it, I heard that in my original world wine used to be drunk as a substitute for drinking water. Maybe it was the same here.
After a while, the food arrived.
「It is all meat」
There were grilled and stewed varieties, but everything was too meat focused. The vegetables were barely there, and instead of bread, boiled potatoes were served.
「Well, adventurers hunt every day. Even beginners can eat meat here. Bread is expensive though」
Huh. So that was possible. It was good in some ways and bad in others.
「Ladarion, how is it?」
「Not bad」
Ladarion was a gourmet monster who could judge flavor just by smell. So I tried the food without adding any seasoning first.
「Yeah. Not bad」
It was not amazing, but it was not bad either. If it were grilled with soy sauce and ginger, I could eat three bowls of rice with it.
The stew was a little lacking, but adding some granulated consommé made it better.
「These potatoes are delicious」
Surprisingly, the boiled potatoes were the best thing on the plate. Why were they so good? These would be popular even in my original world.
「Yes. These potatoes have a taste unique to Rihar」
「Do you think we can buy some?」
「They are grown in Mubando Village, where we are heading. You should be able to buy them」
That was good news. If it rained, I wanted to make buttered potatoes.
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