Episode 66

The guest was wearing a hood pulled down low despite being indoors.

The hood was connected to a cape covering the shoulders, an outfit completely unsuited to the current weather.

Such a cape is worn over a coat in the middle of winter… and it’s made of thick wool.

The face revealed under the hood was quite pretty.

Her hair had a reddish tinge and her eyes were a striking emerald color.

The guest was moving her spoon with a dark expression when she noticed my gaze and looked up.

As expected, her face was entirely drenched in sweat.

When our eyes met, the guest opened her mouth slightly in surprise, and I smiled politely.

“You look hot; wouldn’t it be better to take the cape off?”

“Uh… ah… no… I’m comfortable like this…”

“You’re sweating.”

The guest quickly averted her gaze and mumbled as if embarrassed.

“It’s okay… I really find this comfortable…”

She’s very shy. I shouldn’t bother her.

As more guests arrived at the inn, the drinking session in the hall continued late into the night.

Travelers uncertain of when they’d next sleep in a bed, and married men from the city who didn’t want to go home…

Amidst this, there was someone sitting alone in a corner with a beer mug.

It was the same hooded guest from the evening.

The guest seemed intimidated by the boisterous atmosphere and huddled, staring only at the beer mug.

“Della. Is that guest staying here?”

“Ah, yes. She came in a few days ago. She hasn’t said when she’s leaving.”

“Really? That’s strange… isn’t she hot wearing that…”

“Right.”

Della leaned in and whispered in my ear as if she remembered something.

“I saw that guest putting on the hood… her ears are really long.”

“Ears?”

“Yes. They seemed almost a handspan long.”

Now I understood everything.

That person is a half-elf.

She didn’t inherit the typical elf’s radiant blonde hair and porcelain skin.

But those big ears and green eyes are definitely elven.

A half-elf staying alone at an inn…

It’s not common, but it’s not strange either.

Half-elves are born between humans and elves.

Their fate is determined by whether their mother is human or elf.

If the mother is an elf, the half-elf is raised in the elven forests as an equal to pure-blood elves.

But if the mother is human, the child is not accepted by elves and is ostracized.

The reason is that elves have a matriarchal society.

So, a half-elf born of a human mother can never live with the elves because of their matrilineal heritage.

To the elves, they’re no different from humans.

So that half-elf must have been born to a human mother.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t be alone in a human city.

And it naturally explains why she wears a cape even in the hot early summer.

Half-elves are not treated well among humans either.

There’s a very nasty custom of disparaging both the mother and child, saying the mother spread her legs vulgarly for another race’s male.

They’re insulted as mongrels or half-breeds and treated as untouchables.

Therefore, that half-elf wears a hood to hide her ears, which reveal her heritage.

Usually, half-elves form communities to avoid discrimination and contempt, so seeing her alone in an inn suggests she has a story.

The half-elf stayed in her seat until the other guests at the tables began to rise one by one.

Since she didn’t go up to her room, I too sat at the bar, writing in the ledger, and waited.

As the half-elf stayed, Seleiza gave up trying to seduce me, grumbled, and went up first.

Della sat next to me, saying she had to clean up the guest’s table, and nodded off.

I sent Pelée and Idi up and told her to follow, but she wouldn’t budge.

After the last table in the hall left, the half-elf finally got up.

“Hey, Della. The guest is getting up.”

“Ah… yes…”

Della wiped her drool and raised her head.

But instead of going up the stairs, the half-elf approached us.

The short guest with those mysterious emerald-like eyes finally met my gaze.

“Um… excuse me…”

“Do you need anything?”

The half-elf chewed on her lips as if she was about to make a very difficult request.

Patiently waiting, she finally spoke.

“Because of me, you two are up so late… I’ll clean the table up myself… please go to bed first…”

“No, what are you saying? It’s all included in the room charge. Please don’t worry and go up.”

But the half-elf hesitated, looking at me, Della, and the ledger with a troubled expression.

Soon, I understood the half-elf’s intention.

She wanted to drink her beer in peace, alone in the hall.

Earlier, she must have been too afraid of the other guests’ gazes to know if she was drinking with her mouth or nose.

But as we kept waiting for her, she couldn’t do it.

“Don’t worry and drink your beer. We’ll handle the rest.”

“Ah… but still…”

“Really, it’s fine? We’ll just finish this and go up.”

Pointing to the ledger, the half-elf hesitated for a moment before bowing her head.

“Thank you… then…”

Just as she was about to return to the table, she paused and looked back at me.

“Um… could I… take my hood off… I’m a half-elf…”

“Huh…? Sure, take it off. You can do as you like.”

“Thank you…”

The half-elf bowed and slowly removed her hood.

Through her short bobbed hair, her long, pointed elven ears popped out.

In the already warm weather, her hair was stuck to her cheeks with sweat from wearing the hood.

“Oh my… you’re sweating a lot.”

Della pulled out her handkerchief from her apron pocket and handed it to the half-elf.

The half-elf, flustered, waved her hand.

“You… you don’t have to be so kind to me…!”

“It’s not about kindness, you’re sweating.”

“But I’m a half-elf…”

“So what?”

Della leaned over the bar and gently dabbed the half-elf’s forehead with the handkerchief.

The half-elf shrank and didn’t know what to do, overwhelmed with gratitude.

Oh dear… how pitiful.

The half-elf awkwardly returned to her table and sat down.

She looked so pitiful, huddling and sipping her beer alone.

But going over to drink with her and chat didn’t seem right either.

Such actions might come off as cheap pity to her.

“Della.”

“Yes, Boss.”

“Let’s go up.”

“Leave the guest and go up first?”

I looked at the half-elf’s back and said.

“Leaving will be better for her.”

“Hmm… I see…”

Della stood up, trusting what I said.

We went up to the third floor and parted ways, saying good night.

“Goodnight, Della.”

“Wait a moment, Boss.”

Just as I was about to open the door and go in, Della called me.

She quickly glanced at her room, Pelée’s room, and Seleiza’s room, then rushed to me.

Della, burying her face in my chest and hugging my waist, mumbled.

“Goodnight.”

“Yes… goodnight…”

Della parted herself from me and quickly went into her room.

Well… she’s quite lively.

Della, closing the door behind her, staggered to a chair and sat down.

Idi, brushing her unkempt black hair while looking in a hand mirror, asked,

“You’re just coming back…?”

“Yes…”

“Why are you so out of breath…? Did something happen…?”

Holding her chest and catching her breath, Della answered.

“Yes… something good…”

“What good thing…? Tell me…”

“There’s just ssomething.”

Seeing that Della wasn’t going to tell, Idi finished brushing her hair and lay down on her bed.

“Goodnight, Della…”

“Goodnight, Idi.”

Catching her breath, Della suddenly wondered when Idi had started brushing her hair.

When she first came to the inn, she never looked in the mirror or cared for her hair.

Lately, she seems to be interested in grooming herself, buying clothes and all.

Though Idi moves around gloomily, she’s actually quite pretty.

Della took her apron off, draped it over the chair, and opened a book.

Just as she picked a pen up and started studying, she heard a damp, eerie voice by her ear.

“What was it about…”

Idi, having slipped over like a shadow, was now pressed against Della’s back with her chest.

“Eek! You scared me!”

Della’s scream caused Seleiza in the other room to thump the wall.

“Let me sleep!”

Idi, frightened by the angry Saintess’ voice, scurried back to her bed.

“Sorry, Saintess…!”

In the morning, I went out to the yard to meet with the tenants.

“Kali. Let’s go together.”

Kali, excited, ran out of the kennel, wagging her tail so fast it was a blur.

At that moment, a shout erupted from the intersection in front of the inn.

“Where did you get this money!”

Looking over the stone wall, I saw the patrolling Guards gathered by the roadside.

“Speak up!”

Hearing the repeated pressing, I went out to the road.

A Guard was grabbing someone’s arm and shaking them roughly while scolding them.

The person being held, terrified, tried to explain something, which made the Guard even angrier.

“Don’t lie! How could someone like you!”

Recognizing the face of the person being held, I cursed and ran towards them.