Adventurers and the Shao Jiu Inn

By then, night had fallen, though he had no idea what time it was.

Without a watch or clock, Yveta had no way of knowing what hour it was.

But most people of this era probably could not tell the time accurately either. They could only judge whether it was morning, afternoon, dusk, or night by the sun.

Yveta glanced at the Old Witch and realized that she truly was ancient. He had never imagined that someone could live to such an age.

She was over two hundred years old, yet she could still leap about with such vigor and ambition.

At that moment, he wanted to learn magic even more.

The three of them traveled through the forest and discovered a four-story Wooden House lit from within amid the dense woods. A crooked sign hung from its roof.

[Shao Jiu Inn]

Upon seeing the lights, the Black Wolf Demon Hunter instinctively drew his greatsword. But when he saw that it was an inn, his expression relaxed.

"Phew, we can finally get some rest."

The Old Witch's eyes lit up as well. "Your Grace, we can perform the ritual there."

"It is relatively safe there."

In the end, she had always wanted to confirm Yveta's identity.

Witches were both suspicious and cruel.

Yveta asked curiously, "Why would anyone open an inn in the depths of the forest instead of beside the Main Road?"

"Wouldn't that drive away most customers?"

The Black Wolf Demon Hunter used the flat of his sword to chop through the brambles blocking their path. "Your Highness, the way you speak is rather adorable. It is as though you have never left home before and know absolutely nothing about this world."

The Old Witch beside him stiffened slightly and glanced at Yveta warily.

Black Wolf said, "That is because the owners of such inns want to avoid most Ordinary people."

"These inns serve Adventurers."

"The amount of land in a kingdom is limited, and there is only so much land available to grant as fiefs. So, in search of opportunities, the sons of many nobles and great capitalists become Adventurers, working as mercenaries and bandits in various regions."

"Over time, entire sets of facilities providing services for these Adventurers emerge."

"Inns and taverns built deep in forests, far from normal Main Roads, are one such facility."

Yveta nodded as if he understood. According to the Original Owner's memories, the mob and Imperial Guard who had usurped his kingdom seemed to have hired quite a few Adventurers as well.

These Adventurers were like bandits roaming through the Black Forest. Wherever they went, they certainly did not leave prosperous towns behind.

In fact, many towns maintained professional patrols precisely to guard against these wandering Adventurers.

He remembered that in the Middle Ages of his original world, there had been many cases of wandering Adventurers seizing territories and even kingdoms.

The most famous examples were probably the Normans of the Duchy of Normandy and the Seven Kingdoms of England, as well as the Hauteville Family of the King of Sicily and the Duchy of Antioch.

Then the Adventurers of this world were probably the same sort of Dangerous Person.

The three knocked on the inn's door. An elderly man with a hunched back and a black hood concealing his face immediately opened it. He looked them over a few times. "How many rooms?"

"Do you need food?"

The Demon Hunter Black Wolf said familiarly, "Bring me a plate of Wind-Braised Beef. Use plenty of rosemary and thyme, with a slice of lemon and wine for seasoning."

"And bring me a cup of the cheapest wine."

"Give us three rooms for one night."

Seeing that the Old Witch and Yveta had no intention of ordering anything, the Hunchback Old Man said, "Three beds, six pence. Three separate rooms, three pence. Three cabinets, three pence."

"Hot water for bathing and drinking, three pence."

"Hay to feed the horses, two pence."

"And the dishes you ordered come to four pence."

"That makes twenty-one pence!"

The Hunchback Old Man paused. "Of course, you may also choose to pay one shilling and nine pence."

The Demon Hunter Black Wolf said speechlessly, "Why do we have to pay separately for the beds, cabinets, and hot water in the rooms after renting three rooms?"

The Hunchback Old Man's tone did not change at all. Like a robot, he said, "Those are the rules of our humble establishment. You may also choose not to buy them and sleep outside on a freezing night."

The Demon Hunter Black Wolf rolled his eyes. "That is about what I spend maintaining my armor each time."

"Your prices really are too high."

The Hunchback Old Man remained unmoved, while guests inside the inn began jeering.

Yveta said to the Hunchback Old Man, "Sir, in that case, we do not need beds or cabinets in the rooms we booked."

"Could you have someone move the beds and cabinets out of our rooms?"

"We do not need the beds or cabinets, nor do we need hot water."

The Hunchback Old Man froze. "This..."

The guests who had been jeering inside the tavern all fell silent. They had never imagined that someone could be so stingy and shameless.

The Hunchback Old Man frowned. "Can that be done?"

Yveta nodded as though it were only natural. "Yes. First of all, the three of us all hate hot water, beds, and cabinets."

"Providing such services would harm our interests."

The Hunchback Old Man seemed to still be considering it when someone behind him said, "Fine. I agree."

"Hunchback, help the guests lead their horses to the stable and give them some ordinary-quality feed."

"Come in, guests."

"In that case, you only need to pay nine pence."

The speaker was presumably the inn's Boss. A scar ran across half his face, and his expression was fierce.

Standing behind the wooden bar, he poured three cups of wine, then called for a beautiful human woman dressed in a bikini outfit and rabbit ears to bring them over.

"These are gifts for the three of you, free of charge."

"I hope the three of you have a pleasant evening at our establishment."

"Dusi'er, take the three guests to their rooms."

Black Wolf took the wine brought over and drained it in one gulp. Free wine was free wine.

He took out some money from his pocket and handed it to the Beauty Waitress, then said to Yveta, "Your Highness, put this on your tab. I have paid for you in advance."

"And you also have to pay for the weapon I lost while protecting you in the previous battle."

"But congratulations, you just saved yourself twelve pence."

Yveta broke into a cold sweat. Fine, he owed Black Wolf money, then.

How did that saying go? As long as you owed enough money, you were the other party's god.

If he died, Black Wolf would never get the money owed to him.

As he passed the wooden bar, Yveta even thanked the Boss behind it, and the Boss returned the courtesy.

The Adventurers inside the inn all stared at the Boss in shock.

After Yveta and the others went upstairs, the guests raised their cups and questioned the inn's Boss.

"Blackhearted Leili, this is not your style! You never allowed this sort of thing before!"

"There are no beauties among them. What is wrong with you? Are you drunk?"

"Is Blackhearted Leili planning to change his nickname? To Fool Leili? Hahaha..."

Leili gave them an indifferent glance. "Go drink your wine. You have no eye for people at all."

"Of the three who just entered, leave aside the young child. The two people beside him both have quite a background."

"That Black-Haired Demon Hunter is the famous Demon Hunter Black Wolf. Rumor has it that in Leigenburg, he slaughtered all his Companions in one go because they could not divide the loot evenly."

"As for that old woman, based on my observations, she should be the Great Witch of Hearthstone Fortress."

"I do not have a life to spare for provoking people like them."

The Drinkers were all stunned.

Some even dropped their wine cups onto the floor without noticing.

One of them muttered with terror on his face, "The witch of Hearthstone Fortress... her reputation is terrible. Who knows how many people have died by her hand."

"We... we were just standing so close to her."

A Strong Man beside him snorted and looked at him. "With that little courage, why are you even an Adventurer? But I did not expect us to be so close to those two Big Shots either."

At that moment, the Old Witch, who had terrified a whole crowd of Adventurers on the first floor, spread a map out before Yveta.

"Your Grace, we can begin the ritual."

"But this ritual cannot be performed in the real world, so we need a few more steps."

"And the ritual will take a long time. No one can disturb us."

Yveta said, "Black Wolf can protect us."

"To prevent any accidents—I am not entirely reassured by your Demon Hunter guard. I do not think he is quite capable enough."

The Old Witch thought of how the original Yveta had died at her hands.

She could not trust Black Wolf.

In her eyes, this Demon Hunter had a dark history.

The Old Witch said, "Your Grace, then I will ensure your safety."

Yveta frowned. "But do you not still need to perform the ritual for me? How can you do two things at once by yourself?"

The Old Witch raised her only remaining left hand to her chin, then gave it a hard twist. With a crack, her head actually separated from her body.

She held her head in her left arm while her body stood up. "Your Grace, only my head is needed to perform the ritual."

"My body can stand guard around us."

"This is also to prevent the Boar Knight Order from catching up to us."