I'm a Immortal Tavernkeeper, But My S-Rank Daughter Doesn't Know That!

Chapter 50: Rumor

When Victor regained consciousness, he was lying on the floor of the bathroom in his room, breathing hard and in a cold sweat.

The headache had subsided, but the memories still echoed in his mind like some kind of distant echo.

"Why am I remembering all this just now?" Victor asked himself, confused as to why memories he hadn’t thought about for a long time were bubbling up in his mind.

Suddenly, a light tap on the door interrupted his thoughts as he stood up.

Victor took a deep breath and went to the door, still a little dizzy, leaning on the furniture and the walls of the room.

Opening the door to his room, Victor saw a kind-looking lady with gray hair and complacent eyes.

"Good morning, Mr. Victor. How are you feeling?" she asked in a soft voice, entering the room with a tray containing a steaming mug of tea and some freshly baked rolls.

Victor looked at her, still trying to process the situation. "Madam, I believe there must have been some mistake. The hotelier told me there would be no breakfast."

"Stop, that’s ridiculous. My husband is just grumpy, whereas I believe that all my hotel guests deserve the best, especially when we have so few people visiting us."

"But..."

"My husband tells me you’re a hunter, it’s admirable that you’re in this profession even though you’re not as young as you once were. So take this as thanks for your service to society." She placed the tray on a dresser, picked up the mug of tea and handed it to Victor.

Seemingly unable to refuse, Victor accepted the hot mug.

At that moment, the kind lady managed to get a good look at Victor and a look of dismay appeared on her face.

"Are you feeling all right? If you’re ill, I can bring you some ginger tea instead of this green tea." She said.

"No, there’s nothing to worry about. I’m just still a bit tired from the trip."

"I see. Well, if you need anything, let my husband know at the counter. He’s a bit of a pain, but he also cares about our guests." She said, heading for the door.

"Thank you, ma’am. I promise to make it up to you." Victor said with his right hand on the left side of his chest and a nod. "By the way, excuse me, but can you tell me what time it is?"

"Oh yes, just a second..." She reached into the pocket of her apron and pulled out a pocket watch. "It’s 9:11 in the morning," she replied.

Victor didn’t express his surprise at the time, thanked the lady and closed the door to his room as she left.

Unfortunately, it was already much later than when he left this hotel room when he first experienced this day. About an hour later. That meant that this was the time he was passed out on the bathroom floor.

For Victor, leaving the hotel an hour later on that particular day made a gigantic difference, especially in the order of events. He wouldn’t be able to find Clovis having breakfast in the tavern up the street from the association building, because Clovis stayed there until nine in the morning at the latest, and there was also the possibility of him arriving too late to pick up the Blights’ mission.

Although these two differences were big, they weren’t something that would threaten everything. In fact, in the end Gravisk was still trapped in the cave at the end of the Evergreen Forest.

Luckily, being late gave Victor the opportunity to meet the owner of the hotel and he even got a free breakfast. So, not all the differences from that day to the previous one were bad news and perhaps it would be a good opportunity for Victor to understand how his actions directly impacted these changes in the timeline.

So, when Victor got ready and took the tray and mug back to the counter, he took the opportunity to have a chat with the hotelier and perhaps find out exactly why the hotelier had seemed so scared the day before.

On the first day, Victor hadn’t cared much about it, because he thought it was just a superstition of the hotelier’s, but now he felt that this fear might somehow be connected to the demon Gravisk.

"Good morning, sir." Victor said as he approached the counter where the old man stood.

The man looked at the hunter with a bored expression. "And what good is a day like this? Is that one of my wife’s trays? Did she really go and bring you breakfast even after I told her not to? That woman... Come on, hand it over."

Understanding that the hotelier had an irritable temper, Victor didn’t argue with him, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to form a relationship and get information. Besides, the hotelier was just a gentleman who worked honestly, there was no reason for Victor to return everything he was told in kind.

"I thank you for the food and tea. Everything was delicious. I will definitely recommend this hotel to several of my colleagues in the service." Victor replied.

Victor’s flattery at calling a small hotel a hotel, which is a much larger and more sophisticated type of service, surprised the old hotelier, but he was too proud to admit it.

"Are you talking about your fellow hunters? It’s not necessary, many of you already come here normally. It’s just that... business is bad." fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

Victor looked around and saw the place as empty as the night before. So, he leaned one arm on the counter, looked at the slight-haired man and muttered:

"Between you and me, I was curious about what you said yesterday and I went to sleep thinking about it. I’d take your advice and ask at the local tavern what exactly is causing the slowdown in the area, but I’ve also learned that the traffic there isn’t the best either. I came from Kozáni and for the time I was there no one said anything about danger here in Agocester, so I’m assuming that a rumor from the locals is what’s keeping visitors away."

"Rumor? No, it’s a rumor!" The hotelier gestured eagerly.

"So you admit there is something. And what would that be about? Is it the evil spirit that the Association has put a bounty on?" Victor asked persuasively.

The hotelier fixed his glasses, a little shy and hesitant to continue this conversation, as if he had a lump in his throat.

Suddenly, a gentle, slightly shaky voice from behind Victor answered:

"No, I wish it was just an evil spirit... Father Eadric would have sorted it out by now if that were the case, but no, it’s something worse than an evil spirit, it’s a demon." said the kind hotel owner, without blinking like her husband was doing.