1 Arrival

- Little lass, bring us two roasted bunnies and two mugs of ale, hurry up!

Rough looking man in mid-thirties yelled impatiently and banged on the table.

- Yes, coming right up...

An enthusiastic voice full of liveliness replied shortly.

- Ah...

Young man, sitting by the side of rough looking man was startled out of his daze.

- Lorian, why are you always so absentminded?

The rough looking man sighed at his friend helplessly.

- My bad, I was lost in thoughts. Right, Loki did you order something?

- Bunnies and ale like last time, Lorian can it be that you...

Loki lowered his tone, glanced between Lorian and waitress, then whispered in his ear

- You aren't having ideas about little lass, are you? Hate to remind you, but her old man is retired 3-star warrior!

Lorian blushed and flailed his hands.

- N, no, you misunderstood. I was thinking about something else.

Loki narrowed his eyes, probing.

- About what for example?

Lorian avoided his gaze

- That...

Loki chuckled and didn't pursue. Lorian felt flustered but gave up on clearing his friend's misunderstanding.

He surveyed the inn. The stench of alcohol and sweat lingered in the air. Uncultured men sat around wooden tables and were gobbling up meat with greasy hands without manners.

Most of them were either soldiers or retired adventurers. They happily wasted away their remaining life of theirs by fooling around.

They were always loud, yelling, pointing fingers, challenging each other in drinking and wrestling.

Elena, who scurried around from table to table seemed out of place, like flower put in a pile of Dung.

He had gotten used to this scene for the past few days.

Despite this eccentric atmosphere rarely anyone fought in the inn, afraid of Genos' wrath. It was an unwritten rule to take conflicts outside.

These people were otherwise unbridled and somewhat annoying. Sometimes someone would puke from over drinking, gaining scolding of others.

The inn was everyone's resting place where they found simple entertainment and pure joy.

Unknowingly Lorian had once again become dazed. It's not been long since he was transmigrated in this world.

At first, he thought he went back in time, in medieval Europe.

Upon inquiring, he realized that history, customs, flora, day's length and so on were a bit different.

The biggest difference was people's mentality, as to how much emphasis they put on personal power. This strange world allowed people who practiced hard to exceed human capabilities but becoming strong was a step by step process.

Human geniuses have developed different methods of speeding up this process, created variants of great combat skills, used alchemy and pill concoctions to create miracle medicines. However, such luxurious methods have long been snatched by the wealthy and the powerful. Commoners were left with nothing, but leftovers...

On his first day, Lorian tried his best to adapt as soon as possible. He found drunk Loki about to fall into a manure pit and saved him. This simpleminded guy easily became friends with him and recommended him in the military.

The pay of the unranked soldier like him was 20 silvers, enough to pay for rent and meals. For homeless Lorian, this was a lifesaver.

- Your meals, sir.

The crisp voice woke him from his thoughts.

Appetizing smell of roasted rabbit wafted in the air and made his mouth water.

Lorian unintentionally stared at Elena. She was thirteen or fourteen with a slim figure. Her features were like a doll, her skin smooth and white. Her blonde hair was wrapped into a bun. She was wearing a standard black and white maid outfit.

- Is there anything, sir?

- No, nothing

Lorian bowed his head.

Elena blinked her eyes and went away when somebody called her.

Loki gave Lorian worried glance and shook his head.

As for Lorian, his thoughts were far away, thinking how inconvenient and wasteful it was to eat such scrumptious meat without knife and fork.

Lorian dug in any way and ate with great gusto. The meal was truly delicious.