Chapter 207: An Unexpected Encounter

Igor had immediately recognized the mark on Xiao Tao’s back as an "indecent mark." Had he actually been to one of those establishments before? Had he even seen one in person?

A place that was not easy to see, after all, would normally be somewhere kept hidden. Qiu Nuoya could imagine under what circumstances Igor might have seen such a thing.

That’s way too stimulating for a virgin.

"Um... these slave marks... Did I do something bad!? Am I a slave?"

Xiao Tao asked them again with an expression that looked ready to break into tears, but no one could give him a clear answer.

A Hero with a slave mark carved into his body, huh?

Yeah, none of this made any sense at all.

"This mark appears to have been modeled after an indecent mark, but slave marks are designed so that, by examining them, one can determine to some extent what crime the person committed and how they came to be enslaved. However, this mark contains none of that information. Rather than a slave mark, I would describe it as a kind of marking."

"Marking?"

"Yes. The spellcaster who placed this mark on Xiao Tao can track his location. Since that is somewhat concerning, I will interfere with the tracking for now."

As he spoke, Viktor held his palm over the mark on Xiao Tao’s back and activated a spell.

The mark suddenly flashed for an instant, as though resisting the magic, but the light quickly disappeared.

"The fact that the interference from Dark Magic originated from this mark may not have been entirely mistaken. Just to be safe, I think we should change inns."

At Viktor’s suggestion, they hurriedly decided to move to another inn.

They had finally managed to settle down, so Qiu Nuoya could not help feeling that things had become rather hectic again. Still, he would much rather move than risk being attacked by some suspicious person.

Fortunately, this city was also a tourist destination, so there were inns everywhere. The sudden request surprised the inn’s receptionist, but after learning that there was another inn belonging to the same chain, they kindly showed us the way there, and we decided to head over.

"Come to think of it, that presence I sensed watching the carriage this morning might have been someone targeting Xiao Tao too."

Qiu Nuoya suddenly remembered that Mochi had also mentioned someone coming over during the night, squishing him before leaving.

At the time, Qiu Nuoya had not thought the midnight visitor seemed particularly hostile. However, perhaps because he was no longer the one being pursued, he had let his guard down a little too much. He reflected on that mistake.

When they had first decided on the previous inn, it had still been before sunset. However, after everything that had happened, night had fallen, and they hurried along the road.

The entertainment district they passed on the way to the inn was still brightly lit. It was the time of evening when heavy drinkers who had started drinking early were beginning to get properly drunk, and the streets were bustling with activity.

"Hey, since we’re already here, why don’t we stop at a restaurant for a bit?"

Drawn in by the delicious smells drifting through the lively streets and the boisterous voices of drunken patrons, Igor made the suggestion.

Well, they had not eaten dinner yet, and Viktor had not even eaten lunch, so there was certainly no reason to refuse the idea of having dinner here.

They had originally been heading straight to the inn because, with so many people in their group, Qiu Nuoya thought it would be better to secure their rooms first. But it was difficult to resist the delicious aromas filling the streets.

Warren and Xiao Tao, both in the middle of their growing years and clearly enjoying their appetites, also seemed hungry. So they stopped on their way to the inn and decided to have dinner first.

The set-meal restaurant they entered was filled with energy, with every customer enjoying their food and drinks in their own way. They simply followed the server’s directions and took their seats.

Igor and Warren had eaten a rather disappointing lunch consisting of flavorless chunks of meat, so they both gave wry smiles as they proceeded to order one heavily seasoned dish and alcoholic drink after another.

Viktor looked at them with exasperation and ordered a few side dishes instead.

In any case, the dishes would eventually all end up being shared by everyone at the table.

"What would you like to eat, Xiao Tao?"

"I... I can’t really tell what anything is just by looking at the menu..." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

It was true that with monster meat dishes, there was no way to imagine what they tasted like without knowing what kind of monster the meat came from. The same applied to vegetables and seasonings. Unless someone already knew what each dish was supposed to be, ordering from the menu could be difficult.

Come to think of it, when Qiu Nuoya had first arrived in this world, he had also ordered random things at restaurants and learned some painful lessons because of it. The memory made him feel strangely nostalgic.

Xiao Tao had seemed down ever since they left the inn. He had already been a quiet and timid person by nature, but Viktor’s actions had made him even more withdrawn.

Come to think of it, Viktor had not apologized to Xiao Tao even once.

Qiu Nuoya decided that Viktor needed to properly apologize at least once. He turned toward Viktor, but just then, he caught sight of long black hair swaying in the corner of his vision.

"Nouya, is something wrong?"

Perhaps noticing Qiu Nuoya’s gaze, Viktor tilted his head.

"There was someone over there with black hair. Black haired people are surprisingly rare in this world, aren’t they? Wait, that’s not the point! Viktor, apologize to Xiao Tao!"

"What? Why are you suddenly saying that?"

"I’m not saying it out of nowhere! What happened earlier was completely because you jumped to conclusions, and you’re the one who scared Xiao Tao! You need to apologize!"