After breakfast, I sat down for a break in the living room with a nice cup of coffee.
By the way, as per everyone’s request, breakfast was served with lots of meat. [2] Specifically, a quick Ginger Fried Orc meat on rice. The strong meaty-gingery smell of breakfast still lingered even after it was all eaten.
“Hey everyone, tomorrow will be exactly one week since we came to this place. How about extending our stay for another three days?” I need time to stock up on more seafood.
“Nuu, three more days? Hasn’t our dungeon trip been delayed long enough?” [5]
“Eeehh? Three more days?! The fish here is delicious, but I want to challenge the dungeon as soon as possible!” [5]
“Sui wants to go to the dungeon too, but Sui is fine to stay a little bit more. The fishies here are yummy~”
Thank you for being my ally, Sui!
“Fer, Dora-chan, it’s only another three days. I need to stock up on more seafood so that we can eat them during our trip. Surely just three more days is fine?”
“Humph, if that’s the case, very well. However, I want to go hunting in the forest today. Being within city walls for too long is restrictive. I want some exercise,” announced Fer.
“If it can’t be helped, it can’t be helped. Hunting is a nice idea, I want to go hunting too!”
The forest?
Well, I still have plenty of Orc meat, but I am running low on Wyvern and Bloody Horn Bull. [1] I guess there’s no harm hunting for some other kinds of meat. Surely getting hold of more meat is a good idea?
“If that’s the case, let’s go to the forest later. Ah, but before that, we must stop by the Merchant’s Guild to inform them about extending our stay. We’ll need to visit the general store too. I also have an errand at the Adventurer’s Guild. We might as well see if they have a mission request at the nearby forest since we’re planning to go there anyway.”
“Umu, might as well.”
Now that we’ve settled our plans, it was time to head out.
My Adventurer’s Guild errand was related to yesterday’s business. After Marks-san had declined my offer to pay, I thought I’d give him and Carlotte-san something else as a token of my appreciation. [1] After some thought, I decided that a cake would make a good gift and baked a couple of pound cakes last night.
I had made a pound cake for Ugor-san last time, so I was fairly certain of my skills. [1] Moreover, I was feeling a little braver and thought I’d try expanding my cake-making skills and make an Earl Grey Tea flavoured cake.
I opened up [Net Super] and picked out a high-end tea that came in a canister. It was very classy looking and a bit more expensive than the ones I’d usually buy.
To make a tea flavoured pound cake, the key is to omit the vanilla essence and to properly crush up the tea leaves. I do this by putting the desired amount of tea leaves into a sturdy plastic bag and beat it with a rolling pin until finely crushed. After which, the crushed leaves would be sifted into the flour with the baking powder.
The tea leaves could also be toasted to increase the scent but since this tea was already pretty high class, I decided to use it as it is.
The tea I used this time was the loose-leaf type, but it’s also fine to use leaves from teabags. Teabag tea is already very fine, so it’s alright to use it directly without having to crush it further.
Now that the cakes were all nicely wrapped up, all I have to do was buy a couple of nice-looking baskets from the general store to put the cakes in. [6] Presentation is important after all. After that, a trip to the Merchant’s Guild to extend my stay for another three days.
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The rental extension was dealt with smoothly at the Merchant’s Guild. As expected of a guild filled with courteous professionals.
When I told the receptionist that I wish to extend my stay for another three days, all I had to do was pay an additional 28 gold coins for the rent. It was all done very easily. [1] After that, I bought two baskets at the general store for the cakes I’d baked and made my way to the Adventurer’s Guild.
As soon as the receptionist saw me, the Guild Master was informed.
“Ou, is something the matter?”
“I’m here to convey my thanks to Marks-san and Carlotte-san for your assistance yesterday.”
“What the heck, don’t worry about that!”
“Well, I know you said I don’t have to pay you, but please accept this handmade dessert as a show of my gratefulness. Could you also pass this other basket to Carlotte-san?”
“Ou, I understand. You really don’t have to go through all that trouble. Ah, but I’ll make sure that Carlotte gets this one. Since it’s dessert, my wife will definitely be delighted to receive it.” Marks-san was grinning happily.
Oh, to think that this scary looking man has a wife. A little curious, I asked him about his wife and ended up standing there for a long time as he gushed about his other half.
It turned out that Marks-san used to be an A Rank Adventurer. Most high ranking Adventurers tended not to have a partner as they had to be on the move all the time. Being on the move alone made it difficult to keep a relationship. Therefore, most high ranking Adventurers ended up being single.
“I retired from adventuring when I was 40 due to injuries. Later, I was asked to take charge of this guild as the Guild Master…”
After having settled down, he reunited with his wife, who left her hometown to live with him in this city.
Marks-san’s wife came from a village where he performed a mission 10 years ago. There, a beauty greeted him. [6] He was shocked to realise that this woman was once the village tomboy he used to tease when he passed through the same village a long time ago as a young Adventurer.
From then on, he would deliberately pass through this same village and over time their feelings deepened. When she turned 22, whispers of being ‘leftover goods’ began to follow her.
However, it was difficult to find people who wish to marry a woman with sick parents. The villagers pitied her and admired her work ethic, but no man wanted to be burdened with sick in-laws. This was why she was still unmarried when Marks-san met her the second time.
Eventually, however, her parents passed away, one after the other. A year after her parents died, the two of them began to think about getting married and spending their lives together.
“The wife, you know, said she was never going to marry and wanted to be able to support herself. So, she wants to learn how to read and write.”
The person who taught her these skills was none other than Marks-san himself.
In this era, women tended to marry early. 18 was the latest age for marriage with the earliest being 15 years old. Most women would be married with two children by the time they were 18.
Therefore women who missed the window of opportunity will usually be too ashamed to even show themselves in society. [1] Therefore, Marks-san was very struck by this woman’s strong and positive attitude to life. It was no exaggeration to say that their age gap was wide. She was young enough to be his daughter, but he continued to woo her patiently and eventually succeeded.
“We had a daughter last year. Ah, my little girl is so cute, just like her mother~” Marks-san was so clearly happy that his face became all droopy…
Curses, to think that even a pirate ossan [8] like him turned out to be a normie [9]…
“Back in my Adventurer days, I did wonder if I would ever marry and settle down. Ah, but it’s so lovely to be married. Ahahaha!” Marks-san slapped me on the back.
It’s painful…
“As a high ranking Adventurer yourself, make sure you don’t miss your chance to get married!”
Slap! Slap!
[6] Ugh, ugh, stop slapping me!
However, what was even more painful than the slaps was Marks-san’s aura of happiness. I really can’t deal with this happy Marks-san, must retreat!
“To be honest, I am also here to check on mission request. I- I shall go do that now,” and ran away.
[Gumihou: Ahahaha, poor single dog Mukouda-san~]
[1] Structural Change: Combine 2 paragraphs
[2] Structural Change: Combine 3 paragraphs
[3] Structural Change: Combine paragraph & dialogue
[4] Structural Change: Change passive sentence to dialogue
[5] Delete Repetitive or Pointless Information
[6] Additional Information for Aesthetic Purpose
[7] Add Dialogue Tag
[8] Ossan – uncle or older man
[9] Normie – a derogatory term for couples by jealous single dogs