Chapter 82 : Chapter 82
Chapter 82. Operation Meatball (1)
Roden and the Infantry Platoon, disguised as a merchant caravan, were able to enter Vinchih more easily than expected.
The forged pass they had prepared in advance for this operation did not arouse any suspicion during the inspection.
“Pass.”
Leaving the indifferent guard's voice behind, they finally faced the scenery of Vinchih.
As a commercial city, Vinchih was incredibly lively.
General stores, grocery stores, clothing stores, herb shops, blacksmiths, pubs, and various other shops were open, and many customers were using them.
“In a place like this, we might be able to get quite a bit of information.”
Nedhab said, and Roden nodded his head.
“Let's hope so. Then, let's find a place to stay first.”
Roden and the Infantry Platoon walked along the main road and entered one of the inns near the market.
An employee who was carrying beer mugs among the bustling customers spotted Roden and greeted him in a bright voice.
“Hello, sir! Welcome to the Amalfi Inn! Would you like a meal or a rest?”
“Both. But do you have rooms? It looks like you have a lot of guests.”
“Of course, we have rooms for a few guests. Our inn uses the entire building from the 2nd to the 3rd floor.”
“Even though there are 30 of us?”
As Roden answered, the employee belatedly checked outside the window.
The soldiers of the Infantry Platoon who had not yet entered the inn were standing in their spots.
A shadow fell over the employee’s perpetually bright face.
“Oh my……. What should I do? We don't have enough rooms for that many people.”
Roden was not flustered even after hearing the employee's answer.
In fact, he had anticipated this to some extent from the moment he entered this inn.
The reason he came to this inn despite that was,
“This is a problem. By any chance, is there another decent inn around here? A spacious place where thirty-three people can stay?”
It was to get a recommendation for another inn like this.
As Roden intended, the employee thought for a moment and then answered.
“There’s no better inn in Vinchih than the Amalfi Inn, but if you're looking for rooms, the Strutzen Inn in the back alley probably has plenty. They always have rooms to spare.”
“Thanks for the recommendation.”
Roden replied, handing a coin to the employee.
The employee, with a brightened expression again, shouted at Roden’s back.
“Please come again, sir!”
Roden, having come out of the inn, approached Federico.
Then, as agreed upon beforehand, he spoke to him using a different title instead of 3rd Squad Leader.
“It's just as the old man said. I got a recommendation for an inn in the back alley that always has rooms to spare.”
In truth, Roden had been acting on Federico’s advice.
It was only natural, as there was no soldier with as much experience in these matters as Federico, a seasoned mercenary.
Federico heard Roden's words and replied with a smile on his lips.
“If it's an inn in the back alley, the facilities won't be very good. The food won't be great either. But as the employee said, there will be plenty of rooms, and above all, it will be a good place to hide.”
“I certainly hope that, unlike the old man's prediction, it's a place with good facilities and decent food. Now, let's head to the back alley.”
A short while later.
Roden and the Infantry Platoon were able to find a shabby inn located in a narrow alley.
A wooden sign that read Strutzen Inn was hanging lopsidedly on one wall, tattered, so it seemed this was the place.
Creak.
As he opened the door and entered, the innkeeper, who had been napping at the counter, opened his eyes slightly and asked.
“Who is it? A customer?”
“Yes. A customer. Do you have rooms for thirty-three people?”
“Thirty-three?”
Only after hearing that number did the innkeeper get up and confirm the appearance of Roden and the Infantry Platoon.
At the same time, the innkeeper’s expression changed.
“My, my, customer! Welcome to Strutzen, the best inn in Vinchih!”
“It doesn't exactly look like the best.”
“What are you talking about? Where else in Vinchih can you find an inn with such a long history and antique charm?”
“Isn't it more rundown than antique?”
“Above all, the taste of our inn's food is famous throughout Vinchih. You'll be surprised when you taste it later.”
“Even with that over there?”
Roden expressed his doubt, pointing to a shriveled apple sitting on one side of the counter.
“……”
Silence fell at the same time, and the innkeeper, who belatedly came to his senses, hurriedly changed the subject.
“Instead of this, let's go up and see the rooms first. You will be instantly captivated by the aesthetic beauty contained in each and every room.”
Since there was nowhere else to go but this inn anyway, he simply nodded.
Thus, Roden and the Infantry Platoon followed the innkeeper up the stairs.
Creak, creak.
This inn was certainly different from other places.
It was probably the only place where the inn building itself sang.
“Now, what do you think?”
The innkeeper opened the door of the first room visible as soon as they climbed the stairs.
One bed, one cabinet.
It was a truly simple and small room.
“It is certainly beautiful. There's a beauty of empty space.”
“Ri-right? I knew a customer like you would recognize it!”
“But you know. You don't have to lend us the dust that's piled up all over the room.”
“Ah. Don't worry. It's just a little dusty, but there are no bedbugs.”
“There aren't any? That's a bit surprising.”
“Ha, haha. No need to be so surprised.”
The innkeeper sweated, looking troubled.
Roden watched this quietly before looking towards Federico.
Federico understood the meaning of his gaze and moved.
Swoosh.
Federico checked the bed area.
After looking under the bed for a while, Federico spoke to Roden.
“For a shabby inn, it gets a lot of sunlight, so there really are no bedbugs. It seems even the bedbugs ran away because they were annoyed by the dust.”
“Bedbugs and dust have no correlation, sir. My house is full of dust, but it also has plenty of freeloaders.”
The innkeeper added a useless remark, and Federico, upon hearing it, advised with a serious face.
“It's not a good habit to disparage yourself as a freeloader. There is no one in this world born without a purpose.”
“I don't think of myself as a freeloader, but thank you for your advice anyway. So, what will you do? Will you rent the rooms?”
This time, Roden answered.
“Well, since the innkeeper himself said he's not a freeloader, it seems there really are no bedbugs. Let's stay here for a few days. Federico, you handle the price negotiation.”
“Yes. Understood.”
***
Fifteen days later.
Contrary to his boasts, the food at the Strutzen Inn was incredibly tasteless.
It was to the point where even Roden and the Infantry Platoon, hardened by tough jerky, thought it would be better to starve.
Terne, a former cook, spit the stew he had just tasted back into the bowl, rinsed his mouth with water, and spoke.
“I'll have to make the elixirs myself again today.”
“Let's not expect anything more and just make elixirs from now on. It helps with aura absorption anyway.”
“That's true. Then I'll get ready. Hey, Hansen.”
“Did you call, sir?”
At Terne's shout, the innkeeper, called Hansen, appeared wearing an apron.
Terne saw him and scowled deeply as he spoke.
“Damn it. Stop making more trash and just lend me the kitchen. Before I shove all the food you made into your mouth.”
“Oh my, please calm down. I will lend you the kitchen.”
Fortunately, although he had lied on the first day, Hansen wasn't completely unaware that his food was bad.
Thus, Terne personally rolled up his sleeves, entered the inn's kitchen, and began to cook, and the 3rd squad soldiers naturally assisted him.
Zailo, the 1st Squad Leader, who was watching this from the same table as Roden, spoke.
“We couldn't gather any significant information yesterday either. More importantly, I think we really need to start selling something now.”
“Why? Are we out of money already? I thought we could last for another fifteen days.”
“It's not just the money; I think the people around us are starting to suspect our identity.
Yesterday, even Hansen asked if we were really a merchant caravan, why we haven't done any business for fifteen days.”
“Hmm……”
For fifteen days, they had been gathering information about Velia Castle using the Strutzen Inn as their base.
But unfortunately, they hadn't obtained much meaningful information.
At best, all they had managed to learn was that Velia Castle's supplies were not flowing smoothly due to the siege, and that the Imperial Army was struggling to find a way to break through the encirclement to deliver supplies.
In other words, it meant they needed more time to get more information.
“If we've started to arouse suspicion, we'll have to start doing business. We need money too. But what should we sell?”
“For now, we brought plenty of supplies to disguise ourselves as merchants, so I think we could sell those.”
“What do we have?”
“It's mostly food supplies. We couldn't bring things like weapons or armor because they're heavy and could easily reveal our identity.”
The weapons and armor supplies of both the Allied and Imperial Forces were almost always marked.
For that reason, selling them was risky.
This was also true for the Imperial Army's weapon and armor supplies.
The Imperial Army strictly prohibited civilians from trading military goods.
In the end, that was why they could only bring food supplies.
However, it was questionable whether this food they brought would actually sell.
“Will it sell?”
When Roden expressed his doubt, Zailo answered.
“If it's food, it's not like it won't sell. It seems the overall demand for food has increased since the war began.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. But we won't be able to last long here with the money we earn from selling food. Above all, once we sell all the food, we'll have nothing left to sell.”
If Roden and the Infantry Platoon were a normal merchant caravan, it wouldn't be a problem.
They could have sold the food, used the money to buy other goods, and moved to another place to continue their business.
But they were not a real merchant caravan and had to stay in Vinchih.
Moreover, if they were to move around trying to conduct business and constantly have their passes checked, their identity could be quickly exposed.
So, it was important to stay in Vinchih as much as possible, without leaving the city gates too often.
‘What should we really sell?’
It was when Roden was having this thought.
Click.
One of the soldiers from the 3rd Squad placed a finished meatball in front of Roden.
It was an elixir.
“Terne-nim says you should have it first, Caravan Leader.”
Roden, who was slowly getting used to the title of Caravan Leader, nodded and then stared intently at the meatball.
Then, he opened his mouth.
“How about we try selling this?”