Cardboard Houses Do Not Tear

11 – Lorna Prianian

The Sleeping Giant Inn was on the way to the Mercenary Guild.

The 2-story inn was built with well-stacked bricks, but there were no windows on the 1st floor, but there were windows on the 2nd floor. One thing that was a little unusual was that the 1st floor was a little taller than normal buildings.

I’ve been to and from this place countless times over the past five years, but it was the first time I’ve been in like this.

The moment I ignored the aftertaste and pushed open the thick wooden door, the warm air gently slapped my face.

And then, melted by the foul-mouthed warmth, I willingly decided to give myself a little time to enjoy the romance.

“Kuhh. Nice.”

“So, speaking of today’s work…”

The owner’s greeting was clearly audible through the small voices of the guests.

“Welcome.”

The owner’s clichéd greeting is like a snack served when you sit down. Because I was like that when I was in business.

However, all lines change depending on the mood.

“It doesn’t matter where you sit, but order first and then sit down.”

Just like now.

It is now morning outside the door, but it is still night beyond the door.

A bonfire-like brazier in the middle of the first floor burned quietly, yet it spread a warmth that made you sleepy and a dryness that made you naturally crave beer.

So, that brazier was practically the same as the staff here, but at the same time, it was faithfully fulfilling its role as a light source.

The warm yellow light created by the calmly burning fire reached the tables and the floor where many people’s hands and feet were riding, and it soon spread out in all directions as it was reflected on the shiny surface.

However, the high ceiling, where the light does not reach, is still dark, which made me realize the reason why the first floor was built high.

And the pot on the brazier showed off its presence while bubbling alone in the middle of the chatter.

I don’t know how long it may have been contained, but the time contained in the bubble showed a knack for adding hunger and umami to the air, bursting out from time to time, as is the case with all stews and stews.

With every single drop of saliva you unknowingly pass, a single drop of imagination comes to mind, and a spoonful of soup that sizzles and blows from the side with a smile.

If you’ve seen all of that, it’s already too late.

You can already see yourself falling for that trick.

“Hey, I can’t stand it. Lady, here’s a bowl!”

“Two more bowls, please.”

“Yes! I’ll give it to you soon!!”

That’s why the ladle of the waitress standing next to the pot moved non-stop, and the order to add one bowl was more than that number.

Has it been said that true hangover soup brings one more drink, not hangover soup?

Seeing people drinking that stew with red faces from the morning, it looks like this is a Hebrides hangover restaurant.

I’ll try a bowl here later.

I stood by the door for a long time like that, blankly surveying the inn.

By the time you could see food scraps hidden in the shadows under the chair and the stains on her hands, the innkeeper with a shaggy beard shouted again.

Yibosho There, you can place your first order here!

As I turned my head, a man who seemed to be slightly annoyed was pointing at me.

Looking around for a while, I must have thought it was because the new wanderer didn’t know where to go to order.

“Ah.”

I must have been a bit annoyed when I thought about it. This can be happen.

I am a table set to and fro, and I made my way through the crowd to the counter.

Looking exhausted from the 24/7 customer service, he asked bluntly.

“A meal, a bath, a room.”

I heard a familiar line that seems to have been heard a lot somewhere, but I shook my head and said.

“I’m here to find someone.”

He frowned slightly. The reason was as simple as I thought. It was because a person with no money came.

“Ah, it looks like you are looking for someone from room 201 again.”

Puddeuk.

The shaggy-looking innkeeper said as he wiped his wooden pints with a cloth.

‘Again?’

“Yes. I wondered if he had come down or if he was here.”

“I haven’t come down yet. Go up the stairs and go to the innermost room.”

After speaking, pointing his finger at the stairs, he began to pay attention to the cleanliness of his glasses again.

“Oh, thank you. Sell a lot.”

“Thank you. Be careful with your crossbow, too.”

I skipped over the innkeeper’s meaningful words and stepped on the stairs.

Kikik, kiik.

The tree creaked as if it were a little old. However, it was not so rotten or sore as to cause the feet to fall out.

The hallway on the second floor felt similar to that of a motel village.

It was wide enough for two people to pass each other, and the only source of light was the candles on the wall.

I don’t know if it was for my own air purification or for aesthetic reasons, but sansevieria-like things were planted in large pots, so my view was quite obscured.

Thanks to that, the already cramped hallway became even more uncomfortable, so I wondered if Huar An was saying to be careful of flower pots and not to break them while passing by.

‘But why did I tell you to be careful with the crossbow?’

As I passed carefully avoiding flower pots the size of my lower body, the fact that they were lined up in a row gave me an unknown sense of anxiety.

For some reason.

I stood at the far end of the hallway, in front of room 201, but I couldn’t feel anyone from inside.

Thump, boom.

I knocked, but there was no answer. Are you sleeping

“Mr. Prianian? Are you inside?”

It’s strange. I said it obviously didn’t come down.

The moment you think so and wait.

A single thought came to my mind as the back of my neck felt cold.

‘f*ck. Did this mean to be careful with crossbows and potted plants?’

On the day of the college entrance exam, when I opened the first page of the Korean language section, it was only for a while that my head went blank, and it was an instant for my ‘feeling’ to activate instinctively.

―The length from here to the stairs at the end of the corridor is about 20m.

The floor is made of thick wood, and the door is impenetrable in this situation.

—A loaded crossbow, diagonally to the right from behind. Between the second and third larger pots from the inside.

The distance was halfway.

It was an ambiguous distance to roll to the flowerpot closest to me or run to the opponent.

Creak.

Someone aiming a crossbow stepped on the floor. It was a deliberate sound.

But it was fine.

If I had tried to kill him, I would have shot him long ago, and I would have been talking to Hwaran.

That’s why I relaxed, still smiling toward the door.

“Mr. Priyanian. Nice to meet you I’m from the Hwar’an Mercenary Corps.”

There was no answer. Bolt didn’t even fly.

“I’ll turn away if you don’t like to keep talking to me while looking at my back. I don’t like looking at your door and talking to you.”

After a while, the sound of the crossbow being unloaded was heard. It was the correct answer.

And then slowly turned around.

“Priani-.”

Wait, my breath stopped.

Not a metaphor, but for real.

Mr. Prianian, or rather, Miss Prianian.

Anyway, a lovely-looking girl who was playing behind people’s backs, and I don’t know if this is a lady or a goddess, stood in front of me with a smile.

The height that came up to my chest and the breasts that didn’t stand out too much combined with her childish face, which made me think she was about 20 years old, made it look like a crime.

The skin that was pale enough to be white was red lips, and the blue sky seemed to have been torn off a piece, making the eyes stand out even more.

Miss Prianian’s appearance was so artistic that even I, who had met quite a few people in my life, would not dare to touch it.

And contrasting with her eyes, her slightly reddish, straight, waist-length hair glowed softly in the light of the candlelight. Did you see that and say ginger hair?

The doll-like girl who told her face that she came from Ireland, an island farther north than Britain, was holding an unloaded crossbow and a bolt in her hands behind her back.

Miss Priyanian opened her mouth as if to say something. A little bit of white teeth were exposed.

Then, as she licked her red lips, a faint scent rushed in.

How can a person’s mouth not even smell?

And the words that came out of that dainty mouth were enough to bring back the inner G-House.

“I’m sorry. Even though I have already joined the mercenary group, there are many people who ignore it and try to recruit me.”

Miss Priyanian smiled a little more after she finished speaking. It means to skip over it.

Of course it’s true, but when you say that, you say, ‘Yes, that’s right. You must have suffered a lot.’ It wasn’t me who would do it.

No, if the f*ck had really come to recruit you, you would have tried to stick a crossbow in the head?

Is that an Irish door-to-door salesman treatment?

So, out of gratitude for her fatal charm, I responded to her favor with kindness.

“There seems to be a custom in Ireland where you aim a crossbow behind your back and have an honest conversation. I get to know the good things.”

Then her smiling face hardened slightly.

“Are you good at feeding people?”

“Thank you for liking it, but I am much less than a person who is good at feeding bolts into a crossbow aimed at people.”

“……”

Miss Priianian has an expression that has forgotten what to say. So who told you to play with a crossbow?

I wanted to be more sarcastic, but I decided to stop at this point because I was a member of society in my 30s.

“I have to go to the mercenary corps quickly, so I’m going to introduce myself in an informal way rather than formally.”

After smiling like an adult, he held out his hand for a reconciliation handshake and said.

“This is Golfian G-House, who became an F-class mercenary a week ago.”

Then her expression hardened for a second. It’s not like it’s an F grade.

Then she smiled again, untied her hands behind her back, and grabbed my hand and shook it. Uncharacteristically slender for a mercenary, her hands were very soft and warm.

“Then I don’t even know what it is, so I introduce myself slowly and formally. C-class double mercenary, Lorna Prianian.”

“…Yes?”

The expression on her face that she and I had was reversed.

And the first thing I heard was the question mark ping echoing in my head.

‘No sh*t, he’s a C-rank, but he’s twice as mercenary?’

Of course, the number is not a measure of strength.

I’m just average enough to fit my level, but the world is wide and there are so many crazy people.

Over the past five years, I’ve seen too many opponents who aren’t up to par, so I never get caught off guard and don’t get scared of anything other than tolerable opponents.

But becoming a double mercenary is never, ever easy.

I was surprised to learn that Huar’an told me that I had the qualities to double as a mercenary in three years.

Of course, it’s just bluffing.

To become a double mercenary in the mercenary guild First, there is the most standard way to slowly prove your skills through steady mission success.

Most receive double mercenary names this way.

So, it is safe to say that ordinary double mercenaries are masters of battle who have their own image and name value while working as mercenaries for a long time.

And secondly, in a short period of time, you need to build your own recognition and prove your skills by accumulating overwhelming achievements that no one else can.

Of course, this awarding method is given after careful consideration even in the mercenary guild, which is full of garbage.

These guys don’t guard the floor of the branch of the largest mercenary guild in Northern Britian, but they take care of the brand value themselves.

And in the two cases mentioned above, in the case of Ms. Prianian, the mercenary rank was C, so the factor that made her twice as a mercenary was the latter, not the former.

How absurd this is, we have the only double mercenary in our mercenary squad right now.

One is Hwaran, the leader of our mercenary corps and my teacher, and the other is Gilford, who cut down five mercenaries with a single blow of a halberd in a drunken state in the middle of the battlefield.

‘And the mercenary ranks of the two were A-class for Huaruan and B-class for Guilford.’

Of course, Guilford has a story of its own, but that’s a pass here.

Aside from that, due to the actions of those two people who I experienced directly or indirectly for 5 years, the double mercenary in my head was an honorable title that only real human weapons of class B or higher had.

However, a person who broke that common sense appeared.

That’s right in front of me too.

“What are you doing? Mr. G-house, who became an F-class mercenary a week ago. I heard Mr. Grunchian is waiting for you?”

She said with a laugh. So alluring.

So I turned my head and pointed at the inn door.

“…Please pack your luggage. C-class double mercenary. Change your clothes too.”

No matter how much the double mercenaries say they are human weapons, they are still human, so they won’t go shooting people in pink pajamas.