Martha – Proprietor of the Dancing Horseshoe Inn
You get to see all kinds of people as an innkeeper. I dare say that one of the perks of operating an inn is getting to see all kinds of people. I’m proud to say that my inn caters to Adventurers with familiars and monster companions.
As someone with a Slime companion who helps me with the dishes (I dare you to say something bad about my precious Suzie!) I used to face discrimination whenever I let my little friend out. That is why I decided to run a monster-friendly inn.
I must say, quite a few inns have tried to follow in my footsteps, but not many managed to provide extra stabling services as I do for guests with large monster familiars.
Speaking of which, I still recall that fellow who came in with a Fenrir of all things!
I swear, I could not believe my eyes when I saw that weak-faced Adventurer enter with such a huge creature.
Before he even appeared, I already had a few friends running over to my inn to gossip about it. Naturally, I was sceptical about their outrageous claims. A Fenrir? Here? In the middle of a city?
What nonsense.
It must have just been a large wolf creature of some sort. Maybe it was a morph of some sort, or a special type, or…
Nope, it was a Fenrir.
The scream I let out back then still embarrassed me even today. How could I, a professional Innkeeper, lose my cool so badly?
Aaarrggghhh.
To make things worse, Mister Mukouda, Master of the Great Fenrir, was really polite about it too. He graciously overlooked my loss of composure and even led his Fenrir to the stables after I explained how it would be… difficult… to house such a large familiar inside his room. I barely had time to catch my breath when Nosy Parker Pete came to my inn with his twitchy little nose.
He was actually a cabbage merchant, but we all call him Nosy Pete because he was just too nosy for his own good.
“Marthaaaa~”
“No”
“I haven’t even said anything yet!”
“No, I will not have you poking around my customer’s background,” I said firmly.
“But-”
“No buts, here, have an ale if you like,” I said, setting a half-pint mug in front of him.
“Awww… how about a peek into the room?”
“No!”
“I’ll let you have the first pick of my cabbages~”
“Ugh,” I’m ashamed to say that I was tempted. Tempted by vegetables.
Sure, you may laugh at me, but that’s because you haven’t seen his wares yet. Nosy Parker Pete, perhaps due to his exceptional nosiness, always did have a way of securing some of the best and cost-effective ingredients…
“No peeking, but you can stay here in the dining room as long as you want- hmm?”
I was distracted by the smell of cooking food. Wait, it’s coming from the back! Just what-
Thump thump thump.
“Noo! What are you doing?!” I hissed at Pete.
“Don’t you want to see what he’s doing?” the little twerp grinned at me.
“Nooo!” Yes, I very much did, but I will never admit to it!
“Oohh, he’s cooking meat. I think that’s a steak of some sort?”
“What are you talking about?” I muttered as I shoved myself next to him.
Indeed, Mister Mukouda was cooking in the yard. Why would he… oh, it was the Fenrir’s lunch.
“… hey, Martha. Could you cook up some steaks?”
“Sure, I’m craving some steaks now.”
Mister Mukouda stayed for two nights. On the day he was about to leave, he gifted me a small bag of salt, apologising for cooking at the stable yard. He must have noticed us staring at him from the window! How embarrassing…
I was distracted from my musings when the door to my inn opened and in walked a party of three.
“Hey, you sure this is the place?”
“Yes, the sign says the Dancing Horseshoe, surely that’s a good enough giveaway?”
“Haah? Are you trying to pick a fight with me-?”
“Now, now ladies,”
Two young women entered the inn along with one young man. One of the young women stepped forward.
“Hello, are you Martha? Alistair said we could have a room here for the night free of charge.”
“Hello dears,” I said, pretending that I had not heard any of their bickering earlier. “Yes, I received a note from Alistair earlier. I understand you only require one room?”
“Yup, just one,” the young man smirked as he slung his arms around the two young women.
“If that’s the case, please take Room 5, we usually reserve this room for much… taller guests like half-giants and larger species of beastmen.”
“Hot damn! Yeah!”
“Kaito!”
As the three young people made their way upstairs, I added, “There is a bath and shower outside. Would you like to reserve…”
“Yes!” the more cheerful young lady screamed. “Yes! Yes! Yes, please!”
“Very well, would you like to purchase a soap, towel and bathrobe set for just 3 silver coins?”
“Yes!”
This is why I tolerate lovey dovey guests, it’s easy to squeeze money out of them. So what if the room is free? I can get them for other things.
“If you happen to feel hungry, we also serve food. Do take your time~”
Nosy Pete – Cabbage Merchant
“Goodness, Martha, you do get the best kind of guests here,” I said as I cut into my Grilled Pork and Boiled Potato set. The pork had been finely sliced and flash-fried on a pan with plenty of sweet and sour sauce, served with some boiled potatoes that had been cut into cubes and roughly crushed up. I know it sounded bad, but the potatoes were really delicious, especially when eaten with the melting butter and a sprinkle of excellent salt.
“Are you sure you don’t want the complimentary cabbage side?”
“Nope,” for some reason, people had been serving raw cabbages as a side dish lately. I have no idea why…
“I finely sliced the cabbage, you know? Come on now, it’s really good with the Grilled Pork sauce.”
Since Martha is a sort of friend and a great source of information, I beamed at her and accepted a little bowl of finely sliced cabbage drizzled with some sort of simple oil-based dressing. As an alleged Cabbage Merchant, I cannot claim to hate my own product, right?
Bracing myself, I took up a forkful of the cabbage noodles and-
Crunch~
“Hm?”
“What a shock, right? You’re in shock, right?” said Martha excitedly.
“What- how…” I took another fork full. “How is it so good? Even the Royal Capital restaurants don’t have anything like this. I swear, I was about to quit selling cabbages and hunt down Walking Mushrooms instead, but this is… this is…”
“Hohoho, I got the recipe from the [Will of Iron]. well, to be precise, they were reminiscing about having eaten food made by Mister Mukouda, so I had to hear more from them. Turns out, the secret to raw cabbages is to very finely slice the vegetable. I had to invest in a knife edged with a special ore to get them that thin…”
“Oh? So, this is Mister Mukouda’s recipe?” I asked, immediately interested.
It was actually quite difficult to get information on that person. For someone who had been summoned as a hero, he was surprisingly reserved and low-key. If not for the Fenrir’s amazing visibility, it would have been difficult to even keep track of him…
[Gumihou: Gasp! Who are you really, Pete?]
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