Bastard Swordsman

Half-Price Day with a Junior

I had a favorite tavern.

While I often used the guild's tavern due to having many familiar faces, their prices were high, and their selection was poor. It's primarily a place for meeting up or socializing with fellow guild members. I suppose the pricing is to deter people from lingering and overcrowding the space.

So, the place I frequently visited was a different establishment. It was close to the guild and operated solely as a restaurant without any attached lodgings.

Its name was 『Forest's Bounty Inn』.

Even though it was usually a popular spot for its affordable and delicious food, today it was busier than ever.

「Here you go, boar kebabs.」

「Hamph, haphu haphu.」

I immediately dug into the skewered grilled meat that arrived all at once in a set of ten. Salted, fatty boar meat skewers. Today, they were available at half the usual price. Isn't that amazing?

Even though it was barely twilight outside, I had sprinted in right when I saw the sign posted outside the shop.

Apparently, a group of guild members had been out on a mission and brought back a lot of boar, which meant a meat surplus that prompted this feast.

The owner, who seemed to do things by estimation, served two skewers at the price of one, making it essentially half-price. I was ecstatic. Can I just live here?

「Mongrel-senpai, isn't it? Wow, you're really eating a lot.」

「Moga?」

「You can swallow what's in your mouth first. You do love skewers, as usual.」

「... Phew. Oh, Raina? Thanks for your hard work. Look at these skewers, they're half-price today. Times like these are what I live for.」

「Yeah, I know.」

The person who sat next to me at the counter was a fellow guild member and a junior, a female archer named Raina.

She was part of a party called 『Artemis』, specializing in bow and magic. Recently, her name had been gaining traction as a skilled long-distance attacker.

Her short hair and flat figure left much to be desired in terms of appeal, but she still showed respect by treating me as her senior. Quite a charming junior.

「Those boars were delivered by our 『Artemis』. They were lurking in the foothills, and shooting them was less exhausting than dismantling them. My body was sore all over.」

「Did you and your group catch this meat, Raina?」

「That's right. We delivered so much that even other stores got some. So, I'm planning on drinking both today and tomorrow.」

「Raina, you've improved quite a bit, haven't you? I'm proud.」

「... Mongrel-senpai, you're more complimentary about this than when I took down an ogre, which isn't exactly flattering.」

「What? I'm genuinely praising you. Smile a little at least.」

「Impossible. Oh, excuse me! Could I get one ale, please?」

「Yeah. Another one for me too!」

「Coming right up.」

Gorging on salted skewers while sipping a slightly watery ale—that was the life.

「By the way, senpai, I heard you got into a fight at the guild recently.」

「Huh? Oh yeah, that happened. It was with a group of four rowdy amateurs. They charged at me looking green, so I just smoothly sidestepped with my exquisite martial arts and beat them up.」

「The story I heard was quite different and sounded more like a slugfest.」

「Oh, you knew? Tch.」

「But taking on four people and winning is still impressive.」

「Right? But they were a bunch of amateurs, so I lucked out.」

Yesterday's skirmish outside the guild wasn't that unusual. Sometimes, people who's seen military service or drifted from other regions often resorted to violence to quickly showcase their strength in a new land.

They probably saw me, sitting alone with just a bowl of porridge, and thought I'd be an easy target. Too bad for them, they miscalculated. They didn't know they were up against a reincarnated cheat adventurer.

Though the victory wasn't flashy, it was fine. Any skilled bronze rank who refuses silver would have done the same. If I wanted, I could utterly crush them with overwhelming power, but doing such things openly rarely ends well.

... I'm truly not joking. I do have untapped power.

「Mongrel-senpai, you should stop going solo and join a party. Even Balger-senpai keeps inviting you.」

「Well, I'm not cut out for that... I can't handle people snoring, teeth grinding, or tossing around in their sleep.」

「You're not nobility or anything...」

Not to mention, I hate not being able to go all out in critical situations. If an unexpected formidable enemy arises, allies might become deadweight. That's why I'm committed to staying solo.

「What about you, Raina? Is it going well with Artemis? No bullying or anything?」

「No, everyone is really nice. They teach me a lot about archery, and they split the money fairly.」

「Oh, that's great. I'm glad you found a good place.」

「Yep.」

When Raina had first set out from the village, she was part of a group with others her age from the same place.

However, that close-knit party's atmosphere soured within months, leading to its dissolution. Although Raina joined a couple of parties after that, she couldn't fit in for various reasons and ended up leaving them.

I'm truly glad she found her place in Artemis now. At work, everything often hinges on human relationships.

「Here you go, sorry for the wait.」

「Wow, this looks super appetizing!」

「Hmm? What's that?」

「You don't know, senpai? It's a dish with sautéed meat topped with a citrus gel. It's common in the noble district. Our Sheena said so too.」

Ah, one of those, huh. I see how it is.

「... What's with that face?」

「You don't get it, Raina. A true connoisseur goes for salt. It lets you savor the original taste of the ingredient. Ultimately, connoisseurs always come back to salt, Raina.」

「I did call you a noble earlier, but senpai, you have such a simple palate.」

「Idiot, I'm the man with the most refined taste in Halperia.」

「Yeah, yeah.」

As I relished in the steady growth and change of my junior, who was slowly becoming less cute over the years, I thoroughly enjoyed a belly full of skewers and ale today.