Though as another mug of mead was requested by Gunter in celebration of their summoning, Jett took the sack of coins from his pocket, or at least what used to house coins: not a single copper was left.
"Urgh…" He let out, feeling the familiar pain of brokenness once again.
"What's the matter, Master?" Edith asked.
He looked up, shaking the empty pouch side-to-side for the two to see, "I'm all out of copper. I only arrived in Fantasia a few minutes before you both arrived, I wasn't exactly made of cash, ya know…"
Those words of his were half-pointed at the booze-loving warrior, who blinked a few times, seeming to realize that it was indeed him that ran through all of Jett's funds.
"That's a problem, indeed," Edith put her hand to her chin, "You have nowhere to sleep yet, do you? A single room at an inn will cost three copper, at least."
He shook his head, "I don't have a damn thing besides what I'm wearing."
For some reason, the muscular, booze-smelling man stood up, running his fingers through his shaggy hair as he chuckled, "If it's coins, dontcha worry about it!"
"Huh? What do you have in mind, Gunter?" He asked, looking up.
Gunter slapped his own chest, "Just sit there and watch–in one hour, I'll have that sack filled with coins once more!"
It was definitely a declaration that he couldn't ignore, even as doubtful as he was of the boisterous, clearly drunk man's words.
"What's his plan…?" He audibly wondered.
Edith seemed to have an idea, "If you haven't checked, Master, I believe there is a hidden skill that Gunter possesses."
"Hidden skill? What is it?" He asked.
Though he intended to ask the silver-haired spellblade, his question was answered by his own system as it opened up a digital screen in front of his eyes, which seemed to be seen only by him as he nervously glanced around.
It presented him the hidden status belonging to Gunter:
[(N) Booze-Lover Gunter | Special Traits: Smells like mead! | Hidden Skill: Booze Immunity SSS+]
"Huh?! That immunity is super high-ranked…but, it's kind of useless, isn't it?" He wondered.
Edith had a small smile, "I don't know about that."
Looking over, he watched what Gunter's plan was as the boisterous drinker approached a table occupied by experienced adventurers, who were dressed in scars and weathered armor.
'Wait a minute…is he going to…?' He began to realize.
Gunter brought his own chair, slamming it down before sitting with a wide smile, "How about a drinking contest, friends?!"
"Yer on–!" A dwarven man with a braided beard accepted, already possessing flushed cheeks.
"Five copper, then!" Gunter proposed.
"Aye! Make it ten!" The drunken dwarf accepted.
"Ha-ha! Sure thing!" Gunter laughed.
–It was a massacre of a competition. After a few minutes, the crowd that had gathered around the table of drinkers were astonished to witness the burly dwarf passing out against the table whilst Gunter was still happily drinking.
"Drumen lost…?! I've never seen him lose in a drinking contest to anybody!" One of the companions of the dwarf remarked in astonishment.
"I'll take that ten copper now!" Gunter claimed victory with a triumphant smile, taking the coins from the table.
"Incredible!" Jett remarked.
Gunter handed the coins to the confused man watching over his shoulder, placing them in his hand, "Here ya go!"
"Ten copper…Nice, this'll get us each a room tonight," Jett counted.
"There's more where that came from–don't worry!" Gunter assured him.
"Huh?! You can keep going?! Didn't you just drink like twelve–" Jett tried to reason.
The booze-loving warrior interrupted him, "Who's next?! Gunter The Drinker falls to nobody!"
Of course, those who already had mead in their bellies weren't exactly much to reason as it was clear as day that somebody like Gunter would not be an easy one to triumph.
"...Just how much can he drink…?!" Jett let out in surprise.
Thirty minutes had passed and so had a dozen tavern patrons, who were now slumped over and defeated in the unwinnable contest of drinking.
"He's a monster!" A middle-aged, red-haired patron remarked from the gathering audience.
"Ga-ha-ha!" Gunter boisterously laughed, letting out a belch that resembled the mighty roar of a dragon, "More! More!"
Jett was elated by this, holding a filled-up sack of copper in his hand now as he smirked to himself.
'With this much, I can definitely do a lot more rolls…! I wonder which banners I should prioritize, though?' He wondered.
By the end of the night, total victory was claimed by Gunter, who had now filled the tavern with mostly passed-out patrons, some of which had spewed out bile onto the wooden floorboards for the poor waitresses to clean.
"Is that all you've got?! I thought the adventurers of Merdlum were men who could hold their mead! Ga-ha-ha!" Gunter taunted, still sitting while happily drinking from a mug of mead.
The table had been absolutely littered with empty cups and stained with many drops of the amber liquid, along with being occupied by the last challenger to Gunter, who was a burly elven man who was now fast asleep against the table.
"Alright…I think it's time to check out for the night," Jett said, patting the booze-loving warrior's shoulder.
Though he was mainly motivated by getting into a room so that he could perform more summons, he was genuinely worried about the trouble the booze-smelling warrior was causing for the tavern.
"Hah? Alright, alright–I guess I've had my fill," Gunter chuckled happily with flushed cheeks, wiping his mouth.
As they checked out from the tavern, it was Jett who leant an arm to Gunter, who was surprisingly not as drunk as somebody should be who outdrank an entire tavern, though his steps were certainly unstable.
Edith didn't seem to be a fan of alcohol, often covering her nose around Gunter and holding a disturbed look whenever the tall, leather-armored man let out a belch.
"Three rooms please," Jett said at the inn's reception desk.
Standing behind the desk was a smiling, freckled receptionist who had curly, dark-blue hair and wore something akin to a maid's uniform, only primarily green.
"Just two is fine," Edith added in, stepping closer.
"Huh–?" He looked at the silver-haired girl.
Standing so close to her now, he found that she was surprisingly an entire head shorter than him. It wasn't as though he was anything remarkably tall, though he was above average for a twenty-year-old American male. Still, it was shocking considering just how much strength was packed into that small frame of hers.
Edith looked up at him, "It's fine if Gunter sleeps in his own room, but I must insist that you let me stay in your room."
"Err, why…? I mean…" He nervously asked, rubbing the back of the neck.
As a youthful man who didn't have all too much experience with girls, the insistence of staying in his very own room, especially from one with as breathtaking looks as Edith, made his mind race.
"It is my duty to protect you, Master," Edith told him.
"Oh…right, sure then," he sighed out in relief, letting his thumping heart cool down.