Chapter 250: Shopping in the Fortress City
I left Ruta at the rental stable.
「He might try to escape or go on a rampage, but please take good care of him. 」
The shopkeeper visibly stiffened, but he immediately became amicable and cordial after I handed a hefty tip to him, so it would probably be alright.
Next stop was the inn. We left our luggages there. I gave the innkeeper a bit of change as tip and asked him to keep an eye on our rooms. I would take the valuables with me, but the heavy ones would be left behind. The rooms in the inn were locked, but you never know, there were lots of thieves around here.
The inn that Retze arranged for us was quite nice. He probably considered Ash; we got double rooms for both the upper and the lower floors. Adventurers would usually book a far smaller room and they would huddle together like cramped sardines.
There were two beds inside the room, and Ash, Butler, Khan and I would share it. Khan and I would sleep on the floor, huh. It was impossible to expect an inn to have a single room, or maybe a bed for each person in this world. Both inn and the occupants would cram as many as they could into the rooms after all.
The sheets were freshly washed and the mattresses made of bundled straw were also new. It’s a decent inn all in all. I hate bugs, so I still left some bug repellent on a plate.
We went out to replenish the ingredients we consumed during our journey from Canum to the fortress city, and to dine out.
Now that I looked around the fortress city calmly, I could see how prosperous it was. There were far more people here than in Canum, and even the adventurers had their weapons in order. I also spotted many well-off folks clad in nice clothes. There were many stalls and shops, and there were even folks in the plaza earning a living through performances. The stone pavements were well-maintained, and there were no obviously abandoned houses as far as I could see.
However, the alleys were teeming with thin, weak people leaning against the walls, or else emaciated children with only their bright eyes filled with life. Yeah, that’s only natural, not everyone who lived here basked in happiness after all.
The streets frequented by adventurers were lined up with several stores carrying lots of goodies that were suitable for bringing to the forest or labyrinth. Tanned smoked fish were hung up, and they also had dried meat in boxes, bundles of firewood, hard-baked biscuits, and several varieties of cheese.
Hats, coats, knives, bags, whetstones for sword maintenance, deer leather — There were a lot of things that I hadn’t seen before. It was quite fun. Ah, the water bottle looks nice, maybe I could get a new one.
「Hey, what are you doing, buying so much? 」Retze asked.
「Uhh…. 」
I didn’t snag fish and meat, but I couldn’t resist buying several types of rock-hard rye bread and a bit of cheese — I ended up buying a whole lot without noticing.
「I’m gonna eat them all in the Labyrinth! 」
「…Well, I guess you can carry them, and you do work hard, so it’s fine. 」
Retze muttered with a sigh. He replenished his charcoal and bought wine instead of water. Those were too bulky and heavy to carry from Canum to this place after all.
I already brought dried black peats cut into planks with me, so I skipped the coals. Ah, but I still need to buy more water.
When peat burns, it would only emit half of the heat that charcoal would with the same weight, but that’s fine since I’m also adding twigs and branches later. Too much drying and the peat would crumble and it would be hard to handle. Even so, it burns nicely. By the way, the peat was dug from the marshlands where Reid was headed to, and I dried it.
Dean considered the weight of his luggage while buying stuff. He opted to get more jerky and just a bit of meat cured in brine. Oh well, it’s still meat. Ash and Chris bought dried fruits that weren’t usually seen in Canum. Butler chose spices and condiments, Khan wine and Dinosso was inspecting the nougats. Everyone was free to choose whatever stuff they wanted to buy after we completed the minimum number of items we would need for the Labyrinth.
「Ash, the raisins in this store are bigger and sweet. 」
「Mm. 」
I checked the goods with【Appraisal】while searching for the safe and delicious food. I showed her a piece and have her taste it.
「Ah, you’re right! I’m buying some too. 」
Chris also ate a piece and decided to purchase it.
「Khan, this wine is undiluted. 」
Khan chose wine, cheese and various nuts. He sustains himself by taking in from the spirits around him, particularly the tiny ones, and Bayliss is also with him, so he can manage. Eating with his mouth was just vestiges from when he was still human. He won’t get drunk no matter how much he drank too, apparently.
The nougat Dinosso chose was dried fruits and nuts wrapped coated with sugar and starch syrup. If it’s delicious, he would buy more to bring home to the kids, so he also bought a little bit of other varieties here and there. Daddy seemed to be having fun.
We had dinner after shopping.
One of the dishes was pork sliced from the pig being roasted in the fireplace. It was plated with roasted onions. We also had some liver.
It’s customary in this fortress city to eat liver before entering the labyrinth, apparenlty. Hmm, is it for replenishing vitamins? Well, liver is rich in Vitamin A, although overconsumption can be toxic, this much is probably fine.
Ah, they also served liver paste, smoked liver, as well as lemon soaked in honey, dried limes and vegetables.
The packed meals available here were usually cheese, dried meat, biscuits and food like that. And dried apples — barely satisfactory. I couldn’t help but worry about their nourishment, but since they have the liver eating tradition, it’s a bit of a relief? Anyway, let’s set that aside for now.
「The pork is so tender!! 」
They only sprinkled some salt on the sliced pork, but it was super delicious.
「This store only uses two-horned wild boars. It’s a famous specialty of the fortress city, you know. 」
Seemed like this store was Dean’s choice. That’s the Meat Master for you!
NEXT CHAPTER
RELEASE RATE
I Got Transferred in the Middle of a Mountain
Speed up schedule by 10 hours
Current schedule: Every 80 hours
Thanks.