Chapter 11: The Old Man Passes Out in the Middle of the Road

Thud

I woke to the sound of a heavy thud and a shock that ran through my body.

“———Hey! Old Man! How long are you going to sleep in the road?! You’re in the way! In the way! This is a main road!”

I tried to recall what happened, my head still fuzzy with sleep.

Last night, I think I was messing around with a strange, glowing, fluffy dog in the forest…

No, no… that’s not it.

The fluffy dog got mad at my… unwanted advances…

That’s right… I fought the fluffy dog and hurt my fist…

Right… I was staggering around, looking for a place to sleep…

It’s no use… I have no memory of what happened after that.

But… judging by the man’s words and the current situation, I must have fallen asleep on the main road at some point…

It’s a main road, so people are going to pass by, whether it’s night or early morning.

And there’s a drunk old man sleeping spread-eagled right in the middle of it.

The very definition of a suspicious character.

I’m lucky the guards didn’t haul me away.

“Hey! Old Man! Are you listening to me?! You’re in the way! I’ve got to get to the morning market! Jeez! This is just what you’d expect from an adventurer…”

Through blurry eyes, I looked up at the man towering over me.

He looked like a merchant, hauling goods to the morning market or somewhere.

Still bleary-eyed, I got to my feet.

Then, I straightened myself up as best I could, lowered my head, and apologized.

“…My apologies for the inconvenience.”

“Huh…? Uh, well… it’s fine, but… just… be more careful.”

For some reason, the merchant gave me a look of surprise and fell silent.

Then he started rubbing his chin, looking like he had something else to say.

“Uh… is something wrong?”

“Nah… it’s just… your getup… you’re an adventurer, right? I always thought adventurers were just a bunch of rude drunks who don’t know the first thing about manners… but I guess there are polite ones like you, too.”

The merchant looked at me with curiosity.

Apparently, he was surprised that I had apologized so readily.

Well… back in my corporate slave days in my old world, I spent enough time groveling… no, bowing my head to clients.

So, tragically, apologizing has become second nature to me.

The other adventurers are always calling me a “spineless coward” for it, but…

It seems to have worked in my favor with this merchant, though.

Still, what does it say about the reputation of adventurers—myself included, I guess—if something this simple is so surprising…?

Then again… it’s not like I have any room to talk, seeing as I was the one passed out drunk on the road…

As I was thinking all this, I struggled to come up with a reply.

Just then, the merchant took a juicy-looking piece of fruit from one of his boxes.

“Here, take this. My bad for waking you. The Saint-sama is coming from the royal capital today, so we’ve been running around all morning. You’re not a spring chicken yourself, so try not to drink so much you pass out on the main road, alright?”

Saying that, he tossed the fruit to me and quickly walked away.

All’s well that ends well, I guess.

I let out a big yawn, and then a stretch.

Man, everything hurts… especially my back…

The one silver lining, I guess, is that my fist doesn’t hurt too much.

Well… it would be pretty pathetic if I’d actually broken my fist fighting a dog.

It goes without saying, but sleeping on a road is just plain bad for you.

I walked along the main road toward town, rubbing my lower back.

Still, I really am getting old.

I’ve slept outside plenty of times, but I’ve never made such a fool of myself before.

I walked down the street, biting into the fruit I got from the merchant.

Mm… this fruit is good.

Something fresh and juicy like this really hits the spot when you’re hungover.

I’ve been so broke lately, all I’ve been eating is rock-hard bread and beans.

Hope this is a good omen and I can find some decent work today…

Hm? But something about the town feels… off.

I looked around.

It’s way more crowded than usual.

And on top of that, I’m seeing a bunch of knights in ridiculously conspicuous golden helmets.

You hardly ever see knights in a backwater town like this…

Could they be connected to that Saint-sama the merchant mentioned?

Well… it’s got nothing to do with me, and I’m not interested anyway.

No… wait a second…

And that’s when I finally remembered what happened yesterday.

That’s right… Fenrir.

I wonder what happened with that.

Could these knights be here because of the Fenrir sighting, too?

No… they’re here way too soon for that.

Even if Emma-san had called for aid from the royal capital about Fenrir last night, it would take several days to reach this remote region, even by the fastest horse.

Besides, for a town that supposedly just had a Fenrir appear, there’s a complete lack of tension.

If anything, everyone walking down the street looks kind of excited.

Yeah… it almost feels like the night before a festival.

I casually tried to eavesdrop on some of the passersby.

“To think the Saint-sama would come all the way to a backwater town like this… The Saint-sama really is as merciful as the rumors say.”

“The Saint-sama is supposed to be incredibly beautiful, right…? Maybe I’ll skip work today and go see the parade.”

Everyone seemed to be in high spirits.

This was hardly the atmosphere of a town terrified by a nearby Fenrir.

So yesterday’s Fenrir incident must have been a false alarm after all.

In that case, there’s no need to worry about the town anymore.

Next, I have to worry about myself.

Right… First things first, I need to earn enough to get through the day.

Sleeping outside for days on end is taking a toll, both mentally and physically.

I headed for the guild on the town’s main thoroughfare.

Just then, that same group of knights from before came charging down the main road on horseback.

And at a considerable speed, too.

“Out of the way! Out of the way! We are on urgent business!” a mounted knight shouted.