"Kaden Solomon," I remarked with a neutral expression as soon as number 86 and I were alone in the room, causing her to tilt her head to the side in confusion.
"If we're going to work together, then we should at least have some trust in each other," I explained while shrugging my shoulder as I took a seat. "And I don't think calling each other by numbers is going to help that," I concluded, pausing and waiting for her reply.
"Oh, I know who you are, Mr. undead king slayer," number 96 said in a playful tone, causing me to raise an eyebrow in bemusement. "But you can call me Briar Forest or Morphya if you want to be professional," she added, and I nodded in acknowledgment.
'Briar Forest, eh? A forest of thorny bush flowers. Fitting.'
"Briar, it is, then," I remarked with a nod. "And with that out of the way, let's move on to more important things," I added while waving my hand to the side.
"Like what?" Briar asked with a smirk. "Like the fact that we're indeed in a fantasy simulator of some sort," I replied with a sigh.
"Our mission is to explore a dungeon, and I'm quite sure that it will have a boss monster," I explained with a frown. "And we don't know how strong it will be, so that's the first problem," I added while rubbing my chin with a thoughtful expression on my face.
"We also don't know what type of monsters are in the dungeon or how big it is," I remarked, and Briar nodded at my words, still wearing her usual smirk on her face.
"We know little of this town too," Briar added, crossing her arms in front of her bountiful chest, and I had to put in a conscious effort to stop my eyes from drifting to that particular area.
"That's right, so we need information before anything else," I said as I got up and started pacing to distract myself from Briar's obviously deliberate attempt at showcasing her assets.
"But we only have two weeks to finish this task, and I don't want to find out what will happen if we don't make it in time," I added as I got up and made my way towards the window peaking outside.
"This could be more troublesome than I thought," I murmured while watching the people in the streets busily going about their way as the sky began to darken.
"Mhm, we don't even have a failsafe to rely on like the badges, so we should be more cautious as well," Briar remarked while still staying seated on the chair.
"If this is the type of fantasy simulator I think it is, then there should be other failsafe we can rely on, like potions or something," I said as I turned to look at her while shaking my head.
"But we need more information before we know what we're working with for sure and plan accordingly," I remarked with a sigh. "Which brings us to where we started; we need more information," I concluded while shaking my head.
"Then why don't we cut this short and resume planning tomorrow after gathering some information?" Briar suggested with her usual smirk, nodding her head.
"It can't be helped," I replied with a nod of my own, sitting down again as I began overthinking like I always do when I had nothing better to do.
The middle-aged woman, and most likely the inn's owner or manager, chose to knock on the door and come inside the room after a knock, carrying two trays of food.
"Here is your dinner," the woman remarked with a warm smile on her face, placing the two trays on the small wooden table. "We usually serve breakfast at around 6 in the morning, but feel free to come down and ask me to prepare breakfast for you at any time," she added as she turned around and left.
"Finally, some properly cooked food!" Briar exclaimed with an excited tone as she immediately began digging into her food tray, and I have to say that I shared her excitement as well.
Eating nothing but canned food for the past month was in no way pleasant, so eating some real food for a change is definitely something I'm thrilled about, to say the least.
The food itself was nothing fancy, a bowl of hot chicken soup, a loaf of bread, a boiled chicken breast, and some vegetables on the side.
It also lacked the seasoning I've grown used to during my past life, but it was by far the best meal I've had since coming to this world, considering that I've been eating nothing but expired canned food for the past month.
Briar and I both quickly devoured our meals, emptying our respective food trays from their contents with a satisfied expression on our faces as we quietly indulged ourselves without speaking to one another.
"It's getting late, and I'm feeling tired, so I'll call it a day now," I said as I got up from my seat, and Briar nodded with her usual smirk, merely taking a glance at me as I got, not bothering to say anything.
I shrugged my shoulders as I turned around and left, promptly entering the room next door. I immediately spotted the bed inside the room and quickly made my way towards it, throwing myself at the mattress.
...
I woke up feeling very refreshed after a good night's sleep on an actual bed and not a tattered rag excuse of one, as I have been doing for the past month.
I immediately made my way to the window to check the sun's location and guess the time, as this middle ages, fantasy-themed inn room sadly did not come with a clock.
I guessed the time to be roughly around 5 in the morning, so I still had some time, but I resented the idea of sitting around and doing nothing, causing me to make my way downstairs to see if I could socialize and gather some info as I did.
I made my way down the stairs and found myself in the inn's dining area with many people already there, chatting while waiting for breakfast.
I scanned the people around me and immediately spotted someone who looked like he could have some good information, so I began walking towards the man with a smile on my face.
"Morning," I greeted as I sat down at the same table the man sat on, and he politely nodded in reply. "it sure is lively in here," I remarked as I looked around the inn, watching the many people crowding the inn's dining area.
"Ah, but where are my manners?" I quickly added, cutting off the man before he could reply. "I'm Kaden, an adventurer here to take care of the dungeon situation," I introduced myself as I extended my hand towards the man, asking for a handshake.
"Oho, so you're one rumored two adventurers," the man remarked with a smile, reaching forward and clasping my hand in a firm handshake. "I'm august, the town's one and only hunter," he added with apparent pride in his tone, puffing out his chest.
"A hunter, eh?" I said with an approving nod. "You must have a lot of stories to tell about your hunts," I added with a smile.
"How about I buy some breakfast for you to enjoy while sharing some of them stories with me?" I asked, and the man immediately nodded with a beaming smile on his face as he began talking about the surrounding areas and what manner of beasts he hunted there.
...
"Well, it's been great chatting with you, old August, but my partner is already up, and we have some work to do," I remarked with a warm smile as I noticed Briar making her way downstairs from the corner of my vision.
"That's alright. I enjoyed it too," August said, smiling as he dismissively waved his hand to the side. "Young people these never seem to be interested in some good old hunting tales," he murmured while shaking his head with the same smile.
I lightly chuckled while waving at the man with a smile on my face as I turned around and began walking towards Briar. "Already hard at work, I see," Briar said with an amused smirk as she watched me make my way towards her from August's direction.
"Not too hard, but I did manage to gain some intel on the surrounding areas," I replied with a shrug. "You should hurry up and eat something before the guard shows up," I added while gesturing towards an empty table.
....
Briar didn't take long to finish her breakfast, and the town's guard responsible for showing us around the place, and explaining the dungeon's situation, arrived shortly after
"Good morning, adventurers!" the guard said with a polite smile. "Are you ready for a tour around the town, or are do you wish for some more time?"