Mr. Jim

"What happened?" Isabelle asked her foster parent as soon as she entered the inn. 

"Oh, Isa, welcome back!" Rue greeted her warmly after finishing an explanation to Keith about the misunderstanding. 

"Isa! Are you alright? Did that guy really make you cry?" Keith rushed over to Isabelle, pointing towards the exit where Thap had just left. 

"What!?" Isabelle muttered, confused by the situation.

Keith then explained to Isabelle that his friend Liam had thought that Thap was the person who made her cry, and told Keith about what he saw that night. Upon hearing this, Keith wanted to teach Thap a lesson the next day, but it turned out to be a misunderstanding after Rue explained everything to him.

"What did you do to him?" Isabelle asked impatiently. 

"Umm... I just told him not to be involved with you anymore!" Keith answered proudly. 

"Hehe, do you remember his face when he fell on his butt?" Liam teased. "HAHA!" Liam and Noah shared a laugh, recalling how Thap panicked and fell to the ground.

"..." Isabelle fell silent upon hearing that. 

"I'll take the bread. Isa, you should get ready to work," Rue said softly, patting her back.

 "Oh, Mr. Rue and Mrs. Fre, we'll take our leave then!" Keith informed the owners before turning to face Isabelle. 

"Isa, don't worry about it. I will always protect you," he continued before leaving the inn with his friends. 

Isabelle was lost in thought, remembering Thap's confused and embarrassed face as he left the inn a while ago. 

"I must apologize to him" Isabelle thought to herself looking at the exit. 

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Thapira's POV:

"Thanks, Mr. Jim, for the sandwiches!" I expressed my gratitude, enjoying the delicious bites.

 "Relaxed, but are they good ????" he asked, eager to hear my answer. 

"Yes, this is amazing!" I replied, finishing off my portion. 

"My daughter made them this morning!" he continued proudly.

"Ahh... say thanks to her too, I'm really enjoying it!" I replied awkwardly. 

When I left the inn this morning, I was planning to go to the guild, but it was still early, the guild had not yet opened. So, I took a stroll around this area. Then, I was spotted by Mr. Jim, who was on his way to work. After a short conversation, my stomach growled out because I had skipped the inn's breakfast, rushing out from the situation that was not supposed to happen.

Mr. Jim was so kind that he decided to share his breakfast with me, which turned out to be sandwiches his daughter had made for him. It made me wonder why his wife hadn't made them, as they were amazing, even though the ingredients were so simple.

"What are you going to do today?" Jim asked me. 

I was bewildered but figured I would work on another labor job since I couldn't take on adventure quests without any equipment or weapons. 

"I might look for another labor job that is available at the guild," I replied to him. 

"Labor job? Shouldn't you be doing adventure quests or exploring dungeons?" Jim asked with a curious expression. "You're already that strong!" he continued.

'Strong?' He probably thought of the time I fought with Rattus, but to be honest, I was still wondering how I managed to pull that off. It was a mysterious event that occurred to me at that time. I still thought to myself if that event happened again, would I be able to do the same? Knife skills that I never knew in my entire life suddenly emerged in my brain, accompanied by the muscle memory that allowed me to move and use the knife proficiently without any training. If I could afford a weapon, I wished I could try it out again. I decided to tell Jim everything about my circumstances and the lost memory I had. While listening to my story, I saw that Jim was genuinely engrossed and actually believed what I was saying. I felt a sense of relief knowing that he understood and realized my current situation. I even told him about the things that happened at the inn. 

"That was tough, kid. Hey, thanks for sharing with me," Jim exclaimed softly after listening to my story.

"Thanks, Mr. Jim!" I thanked him.

"Hmm... I still have my old equipment from when I used to be an adventurer. Maybe I should lend it to you. What do you say?" Jim said, looking at me. 

"Really?? Wait, you were an adventurer too?" I asked him quickly.

"Yes, I still have time. Why don't I tell you my story while we go to my place then?" Jim suggested with a smile.