"Haaah.. That's about all of them"
After defeating monsters and beasts that I come across, I pick up their magic crystals and any valuable items that they may possess.
"If you're going to follow me around, can you atleast help me out.."
"No way. My adventuring days are over and so is the annoying chores that comes with it"
"So you have no plans on being an adventurer again?"
"None. To begin with, I only became an adventurer because I had to. Now that I have the inn, there's no need for me to risk my life right?"
She does have a point. Although being an adventurer is romanticized often, the risks of being an adventurer is quite high. Well that just all depends on how you approach it. As long as I don't do anything stupid, I should be safe for the most part.
"Anyways, tell me about how you did that!"
"Did what?"
"Earlier, whenever you fight, this glowing orange film surrounds your body. Don't tell me.. Was that magic?!"
Magic? She doesn't know what inner flames are?
"It's not magic you know"
"Lies! If it's not magic then what is it!"
"Inner flames"
"See! It is magic"
"It's not.."
"Why would it have the word flames if it's not magic?!"
"How would I know?!"
Haaaa…
This girl is a pain.
"How lucky.. I want to become a magician too.."
"Why don't you become one then"
"Don't joke around.. There's barely any magicians in this city.. We don't even have an Academia here so there's no chance to become one unless we go to a bigger city like this territory's capital"
"Even then, what the heck are magicians anyways"
I mean I understand what a magician is but I feel like they have a different understanding about it from what I know.
"You don't know? They're what most people aspire to be you know! Plenty of people can use magic but not everyone can be called a magician! Only those who have mastered the elements can be called a true magician!"
"Hee~ I'm sure if you work hard enough, you can realize your dream someday"
"Well we can all dream hehe"
(*)
"Well I should probably head back to the inn now"
"Haa.. About time you did"
"You enjoyed my company~"
She grinned and left.
Well, I won't deny it. I suppose I should head to the adventurers association to turn in the magic crystals I got.
I wonder if this is enough for a day's worth.
Although I only went out for about two hours, my inner flames ran out quite early. As long as I don't coat my whole body with it then it should last me for about three hours a day.
Starting tomorrow, i'll try to find ways to remove this seal and find her whereabouts.
As long as I have enough funds then i'm sure I can get pretty far.
I walk around and go past the centre of the city and head towards the general direction of where the associations are located. It didn't take me long before I found it and when I did, adventurers instantly changed their attention towards me.
Some of them had hostile glares while some of them had thankful eyes. Either way, I didn't let it bother me and simply lined up in order to sell the magic crystals.
"Haruto san, welcome back"
Aurora greeted me after she saw me line up. She wasn't in the booth as usual. Instead, she just came out of a room to the side.
"Good afternoon Aurora san"
"Are you here to sell your magic crystals?"
She looked at the pouch in my hands and I nod to her.
"In that case, the line for selling magic crystals is over there. This line is only meant for registrations and promotions or consultations"
"Oh I understand. Thank you"
I thank her and go the different line. The line for the registration is far longer than the booth for selling crystals.
"Hello adventurer, please place the magic crystals on the table"
When it was my turn, the lady instructed me to place the magic crystals on the table. The table itself was shaped weirdly. It was slightly concave and had a weird pattern engraved on it.
I place the magic crystals on the table and the engraving started to light up.
She fiddled around with a tablet for a couple seconds before speaking to me once again.
"Thank you for waiting. The total is 2 gold and 6 silvers. Will that be acceptable?"
"Yes please"
She handed me a pouch with the exact amount of currency she had said.
I thank her and left when all of the sudden, I heard a disdainful voice to my side.
"Hmmph, I don't know how you did it but don't think you can just walk around after what you've done"
I ignore them and walk out of the building.
I don't mind getting my hands dirty once more but people who speaks with their ass instead of their actions are insignificant to me. If they really want to fight me, I'll gladly accept it.
"Haa.. Ah my body is aching"
Oh?
In front of me, a person with long blonde hair, emerald eyes, and a full set of armor is walking dejectedly towards my vicinity.
Why does this person look so familiar.
"Oh?"
He noticed my stare and walked towards me.
"Aren't you that person from the forest?"
"Reika, you were a guy this whole time?"
"Haaa?"
(*)
"Oh so that's why"
Turns out that he's Reika's brother, Leonhardt.
"Anyways how are you feeling now?"
"Ya thanks to your sister I feel much better. I'm about to eat. How about it, wanna join?"
"Sure. I'm feeling quite hungry too actually"
I take him up on his offer and follow behind me. We walked for about ten minutes and along the way, multiple people greeted him. Most of them looked like they were adventurers but there were some elders as well as normal looking people to greet him.
He's quite popular around here huh..
We turned to the corner and led me to a place that was more or less questionable. The entrance door was broken, the place was littered with unfriendly looking people and the air stenched of alcohol.
"Are you sure it's this place?"
"Best place in the city!"
I wonder..
We went inside and luckily, there was a seat available. The place seems to be running fairly well as there are many customers.
Some were passed out while some were happily drinking and making noises.
A young lady dressed in some sort of outfit came up to us and asked for our orders.
"Give us two mugs and the house special"
"Coming right up!"
After the lady left, she quickly came back with two large mugs filled with alcohol.
I taste it and it was unexpectedly good. It had the same refreshing feeling as drinking beer after a long day of work but with a somewhat fruity flavour to it. I could get addicted to this..
Gulp
""Ahhhhh""
We both sigh a relief at the same time.
"What the hell is this?! It's so good!"
"Right?"
He smirked and gulped the entire thing.
"One more!"
"Coming right up!"
(*)
"What were you doing in that forest anyways.."
"I was lost I suppose"
"That doesn't explain why you didn't run away from those goblins though"
Goblins?
"I was probably too absent minded to look at the goblins"
"Haaa? That's dangerous! You could have been hurt!"
"It's fine it's fine. You can just save me again"
It didn't take long until Leon and I ended up becoming good friends.
After about ten minutes have passed, the young lady from earlier came back with plates of foods on her hands.
"Enjoy"
Ohhh!!!
This is far better than what I imagined!
In the centre, there is a large fried fish that is sitting nicely on top of a well placed fresh lettuce. To the side of the fried fish, there are freshly sliced tomatoes and other vegetables that I'm not too familiar with. They also gave Leon and I separate plates filled with cubed meat glazed perfectly with a tempting brown sauce. For the side dish, they provided us with freshly baked bread with butter melting on the top as well as some sort of vegetable soup.
Mmmm!
I grabbed a piece of the fish and as I slice it open with my knife, the steam came out as well as the aroma of the spices within. It tickled my nose and my stomach rumbled so I immediately digged in. The flavour of the fish was clearly brought out to it's best from the spices. I drink the soup and the warmth instantly reverberates inside of me. When I tried the glazed meat, the juices started pouring out of the meat uncontrollably. The flavour itself was unmatched from anything that i've eaten before! All of the flavours combined is simply a treat to my palate as it dances ever so gently on my taste buds.
Phew..
After we finished everything, we talked about nothing important and simply drank the night away.
"By the way, do you have a place to stay tonight?"
"I was planning on going to an inn"
"Why not just stay at my place then?"
Hmm..
"Ok sure"
This is great. I know that I refused Reika's offer but I have my own reasons. If it's Leon then i'm more than grateful.
"Geh"