After that, we headed to the inn Haruna had told us about—a cheap place called “The Fence-Sitter” that stood at a nearby intersection. Apparently, that was where Irene was staying.
“Business seems to be booming,” Seira observed.
The first floor of the inn was being used as a restaurant, and there was a long line of people snaking out from the storefront. The heavenly aroma of food wafted through the air.
“Any time I smell delicious food, it makes me want booze,” Spinoza said, nodding sagely.
“Any time you smell delicious food, you’re supposed to want the food. Why booze?” I asked in exasperation as we opened the door to the inn.
We found Irene almost right away. Luckily for us, she was sitting in the restaurant area, stuffing her face with meat from a skewer and chewing away happily. Since we were there anyway, we decided to sit down and have lunch with her.
When I explained the situation to her, she gave me a weak smile. “Hmmm, I don’t think that’s gonna be in the cards.”
“You don’t like the idea of being a guard?”
“No, no, I’d totally be okay with the guard thing. Oh, though I’d definitely have to be in your squad, Sieg.”
“Then what’s the problem, exactly?”
“If I remember correctly, you’re an archer, right, Irene?” Seira joined in. “Maybe you’re concerned about you and Fam having overlapping roles?”
Fam chuckled. “I’m chock-full of unique attributes: extreme obsessiveness, silver hair, antisocial behavior. Those things might completely drown out any traits you have.”
“I can’t believe you just said all that without being majorly drunk,” Irene quipped.
“Speaking of being drunk, what exactly do you think you’re doing, Spinoza?” I said sternly.
In Spinoza’s hand was a mug that had been filled to the brim with ale, and next to that were several other mugs that were already empty. In the short time I had taken my eyes off her to try and persuade Irene to join us, she was already knee-deep in alcohol.
“What? ’S no big deal. We don’t got nothin’ but patrol today, so don’t be such a spoilsport. Long as it’s outta my system by the time we get back to the station, no one’s gonna know.”
She threw back another ale as she engaged in her smooth talk. She seemed quite pleased to have been able to fill up on her usual supply of energy.
“You know, I’m not sure it’s ever been completely out of your system,” I muttered.
Usually she would come back to the guard station smelling of booze and Commander Bolton would give me the third degree. In the worst cases, sometimes she’d never even make it back to the station and just fall asleep in an alley somewhere.
As we stared at Spinoza in exasperation, Irene let out a chuckle.
“What?” I blinked.
“Oh, nothing. Just noticing how buddy-buddy you are with your teammates.”
“More like they’re a handful to deal with,” I said with a sigh.
“It’s kind of like how things were with us at first, right? Nacht would do something totally stupid, you and Haruna would get frustrated, and I’d just sit there and watch the hilarity.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right.”
“I’m super glad you found another group of people you get along with, Sieg.”
I gave a tight smile. That was the kind of thing one would normally hear from a parent or guardian.
“Back to the subject at hand, are you sure you’re not interested in being a guard? Aren’t you worried you’ll run out of money to stay at the inn if you don’t find work soon?”
Irene had no steady job and had been surviving by blowing through her savings, but the money she had saved up while in the Crimson Fangs wasn’t enough to get by on forever.
“Well, I kind of stumbled into a thing I’m doing and all.”
“A thing you’re doing?”
A voice suddenly piped up from behind me in response to my question.
“Irene here has been bringing us meat.”
An elderly couple wearing aprons had come out from the back of the restaurant—most likely the owners of the inn. They had an aura of tranquility about them, like a pair of ancient plants.
“The hunter who always used to bring our meat got injured and ended up retiring, so we hadn’t been able to serve our main meat dish for a while. We didn’t know what we were going to do, but Irene decided to start hunting game for us.”
As her husband said this, the wife proudly added, “Irene is such an excellent marksman. She brings down every target with just a single arrow, so now she can bring us meat while it’s still quite fresh. Our restaurant hadn’t been doing too well, but now we’re packed full every day, and it’s all thanks to her. Our retired hunter was so happy to have found a replacement too.”
Irene gave an embarrassed grin. “So now they’re letting me stay at the inn for free, and I can even get some pocket money by delivering meat. Hunting is, like, so much safer than fighting monsters too.”
Apparently, all my worries had been for naught; Irene had already firmly rooted herself in the capital’s community. She was supporting the lives of the people by delivering her kills as a hunter.
“And that’s why I can’t be a guard, I guess,” she finished. “Sorry about that!”
“No, that’s fine. I’m actually relieved to hear about all this.”
If she’d gotten a job, I certainly couldn’t force her into the guards. Irene had already found her place.
After that, I introduced myself to the elderly innkeepers and asked them to take good care of Irene. They seemed to think of her like a granddaughter.
“I’ll stop by to eat again sometime,” I told them, and we decided to go ahead and leave the inn.