Loren, who was sitting in the bar inside the adventurerâs guild with a drink in front of him, thought that he had heard something like that before.
It wasnât an uncommon thing to happen, and was something that would reach your ears if you stayed at the adventurerâs guild.
Spreading farmland was something any country or n.o.ble constantly worried about.
More farmland meant more harvest.
More harvest meant more products to sell, which meant more tax money, and that meant more money flowing into their pockets.
One or two villages disappearing didnât stop them from trying to make more of them.
They may be frustrated, but would immediately stamp the paperwork to create another one, to get back the money they had lost.
In the end, it was all about money, and no one could run from the clutches of money.
Loren sighed as he thought about how he was one of those people, but heard a cheerful voice that seemed to chase away his gloomy thoughts.
âHuh? Loren, are you already having a drink?â
A black ponytail bouncing up and down.
A white robe worn by priests, who served the G.o.ds.
A girl, that eight, even nine out of ten people would look back and stare at if she pa.s.sed them, opened the doors of the bar and found Loren, who was sitting in a corner, and called out to him.
âBut Loren, do you have money to pay for it?â
The priestess that served the Knowledge G.o.d, who walked up to Lorenâs table and talked to him, was Lapis.
Loren frowned at her question, remembering that he didnât have any money.
Loren used to be a mercenary, but the group he was a part of was destroyed not too long ago. He had managed to survive and reach the city he was in right now, and became an adventurer to make a living.
On his first quest, not only did he lose the little money he had, as well as the great sword that he used since when he was a mercenary, he had let his power go berserk and was sent to the hospital from the recoil.
He thought that it wouldnât take long for him to recover, because his injury wasnât that severe, but apparently it took quite a toll on his body and the doctor told him to stay put for two more days.
The two days pa.s.sed by quickly, and Loren was now out of the hospital, but he had made a promise to Lapis, that in exchange for her paying his hospital bills, he would have to partner up with her until he could pay off his debt.
To start off, Lapis had paid his hospital fees, which costed five silver coins.
Along with the ten copper coins she had lent him when paying for the carriage, the total was five silver coins and ten copper coins.
However, because the doctor told him to stay put for another two days, his debt sprung up to ten silver coins and ten copper coins.
âWell, I guess youâd want to drink some alcohol after all that time in the hospital.â
Without waiting for Loren to respond, she called a pa.s.sing waitress and gave her four copper coins, and ordered a gla.s.s for herself.
âI would like to pay for him as well.â
The alcohol in Lorenâs cup was the cheapest one they had, but even that costed two copper coins.
He had ordered alcohol by habit even though he had no money.
He buried his head in his hands at the fact that his debt just increased again.
Lapis took the gla.s.s that the waitress brought, held it with both hands, and started sipping it.
âYou know itâs not good to drink alcohol on an empty stomach, right? Especially when you just recovered. Letâs order something to eat.â
âYou know I donât have any money, right?â
Loren immediately b.u.t.ted into his own words, asking himself why he had ordered alcohol, while Lapis took out a few copper coins from her pocket.
âIâll be paying of course.â
âMy debtâs just getting larger and larger.â
âDonât worry about it so much. Itâs not like Iâm going to collect it from you every now and then.  Plus, all you need to do is stay with me, so itâs not that bad either. Miss waitress, Iâd like an egg sandwich with no mustard please. And a ham sandwich for him.â
Lapis stopped a nearby waitress and told her order, giving her ten copper coins for the food.
In the bar run by the adventurerâs guild, everyone had to pay when they ordered.
Since adventurers werenât the most trustworthy, if they took the money after they finished eating, they would try to leave without paying or would act like they already paid.
Of course, there was almost no chance of getting away with it scot-free, but they did fight for a living, which could cause potential fights and injuries, and there were also adventurers whose jobs were thieves.
However, there were still a handful that managed to get away with it, so the guild had made the rule that forced you pay first.
Loren looked at the waitress, wondering why she gave him the alcohol even though he didnât pay, and she gave him a smile that seemed like she understood his situation.
As he was feeling uncomfortable that he made her be considerate towards him, he asked Lapis what was on his mind.
âHow much is a ham sandwich, anywayâŠâ
âFive copper coins. Itâs the same price as the egg sandwich, you know?â
Loren looked at Lapis, who was wondering if she shouldâve ordered an egg sandwich instead, and sighed deeply.
âMy debt just keeps increasing.â
âI guess weâre going to have to find some work. But Loren, you lost your weapon, right? What are you going to do about that?â
The great sword that Loren had used wasnât something that would be sold at an ordinary shop.
It was as tall as him, including the grip, and its blade was thicker than Lapisâ waist. It was a big and heavy weapon that not many people could use, and there was no way something like that would be sold at any ordinary shop.
Loren couldnât imagine how expensive it would be if he were to have one made as a special order.
He missed his sword, but regretting about past events was going to get him nowhere.
He looked towards the quest board, deciding that he needed some money first.
âA quest that I donât need a weapon to do, huhâŠâ
âYou canât go clean sewers. Youâll smell bad. Oh, I know a good deodorant that you could use. Do you want me to accommodate some? If you agree to that, I donât mind you going in the sewers.â
Loren looked at her like she was planning something fishy, but Lapisâ eyes were dead serious as she responded.
âYou said youâll stay with me, right? Of course, I wouldnât like it if Loren smelled like the sewers.â
Loren could understand her point, so he reluctantly crossed out cleaning sewers from the list of quests he could do from his head.
Lapisâ idea of using deodorant after going into the sewers wasnât a bad one, but Loren couldnât help but feel that the rewards of the quest would only be a fraction of what it would cost.
âIs there any other quest that I can accept without a weapon?â
âLetâs seeâŠâ
As Lapis rested her cheek on her palm, the waitress came back with the food, and slipped the egg sandwich in front of her.
Then she proceeded to put the ham sandwich in front of Loren.
âLetâs eat first and then think about the difficult parts later.â
âI donât think weâre talking about something thatâs difficult thoughâŠâ
Although Loren said that in a tired manner, the smell of the sandwiches tempted him to take one of them and pop the whole thing in his mouth.
Loren had spent his time in the hospital for the past few days.
He had to eat hospital food the whole time, and although it was good for his body, the taste wasnât.
To Loren, who had lived off hospital food for four days, the taste of ham and mustard inside freshly baked bread tasted too good.
âHey, look at that guy. Heâs a b.u.m (freeloader?).â
âMan, heâs only a copper rank but heâs having a girl buy him food. Wish we could get some leftovers.â
Loren heard the voices of two men drinking at a table that was near his.
On their chests were iron cla.s.s identification tags.
The adventurers, who were a higher rank than Loren, were watching what was going on between him and Lapis, and decided to interrupt them.
He gave the situation a good thought, as he gulped down the sandwich and licked the mustard off his fingers.
He guessed that his current position was something others could jeer at.
But whether it could be overlooked or not was a whole different problem.
âIsnât it better to just ignore them Loren?â
Lapis was holding her egg sandwich with both hands and was nibbling the corner of it.
She glanced towards the adventurers, who were laughing and making fun of Loren, with the corner of her eye, but quickly lost interest and went back to eating her sandwich.
âNot sure if you know, but in these cases, if you let them look down on you, theyâll keep on looking down on you.â
âIs that what all mercenaries think? I donât really get it, but I donât think theyâre worth your time.â
She smacked her lips at the sandwich with thinly sliced boiled eggs seasoned with salt and pepper, and continued.
âBecause people like them will never get a girl to buy them food.â
âWhat!â
âThe h.e.l.l did you just say!â
They immediately reacted to Lapisâ venomous words and jumped up, kicking away their seats.
Loren stood up and walked towards the two, only stopping to put his hand on Lapisâ shoulder.
Lapis wasnât even looking at them.
âGood job provoking them. Iâll go kill them really quick.â
âYou canât kill them, you know? Itâll be a crime. But leaving them ninety percent dead is okay, because itâs an unspoken agreement between adventurers. Also, you canât take their belongings, okay? Youâll be arrested for theft.â
âGot it.â
âOh, and if you break the things in the store, youâll have to compensate for it. Well, Iâm going to pay for it so I donât mind if you break a few things.â
âThatâs a discouraging thoughtâŠâ
The adventurers outnumbered him two to one, and on his chest, was a copper identification tag.
The two adventurers werenât afraid of Loren at all, seeing that he was a lower ranking adventurer.
âIs this guy stupid? Weâre iron rank, you know?â
âIf you grovel on the ground and ask for forgiveness, weâll just take the girl and leave you alone. Sheâs a priest, right? Thereâre many ways we can use her.â
âYouâve already had your fun with her, right? So why not let usâŠâ
Loren felt that he would want kill the guy if he heard him finish what he was saying, so he punched him in the face, making sure to hold back quite a bit.
If Loren was a normal adventurer, the punch would have started the fight, but he was able to wield a heavy weapon that normal adventurers and mercenaries wouldnât even be able to hold up, and swing it around like it was nothing.
Of course, being able to wield such a weapon, his strength wasnât something that could fit within ordinary limits, even if he did hold back.
The adventurer, who was caught off guard, didnât even last a second against the punch.
He flew backwards, in a spiral spin, and crashed into the wall of the bar, along with a set of a table and a chair.
âOhâŠThe table and the chair are going to cost quite a bit.â
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Lapis was already standing next to Loren, who dropped his shoulders at not holding back enough.
He remembered that there was one more adventurer, but when he looked down, he saw him sprawled on the ground with a big b.u.mp on his head and eyes rolled back, with a piece of a chair next to his head.
âGeez, how can they say such a thing to a young maiden.â
Lapis said angrily as she tossed the rest of the chair on top of the unconscious adventurer.
As Loren wondered if he should point out that a maiden wouldnât use a chair to knock an iron rank adventurer unconscious, he sighed when he saw Lapis hand money to the waitress, telling her it was for repairs.