While they ate, old Lenok couldn’t help but scoot next to Marcus, the obvious leader of one group. "If I may ask, where do you purchase this type of shield?"
"It’s not ours, it’s part of the Inn’s extension."
"The what?"
"The Inn extension," Marcus repeated.
The newcomers gaped, completely not understanding him, and understandably so.
The more tactful girls sighed, explaining things to them in his stead.
"There is an inn some tens of kilometers from here. The facilities are much more complete. This is just a satellite."
The newcomers continued to gape, still not understanding.
Well, they knew all the words, but they felt mysterious when put together.
The girls looked at each other and shrugged, no longer saying more. The existence of the inn...was really difficult to explain.
Dinner continued to be leisurely, though a certain elf with sharper eyes flinched when she looked in a certain direction, brightening when she recognized the newcomers. "Finn! Syl!"
...
When Finn and Syl arrived, many people stood up to greet them.
Marcus, as gregarious as always, began introductions. "This is the owner of the inn, Finn."
The trio nodded and politely greeted him, neither humble nor overbearing.
The two naturally joined around the campfire, and a bit of small talk happened after that. They found out that the three were part of the Freiz Mercenary team, the old man being the founder, the middle-aged man his son, and the youngest bloke his apprentice.
(Fortunately, the adventurers around them did not openly sneer at them for being mercenaries).
The mercenaries seemed quite proud of their team and blurted out a lot of their achievements. For example, they defeated so-and-so gang, dismantled so-and-so bandit ring, and the like.
Many adventurers had different types of achievements and had little appreciation for this. What was scarier? A group of bad guys or a group of monsters?
At this, some of the other group’s adventurers couldn’t help but scoff at them; the three who were annoyed didn’t explode. After all, they were surrounded.
Anyway, after the inquiry, Finn found out the mercenary team was quite big. That number could rival a small guild branch, right?
He looked at the status of everyone around and, except for some injuries, they didn’t look poisoned.
"Does anyone feel weak lately? Coughing a lot, and the blood is black-ish?"
The three flinched, with the two younger ones looking at the old man.
Finn narrowed his eyes. "Where did you say your base was?"
"Penggit Town."
Sounded familiar, where had he heard this before?
Then he saw the expression of recognition on Leiah’s and then Nona’s eyes. "That is that bastard Frago’s Town, isn’t it?"
Their eyebrows rose. So a number of Elders of Lotus Town had the same poison as a powerful person in the neighboring town. Was it a coincidence? Probably not.
This world’s lack of a real communication device was really inconvenient.
...
Because of this, they couldn’t really stay in the extension anymore, right? The training can wait. Anyway, Finn did go through several fights on the way here already.
The mercenaries naturally came with them.
"Someone in the Inn has teammates with the same symptoms. They should have news by now. Perhaps they could help in your case."
"Oh! Thank you, thank you."
They headed back to the inn to see the Ren-trio fighting along the easements. They were finishing off a mob of awakened and toughened monsters, using their favorite barrier as cover.
They used their old style, with Zachary heading out for several pummelings more often than he should, while the other two cleaned up after him.
Despite the somewhat reckless style, Zachary had gotten more skilled. He gained less injuries, and he could now maximize the barrier and time the attacks of the monsters well.
Aaron was also less impulsive, showing a bit of maturity in his attacks and his attitude, while Ren’s attacks had become much more polished.
Finn was impressed. He wondered what they had been through? Must be a lot.
They had indeed been through a lot in the couple of months since he saw them. Ren was apparently almost assassinated due to some inheritance issue back home, and the three went through thick and thin together.
He was glad they were all alive and well.
The most interesting part was that...the two kids somehow ended up in their team, too. There was no long-range fighter amongst the trio, and they somehow recruited his babies.
After the three attacked and before they finished off the monsters, there would be projectiles flying around, weakening the monsters if not directly killing them.
"Go, Athie! Hit him!" Aaron cheered. "Target the bigger ones! The bigger ones!" The blonde said, pointing at the toughened-level monsters. They can handle awakened monsters easily now, so the only ones they had to team up on were the stronger beasts.
"Baby Lily, when I jump back in, make sure to throw the attack, okay!?"
They watched as the little boy skillfully threw sharp wind slashes at the enemies, and then the close combat would finish them off. Similarly, the little girl’s attack was a bit unclear, but she was throwing some invisible force and hitting the monsters like she was throwing invisible rocks, and they just assumed it was wind element as well.
Under their onslaught, even the toughened level monsters struggled, easily finished off by the close-ranged fighters.
People—even those watching at the side—were amazed at the kids’ magic, as well as the barrier itself.
How many adult mages could do that much damage!? Further, they could activate their magic at all at that age was indicative to their superior physiques.
Many of the people here had been here for the first time, and they felt like every day was a surprise!
...
The influx of people in the inn, thanks to the guild’s partnership, caused the area to be dense with people. Some were people helping with the construction, while others were just curious about the new place. They had to make sure the pathways, at least, wouldn’t have loiterers.
In the end, Finn had to put a cap on the number of campers as well. This way, people wouldn’t be overflowing. He also set the camps and the rooms as a one-time use thing, so after their initial booking expired, they’d have to queue again, giving a chance to others.
A month passed like this, with the Inn’s name spreading out more and more, and everyone in Lotus Town was definitely privy to them already.
They even increased the souvenirs, like dried fruits and nuts, people could buy and take back home. Like this, the inn even gained a reputation even among the commonfolk.
Things got better and better, until Finn finally received the notification he had been waiting for.
[Upgrade Conditions for Inn Upgrade Met!]