As Severin stood in front of the renovated inn, he didn't know exactly how much time it had taken him to make his way back - the constant arguing behind him had numbed his sense of time - but thanks to his newly acquired map, which saved him from many unwanted detours, it couldn't have been too long; even if the sun had set in the meantime.

The sounds of a well-busy establishment could be heard even from outside.

He opened the door and stopped.

The sight before him was exactly what he had envisioned when he still had plans for his own inn.

But before the hint of regret could manifest itself further, a high-pitched voice reached out to him, cutting through the noise of at least three dozen boisterous guests.

“It’s you!” The boy beamed; this morning’s experience was still fresh in his mind. He had just taken an order to the nearby table and was on his way back to the counter his mother was manning. “Come inside,” he hurried, ”your friend is already waiting inside.”

At this, Nel unnecessarily pointed to an unmistakably massive figure that was draped in the fur of a ferocious-looking animal, earning the man enough respect from the surrounding people not to be bothered and securing one of the larger tables all for himself.

Even though he had his back turned to Severin, the man's posture and movements revealed that he was one of the few people who were currently eating; the kitchen was already officially closed by now.

Severin nodded to the boy and stepped inside. “Still have some of that food you promised us?”

“Of course. I’ll bring it over right away!”

“Thanks. And one of these drinks everyone seems to be enjoying.” While giving his order, Severin half-turned around, making his words also an implicit question to the people behind him.

“Make it two.”

“Three.”

“Right away!” Nel eagerly replied before excusing himself.

..

Severin and Miriam were still circling around to the other side of the table, while Timothy headed straight for the seat next to his mentor.

Without looking up and shortly after he had emptied the bowl that seemed almost tiny in his hands, Samuel spoke up.

“Nice place you found here. Good food. And it seems you made a lasting impression on the host.”

“Ah! How did you know it was us?!” Timothy hadn’t exactly been trying to sneak up on the man but was still visibly annoyed he had been noticed this quickly.

“Haha, with your bickering, I could hear you coming from a mile away.” Severin wasn’t exactly sure if the man was speaking figuratively or literally; he wouldn’t have been surprised either way.

“Besides, so far, no one else around here had approached me like that.”

“Hmpf. So they do know who you are,” the miffed boy concluded.

“Ha, Timy, nothing the like. They see a half-giant wearing the skin of a Deathstalker. To the majority of people-adventurer or not-that is reason enough.”

Timothy was about to protest once more, but was halted in his tracks.

Samuel looked at the now seated group and steered the conversation in a different direction.

“I’d ask you how you spent your time, but I guess that won’t be necessary. I just hope you remembered what I have told you.

“Keeping track of one’s expenses is a vital and often overlooked aspect of adventuring. You never know when you might run into a dry spell.” Judging by the cadence of her words and the way she rolled her eyes, this was not the first time Miriam recited these words.

“As long as you know. And what about the stats?”

“We can show you later! Why don’t you instead tell us how your day went?”

“You little brat,” Samuel laughed. “What you really mean to ask is whether or not I got a hold of the tickets. Isn’t that right?”

cough cough

….

“Here you are.” Hardly a minute had passed since welcoming them, when Milly’s son returned carrying a large tray with three bowls of stew and three large beer mugs on top of it. He served them and ignored the discontent objections of some of the other patrons who noticed their order had been skipped.

“I hope you like it!”

“We will. At least I will,” Severin assured sincerely.

Back in his world, he had never been too fond of this kind of food, but now simply just the generous chunks of meat made his mouth water. And even the vegetables-especially the pieces resembling potatoes-looked more appetizing than anything he remembered.

Maybe now that he was outside the System’s direct area of influence, this was just a side effect of his returning sense of hunger, but either way, Severin could barely restrain himself. He faded out the conversations around him and focused solely on his food, which he gobbled down in a matter of minutes.

Satisfied, he patted his belly with his left hand and reached for the cup with his right.

‘Sweeter than what I’m used to,’ was his immediate judgement. ‘Fruitier. But not bad.’ With that, he started for a second swig when he felt like he was being watched.

He halted mid-motion, looked around, and saw a woman standing inside the door, looking in his direction. A moment later, she turned around and left without entering.

‘Checking just how crowded it is,’ Severin concluded and finished the sip. ‘But at this time, it’s not like you have much of a choice.’

Thus Severin wasn’t much surprised when a few moments later the door opened again and the same woman, now accompanied by a man with scales similar to those of the woman he had seen earlier, stepped inside. And towards him.

‘Guess it’s too packed to expect we could keep the whole table for ourselves. Even with Samuel as a deterrence.’

Sigh

Knowing it would be impossible to ignore the approaching pair, Severin forced himself to an inviting smile - a skill possessed by all shopkeepers, even the classless ones.

The woman replied in kind.

The man, however, didn’t even pay any attention to him and looked right past him.

“Sla.. [Slaughter King]!?”

Severin’s eardrum nearly burst when Miriam suddenly shouted; the newcomer visibly flinched.

Multiple heads turned around to see who was making this ruckus. And immediately fell silent.

Within a few breaths time, the whole room had become quiet.

As much as the girl- and most everyone else in the inn- was excited, the actual center of attention regretted not having been any more careful in his approach. He tried not to let his displeasure show and got straight to the point.

“You are the [Berserker]. The one from earlier. From the sparring grounds.” The man confirmed his companion’s observation had indeed been correct.

Miriam was rarely at a loss for words, but now that one of her idols and arguably one of the strongest fighters in the history of The Games, was not only standing right in front of her, but talking to her directly, this was exactly such a case.

She was still trying to process what was happening when Samuel, sitting opposite of her, turned around to examine the newcomer.

“Richard? Is that you? My, you have grown.”

“Master Samuel?!” Now it was the newcomer’s turn to be taken aback. The man immediately became very respectful. “Then this is... your disciple?”

[Berserker]? Half-giant? Called Samuel? Knows the [Slaughter King]?

Even if they hadn't recognized the old man before, now, with all these clues, they just had to put two and two together.

The crowd, which had been watching everything with bated breath since Miriam's sudden scream, could no longer contain itself. The whole room erupted into a deafening din.