Chapter 159 - The New Hire

Things finally seemed to have quieted down after that strange encounter in the ceremony. I thought my anxiety would have gone down once I got back to Istoria but I couldn't have been more wrong…

I never expected to meet Mr. Eren like that, I especially didn't expect him to have known about me beforehand. The idea that my name had been spread around to such high-standing members of the Shared Sword guild put a happy grin on my face.

It was the first time I felt like a big-shot adventurer, it was impossible not to get a big head about it. I tried calming down and instead, my head went to a dark place trying to think what he invited me for.

For whatever reason, Mr. Eren asked me to stop by their guild building. The look in his eyes made it seem important but what business did he have with me? There was nothing that linked us together in any way, I was at a loss.

I had some time to kill before that, so I roamed through the streets. The yelling merchants outside the buildings were drowned out by my empty stomach growling.

I gripped my lower stomach,

"I guess I should eat something. It feels like my appetite is never satisfied these days…"

Only one place seemed appropriate, more than anything I was craving the fresh fried meats at Lucky Suns. Once their sign came into view, my pace picked up until I was practically sprinting for the door.

The owner, Miss Serin, stood at the front. Her head hung low with a sullen expression, she rubbed her temples slowly.

It felt like a bad time but it was already too late to turn back, she spotted me. I forced a smile and continued to the entrance where she stood waiting.

"Hey Red, you come for a drink?"

"A drink?! It's still the middle of the day though…"

She looked at me like I was speaking another language, her head tilted slightly.

I guess I can't be held to the same standards as Miss Serin, she's around adventurers all day who come to drink from morning till night.

"Well if it ain't a drink, then you better be eating. I don't allow loitering!" She said with a firm tone.

"Definitely a meal, I'm starving."

The intense growling continued, to the point that even Miss Serin had heard it. It looked like her entire mood had changed for the better.

"Well, why didn't you say so? That's the sound I like to hear." She smirked.

"Oh, by the way, why were you standing outside? You looked a little down about something."

Her frown made a second appearance and turned her attention back to the restaurant tables inside.

"Oh, that? One of my girls isn't doing so well, she always seems to break whatever she carries out. I'm at my whitsend with her! I just don't know anymore…" 

Unable to finish her thought, she opted to show me instead. Her finger led my attention inside the restaurant to the commotion at one of the tables.

There weren't many people by the bar but the eating areas were nearly full, mostly regular citizens with a few armoured adventurers sprinkled into the mix. The table I had my eyes on had three men, with a woman dressed in Lucky Sun's uniform standing beside them.

The woman was an absolute beauty, she couldn't have been older than sixteen but her hair was an elegant shade of emerald. Her hips shook to and fro as she walked, like a seductive dance that she had no control over.

The men's eyes at the table followed along as she approached the table with their drinks. Suddenly her legs fumbled and the tray was flung onto them. The large plate of food painted the group's clothes and drenched them in their drinks.

The green beauty dropped to the floor and landed firmly on her butt, quite painfully I might add. There wasn't anything to trip over, she simply lost her balance while walking.

"Oww…I thought I had that one." She groaned.

Sigh!

The audible sigh came from Miss Serin, who had her entire face buried in her hand. She couldn't bear to watch another second of it and turned away before the girl fell.

I had seen her before, just like how I remembered her, she was falling all over the place. Still, I was impressed she managed to keep her job as long as she did despite how bad she was at it.

"If she's so bad at her job, why haven't you fired her?"

Before there was a chance for her to reply, the three men stood up from their chairs. The largest man scraped the noodles and sauce off his face and stood over her. His eyes lasered a glare that could be felt from the front door.

I didn't know how things would have escalated, he looked like he wanted to hit her. I thought I might have needed to jump in and help her out but Miss Serin didn't seem the least bit worried.

The waitress was covered in the juice she had just spilt, her cleavage still dripped wet with its golden gloss. Her frilly top was already quite tight around her but thanks to the moisture, it clung to her breasts.

The anger in the man's eyes faded away and was replaced by lust. He fawned over the young woman with heart-shaped eyes and probably didn't even realise that he was starting to drool.

All three of them helped her up and began apologising, they acted like it was somehow their fault and even offered to pay off the damage to her clothing. 

"That's why," Miss Serin sighed.

I took a look around and although there were plenty of customers to fill up the tables, there were barely that many ladies waiting on them. Usually, there were at least three waitresses that I could remember from the last time I was there but it was only the young beauty running around.

"I can't exactly fire her since the customers like her but I can't stand to see her falling around like that. If you're going to sit, she'll have to wait on you since we're short-staffed at the moment. Will that be fine?"

"I guess so. I mean, how bad could it be?"

The young woman introduced herself as I sat down,

"Hello, I'm Silvy and I'll be serving you this afternoon." She gave a polite bow and smiled.

It looks like she doesn't remember me, even after what happened before… I'll just play along for now, that way she won't get embarrassed again.

"I'm Rei."

I was surprised by her elegant demeanour, she gave off the calming aura of a princess. When I was up close to her, she looked even more beautiful than before.

Her dainty little hands reached over to wipe down the table, they looked so fragile that I was afraid she'd hurt herself somehow. When she leaned over, her busty features hung in front of my nose.

She swayed back and forth, and they followed her movements like a shadow. I was hypnotised by the small patch of glossy skin that shone through her uniform's cleavage. I suddenly realised how those men let go of their anger so easily and my face burnt up.

"Ahem! I think I'll just order some tea and a plate of pasta to start, please…"

Staring made me uncomfortable, I doubt she meant to show off like that so I needed to get her to stop somehow. She snapped to attention and made a note of my order before walking to the kitchen.

"R-right, of course! I'll make sure to bring that out as soon as it's ready."

She's nice…not to mention pretty. No–No, I can't be thinking like that about someone I don't know! I need to get my mind off of that, quickly!

I shook my head and snapped out of it before I had the chance to start daydreaming. With some time to kill, I opened the system and went through my inventory list.

There was quite a lot I had to review, I still had all the loot and drops from the dungeon to go through. Our lives were constantly on the line so it was no wonder I never took a minute to go through it all.

The inventory had around thirty spots, a lot more than when I first unlocked the feature.

The amount of space I got had to have increased… there's nearly ten more spots! All of them are filled too, I guess I'll need to filter out the junk first.

Most of it was common monster drops that I sorted to the end of the inventory. Selling the useless stuff seemed easiest and whatever was good, I planned to hand over to Arga. There were only a handful of useful things though, mostly all from the boss's room.

My eyes widened at the screen in front of me,

"This is…isn't this the weapon that Karmish used? It has to be, his armour is here too!"

{Karmish's Greatsword}

{Karmish's Rusted Armour}