Mennick led the group down the corridor to the entrance hall. Fiona was back at the counter and waved at them cheerfully as they passed by. They went out through the front door, leaving the central square towards the east. Edwin quickly lost track of where they were going, Mennick expertly navigating back roads and alleys. After a few minutes they arrived at a squat building with a wooden sign. It bore a pig’s head with a scroll in its mouth. The old instructor pulled the door open, leading them inside.

Edwin followed him into a large room with a number of tables. Only one of the tables was occupied by a group of old people talking in low voices. At the back of the room was a low bar that Mennick headed straight for. When Edwin made to follow him, Bordan stopped him and pulled him towards a corner of the room.

“Come on, we recruits always grab a table.”

Edwin let himself get dragged along, looking at the older man in surprise.

“Wait, you’re a recruit? I thought you were an instructor.”

Bordan chuckled, taking a seat.

“Nah, I’ve only been an adventurer for a few weeks myself. Leodin has been one longer than I have.”

“Oh, okay.” Edwin said, confused. ”Well…”

“Why does an old fart like me become an adventurer?”

Edwin scratched his head, flustered. Bordan laughed.

“Don’t worry about it, I get it. Thing is, I used to be in the army. Got out a few years back, tried a quiet job for retirement, but I just couldn’t sit still. Don’t have it in me. Didn’t want to sit at the border forever either though, so I thought adventuring might be nice. It’s close to home, I’m only gone for a week or two at a time, I pick when and where I work. That kind of thing.”

Edwin leaned back, letting the explanation sink in.

“I suppose that makes sense. I’m a little surprised that you would become an adventurer after being a soldier for so long. I always thought soldiers, guards and adventurers didn’t like each other.”

Bordan nodded, tapping his fingers on the wooden table in thought.

“In a way they do. I guess it’s inevitable, what with all of them doing somewhat similar jobs. They all protect the duchy and its people, and they do so by fighting. Of course there’s going to be a little rivalry. I think it’s mostly guards and adventurers though, because they – or we, I guess – fish in the same pond.” He leaned back, gesturing with his hands.

“Soldiers defend the border. That’s pretty much it. But guards and adventurers both protect the people at home. The guards believe adventurers are stuck-up dandies who think they’re better than everyone else because the Adventurer’s Guild got all these traditions and customs and such that go back all the way to the old world. And the adventurers think that guards are lazy and useless, only good for standing in gates and harassing citizens.” Bordan smirked. “Also, us army boys know that we’re the best at fighting, so any rivalry would we be pointless, wouldn’t it?”

Leodin, who had sat by quietly until now turned towards the older man with raised eyebrows.

“I’m sorry, what did you say oldtimer? I couldn’t hear you over your bones creaking and your hair falling out.”

Bordan shook a fist at him, laughing.

“If you want creaking bones, how about after lunch I show you some grappling techniques you brat!”

Leodin grinned. “You sure you won’t need a nap?”

Edwin never found out if he did, because the arrival of a chipper young waitress with a long, auburn braid and mischievous eyes interrupted them.

“Hello you two, nice to see you again. Who is this?” She smiled at Edwin.

“Hello Clara.” Bordan answered “This is Edwin, our newest addition.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Clara.” Edwin said, returning her smile.

“Well, what can I bring you fellows?”

Leodin and Bordan ordered stew and an ale, and Edwin followed their example. Clara left to get their food, and Bordan grinned, leaning towards Edwin.

“She must have heard from Mennick that there was a new recruit and came to have a peek. The stew is all they serve for lunch, so usually she just brings each of us a plate.”

“What is it with this tavern anyway?” Edwin asked. “I was surprised that we came here, considering the sign. I thought adventurers take that kind of thing really serious.”

The other two shared an amused look. “I thought the same thing at first, and I’m sure if anyone else had opened a tavern like this, it would’ve mysteriously burned down. But the owner is an old adventurer himself, so he gets away with it. In fact, the pig and scroll is kind of the unofficial official adventurer tavern in the city. Usually it would be packed, but right now everyone’s out on assignments. That’s the owner behind the bar, by the way.”

Following Bordan’s direction, Edwin spotted a bald but stocky older man, currently deep in conversation with Mennick who was seated by the bar, already with a plate in front of him.

“Him and Mennick used to be in a party, apparently. Karel married the daughter of the previous owner, and when the party split up, he retired to run this place while Mennick became an instructor.”

At that moment, Clara exited the kitchen with plates balanced on her arms and mugs in her hands, approaching their table.

“Here you go, everyone. Today it’s beef and potato, mostly. Let me know if you like it.”

Bordan accepted his plate with a smile.

“I’m sure we will, Clara. Your mother’s cooking is always delicious.”

“Oh sure, but recently I’ve started helping with the cooking, you see, so tell me what you think.”

She waited by the table as the three dug in. Taking the first bite, Edwin realized that he had to be ravenous, because the stew tasted like a gift from the gods.

“Clara, this is amazing! I think I’m going to need a second plate!”

The girl blushed as the other two echoed his praise.

“I’m glad you like it. I’ll bring you a second helping in a moment.” With that, she hurried back to the kitchen, and Edwin concentrated on eating. Now that he thought about it, he had eaten almost exclusively dried travel rations ever since he had been…born? Made? During that period he had marched a good distance in record time and completed several hours of intense physical training. If his body suppressed the feeling of hunger, it was possible that he had been depleting his reserves without noticing it.

A large part of the enhancements that Walter had built into Edwin’s body were powered by a small trickle of mana from his core. The amount was minuscule, just as small as the mana every living thing had inside of them anyway, except usually it didn’t do anything except sitting there and eventually dissipating into the environment. But a human body needed nutrients, and fulfilling all or even most of the requirements by mana alone would have been very difficult and require far too much power to still be inconspicuous.

Actually, Edwin probably needed more food than normal people, especially if Walter’s upgrades had inadvertently become overcharged. He needed to keep an eye on this. If he didn’t watch out, he might run out of energy during a time of exertion, and he could only speculate what would happen then. Maybe he would simply feel weak, like a normal person who didn’t eat enough. Or maybe his body would start consuming itself, or the mana would go out of control, doing things it wasn’t supposed to. That was the problem with Edwin being unique. With a normal human body, everyone knew how it worked. Edwin was the first of his kind, and he would learn these things as they happened to him.

“Oh my, you must have really been hungry.” Clara said with wonder, appearing next to him. He had been so lost in thought that he hadn’t heard her approaching. Looking down, he realized that his plate was completely empty, while Bordan’s and Leodin’s were still half full.

“I suppose I am.” Edwin replied with a rueful chuckle. “I only arrived in the city yesterday, and I’ve survived mostly off travel rations for the last few days. Your stew tastes divine, I didn’t even realize how quickly I was eating until it was gone.”

“Well, if you enjoy our food that is the best compliment a cook can receive.” Clara said, smiling proudly. “Although I only helped, Ma did most of it. Do you want another ale as well?”

Edwin looked at his mug, seeing that it was still mostly full. He had never liked ale much and didn’t feel like another.

“No, thank you. But I do think I’m going to need a third plate. Apparently I didn’t realize just how hungry I was…”

“A third plate? My, you must have been starving. Tell you what, as a welcome present the third helping is on the house.”

“Thank you, milady, that is very kind of you.” Edwin replied with a smile.

Clara blushed bright red and hurried back to the kitchen.

“My word, Edwin, you’re a real charmer, aren’t you?” Bordan asked with a wide grin. “I would be careful flirting with her, though, her father doesn’t take kindly to it.”

“Flirting?” Edwin asked, confused. “What do you mean? I wasn’t flirting with her, just being polite.”

Bordan raised an eyebrow. “Sure looked like flirting to me, what do you think, Leo?” The boy was looking at Edwin with a mix of awe and envy, and simply nodded. “Thought so. And I’m sure if we asked her, she’d give you the same answer. Why else would you be calling her milady?”

“I wasn’t flirting!” Edwin insisted with a full mouth, sulkily inhaling his second plate of stew. “I don’t flirt. She’s basically a child! I was just being nice.”

Bordan leaned back in his chair, scratching his head. “I’m not sure if you’re messing with me or if not. She’s at most a few years younger than you, unless you are way older than you look. Either way, you need to be more careful, or you’re going to break a lot of poor girls’ hearts.”

“I don’t…” Edwin grumbled, trailing off. “Oh no. That’s what happened with Fiona. Ooooooh.” He rubbed his eyes in annoyance.

That would explain so much!

Bordan looked at him incredulously. “You flirted with Fiona too? You’ve only been here half a day!”

“No, I didn’t flirt with Fiona!” Edwin hissed in annoyance. “But…maybe she thought I was. Damn it.”

Bordan laughed loudly, slapping his knee. It was starting to draw looks, and Edwin tried to sink into his chair. Finally Mennick stopped, wiping away a tear. “You’re a riot, Edwin. How do you not realize this? Did you grow up alone in the forest somewhere? Because Leodin did, and he’s got more sense than you. Gods, if I combined the both of you, I would have two perfectly reasonable people.”

“Hey, how did I end up in this?” Leodin protested.

“You should pay attention to Edwin. He’s got moves, and you could use some. I’ve seen you try to hide behind your own back whenever a girl looks at you!”

“No, I don’t!” Leodin grumbled, flushing. “And by the gods, don’t be so loud.”

At this moment, Clara returned with another plate.

“What’s going on here? You guys seem to be having fun, I could hear you laughing all the way in the kitchen.”

Leodin buried his face in hands, while Edwin really didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to inadvertently flirt with her again, making it worse. He had absolutely no interest in her, and romantic entanglements were at the very bottom of the list of things Edwin wanted to do. Bordan, who had admittedly caused the situation in the first place, came to the rescue.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. Edwin here just told a funny story.”

“Really?” Clara leaned forward, smiling at him and giving him a good view of her sizeable cleavage. “Sounds interesting. Why don’t you tell it again?”

Bordan grinned at Edwin mischievously. “Yes, Edwin, why don’t you?”

Turns out I really hate the guy. Who would have thought?

Edwin smiled his best ‘polite-but-not-too-friendly-and-definitely-not-flirty’ smile, scooting back in his chair. “I’m sorry, I should probably be eating. I think we’ll need to go soon, and I really want to finish this delicious stew.”

“A shame.” Clara said, pouting. “Maybe another time.” With that, she sashayed off back to the kitchen. Edwin looked after her, realizing that Karel was regarding him with narrowed eyes from behind the bar.

“Told you.” Bordan whispered. “You really shouldn’t have flirted with his daughter.”

“Bite me.”