We silently walked towards the inn. Our feet dragged on the dirt road because we were aware of what was going to happen when we arrived. It was as if we were trying to spend as much time as we could traveling to our destination. Even Yasri noticed this."Move your feet. You cannyot be tired just yet!"
"Ugh." Tael and Kany both replied in unison. At least they"re still lazy.
It took us some time, but we eventually came across the two story wooden building that was covered in moss.
All of us awkwardly fidgeted as we stood in front of the door. None of us wanted to be the one to deliver the grim news it seemed. Yasri looked at us as if we were pathetic and stepped through the doorway with a confident swagger. Seeing her do this appeared to give all of us courage as we began to follow her inside the inn.
We stepped into the familiar wooden interior for the second time today. The innkeeper was cleaning the bar with a dirty washcloth. I wonder if he even does anything else other than stand at the bar.
"Miris-san, I have nyews I must give you." Yasri shouted out. Her sudden action made everyone in the building jump in shock. The mood was completely ruined.
"Y-Yeah? What do you want, Yasri-san? Don"t tell me the adventurers want my place shut down…" He gave all of us death glares as he said this. Tael and Kany immediately looked away under the pressure while Erana and I stood still. I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up under the pressure, but I"m not worried about getting into a fight right now.
"Kenji-san. Come here and explain." Yasri made a come motion with one of her fingers as she said this. I stepped forward. For some reason I feel like I failed a test and I have to tell my parents, but I still had to step forward and do this.
I approached the bar. The innkeeper that was evidently named Miris eyed me up and down angrily.
"Well? Spit it out boy." He motioned his head upwards as to indicate that I needed to speak.
"Rena was mind controlling your customers during her performances. She"s the reason why people were disappearing." I immediately spoke the truth. I decided that saying it this way would take all the wind out of the innkeeper"s sails.
"W-What? What do you mean? Ain"t that a bit sudden to drop on me like this? I"m an old man, you know!" He took a few steps backwards from the bar when he said this. It was as if he was trying to get away from what I was telling him.
"Sorry, but it"s the truth." I stated. I stared directly into Miris"s eyes as I did this. It was my time to put the pressure on him.
"Y-You"re just saying this because you"re jealous! You couldn"t stand being made fun of last night so you blame her! Yasri-san, this guy ain"t from around here! He"s obviously just trying to pick a fight while he has your confidence!" Miris began to point a finger at me and at Yasri. I can"t tell exactly, but I think he"s having a panic attack.
"If you want proof I can go get it. It"s in her house, you know, the one you told us where to find?" I gave a small smirk. I won"t lie, I am deriving a bit of joy from giving pushback to this guy now.
Miris met my stare for a moment. Our eyes locked and I could feel an intensity of someone trying to pressure me down, but I refused to budge. After a moment, the innkeeper looked away. I had won this exchange.
"...Fine. So then are you going to tell me you arrested her?" He seemed to slump a bit as he asked this.
"Well, nyot exactly…" Yasri began.
Miris looked at all of us perplexedly. He was missing the important information, so his confusion was reasonable.
"Um… Innkeeper-san… Rensan is… dead." Erana came forward and announced.
The room became incredibly quiet. You could hear the sounds of everyone breathing. This news must have sent a shock through Miris"s body.
"H-How can you be so sure…?" Miris looked like he was clutching at straws. He must have really liked Rena.
Erana and I looked at each other. Though we said nothing, we both knew we were silently asking each other "Will you say it or will I?" Eventually, I broke our gaze and decided to take the initiative.
"We… found bits and pieces of Rena"s dress from last night inside of a grizzly bear"s cave. There were signs that something had been… eaten there. From all the evidence we had gathered, there was next to no chance that it had not been Rena. I"m sorry." I looked down as I said this. I fidgeted with my hands because of how difficult it was to tell him this.
I could hear the innkeeper take a deep inhale and exhale a moment after I finished speaking.
"Well, that"s a shame." He looked up and declared.
"Huh?" Erana and I let out in confusion. We expected him to be more broken up about it.
"Well, she was a good singer! She really made this place livelier every night. Not having her perform every night is gonna suck now!" He shrugged his shoulders to brush this off.
"Are you… a psychopath?" I heard myself asking.
"Worse, I run a business!" He looked at me and gave a toothy grin.
Kany and Tael walked up behind us. It seemed that even they had a problem with what this guy was saying.
"Dude, you seemed to like her a lot from what we saw last night. You"re not even broken up about this?" Tael asked.
"Well I feel bad, but I gotta worry about the inn first!"
"This is the only inn in town! Why are you trying to drum up more business? Having music won"t make more people come!" Kany shouted.
"That may be true but we might as well have it!" Miris shrugged his shoulders once more. He has gone back to wiping down the bar with his dirty washcloth.
Our party looked at each other dumbfoundedly. This is a bit ridiculous. Yasri, however, didn"t seem to even think this was odd.
"You have businyess tomorrow as well. Rest well and stay safe." She said as she walked out of the inn.
"Well… You may as well take a seat. People will start showing up for drinks any time now, so I"ll just run dinner service early."
We were all taken aback by the sudden s.h.i.+ft in tone, so we simply followed the instructions and sat down at the same table we sat at yesterday. After a few moments, the innkeeper"s son came into the room and approached us to take our orders.
"So, back I see? Want more beer?" He asked.
I groaned in response. After that hangover last night and everything that happened today, I think I would puke if I had any beer.
"I want beer, yes sir!" Kany cheerfully held her hand up.
"I"ll take a water myself." Erana quietly muttered.
"Beer for me!" Tael declared. This left only myself for an order.
"Water. Also give us each a dinner thing. Whatever it is, please." I rested my head on the tabletop. I was exhausted so I just wanted to get dinner over with at this point.
"Okey doke. 2 waters and 2 beers. Dinner for 4. Got it." He said as he walked back to the back room.
"Onii-san, why no beer? Hate losing to me last night?" Kany nudged my head with her finger.
"Nah, I just REALLY don"t want beer right now. I think I"d puke." I groaned out.
"I understand that feeling, Kenji-san. I think you"re wise to choose water right now."
"Well I think you"re dumb, Kenji. More beer for us!" Tael and Kany both high fived at this.
It didn"t take long for people to start filing into the building. Every face was familiar. These people had been here last night.
The innkeeper"s son gave us our orders. I gulped down the water greedily as soon as it was placed in front of me. This seemed to surprise everyone. Despite their surprise, the son also placed down the dinner. It was stew again.
We each began to eat our dinner. Though we exchanged light small talk, none of us really spoke about anything important.
It didn"t take long for someone to interrupt our recovering mood.
"Hey Miris, where"s Renchan?" A patron asked.
"If you want to know, go ask the adventurer over there." He shouted as he pointed at me. I could feel everyone in the inn look at me at the same time in response to this. A few patrons approached me to bother me.
"So… Whatdya do to Renchan?" A large man asked me.
I sipped on my water before I decided to speak.
"We found out that she was responsible for the people disappearing." I quickly said.
"Huh? What are you talking about? Renchan is an angel! Ain"t no way she"s the one responsible!" The man shouted.
His shouting was giving me a headache. I was getting frustrated.
"I said what I said. Either you accept it or you don"t. Now please leave me alone." I quietly muttered.
"h.e.l.l no!" The large man shouted as he slammed his fist on the table. My water and stew were flipped and the contents fell out as a result of this.
I stared at my now ruined dinner. I was in shock.
I slowly stood up.
"Huh? What"s that? You wanna go tough guy?" The large man pushed me when I stood up. I wasn"t afraid of him and I can tell that I"m stronger. I just decided to walk outside.
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