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Berserk of Gluttony (LN) - Volume 3 - Chapter 2




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Chapter 2:

A Place to Call Home 

BABYLON WAS LAID OUT in a large circle broken into three major districts. The southernmost district was the Military Sector, where Lady Roxy and her army were stationed. Besides soldiers, I’d heard that mercenaries in search of riches also made their home there. 

Using Babylon as a base, adventurers hunted and killed the thousands of monsters that attempted to invade the kingdom. The adventurers who did well were highly valued by Seifort’s nobility. 

Of these adventurers, the most experienced were mercenaries, experts well-versed in battling the most ferocious of beasts. Most mercenaries hailed from civilian backgrounds, but some had been born to holy knight families, only they had lacked holy skills. Rumor had it that some mercenaries were once holy knights themselves, cast out from the capital due to ongoing power struggles between the great houses. 

For that reason, some mercenaries openly disdained the kingdom’s revered holy knights. Yet these same bitter people were hired to fight alongside the holy knights they despised; Babylon couldn’t afford to consider grudges in the face of the monstrous threat. Such sentiments might even find themselves wiped away as knights and mercenaries fought side by side, and the knights had been known to expunge the criminal records of those who demonstrated significant prowess on the field. As long as a warrior did their part, their past deeds and current misbehavior could be overlooked—and they were always paid handsomely. This was the way of Babylon. 

I felt Lady Roxy would be fine in the end, but her honesty and sincerity in such a den of villainy worried me. I entertained no such worries for myself, however. Survival of the fittest? Exactly what I was looking for. 

My skill, Gluttony, consumed the souls of those I slew, making their skills and stats my own. My power had been forsaken by the gods themselves, but here I could run rampant. As long as my actions benefited Babylon, my trespasses would be forgiven. 

I was aiming for the top. I would grow as powerful as possible, so that when the day came for me to do what was necessary, I could see my task through to the end. 

Putting aside my own problems, Babylon sprawled before me. The city was at least as big as Seifort. It had to be, to house armies and mercenaries alongside wandering adventurers. Tension suffused the air, completely different from the one wrought by the struggles of the common folk back in Seifort. This tension stemmed from the city’s position on the front line—a place where wild things gathered. It reminded me of how Galia smelled of blood. 

After passing through the main gate, I walked down a large street, the Common Sector spreading out to either side of me. The Common Sector was where adventurers and merchants gathered while they looked to make it big, and it was broadly divided into two further districts. To the east lay the Merchant Sector, and to the west, the Residential Sector, where I would find inns and lodgings. Straight ahead of me lay the Military Sector. 

You could summarize Babylon’s districts thus: 

The Military Sector in the south, where holy knights dispatched from the kingdom and other military personnel were stationed. It was also home to hired mercenaries. 

The Merchant Sector to the east, which brimmed with weapon and armor shops, as well as bars and taverns. The sheer number of shops was said to rival even the wealthy capital of Seifort. 

And the Residential Sector to the west, which largely consisted of lodgings—many luxurious, due to the high earnings of adventurers in Babylon. 

Not just anyone could enter the Military Sector. Even walking the boisterous streets of the Common Sector, I saw guards posted at every gate, their eyes glaring from intimidating faces. I had to assume Lady Roxy had passed through those very gates and was now somewhere inside. 

I turned to the Residential Sector. I needed a place to stay. Everywhere I looked, the inns were lavish and luxurious. I decided to try my luck and picked an inn at random. As soon as I walked inside the huge building, a sharp-dressed man in black approached me. He was immaculately clean, and he smiled as I entered. A staff member, no doubt. 

“Welcome, sir,” the man said. “Will you be staying this evening?” 

“Yeah.” 

The man took in the sharp details of my skull mask, but his smile did not falter. 

“This mask doesn’t faze you, does it?” I asked. 

“I assume it conceals your identity, yes? It’s nothing out of the ordinary here; many travelers look to disguise who they might once have been.” 

That was about what I’d expected. He likely referred to those rumored former holy knights, or others banished from the kingdom for troublemaking. With those types milling around everywhere, this inn would have to be totally disconnected from the rest of the city if the likes of me still shocked them. 

“How much per night?” I asked. 

“Including a bath and board, one night comes to five gold coins.” 

“What?!” My jaw almost disconnected on its way to the floor. Five gold?! Highway robbery! No comparable place in Seifort charged more than a single gold coin. 

The man acknowledged my shock but remained unfazed. “Am I correct to assume you are an adventurer on your first visit to Babylon?” he asked. “Your shock is not uncommon among new arrivals. If you head farther west, you’ll find a host of comparatively cheaper lodgings. Perhaps you’d prefer to try your luck there?” 

I picked my jaw back up from the floor. “Thanks for the advice. But why even tell me about your competition?” 

“It’s simple, really,” the man said. “Many can’t afford the comforts of our lodgings on their first night. But after they earn coin hunting the monsters of Galia, many of those same people return. Think of it as a show of kindness with an ulterior motive. In any case, I look forward to seeing you again in the future.” 

“I see.” 

This man was quite the salesperson. He didn’t brush people off because they didn’t have the money; he enticed them into a potential future sale. Very smart. It seemed the people of Babylon approached things differently from what I was familiar with. 


“Thank you for the information,” I said. “Until next time.” 

“We humbly await your return.” The man bowed deeply as I left. 

I continued west. As I proceeded deeper into the district, the city changed before my eyes. The magnificent red-brick lodgings faded into dilapidated, older white-brick buildings, dirtied and darkened with time. These inns didn’t have the money to invest in renovations, which required deliveries from outside Galia and were therefore expensive. All in all, the farther west you traveled, the lower the prestige of the lodging. 

Currently, I only had four gold and thirty silver to my name. Once upon a time, I’d had more than forty gold coins, but I’d lost most of them traveling with Myne. It felt like my savings were practically vanishing from my coin purse. I’d spent them all way too carelessly. From now on, I’d have to be more cautious. 

Eventually I found myself standing before a collection of inns cobbled together from fractured bricks. Where do I even start? These all look the same… 

A woman’s voice roused me from my thoughts. “You there, young man! You seem like you’re looking for a place to stay, aren’t you?” 

A lively woman, about middle-aged, walked toward me with a hearty, full-throated laugh. 

“I am,” I said. 

“I thought as much. Stay at my inn. I’ll make it cheap. Well, how about it?” 

“How much is cheap?” 

“Fifty silver a night!” 

Hm… 

When I considered that the prices in Babylon were about five times what I was accustomed to, that didn’t seem like a bad deal. Now that I didn’t have to worry about Myne eating all my money, I could fill my coin purse back up as soon as I started hunting again. Plus, I liked this landlady’s frank, straightforward attitude. 

“Okay, you’ve got yourself a deal,” I said. 

“You haven’t even seen the inn yet!” The woman laughed. “You sure?” 

However, I’d seen the food the woman carried—I’d scanned her basket with my Identify skill, and I knew it was all fresh. That made me sure of my decision. Anyone with an eye for ingredients knew their way around preparing them. 

“I am,” I said. “But I’d appreciate it if you could get me a meal as soon as possible.” 

“You got it!” the landlady replied cheerfully. “Follow me.” 

I kept up with her easily. “Let me carry some of that for you.” 

“Oh, really? Thanks! But don’t expect any discounts!” 

“That’s okay. All I really want is to get some food in me soon.” 

The woman laughed again. “In that case, I’ll cook up the best feast I can!” 

I really couldn’t wait. My stomach felt no different. It was right there with me, on the verge of grumbling with familiar hunger. 

Then it really did growl in impatience. 

“Wow, you aren’t kidding, are you? Want to eat this bread on the way?” The landlady offered me a loaf. 

“Are you sure?” 

She nodded. “I’ll add it to your tab. You’ll pay for it later.” 

She was pretty shrewd, but I didn’t have a reason to refuse. I took the bread. It was warm and freshly baked. With the first bite, my mouth filled with the sweet, delicious taste of rye. The flavor quietly washed away my exhaustion. 

“This is delicious,” I said around my mouthful of rye bread. “I’ve never had anything like it.” 

“I’m glad you like it. My little sister makes it. Stay at my inn, and you can eat your fill of that and much more!” 

“I have to say, I’m intrigued.” 

“Us small-timers can’t wow you with the fancy facades of those bougie joints. We have to make the service really count. Ah, here we are. Welcome to my inn!” 

The exterior was about what I expected, just an old sign hanging in front of a building of cracking, fractured bricks. The ancient structure had crumbled over many long years, and I couldn’t say it looked appealing, even if I wanted to. 

Still, it only looked like that from the outside. I walked in, excited. If a single piece of bread had brought me such delight, what other joys did I have to look forward to? 



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