A bottle of pickled eggs exploded in a puff of brine and glass.

  In the chaos, Marin calmly plucked a steaming bit of turnip off his shoulder and went back to eating. Blorbo didn’t even know when he got food served on the table.

  Griesa, frazzled and wide-eyed, hurried over, steam hissing from her hat. “Um, uh, Ser. D-do you need a refill? On your—your stew? Or I could, uh. I could toast it. The stew. I mean—”

  “... Toast the stew?” Marin asked gently, tilting his head. His long, silver-lined braid shifted with the motion.

  She flushed deep bronze. “... NO. I MEANT THE ALE. I HAVE ALE.” A small spurt of foam escaped her spout.

  “It’s fine. I’m eating the stew anyway. Can I have a refill, though?”

  Yes, yes!

  “Y-yes, Ser! Anything for you! Uh, I mean, anything for our valued customer!” She scrambled to open the keg spout and refill the jug.

  [QUEST COMPLETED—Have Some Fun (1)]

  Reward: + 14 EXP, + 3 CP, +2 END

  Great! Now I am only about 14900 EXP away from levelling up.

  Ducaz, ducking a flying spoon, called out, “Didn’t realize we’d all get refills just for being hot and quiet. I guess I should shut up more often.”

  Griesa spun on him, voice already rising. “YOU SHUT UP IF YOU HAVEN’T DONE ANYTHING REMOTELY USEFUL!” Then immediately turned to Marin. “D-do you want more ale, Ser?”

  The rat, mid-chew on a stolen bread crust, paused atop the rafters. Tiny, crusty paws froze in midair. It turned its head slowly to stare down at her with its one good eye, whiskers twitching in disbelief.

  What is wrong with you? Clearly Ducaz is the more attractive man. But not that I like men! It’s just my objective observation.

  “You know this man Milan is in our party, right?” Ducaz raised a brow as he eyed Griesa.

  “My name is Marin,” Marin corrected.

  “Since when—” Rob spoke, but Ducaz promptly covered Rob’s mouth.

  “If you want to get on his good side, you’re gonna have to be nice to us.” Ducaz gave an idiotic grin.

  That’s so stupid. Even if she likes him, nobody’s gonna unravel their entire sense of pride and grovel for a man they just met!

  Griesa immediately unraveled her entire sense of pride and grovel for a man she’d just met. “Yes, of course. My good patrons, would you like a warm cloth for your face? You’ve got, ah, stew on your cheek.” She blurted out, already halfway to the kitchen before anyone could respond. Ducaz was not eating stew.

  Blorbo stared as she returned seconds later, aggressively polite, pressing the damp cloth into Ducaz’s stunned hands.

  Then she turned to Rob. “Good Ser. Your tea’s gone tepid. I can re-steep it. Or do you want ice instead? I could make it a cold infusion. I’ll forage for mint!” The rat had given up. It slowly lowered the crust of its bread crust. Then picked it back up, shook its head, and started arranging breadcrumbs into what looked suspiciously like a pentagram.

  “What,” Rob said.

  And off she went, out the door, foraging for mint.

  “What about me?” Anders grumbled.

  “I know, right? She’s been so rude to you! She’s been nothing but rude to everyone here!” Ducaz said as he wiped his face with the cloth Griesa’d just given him. “You should teach me a Stealth skill so I can teach that little rascal a lesson!”

  Okay… So when’s the little inventor going to give me an upgrade? And when are you going to actually come up with a plan for meeting Silverleaf.

  The tavern owner trotted over with an exasperated sigh as he brought out ale jugs for other people. “Now that ALL of my other customers are gone, what can I get for ya?”

  Anders asked for something “with meat and no bones, but also no jelly,” which took an awkward moment to clarify. Ducaz wanted “whatever makes the house smell this good, plus a side of mystery.” Rob ordered fish and tea, and Lena said she wanted that too. The tavern owner pulled a normal pen from behind his ear, scribbled the orders onto a normal pad of paper, flipped the page, and walked off.

  Can we FINALLY talk about Silverleaf and make some progress?

  Lena sat back onto her chair, and asked Marin something productive, “So you know my husband?”

  “Yes, of course. We were sparring partners for the longest time!” Marin declared before chugging his sixth jug of ale down his throat.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  “Really?” Lena eyed Rob, whose face turned ash-grey.

  “Yeah! We went to all sorts of tournaments together. He always insisted on punching above his weight and tryna take down the C-tiers.”

  “Really?!” Lena eyed Rob again.

  “Oh, absolutely!” Marin beamed, cheeks flushed from ale but his posture still pristine. “There was this one time… Lords, what was it, the Ironroot Invitational? he saw this seven-foot stone ogre warming up and just had to know if his punches could dent its abs. It did! He was the best Paladinborn prospect, not kidding!”

  “Reallyyyyyyy?!” Lena turned wholly to Rob now. “Maybe Robert here could share some stories about his glorious, double-faced past to us all.”

  “That’s a story for another time,” Rob took a sip of ale as he eyed Ducaz, then Marin, then Griesa, all the people who did not need to hear this argument right now.. Blorbo had never seen the man drink ale.

  “No. That’s a great story for now, Robert!” Lena folded her hands as her leg lightly kicked Rob’s leg under the table. “How come your wife never knew about you learning sword skills and entering tournaments before, Robert?”

  “You never asked…”

  “You never asked me about how I got a mole on my back, yet you still got to know!” Lena retorted.

  No! You’re oversharing! I don’t need to know that!

  “Do you know where Silverleaf is?” Anders asked. Finally! Somebody’s asking the right question!

  “Of course!” Marin said. “We’ve got an escort scheduled. We leave tomorrow morning through the Samsung Valley Pass.”

  “Wait, we?” Ducaz leaned forward innocently, chin in his hand. “You’re going with them?”

  “Well, it wasn’t supposed to be me personally. But the High Order sends someone, and that someone wasn’t available, and I was up for it. Can't have strangers tagging along, obviously. Y’know, safety protocols and all that.” Marin gave a serious nod, then immediately undid it with, “Although, I mean, it’s not like it's secret-secret. There's only one major trail this time of year. Weather closed the northern ridge, so it’s Samsung Valley Pass or nothing. And it’s not like we’re guarding some treasures. What are the chances we get attacked by a party consisting of a high-level mage, a rogue, and a freshly-awakened Paladinborn? Close to none, I’d wager.”

  “Interesting,” Ducaz said, looking rapt. “And you said... morning? Like early morning? Or mid?”

  “Oh, dawn. Definitely dawn. They meet at the old stone gate just past Rootroot Bridge... uh, you turn left after the big mossy boulder that looks like a face. You can’t miss it.”

  “You’re a real vault, Marin,” Rob muttered under his breath.

  “Oh, thanks!” Marin grinned, then paused. “...Wait.”