131-Episode 112: The strongest onmyoji, drink





 As it turns out, it wasn't even close.
 It was rather too much.

 It seemed that all of that deer's shell was a high-level magic stone, and even if I reimbursed the door and flooring costs, I still had a bit of a surprising amount of money on hand.
 Thanks to that, I suddenly had more money to live on.

 However, the people in the guild were extremely angry at me.
 He said, don't put monsters straight into the item box, and don't let them out of the guild.
 He was absolutely right, and I had to apologize to him.

 By the way, no one seemed to know what happened to the monster.

 But I can kind of imagine what was going on.
 Perhaps that deer-shaped monster was enduring the harsh emptiness of the phase by covering its entire body with a magic stone shell.
 No beast from the previous life could do the same thing. I see, there was an interesting incarnation.

 But when I happily said something like that, Amu and the others were taken aback.

 The adventurer's life that started with trouble, was smooth after that.
 Gradually, I expanded the places I was stretching my legs to, and after I found that I could consistently dive even in mid-level dungeons, that became my main hunting ground.

 Perhaps these kids would have no problem in higher-level dungeons.
 But there's no need to push it.

 Returning from our adventure.
 As we walked through the streets at dusk, Amu and the others talked.

''What was it called? The store we're going to.
It's 'The Golden Thread Pavilion'. Sounds like an expensive name, doesn't it?
Fun.

 I had gotten tired of the taste of the Guild's tavern for good, so we were talking about going to a different restaurant today.
 It would be nice to have this much luxury once in a while.

 Eventually I arrived at Kinshitei, which was a fine establishment.
 But when I opened the door, I couldn't help but furrow my brow.

"Ha-ha-ha! You look like an Orc!
So, when that idiot dies...

 The store was filled with adventurer customers.

 I thought that if the store was somewhat expensive, there wouldn't be any bad people around, but I guess I was wrong. It's an adventurer's town, so there are plenty of ruffians who can make money.

...I'm going to change the store...

 I say, and Eifa and Mabel agree.

Well, yeah...
Shut up.

 But Amu nodded his head.

'Yes, why? It's a bit crowded, but that's fine. How hard can it be to find another restaurant now?

 and walked into the shop as usual.
 We had no choice but to hurry and follow him.

 As we were looking around the shop for an empty seat, we heard a lot of buzzing from various tables when they saw us. Some of them are whistling.

 Half of them probably know us.
 The party of four newcomers, who had unleashed monsters and destroyed guilds and quickly started showing up at the mid-level hunting grounds, had already become partly famous.

 

''Hey, there, red hair!''

 A bald-headed little man sitting at a table by the wall shouts.

'Come over here and deal with me! Hey, I've got money!

 And then he lets out a lowly laugh.

 In this world, being a woman doesn't necessarily mean you're impotent.
 With training, magical power can be turned into physical ability. Even if you are a girl, in some cases you can screw over a big man. That's why female adventurers are never a few.

 From that position, there's no way they couldn't have seen the staff sword that Amu was carrying.
 So that must have been some kind of joke to test the nerve.

 

''Oh, the goblins are talking about something. Is it a higher species? And if you look closely, you're bald.

 The tavern erupted in laughter.
 The little man, his face contorted, kicked his chair and stood up.

'Dude, you said it! You shouldn't say that!

 Amu had a happy expression on his face when he said.

'A fight in a tavern! I've always wanted to try it!
Or don't. You'll be banned.

 And if you break something, you'll have to pay for it.
 I was trying to figure out how to stop it, when...

"Is that you, Lamprog?

 I hear a familiar, calm voice.
 I turned my head to see Lloyd, who was in a corner of the bar with his friends, raising his cup to me with a soft smile.

You look like you've been on a roll lately," he said, raising his glass to me with a soft smile. What do you say, come have a drink with us?

 When Lloyd said this, the tavern went a little quieter.
 The bald-headed little man also sat down with a small tongue click.

 He seems to be a gentle man, but as expected of the head of the second largest party in Lacana, he seems to have a good deal of face for it.

''Yes, yes, by all means!

 I replied with a boat to cross over and pulled a slightly disappointed Amu to Lloyd's table.
 When the others packed up, there was just enough room for about four people.

''Oh no, thank you for the help,''

 I say this as I sit at the table, and Lloyd chuckles and says

'Don't get me started on the struggle, okay? I like this place a lot.
I'm not trying to be an a**h*le, sir.
What... what? You know, they were the first to fight me.
I'm not saying don't struggle. Just keep the fights outside. It's just good manners in this town.

 Lloyd says flatly.
 No, is that manners?

'Long time no see, girl! Can you guys drink?

 A large, muscular woman sitting next to Amu said with a smirk.
 She was a hammering heavy warrior who was the vanguard in the Living Meir Forest.

 Amu replies, a little sluggishly.

'Well, well, it's normal, right?'
I've never had a drink before...
Me too.
Me too.

 In this life, though.

You might want to try this place for the fire wine.

 A man dressed in monk's robes and with his head curled up says.
 He was a monk soldier who was in the vanguard alongside a female heavy warrior.

''No less than the secret wine of my homeland...''
"Idiot, what kind of person would offer you spirits? Try the fruit wine at first. All the sake here is good.

 The heavy female warrior ordered and shortly afterwards the four cups were brought in.
 I sipped and my eyes widened slightly.

"Wow...
Wow, that's really good, Seika-kun!
Sweet.
"! Hmmm.

 I thought it was a grape wine, but it looked like a liquor made from wood strawberries or something.
 It's quite easy to drink, perhaps because it has a sweet flavor.

 When Amu popped the cup in one go, he smiled pleasantly and said

''Haha! We're good! Excuse me, another one!
Wow, you're drinking like a champ.

 The female heavy warrior pats Amu on the back.

'How was your harvest today? Did you make money?
'So-so! The dungeon we went to today was...

 When Amu replied in a good mood, questions flew in from the surrounding adventurers as well.
 It seems that everyone was curious about our party, which had been a hot topic of conversation.
 It's a good idea to have a good time with them as well.

Did you hear that? 'Disturbances in the Imperial City'

 Suddenly, I heard an interesting conversation from the table beside me.
 I listened closely to the conversation between the two adventurers.

"A very powerful demon has attacked the Imperial City by himself.
"Oh, shit...! The emperor, he's been slaughtered? I don't think it's going to start a war like it did hundreds of years ago.
The thing is, that demon tribe, I heard they apologized and left without a fight.
What?
Even the demolished walls were magically repaired. According to the peddlers, you can't even tell which part of the wall is broken.
What's that? You mean that's bullshit?
I heard that's what the court has officially declared. And I heard that many of the residents of the imperial city saw the demolished imperial city walls last month night.
Bullshit... it's a setup anyway. Isn't the emperor trying to start something else?
Gah-ha-ha, maybe so!

 The two adventurers laughed at each other and quickly moved on to other topics.
 I've been listening, and I've been feeling sorry for myself.

 Fiona.........I'm sorry.......
 It seems that she really went to a lot of trouble to cover up the mess I made.
 When I think about how hard it was to get through to her, it's very sad indeed.
 Maybe I should apologize again at some point.

''Hey Seika! Are you listening to me?
'What? Oh, yes, yes....

 I rush to answer the call of the drunkard and order more drinks while I'm at it.

 The customers were noisy, but the drinks tasted good, as it was an expensive place. It would have been a good place for these kids to have their first drink.
 They may have a lot of trouble in the future... but at least they can enjoy themselves for a moment like this.

 After a couple of hours of thinking about that.

''Ataji is weak anyway~''
....

 Amu was crying, lying face down on the table with a bright red face.
 I looked down at him with a disgusted look on my face.

You're not much of a drinker, are you?
'Huh? Tsk! Who's weaker than you? I was supposed to be a genius! He has more years of experience than any of you adventurers! What kind of genius do you think you are to fall behind to the extent of Elder Trent! Whew!
....

 Next to Amu, Mabel didn't move slightly with her head tilted back.
 She seems to be asleep.

 I sighed.

Well I guess we should be going home. Yifa, help me carry them out Yifa?

 I looked next to him when he didn't respond, and Yifa was staring at me with a big smile on her face.

''Eh~? Ehehehehehehehehehehehe!

 .... no. I might as well wait until these kids sober up.

 I sighed and sat back in my seat.
 Looking around, I saw that Lloyd's friends seemed to be much more established.

'Lamprog, you seem to be able to drink quite well.

 Lloyd looks at me and says with surprise.
 He replies, tipping the cup of fire wine I asked him to try.

Yeah, well, I guess so. Yeah, well, I guess so.

 I recall that in my previous life, I couldn't get drunk no matter how much I drank, probably because of my constitution.
 I didn't think it would be the same in this life's body, though.

'But you seem to be much stronger too.

 Lloyd, when told, replies with a wry smile.

'I only drink water, you know. It may come as a surprise, but I'm a lowlife.'
''Oh, really.......I thought all of the famous adventurers were drinkers.
'I'm terribly prejudiced. Drinking and adventure have nothing to do with it. I'm the proof of that.

 Certainly, if the Lacana's second-ranked party leader says it, it's compelling.

'By the way, now that you mention it, what was the gathering today? It looks like you've been drinking in a much larger group.
Yeah well it's just a little bit.

 Lloyd says with a meaningful look on his face.

'We're planning a big adventure soon. We're meeting for that.'
Yeah, big time. What do you mean?
I'm going to take down the East Wing.

 When I don't say anything, Lloyd continues, "My party is getting pretty good at this.

My party is getting better and better," he says. We've collected information on the location of the boss and the surrounding terrain. With some careful preparation, we should be able to accomplish this.
I just have a few questions.

 I ask quietly, "When you say 'Eastern Boss', do you mean the boss monster in the mountains to the east of Lacana?

"By 'boss of the east,' you mean the boss monster in the mountains east of Lacana?
'Yeah. Each of the three mountains around Lacana, as I mentioned before, is a huge dungeon. There are boss monsters in the north, south, and east, one at a time. The bosses in the attached dungeons, such as the Wandering Forest, are actually mid-bosses. They're on a different level of strength than those, but not so strong that they can't be defeated by any means.
'If you defeat the boss monster the dungeon will lose its power, won't it? Isn't defeating the boss taboo for this city, which is built on the resources generated by the dungeon?
'That's when the boss monster is the core of the dungeon. The dungeon core around here isn't the boss monster.
How do you know that?
It's a simple matter. It's because the boss monster has been defeated a few times in the past.
....
'This was back when Lacana wasn't yet such a fine city. So the dungeon disappeared, as you can see. It still continues to create wealth as it always has, and a different monster than the boss that was defeated reigns as the current boss. The mountains in the north, the mountains in the south, and the mountains in the east. Perhaps the core is not the boss monster, it is something else. We don't know what it is, though.

 I push my concerns to the back of my mind and ask another question: "Why did you bother to do that?

Why would you do something like that? What in the world do you get out of risking your life to take down a boss?
Fame.

 Lloyd continues quietly.

''The 'Renjyu Alliance' that has been doing so well up until now is beginning to show signs of slowing down in terms of member growth. We need to produce some big, easy-to-understand results around here. If we stay at the second largest party in Lacana forever my organization will never reach true perfection.

 The expression on his face doesn't change, but I can see embers of intent in his eyes.

 I'm about to open my mouth to say something, and then close it.
 Lloyd, with a slight smile on his face, says to me, "I'm not officially joining the party.

I don't mind if you don't officially join the party, but I'd really like to have you guys help me out if you can. I understand. I don't think you're the kind of person who is driven by fame and reward.
I'm sorry.

 I say, looking away.

 That was a more unacceptable suggestion than being asked to join the party.
 There's no proof, but taking down the boss could lead to some pretty bad things.

 However, that doesn't mean I have the words to stop this man right now.
 I had no choice but to change the subject.

"Speaking of which, what kind of party is the first place party in Lacana?

 When he asked that, Lloyd made a slightly bitter face.

''It's a party called the 'Red Wing Gang'. If you ask me what kind of party it is...''

 At that moment, the door to the tavern unexpectedly opened.
 With the sound of clanging equipment, five figures entered the store.
 Just like that the entire bar went silent for a moment.
 Looking at their appearance, I can guess too.

 Heavy warriors, swordsmen, thieves, sorcerers, and priests.
 It's a common formation of common professions, but their equipment and behavior set them apart from other adventurers.

 It is often said that if you speak of it, a shadow will come over you.
 This is the 'Red Wing Gang' - the number one party in Lacana?

''Hey, five barley wine! Bring the food just right!

 The big man, a heavy warrior, shouted wildly to the back of the store and sat down somewhere in an empty seat with his friends.
 Suddenly, a faint smell of blood stung my nose.
 Are these guys back from the dungeon?

Hmm? Hey, it's Lloyd!

 A big man who looked like the leader looked at us and shouted in a loud voice.
 Lloyd frowned for a moment and then raised his cup to the big man.

Hello. It's been a while, Mr. Zamlug.
"Ha, Lloyd. Is that water? When are you going to learn to drink? You don't even want to impress the halflings you're babysitting, huh? Gahahahaha!

 The big man called Zamrg continues, regardless of Lloyd's murderous companions.

I'm going to pick up the chick who is about to die tomorrow. I'll even pick up a chick who's about to die tomorrow, you have no idea what you're talking about. You know the difference between a party and a woman's ass? You can't just go out and....
They know the mayor.

 Lloyd said with a smile, interrupting Zamrg's words.

'I was asked to tell you about Lacana. That's all.'
Tsk. Hey! No liquor yet, no liquor!

 Turning his head back from Zamlug shouting into the kitchen, Lloyd says disgustedly.

'You were talking about what kind of party The Red Wing Gang is. You see," he says. They love booze, money, and violence, and are obsessed with freedom and honor above all else, in short...

 It was as if Lloyd was disgusted by their presence.

'---- Typical, adventurer's party.