Ch.166The Cliff of Stairs. Maximus Canyon (1)

“We’ve finally arrived!”

“Ugh… My butt feels shriveled from being pressed against the saddle.”

“It’s almost lunchtime, so we should secure lodging first.”

“Let’s do that. I’ll collect our payment at the Adventurer’s Guild… You elf sisters find a nice inn.”

“Okay!”

At last. We had reached Maximus Gorge.

The phrase that best described Maximus Gorge was ‘terraced cliff.’

This was because the deeply carved gorge clearly revealed the boundaries of geological layers formed over hundreds of thousands of years.

As if to prove this, the flag of the city-state established in Maximus Gorge was a seven-colored banner, representing the seven geological layers. This seemed to be the city’s fashion code, as these seven-colored flags could be seen everywhere.

“Ice cream for sale! Maximus Gorge special 7-layer ice cream!”

And the most impressive of all was the 7-layer ice cream, which I couldn’t even imagine how they managed to stack.

“I definitely need to try that.”

“Wow, I’ve never seen ice cream stacked so high before.”

“Me neither. Raisha, you take the horses and go with the others.”

“Yes, Master.”

After saying that, I dismounted and handed the reins to my wife, then went to find the Adventurer’s Guild.

The Adventurer’s Guild was located near the city entrance. When I entered, it was crowded with adventurers who had arrived like us, all gathered to collect their payments. Rather than joining that chaos, I chose to relax at the café attached to the guild, enjoying a refreshing glass of lemonade.

Before long, adventurers who had received their payments left the guild with various expressions on their faces. When things quieted down, I approached the receptionist to settle my request.

“Request completion confirmed. Here’s your payment. 50 silver coins.”

“Hmm.”

Perhaps because I’ve been spending so much gold lately, my body has become unsatisfied with the meager rewards from ordinary requests.

Feeling the bitter truth behind the term “reverse progression,” I placed the payment in my spatial storage and left the Adventurer’s Guild.

“Hey~! We’ve got an inn! Hurry up!”

In the distance, I could see the elf twins already licking their 7-layer ice cream. I walked toward them.

“Is that good?”

“Well… it’s okay. It’s super thick and dense, probably trying to capture the texture of earth.”

“Hmm… You two are snacking before meals… Sweet things make it hard to eat properly later.”

“But alcohol goes down just fine, doesn’t it?”

I gave Lucia a light knock on the head, then followed Casia’s lead into the inn that the other party members had chosen.

Inside the inn, there was a strong aroma of smoke mixed with meat, as if something was being smoked. Judging by the tables around us piled high with meat, this seemed to be an inn for carnivores.

“Did you order anything yet?”

“I ordered five portions of spicy pork. Anything else you want?”

“Let’s see…”

I pulled out the menu and started selecting dishes that appealed to me.

“Did you order drinks?”

“Ah. Not yet.”

At the word “not yet,” I looked around at the elf sisters in surprise.

What could it possibly mean that those alcoholics hadn’t ordered any drinks?

“Lager? Ale?”

“They have makgeolli. Can we have that?”

Makgeolli…

I’d often seen farmers drinking it during their breaks, but I’d never tried it myself.

And that statement meant I could try it now.

“Sure, let’s go with makgeolli. What else?”

Here, “what else” referred to dishes, not alcohol.

After all, even though this place specialized in meat, they didn’t sell only meat.

“I want naengmyeon.”

“Bibim style?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Order here!”

When I called out loudly, an employee who had been making fried rice rushed over.

“Yes! How may I help you?”

“Five bottles of makgeolli… bibim naengmyeon and mul naengmyeon. Also, stone pot bibimbap, soft tofu stew, and doenjang ssambap.”

“Yes! I’ll bring them right away!”

The energetic employee grabbed the long order slip and ran to the kitchen.

I’ve always wondered if low-level employees like that work on performance-based pay.

Well, working hard is a good thing anywhere.

*

Chomp! Chomp!

“Oh, hell yeah. This is it.”

I exclaimed in delight as I wrapped spicy pork in a perilla leaf and ate it.

Even though our party ate better than most adventurer parties, where scurvy wasn’t uncommon, it couldn’t compare to proper food seasoned with all kinds of spices and sauces.

“This place has great sauce. Spicy and sweet.”

“Did I choose well?”

“You chose very well.”

I gave Lucia an air pat and then took a swig of makgeolli.

The sweet aroma characteristic of grain alcohol tickled my nose, and a refreshing sensation filled my mouth.

Slurp. Slurp. Slurp. Slurp.

“By the way, who first thought of putting bibimbap in a stone pot?”

“Who knows? I guess there were food scientists even back then.”

“Food scientists…”

I almost spat out my makgeolli at Lucia’s peculiar and frivolous wording.

Right. As they say, experience makes the master. Figuring out how to make food taste better is an ancient human instinct, so it wouldn’t be strange in any era.

“So what are we doing next?”

“Well, the Adventurer’s Guild was giving out free tourist brochures. We can use those to get around.”

“Starting tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Today, let’s just wander around freely. After being stuck together for three weeks, we need some social distancing.”

“Hehehe… social distancing, he says…”

Casia laughed strangely with noodles covered in sauce filling her mouth, but I chose to put more spicy pork in my mouth rather than respond to her.

Surprisingly, the five portions of spicy pork began to disappear in less than five minutes. Despite each of us ordering individual dishes, the speed at which the meat vanished was astonishing.

Is this… the tragedy of the commons?

“Five more portions of spicy pork, please!”

“Yes!”

But I had money, and restaurants were places to make money.

I swallowed the trinity of spicy pork, perilla leaf, and rice remaining in my mouth, then downed the last sip of makgeolli.

“Ah!”

Perhaps because of its low alcohol content, it went down much more smoothly than wine or brandy.

“Five more bottles of makgeolli, too!”

“Yes! Coming right away!”

Before long, a large platter of bright red spicy pork replaced the first platter, which had resembled a pool of blood, at the center of our table. We began opening the newly placed makgeolli bottles as if loading shells into a cannon.

“Since awakening my aura, it seems like my appetite has only increased.”

“Yeah, same here. My stomach capacity grew enormously after my aura awakened.”

“I hope this doesn’t all turn into fat.”

“If it does, we can just burn it off during adventures.”

Increased metabolism means being able to eat more delicious food in larger quantities.

Perhaps while I was being pummeled by the Yeti, my stomach was also being tenderized like meat?

“He ate three pieces of pork at once!”

“Hahaha! The sauce on your face looks like lipstick!”

Perhaps it was the alcohol, but we engaged in frivolous and vulgar conversation while ravenously filling our stomachs.

Only after a meal worth 10 silver coins did our feast finally end, and I suddenly sobered up when I realized I had blown through one-fifth of the money earned during three weeks of adventuring on a single meal.

“De-li-cious.”

“Yeah… if it’s delicious, that’s what matters.”

Looking at my wife patting her stomach with a dazed expression, I paid 20 silver coins.

Ten for the food, and the other ten for lodging for the five of us.

“Eating makes me sleepy. I’m going to bed.”

“Me too…”

The elf sisters took their keys and went upstairs immediately.

I’ve heard that sleeping right after eating can cause acid reflux… well, not my problem.

Expecting their stomachs to be fine after drinking so much alcohol is honestly a bit unreasonable.

“Simon, what about you?”

“I’ll explore the city’s library to gather information.”

“Is that so? Then I’ll take a walk with Raisha to help with digestion.”

“Do as you please.”

Since Simon said he would spend time reading books at the library, I planned to enjoy some quality time with my wife.

I carried my wife in my arms and went outside, kissing her as we felt the now-warm breeze.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

After whispering that to me, my wife fell asleep in my arms.

As I listened to my wife’s breathing tickling my neck and watched millions of people returning to work after lunch, I sensed that the time had come to leave this continent.

“One year…”

It had been a year since I began my adventure.

An adventure that started at the end of winter had now continued until the beginning of spring again.

How many more winters, springs, summers, and autumns would I encounter in the future?

Perhaps far fewer than I thought. Or perhaps far more.

But… that would be okay.

Whether my adventure was long or short, I would no longer be adventuring alone.

After this brief contemplation, I carried my wife up to our room, feeling the spring breeze against my face.