398 - Big Mama and the Soup Gang 3


    TL/Editor: raei


    Status: 5/Week Mon-fri


    Illustrations: Posted in discord.


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    Marianne''s inn was renowned for its cheap, generous portions without compromising on food quality. Even outside meal times, it was packed with adventurers filling their hungry bellies after grueling hunts.


    When you consider that well-off adventurers tend to splurge on food and drink at fancy inns like ''Lucky Scoundrel'' while cozying up to pretty girls, it''s obvious what kind of people frequented Marianne''s place.


    People who rejoiced at earning a few silver coins after risking their lives. People living hand-to-mouth, destined for a miserable, impoverished old age or a wretched death once their strength gave out. That''s why they considered Marianne, who gave an extra scoop of meat for a few coppers, like family.


    The same went for Johanna, who grumbled about overbaked bread even as she handed it out. Sharing misshapen loaves in back alleys that she claimed were too ugly to sell to the temple. But when this happened repeatedly for years, even the dimmest fool would figure it out.


    A baker in the bakers'' guild supplying bread to the temple wouldn''t make the exact same mistake every time she baked for ten years straight.


    "Don''t know if we''ll be able to find them..."


    "Why, you chickening out?"


    "Fuck you, I know we''re probably gonna die either way. But if I''m gonna die, I wanna find them first..."


    "At least the mana stones are good. If we can make it out alive, it''ll be worth some serious coin."


    "Shit, you really think we can survive this?"


    "We knew what we were getting into. Why get greedy now?"


    "We can''t make it out on our own, but if we gather enough mana stones and ask another adventurer..."


    "Right, if we find the ladies we can ask a senior adventurer for help."


    "If they''re from the kingdom, they must''ve eaten at the ladies'' restaurant at least once."


    Whenever I thought about this world, there was an analogy I always came back to. A dark fantasy world where thieves got their wrists cut off and fraudsters had their tongues ripped out.


    I guess in a world without the concept of human rights, even the Goddess of Life said it was fine as long as you didn''t murder for trivial reasons.


    In a place with no notion of human rights, these two women had been carrying out acts bordering on welfare through small acts of sharing for decades.


    It wasn''t like they could''ve run restaurants while wandering from city to city in modern society. They''d been at it since before I entered the adventurer city, so at least 12 years. Considering this mishmash fantasy world of medieval and modern elements, they could''ve been living like this for up to 40 years.


    The fruits of their labor were right before our eyes.


    "I wonder if this food will be enough. We''ll have to keep going back and forth to the safe zone on the 53rd floor, right?"


    "With mana stones this good, we could buy plenty of food if we sell them."


    Of course, not all hundred-or-so people were unified by a sense of loyalty and determination to save the two women at the cost of their own lives.


    "No, how the fuck am I supposed to help? I''m pissed off and uneasy too, so anyone who keeps harping on about this better be ready to get cut. Hey, what was it earlier, the Fabius family? Why didn''t you say anything when that old man was talking, but now you''re like this?"


    -lol they ignored the mustached old man but came running when the pretty boy showed up


    -fuck lol are you treating the knights and the food-giving moms the same?


    -No overreacting pls. If you''re so butthurt, why don''t you break through to the 50th floor and protect the ladies yourselves instead of backseat gaming?


    -Come on, no matter how much you spam the chat, you can''t magically find the ladies somewhere in the plains


    -Is it cuz this is a VR game that these idiots are getting so into it like middle-aged women overidentifying with drama characters


    Irene seemed to be holding back her words out of respect for those who took up arms directly, while feeling sorrow for the lives that would be lost in vain. Meanwhile, Han Se-ah was busy dealing with viewers as usual.


    Two upstanding citizens who performed selfless acts of kindness, and over a hundred people gathered willing to lay down their lives for them. This was enough to move anyone, East or West, so viewers were engrossed in Irene and Luis''s story as if watching an immersive drama.


    "Talk some sense, what''s with all this collection talk? How can we realistically find NPCs when we haven''t even encountered an ogre yet?"


    But it seemed they were a bit overly excited. I guessed Han Se-ah got a bit too into it as well. She seemed more irritated than usual at viewers who were urging action, probably because she was full of desire to help like the viewers but had no way to do so.


    So I showed the maximum goodwill I could.


    "Priest Luis, please take this."


    "This... for me?"


    As he finished talking with Irene and made the sign of the cross, I went over and held out my adventurer''s badge.


    Realistically, a party of just five - no, eight including the three temporary companions - couldn''t possibly check an entire landmass larger than a city. So the only thing I, or rather our party, could do was lend our name.


    Just like how Marx Fabius showed his family crest to the tower''s adventurers on behalf of his knights, promising generous rewards to those who help the order.


    "If you meet other adventurers, show them this badge and request help in the name of the holy sword and hero. You can ask for food, or describe the ladies and ask for help rescuing them."


    "Ah... thank you."


    Luis seemed to think faster than me, considering how even adventurers two or three times his age implicitly accepted him as the leader. Even with the hero''s authority, you couldn''t forcibly conscript adventurers with just a badge.


    Realistically, my badge was more likely to end up discarded on the plains next to a cold corpse.


    Still, I hoped this priest Luis would manage to rescue the two ladies safely. After all, I too once solved my meals at Marianne''s inn as a novice.


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