Of course, as tempting as it was, each of them had their own lives and their own families and homes to go back to.
Anyway, for now, they forgot about such trifles. They just willingly drowned themselves in the deliciousness of the food! And when someone started verbalizing the feels, a few of the others started doing the same.
In fact, they had been trying to keep it in, in hopes of not looking stupid. But when someone started, it was like a dam burst.
"This is so good!"
"Delicious!"
"I can’t stop eating..."
"So breakfast will also be this good?"
"I bet those essence food from those snotty restaurants can’t compare!!"
Leiah nodded. "They really can’t."
"All that gold is so worth it!" Marcus yelled. Even if it was worth a lot of days of work on a good day! And then he proceeded to shove more food into his mouth.
Anyway, it was safe to say they were very very satisfied with the food. Finn was quite proud of himself. They’d give him good reviews, right?
Speaking of stats, he peeked at the [Guest Logbook] for more information about his guests.
[Name: Durgan Vols | Race: Half human, half dwarf | Class: Tank | Age: 49 | Level: Toughened Tier 3 | Status: Recovering | Room: Upgraded Bedroom 1 (Shared) | Duration of Stay: 1 Night | Mood: Pleased | Needs: Tired | Status: Unmet ]
It seemed like the ’talent’ and status like that wouldn’t appear in the [Guest List], and only the [Staff Roster]. It would’ve been helpful as he could pinpoint a guest to recruit.
He wondered if Pang would alert him every time there was talent the inn could use?
[Name: Leiah Fernwyn| Race: Half human, half Elf | Class: Archer | Age: 28 | Level: Resonant Tier 1 | Status: Recovering | Room: Basic Bedroom 2 (Shared) | Duration of Stay: 1 Night | Mood: Pleased | Needs: Tired | Status: Unmet ]
[Name: Marcus Fairborne | Race: Human | Class: Swordsman | Age: 33 | Level: Toughened Tier 1 | Status: Recovering | Room: Basic Bedroom 1 (Shared) | Duration of Stay: 1 Night | Mood: Pleased | Needs: Tired | Status: Unmet]
[Name: Nona Greaves | Race: Human | Class: Striker | Age: 32 | Level: Toughened Tier 1 | Status: Recovering | Room: Basic Bedroom 2 (Shared) | Duration of Stay: 1 Night | Mood: Pleased | Needs: Tired | Status: Unmet]
He smiled.
One food-loving dwarf, one (slightly prissy) half-elf, one sunny human, and one human with dark humor. Their personalities were just so... out there, it was difficult to think of how they became such good life-and-death friends.
He leaned forward, curious. "So how did you guys meet, anyway?" he asked, and the four, in a very good mood because their tongues were blessed, told him as much as they could remember.
"It’s a long story. It started at the guild hall in our hometown," Marcus said. "Well, my and Nona’s hometown, Lotus Town. It is also where our grandparents lived, and the ancestors before them."
Durgan and Leiah were originally from elsewhere, but they eventually migrated to Lotus Town at some point. The town was one of the nearest border towns to the danger zones, which were where true adventurers should frequent.
Anyway, the group met in the Adventurer Guild, though they varied in level and varied in their timing of joining.
One of the things Finn learned about how the Adventurer Guild worked was that, basically, each City and Town had a branch of the Adventurer Guild.
And Mercenary Guild was the same, for that matter, though they mentioned it with some grumbling.
"You guys really dislike Mercenaries," Finn couldn’t help but point out. Although he met decent ones like Aaron, Ren, and Zachary, from what he heard from them, a good majority of mercenaries were really pains in the arse.
"They’re money-hungry bastards who’d do anything to get what they wanted, which is usually money, treasure, or some position."
Somehow, the gregarious Marcus ended up telling a few stories about the clashes between the two groups. One main reason was that there were a lot of intersections between their jobs, and a lot of them clashed and/or interfered with each other.
For example, there was once a dungeon clearing mission that appeared in both guilds.
For the Adventurer Guild, the goal was to clear it and gain as many cores as was safe. For the Mercenary Guild, it was to get the cores no matter what.
When their areas of work intersected, a lot of people fought for the cores. Because there were also monsters, people were lost because of the internal conflicts. Many of them would’ve been completely avoidable.
"They’re damned thieves, I tell ya!"
"Adventurers were much fewer than them, too, so they would often cause trouble for us, even in the territories."
"Anyway, we’ve gotten quite off-topic," Durgal said, clearing his throat. "Pretty sure that’s not what Finn asked us."
Marcus blinked. "OH. Right, right, right."
He then turned to Nona. "She and I have known each other since we were babies. We even bathed together."
Nona looked at him, and then at his crotch. "Hmn, you were quite small."
"Not anymore! I’ll show y—"
"Marcus," Nona said, the air around them changing. "Do you want me to circumcise you?"
Marcus shivered, and everyone chuckled.
Still, Marcus was the best storyteller among them, so they just pushed him to the right topic and pulled him back when he went on tangents. "The way we met was really not that special if I just said it, but to us it is, of course."
"We were taking a Class D mission—which can be taken as long as you’re Awakened Tier 2 level, by the way—but it required a group of five."
"It was a very busy season at the time," he said, referring to the activity of monsters and the number of missions. "So a lot of people were out. I remember me holding out a sign asking for teammates."
Nona nodded. "You looked really stupid back then," she said, as if they weren’t looking for teammates together.
"Well, it worked, didn’t it?" the blonde grinned, looking at the table. "We found the best team."