White Chickadee Tavern’s owner looked almost exactly like the tavernkeepers Xia Nan had seen in countless films, anime, games, and novels back on Earth.
Middle-aged.
Two thin ends of a mustache drooping beside his mouth.
A drinking glass in one hand.
A cloth in the other.
And an expression of absolute concentration as he polished it.
A man who had watched thousands of adventurers come and go was not about to be impressed by Xia Nan’s age.
Even when Xia Nan walked straight up and took a seat at the counter, the tavernkeeper only raised his eyelids.
“Lodging is one silver a night, right?”
Xia Nan was checking against the information listed in the [Adventurer’s Handbook].
The tavernkeeper gave a small nod.
“What if I stay long-term? Any discount?”
It was the sort of question that came naturally to someone with experience from his previous life.
“Depends how long.”
Xia Nan nodded.
Fair enough.
He did not push the issue.
At one silver a night, White Chickadee Tavern was already one of the cheaper places to stay in Rivervale Town.
Go much lower than that, and neither comfort nor safety could be guaranteed.
A long-term stay might come with a discount, but if Xia Nan truly intended to continue as an adventurer, living out of a rented tavern room forever did not sound ideal.
There was nowhere secure to store valuable belongings.
Daily life was inconvenient.
And no matter how long he stayed, it would still feel temporary.
Xia Nan would rather buy a place of his own somewhere in town.
Of course, that would have to wait until he understood Rivervale Town better and had enough money to spare.
[Maybe I should talk to a few property brokers when I get the chance.]
His stomach interrupted the thought with a more immediate concern.
Food.
Xia Nan looked up at the menu hanging on the wall.
“Set meal number three, please.”
Two silver.
A full day’s wages for a laborer.
The set came with a large serving of tender stew, a thick bowl of mushroom soup, several slices of white bread with butter and cheese, and a generous mug of ale.
By ordinary standards, it was not a cheap meal.
But Xia Nan had just survived a dangerous journey and made what currently felt like a fortune.
If there was ever a time to spend two silver on a decent lunch, this was it.
And, to his pleasant surprise, the food was actually good.
The stew was rich and savory, the meat cooked until tender.
The mushroom soup carried a deep, fresh sweetness.
Best of all was tearing off a piece of bread, soaking it in the soup until the crust softened, then eating it with a thin slice of salty-sweet cheese.
Even Xia Nan, who had eaten no shortage of modern food in his previous life, found himself impressed.
Then again…
He had spent days in the forest chewing jerky and flatbread.
At this point, his standards might have dropped low enough that anything hot tasted incredible.
Either way, once the food settled into his stomach, warmth spread through his entire body.
Xia Nan relaxed against the counter and let his gaze wander across the tavern.
One thing had surprised him since arriving in this world.
Despite finding himself in a place with an unmistakably Western fantasy atmosphere, he had not actually seen that many intelligent beings from other races.
Perhaps one or two out of every ten people.
And most of those were gnomes or halflings.
As for the dwarves and elves that seemed to appear everywhere in fantasy stories back on Earth…
He had not seen a single one.
Xia Nan’s gaze stopped.
[Well. There we go.]
Near a window stood a rectangular wooden table.
Four people sat around it.
The first was a beautiful blonde woman in her early twenties. She had her arms folded over her chest and one leg crossed over the other, her expression radiating complete disinterest in everything around her.
Beside her sat a slightly plump young man dressed in lavish, brightly colored clothing. His posture was affected, and he kept leaning toward the blonde woman with a fawning expression.
Neither of them was what caught Xia Nan’s attention.
That honor belonged to the tall man sitting along one side of the table.
Shoulder-length silver hair had been tied neatly behind his head.
His features were delicate.
His skin was fair.
His eyes were a striking silver-gray.
Everything about him carried the unmistakable traces of elven blood.
But not completely.
His ears were pointed, yet not nearly as long as a full elf’s. His frame was slimmer than the average man’s, but still broader and sturdier than the thin build Xia Nan associated with elves.
[Half-elf?]
That was Xia Nan’s best guess, given his painfully limited knowledge of this world.
Then he noticed the longbow strapped across the man’s back.
[At least that fits the stereotype.]
Xia Nan’s gaze swept over the table again.
[So these four are a party?]
Then he froze.
[Wait.]
[Four?]
Something was wrong.
He had counted four people.
But somehow, until that very moment, he had only really noticed three.
It was the same strange feeling as searching everywhere for a television remote that was sitting right in front of you.
Or frantically looking for your phone while holding it in your hand.
The moment Xia Nan realized something was missing, the fourth person seemed to slide into his awareness.
An ordinary-looking middle-aged man.
Plain face.
Close-fitting travel clothes.
Nothing remarkable about him.
Compared with the three people around him, he looked like some random stranger who had accidentally sat down at the wrong table.
And that was exactly what made Xia Nan’s heart jolt.
He had been looking right at the table.
Yet his mind had simply skipped over this man.
His eyes flicked to the short dagger at the man’s waist. The sheath was wrapped in coarse cloth.
Then Xia Nan yanked his gaze away as though burned.
“Wood, what’s wrong?”
Hai’an reached back and tightened the slightly loose ponytail behind his head.
From the corner of his eye, he had noticed something off about his guard.
“It’s nothing, Young Master.”
Wood’s brow furrowed.
He glanced toward one side of the counter and watched for a moment before finally looking away.
Hai’an followed his gaze briefly, but saw nothing unusual.
“You don’t need to be so tense.”
He smiled.
“We’re near the Misty Forest, sure, but this is still Rivervale Town. There are adventurers everywhere. What could possibly happen here?”
For once, a trace of helplessness appeared on Wood’s otherwise expressionless face.
“Young Master, the fact that there are adventurers everywhere is exactly why we should be careful.”
Hai’an understood perfectly well what he meant.
Whether because he had complete confidence in Wood’s strength or simply because that was his personality, he only smiled.
“Relax. The Adventurers’ Association is next door. Who would be stupid enough to start trouble here?”
Then he leaned back slightly.
“Instead of worrying about that, we should talk about what we’re doing next.”
Wood’s frown deepened.
“Young Master, I’ve said this countless times already, but I still need to say it again.”
“The Misty Forest is extremely dangerous.”
“Even I can’t guarantee I’d come back safely if I went too deep. You…”
“All right, all right.”
Hai’an raised a hand, cutting him off before the familiar warning could gather momentum.
He did not look annoyed. If anything, he sounded amused.
“Then I’ll repeat myself too.”
“Our target is on the outskirts.”
He emphasized the last word.
“The outskirts.”
Wood exhaled through his nose.
“Fine.”
In truth, he had already compromised long ago.
If he had not, Hai’an would never have reached Rivervale Town in the first place.
“But there’s one condition.”
Hai’an raised an eyebrow.
“Go on.”
“We need more people.”
Hai’an followed his guard’s gaze toward the two people sitting across from them.
After a moment, he nodded.
“You’re right.”