"D-Do you think she heard us?"
"I don't know!"
"W-Well then you open the door first! You're the most durable so you can survive an attack!"
"What! How is that fair?"
"It isn't! Come on man, I don't wanna die!"
"Grrrr… Fine!" I said as I got up and walked towards the door. I am ready to do battle with our little rogue.
I flung open the door to find n.o.body was there. I stood in the open doorway for a moment before I let out my anxiety in the form of a deep exhale.
"Fooooooo…"
"Arrow dodged! Let's go drink! I've never gotten drunk with friends before!" Tael happily declared as he jumped out of bed.
I decided that I might as well go and drink with the rest of the party as well. We're going to investigate tomorrow so there isn't a problem with unwinding tonight.
Tael and I left our room and went down the stairs. We looked around and found Kany and Erana were already seated at a table near the stage area so we went over to them.
"Ah, Kenji-san, Tael-san! I'm glad you decided to join us!"
"O-Of course! Why wouldn't we join you?" Tael stammered nervously.
"Hm? Are you okay Mr. Sparkles?"
"I-I'm fine! Don't call me that!" Tael sputtered out while blushing.
Ignoring Tael's nerves, I took a seat opposite of Erana and Kany and began to bathe in the atmosphere of the inn.
The interior is lit by candles so the light flickers every now and then, but generally speaking, one can see everything well. There are several people in this place that are seated at tables and drinking. Fluttering between tables, there is a man that appears to be a younger version of the innkeeper. Logic stands to reason that this is the innkeeper's son and he is also working at the family business. After handling a few other tables, the man came to ours.
"Ah, sorry for the wait. We've been busy lately. What'll 'ya have?"
"BEER!" Kany immediately shouted out. The rest of us were taken by surprise at her sudden declaration so we couldn't say anything.
"Alright. That's gonna be 4 beers for 'ya? Anythin' else?" He looked around the table while waiting for any of us to speak.
"Do you have any food?" Erana quietly asked.
"Food? We've got stew. 'Ya want that?" The man said while pointing to the back with his thumb.
"Alright! We'll each have a stew too!" Erana declared.
"Right. 4 beers and 4 stews coming right up!" The man clapped his hands and walked off to the back room.
"Whew…" I heard Erana sigh out.
"What's up, Erana? Something bothering you?"
"Ah, Kenji-san… I'm not used to ordering food from restaurants so doing this is a bit nerve wracking…" Erana shyly said while twiddling her fingers together.
Oh, that's right. She lived with her father for a long time and from what she's told me. It makes sense that she is nervous when doing mundane tasks that people that have lived in cities would be used to.
"W-Well, everyone goes at their own pace! Haha!" I nervously shrugged off the problem.
"So… What do you all want to talk about?" Tael asked the group.
""Maybe Erana's new spell?" I suggested.
Kany held her arms in an X to indicate that as a no. Erana noticed Kany's action and soon followed her. It seems I have been rejected.
"Onii-san learned how to use his skill!" Kany blurted out.
"Oh really? Tell me about it Kenji."
"Huh? It's just a really strong slice. I killed a goblin with it." I nonchalantly stated.
"Hm hm. I see. That type of offensive power will be useful in the future then. It's good to have. Of course, it's not as powerful as my magic!"
"From what it sounds like, it will be useful with my new spell!"
"Yeah, about that… What is it?"
Kany reached over the table and knocked my head as if she was knocking on a door.
"...I hope that we're able to find everyone that's gone missing…" Erana muttered.
"I bet we'll find them, Erana." I tried to rea.s.sure her. I don't like seeing her depressed.
"How can you be so sure, Onii-san?"
"Yeah Kenji. To be honest, I think the people died or something…"
"No matter what it is, everything happens for a reason. We only need to find that reason." I stated.
I rested my head on my hand for a moment as I contemplated the situation.
First, as we are aware, the cause for the peoples disappearances is not known, but we do know that it is not affecting livestock and it has not been seen by anyone, including the eyewitnesses like the wives of the farmers. Secondly, those that have been taken are only males. While the numbers may be skewed in a certain direction, 11 people disappearing and all of them being the same gender leaves very little room for it to be something different.
"Okay. We know a few things that make me think that it could be one of a few options. First: It's not affecting livestock. Second: It's only affecting men. This could mean a few things."
"What are those things?" Erana asked while staring at me.
"It could either be a disease that only affects men-"
"A disease? That could cause this?" Kany b.u.t.ted in.
"Well we're dealing with hypotheses right now. We need to apply the scientific method."
"The scientific method…?" Tael asked as he tilted his head.
"Oh, I forgot about where I was… Basically think about a problem and think of possible solutions to that problem. We already know the problem: Men are disappearing at an alarming rate. Now we need to come up with reasonable theories as to why they've started to disappear…"
"Hm… So you think it could be a disease that is causing it, Kenji-san?"
"I'm just saying it's possible. Currently we don't have enough information so we need to have every path that's possible highlighted."
"...Okay Onii-san. What other ideas do you have?"
As I was about to begin, the innkeeper's son arrived back at our table and placed down 4 flagons of beer and 4 bowls of stew.
"Enjoy!" He remarked as he sped off to another table.
"Alcohol!" Kany cheered as she grabbed her flagon. I'm not sure how to feel about someone like her drinking alcohol. Is this even legal?
"Kenji-san, you were saying?"
"Oh… Well it's possible that it's a disease that is affecting only men. This disease could be causing men to sleepwalk or something which would explain why the wives of the farmers didn't notice them leaving."
"Hoh bat bakes dense." (Oh that makes sense) Tael said with his mouth full of stew.
"Okay Onii-san. If it's a disease what do we do?"
I turned towards Erana.
"I know you want to keep your spell a secret from me, but can it cure a disease?"
"No it can't…"
"Can your healing magic cure diseases?"
"At a higher level it can cure minor ones, but not currently…"
I then directed my next question to the entire table.
"Is there a cla.s.s that can cure diseases?"
"Briest cah!" (Priests can!) Tael declared with his mouth still full of stew.
"So then if it's a disease we call a priest that can cure disease into the town to cure it. Hopefully, we will be able to find the people that have gone missing while the priest is on their way."
"I see, you said that we need to 'highlight every option' though Kenji-san. What other options are available?"
"It's possible that this is a monster that targets men exclusively."
When I said this, Tael swallowed so fast he began to choke on his stew. He quickly washed it down with his beer and regained his composure.
"B-But if it targets only men, aren't we in danger Kenji?"
"Well yeah, but we came here expecting danger anyway. This would be par for the course as far as I'm concerned."
"Ah, Onii-san, Yasri said that they haven't found any signs that people were taken by monsters though!" Kany said between gulps of beer. It seems that she is already getting ready for her second flagon.
"Ah, Kany! Slow down!" Erana said as she was patting Kany on the back.
"While it's true that they haven't found any signs that monsters have taken people, that just means that they haven't found signs that people were UNWILLINGLY taken. If people were willingly leaving then there would be no signs of struggle."
"Ah!" x3
"S-So… People are just leaving willingly?" Tael asked me as he lightly shook me from side to side.
"Well, it's possible that people had been hypnotized, but yeah, willingly. It's also entirely possible that 7 farmers decided to just get up and leave one day and n.o.body noticed, but the chances of that are slim to none."
"Hypnotized…" Tael trailed off.
"Yeah. Hope for the best, expect the worst."
"Kenji-san, that's awful!"
"Oi, Onii-san! You haven't touched your beer yet!"
I suddenly was reminded that a flagon of beer was sitting on the table in front of me.
"O-Oh… I've never really drank alcohol before… When I was 15 I had a sip of sake on new years with my dad but I don't think that really counts…"
"Come on Kenji! I wanna see how you handle your liquor!"
"F-Fine! Just don't ask me to do a kegstand!" I said as I grabbed the flagon.
I began to chug the alcohol. I gulped it down so fast that the entire flagon was empty in less than 20 seconds.
"Gah! It's bitter…" I said.
"Wow Kenji-san! I didn't know you were such a pro drinker!"
"D-Don't say it like that! It makes me look like I have a problem!"
"Ah, 2 more beers waiter-san!" Kany shouted out.
"Got 'em!" I heard shouted back.
As we were settling into the atmosphere of the tavern, the entrance door opened up and a girl loudly made a declaration.
"Alright! I'm in the mood to sing tonight!"
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