Osric paid 7 copper for his meal, 5 for a bath and lastly 4 for his coat that got washed.
During his time at the inn, the innkeeper's daughter tried to make small talk with Osric a couple of times but he pretty much shut it down with his cold responses.
He wasn't oblivious to her crush on him, but he didn't have time to accommodate her.
After that he went home to count his total amount of money before sleeping.
'3 silver and 97 copper crowns.'
Osric started to consider changing some things going forward.
'Maybe now I can finally ditch this dump and start sleeping in an inn.'
'It's definitely possible with what I earn from missions plus the stipend that I will now get every month.'
'But making a big profit will only be possible if I start selling monster corpses like I did today.'
Osric knew, however, that this wouldn't be easy by himself unless he only hunted smaller sized monsters. But he knew there would be a limit to his growth by doing that.
Comfort was the enemy.
He then started to consider other options.
'Maybe if I hire a cheap porter with a horse and small carriage for the corpses?'
'The only other option is to start working with a party.'
But Osric didn't want to spend extra money on a porter since it would still be expensive no matter who it was.
Osric also didn't really trust anyone enough to work with in a party. He only did it once and it wasn't exactly a good experience.
He could only think of one thing.
'I have to start my own party and find trustworthy people to recruit.'
Osric knew this wasn't going to be easy.
He went to sleep after using the medicine he had bought earlier.
These big decisions didn't need to be made right this moment. Osric needed rest after a long couple of days.
-
In another part of Lowbrook that night inside a lively pub full of drunks, a newly established mercenary band of five were drinking and chatting when they heard an interesting conversation at the table in front of them.
"Did you guys hear about that Osric kid that fought in the underground ring before?" One sketchy-looking man in his forties said, beer in hand.
His friends replied.
"Oh that underdog kid that beat his opponents and then just disappeared?"
"What about him?"
"There are rumours going around about him being an up and coming adventurer. Apparently he always takes on E-Rank missions by himself and comes back covered in injuries after completing them."
"No way? That kid really is crazy."
"Yeah I know and I made some money thanks to him the last time I watched him fight."
"Hahaha me too but I think Bob here lost a lot."
"Oh right haha!"
"Screw you guys!"
The rookie mercenary band that overheard the conversation just happened to know Osric.
It was Philip as the captain with Carl as vice captain, Jeffrey and two other guys they knew from the slums.
Two of them didn't know Osric but the other three didn't like what they heard.
"Did you guys hear that?" Jeffrey asked.
Carl responded first.
"So what?! That fucker's probably loving the attention after years crawling like a cockroach."
One of the two who didn't know Osric spoke up.
"Is Osric the one from your old orphanage?"
"Shut up." Carl said.
The guy went quiet as he was afraid of Carl like most people who knew him.
Finally Philip spoke.
"Forget about him. He is just a nobody. We should be focusing on making money as mercenaries and if we ever encounter him we can just torture him then."
"HAHAHA, that's right Philip!" Carl laughed loudly when he said that as if already imagining how he would make Osric suffer.
The two who didn't know Osric just silently drank their beer as they didn't care.
And Jeffrey laughed with Carl and agreed with Philip just like the follower he was.
'I preferred following Ruben instead of this psychopath.'
'Not that Ruben was much better—but at least I knew where I stood.'
'With this snake… I was just being used.'
But Jeffrey didn't know a different life than this. He definitely wasn't a good person either, he was just a coward.
While they drifted away from the topic of Osric, Philip had a cold expression.
'I will definitely crush him once I see the opportunity.'