Chapter 46 Interlude

Xia Nan frowned, his dark eyes moving slowly over the man in front of him.

The stranger looked like trouble. Worse, he reeked of alcohol.

Xia Nan knew perfectly well what heavy drinking could do to the human brain. Once alcohol started interfering with judgment, even an otherwise rational person could become aggressive, reckless, and barely aware of what they were doing.

He had not been in this world for long, and his current strength was hardly impressive.

But if this stranger meant to cause trouble, Xia Nan was already prepared to respond.

Almost instinctively, he began comparing their combat capabilities.

[Hmm… He’s seriously drunk. Doesn’t look like he’s faking it.]

[His footing is unstable. Whether I retreat or attack, I can exploit that.]

[Against a humanoid opponent, the Decapitating Longsword is the better choice, but we’re too close. Its length will be awkward here. I need to create some distance first.]

[Judging by his build and clothes…]

Meanwhile, Chapton stared at the two men who had somehow fallen into an eerie silence.

A bad feeling crept into his heart.

He knew the drunk.

Bernie.

A notorious drunkard in Rivervale Town.

Bernie was a legitimate adventurer who made his living from quest bounties, but he spent nearly every waking moment in one tavern or another.

Only when he was completely broke would he rejoin his old party for a couple of quests. Once he had earned enough drinking money, he would immediately settle back into town and start haunting the taverns again.

And he was a terrible drunk.

Bernie had only been in Rivervale Town for half a year, yet Chapton had already thrown him out of the White Chickadee Tavern three times for causing trouble while intoxicated.

If Bernie had not been a decent enough person while sober, Chapton would have blacklisted him long ago.

Then there was the black-haired young man on the other side…

Chapton suddenly noticed something.

Xia Nan had lowered his center of gravity.

Only slightly, but enough.

His posture had shifted into one meant for fighting, and one hand was already lifting toward his sword hilt.

He looked ready to draw at any moment.

“No need for that. No need.”

Two middle-aged adventurers hurried over from behind Bernie.

They caught the drunken man before he could topple over and gave Xia Nan an embarrassed smile.

“Sorry about this. He’s had way too much to drink. We went over to watch the excitement and lost track of him for a moment.”

One of them turned toward Chapton behind the counter, thumped his chest, and called out, “Put this friend’s expenses tonight on my tab.”

Then, after apologizing to Xia Nan several more times, the two men dragged Bernie back to their table.

It was not because they had somehow seen through Xia Nan’s strength.

Experienced low-level adventurers could be ruthless enough to stab longtime companions in the back over a piece of equipment worth a fortune.

But that was because the profit on the other side of the scale was large enough.

Anyone who had survived quest after quest could not possibly be the kind of idiot who let emotion make every decision for them.

This was a trivial matter.

A hand reached out, an apology offered, and the whole thing disappeared.

Why create an enemy of unknown background and unknown strength over something so insignificant?

Even a fool knew the answer.

They were all adventurers. No one knew where they might run into one another again, or what condition either side might be in when that happened.

With two companions present to stop him, Bernie naturally had no chance of starting a real conflict with Xia Nan.

Of course, anyone who took that as proof that these men were good people would be badly mistaken.

If something valuable enough appeared in front of them, something capable of overwhelming whatever morals they possessed, they would strike just as quickly as anyone else.

The confrontation Xia Nan had half expected never happened.

Just like that, the small disturbance in the tavern came to an end.

He was a little surprised, but he did not dwell on it.

Someone had volunteered to pay for him.

Why refuse?

“One set meal number three,” Xia Nan told the tavernkeeper.

After so many days of surviving on dry rations in the forest, he had reached his limit.

He was not exaggerating.

One night, he had actually dreamed that he was back in his previous life, sitting in one of his usual restaurants and eating until he could barely move.

Now that the quest was finally over, of course he was going to treat himself.

If not for the late hour, he would already have been running around town selling his spoils.

According to the Adventurer’s Handbook, making the full circuit through the relevant shops would take most of a day by itself.

But tonight, nearly every store on the street was already closed.

Sizzle…

Steam curled upward.

The rich smell of hot food rushed into his nose.

Stew, mushroom soup, and white bread.

The same simple combination as before.

Xia Nan tore off a piece of bread and soaked it thoroughly in the mushroom soup.

Then he took a bite.

“Mmm.”

The soft bread almost melted on his tongue. Its mild, milky flavor mixed with the sweet savoriness of the mushroom soup before sliding warmly down his throat.

Xia Nan’s eyes narrowed in pure enjoyment.

[Now this is living.]

At that moment, Chapton set a glass of rather expensive-looking liquor on the table.

“This one’s on the White Chickadee.”

Xia Nan looked at him in surprise.

“Thank you.”

There was no reason to refuse.

He nodded and accepted it.

The glass touched the tabletop, the clear liquor inside rippling gently.

Xia Nan ate his dinner while his thoughts drifted.

By the time he had returned to Rivervale Town, it had already been late. With nowhere left open to sell his spoils, he had decided to spend the night at the White Chickadee first.

The Green Pine wooden sword on his back was still wrapped in bandages.

That was deliberate.

He did not want someone taking one look at it and noticing something unusual.

For the next few days, he would keep an eye out for an opportunity to have a proper scabbard made at a smithy. Once that was done, carrying the sword around would be much less troublesome.

He took a drink.

The liquor burned across his tongue and down his throat.

His body, however, barely reacted.

Xia Nan suspected his constitution was responsible.

It had already risen to 8 points.

Previously, maxing out Spinning Slash had given him 1 point of strength and 1 point of agility. Those two points alone had made him feel as though he had been given a new body, and his combat ability had risen sharply.

Now, after absorbing the dewdrop, he had gained another 3 points of constitution.

The difference was anything but small.

They had spent the entire day traveling.

By the end, even Wood, who had already gained a class level, had been visibly winded, his chest rising and falling with each breath.

Xia Nan had felt almost nothing.

The entire journey had been as easy as taking a walk.

Granted, the dewdrop had replenished much of the stamina he had consumed earlier.

Even so, it was more than enough to prove just how much his endurance had improved.

And constitution did more than increase stamina.

Unlike in a game, there was no dramatically lengthening health bar for him to stare at, but a stronger body still meant he could take more punishment in battle.

He had not tested the limits yet, but Xia Nan was fairly certain that he could now use Spinning Slash several times in quick succession without compromising his physical condition.

The days when a few hard swings left his arms weak and aching were gone.

And if his constitution had improved that much, then his resistance to physical impact should have improved as well.

Which meant…

If he returned to the Misty Forest right now and let that basilisk ram him from behind again…

Xia Nan suddenly shuddered.

For some reason, his back seemed to start aching all over again.

[I definitely wouldn’t die.]

He paused.

[But I’ll pass.]