Tracking
When they left the plaza and entered another alley past the inn, a street like a market appeared.
In front, there were stalls selling grains and flour. Behind them were merchants selling fish and meat. A little farther in, there were shops selling salt, spices, and bread.
One unusual thing was the places selling chickens and ducks. They didn’t sell them already dead—when a customer came, they killed them on the spot.
Eggs were tied together with straw and sold in bundles. Each bundle had twelve eggs.
Some places had proper shops, but others only had tents, and some merchants simply spread their goods on the ground to sell.
Lizzy and Dorothy were excited.
Everything seemed new to them. One moment they stayed here, the next moment they ran over there, then suddenly came back again to look around. Just watching them made Juhwan feel dizzy.
Lizzy kept asking every merchant about prices.
“How much is this? What about that?”
Of course, she tightly held the money pouch at her waist with one hand the whole time.
Just a moment ago, Dorothy had been saying female adventurers were cool and that she wanted to become one.
Now, she was already saying she wanted to become a merchant instead.
Lizzy and Dorothy were extremely excited, but to Juhwan, there didn’t seem to be that many goods or merchants.
It felt like an old countryside market.
Still, to them, it must have looked like there were endless things.
Juhwan slowly walked along, watching the two of them move around like busy bees.
It had only been a few days since he came to this world naked and fought goblins, but it already felt like a distant past.
“This is nice.”
Carefully avoiding animal waste on the ground, Juhwan smiled quietly.
Watching the two of them happily moving around made him feel like this was what happiness truly looked like.
After walking around for a while, it seemed like it was almost time for their appointment. The bell had not rung yet, but the sun was already high above their heads.
Lizzy had already come back several times to the bread seller.
For some reason, she seemed very interested in the bread.
“Lizzy, it’s time. Let’s go to the guild.”
When Juhwan called her, Lizzy nodded, though she clearly didn’t want to leave.
As she slowly turned away, the merchant spoke.
“Hey, if you buy two, I’ll give you one extra.”
Lizzy groaned softly and looked back at the bread again.
Juhwan also glanced at it.
One large, hard-looking loaf cost one copper coin. One lina was two copper coins, but he still wasn’t sure if that was cheap or expensive.
Still—
The bread looked so hard that even if it lasted long, it didn’t look tasty at all.
It wasn’t like the soft white bread from Earth. It was dark, probably made from barley or oats, and looked so hard that it felt like you could kill someone with it.
Calling it bread felt strange.
To Juhwan, the herring—twelve fish for one lina—looked much more nutritious and cheaper.
“….”
Lizzy still couldn’t take her eyes off the bread.
Juhwan glanced at it again, wondering if he had misunderstood—but no, it looked the same.
That was not bread. That was a weapon.
“Lizzy, the inn gives us food. Why do you want to buy bread?”
Lizzy answered, a little embarrassed.
“If we eat it together with the inn food, we can reduce how much we need to buy. And if there’s extra, we can eat it later.”
“….”
Hmm.
It seemed Lizzy was quickly becoming a very skilled housewife.
Juhwan smiled.
He lightly tapped her shoulder to encourage her, but Lizzy had already turned her head back to stare at the bread again.
Juhwan grabbed Dorothy, who was running around with Oz on her head.
“Kyah!”
Dorothy screamed happily.
“A bandit appeared!”
Apparently, Dorothy was the rabbit merchant, Oz was the meat being sold, Lizzy was the bad customer who didn’t buy anything, and Juhwan was the bandit stealing everything.
Her shouting “Help me!” made things a bit awkward.
Hey… at this rate, someone might actually call guards on your dad.
When they returned to the plaza, the three female adventurers were still fighting with the man.
It seemed the man’s companions had arrived. No weapons were drawn, but loud shouting and punches were being exchanged.
Juhwan entered the guild while holding Dorothy, who was still laughing and shouting “bandit.”
“Oh! You’ve come. Welcome!”
A guild worker sitting in the center greeted him brightly.
As Juhwan walked inside, everyone’s attention turned toward him.
There seemed to be more adventurers sitting around than before.
As he walked, he could hear whispers.
“Magician…”
“Magical beast…”
Maybe people had come just to see him after hearing rumors.
The bell signaling noon rang softly through the closed windows.
The guild worker spoke with an awkward expression.
“I’m sorry, but you’ll have to wait a little. The adventurer who will guide you for a month hasn’t arrived yet.”
He sighed.
“We finally found the perfect beginners, but… finding the right match isn’t easy.”
“Please wait a bit. Adventurers are like this. Many don’t keep time properly. Still, those people are better than most… I don’t know why they’re late today.”
He let out another sigh.
“If they’re very late, we’ll look for someone else.”
Dorothy immediately began exploring the guild.
She walked around with Oz, whispering as if on a secret mission. Maybe she was still playing bandit.
Sometimes she glanced at Juhwan and quickly hid.
Watching her, Juhwan asked the guild worker,
“Is there some kind of problem with the adventurer assigned to us? It sounds like it.”
The guild worker waved his hands quickly.
“No, no. That party isn’t bad. It’s actually the opposite. The problem is… every time they take beginners, trouble always follows.”
He sighed deeply.
“You’re a family, so it should be fine to pair you with them. That party is made up of only women.”
He glanced at Juhwan.
“Adventurers… are rough people. Not just in fights—some are like that toward women too.”
Then he lowered his voice and glanced at Lizzy before whispering to Juhwan.
“At night… they attack women.”
“…What?”
Seeing Juhwan didn’t understand, he explained further.
“When night comes, they force themselves on women. Many adventurers have done everything except murder. And some are murderers too. Even those who aren’t… many think attacking women at night is fun.”
The guild worker shook his head slowly