Chapter 196

Noeul-ie and Pallang-ie, who had caught the sparks unintentionally because of Roan, were extremely sad.

However, divine beasts and spiritual beasts were clever creatures capable of instinctively judging the strength of an existence.

Knowing that Roan was far more powerful than their master, they could not protest otherwise.

“Hahaha, Roan is truly frugal. Even if you rebuild the family later, I think you will manage it well.”

“I agree.”

When the young Roan did not think of spending the large sum of money immediately, the two adults praised him with pleased expressions.

“Hehe, Roan has been saving everything since he was little~”

Yusina blustered as if she were the one who had received the praise.

Roan asked her with a bewildered expression:

“Do you mean when I was two years old…?”

Was there anything for a two-year-old to save?

At this, Yusina shrugged her shoulders and said:

“Of course~ I tell you, back then you even split your baby food into several portions to save it? Uncle, you remember, right?”

“Ah! That’s right. I was worried thinking Roan was refusing to eat, but you can’t imagine how surprised I was when I found out he was portioning it.”

“…”

Roan was left speechless.

‘What on earth was this fellow Roan doing?’

To save baby food of all things because he had nothing else to save.

He himself was one thing, but the original Roan did not seem normal either.

‘Because he was that kind of fellow, he naively handed his body over to me on the magic circle!’

…Though it was spitting in his own face, thinking like this seemed to make him feel a bit better.

Meanwhile, Sion, who had been listening to the conversation, spoke doubtfully:

“T-That is amazing, Darc…”

Her expression was complicated, showing that she agreed for now since Espard and Yusina found it so admirable, even though she wondered if it was really something to praise.

Roan frowned slightly and said:

“I do not think it is something to praise so highly.”

“Ah… I suppose so, right?”

When Roan, the person in question, said that, only then did Sion look relieved.

It seemed Espard and Yusina had a tendency to treat Roan as an incredibly great person, perhaps because they had watched him since childhood.

‘Ah, is that not it? He is a great person, but…’

Of course, Sion also thought Roan was amazing, but it felt strangely different in nature.

For instance, the feeling of parents rejoicing that their child would enter the top university just because they could do simple addition!

“Farewell, Saint, Saintesses! And to the Professor and Young Master Darc as well!”

Receiving the guard’s grand cheers like that, Roan’s group returned to the street.

Roan spoke first.

“How about we head to the lodging to unpack and have dinner? I believe it was called ‘Jane’s Horn’.”

Espard also nodded in agreement.

“Ah, we should! The luggage is starting to feel heavy. Huh?”

Then, as if something suddenly came to mind, he tilted his head and asked Tirmy:

“Professor, by the way, do you know an inn called Jane’s Horn? I haven’t been to Gilsberg in a very long time, so I don’t know it well.”

“I do not.”

Tirmy also shook her head.

In the first place, Tirmy, who valued efficiency, rarely went outside Akerandir.

For preparing for contingencies in a familiar place was always the most efficient.

“That’s a problem. If we ask people, things will probably get needlessly loud.”

If they did, the kind citizens of the Empire would make a fuss, each claiming they would guide them.

Espard seemed slightly worried about what to do.

At that, Roan naturally spoke up.

“Hmm. Jane’s Horn was built recently, so it makes sense you wouldn’t know it. It should be roughly around there.”

With that, Roan walked forward with confident strides!

Although he had said, ‘It should be roughly around there,’ the group whispered among themselves as they watched him.

“Somehow, that…”

“…looks like he knows, right?”

“Indeed…”

To anyone, those were the steps of a person who knew exactly where the destination was.

In the first place, wasn’t it highly suspicious that he knew Jane’s Horn was newly built when it was also his first time coming here?

[Master, you didn’t actually live here, right?]

‘It is my first time coming here in person.’

Roan replied immediately to Bel’s question.

Although the map was practically engraved in his head because he had visited so many times in the game, coming here in person was truly a first.

Just before Roan could blend into the crowd with his fast steps,

“Uh-uh! Wait for us, Roan!”

“If we lose you, we will really get lost!”

the other members also hurriedly followed close behind Roan.

Tirmy, on the other hand, had already begun following Roan early on.

‘It is a good thing as long as he knows where the inn is. Why ponder the reason?’

…As expected, it was the Tirmy of efficiency.

***

Jane’s Horn was located not very far from the busiest square in downtown Gilsberg.

“This is it.”

“““…”””

But the group, despite arriving right in front of Jane’s Horn, could not bring themselves to enter and simply stared blankly up at the building.

“So…”

“This is an inn…?”

Yusina and Espard asked in slightly trembling voices.

Though the name Jane’s Horn itself was no different from a common inn,

“It is way too big!”

the building they faced was a massive lodging establishment of a whopping seven stories, incredibly wide, and even luxurious.

‘Jane’s Horn is basically the starting point of the hotels that will begin to appear in earnest.’

Roan could fully understand their shock.

Not long after the start of the game, grand hotels gradually began to appear in large cities.

Right now, even the word ‘hotel’ had not yet emerged.

Thus, it was only natural for Espard, who mostly traveled through rural estates, or the people who had stayed only in Akerandir, to be so astonished.

“This isn’t a city hall, a lord’s castle, or a court, but a real inn? Unbelievable…”

Roan’s group muttered like this as they headed toward the entrance of the lodging.

As they climbed the stairs before the entrance, an employee dressed in uniform greeted them kindly.

— Welcome! Welcome to Jane’s Horn. Do you have a reservation?

“The Paladin merchant guild should have reserved rooms for the Akerandir members.”

When Roan replied calmly, the employee flipped through the stack of papers in hand, smiled brightly, and nodded.

— Yes! It is confirmed. Thank you for visiting Jane’s Horn~

At the same time, several nearby employees gathered around.

— We will carry your luggage!

— Please hand it over!

“Ah, yes…”

Usually, an inn was a worn wooden building where one was fortunate if the owner wasn’t curt.

On the first floor, smelly adventurers who couldn’t wash well drank beer, and sought sleep on beds made of straw covered with coarse fabric…

Roan’s group looked around like country folk visiting the capital for the first time, but they followed the employee for now.

*Ding*—

— Now, please step inside!

The employee opened the elevator powered by magic and pointed inside.

“Hmm… it seems too narrow for five people to stay in.”

Espard spoke to the employee with a bewildered look.

Even if the room rate seemed quite expensive, it looked difficult for five people to lie side-by-side in this cramped space.

— Pardon? Ah~ No. This is the passageway to go upstairs. The guest rooms are on the top floor, the seventh floor!

The employee tilted her head for a moment and then explained kindly as if accustomed to it.

Jane’s Horn, full of the latest novelties, had many guests who showed this kind of reaction.

“Ha, haha! Uncle, you’ve only been to the countryside, so you probably don’t know about this? Th-This is, what do you call it… Ah, it’s an alievator!”

Yusina mocked Espard while trying to laugh casually.

“Y-Yusina, have you ridden this before? An alievator?”

Espard was so flustered that he fell hook, line, and sinker for that obvious bluff!

“Puhaha! Of course! I am Yusina Le Panelia~”

Yusina laughed loudly, covering her mouth with the back of her hand.

Seeing Yusina act like that, the others figured it must be so and prepared to follow her inside.

‘She’s a really good liar.’

Of course, Roan was an exception.

“It’s not an alievator, it’s an elevator.”

“Uh, huh? Roan, what did you say?”

When Roan pointed it out calmly, Yusina stuttered as she asked.

‘I’m sure it was alievator… or a similar name in the magazine.’

Roan’s correction did not end there.

“…And you don’t have to take off your shoes to ride it.”

“…? Ah.”

Only then did Yusina realize that the employee holding the elevator door was struggling with all her might to hold back her laughter.

*Boom*—!

Yusina’s face flushed red as if about to explode from embarrassment.

‘I thought I had to take off my shoes because it was indoors!’

“Baha-haha! Yusina! What was that? You didn’t know either!”

Espard laughed uproariously and stepped into the elevator as if he had seen the most ridiculous person.

*Flutter*—!

Roque, who was sitting on Yusina’s shoulder, smacked the back of her neck repeatedly with his wings.

I can’t live with this embarrassment because of my master!

Meanwhile, Sion stepped into the elevator, feigning composure.

‘I’m glad I didn’t pretend to know…’

She had also seen an article about the new invention called the elevator in a magazine.

Although she was flustered because it looked quite different from the illustration in the magazine, looking closely, the principle seemed similar.

Of course, riding it with composure was strictly Sion’s own opinion.

‘Sion also looked like she was debating whether to take off her shoes or not.’

Roan did not miss the sight of her feet fidgeting.

Indeed, considering that even on Earth until recently, people joked about having to take off one’s shoes to board an airplane, it seemed the human world was similar everywhere.

— Now, let’s head up to the seventh floor~

Once everyone boarded, the employee smiled cheerfully and operated the elevator.

“Dear me, if I make a mistake, I won’t even be able to get out of the inn.”

“Indeed…”

Everyone except Roan stared intently at how the employee operated the elevator.

Roan sighed softly and explained:

“Pressing these buttons moves it to each floor. From this side, it’s the Lobby floor, first floor, second floor…”

Of course, this wasn’t because he knew the lore well, but simply because it was designed to be familiar to a modern person from Earth.

“Oh! Incredible.”

At Roan’s explanation, Espard scratched his chin and marveled.

The employee also opened her eyes wide, slightly surprised, and asked:

— Young Master, you seem to know a lot about the elevator. You seem to have gone on voluntary service outside the campus often.

“This is my first time. I am a freshman.”

— Yes? Ah, then you must be from Gilsberg.

“I lived in the Pope’s Palace.”

Then how…?

Jane tilted her head.

Not to boast, but Jane’s Horn had introduced the elevator even faster than the Holy Capital where the Pope’s Palace was located.

Jane turned her gaze, wondering if the others would explain it.

“Then how…?”

However, Roan’s companions were staring at Roan in bewilderment just the same.

‘…Are all people from Akerandir like that?’

While the employee harbored a rude thought she could never voice,

*Ding*—!

with a cheerful sound, the elevator arrived at the seventh floor.

— Now, now… please follow me~

Nonetheless, like a professional in customer service, the employee smiled skillfully and guided the group.

Starting not very far from the elevator, five adjacent rooms were assigned, one for each person.

— Please be careful not to lose the key, and if you need anything at any time, just ring the bell in your room!

After helping them put their luggage into their respective rooms, the employee scurried away with quick steps.