NPC - 37

Chapter 37

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I walked into the first restaurant I saw and plopped down in a seat.

"Mister, give me the most expensive thing on the menu."

I placed my order without even glancing at the menu. I noticed the restaurant owner's face scowl slightly, but I decided not to care. 

Sure, it's good when a customer spends a lot of money. But customers who order like this are usually the ones who cause trouble. 

'I feel like an obnoxious customer.' 

Still, since I actually had money for once, I wanted to spend it to my heart's content. Besides, this was probably the only time in my life I'd ever get to say a line like that.

Tap, tap.

As I sat there blankly, my fingers unconsciously drummed against the table. The steady, pendulum-like rhythm seemed to release a lingering sense of dissatisfaction and anxiety I hadn't even realized I was holding onto.

After parting ways with Derek, I had scoured the village's general store and the plaza, trying to gather information on potions and traveling merchants. 

...But I hadn't found a single piece of useful intel.

'Is it because I'm not the protagonist...?' 

Gathering information was proving to be a challenge.

"Here. This is the most expensive dish we have."

The owner set the plate down with a gruff tone. Naturally, it was meat. When it comes to expensive food, it's always meat. In the center of the massive plate sat a thick steak lightly drizzled with sauce, surrounded by a bed of stir-fried vegetables. Circling that were thin slices of boiled meat, followed by an outer ring of something resembling minced meat patties.

'Can I even finish this by myself?'

I hadn't taken a bite yet, but regardless of the taste, the portion size was absolutely overwhelming. It would be hard to add something like this to our inn's menu. Though, maybe I could imitate it and serve a more affordable version.

"Do you want some booze with that?"

"No alcohol. Just fruit juice, please."

"Hmm, alright."

In this world, there was no legal drinking age. However, if you chose to drink, you had to bear the consequences yourself, because the alcohol here was incredibly potent. 

Compared to this stuff, the booze from my past life was practically fruit juice. I had once casually tried a sip of wine and nearly passed out on the spot. I had no idea how they brewed it, but it was dangerously strong.

While the locals chugged it down like they had a genetic tolerance built from birth, I would get drunk almost instantly. Thinking back, it was probably a side effect of being reincarnated into another dimension.

"Here you go."

"Thank you."

Unless a customer specifically requested a certain fruit, the juice was usually made from local specialties or whatever the shop had readily available. I wasn't sure what went into this particular batch, but... it was quite sour.

"..."

After cleansing my palate, I stabbed a piece of meat with my fork and took a bite. Lightly seasoned, the meat definitely lived up to its high price. It was tender and bursting with juices. Yet, my movements remained mechanical as I absentmindedly chewed the expensive steak.

I just wasn't in the mood to savor the flavor. I couldn't pinpoint exactly why, but I was in a bad mood.

'...Is it because I haven't gathered much information?'

That was one of the main goals of my journey. But it baffled me how I could already feel this exhausted when my travels had barely just begun. Without even registering the taste, the food on my plate slowly disappeared into my stomach.

"Did you hear the news?"

"What news?"

Suddenly, a conversation from the adjacent table pierced through my thoughts. Sentences that started like that were highly likely to contain important information. Moreover, the fact that this specific voice cut clearly through the chaotic din of the restaurant felt like fate.

If it's fate, I should listen. I yielded to destiny and subtly perked up my ears.

"I heard an incredible guy showed up nearby."

"What kind of guy?"

"I haven't seen him myself, but my neighbor told me. Said he had a face so handsome he didn't look like he belonged in this world."

Chewing on a slightly dry piece of boiled meat, I nodded to myself. I didn't even need to verify it; they were definitely talking about Derek. That face of his was something else. Even I had been mesmerized by it.

It seemed he had been wandering around without a hood, advertising his face to the whole neighborhood.

'Didn't he say he was on a secret mission?'

I shook my head, worrying about whether it was really okay for him to be so conspicuous.

"If he's that good-looking, I'd like to see him once myself. Where is he now?"

"Well, that's the thing. I heard he went off to hunt that toad for us."

"What?! The toad?"

'You're not even the protagonist. Why are you wandering around accepting quests?'

First the bandits, now this. He was acting exactly like a main character. This was completely different from the Derek I knew during my game playthroughs. The game version of him definitely wouldn't have had the luxury or the inclination to run around helping villagers.

'I guess even small changes can ripple into the main story.'

I had expected this, but the narrative had begun shifting subtly from the moment I saved him. So far, I considered it a positive change. Hopefully, this would lead to a change in his tragic ending as well.

'But... something is bothering me.'

There was a detail in their conversation that nagged at me. It was something incredibly subtle, hard to pinpoint immediately. As I brought the juice to my lips, trying to put my finger on it...

"Didn't they say the swamp around there is filled with poison?"

"Right. It's the poison that toad spews."

"Pfft?!"

I nearly spat the juice right out of my nose.

'Poison.'

That word struck my chest heavily.

'Poison. Poison...'

Like a pulsing heartbeat, the word hammered violently in my mind. Poison. Derek and poison.

"They warned him the swamp was surrounded by a dangerous poisonous fog, but he just went in anyway."

"Isn't a huge disaster bound to happen at this rate?"

"You can say that."

"...!"

Finally, I shot up from my seat.

"Mister! Let me get some Sey leaves, please!"

"...Huh?"

Realizing my intention, the owner brought a few Sey leaves to my table. He wore a bitter smile, as if he had expected this all along.

Sey leaves, being broad and thick, were basically used as to-go containers for food. They were incredibly useful because they kept the wrapped food from spoiling quickly. However, their thickness took up a lot of bag space, making them impractical for travel. Plus, they were single-use only.

I haphazardly dumped the leftover meat onto the leaves, wrapped it up, and shoved it into my bag. Then, I downed the sour juice in one gulp.

"Gah..."

The taste was enough to jolt anyone awake.

"That'll be 400G."

"Here!"

I tossed the money onto the table and sprinted out of the restaurant. To think my first and last splurge in life would end so swiftly and anticlimactically. This was all Derek's fault.

'Why does he keep gravitating toward poison?!'

The moment I took my eyes off him, he would sprint toward poison as if pulled by the red string of fate. It was as though he was desperate to ruin that handsome face I had worked so hard to save. 

If he didn't want it, he should just give it to me.

'The swamp... which way was the swamp?'

As I ran, I frantically tried to visualize the map in my head. But it didn't come to me easily. I never had much reason to visit the swamplands, and more importantly, I couldn't even remember if I had ever done this specific quest in the game. It was probably a totally insignificant side quest. And Derek was putting himself in danger over something so trivial.

'Ah, right.'

Just as I reached the village exit, I turned to the guard.

"Which way is the swamp?"

"The swamp? Keep going straight this way until you see a massive tree, then head down to the right. When the grass suddenly gets thick, watch your step."

"Ah! Thank you!"

Hearing his directions, a faint memory seemed to spark in my mind. I gave the guard a quick nod and bolted in the direction he pointed.

"Wait! If you go like that...!"

The guard shouted urgently, trying to stop me, but I didn't have time to stick around and listen.

"There it is!"

The guard really knew his local geography. After sprinting down the path, a massive tree that stood out starkly from its surroundings appeared in front of me.

"Right from here."

I immediately pivoted to the right, but I hadn't gone far before I was forced to skid to a halt.

"Ugh... wow."

I didn't even need to look out for thick grass. The entire swamp was blanketed in a dense, ominously purple fog. Nobody in their right mind would walk into that after seeing it. Except, of course, for the six idiots currently inside.

"Ah, wait... That's all poison, isn't it?"

That was definitely the kind of poisonous fog that would infect you just by breathing it in. Yet here I was, having blindly sprinted all the way here without any preparation. Even after explicitly hearing about the poisonous fog at the restaurant.

Was this the tragic end of a player who ignored a standard NPC's hint? Ah, no. This was the result of an NPC ignoring another NPC. If I were the protagonist, this would be the part where I could expect a perfectly timed rescue quest to trigger.

'I have health potions, so maybe I can endure it?'

If I drank the potions before my health completely depleted, I might be able to scrape by. There was no time to run back to the village. Knowing it was practically useless, I covered my mouth with my sleeve and slowly trudged into the thick fog.

"...Hm."

Despite its ominous color, the fog wasn't as suffocating as I expected. The real problem was the ground. I picked up a long, sturdy-looking branch nearby and used it to poke the earth in front of me with every step. If I blindly stepped on what looked like solid ground, it would be too late if it turned out to be a sinking bog.

Clang!

"...!"

As I made my way forward, the faint sound of clashing metal rang out in the distance.

"Over there!"

There was only one group of people who would be swinging swords in a place like this. It had to be those knights here to hunt the monster. I carefully pivoted toward the sound.

Clang! Claaang!

As the noise grew louder, I had to suppress the overwhelming urge to sprint. I couldn't afford to let my guard down and fall into a bog after making it this far.

Soon enough, silhouettes materialized through the mist. Six human figures. And in front of them, the towering shadow of a massive monster.

Boom!

Every time the monster hopped in place, the ground quaked as if a localized earthquake had struck. I could see the knights losing their balance and struggling to maintain their footing.

'What the hell, you guys were talking so tough when I fought that bee.'

They were certainly taking their sweet time dealing with a single toad.

I tapped the ground ahead of me with the branch, checked the path I had just taken, and carefully backed up a few steps. Then, pushing off the ground with all my might, I took a running start and vaulted high into the air. 

My landing spot was an open space just barely within jumping distance. If that toad was hopping around over there, at the very least, that immediate area wouldn't be a sinking bog.