There came a point when a person simply became too angry to stay angry.
Morgan sighed and pulled his hand free from the stout mayor's grasp.
Making an issue of his gender in front of everyone now would only make things awkward.
Forget it.
Morgan composed himself. "Mayor, everyone's tired from the journey. Let's find somewhere for them to settle in first."
"Right!" The stout mayor spread his arms wide toward the Hunters. "No need to look anywhere else. Every Hunter who's come to help is staying at my place! Room and board are on me!
"My house is very, very large, you know! Come along, all of you!"
With that, the old man leaned on his walking stick and strode off ahead.
The Hunters instinctively looked at Morgan. He nodded slightly. "The mayor built Manti Town from the ground up, and at least a third of the businesses here belong to him. Of course his mansion is enormous. Don't stand on ceremony with him."
"A real tycoon!" Kagetsu said enviously.
The group followed.
The mayor's mansion stood very close to the Airship dock. They had not even walked half a street before the massive building came into view, its opulence utterly at odds with the word "town."
After storing their heavy, dangerous weapons in the foyer, the Hunters followed an attendant into a lavishly decorated dining hall.
A dining table a full ten meters long was laden with food. Several Hunters were already seated around it, eating and drinking heartily. No one could tell whether they were local Hunters or members of support teams that had arrived earlier.
Every so often, attendants came by to clear away empty plates and replace them with steaming dishes fresh from the kitchen.
A never-ending feast?!
Altaïr swept his gaze across the long table and stared in amazement at the sheer quality and extravagance of the food on display.
Basarios Tail, Fiery Seabream, Queen Shrimp, Kaiser Turkey... The table was covered with dishes made from premium ingredients of every kind.
At one end of the table, he even spotted Shipshell from the Frost Islands.
The ingredient might not have been especially rare in Kamura Village, but transporting it such a long distance drove the price into an entirely different league.
"Eat up, everyone!" The stout mayor declared with a grand sweep of his arm.
Just then, a clerk came to his side and whispered a few words in his ear.
The stout mayor nodded. With a hint of apology and regret, he told the group, "My apologies, everyone. I have some business at the warehouse to attend to.
"The strategy meeting will be held this evening. Until then, get plenty of rest and eat and drink your fill.
"If you need anything, just ask the attendants. Don't be shy! Miss Morgan, I'm counting on you to look after your friends!"
After a brief farewell to the Hunters, the stout mayor hurried away.
"..."
After several seconds of silence, Morgan was the first to take a seat at the long table. He picked up a Queen Shrimp as long as an adult's forearm.
When he looked up and saw the others still hesitating, he frowned. "What are you standing around for? Sit down and eat."
"Isis, don't eat that steak. It'll fill you up. Have this instead. Each one costs several hundred z. When you're done, tell an attendant to bring more."
He shoved the plate of Queen Shrimp in front of Isis, his teeth clenched. "Put that appetite of yours to use. Start with ten just to line your stomach. Let's eat that old bastard into bankruptcy!"
"Actually, those are even more expensive." Altaïr nudged Morgan with his elbow and pointed at the small dishes arranged on a massive platter of ice. "Soulful Caviar from the New World. It might be a little salty, though."
Without hesitation, Morgan dropped the Queen Shrimp in his hand and reached across the table for the caviar.
Salty? I'd eat it even if it were poisoned. I'll take that old bastard down with me!
Although no one else took things as far as Morgan, his fervor soon swept away their reservations, and they dug in.
Altaïr set his sights on an unfamiliar roast. After asking an attendant, he learned that it was Uroktor meat, cooked with generous amounts of the ElDe Region's signature chili peppers and reputed to burn as hot as magma.
Nymera zeroed in on an Emerald Durian that gleamed like a jewel. Kagetsu, like Morgan, went straight for the most expensive dishes. Isis, meanwhile, planned to try everything on the table. This trip had been absolutely worth it!
The only exception was Lambert.
She had never cared much about food. She casually picked up what looked like a tomato used as a garnish, took a bite, then suddenly froze.
"Huh? There's a very interesting sound. Did you all hear it?"
"The clatter of plates and cutlery, meow?" Sajji, happily gnawing on a Sushifish, looked up at her for a moment before diving back into his feast.
"No."
Lambert left her seat with the tomato still between her teeth and began searching around. Finally, under the attendants' bewildered gazes, she poked her head beneath the tablecloth.
"Ah, found it."
She leaned in, wrapped her arms around something heavy, and pulled with all her might.
Altaïr, savoring the region's exceptionally spicy cuisine, turned to see Lambert grunting as she dragged a massive leg out from under the table, followed by an entire person.
The man was sound asleep and snoring loudly. Apparently, the "interesting sound" Lambert had noticed was his snoring.
Altaïr gave the attendant beside him a questioning look.
The attendant smiled wryly. "He's a Hunter who arrived yesterday. He must have drunk too much, passed out, and ended up asleep under the table."
The attendant paused, clearly hesitant, then lowered his voice. "To tell you the truth, we aren't even certain he's a Hunter. None of us ever saw him wearing armor the way you are.
"But he claimed to be a highly skilled Hunter, and the master told us to treat him well, so we served him plenty of fine liquor.
"Then we suddenly couldn't find him in the middle of the night. We thought he'd left, but it turns out he'd fallen asleep under the table..."
Altaïr looked back and carefully studied the man sprawled on the floor, who looked very much like a drunken freeloader.
The man was enormous, well over two meters tall and twice as broad as an ordinary person, with limbs as thick as tree trunks. His arms were thicker than many girls' waists.
He looked to be around sixty. Stubble covered his brutish, heavily scarred face, and his bald head was crisscrossed with scars as well. Altogether, he perfectly matched the average person's idea of what a Hunter should look like.
The only thing that did not fit was his enormous belly. His waistline was probably almost as large as his height...
Altaïr looked away and smiled at the attendant. "Don't worry. He really is a veteran Hunter of considerable skill. No ordinary person could have a build like that, and all those scars were left by different Monsters.
"It's perfectly normal for him not to be wearing armor. Not every Hunter stays fully armed at all times."
After hearing Altaïr's explanation, the attendant looked somewhat embarrassed.
The master had ordered them to treat the man well the previous day. Hunter or not, they would never have neglected a guest who loved his liquor; they had simply harbored some doubts.
Now that they knew he truly was a veteran Hunter, they would naturally take even better care of him.
Just as the attendant was wondering whether he should call a few people to carry the massive drunkard upstairs to a guest room, Lambert ran over and crouched beside the giant's head, then reached out and poked his cheek.
The giant grunted a couple of times and went on sleeping.
Lambert blinked and thought for a moment, then took two gold-plated goblets from the table. She held them close to the giant's ear and clinked them together, producing the crisp sound of a toast.
"Clink, clink. Wake up, time for another drink!"
The giant jolted awake with a "Huh!" and sat bolt upright. His belly was so huge, however, that he almost toppled backward halfway up like a fat walrus, forcing him to brace himself with both arms.
He blinked groggily and looked around. It took his muddled mind several seconds to work out where he was.
He let out a booming laugh, hauled himself unsteadily to his feet with the help of a nearby chair, then fixed his gaze on the attendant beside Altaïr and bellowed.
"I'm back on my feet and good as new! Hey, you over there, bring me a few more bottles of Dragon's Breath Liquor!"
(Translated by yourtl.app)