R302 | Chapter 2

I don’t know what their intentions were, but Heiker and Nidia were desperately trying to signal Licht.

The person you just impulsively hugged is the king. You just committed a crime against the royal family. Be careful.

But instead of the grinning Licht, it was Ain who met their eyes. Ain put a finger to his lips, signaling them to be quiet. What could they do? When the king says hush, you hush. The two quietly hoped Licht would catch on.

“I had a dream about Ain a few days ago.”

“Oh, really? Our Licht might have some prophetic powers. Maybe you can make some money off that?”

“I don’t have any prophetic powers.”

“Oh, that’s a shame… But our Licht is meant to run an inn, so you can make money that way.”

“Money grubber.”

Licht shot a cold glare. Heiker and Nidia felt their hearts drop.

“Uh, money is a good thing.”

…Fortunately, the king didn’t seem angry at all. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying himself. Well, he had been playing with young Licht for the past ten years, teasing and doting on him. He cared for him more than he did his own siblings.

“How have you been, Ain?”

“How do you think?”

“I don’t know… You haven’t shown your face in years, how would I know?”

“Oh, are you sulking?”

“I’m not sulking…”

“Sure, sure, even sulking is cute.”

“I said I’m not sulking!”

Licht grabbed Ain’s cheeks and pinched them. Heiker and Nidia felt like they were about to faint.

“Ow, ow, ow. It hurts, Licht.”

“You started with the nonsense. Reflect on that.”

“But… truth can’t be defeated.”

Ain’s playful scratching made Licht pout.

“If you keep being annoying, I won’t let it slide.”

“Huh? What are you going to do?”

“It’s a secret.”

“I’m curious what our little one will do. I should keep being annoying then.”

“Don’t…”

“Haha.”

Ain laughed at Licht, who was on the verge of tears.

“Our Licht has grown taller but hasn’t changed a bit.”

“That’s not true. I was a kid then, now I’m an adult.”

“Sure, sure, you’ve grown a lot.”

Licht pouted. He couldn’t understand why he was still being treated like a kid when he’d grown so much since then.

“So, how have you been?”

He swallowed the words of interrogation about why Ain hadn’t visited the inn even once, and asked. Ain’s expression suddenly turned serious, surprising Licht.

“Why, what’s wrong? Did something bad happen?”

“Well, I’m actually wanted right now. I’m a wanted man.”

“…What?”

“You’ll hide me, right?”

“……”

Licht, frozen for a moment, suddenly stood up and tried to pull Ain up. But Ain didn’t budge.

“Get up! You need to hide!”

“You’ll hide me?”

“Y-yeah, I have to hide you. Everyone’s seen your face.”

“Should I kill them?”

“Stop saying scary things and get up. Uh, where should we hide…”

“Haha!”

Ain burst into laughter at the anxious Licht. Licht blinked, not understanding what was happening.

“It’s a joke.”

“…A joke?”

“Yeah, a joke. Licht, you’re supposed to report wanted people, not hide them.”

“…I’m glad. I’m glad you’re not a wanted man.”

Even though Ain had teased him so much, Licht didn’t get angry and just said he was glad. Ain ruffled Licht’s hair roughly. Licht grimaced but only let go after Ain had his fill.

After dealing with cunning and ambitious people, seeing someone as pure and kind as Licht was truly comforting.

Anyway, comfort is comfort, and business is business. It was time to bring up the main reason he was here.

“Licht.”

“Yeah?”

“If 500 Rund isn’t enough for the contract, I’ll pay 1000 Rund. Can I rent the inn?”

“…What?”

“I just need it for about a year. Is that okay?”

“…Was it you who sent the letter last time?”

“Yeah, it was me.”

Hearing Ain’s answer, Licht felt like the sky was falling.

“…I shouldn’t have thrown away the letter.”

As he muttered in despair, Ain widened his eyes and met Licht’s gaze. Ain started to make a fuss.

“You threw it away? You threw away my heart? Did you tear it to shreds and toss it in the trash? Really?”

“No, no, it’s just…”

“That’s too much, Licht.”

“I-I didn’t tear it to shreds.”

“No need to make excuses. I understand how you feel, Licht.”

“N-no, I threw it away by mistake… If I knew it was from you, I would have kept it safe. The handwriting was so nice, I didn’t know it was yours.”

Licht looked like he was about to cry. Ain decided to stop teasing him before he really did.

“Alright. I’ll write you another letter later. Is that okay?”

“Yeah! That’s good.”

“So, will you rent me the inn? I’ll use it nicely. You can take a break while I rent it.”

“Ah.”

Licht’s face quickly showed signs of trouble.

“That’s difficult… Sorry. My dad told me not to stop running the inn properly.”

“Huh? Who would say such a thing?”

“My dad…”

Ain quickly smoothed out his previously harsh expression and smiled brightly.

“…Ah, Kaine was right. Yeah, yeah, the inn is your workplace, so you shouldn’t stop running it.”

“Yeah.”

“Then you can rent it to me and keep working. I need someone to manage the inn anyway.”

“No. My dad said to keep taking guests without interruption.”

“Oh… I see. Yeah, yeah, why would he say that?”

Ain raised his hand to stroke his chin.

This inn holds a very special secret. It makes sense that Kaine Heissis, who knew the secret, warned Licht, but the part about keeping guests coming didn’t make sense.

Anyway, since it was Kaine’s request… the option to rent the entire inn was gone. Of course, Ain could use his royal authority to make it happen, but he didn’t want to assert his authority in front of Licht.

“Hmm… Licht. Are there three rooms on the top floor?”

“No…, four. There are five rooms, but I’m using one.”

“Hmm… Then is it possible to rent all four rooms on the third floor?”

Licht thought for a moment and nodded.

“Yeah, that should be fine. Not today though… There’s a guest using one room, but they said they’ll leave by tomorrow. I can rent all four from then.”

“Okay. Let’s do that.”

“Got it. Hold on, come here.”

Licht went to the counter and took out the guest register and three keys from below. Ain signed the register with a flourish, writing ‘Ain Rubdel.’

“Ain… is everyone coming here? Lady Ruschilka, Mr. Bjorn, Ms. Albina, and Mr. Maser too?”

“Of course. But why is Ruschilka the only one with ‘Lady’?”

“Lady Ruschilka is a priest.”

“Yeah, that’s true. Oh, right. How much is the lodging fee?”

“It’s 9 Rund per night… How many people are staying? I need to prepare.”

If the third floor was fully occupied, there would be more work, so some preparation was necessary. Ain replied with a smile.

“Me and the four I used to travel with.”

“…Wait, you’re saying five people will use all four rooms?”

Licht’s eyes widened in surprise. The lodging fee at <Cats and Adventurers> wasn’t extremely expensive, but it wasn’t cheap either. 9 Rund could buy sandwiches for about twenty people at the inn’s first-floor restaurant.

But Ain remained unfazed by Licht’s surprise.

“Yeah, five of us. Bjorn and Maser will share a room, and the rest will each have one. It’s perfect, right?”

“Four rooms mean 36 Rund a day… Ain, are you trying to go broke? You don’t have much money.”

Licht clearly remembered Ain collecting empty potion bottles discarded by wealthy adventurers to sell at the general store. Of course, that was only at first, and later he became quite well-off… But Licht’s memory of Ain’s difficult times was more vivid.

“Our Licht, are you worried about your hyung? How sweet.”

“Stop joking.”

“I’m fine. Actually, I got adopted into a noble family, so I’m overflowing with money.”

“…Ain, a noble?”

“Pfft. No, I’m joking.”

Licht’s eyes turned into sharp triangles. Before Licht could get angry, Ain quickly explained.

“Actually, I got a really expensive artifact from an adventure and sold it. I became super rich.”

“…Really?”

“Of course, really. Look at this.”

Ain pulled out a heavy pouch from his coat. It was filled with 100 Rund gold coins. Licht’s eyes narrowed at the sight.

“…They say people who make a fortune in one go spend recklessly. Ain, you need to save when you have it. You can’t spend like that.”

Licht advised seriously. Ain barely held back his laughter. Then, he whispered, “Licht, hold on,” and brought his mouth close to Licht’s ear. Licht’s jaw dropped at the enormous amount Ain mentioned.

“N-no. No… no, r-really, is the artifact that expensive?”

“Yeah, it was… Anyway, that’s not all. There’s much more in the bank. I can easily pay 36 Rund a day, so don’t worry.”

“Yeah… Yeah, if you’ve become that rich, I guess you can…”

Licht was trying to count how many zeros were in the amount Ain mentioned when he finally came to his senses.

“I’ll show you to the rooms. Are the others coming later?”

“They’ll all be here by tonight.”

“Okay. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Licht led the way up the inn’s stairs, with Ain following behind, watching him. Seeing the kid who used to climb each step with effort now going up so easily as an adult made Ain’s heart feel ticklish.

When they reached the third floor, Licht opened the door to Room 302. After entering with Ain, he whispered.

“This is the best room on the third floor, but don’t tell anyone. I gave the best room to you on purpose.”

“The lodging fee is the same, but this is the best? Are you playing favorites, Licht?”

Licht was startled and shook his head.

“No, it’s not a big difference! The furniture and carpet are new. It’s not a huge difference, just a little better.”

“Okay, okay. So you saved the best room for your hyung? How thoughtful.”

Licht’s eyes turned sharp again. He didn’t understand why Ain kept treating him like a kid when he was a full-grown adult. He went through the trouble of being considerate, only to be teased.

“…I’ll give it to Lady Ruschilka.”

“Haha!”

Ain laughed heartily and, before Licht could sulk, slipped his hand under Licht’s armpits and lifted him up. Licht’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected to be lifted so easily now that he was grown.