"It's closed for the night…" I said, noting the lock on the gate.
We were in front of the entrance to the Widow's Dungeon, which was walled off much like the one I had visited in Dirage. The gate was closed and locked, and there were no guards.
Raissa, who was waiting nearby, nodded. "They closed the dungeon entrance on the Count's orders, remember? You'll need to get the key from the head miner."
Ah, that was true. They did say they had the place closed. Lord Reign had failed to mention it, though. He really was going to be a pain in my butt, it seemed. I supposed I could just break in. As a noble, the Count wouldn't be able to keep my party from entering. However, I didn't like the idea of damaging property.
"Master, it's been a long day. Shouldn't we wait until tomorrow morning to enter the dungeon?" Miki asked.
"Seven rooms will be pretty expensive…" Raissa said. "I will just sleep out here."
"Nonsense, we can share rooms. It'll be fine." I dismissed the idea causing Raissa to blush slightly, preferring the comfort of an inn to the outside.
The King had already been waiting a month or so, he could wait a little longer. The town wasn't that far away. Plus, it would make portaling back easier if I had already rented a room to Portal to. With Lord Reign, I had felt a little rushed, but slow and steady was the safest bet or something like that. We ended up returning to the small miner's town and heading to the inn the small girl had indicated earlier.
"We'll take two rooms," I told the innkeeper, a fat man in an apron. "And a meal?"
"T-two rooms?" Raissa's voice rose, "Ah, well, one boy and six girls, it will be a bit crowded though."
"Eh? I'm sleeping with Master!" Shao responded defiantly.
"Mm, Master."
"Master."
I let out a sigh. It will be crowded tonight.
"Eh? I'm the one who's alone!" Raissa cried out in surprise.
"Hey, let's just get something to eat and worry about that later."
I hadn't eaten anything since this morning, so I was a bit hungry. It looked like the innkeeper was a Cook, and since he was fat, he probably could cook well. At least, that was my reasoning, but after finding a seat, he slapped a bowl of mush in front of each of us about ten minutes later.
I didn't even have to taste it to realize it wasn't for me. A single bite and I hid the face I had made. The girls all ate the food without questioning, but they didn't have pleased expressions on their faces.
"Is this… seriously okay?" I asked the girls.
"Huh? Isn't this a lot better than what I usually eat?" Shao offered.
"Master, this is actually considered quite a decent quality. It contains vegetables and even some meat," Miki explained.
"Does it?" My eyes widened. "That's what that mystery taste is?"
"I've been meaning to ask this, as I've never been a slave, but doesn't Master usually feed us exceptionally well?" Terra asked.
Lydia nodded. "Usually, unless you're very rich, this kind of stew is a commoner's meal. The meat skewers and stall food Master buys are rare treats. As for slaves, a bit of gruel is all we're offered."
"S-seriously?"
It turned out the cuisine in this world wasn't that amazing. I had been spoiling everyone by buying high-class food and cooking with my Cook skill. The princess's reaction to Faeyna's cooking skill made a bit more sense now. Well, only a little bit, Eliana was still kind of weird.
"In that case, let's have a cookout!" I declared.
Even though the girls were half done and it'd be a little rude to the cook, I decided I couldn't stand for a bad meal. As a former fatty myself, I couldn't tolerate a world that doesn't have a healthy respect for food.
I heard a couple of chuckles from nearby tables that overheard my declaration.
"What is it?" I asked.
An old bearded man answered. "Good luck finding proper ingredients, lad. Lord Reign buys up all the food stocks and only sells them to the rich. As for hunting, we live only a few miles from the start of the wilderness divide. That area is full of high-level monsters. Only a party of C-ranked Adventurers could survive!"
The other men broke into laughter too. Eh? Aren't we a party of Adventurers? Being a normal commoner must be tough. We leave to go hunt for some food.