4.2

「What kind of jobs are there, exactly?」

「There are various kinds differing with specifics and difficulty level. Are you interested in anything in particular?」

「Not really, so if you could please start reading from the beginning…」

「Well then, first we have the services offered by the Knights of the Marquis of Negliva for those of 70 years of age or above, more details will be given when the candidates arrive in the Knight's headquarters. I believe that is one of the requests that are a part of the kingdom's elderly assistance initiative.」

So they have one of those here, even though this is clearly a medieval setting? Okay I guess. All that I care about is that there is nothing about recruiting potential Party members. Besides, I wouldn't want my companions to be a group of old geezers who are one foot in the grave already.

「Next one please?」

「Goods carrying quest, commissioned by one of the warriors in service of Viscount Kustov. That is all.」

「Hmm…」

I repeatedly looked over the upper and lower pieces of paper sprawled on the table. All of them probably relate to the same kind of quest, that is transportation or escorting jobs, because their characters in the headers that apparently represented them were repeating across all the posters, or at least that was my guess from observing the movements of the guild lady's hand as she moved her slender fingers from words to word, explaining their meaning to me. I think I have a firm grasp of those two now, but the rest of the symbols were still a complete mystery to me.

As I was lost in my own thoughts, about six minutes have passed.

「I'm afraid the time is up. What do you want to do, sir? Shall I continue or do you want me to stop?」

The sand in the hourglass seemed to have fallen from top to bottom in its entirety. So this pocket one lasts for about six minutes, huh? Technically I could ask her to read some more of those posters for me for another six minutes, but that would mean I'd have to hand another 16 Nar to her, and since I don't want to spend any more money than absolutely necessary, I think it would be best to call it quits here for now.

「We can stop here. Thank you for your assistance, ma'am, you've been very helpful.」

「I'm glad to hear it. Thank you for your patronage and have a pleasant day, sir.」

We shook each other's hands and then I left the Explorer's Guild. To be completely honest, this whole endeavor wasn't helpful at all, except for maybe one thing: reaffirming my conviction that it would be more beneficial for me to actually learn the written language of this world. That way I wouldn't have to bother with finding someone to read stuff for me all the time, and that would be a huge relief for my wallet, and who knows, maybe it would also improve the way others look at me.

Crossing one thing off of my to-do list, I headed towards the town center. My next priority was securing myself a place to stay, at least for the time being. To do that, I headed to the inn which Alan the Slave Merchant recommended to me. It was to the southwest, so just opposite of the knight's guardhouse. Supposedly it was run by the Innkeepers guild, so it should be a place that should be both safe and secure, but a part of me was getting worried that due to such a convenient location the accommodation fee might be off the charts. However, that was one of the few matters where I absolutely couldn't allow myself to be a scrooge. I have 33 gold coins on me and I won't allow them to be stolen from me just because I chose some cheap, but shady place instead of something more reliable.

I entered the inn through the lightly colored, wooden door. One look at the place told me that it was just like Alan-san told me: kinda sloppy and definitely not cozy, but perfectly average for someone like me. It looked more like an interior of a restaurant than the lobby of a hotel. Curiously enough, almost all of the tables here were empty and there was barely a soul to be seen. Right about now should be one of the busiest times of the day when places like that should be bustling with customers! Or maybe the concept of lunch does not exist in this world?

「Welcome!」

As I headed for the counter, a man standing behind it called out to me. He was a sturdy looking guy in his thirties, who was a Lv28 Innkeeper. Well, this shouldn't come as a surprise. If there was such an organization as an Innkeeper's Guild. He wore rough clothing which was somewhat similar to what I was wearing right now. Looks like the business really wasn't booming to such a degree that he could afford to buy himself something fancier. But enough about that. Let's talk business.

「How much would I have to pay for a longer stay?」

「You intend to go to the Labyrinth as well, young lad?」

How did he know that I was going to the Labyrinth? Was it just a lucky guess? Or perhaps more people like me came here with exactly the same intention? That was what I initially thought, until it occurred to me that he probably deduced that from the way I was dressed. I mean, if I was in his shoes and saw a young man dressed in a bandana, leather armor and two weapons on him, I would assume that he was a) crazy b) trying to rob me c) heading someplace dangerous. And the only such place around these parts is the newly-discovered Labyrinth, so yeah, it must have been a simple cause-effect deduction.

Since the Labyrinth is still brand-new, there might be a possibility of more people like me showing up, and once they do, it will be like an open hunting season, so I hope he still has some vacant rooms left. Please let that be the case!

「That's right. That is my intention.」

「Hmpf, thought so. You look exactly like them adventurous folks who come to the big cities from the countryside to see what the world outside of their stuffy little villages has to offer and try to make a name for themselves. So what kind of room do you want then? A single? Or double? Or perhaps a shared quarter?」

「For now single room will be enough.」

A shared quarter? What's that? Is it similar to those Japanese Edo period-styled hot-spring inns where you can have as much as six people sleeping together in the same room? And here I thought that medieval worlds in games were based exclusively on European middle ages where something like that wasn't as common. What a nice cultural addition. Regrettably, I have to turn that option down, for security reasons. I have too many valuable items on me to risk them getting stolen. That is why I cannot allow myself to share a room with other guests.

「What about the furnishings? You want something that's a bit more on the fancier side?」

「Just your standard lodging will be fine. I don't mind if its furnishings are a little old.」

「What about the meals? Of course I can't force you to eat here exclusively, but if you choose to have your meals together with the room, then I could offer you a discount, as per the policy of the Innkeepers Guild. And just between you and me, dining in this city can get pretty darn expensive, going as high as 100 Nar per meal, and since you came here for lodging then I guess you're not exactly sleeping on the moneybags, right? Then again, if you were really strapped for cash, you would have chosen something even cheaper.」

So I have been branded as either a poor or stingy type of guy. But putting that matter aside, the Innkeeper makes a pretty solid point. What should I do about the meals I'm going to eat? I know that since I came here from the 21st century Japan I'm probably going to be heavily biased towards the food from this world, but what I had so far wasn't exactly what I would call terrible, so I think that given enough time I might be able to adjust my palette to it, even if it is many tiers below what I have been used to for my entire life.

「Fine then, hit me up with the meals as well.」

If what this guy says turns out to be true, then finding a decent food place with affordable prices might be quite an ordeal. That's why having food waiting for me here at discounted prices might not be such a bad deal.