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“Ta-da! This is the recommended hotel, Tsurugi House. It’s a venerable hotel with a thousand years of tradition, old man!” (Touka)

“Huh? Recommended? Isn’t this your house? Does the Tsurugi family run a hotel?” (Lanpeach)

“You can just call me Touka, old man! And yes, this is also my home!” (Touka)

Touka cheerfully raised one hand towards a building. A five-story, dilapidated hotel with a sign that read Tsurugi House.

After finishing the hunt, Lanpeach asked Touka if she knew of a safe hotel with delicious food, and this is where she brought him.

The old, faded exterior looked like it had been cleaned, but it still seemed over a hundred years old. The windows were cloudy, and the front desk inside, barely visible, had an old man yawning lazily.        

“Come on in, come on in! You’re more than welcome. Our top-notch chef makes food so delicious you’ll drool, and the hot springs will soothe your tired body.” (Touka)

Those words seemed unbelievable judging by the appearance of the building. To Lanpeach, a hotel needed to look impressive to be worth staying in. But this minor villain was weak to the charms of a cute girl guiding him.

Since Touka, who had been carrying a mountain of drop items as an apology for not being helpful during the hunt, led the way with a smile, Lanpeach lacked the will to refuse and followed her with his shoulders slumped.

[Aaah, I wish I could use my Dimension Pouch. Not using it was a mistake.] (Lanpeach)

[Sage said that item boxes are rare and valuable, so you can’t use it anymore after all.] (Libra)

[Yeah, it’s a hassle when things are more based on reality. Seriously.] (Lanpeach)

He communicated through thought transmission with Libra, a beautiful girl with silver twin-tails floating above his shoulder.

The reason Touka was carrying the materials was simple: they had discovered that Dimension Pouches are rare. That explained why there were transporters. Lanpeach, who had sworn to stay unnoticed and act discreetly, decided not to use the Dimension Pouch anymore.

[Staying unnoticed, huh? Are you sure you can do that? I’m a bit worried.] (Libra)

[It’s fine. My presence is like a pebble. Even if I do something noticeable, I don’t think I will stand out.] (Lanpeach)

The little devil Libra swam in the air as if doing a backstroke while listening with a grin as Lanpeach ran his fingers through his hair and returned a dandy smile. To others, it might have looked like a sneaky, scheming grin, but Lanpeach firmly believed it was a dandy smile.

The old man at the front desk looked over after noticing the automatic doors opening.

“Hmm? Touka, how many times have I told you to use the back door when you come home?”

The old man offered the kind of advice typical of a small family-run business, but Touka puffed out her chest proudly and gestured toward Lanpeach.

“Mufufu, today I brought a customer. This is Lanpeach Kouza-san.” (Touka)

“…A customer?”

“Yep, a customer.” (Touka)

The old man’s suspicious face gradually softened into a broad smile, and he hopped in place and ran over.

“A customer after five days! Welcome, welcome! Welcome to Tsurugi House, a hotel with a thousand years of history! I’m the hotel manager, Tsurugi Muramasa.”

The old man delivered a truly unsettling line with confidence. Muramasa is a cool name, but he was only about 160 cm tall and didn’t seem particularly fit, so his name outshone him.

“How long do you plan to stay? Two years, maybe?” (Muramasa)

“Hey, hotels aren’t the kind of place you stay for years. That doesn’t make sense.” (Lanpeach)

Was it just his imagination, or did he already want to leave? Lanpeach’s face grew suspicious as he delivered his retort, but Muramasa, unexpectedly, looked puzzled.

“Hmm? Touka, who is this man?” (Muramasa)

“An explorer. We formed a party at the guild. You see, I registered as an explorer yesterday and invited him along.” (Touka)

“What? A regular customer! My apologies. How many days will you be staying?” (Muramasa)

Lanpeach’s eyebrows twitched at their strange conversation, but Muramasa didn’t seem to care. He placed both hands on Lanpeach’s shoulders and guided him to a sofa in the reception lobby.

“Please, have a seat. You must be tired. I’ll bring some coffee right away. A guest after five days~ A guest after five days~” (Muramasa)

Muramasa skipped along and quickly poured synthetic instant coffee powder into a cup by the counter and added hot water.

“I’m sorry, old man. My dad is just excited because it’s been a while since we had a customer.” (Touka)

“Yeah, I get it. This place feels like one of those hotels where they might have a potato-digging robot as a bellboy.” (Lanpeach) 

It was like one of those run-down hotels you see in manga. You almost expected some alien to shout “Mongaa!” and teleport you.

“Oh, come on. Robots are expensive. Hiring humans is much cheaper.” (Touka)

Touka laughed and smacked Lanpeach’s shoulder, but he had to admit she was right.

[If it’s a precise machine like that, it’s definitely more cost-effective to use humans rather than wear out expensive robots on manual labor.] (Lanpeach)

[Exactly. Back in the day, people said robots would make life easier by doing all the work, but in reality, they took over all the thinking jobs, leaving humans with nothing but manual labor. They ended up in a slave-like situation.] (Libra)

Doing manual labor wears out robots quickly. Considering the cost of maintenance and part replacement, it’s ironic, but humans, who can regenerate, are more cost-effective.

“Artificial Spirits can self-regenerate, but the consumption rate of spirit stones is too high. So, in the end, humans are the better option.” (Touka)

“There are plenty of people looking for work, right? So, why is the manager the only one here?” (Lanpeach)

“My mom is a university professor, so she’s not around. But we do employ about five other people. They’re probably busy cleaning, doing laundry, or prepping meals at this time.” (Touka)

“Most of our guests stay long-term, so there’s not much work at the reception desk, Lanpeach-sama. Here’s your coffee.” (Muramasa)

Muramasa placed the coffee on the table with a smile on his face, so Lanpeach lightly lowered his head to thank him before taking a sip.

Huh? Another sip. Hmm? It’s surprisingly good.

“…Huh, so this place is actually popular? Do people really stay for years?” (Lanpeach)

“Hahaha, about half of the rooms are occupied. So, how long do you plan to stay, Lanpeach-sama?” (Muramasa)

Muramasa laughed as he answered Lanpeach’s question. The way he dodged the topic piqued Lanpeach’s curiosity.

(So, staying for years wasn’t a joke… I have a feeling this mystery is tied to a quest!) (Lanpeach)

The suggestive conversation, the old man dodging the question -it stirred the gamer in Lanpeach, who began thinking about how long to stay.

“Well, let’s start with a week. Do the rooms differ in price?” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach was now determined to stay.

“Yes. A standard room is 100,000 Ele per night. The Ultra Suite Room is 10 million Ele per night.” (Muramasa)

“…? Could you repeat that?” (Lanpeach)

“Yes. A standard room is 100,000 Ele per night. The Ultra Suite Room is 10 million Ele per night.” (Muramasa)

“??? Ultra what?” (Lanpeach)

“Yes. A standard room is 100,000 Ele per night. The Ultra Suite Room is 10 million Ele per night.” (Muramasa)

It didn’t seem like a mistake, so Lanpeach reflexively slammed his hand on the table.

“Why 10 million Ele? In this hotel? The other rooms are 100,000 Ele per night, right? Isn’t that too expensive?” (Lanpeach)

“Hahaha, it is true that we haven’t had any guests in the past few years.” (Muramasa)

“It is kind of like a joke at this hotel. I’ve never seen anyone actually stay in it.” (Touka)

“So that’s really how it works. I see.” (Lanpeach)

It didn’t seem like either of them were lying, so Lanpeach nodded and sipped his coffee. Going: ‘I see. I see… I see.’

“Alright then, I’ll stay in the Ultra Suite Room for a week, please.” (Lanpeach)

“Huh? Eh?” (Muramasa)

Muramasa asked again, taken aback by Lanpeach’s casual declaration.

“As I said, the Ultra Suite Room for a week. Here’s the advance payment of 70 million Ele.” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach placed stacks of bills from his Dimension Pouch on the table. The promise not to use the Dimension Pouch seemed to have been conveniently forgotten.

Muramasa and Touka stared in disbelief back and forth between the piles of cash and Lanpeach.

“Ehhhhhhh!”

“Ehhhhhhh!”

Both Touka and Muramasa cried out in surprise.

“It’s noisy, so could you please keep it down a bit?” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach gave them a crooked smile as they stared in shock.

The reason for booking such an expensive room was simple.

He thought it might trigger an event!

Because it might trigger an event he had never seen in the game!

A gamer spares no expense when an event is involved. If a quest demands a hundred billion, they’ll pay it. If they’re told to jump into a volcano, they’ll do it -that’s what players do.

“Awawawa, I can’t believe there’s someone who would actually stay there. It hasn’t been used since a family gathering a few years ago, and even then, we didn’t charge this much. Are you insane? I’m sorry, but judging by your appearance, you seem to be struggling financially.” (Muramasa)

“Yeah, I’m struggling with money. But not to the point where a small amount like this would be a problem.” (Lanpeach)

“…Understood. Heh, heh, you’re quite an interesting customer to stay in this room without knowing its significance. Well then, allow us to show you to your room.” (Muramasa)

Muramasa’s eyes sharpened, and the meek old man’s demeanor shifted to a heavy and dangerous one.

“Touka, show our guest to the room. And this will be your room key, so please take care not to lose it.” (Muramasa)

With a snap of Muramasa’s fingers, a golden key embedded with a jewel clattered onto the table. A purple aura emanated from the key, giving it a sinister, cursed appearance.

“Thank you, manager. I’ll be sure not to lose it.” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach took the key and smiled wryly.

It seemed that an interesting event was about to unfold.

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