Chapter 251: Near Miss
“Sorry!”
“My bad.”
“Gene, I’m sorry.”
Dean bowed his head vigorously, looking genuinely apologetic, while Chris and Dinoss shared the same sentiment.
After dinner, we stopped by the Adventurer’s Guild, where Dean and Chris were submitting their request to enter the labyrinth for their Gold Rank promotion. However, it turned out that a witness would be assigned by the guild.
It seems this doesn’t happen often, but a fan of King Wolf Balmoa managed to push for it… Damn it!
When the topic of a witness came up, they submitted the request without me included in the party that would dive into the labyrinth. They would confirm with me later if I wanted to join, and if I did, they would inform the witness as an addition.
It would be one thing if the ranks were increasing, but I was still stuck at Copper Rank. With Karn, who was also Copper Rank, in the mix, it felt pointless to change the target based on the number of participants.
“None of this is really your fault.”
In the cramped room we were using at the inn, everyone was gathered to discuss. Karn alone took up more space than three people.
“Well, you were looking forward to it, right?”
Dean seemed more disappointed than I was.
Yeah, I was looking forward to it, but it wasn’t really their fault. My choice was to participate, but I planned to stay quiet in the labyrinth. It was either that or go solo.
“If you’re going to join, you should do it as an outsider, not as an adventurer. That way, if something goes wrong, it’ll be easier to cover up,” Retze suggested.
After discussing various options, we decided to pretend we just happened to run into each other in the labyrinth. If things got dicey, we could bail out. It was a rather haphazard plan.
“Let’s wear robes. By the way, whatever happened to the fake Hero?”
I recalled something about him being around here or diving into the labyrinth.
“He came back from the labyrinth and entered ‘Heavenly Bliss’ today,” the Butler nodded in agreement with Retze.
I was curious how Retze and the Butler knew about the Hero entering today since they had been with us. Their methods seemed completely different…
“‘Heavenly Bliss’… I’ve heard that somewhere.”
“That’s Chris’s favorite place.”
“Oh…”
Dinoss’s words reminded me that it was the name of a brothel. Wait, when did Dinoss talk about brothels with Chris? Was it a secret from Shiva?
“Hmm…”
Ash wore a slightly uncomfortable expression. I wasn’t the one who went there, right!?
“The most comfortable inns here, even without the ladies, are ‘Heavenly Bliss’ or ‘Moon’s Delight’,” Dean said, referring to ‘Moon’s Delight’ as his favorite brothel.
“The bedding is layered with White Goose feathers, and during this hot season, a rare Ice Spirit is employed to keep the room comfortably cool, while a wind mage is hired just to create a gentle breeze! The highest-ranking courtesans even replace everything in the bedroom with new items just for the current guest!” Chris said dreamily.
Even if they replace everything, it’s not like they throw it away; they probably just move it to another room. Still, that’s impressive.
In this world, there aren’t many inns where you don’t have to worry about rats or bugs, and if you’re Japanese, you might consider going. I had spent a long time camping in the mountains after being transported, so I had some immunity to discomfort.
In this world, it’s rare to find an inn with a bed, and even if there is one, it’s usually just a frame, and you have to bring your own bedding. Wealthy patrons even bring their own carpets. In a world where half the farmers sleep in straw like animals, if what Chris and Dean said is true, then the brothels here are a different realm altogether.
By the way, many of the famous high-end brothels like ‘Moon’s Delight’ in this city were established by the previous Hero. The Hero…!
“I doubt we’ll run into any brothels.”
I was planning to activate Severance if I spotted one.
“Is that really a good idea?”
Karn muttered in a low voice, but I ignored him!
It’s not impossible to set Severance without seeing them, but my Changeling was newly created, so it left a faint trace in this world, making it hard to track. It should be my face, though.
“Let’s consider it a good thing that the chances of running into them in the labyrinth have decreased,” the Butler said. He seemed to interpret my grumbling in the opposite way; I definitely didn’t want to encounter them in the city or the labyrinth unless it was for Severance.
Oh, could it be that the effects of Severance on my sisters are also interfering with my Changeling? I hope so.
Tomorrow marks the beginning of several nights without a roof over my head, so we decided to call it a night.
Feeling uneasy in the room, I set up my insect repellent again. It was made of gathered leaves that, when lit, would smolder and emit a thin wisp of smoke. It wasn’t as effective as the first repellent I set up, but it smelled nice, like incense.
The two beds were for Ash and the Butler. Karn wouldn’t even fit in the bed here. The floor was already cramped enough.
“Could you move a bit to the right?”
I asked Karn, who was giving me a shoulder ride as I tied a rope to the beam.
I would sleep in a hammock above Karn. I didn’t want to get bitten by fleas or ticks before entering the labyrinth.