DAY 18: NIGHT — INN

DAY 18

NIGHT

♦

INN

THE LADY FINGER BOUDOIR

 

THE GUILD WORKERS guided us to the inn. The sign over the entrance read “Lady Finger Boudoir.” Was this a love hotel or a bakery?!

What kind of sicko would bring twenty girls to a love hotel? Did they assess the Class Rep’s skills and assume that she’d assembled a harem? I felt Class Rep’s piercing stare. Just thinking about delicious desserts! Yeah, pastries and tiramisu! What skill made her eyes so sharp?

Looking closely, I realized that wasn’t what was written on the sign. It actually said “Laddy Flinger Boudoir.” Someone call the cops! There’s a monster throwing guys around; it’s actually a hotel!

“Welcome! The Adventurers’ Guild told us you’d be coming.”

A young girl stood by the entrance and passed out flyers for the Boudoir. What’s a young girl doing advertising a love hotel? This is totally depraved!

I turned around. “Let’s go back! The Adventurers’ Guild has to answer for its degenerate recommendation! I’ll burn them to the ground!”

“Excuse me, sir, please don’t leave. Our inn merely has an odd name. Please don’t burn anything!”

“No, this is unacceptable,” I said. “Anyone who takes us to the Lady Finger Boudoir is a pervert targeting high school students. This is an obvious den of iniquity! Why would you name your inn that?”

The girl with the flyers was holding back her tears. She had a point when she told me to stay. Why waste my time burning down the Adventurers’ Guild? This place is the real problem…

“Haruka-kun, why are you holding your staff like a rifle?” Class Rep asked. “Why did you just take aim at the inn? Did you just pull back an imaginary bolt-action lever?! Your eyes have the dark intensity of a trained assassin! You’re making that poor girl cry! What’s your problem?!”

“Huh? I won’t shoot! Well, now I won’t. I was just, y’know, indulging in my fantasies?”

“What kind of fantasies are those?! Is this what you think about when you visit an inn?”

“Class Rep,” I implored, “could you imagine saying ‘last night I stayed at the Lady Finger Boudoir?’ We need to do something!”

She thought about it for a moment. “Fire.”

Her wish was my command. Torching this place would be its own reward.

“Wait! No, don’t shoot!” the flyers girl shouted. “The guild staff recommended us because we’re a great inn. All of our many patrons choose to stay because of our commitment to hospitality. Please don’t destroy them…”

Tears began to fall onto the girl’s stack of flyers. She was bawling.

Rolling my eyes, I said, “Fine. I won’t fire.”

I gave the girl a pat on the head. Her face flushed crimson, and she scampered inside.

“Pa, customers are here!”

There’s always tomorrow, I thought. I can burn it down then.

Everyone glared at me like I was the pervert who named the place. I don’t deserve this kind of judgment!

We piled into the building and enjoyed a delicious dinner. It was my first proper meal in ages, and it tasted incredible. The hot spring bath required an additional fee to use, but the rooms were decent. It just needs a new damn name.

The girl with the flyers told us that the Lady Finger Boudoir was named after a local hero from the owners’ hometown. What kind of parents would name their kid Lady Finger?

When the town was pillaged by a swarm of monsters, Lady Finger led all the townspeople to safety and single-handedly drove off the monsters. He defeated all the monsters but succumbed to his wounds in the end. The town was utterly destroyed.

No one knew his real name, so they called him the Lady Finger. Seriously, why?!

To honor his memory and his heroism, they named the inn the Lady Finger Boudoir. That hero would probably hate the name. Lady Finger, did he have delicate hands?

“Ever since I was a tot, Ma, Pa, Grandma, and Grandpa all told me stories about him,” said the girl with the flyers. “I only recently noticed that it’s an odd name. But we’re so grateful for him. I want to be just like him when I grow up!”

Looks like changing the name is out of the question, I thought. She’s been brainwashed from a young age. Still, they should repaint the sign.

“When he helped us escape, he gave us a big grin, turned back and said, ‘This here’s my town. No chance of me leaving it. Gonna defend my home till my dying breath. I’m doing this for all of ya, so y’all need to build yourselves a new life somewhere else. Build a place that makes people smile.’ He laughed as he made his last stand. We wanted our inn to be that place. That’s why we named it after him.”

Aside from the name, he did sound like a real legend.

There was no chance they’d be persuaded to change the name. They were the types who wouldn’t change it even if it meant going bankrupt.

I went to my room to relax and check my stats.

 

NAME: Haruka

RACE: Human

LV: 09

JOB: —

HP: 120

MP: 122

VIT: 118

POW: 117

SPE: 118

DEX: 116

RES: 130

INT: 134

LUK: Max (Above Limit)

SP: 177

COMBAT SKILLS: Cane Mastery Lv6, Evasion Lv5, Foresight Lv5, Magic Infusion Lv6,

MAGIC: Heat Lv4, Movement Lv6, Weight Lv5, Packing Lv5, Four Elements Lv5, Wood Lv4, Lightning Lv3, Ice Lv2

SKILLS: General Health Lv3, Sensitivity Lv3, Calisthenics Lv4, Walking Lv6, Servitude Lv3, Appraisal Lv5, Clairvoyance Lv5, Presence Detection Lv6, Enemy Tracking Lv6, Magic Manipulation Lv6, Presence Concealment Lv5, Stealth Lv5, Hiding Lv4, Map Lv5, Focus Lv6, Physics Resistance Lv4, MP Regeneration Lv5, Stamina Regeneration Lv3, Parallel Thinking Lv3, Serial Thinking Lv3, Dash Lv1, Airwalk Lv1

TITLES: Shut-In Lv4, NEET Lv3, Loner Lv4, Sorcerer Lv5

ABILITIES: Corporate Proactiveness Lv3, Master of None Lv3, Blockhead Lv3

EQUIPMENT: Wooden Stick?, Clothes Set?, Leather Glove?, Leather Boots?, Cloak?, Contact Lenses?, Ring of the Destitute, Bag of Holding, Monster Bracelet Power +1% Speed +1%

 

As expected, I couldn’t fly, but I’d learned Dash. Did that just mean I could move even faster, or did it mean I could cause damage by crashing into things? Probably a little bit of both.

Then there was Airwalk. That sounded like a secret basketball technique, like a Chaos Dunk or some other slam jam. If I could really walk on air, I’d be eating roast pigeon for dinner in no time.

I was a Sorcerer now, too, and my intelligence and resistance were in the low 130s.

Did spellcasters in this world become more powerful by fighting monsters? That would explain why my Sorcerer level was going up so fast. Maybe I’ll have to start fighting from the rear like other mages? This world can be so intimidating.