"Young man. Where'd you come from? How's a fellow in such rough work so fair and handsome~?"

"Haha... Thanks for the meal."

I'd unpacked at the village's one and only inn.

All the way there, the little ones had worshipped me like an idol.

When I promised more candy tomorrow, the kids cheered with every ounce of their souls.

The sweet temptation that had come into their dull lives would keep them up tonight.

Then I sat down to an early dinner.

"Want a beer too? Shall I give you a strong one? Mercenaries like the strong stuff~."

"Shall I?"

"Heh heh. My craft beer was the best in all of Bersha Castle~."

The old woman who ran the inn gave me a gap-toothed grin.

Few people came this way, so I was the inn's only guest.

For a medieval inn, it was cleaner than I'd expected.

It was rough-looking outside, built of wood and brick, but neat and tidy inside.

I ordered dinner, the one and only item on the menu.

The old woman—owner, cook and server all in one—hadn't had a guest in a long while, and she took an unusual interest in me.

She didn't get to see mercenaries often, she said.

Once she got talking, she spun yarns from the days when she sold liquor in the Count of Bersha's castle.

Meanwhile, I was amazed at the meal set before me.

Fish soup with potatoes, thick fried fish, fish instead of meat in the bread, and so on.

All kinds of fish greeted me.

"I guess you catch a lot of fish?"

"Fish? Plenty~. We might not have meat, but we've always had fish to spare. The lake's full of them. Didn't you see the dogs in the street trotting off with fish in their mouths?"

Granny's jokes were spot-on.

"Oh! This is really delicious!"

I bit into a piece of nicely fried fish and let out a cry.

The salty, grilled fish was firm and springy.

Add the smoky char and the rich, nutty fish oil, and my taste buds went wild.

"Good, isn't it?"