Trying to track down a novel my father read. (Unfortunately I never read it).
He remembers that the story is being retold by a barkeeper/innkeeper. The barkeeper is retelling some of his life's adventures to someone else who is writing it down.
The main character had a friend who was a faun. I believe his name was Benji. At the end of the book, the main character says something like,
"I want my Benji back."
This sounds a lot like The Kingkiller Chronicle, specifically the first book in the series, The Name of the Wind (2007) by Patrick Rothfuss.
The story begins in the rural town of Newarre, introducing the innkeeper Kote and his assistant Bast, and revealing that Kote is the hero Kvothe: an unequaled swordfighter, magician, and musician, rumored to have killed a king and somehow caused the present war. His assistant and student Bast is a prince of the Fae. Kvothe saves Chronicler, a traveling scribe, from spider-like creatures called Scrael, whereupon Chronicler asks to record his story. Upon consenting, Kvothe tells Chronicler that this will take three days (corresponding to the planned trilogy of novels).
The Faun you are remebering is Bast, and his nickname for Kvothe is Reshi, which I think is getting mixed together in your question. In addition, here is a quote from near the end of the book that matches up close to your remembered phrase.
Chronicler reached out to take hold of the cord, his hand trembling slightly. “What do you get?” he asked, his voice a dry whisper. “What do you want out of this?”
The question seemed to catch Bast unprepared. He stood still and awkward for a moment, all his fluid grace gone. For a moment it looked as if he might burst into tears. “What do I want? I just want my Reshi back.” His voice was quiet and lost. “I want him back the way he was.”
