20 Give and Take

Ein, after being interrogated, thinking that the two would wake up later, went to the stable to check on the wolves. After playing around a bit with the wolves, he went to the inn owner to ask if they had a bath but was told that there were none. There was a well at the back that he could use to wash, so he went there and washed his face and upper body.

After doing so, he went straight to their room, thinking that they had probably already woken up. And as he did, a disastrous scene welcomed him.

"Ueeeeh..." Melina, with a blue face, let out the contents of her stomach on the room's floor.

Nayta, who was not as bad as Melina, was still looking a bit ill as she stood by her side and soothed her back.

"Uhh, I'll go get a bucket and a mop," Ein quickly said as he evacuated.

As he claimed, he borrowed a mop and a bucket of water from the inn owner. Then, after bringing it inside the room, Nayta insisted that she do the cleaning despite her not-so-good state.

"Elves do not have a custom of drinking, so it was our first time getting drunk. Please forgive my daughter for her unsightly appearance," Nayta explained to Ein.

"It's fine; such things happen." Ein comforted her, saying he didn't mind.

Now that he thinks about it, he wasn't that much of a heavy drinker himself. With the total amount of alcohol he drank at the guild, he should be similar to Melina getting a severe hangover.

'Is it another effect of being a Dungeon Master?' Ein thought.

"Melina, do you think you can move downstairs?" Nayta asked. "If not, I'll bring breakfast to you here."

"Sorry, mother. I don't think I can move. I feel sick..." Melina replied in a weak tone.

"I see... Then Lord—I mean, Rain—please look after my daughter while I get food for us," Nayta said as she lifted the bucket and mop.

"Are you fine doing that?" Ein asked worriedly, as Nayta herself wasn't that different from Melina, with her looking under the weather.

"Yes, thanks for the concern." Nayta just smiled as she went away.

After she left, Ein was alone with Melina in the room. Having nothing better to do, Ein took out the remote dungeon core and viewed the list. Although, as he expected, there was no medicine anywhere in the catalog, there was one Detoxification Wand that could lift any and all types of poisoning, so Ein decided to buy that. If his memory serves him correctly, alcohol is treated as a toxin by the body, leading to dizziness and nausea, causing what you call a hangover.

Although Ein was surprised to see that the DP in the dungeon was already reaching a million quickly, he ignored it and bought the 100,000 DP Detoxification Wand, costing him a grand total of 200,000 DP due to the 2-times-amount penalty of buying items through the remote dungeon core.

"I'll try this wand on you; is it fine?" Ein first asked for her permission before using the tool.

"Y-Yes... Thank you, Lord Ein..." Melina was so out of focus that she splurted Ein's name.

Ein, letting it go since there was nobody else anyway, waved the wand above her head. After a shower of white grains of light fell from the wand onto her head, her blue face quickly regained its natural color.

"Looks like it worked." Ein sighed in relief.

"I feel much better now, thank you," Melina replied weakly.

Although she was healed from the hangover, her wasted stamina wasn't going to return instantly. She'll probably need to lie down for a few minutes before she can return to her usual state.

Right then, a knock was heard on the door, followed by Nayta calling.

"Rain, someone here wishes to speak with you. Is it fine?"

Hearing this, Ein quickly hid the remote dungeon core inside his pack and slid the Detoxification Wand into his pocket.

"Come in," Ein replied after seeing that everything was in order.

Hearing his reply, Nayta opened the door. Behind her, a silver-haired beauty was standing prim and proper. The beauty quickly scanned the room and locked her gaze on Ein.

"It really is you..." the silver-haired beauty muttered before curtsying, "Thank you for saving me last night."

Ein felt like he was hit by lightning. 'How did she know? Did she actually see my face?' Ein thought.

"It was your voice," the silver-haired beauty said after seeing the confused look on him, "and also the fact that you are an elf."

"How about having breakfast together?" she invited. "I'll be waiting for your group downstairs."

After declaring one-sidedly, the silver-haired lady quickly went away, as if giving Ein and the others time to prepare. After she vanished down the hallway and Nayta closed the door, she turned to Ein.

"Last night?" Nayta asked Ein, looking like a wife interrogating her cheating husband.

"You two were asleep last night." Ein explained, "She was almost assassinated. I just helped a bit since her room just happened to be right above ours."

"Assassin?!" Nayta and Melina both shouted at the same time.

"Yeah. I just saved her on a whim, thinking that she wouldn't recognize me anyway."

Who would have thought that his voice and the fact that he was currently an elf would give him away?

However, unbeknownst to Ein, elves were a rare sight in human cities. As elves love to stay inside their forest and limit their interactions with humans, they have little to no interaction with them. It was to the point that elves only appeared in a city once or twice in a decade or so.

The moment the three of them, all looking like elves, appeared at the gates, the whole city had already heard of them. The information traveled even faster than a wildfire. When the silver-haired beauty noticed that her savior was a part of the long-eared elves, she quickly pinpointed his exact identity.

After explaining this and that to the two, Ein quickly used the Detoxification Wand on Nayta too. Since they were invited to breakfast with a noble, they needed to at least fix their appearance. Appearing in their default clothes as adventurers would be rude. Ein, thinking that it was a necessary expense, bought three sets of formal clothes from the dungeon.

Ein chose a somewhat princely attire with shades of green and red here and there, dominated by a clean-looking shade of white. It wasn't hard to wear despite its looks, but it was a hassle placing the design chains and tassels here and there.

Nayta and Melina were both provided with a one-piece cocktail dress. Although Ein wasn't knowledgeable about fashion, wearing something similar to what the silver-haired beauty was wearing shouldn't be a bad choice. The two were wearing similar mint-green dresses that exposed their shoulders and a large part of their thighs.

Since they were in a hurry, they didn't touch their hair and let it down as usual. Although the match between the mint-green and blonde wasn't as good as with the green, it was still bearable. As the two were wearing pointed heels that they weren't really accustomed to, Ein was forced to escort them on both sides.

When the three appeared on the first floor, there was an audible sigh from all around them. Looking around, the men were all blushing madly, their eyes looking intoxicated. Even some of the women weren't spared from the same fate. Ein and the two ignored them and went straight to the balcony, which was cordoned off by the followers of the silver-haired beauty.

After Ein let Nayta and Melina sit down, he too sat down on the middle chair, right across from the noble lady. Although she was wearing a navy blue dress earlier, she was now wearing something grander, a full-blown yellow-gold party dress.

'Dressing up was the right choice. If we went here with our adventurer's attire, we would be extremely out of place.' Ein contemplated.

After confirming that the three were already relaxing in their chairs, the noble lady quickly spoke.

"First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Sophia von Auxburn, the second daughter of the Auxburn family," she said without standing up. "Let's drop formalities for now," she added with a smile.

"Thank you for the concern." Ein smiled in return. "My name is Rain, and I just registered as an adventurer yesterday. The two here are my wives."

"Nayta of the Fallen Leaf clan, it's an honor to be in your presence."

"Melina, of the Fallen Leaf clan. It's an honor to meet you, lady Auxburn."

"The pleasure's all mine. Seeing elves in person is a unique experience. Who knew elves really were as pretty as the rumors say?" Sophia said in flattery. "First of all, let's eat. The talk will come later."

After she clapped her hands, food was brought one after another to their table. Soon, the table was set with some fabulous meals. There's a bowl of freshly picked fruits and vegetables turned into a salad. A platter of steak, a bottle of fragrant red wine, something that looks like mushroom soup, and a fish risotto.

Nayta and Melina ate heartily, enjoying the flavor of each dish as they praised the one who cooked it. Ein and Sophia ate in a slower, more sophisticated manner. Despite the large amount of food, it didn't take too long for them to finish.

"Should we now get to the point?" Ein asked after seeing Sophia drink her wine.

"Of course." Sophia smiled and waved her hand.

A maid quickly brought a platter with several pieces of gold coins.

"This is my thanks for saving me last night," Sophia explained.

"Thank you, though pardon me for not introducing myself last night," Ein quickly explained. "I was hoping to not get involved further, so I just left."

"Fufu, I know. Still, it is a fact that you saved me, and such service couldn't be left unawarded," Sophia replied as she giggled.

"Actually, Mr. Rain, I have another request for you," Sophia then said. "Can I ask for you to act as my bodyguard for a while?"

Upon hearing this, Ein was about to reject it by reflex. However, thinking about the pros, he would be creating some connection with a noble.

'Speaking of noble, there was also that fat guy at the gate yesterday.' Ein remembered.

After weighing the pros and cons, Ein finally nodded his head.

"Alright, we accept."

"Thank you," Sophia replied with a wide smile as she sighed in relief.

"However!" Ein interjected, "We hope for you to protect us too in return."

Ein explained their situation and their interaction with the pig noble at the gates. After hearing this, she quickly agreed with a smile.

"No problem. If that noble ever comes to take your wives again, I will allow you to use my name." Sophia then stood up. "Regarding your role as my guard, my aide would come and explain it to you later."

After saying so, Sophia left promptly. Ein and the others, having nothing left to do, returned to their room. An hour or so later, a maid came to their room to relay their future schedule. Reading it, Ein felt a slight headache.