IOC - 11

“…I apologize for dropping in so abruptly.”

Did he realize we aren't open yet? Even for one of the main cast, I figured a high-born noble wouldn't spare a thought for such trifles. While I wavered, unsure whether to open my mouth and offer a reluctant greeting, Theord suddenly began rummaging through his coat.

Wait, he’s not drawing a sword because he thinks I’m looking at him funny, is he?

A chill ran down my spine. I swallowed hard.

The moment I saw something silver flash from his fingertips, my survival instincts kicked in. I reflexively threw my arms up to shield my face, a pitiful attempt to block a stray blade.

But after a long silence, Theord hadn't moved. Feeling foolish, I peeked through the gaps in my arms. There was no sharp steel in his hand, instead, he held something small and round.

“……!”

It was a silver coin. A whole silver.

There it was. 1 silver. The perfectly beautiful curve of the coin and its luster, shining as brightly as his own silver hair, was unmistakably a silver piece.

A bowl of gukbap (soup with rice) only costs 3 pennies. Was he seriously handing over more than thirty times the price without batting an eye?

Is he... insane? I felt the corners of my mouth twitching upward uncontrollably. I fought the urge to snatch it immediately, and as I stood there struggling to keep a straight face, Theord looked down at me. For a fleeting second, his lips quirked.

“……?”

Wait, did he just smile? That "stone-faced, cold-blooded swordsman"?

While I stood there frozen in shock, Theord glanced back toward the kitchen. He gave Gilbert, whose face was half-hidden by a thick beard, a long, piercing look before withdrawing his gaze.

He stood up, leaving behind a single sentence.

“I shall return often.”

And just like that, he was gone, leaving the silver coin sitting lonely on the table.

“…….”

I stared at the door for a long time before muttering under my breath.

“I felt a spark.”

Gilbert, standing behind me, muttered in a raspy voice that didn't match his hulking frame.

“…Me too. I thought I was going to be stabbed to death by his eyes.”

“I’ll never find another love like this… I mean, a guest like this again.”

“…….”

Gilbert went silent at my senseless remark. Silence settled over the inn, and in that quiet void where no one dared speak, that 1-silver coin shone exceptionally bright.

My first customer, no, my first pushover, had officially made his debut.

***

02. Guests of the Inn

Theord Valen Hardt.

The first companion of the Saintess, the protagonist of The Saintess Wants a Peaceful Life, and the cold-blooded Knight Commander who was the pride of the Empire.

He was famous for two things. first, his skill, second, his looks. His expression was usually a frozen mask and his lips were perpetually sealed, rarely uttering more than was absolutely necessary. But honestly, that was enough.

With a face like that, if he were a smooth talker too, it would be a scam. Usually, if you’re that good-looking, it's better to just keep your mouth shut.

Usually, it’s people like me, lacking in one area or another, who have to develop a silver tongue. Whether it's a lack of background, or height... various things. I lack both, though I'm not exactly short. I'm actually a bit taller than average.

Anyway, that’s exactly how he was described in the novel.

> The Knight Commander of the Chevalier Empire and the Duke of Hardt. A statue-like beauty with silver hair and blue eyes. His reason for joining Amelia’s party wasn't out of some grand sense of duty or conviction. It was simply because he was ordered to. That was all.

> It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say the gods had sculpted his features with the utmost care, but he was as silent as his expression was rigid. His silence felt intimidating to others. Even Amelia, who usually hid her cynicism and laziness behind her title of Saintess, eventually snapped one day.

> “Sir, if your throat is sore, I can heal it for you.”

> That was how much he rationed his words. He rarely spoke even when necessary, and showing emotion was even rarer.

> There was, however, one exception. mealtime.

> That evening, they had managed to build a fire. It was just a meager bowl of stew made with a few scavenged vegetables. Yet, in front of that small warmth, Theord opened his mouth briefly for the first time.

> “Thank you for the meal.”

> As he said it, the corners of his mouth lifted ever so slightly. It was a blink-and-you-miss-it smile, but it was enough to take Amelia’s breath away.

> They say the smile of a silent man is the most lethal, don't they? The smile flickering in the firelight was soft yet intense enough to wash away the fatigue of their long, harsh journey.

> However, she soon realized that smile wasn't for her. He gave the same look to anyone sitting across from a meal.

> That’s right. Theord was just a man who was dead serious about food.

> “He really, really loves eating,” Amelia concluded.

It was a description from the Saintess's perspective, but I only took one thing away from it.

All those "love-interest" vibes were just a massive misunderstanding stemming from his devotion to a good meal.

After that first visit, Theord came to the inn every single day for a week.

We only had one item on the menu, gukbap, so I had no idea what he found so delicious. When I slid him a side of rolled omelets as a "service" on the house, his eyes widened, and he left another silver coin on the table.

For a 3-penny bowl of soup and one free egg roll.

Today, as I stared at the silver coin he left behind, I whispered to myself.

‘…Am I totally playing this guy?’

This went beyond just liking the food, this was either religious devotion or he was the ultimate pushover.

And rumors traveled faster than I expected.

Word that the Imperial Knight Commander himself was frequenting a roadside inn on the border just to eat, that one sentence was enough.

Within days, parties of adventurers began trickling in. Young soldiers patrolling the border and mercenaries heading out to hunt monsters all followed the trail of the rumor about "The Gukbap Place the Knight Commander Eats At."

Ding~!

The bell on the door rang multiple times a day.

The gukbap sold like wildfire. All I had to do was serve up the milky broth, enhanced with a little touch of MSG, and pile it high with pork head meat, and the customers' eyes would pop.

“I’ve never tasted anything like this.”

“Kaaah! No wonder the Knight Commander comes here.”

“A steaming bowl of gukbap right on the border? This is paradise.”

Compliments poured in from everywhere. They weren't just polite pleasantries, they were genuine exclamations of delight. Even so, I just peeled boiled eggs with a detached air, wondering to myself.

‘So, where exactly are we in the timeline of the novel?’

In the original story, the plot kicks off when the Saintess and Theord investigate a mysterious body found at the border, which leads to them traveling together. But lately, Theord is just hanging around here by himself. Where is the Saintess? Why hasn't she shown up?

Anxiety rose in my throat. I feigned ignorance, sliding a peeled egg toward a regular who was chatting away.

“Seems like there are a lot of adventurers around the border lately?”

The customer looked up from his soup.

“Hmm? You run an inn and haven't heard?”

He was a familiar face, a regular who often gave me extra tips because he thought I was "cute." Our casual rapport was thanks to that. When I shook my head, he lowered his voice.

“They found a body, didn't they?”

I flinched. In the novel, that was a secret whispered only among the high-ranking officials, but now the news had leaked to the point that adventurers were swarming the area. It was a signal that the main plot was about to start. I played dumb and asked.

“Oh, that. But what does that have to do with the increase in adventurers?”

“Why else? Everyone’s on edge. They think it was a monster’s doing. So the Empire sent knights, and the adventurers are scouring the woods.”

Exactly. This was the early-game flow. The scenes from the novel overlapped with the reality before my eyes.

“Plus, they say the body is unidentified. Why would it be unidentified? People are worried the monsters might be kidnapping humans and keeping them hidden.”

“But we have the Border.”

The "Border" usually evoked tension, but here, it was different. As long as you didn't cross it, it was the perfect shield. Nevertheless, in the original novel, the spark that ignited the war between humans and monsters was this very "unidentified body" incident.

The customer just shrugged.

“It’s all speculation. No one knows if it was really a monster. But since it happened right on the border, people are bound to be suspicious. Better safe than sorry, right?”

As he said, it could have been a simple mysterious death. But it happened to be unidentified, and it happened to be on the border. It was the spark that would tear through the thin veil of peace and lead to war. Of course, the identity of that body remained a mystery until the very end of the book.

Well, I suppose it makes sense as a trigger for the first chapter.

Right then.

Ding~!

The bell rang, light, yet clear, and the atmosphere in the room shifted.

The boisterous noise that filled the inn died down instantly. Spoons stopped mid-air, and every head turned toward the door.

“…….”

First came the silver hair, then the clear blue eyes shining calmly beneath it. And, of course, that statue-like face you could never forget.

Our regular pushover had arrived.