The voice sounded male, and it was quite a firm one at that. But while I can see some males here and there, there’s not at a distance where it would be that clear.
What’s more, I had the impression that the voice had come from somewhere much closer.
(A hallucination? Am I still tired? … Come to think of it, I’ve ben finding it hard to get over fatigue lately. Is it because my wounds aren’t fully recovered?)
I recall that it seemed vaguely familiar as I look up. As I traced the roof of cloth the peddler had put up with my eyes, I shut them.
As long as I’m the only one who heard it, then it may just be that I’ve been mentally pressed.
“Are you alright, Lyle-sama?”
As Novem sounded worried, I opened my mouth. As I was about to tell her I was fine, I heard another voice from close-by.
I could hear it quite crisply, but Novem didn’t appear bothered by it.
『For him to have someone like that at his age… I can’t be anything but jealous.』
『You sure went through a lot, father.』
From a sitting position, I raised myself, and looked around. Novem looked shocked.
“What’s wrong, Lyle-sama!?”
But the surroundings hadn’t changed in the slightest.
“… It’s nothing.”
As I said that, I thought.
“Hmm? Am I really that tired? … I guess I’ll sleep for now.”
–
–
–
After arriving at the rest town, we consulted with the peddler, and got him to agree to let us accompany him tomorrow as well.
Perhaps it was a seasonal occurrence, but the town was quite lively.
After confirming the peddler’s departure time, me and Novem went off inn-hunting.
But there, a problem emerged.
“There’s only one room? Two are impossible?”
After the inn’s owner confirmed the fact, he immediately told us it was impossible.
“There are too many people this time of year, so we can’t be putting a single person to a room. I’m sorry, but if you’re acquaintances, can you both put up with sharing a room?”
I turn to Novem.
She had chosen to follow me, but being in the same lodging as her was something I wanted to avoid.
As I was taught as such, I was bewildered on how to deal with the man.
But Novem simply told him it didn’t matter either way, and paid for it. She handed him some copper coins in exchange for the key.
“O-oy…”
Before I could ask her if that was alright, the inn’s owner spoke.
“The room is on the far side of the second floor. The room number is on the paper attached to the key. Oh, right, breakfast and hot water’s free, but we don’t do dinners, so you should probably find somewhere to eat before you leave your luggage.”
I didn’t understand what he meant by ‘before you leave your luggage.’
(If there’s a key, then wouldn’t it be better to just leave it? I’m a separate matter, but Novem’s carrying a travelling bag.)
She was carrying some heavy baggage, but I thanked the owner anyways.
“Thank you. What should we do about the key?”
“You’ve already paid me, and I’m not going to play oblivious about it later. I’ll hold onto it, so take this note with you. If you give it to whoever’s here, they’ll hand over the key.”
I had some questions as to why we needed to carry out this exchange, but Novem dragged me out.
We exited the inn, and got to looking for food at a nearby place that I couldn’t whether it was a bar or restaurant.
There were many people on the roads, and it really was a noisy town…
『… Wait a second, isn’t this kid really too wet behind the ears? He’s way too oblivious to how this world works.』