novelraw Chapter 27 : The Shared Room
Chapter 27 : The Shared Room
Chapter 27: The Shared Room
The shared room was in a large warehouse outside the inn.
To be precise, it was inside the warehouse. People lay their bodies down on a spot where straw had been spread.
The sun had long since set, leaving the warehouse interior dark.
The sounds of tossing and turning, snoring, and blades being sharpened.
With all kinds of noises mixed together, it could hardly be called quiet.
‘I guess everyone was asleep. Not even a single candle.’
When he opened the door, he had only glimpsed for a moment that many people were inside.
The door had shut quickly, and darkness fell before Robin’s eyes.
“Kid mercenary. You’ve got yourself some pretty decent gear.”
“Yes. The captain is generous with me. The other mercenaries like me, too.”
One of the men who had brought Robin in laughed with a phlegmy sound.
The atmosphere was off.
Robin subtly hinted that the Calimacos Mercenary Band was behind him.
“The kid’s got quite the attitude. But you know what, brat?”
The men surrounded Robin.
The sound of straw being stepped on pricked his ears.
“In this line of work, the one thing you shouldn’t do is brag about yourself.”
A silent fist approached.
Expecting a sneak attack, Robin rolled his body aside to dodge the man’s flank.
‘How do they attack when they can’t see?’
He swiftly drew his dagger and aimed it at the man.
But Robin’s response was meaningless.
Thud.
“Argh! Which bastard hit my face!”
“You idiot. I told you to beat up the kid, why are you flailing over there!”
In the darkness, the men threw their fists at each other.
At the unexpected farce, Robin quietly edged toward the exit.
“Hey kid, where’re you going!”
The men called after him, but of course he had no intention of answering.
Their eyes hadn’t adjusted to the darkness either.
“Should’ve just slept, what are you all doing over there!”
“What lunatic is making noise at this hour!”
When the men who had brought Robin in made a racket, the others complained.
The men, startled, shut their mouths, and in that gap Robin pushed the door open.
“That brat’s running! Grab him!”
“Grab what, shut up and get lost!”
A scuffle broke out between those trying to catch the boy and those trying to sleep.
The commotion spilled out of the shared room.
Thanks to the training he had done in Butterhills, Robin’s stamina didn’t fall short even compared to adult men.
The men rushed out to grab him, but Robin leisurely returned to the inn.
Torgen and Mirian, who remained on the first floor, waved when they saw Robin.
“Cutie! Did you enjoy your tour of the shared room?”
“It was dark and smelled awful, so I understand why no one wants to go.”
Robin recounted what had just happened.
Torgen frowned.
After finishing the remaining beer, he slammed the mug down and spoke.
“Robin, take the lead.”
“There’s no need for you to step in, Torgen. Those guys aren’t even worth calling mercenaries.”
The men who had suddenly attacked Robin were, at best, third-rate thugs.
For Robin, who had lived as a Stonegoth orphan, that level of threat was nothing.
If it hadn’t been dark, he could have handled them alone.
“They attacked you even after seeing that we were with you. We can’t just let that slide.”
“Torgen’s right. If you let it go after they pick a fight, they’ll do it again next time.”
With even Mirian agreeing, Robin had no choice but to head toward the shared room.
He considered calling Calimacos, but Torgen shook his head.
There was no need to bother the captain, who was surely tired.
“Those guys, right?”
Three men were watching the inn’s entrance from a distance.
They spotted Robin and moved as if to approach, but seeing Torgen and Mirian behind him, they stopped.
There was no way Torgen and Mirian would overlook that movement.
Cracking his neck, Torgen walked toward the men.
“Ahem… Looks like we took the wrong turn.”
“Hold up, we need to talk.”
“I’m busy right now…”
Torgen placed a hand on the shoulder of the man who tried to turn away.
The man tried irritably to knock Torgen’s hand off, but it didn’t budge.
The grip tightened, pressing into the man.
“Ghh… let me go first… then we’ll talk…!”
Only when the man was nearly forced to his knees did Torgen loosen his grip.
There were three of them. Torgen was alone, yet they didn’t dare to challenge him.
Pointing at Robin, Torgen spoke.
“You tried to hit that kid. Why?”
“Well…”
The man hesitated, but when Torgen raised his fist, his attitude changed.
“It was just a small request. Someone said the kid stole his money, so he told us to rough him up a bit and bring him. And the kid’s gear looked pretty valuable, you know.”
Torgen glanced at Robin.
The Taj on his arms and the longsword. Just those alone would fetch money at a forge.
A world where the powerless were robbed.
Looking down at the men with scorn, Torgen continued.
“So you were thinking of stealing from a child. A bunch of bottom-feeders. Who made the request?”
“I don’t know his name. Just an average-built guy. A merchant with narrow, slitted eyes.”
Robin, who had come with Mirian, immediately thought of someone at the man’s words.
“Ahem, that one, huh. The merchant who claimed thieves robbed him blind. The creep who kept glancing at my back while coming from Butterhills.”
As she spoke, Mirian slipped her hand into the man’s back pocket. Her hand came back out holding a pouch of coins.
The man panicked and grabbed Mirian’s wrist, trying to twist it.
Mirian simply watched calmly, as if daring him to try.
“Ghh! What kind of woman has this strength!”
The man swung a fist at Mirian’s wrist.
Amazingly, Mirian didn’t dodge.
She lowered her head slightly and took it with her forehead, and it was the man’s expression that twisted instead.
“Argh!”
Mirian smiled faintly at the sight.
The remaining two men stared blankly, unable to speak, and Mirian’s hand moved again.
After picking their pockets, several dozen coins had piled up.
“All of you already told me everything! What is the meaning of this!”
“Pff! Getting all polite while getting angry, huh. You laid your hands on our cutie, didn’t you.”
‘No. They didn’t actually hit me.’
Mirian pressed her index finger firmly against each man’s forehead in turn, but the men could no longer resist.
Before they knew it, the air around them had grown sharp, as if pierced by needles.
‘It’s hard to breathe. What is this.’
Robin only felt the air grow a little heavier, but the men before his eyes were trembling violently.
Sweat seeped down their foreheads, and tears even pooled in their eyes.
Unable to watch any longer, Torgen lightly tapped Mirian’s arm.
“Mirian, that’s too much.”
Whoosh.
The pressure vanished as if the air had been sucked away somewhere.
“Huff… huff…”
One by one, the men collapsed helplessly to the ground.
On one of them, the shadow around the crotch of his pants spread wider, and the smell of urine began to rise.
“Mirian, what was that just now?”
“Cutie, I’m sorry. This big sister didn’t control herself properly.”
With a gentle smile, Mirian pulled Robin into a hug and rubbed her cheek against his.
Robin tried to push her away, but she wasn’t someone he could overcome by strength.
He wanted to know what on earth had just happened, but Mirian, intent on glossing it over, hugged him even tighter.
‘I—I can’t breathe.’
Only after he flailed in her arms and slapped at her with his hands did Robin manage to get free.
No one knew that Torgen was glancing over enviously at the sight of Robin.
Once the three men regained their breath, they ran away without a word.
Watching them, Mirian tossed the coin pouch into the air and caught it, smiling brightly.
“Anyone who touches our cutie gets punished.”
“Will it be alright? We still have to travel with those people all the way to Baron Tefir’s Territory.”
“Don’t worry. Those guys aren’t mercenaries.”
At the unexpected reply, Robin’s eyes widened slightly.
“Turns out they’re just Vermilion punks.”
“But the captain said they were business partners…”
“Oh, how cute! The captain isn’t always right. Sometimes you jump to conclusions and get it wrong like this.”
Only after hearing Mirian’s words did Robin feel relieved.
But that didn’t mean the problem was gone.
The merchant who had asked them to rough Robin up still bothered him.
‘I thought everything was cleared up after listening to Felix, but maybe not.’
The merchant who suspected Robin of stealing his money was someone they were supposed to protect.
He was affiliated with the Elize Merchant Company as well, so causing trouble would surely be a headache.
“Robin, let’s go find that merchant who holds a grudge against you tomorrow. He’s staying in the same inn, so it’ll be easy.”
“Alright. Thank you for helping me, Torgen, Mirian.”
Robin returned to the inn with Torgen and Mirian.
The claim that it was the finest inn in Vermilion was no lie. The room had a bathroom.
After bathing in warm water, Robin lay down on the soft bed and fell asleep.
His body must have been exhausted, for sleep washed over him like water soaking into cotton.
The next morning.
When Mirian came down for breakfast, she asked the innkeeper if he had seen the merchant.
“That slitted-eyed merchant left early at dawn.”
“Oh dear.”
“Why? I reckon he’ll return by evening at the latest.”
“I hope so. Thank you for telling me.”
“You’ll be eating, then?”
Mirian nodded, and the innkeeper brought out warm stew.
Holding the stew, she trudged toward the table.
Calimacos and Paul, who were already eating, looked at her as if wondering what was wrong.
Mirian told them what had happened yesterday.
“That happened? I should inform Palacio.”
Calimacos said so while giving Paul a sideways glare.
Paul received Calimacos’s stare with a frown.
“If you ask me, that merchant’s probably run for it.”
“Same here. He’s suspicious in every way.”
Calimacos and Paul shared the same opinion.
The mercenary band made no secret of how specially they protected Robin.
And yet the merchant had used punks to threaten him.
If he didn’t want to completely antagonize the mercenaries in charge of his escort, it was an impossible move.
“But Mirian, what’s gotten into you? Waking up early in the morning?”
“Hey! I’m a diligent person too, Captain!”
Paul spoke casually between spoonfuls of stew.
“Is it because of Robin.”
“Pretty much. I felt bad I couldn’t stand up for him back in Butterhills.”
When Robin had wanted to follow Bellif outside the village to gather herbs.
Mirian had been busy gaining experience with the Butterhills youths and couldn’t go with him.
‘To Robin, it must’ve looked like I was just having fun.’
“Our stay in Vermilion won’t be long. We’re supposed to meet the mercenaries hired by the Elize Merchant Company today. If things go quickly, we might leave tomorrow.”
“Paul sure is diligent too. To think you finished talking with Palacio right after sunrise. And that Brandok guy goes without saying.”
“Since the captain doesn’t do his job, someone has to.”
At Paul’s cutting remark, Calimacos shrank slightly.
“Ahem… yesterday was pretty tiring. It’s been a while since we last escorted a merchant group. And hearing they’d been hit by bandits, I couldn’t help but be on edge.”
“Alright, go back and sleep. I’ll let you know when the merchant company people arrive.”
While the three chatted, Robin came down from the second floor.
He bowed to the three mercenaries eating breakfast and ordered his meal from the innkeeper.
Mirian watched him with a contented expression.
“My, my. Your eyes are practically dripping honey.”
“What can I do, Robin’s adorable. I wish I had a little brother like that.”
“Why not just make him your brother.”
At Calimacos’s offhand remark, Mirian’s eyes sparkled.
“That’s a good idea.”
“Shouldn’t you hear what the kid says first?”
Paul hit the mark, but Mirian didn’t care.
Robin returned holding the steaming stew.
“You all woke up early.”
Meeting each of their eyes in turn, Robin flinched when he saw Mirian’s.
They were the eyes of a predator eyeing prey.
“Um… I think I’ll eat separately today.”
“What do you mean? Good Robin should listen to big sister, shouldn’t he?”
Cold sweat trickled down Robin’s neck.
“Tsk. She’s starting again.”
Calimacos and Paul shook their heads and continued eating.