The Great Sage Who Did not Remain in Legend - 4.2

“Not profitable, but the taxes are low. It’s enough for an old man to live on. Besides, we grow our own food.”

“I see.”

“Are you going to the fishing port town?”

“Yeah. I’m going to eat some fish.”

“Then stay at my place tonight. The old lady will be happy to see a young person.”

“That’s helpful, but it’s careless to lodge strangers,” Mergin thought.

“Well, at my age, it doesn’t matter much even if something happens,” the old man replied calmly.

Mergin found the old man remarkably resigned. They continued chatting and arrived at the village before evening, where they were guided to a house.

“Oh my, you’ve come all this way. We only have vegetables, but please make yourself at home,” greeted the old woman.

“Granny, sorry for coming all of a sudden,” Mergin apologized.

“Oh, it’s delightful to have young folks visiting,” the old woman said warmly.

Though I was born long before him, Mergin murmured in his mind.

Dinner consisted of vegetable soup with dumplings made from wheat, honestly not very filling.

“Thank you for the meal. How do you manage with meat normally?” Mergin asked.

“We trade with the village hunters for meat occasionally. But they grow vegetables too, so it’s not too often,” the old man explained.

It seemed tough for the elderly couple to hunt themselves. They didn’t seem to keep chickens either, so they probably didn’t eat eggs either.

The next morning, Mergin went hunting and returned by noon with a wild boar.

“Did you hunt this yourself?” the old man exclaimed in surprise.

“Yeah, I did. I’ll butcher it now and salt it, so you can use it as winter provisions. It’s my thanks for the hospitality,” Mergin said.

The old woman was also surprised but seemed pleased. She watched in amazement as Mergin used butchering magic to swiftly separate the boar into different cuts.

“So this is magic,” the old man remarked.

“Yeah, it’s butchering magic. They sell it for 5 million, but it hasn’t sold yet,” Mergin chuckled.

“Does it really cost 5 million?” the old man asked.

“Yeah, our magic is expensive,” Mergin replied with a smile as he salted the meat.

“Are there still potatoes to harvest?” Mergin asked.

“Oh, yes, we need to harvest them before the snow falls,” the old man said.

“I’ll harvest them for you then. If I put them in boxes, will that be okay?” Mergin offered.

“You need to go to the fishing port town?” the old man asked.

“I haven’t set a schedule, so it’s no problem. Besides, harvesting won’t take long,” Mergin said.

Mergin used harvesting magic to dig up the potatoes.

“Now, I’ll pack them into boxes,” he said.

He could use magic to pack them into boxes, but seeing how tired the elderly couple were, he decided not to.

He spaced out the boxes evenly, put the potatoes in them, carried them to the shed, and finished. In the end, he stayed one more night and had boar meat with them.

“I’m sorry for relying on you so much. Please come visit anytime,” the old couple said gratefully.

“Thank you. I’ll bring some fish as a souvenir on my way back to the fishing port town,” Mergin replied.

With gratitude, Mergin bid farewell to the elderly couple and walked to the fishing port town.

Tonight, he planned to camp in the square of the next town rather than spend money at an inn, preferring to spend money on alcohol. This town was known for its mead, a sweet and strong liquor, much cheaper than in the capital.

“Old man, give me some mead and sausage,” Mergin ordered.

“Sure. Do you want the meat or blood sausage?” the vendor asked.

“Meat, please,” Mergin replied.

He didn’t care much for the strong taste of blood sausage.

After enjoying boiled sausage and mead, he set up his tent in the square. Mergin’s tent looked like a one-person tent from the outside, but it was actually more spacious inside—a tent with an expansion feature, as they say.

“I don’t really need this much space alone…” Mergin muttered to himself.

Indeed, this tent was something he used during his days with the hero party. When he stayed with his comrades, it felt cramped. Back then, they would jokingly say things like “Pack in tighter” or “Who’s the pervert touching me when I roll over?”

As he lay in the unnecessarily large tent, Mergin reminisced about the past and eventually fell asleep.