It didn"t take long for Lon the butler to return with tea. He stepped up to me and placed a tray containing a teapot, a small cup, and a plate that was filled with cubes of sugar on the coffee table."Enjoy." He motioned as he backed away to a corner of the room.
I gleefully poured myself a cup of tea and began to put sugar into it. Normally I would place around 4 sugar cubes in, but today I decided to do just one. I need to watch my figure after all.
I stirred the sugar into the tea and took a long gulp. I had forgotten how nice it was to drink something with sugar in it. What a nostalgic feeling.
Now that I finished my tea, I may as well break the silence.
"So… You"re the butler of this home?"
"Yes. I was a.s.signed to take care of this household."
"Is it just you here? Is there anyone else?"
"No. It is just me."
"How is that even possible? You need rest and a vacation every now and then! I can"t imagine being a butler with no help."
"It is an honor to serve this family. My family has served the Imun family for generations. I am merely another part of a long line of workers."
"Wait, you"ve served this family for generations? So does that mean that your master, uh… Derimy-"
"Derimus Imun."
"Yeah, Derimus Imun has been around for that long?"
"Yes. Lord Derimus is one of the oldest elves in the world. His family is well known, they even have a personal manor beside the emperor"s manor for holidays."
"So, that means that Tael-"
"What"s that about me?" A sleepy Tael walked into the room. Despite being dressed in his usual apparel, he wiped his eyes and yawned. It was obvious that he had just woken up.
"Master Tael, it is good to see you have awoken. Master Kenji has come to retrieve you."
"Oh, awesome. Thank you Lon." Tael weakly waved at Lon and approached me.
"Tael, let"s head to the guild." I stood up and declared.
"This early? We only just got today off! Is there a quest we need to take or something?"
"Well…"
"Ugh… FINE, but you"re paying for my breakfast." Tael began to walk towards the front door.
"W-Wait!" I shouted as he stepped outside.
"Take care." Lon waved to us as we ran out of the building.
"T-Tael! Why do I need to pay for your breakfast? Also, why did I need to pay for you ever in the first place? You have a freaking butler! There"s no way you"re poor!"
"Oh, that… I"M not rich, my father is." Tael looked towards the ground as he fiddled with his robes a bit.
"How is there a difference? Surely your father gives you money."
"Look it"s complicated, okay? Just… believe me. It"s not so simple as to where I can just ask my father for a hundred jun loan or something."
"Family matters, huh…?" I went silent. Tael has alluded to his past before, so it"s probably best that I drop this now. If I keep pus.h.i.+ng, he"ll probably get upset. It would be even worse if he inquires into my past as well.
"So why did you grab me at 6 in the morning, Kenji?" Tael finally broke the silence.
"Oh, well I got a job from… a certain person. Basically, we"d be going to the Frozen Mist Hills for a week."
"THE FROZEN MIST HILLS FOR A WEEK? ARE YOU INSANE?"
"L-Look! I can"t turn this person down, okay?"
"Well fine! You go, but I"m not going! That place is under attack by the demon king"s army and it"s full of dwarves! Half-elves and dwarves get along about as well as dogs and cats."
"Come on man! It"s a whole week! I need you with me on this! Erana and Kany are going!"
"Why should that matter? A week with no adventures or near death experiences sounds pleasant to me! Count me out."
Tael seems adamant about this. Time to pull out the trump card.
"...They have a hot spring bathing spot there."
"H-Huh? Why does that matter?" Tael tried to keep his cool, but he leaned in as he asked this. I got him hooked already.
"Well, when it comes to hot springs one typically thinks that there is a mixed bathing section, right?"
"S-So when are we going then? I"ll pack my bags I guess."
And I"ve reeled him in. Mental high-five.
"Tomorrow at 11 A.M. We"ll meet up about 30 minutes prior to that and then we"ll get teleported. I"ll go over the details with everyone at the guild."
"Awesome!"
Tael and I walked quietly until we arrived at the guildhall once more. When we entered we could see Erana and Kany had already taken a seat at our usual table. Since it"s incredibly early, n.o.body else is here yet.
Erana is fully dressed and appears ready for the day. Meanwhile, Kany"s hair is a mess and she is still in her pyjamas. She"s resting her head on the table in a futile attempt to gain a few extra seconds of sleep.
"Good morning, everyone." I said as I sat down.
"Good morning, Tael-san, Kenji-san."
"Ugh…"
"So we"re going to the Frozen Mist Hills?"
"That"s the plan. I need to-"
"What do you all want to eat?" Yimmie quickly interjected.
"Food." Kany murmured.
"Yeah, what type of food?"
"The type I can eat."
"We"ll have breakfast platters Yimmie-san. Thank you."
"Got it."
"As I was saying, I need to deliver a package to someone there. It"s a request from someone I can"t exactly deny."
"Woah, Kenji are you involved in the drug trade or something?"
"No!"
"Tael-san, if he were involved in the drug trade then he wouldn"t have been at such a low level when we met him."
"He also wouldn"t have been fat!" Kany raised her head and declared.
I leaned forward in my table to try to grab Kany, but her superior dodging abilities let her easily evade my grabs.
"L-Look! Simply put, we"re going to be going to the Frozen Mist Hills for a week! According to what I"ve been told, despite the fact that it"s under attack by the demon king"s army we should be safe inside the city. We"ll treat this like a vacation. It"s a whole other huge city! I bet there"s plenty of tourist attractions there that we can see!"
"Like the hot springs?" Tael quietly asked.
"Hot springs?" Kany jolted up. It seems like this is something that she cares deeply about.
"Oh, I"ve always loved hot springs. They have one there?"
"Yep. Since we"ll be spending a week there, we"ll have plenty of time to relax and soak. It should give us plenty of time to unwind after our previous endeavors!"
Though this is mostly just an excuse on my end, it"s also true that taking time to relax with something like a hot spring is vital. Physical damage can be healed with magic, but mental stress needs time to ease itself. I can tell that I"m suffering by the fact that I"m being horrified by nightmares more often now.
"So then, what is our plan Kenji-san?"
"Well, the first and most important thing is to understand we"ll be gone for a week. We have all day today and tomorrow morning up to 10 A.M. to get our affairs in order. Up to that point, I want all of you to ensure you have everything you need from clothes to dental products. On top of this, I want all of you to take 500 juns with you."
"Huh? 500 Juns? Onii-san, that"s a crazy amount!"
"Oh hush. 500 juns is just a general number. I"m not asking you to spend that much on the trip, but you DO need to have enough money for souvenirs and extra things. I personally will be bringing 1000 juns. I"ll pay for the housing since I"m the one that proposed this, so you guys should be grateful that I"m only asking you to bring half of that."
I"m basing my decision off of what my father told me when we went to Hawaii once. He said that you should always make sure you have a bit more money than you need just in case.
"Wait, you"re paying? Fufufu… Okay then Kenji! If that"s what you want to do!"
"I"m not paying for everything! Just the basic stuff like housing. I think it"d be pretty mean if I just dropped this on you and expected you all to pay for it. I"m not that type of person. In exchange, I ask that you don"t take advantage of my kindness." I emphasized the last words of that sentence as I looked at both Kany and Tael. They both shrunk slightly in front of my gaze.
"Well I think it"s a great thing to do. I would like for all of us to spend time together doing something that isn"t an adventure! It will definitely bring us closer." Erana clapped her hands together when she said this.
"Well then it"s settled. We"ll meet up tomorrow at 10:30 A.M. here. I want all of you to have your bags and equipment packed. Though we don"t plan on battling, I still want you all to take your adventurer gear just in case, alright?"
"Okay." They all said in unison.
Yimmie brought our breakfast to the table. We began to eat when Tael turned to me to ask a question.
"So Kenji, what are you gonna do with the time you have before tomorrow?"
"Me? I recently distributed my levels, so I want to test out my new abilities. I"m going to head outside the walls and practice for a bit. Any of you want to tag along?"
"Me." Kany raised her hand limply.
"I would also like to test my abilities."
"I learned new spells. I want to test them out too."
"So… All of us are going outside the wall it seems."
"I guess so."
With that, we ate breakfast and prepared for the day ahead.
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