Semi-retired Adventurer Lives Leisurely Chapter 9

Published at 6th of June 2021 10:50:50 AM

Chapter 9: Concerning a Certain Girl

I was eating breakfast at the Bear Keg’s Inn enjoying their rice porridge and feeling nice and relaxed.

In the morning, the Bear’s Keg only serves breakfast to the guests of the inn, and because I got up later that morning, there was hardly anyone in the dining hall.

I let out a yawn and watched Lana as she cleaned.

I’ve been here a while, but I’m impressed with how mature she is. She’s at an age when kids would be more interested in playing and running around, but she helps with the family business from morning till dawn.

She says that she has off days, but even on those days, she’s accomplishing numerous administrative or side tasks, so I’m a little worried that she’s overworking herself.

Henry: “Lana—, can I get another bowl of porridge—?”

Well, regardless, I’m still going to order seconds.

Lana: “Yessir—, one second please.”

Lana takes my bowl and heads to refill it.

I need to start thinking about what I will do today.

My promise to train with Jend starts in the evening, and I have plenty of time to kill until then. I’ve explored the majority of Flowtier already, so…

Over here, we’re going out on expeditions every 2-3 days which is a pretty rigorous pace, but it still gives me time to do things in between.

….thinking about it, I don’t think I have any real hobbies. Back on the frontlines, I would sleep on my off days to recuperate my strength. Otherwise, it’s hunting demons, completing quests, and train, train, train. That left me with no time for myself.

Alright, that can’t be right. Let me think of fun memories. Let’s see, something fun….shoot, I can only think about fun times eating and drinking.

No, no, no, no, no… hold on, me. I’m not THAT boring of a person am I? Since I completed my lifelong goal a year ago, I wasn’t working as hard, so I must have been doing SOMETHING with my free time.

….damn. Was so just staring into the air the whole time in my room?

A classic case of a complete burn out.

Lana: “Mr. Henry, here is your refill—“

Henry: “Thank you, Lana. Hey, I had a quick question. Do you have any hobbies?”

I went to look for some friends to join me in my pity party.

Lana is working very hard at here every day. She must not have time for hobbies either.

Lana: “Me? I enjoy studying as a hobby.”

Henry: “...studying?”

Lana: “Yes, I read textbooks about 1-2 hours before I sleep every day.”

Henry: “That’s a hobby?”

Isn’t a hobby supposed to be something more fun and relaxing?

I do study my Kroseid-Style magecraft, research the demonic creatures and demon lands, plants that are for collection quests, and anything else out of pure necessity, but I would never say that was enjoyable or fun.

Lana: “I think it’s a great hobby to have. You don’t have to know more than basic reading, writing, and arithmetic to work here, but I do it because it’s really fun for me.”

Henry: “...oh, I… I see.”

That is something a person who’s more physically active like me would never understand.

Henry: “Then why not go to school? I’m sure Flowtier has schools you could attend.”

The Alvenia Kingdom puts a lot of emphasis into education and learning.

Of course, it won’t be free, but the price of admission should be affordable even for commoners to attend, and especially for this family with such a successful business.

Lana: “Well, I’d like to, but helping out here is more important to me.

Henry: “I get it… It seems like kind of a waste, but if you like studying that much, why not try to become a scholar in the future?”

Lana: “Oh that’s okay. I’m not interested in making a living with it.”

Well, I guess it’s none of my business.

But even so...

I failed at finding another person who’s just as hobby-less as I am.

Hmmm… maybe I should find a hobby? Now that so think about it, finding others with no hobbies is a pretty cynical thing to do. It won’t help me or the others I find just by doing that.

Lana: “Oh, Mr. Henry, today is the last day for your inn reservation. Did you want to extend your stay?”

Henry: “Please do.”

I reach into my wallet to pull out the funds for the next week.

Lana: “Thank you for your business. I mean, it’s good business for us, but Mr. Henry, didn’t you say you were going to look for apartments?”

Henry: “Umm, yeah. About that… it’s that…”

Lana: “What is it?”

Henry: “I don’t like cleaning and doing laundry.”

I can eat out for meals, but cleaning and laundry...I can hire someone at the laundromat, but I would have to do the cleaning myself.

I’ve been living in inns the last 10 years, so transitioning out of this habit would take a lot of work. I’ve been too dependent on others to do these tasks for me all these years.

About a week into my stay here, I explored the area, and thought about starting my apartment search… but once I started thinking about all the appliances and furniture I would need… the thought was postponed indefinitely up until today.

Whenever I was living with my family, I helped out with chores, but when it’s just me, I feel zero motivation to get started.

Lana: “Mr. Henry, I’m surprised to see you so lacking in this area.”

Henry: “...you’re right. I won’t make excuses.”

Lana: “Well, if you do have laundry, please put it out early.”

Henry: “Yes’m—-“

I feel pretty deflated as I finish my second serving.

Daily life skills… I really start living on my own. I can’t possibly just live at inns for the rest of my life. Right now, the funds we’re gathering from the expeditions are sufficient to leave my savings alone, but I can’t imagine that I could keep this up forever.

And if by chance I get married, then living at inns would not go over well. Not that I have anyone particular in mind anyways.

Maybe Lana will marry me 5 years from now? She’s a harder worker, and she’ll definitely grow up to be a beautiful woman.

I was just letting my imagination take off when the not-open-for-business-yet inn door opened.

Henry: “Hm?”

“.........”

At the entrance, a girl that’s Lana’s age stood at the door.

She’s not wearing any jewelry, and is wearing very pragmatic clothes focused on ease of movement.

She’s carrying one bag over her shoulder.

Huh… I wonder if she’s one of Lana’s friends?

She bowed politely my way while I was staring so I politely bow back.

She waits there for another second when Lana comes back from hearing the doorbell ring. She quickly recognizes the girl and hurries over.

Lana: “Hey Teo! Welcome!”

Teo: “...hey.”

Lana: “Did you bring us meat again?”

Two: “Yeah. One boar and 10 wild birds. What do you think? If not, I can sell it at the market.”

Lana hurries back to the kitchen.

….a boar? What, she’s selling meat?

You can pick off birds in this area, but a creature the size of a boar would be… and boars that tear up farmlands are immediately dispatched so you can’t really hunt them.

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And where would she carry all that meat in the first place? In that small bag on her shoulder?

She must have it loaded on a horse-drawn carriage outside.

As doubts fill my head, Mr. Nord comes back with Lana.

Nord: “...hey, Teo.”

Teo: “....hello, Mr. Nord.”

Both are the quiet type...

Nord: “Let me see the boar.”

Teo: “Yes.”

Reaching into her bag, something obviously well above the bag’s capacity is dragged out...holy crap!!!

Henry: “Bfffftt!!!”

Lana: “Oh, Mr. Henry, are you okay? Did you get the porridge caught in your throat?”

Henry: (cough cough)... “thanks, I’m okay.”

Lana brought some water for me. I drink it to calm myself down.

Nord and Teo ignore me altogether and start inspecting the boar parts taken out one by one together.

Henry: “Lana, that’s a godly equipment, yeah?”

Lana: “Oh, yes. It’s apparently a rare equipment with [space expansion] and [indestructible] traits.”

That’s a national treasure!

Not only does it have the [space expansion] which makes it an automatic winner, but it has [indestructible] on top of it all to prevent it from getting destroyed by accident... I’d like to have a draw like that one day.

This is because you are severely limited by luggage space with expeditions and part of the challenge is to reduce as much unnecessary luggage as possible.

You can move easier with less luggage impeding you, and you have to have space for the drop items on your journey back. People bring along extra sacks for that purpose. You’ll be in trouble if you forget a critical item or equipment on the journey, so it can get rough trying to predict what you will run into and what you will need the most.

Very rarely do you get an item with [space expansion] from the Heaven’s Treasure Vault that actually resolves these issues. What’s even better is that the weight of the items you place within the [space expansion] will not be reflected on the physical item, so it’s nothing short of cheating.

If you draw a winning item like that, every adventurer party will be raking their nails at your door to join them. If you don’t have to worry about carrying your stuff around, that’s an invaluable player to your party.

Henry: “Hey, wait a second. How is she able to draw from the Heaven’s Treasure Vault? She’s still a kid.”

She must have at least 3 or 4 more years before becoming an adult.

Lana: “Teo has been working with her grandfather since she was little as a follow-up and roamed the Flowtier Forrest with him. They also got rid of demonic creatures during their hunt, so she became an adventurer.”

Henry: “Sh-she roamed that giant forrest?”

Whoa, really? A child like that running around that thick forest with demons roaming everywhere?”

If she was just tagging along her grandpa, that’s understandable, but a follow-up means chasing down wounded creatures and finishing them off.

Henry: “So that’s why you have boar dishes on your menu periodically.”

Lana: “Yes, her grandfather and my grandfather were childhood friends, so they sell it to us very cheap.”

I see. I wonder if roast boar is on the menu today.

That dish is delicious.

Whoops, I’m drooling just thinking about it.

Henry: “But isn’t it really dangerous for her?”

Lana: “Teo is basically very good at hiding from demonic creatures, so she spends more time hiding than fighting. Teo’s grandfather was bragging how great she was at it.”

Henry: “Dang…”

I remember when I first started as an adventurer, I was more of an errand boy and did more scouting.

If she’s been able to carry her own weight up until now, I have no place to judge her.

But still, she’s a very interesting kid.

I watched Nord and Teo start haggling and drank the rest of my porridge.

Later that day, I was with my usual party in the Flowtier Forrest, and we ran into Teo and a very physically fit elderly man near the edge of the forest.

Teo: “......”

I don’t know if she remembers me, but she bowed politely my way.

I bow in return.

Cyril: “Oh, Henry, do you know her?”

Henry: “A little. She poked her head in at the inn I’m staying at, and she’s friends with the inn keeper’s daughter.”

Cyril: “I’ve run into her before, but a girl her age is working so hard. Alright! I should be working hard too!”

Cyril seems more motivated than usual.

Yup, it’s time to get to work.

Chapter end