Me, the Weakest Member of the Hero’s Party? I’m the Villain Though? - Chapter 61
Another Black Flame Dragon
We walked for quite a while, and only when the sun was tilting down past the mountain’s edge did we finally reach the harbor town. There were no guards posted at the entrance, so we entered without any trouble.
“Doesn’t the atmosphere feel a little off?”
Elonen whispered quietly as he glanced around the town, now sinking into dusk. I’d felt it too ever since we reached the outskirts. A faint, unsettling stillness wrapped around the place.
“There, an inn. Let’s go.”
Gerard reached out and pointed at a large building just in front of the harbor. From the look of the sea stretching out behind it, it seemed like an ocean-view inn.
“Lysian, can you see the sign hanging on that building?”
I’d been staring out at the waves when Kyle suddenly tapped my shoulder and spoke.
“I see it. Why?”
“Look closely at the mark engraved beneath the sign.”
Just as Kyle said, at the very bottom of the wooden inn sign there was a strange little mark carved in.
“That mark means the innkeeper’s a member of the Information Guild. In other words, we can buy intel here if we pay.”
It wasn’t particularly useful information, but still an interesting fact.
Following the others inside, we found the inn as empty as the silent town outside. As the bell over the door jingled, the innkeeper came out to the counter but froze mid-step.
“Outsiders…?”
Strange. Running an inn meant meeting travelers every day, but his reaction was unusually startled.
“We’re looking to stay a night. Can we rent some rooms?”
“There are plenty of rooms, but… what brings you here?”
Since when did innkeepers question the reason for staying? Maybe it was because he belonged to the Information Guild.
“We’re planning to take a ship tomorrow morning. Is that a problem?”
At Kyle’s words, the innkeeper’s face stiffened. Stroking his mustache, he let out a sigh.
“Sounds like you haven’t heard the rumors.”
“What rumors?”
After ‘that person’ and ‘that thing’, now it was ‘the rumors’. This world really loved speaking in circles.
“No ships have sailed for nearly a month now.”
“Why?”
There could be many reasons for that. Bad weather, or maybe some sea monster like a kraken going wild.
“The reason is…”
But the innkeeper’s answer was unexpected. He casually held out his palm toward Kyle.
“Well, how much will you pay for the information?”
Ah. So information really was pay-to-hear. I hadn’t expected him to steer the conversation into a payment so smoothly. I guess this is the level of skill you need to sell intel for coin.
Kyle exhaled shortly, then fished out three silver coins from his pouch and placed them on the man’s palm. The innkeeper closed his fist and finally spoke.
“You know our sea route connects up north to the Grand Duchy of Serendal, right?”
“Yeah. We know.”
“Well, the port at Serendal’s been closed for some time now. No ships are being received. So, naturally, we can’t send any ships out either.”
“Why did Serendal’s port close?”
The moment Kyle asked, the innkeeper extended his palm again.
“Would you like to purchase additional information?”
A true master at milking customers. He must’ve done this more than a few times. Gerard looked about ready to snap and smack the back of the man’s head with his staff.
But before he could, Kyle swiftly reached into his pouch again and generously slapped a gold coin into the man’s hand.
“That enough? Now talk. No more stalling.”
“Well…”
Even with Kyle’s threat, the innkeeper drew out the pause one more time, almost savoring it. Gerard’s patience was about to snap clean in two when the man finally spoke.
“The rumored Black Flame Dragon appeared in Serendal.”
“…Huh?”
Uh… I’m right here though…?
* * *
It didn’t take long, after we’d started staying at the inn, to figure out why the innkeeper had looked so startled to see outsiders.
“Seems we’re the only guests.”
Elonen glanced around the empty first floor of the inn as he spoke. Despite its fairly large size, there wasn’t a single other lodger.
Even the innkeeper, after serving us food, had nothing else to do and had spent the past few hours swatting at stray gnats.
“This is where people planning to take ships usually stay, but no ships have been sailing.”
“And food’s bad.”
As expected, Kakaros—ever picky about food—sighed deeply while staring down at the bland fish stew.
Maybe it was because they’d gone so long without guests, but the ingredients didn’t feel fresh.
“If no ships are leaving, how do we get to Serendal? We’ll have to take the long way around, I guess?”
Kyle was hunched over the map spread across the table, brow furrowed in thought.
“Crossing the gorge isn’t an option, so we’d have to take a huge detour. See this tall mountain range? Just getting over it would take at least a week.”
Kakaros pointed it out on the map, explaining helpfully. But with every word, Kyle’s face darkened.
