40-Chapter 2-13 Banquet

'What! What happened!

The four of them shouted, and an old man jumped out of the kitchen.

''Temma! You're the one causing all the trouble!

The old man, who instantly recognized me as the center of the commotion, comes straight to our table. However, Lily and the rest of the group came up to me before he could.

'What do you mean you're leaving!

'What's going on? Temma!

You're not going to tell me what's going on here, are you?

The three of them said that the old man seemed to understand what was going on. He explained to the people around him that it was always the same thing.

'Was it because of the Regil thing?'

Mr. Flute, unlike the three of them, was calm and asked, soothing the three of them.

'It's not the only reason, but it's part of the reason.

With that, I began to tell him what I had been thinking about these days.

That is, in addition to what I told the duke, that I had recently become concerned about the jealousy and envy of my peers, and that this time, I seemed to have earned some resentment from the citizens as well.

The citizen's resentment was from someone who had lost a bet and was even in debt, which was completely counter-intuitive, but not a good feeling.

When I told him about it, Mr. Flute apologized, but he was depressed that he had played a part in causing it, although he told me not to worry about it, because it was the person who had taken the bet.

'That's why I thought this was just the right time to do it,'

I said as cheerfully as I could, but Lily and the others didn't seem to be the only ones who were not convinced.

''Then we can just commute from our village to this city!

Yes, that's what I'm talking about!

It's settled!

And I'm saying this in a way that says, "I had a good hand.

No, that wouldn't work.

It was the old man who denied it. The three of them didn't seem to be expecting the old man to deny it and didn't seem to know how to say it. The old man looked at the three of them.

Hey, girls. It seems that this time around, not only the adventurers, but also some of the citizens of the city have actually become terrified of Temma.

He said something that I had never heard before.

'Think about it. A kid who is only fifteen years old has finished off a group of adventurers, beat up a nobleman and made him lose his title.

''Father, it was the duke who stripped me of my title........''

From a citizen's point of view, it's all the same. You are connected to the Duke, and also have the power to easily defeat a group of adventurers who are working for the nobility, it is natural for those who do not have any power to feel fear. At any rate, if you cross them, you are almost certain to die. If that opponent (Temma) is an adventurer with a lot of ruffians, even more so.

When I said that, Lily and the others fell silent. Apparently, the old man found out about it through the innkeeper's network.

'You chose dungeon cities because the residents are used to being roughnecks, right?　Also, this city is too small for Temma to wield power in.

Mr. Flute said, emphasizing the word "our selfishness".

He may have been addressing Lily and the others, but they still didn't seem to be convinced, and finally

Then I'll come with you!

Me too!

Of course I did!

...all three of us said something outrageous. Before I could say anything else.

"...what about your family?

Mr. Flute stopped him.

Lily and her family are from a village that is half a walk away from this city, with many family members.

There are eleven of them: parents, grandparents, younger brother and five younger sisters, and because their grandparents' health has recently become weaker, Lily and her family spend nearly half of the month at home taking care of their family.

I knew that too, but I guess Mr. Flute knew about it because of his profession. I don't know if that's why, but just because Lily and the others are high-potential adventurers, they've never been assigned a request that required a long period of restraint.

The three of them came back to themselves at Mr. Flute's words, and they began to worry, but

'Lily, Nellie and Millie, what are you confused about? You three need to take care of your family. Unlike me, you three have a family waiting for you.

At those words, the three of them.

'I'm sorry for being so selfish. Temma.

'Temma is important, but family is more important, so...'

'But you'll have to come back to the city, Temma, too. I promise!

He seemed to have convinced himself in the end when he said that.

I thought it was unfair of me to bring up my family, but I dared to use it because I knew I would definitely regret it if I threw out something I cherished for a moment of emotion.

'Yeah, I'll come back to this city again someday,'

I promised to do so, but I was no longer in the mood to resume eating.

Then my dad and his wife showed up.

'Today is a day to celebrate Temma's decision to move on! Drink up!

It's an adventurer's way of sending them off with a smile! It's on the house, so don't be shy about having a drink!

With those words, he placed four cups on the table, brought a barrel of liquor and opened it here and there, and pumped the liquor into the cups.

'Oi! You should be celebrating Temma too! It's on me. Celebrate!

At my father's words, the people in the restaurant crowded around the sake barrel and called out to me one after another.

When everyone had had their fill of sake, the old man led a toast. At that moment, the crowd erupts into a roar of cheers.

Lily and the others were drinking at a fast pace, and Mr. Flute was eating snacks in between drinks.

More and more customers were taking orders at the seats around us, and the old men were busy taking orders.

As I watched them, I was lost in my thoughts about the three years I spent in this town, but...

'Tenma~ma~, kyahahahaha~. There's a lot of temma~

It's true! There's a lot of temas~. Let's get one and go home~

I've got this~. Don't run away...

There were three beautifully made up drunks.

'You guys!'

Mr. Flute stood up quickly and stopped the three of them... or so it seemed.

'Since this is mine, I'll take it!

With that said, Flute grabbed my arm and held it to her chest, and the softness of her touch made my heart pound... but I didn't feel it. In normal times I would have been thrilled, but the smell of alcohol wafting from Ms. Flute made me turn my head away.

''Ah~! Mr. Flute is catching all the temmas!

That's not fair! Mr. Flute!

I mean, there are a lot of flutes out there too! Why~

Apparently, Lily and her friends are too drunk to see, and their vision seems to be blurred many times. That's why it looks like there are a number of them, even the flutist who came near me. The flute guy seemed to have a sober look on his face, but in fact he was drunk.

As it was, the four of us were fighting over me, and the other customers who were watching us were making bets on who would catch me.

Although I had drunk a lot of alcohol, I wasn't too drunk. Maybe it was because of my unusually high tolerance,

Alcohol doesn't seem to work as well as poisons. In such cases, fortunately or unfortunately....

By the time dawn approached, most of them were drunk, and some were taken home by the slightly better ones, but most of them were sleeping in the dining room.

Lilly and the others were drunk too, but the lady of the house had

I can't just let these girls sleep in a place full of men.

I carried him upstairs to an empty room.

I tried to help him clean up, but he refused, saying he couldn't let a guest do it, so I decided to go back to my room and sleep.