Ch.92The Road to the Crusis Mountains (8)

“Thank you for your hard work. Here’s your settlement payment.”

Swish.

The receptionist handed me two gold coins.

I took them, looked at them for a moment, then put them in my spatial storage as I recalled when I first became an adventurer.

Back then, I would have been overjoyed with just a few dozen copper coins, but now, with hundreds of silver coins’ worth of quality equipment hanging from my body, I felt little excitement even looking at two gold coins.

I’d heard the saying that position shapes a person, but it was truly remarkable how easily one could lose their initial mindset.

It had been just over 10 months since I set out on adventures. But I didn’t think the hardships I’d endured were meaningless.

After all, to pump water, you need to prime the pump first.

“Are you done?”

“Yeah. Now we just need to rent three boats at the lake, and we’ll be finished with our business in this Waterfall.”

“Hehe… boat ride…”

Raisha clung to me like glue, while Lucia and Casia watched our affectionate behavior with great interest.

I wasn’t sure what elven displays of affection were like, but I figured they couldn’t be that different from humans.

“Follow me then. While you were collecting your money, I already secured us a spot.”

“Oh?”

“I noticed there are many food stalls near the dock. When I asked around, they said many people eat boxed lunches on the boats.”

“Boxed lunches, huh…”

At construction sites, many workers brought boxed lunches.

Most had cold sandwiches to save money. Those who couldn’t afford even that filled their stomachs with a few pieces of hardened bread, while those better off would flock to the food carts that always simmered stew near the construction sites for a warm bowl.

Of course, I belonged to the former group.

“I’ve never had a boxed lunch before, so it wouldn’t be bad to try one. What do you all think?”

“I’m for it.”

“Me too.”

“I’d like that too.”

By definition, a boxed lunch simply meant packed food, but most people recognized it as food packed in round or rectangular containers with bread, meat, and other items.

By that understanding, chewing on jerky and hardtack didn’t count as eating a boxed lunch, so I wasn’t exactly lying.

“Come to think of it, this will be my first boat ride too.”

“Taking a boat tour around a lake is quite expensive. It’s natural that someone from your background wouldn’t have had the chance.”

“Are you saying poor people can’t enjoy cultural activities and leisure?”

“No… that’s not what I meant…”

“I’m joking. No need to worry about it.”

I teased Simon as I walked toward the dock, with the other four following behind me.

As Simon had said, there were many food stalls near the dock with enticing aromas. I distributed silver coins to my party members, telling them to buy whatever they wanted.

“Let’s meet at the dock when everyone’s done.”

After saying that, I walked with Raisha toward a stall with a particularly good smell.

*

“So it was fried food after all.”

“I… haven’t eaten much fried food.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Oil is expensive…”

“I haven’t eaten much of it either.”

I had tried fried food a few times, but I didn’t go out of my way to eat it.

Stalls selling fried food were hard to find, and the price was high due to the cost of oil, batter, and firewood.

Moreover, my stomach from Parcifal had no affinity with oil, so whenever I ate oily foods like fried dishes, I would inevitably get diarrhea.

But now my stomach was somewhat more accustomed to oil, and I had enough money, so wouldn’t fried food eaten while listening to the waterfall be somewhat poetic?

With that thought, I approached a stall frying chicken.

“Welcome! What would you like?”

The vendor in a white apron was covered in oil stains and seasoning marks.

“What do you have?”

“Everything you could want. Fried chicken… seasoned chicken… soy sauce chicken… and if you don’t like dealing with bones, we have boneless options too.”

When I asked, he showed me the displayed chickens with a grin, and I quickly scanned them, checking the price list.

Fifty copper coins per chicken.

Almost twice as expensive as a typical main dish.

However, to someone who had just received two gold coins and 300 silver coins, it was a pitiful price. So I stood proudly as a customer and examined the menu.

“…Everything looks delicious.”

“Then let’s buy one of each.”

“Oh. Are you sure? That’s a lot of food… With drinks included, you won’t be able to finish half of it.”

When the vendor worried about our stomachs bursting, I silently jiggled Raisha’s ample chest, and the vendor nodded with a small sigh.

“As you can see, my woman needs a lot of nutrients.”

“I… I understand. What would you like to drink?”

“Lager.”

“Alright. That’ll be three silver coins in total.”

“Hmm.”

I handed over three silver coins, and soon a bag containing hot chicken and cold lager was placed in my hand.

When I carried it to the dock, the elf sisters and Simon were in similar situations. The elf sisters had takoyaki hanging around their necks, poking at them to eat, and Simon had fried food crumbs around his mouth, clearly having already enjoyed some.

“I guess you don’t need change.”

“I succumbed to the temptation of fried food…”

Simon said that while sipping beer to cleanse his palate, and the elf sisters were mindlessly poking at their takoyaki.

They had bonito flakes stuck to their mouths, but what could I do? They weren’t my women anyway.

“Here are three boats.”

“We have long, medium, and short courses. Which would you prefer?”

“How much time difference is there?”

“The long one is 3 hours, medium is 2 hours, and short is 1 hour.”

“Then three of the long ones.”

“That’ll be 12 silver coins.”

I paid 12 silver coins and received three boats enchanted with magic that glowed blue when viewed with Navis.

Soon, Raisha and I boarded the first boat, Simon the second, and the elf sisters the third. After the dock staff confirmed we were all aboard, they checked the boats for any issues and began reading the safety instructions.

“If you lose any belongings, please don’t disembark. Inform us when you return after completing the tour. Also, please refrain from jumping or rocking the boat, as it may negatively affect operation. If you deliberately interfere with the boat’s operation, remove the enchantment, or damage the boat, you will be liable for compensation. Do you agree?”

“Yes.”

“Enjoy your time.”

With that, the boats floated up and began to move forward gently, and we unwrapped our chicken.

*

“Delicious.”

“Beautiful.”

Appreciating the difference between taste and sight, we passed under the gracefully hanging branches of a willow tree.

In the distance, a waterfall created a spray of water with a refreshing sound, and our boat slowly circled around it, moving from downstream to upstream.

Raisha had placed the chicken box on her knees and was munching on seasoned chicken, while I had placed my chicken box on top of her head and was eating soy sauce chicken.

The beauty of the willow trees shaking and dropping leaves as we magically traveled against the downward flow of water was beyond words.

The sound of flowing water, the people visible on the distant path, and the subtle fragrance of autumn flowers…

“The autumn flowers will soon fade.”

“Winter is coming soon.”

In the city, it was difficult to see nature, so regardless of whether it was spring, summer, autumn, or winter, except for the clothing of passersby, it was hard to feel the seasons.

Except that summer was hot and winter was cold.

Flowers growing along the streets would soon die, and greenhouse plants grew in perpetual heat, so I had to learn the concept of flowers by looking at encyclopedias with color photographs.

“As autumn flowers fade, winter flowers will bloom. Like frost settling on branches.”

“When winter comes, let’s make a snowman together.”

“A snowman… That would be nice.”

Parcifal had a lot of snow.

Children, regardless of wealth, enjoyed making snowmen, and snowball fights were one of the children’s pastimes that even adults enjoyed.

How strange. Despite the cold, the sea never freezes…

“Whenever I see sights like this, I think I made the right decision to set out on an adventure.”

“Me too.”

By the flowing waterfall, we whispered words of love and then kissed.

Someday, when this adventure ends, I will pass on the beauty of the world I’ve seen to my descendants through words.