[Your intelligence has decreased by -5, now you have 5 points of intelligence!]
[The fight is over and the active ability Murderous Feast has been canceled. Your strength and dexterity have suffered a backlash and are reduced by 50% for the next 10 hours. Your strength and dexterity are now 2 and 3 points respectively.]
At some point, we began to slow down. Due to the loss of the Murderous Feast bonuses, I started losing speed rapidly.
When I looked back, a large mass of fog had completely obscured the outlines of the church and the city on the horizon.
"How are you all?" I looked around at my teammates, paying special attention to Jeanne's smoldering skeleton.
She responded first.
"I've taken some damage, but it's nothing serious," she said. "Regarding my condition, I'll recover with the sunrise. How about the rest of you?"
"I have 1 point of mana left and 1 mana potion. I've also suffered from the side effects of the potions. My mana recovery will take longer, and my spell efficiency is reduced for 10 hours," Adele said.
"I was injured in the fight and was bleeding, but as soon as we escaped from the church, I used healing ointments on the move to deal with some serious wounds, but not all," Uncle Jack continued, then looked at Adele with a pleading gaze.
She silently nodded and approached him, casting a healing spell.
"Bleeding stopped, all wounds healed, but due to reduced spell efficiency, they might reappear. I'll heal you again tomorrow."
Uncle Jack just nodded, agreeing to further treatment.
"I was hurt during the battle, but Adele saved my life. Thank you," I nodded towards the girl, who tiredly smiled back at me. "Right now, I'm only suffering from the backlash of the Murderous Feast."
I gave them the specific numbers since I had started to trust them. After all, despite our short cooperation, we had been through a lot.
"In short, we are not in the best condition right now," Jeanne summed up, crossing her arms over her chest. "If we continue down the road, we'll come across a tavern. Does anyone have any money? Mine seems to have melted."
"I only have 1 silver coin," Adele replied with frustration.
"5 copper coins," Uncle Jack continued gloomily.
I quickly rummaged through the bag that had been hanging on my hip all this time, searching for the purse with money I found in the furry village.
"20 copper coins and 4 silver coins of various denominations," I confirmed sheepishly.
All eyes turned to me. They looked surprised but happy.
"That's great!" Adele exclaimed.
All the fatigue on her face vanished in an instant.
"Where did you get them?" Jeanne asked.
"I found them in that village," I replied.
"Just as I thought," she nodded. There was sadness in her voice.
"Most likely, it's the money exchanged for the village's alchemical ingredients," the paladin continued. "It's very unfortunate for its inhabitants."
For a moment, silence hung in the air.
"In any case," Adele suddenly said, "we should get moving."
No one objected.
...
About an hour later, the sun rose over the horizon, illuminating us. Jeanne immediately canceled her ability. Under the warm rays of the morning sun, her flesh began to slowly regenerate.
In just 10 minutes, Jeanne transformed from a charred skeleton back into a captivating young woman with determined golden eyes and fiery loose red hair.
Soon, we saw a building in the distance that resembled a tavern.
As we approached, a two-story wooden building with a thatched roof came into view. Instead of windows, there were only wooden shutters.
Together with my teammates, I entered the tavern. We were greeted by a small dining hall with six tables, each accommodating up to four people. The bar counter was empty, and it was a bit dark inside as the wall sconces with candles weren't doing their job well.
"Welcome to the best tavern in the area," a gruff male voice suddenly said.
Immediately after these words, a man with a shaggy haircut and beard appeared from behind the bar. He looked plump but not fat, wearing a gray shirt and a bright red vest, with a white apron with pockets hanging from his belt.
"But this is the only tavern in the area," I said with a smile as I approached the counter.
The bartender clearly got my joke and smiled back.
"That's the catch, heh-heh," he replied with a cheerful chuckle. "How can I help you?"
"We'd like to rent a couple of rooms and stay overnight, as well as have something to eat. How much will that cost?" I asked.
The man carefully looked at each of us, then his smile widened.
"Normally, I charge 2 silver coins per person for lodging and 1 coin in total for a meal, but if you help me with a certain task, I'll provide my services for free," he said with a nod, his smile fading.
I squinted, sensing that something was wrong with the whole story, but I didn't want to stay outside again. At least we needed to hear him out.
"What task?" I asked.
"For about a week now, there have been rats in my basement that are eating up the food supplies," the bartender began.
I thought it would be an easy task, but he continued.
"They are huge! The size of a medium dog, very vicious and smart. I used to have cats here, but I haven't seen them for several days now! They ate my cats!" the bartender suddenly went from cheerful to panicked.
"Sometimes, deep at night, they scratch in my room, right under my bed. At such moments, I feel like they're about to attack me, and I'll meet my cats in the afterlife," he continued. "I beg you, for heaven's sake, kill those monsters!"
He was almost pleading with us, his eyes red as if he was about to cry from despair.
My body reacted to this with a nervous twitch of my left eye. I looked at my friends, who appeared exhausted and weary, even Jeanne, usually compassionate, looked more inclined to rest than to respond to a call for help.
I scratched my head. My mind was racing with thoughts, trying to come up with a solution that would please everyone. After all, I felt sorry for this man and wanted to help him, but not at the expense of our own rest, of course. My lowered intelligence was taking its toll...
"Ahem," Adele suddenly drew attention to herself. "We need rest to recover our strength; we've been on the road for a long time. Let's give you the money as a deposit, and we'll deal with the rats during the day and get the money back. How does that sound?"
"Great idea!" exclaimed the shaggy man, pulling two keys from his apron pockets and looking at us expectantly.
It was indeed a good idea. I wouldn't have thought of it in my current state.
With these thoughts, I took out the required amount of money from the purse.
"I noticed you have meat in your bag," the bartender suddenly said. "Would you like me to cook it for you?"
"It's not polite to look in other people's bags," I said with a smile, causing the bartender to nod apologetically, "but I like the offer. Deal. We'll also order some drinks."
...
We sat at a table in the far corner, as it was the best-lit spot. In the center of the table stood another candle inside a small clay jug the size of a mug, adding more light. Plus, the once-dark morning would soon become very bright.
"So, what do you think about everything that happened?" Jeanne asked everyone.
"I don't think there's much to say," I shrugged. "I'm just glad we got out of there alive."
"True," said Adele, staring intently at the candle.
Uncle Jack and Jeanne simply nodded, saying nothing more.
At that moment, the bartender approached, offering four portions of soup made from beets, radishes, and meat, with added spices and some other vegetables, namely onions and potatoes.
For drinks, we were served two bottles of wine and two bottles of cognac, each of us getting half-liter wooden mugs filled with beer.
We began... breakfast?
The food was surprisingly tasty, and I especially enjoyed the meat. It was much better than mimic meat. The drinks were quite ordinary, but the wine was rather sour.
After a while, I had drunk enough to feel a strong warmth throughout my body. I looked over at Adele, whose face was slightly flushed from the alcohol.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" I asked. My heart began to race as if it was about to leap out of my chest.
"Of course," she smiled at me, and I led her outside for some fresh air.
It was already quite bright outside, and the cool morning air played with her beautiful blue hair.
We stood in silence for a while, enjoying the view of the meadows and the pleasant breeze.
"Listen," I started, "I know we haven't known each other for long, but what we've been through..."
A meaningful pause hung in the air. I looked Adele straight in the eyes. She seemed puzzled.
"In short, I like you," I decided to confess.
My heart pounded even faster, and blood rushed to my face, making me feel hot despite the cool air.
"Oh," was all she said.
I clenched and unclenched my fists nervously, waiting for her to continue.
"That's very sweet of you, but..." Adele trailed off, not intending to continue.
"But you're not ready for a new relationship?" I tried to finish her sentence.
"No, it's not just that," she shook her head, her eyes reddening. "It's just that you're... not my type."
My fists tightened, and my gaze fixed on Adele. Yes, I never considered myself handsome. Time to end this conversation.
"In fact," she continued, "you're very scary, scarier than hobgoblins."
"Hobgoblins?" I asked, bewildered.
"They're a race of monsters, green-skinned and human-sized, known for their ugliness and frightening teeth, even compared to other monsters," Adele said sadly, nearly crying.
"I'm sorry," she said as her final word, then went back inside.
I stood outside for a while longer. Am I really that hideous? Even if so, why did she have to tell me all that? Also, what's wrong with my teeth? And people say the worst she can say is no...
After some time, I walked back inside with an empty look in my eyes.
Uncle Jack and Jeanne were sitting at the table, singing some songs, but they stopped as soon as they saw me.
"Oh! Come on, join us!" Jeanne shouted at me, her face red and her expression relaxed.
You didn't have to be a genius to see that she was drunk.
I approached them and sat back in my place.
"Come on, say, what were you talking about out there?" Jeanne whispered. "If you hurt that girl, I'll-..."
"No, nothing like that," I admitted honestly, not letting her finish her threat.
"Okay then..." she replied, taking the bottle of wine in her hand, the neck of which was quickly in the paladin's mouth. "So what happened? She took the keys and went upstairs, looking upset."
"I confessed to her," I admitted, "but she called me a hobgoblin."
For a moment, silence hung over the table.
"I'm sorry," Jeanne shook her head. "She shouldn't have told you that so bluntly."
What?! So you don't even deny it?! I looked toward Uncle Jack, but he was nodding in agreement with the paladin.
Such a statement left me stunned, and my gaze accidentally fell on the unfinished beer. Maybe this will help me?
...
A bright ray of sunlight pierced through a crack in the wall and shone directly onto my closed eyelids, waking me up.
When I tried to get up, I felt something heavy on me.
It was two naked young women! Adele and Jeanne! I was naked too!
But... wait... Does this mean I had a threesome, but I slept through it? Because I don't remember anything about what happened after our drinking session with Jeanne.
Damn it! I had the best night of my life, and I don't remember it! I want to cry over this injustice...
"What?" Jeanne suddenly said in a half-asleep voice, sitting up on the bed.
She first looked at herself, then at Adele and me, then without saying a word, she got up and started putting on her clothes with a blank expression.
"Mmm, good morning," Adele said, rubbing her sleepy eyes. "What happened?"
She looked at me, then at Jeanne, then at herself, and then back at me.
"Oh, I think I remember," Adele said, covering her face with her hands.
"Pity sex," Jeanne confirmed in a harsh voice.
"Exactly," Adele said from behind her hands.
I tried to collect myself. So, not only was my first experience a threesome that I slept through, but it was also out of pity? I followed Adele's example and covered my face with my hands.
What is wrong with my life? Why do I have to go through this?
"Alright then, we were drunk, so let's agree that this was our first and last time, and forget about it," Adele said.
"Agreed!" Jeanne declared loudly.
I didn't even get a chance to say anything before the second girl also got up from the bed and started getting dressed.
Unintentionally, I looked at her, then at Jeanne, to see what exactly I had missed.
Jeanne had tanned skin, which was strange since it had 'appeared' quite recently. Her breasts were a C-cup, not very large, but not small either.
Adele had pale skin, and her breasts were a B-cup, but I preferred that more.
Having seen what I needed to see and not encountering any judgment or disagreement from my companions, I lay back on the bed with a pale face.
When both girls were dressed and had left the room, I got up and started getting dressed as well, glancing at the system window.
[Traits:
Murderer 2.
Kill counter: 7.
Survivalist.
Listener]
Yup, the 'virgin' trait was no longer there. It really happened, but... Oh well, it's too late to regret it now. Maybe another opportunity will arise in the future?
With these thoughts, I got dressed, opened the window shutters, and looked around the room in the sunlight.
It was very sparsely furnished. Against the wall there were two medium-sized beds that were pushed together, one shared nightstand, one table, and two chairs in the center of the room, as well as a wooden bucket of clean water on a stool right by the window.
I washed my face, brushed my teeth with just my finger, rinsed my mouth, and spat the water out the window, after first checking if there was anyone outside. Then I closed the window shutters and left the room to meet the bartender.