CH 37

“Drinking party tonight~ The whole Tortea group will be there, so don’t be late!”

Tarina-san had come to the orchard to tell us that. My hands, busy dunking trickster apples in water to remove their flesh, stopped at her message.

“Dri–Drinking party…”

“Mhm, mhm. It’s a party for the weary~ There’ll be a feast — I recommend the 10-year-old biting wine!”

“I’m not really a drinker…”

In this world, you were considered an adult as soon as you turned 16, so there were many people my age who drank, but I was thinking of waiting until I was 20. Tarina-san, 19 years old despite the mature air given off by her dark green pigtails, was already a heavy drinker.

“It’s fine if you can’t drink. We’ll also have fresh juices and great food.”

“There’ll be some people from Carcathia, right?”

“Of course. It’s also the spring harvest festival, so it’ll be pretty big~”

Remembering the awkwardness of the past three days, I frankly didn’t want to go.

For the past three days, I had near miss after near miss with Tussa-san, the beautiful marriage-seeker that I no longer worked with in the biting wine shed. Whenever she saw me with Fikar, her gaze turned sharp, and whenever we ran into each other in the bathroom, she had lots to say. Yesterday, she finally asked us to move into separate rooms, but Fikar repulsed her with his iron-clad “I refuse” attacks.

Tarina-san noticed my unenthusiastic expression and smiled.

“You’re worried about Tussa, aren’t you? We’ll be in a large group, so I don’t think you’ll have any problems. If it comes to it, I’ll cover for you.”

“That’s good to know.”

“I wish she were a little more graceful. Well, she’s not a bad girl deep down. She’ll give it up sooner or later, so let’s leave her be.”

Anyway, by night, they’d be at a bar known as the Carcathia Pavillion.

Saying that, Tarina-san left cheerfully. I recalled that the Carcathia Pavillion was the largest bar in town. The food must’ve been really good if it was hosting a feast, but a fight was breaking out between my feelings of anticipation and reluctance to go.

Well, there’s only one thing to do. With a sigh, I dunked a trickster apple back underwater.

The Carcathia Pavillion was roughly the size of a small gymnasium, albeit packed with people and tables. From what I’d heard, pavilions like this were generally used as a cultural center1 or for wedding receptions during the day, but Tortea didn’t have one anywhere near as big as this one. Maybe it was because Tortea didn’t have such large drinking parties.

There were a lot of small and high tables, good for drinking while standing, where people with half-full glasses were already having a good time. There were also larger, sturdy tables covered with dishes. Fikar and I headed towards one of the latter, sitting down in two of the closely spaced chairs and preparing our stomachs.

“Yo, Hero! This is a Carcathian special, deep-fried crab!! Eat your fill!”

“Thank you~”

“You eat well too, girlie! If ya don’t put on some meat, ya won’t be strong enough t’ have children!”

That’d probably be sexual harassment in modern society.

The brawny old man laughed and pushed some platters in front of us, then rushed into the noisy crowd with a huge mug of beer. Everyone around us was making a racket, stuck in a loop of getting louder to be heard over everyone else. It’s not like Fikar and I needed to talk now, so we didn’t have to deal with that problem ourselves.

The fried crabs were dashed with a sweet and spicy sauce that was simply perfect, save for its color that clashed with the crabs’ bright yellow shells. I could eat this ‘til I burst, paired with a side dish of steamed and seasoned mashed potatoes. The roasted avaleyu cow in the middle of the table was a joyous inferno of juicy meat, and there were many other dishes I’d never tasted before.

As we ate and I whispered how I wanted to know how to recreate such tastes, the seats around us were taken by people who came and went, chatting with us and each other. Most were good-spirited adventurers, giving us food recommendations and exchanging information. Everyone was expecting Fikar to tell his story of how he defeated the Demon Lord, but after finding out that he was nigh mute, they were happy with challenging him to a test of strength.

All the while, people were downing their drinks. Old melon husks, used as bottles for biting wine, lay empty and abandoned on the floor, and some fierce drinkers didn’t even bother to pour their drinks into a glass or a mug and drank straight from the bottle. There were also many people who recommended it to me because it was produced in the area. If I refused, someone else would cover for me and everything would be fine, but the onslaught on Fikar was terrible. He didn’t drink when he was with me, but he seemed to be okay with alcohol itself and drank whatever was poured into his cup. Biting wine had a high alcohol content, but Fikar’s face didn’t change color and stayed expressionless. Maybe he had an overclocked liver.

“That’s a lotta drinks innit, Hero-sama! More, more!”

“Oi boss, you’re not pouring enough!”

“Ain’t that nice, bein’ a guy with a good face ‘n’ good arms!!”

“Uuuee~hyahaha!”

“You, come… Don’t go spinning…”

Too much screaming and shouting.

Surrounded by annoying adventurers, Fikar sat with the peace and dignity of a lily. As I was watching the scene at a distance, I saw a figure waving at me. Ah, Tarina-san and her friends were going to save me from this mess.

“I’ll be chatting over there for a bit. See you soon~”

I’ll pretend I didn’t notice the dissatisfaction on Fikar’s face as I left my seat.

I apologized in my heart. But, where Fikar went, the screaming and shouting would surely follow.

Tarina-san and her friends were sitting in the corner with sofas set against the wall. There were loads of sweets on the table and there were a lot of girls around, so it looked like a girls-only gathering. Scanning the sofas for empty seats, I sat in the middle cushion next to Tarina-san.

I let out a sigh of relief, but I quickly realized that the girls, too, were wasted. Unfiltered topics were flying around and people were talking over each other like sparrows at daybreak. Still, the lack of muscle mass was easier on my eyes.

A few girls tried to bring me into their graphic conversations, but I just stuck to eating pound cake. I think they were too drunk to care that I didn’t respond, which was nice.

After all, I’d been working hard for the last 10 days, and I was exhausted. I leaned back in my seat and exhaled, letting the indistinct chatter lull me to sleep. A few people had already crashed, so it was probably okay for me to fall asleep here, though I’d like to sleep in a bed if possible.

As I absentmindedly thought about that, the seat next to me freed up and someone else plopped down.

Vivid, cat-like, emerald green eyes.

Flowing hair, straight nose.

Rosy cheeks, seductive lips.

Asura… er, Tussa-san made her appearance.

TL Notes:

1: Written as 公民館/kominkan, in Japan, these are generally small institutions funded and run by the local government that offer programs in the arts, sports, handiwork, etc. to the youth and elderly of the community.