OKIH 12

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Chapter 12

"Mom! We have guests!"

"Oh my! Welcome! Feel at home, you two!"

We are greeted by a feisty voice.

The voice belongs to a woman in her thirties, she's a beautiful person with blonde hair and sun-kissed skin.

She has the beaming smile of a gracious host, being called "Mrs." suits her well.

If you look closely, she resembles the kid that invited us. It must be the genes.

They look so pretty together.

"My, thank you"

"We'll be under your care"

The Frog and I give our greetings and casually looked around the interior of the inn.

It's spacious and the cleanliness up to par.

The second floor is lined with several doors along the corridor.

The first floor has become the dining room, and during lunch, the tables were prepared well.

It was a respectable establishment, above anything.

"Are there any vacant rooms?"

After I asked, the landlady immediately made a decent arrangement for us.

"Aa, yes there are. You'll be staying with the Frog beastman right? Would the second floor suit you guys?"

"A-, that would be fine"

"Thanks for your patronage! ***! Kindly guide the guests to the second floor!"

"Yaaa~y! Then dear guests, this way please!"

Enthusiastically answering, Ribbon-chan walks and guides us all the way to our room.

We really couldn't let a small child carry our luggage, so we bring them up ourselves.

"Here, this is the room's key! We'll bring your carriage to the barn! Please feel at home!"

"How amazing. It's very organized"

"Hehe. Isn't it? Please favor us in the future!"

Ribbon-chan even gave us a bow as she said that, such a good child.

We open the room, it was more presentable than I than I thought the inn could offer, very comfortable-looking.

Kawazu-san immediately plops down an available bed, seeming pleased as well.

Tired, I also drop to my own bed.

Oh yes, this is heaven compared to that carriage.

"A- not good, I really might pass out here-....."

I luxiuriate on the clean sheets, rolling around the bed, and Kawazu-san nods his head in agreement.

"A good room indeed. We got lucky. There's no prejudice against beastmen either, it could be the result of being near Alheim. It was the right judgement to escape to this place"

"Now that you mention it, Ribbon-chan wasn't surprised by Kawazu-san's appearance"

"Don't you have those in your world? We have beastmen in this world. To put it simply, they're people that aren't human. They're in cities, even though not much in number. I heard that they are more populous in Alheim"

"Even having those kinds of beings, what an impressive world"

Though I said that, I had a feeling that they would exist here, I was hoping for it.

Cute girls with rabbit-ears or cat ears, femme fetales from the gorgeous elves, I want a chance to approach those.

It's romance.

But I was taken aback.

That's right, Ribbon-chan didn't find anything weird with Kawazu-san.

What it means is that there is a huge possibility that we would meet a bunch of Frog beastmen the further we travel, right?

It finally occured in my head, there might be hideous cat-girls, or even long-eared, scary-looking monsters.

.......mmn, I might need to prepare my heart.

"Are you thinking of something rude again?"

"No, not at all. Now what? Do we just plan to enter the forest just like that?"

I didn't want to just take a stroll around town, so along the way, I paid attention to what kind of place it would be.

To summarize, it is a large area which is apparently governed by anything but humans.

This near, the vast woodlands and forests are no longer human territories. It was a crime hotspot so we should keep our guard up.

Of course, if Kawazu-san aims to enter Alheim, I think we should enter into the forest. He nodded, and confirmed my thoughts.

"Yea, that's right. It's not a bad idea to just enter the forest as we are."

"A-, as I thought we're going in. I thought for a moment that we would stay in this village."

"We~ll, it's fine if you long for places with people. It's just we're special cases. Though human can't sense magic that well, there are high-level mages who would notice. It's really best to enter the forest if we want to avoid trouble."

As I thought, we really had to.

Not even able to go through excursions, like hiking, there's no words to describe my disappointment.

"What is now? Are you bailing out?"

Kawazu-san teases me and flashes a wry smirk with his guess, I shake my head in denial.

"No, we've reached this far after all. It's too late for that now."

"That's true. In any case, the earlier the better."

In the end, that's not really the worst part.

Then again, I remember something interesting he said from earlier, since we're talking I might as well ask about it.

"Hey Kawazu-san. Humans have low aptitude in sensing magic?"

"Ah, that's right. You can't do it if you're not a powerful magician......like me!"

"........we~ll, putting that aside"

"Hey."

Let's leave the proud Kawazu-san be.

Anyway, just like that a certain national battle-manga, shouldn't I also explore what I can do with my magic?

I really want to see if it can be trained.

We came down to eat dinner.

Like in a movie screen, the scene unfolded.

Working men drinking sake together, smiling and singing.

Within that commotion, I can see Ribbon chan relentlessly catering and running about.

She looks just like a squirrel, the way she works so fast is quite cute.

Looking closely, we can't find any empty tables or chairs, so we end up sitting near the counter.

The lady from earlier happily greets us when she noticed, and we reciprocated with a smile.

"Welcome! How do you find our inn?"

"Yes, it's a good place. It's been a while since we was greatly satisfied"

"You know how to flatter! Then what will you be having now? We have some great animal meat so should I recommend a steak?"

"Kawazu-san, we have some money right?"

"Aa, don't worry about it"

"Then we'll have that. Also, some matching sides please"

"Yes, Right away!"

After confirming our payment, two servings of a huge steak dripping with gravy, along with bread and soup, is presented before each pair of expectant eyes. 

Wonderful presentation.

Seeing a properly cooked meal after days without it, my drool is about to drip down. I missed it apparently, so I held nothing back and sank my teeth into it.

At first, I thought that it was more than I could finish, but after eating and tasting it, I gulp it all down as if I've been starved.

"Thank you for the meal. It was very delicious~"

"That's great to hear. By the way, I heard you guys were travelling scholars? From ***"

"Aa, so you've heard. That's right, I think we're gonna enter the forest starting tomorrow."

I don't know who *** is but it's probably Ribbon-chan.

The mom suddenly had a worried look on her face right after I said that.

"Is that so? But you have to be careful okay? Bad things happen to people who enter after all. Will you take escorts with you?"

"Will we? Kawazu-san?"

"No, we don't need to. We have some proficiency in magic, so we'll figure something out"

The lady seems to be satisfied with Kawazu-san's asnwer.

"Oh, you guys are magicians. But I still think hiring some guards won't hurt, you know?  I don't want to say anything but hear about husband for a bit, okay."

"What about the Mister?"

"Oh, he went and entered the forest to run after monsters, you see. He escaped to safety but was injured...... we're helping each other out, and also trying to attract more guests"

I see, so that's why the place is so busy.

But it's quite a weighty story when the main breadwinner is absent.

Anyway, from how such a story becomes a topic for small talk, indicates just how severe this place is.

"We~ll, that's a lot of work for you, isn't it."

"Originally, *** and I are in charge of the inn, so it isn't a problem. My husband is a blacksmith"

"Wow"

"For now, we're trying to pay for the exhorbitant price of medicine, you see! So, would you guys care for some drinks?"

I forced a smile at the shrewd innkeeper.

You can't really refuse after hearing such a story.

Kawazu-san and I had the same look.

""Then just one""

Hearing the other speak the exact same line, we cringe in disgust.

"Ah hahaha! Right away!"

She let out some pleasant laughter, and went with her usual bustling. Two jugs of alcohol were placed in front of us.

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