Party Animal(Not)
"I was in that swamp so I could face the lord there. And to get my spear back."
Aeneus, the intruder, said as he kicked the swamp lord"s head across the floor.
"I don"t remember who it was who first started to call me Aeneus the Trident. But I have grown fond of the name. It would be rather humiliating to have the sahuagin lord steal my spear…"
"Is that why you never returned to the town? You were waiting in the swamp?"
"Haha. Yes, that is right. That spear was my brother"s, you see. So it wasn"t just because of my nickname that I wanted to get it back."
Aeneus glanced behind me at the spear that was leaning against the wall…the three-p.r.o.nged spear.
"I see. If that is your reason, then I will return it to you. We had only picked it up. I think it"s only right to return it if the owner has appeared."
I said as I picked it up and handed it to Aeneus. He caressed it lovingly and held it against his chest.
"Thank you, Asagi. It means a lot to me."
"It"s nothing. I didn"t pick it up to save it."
I just took what the boss sahuagin had dropped. Well, I had thought that it was a good spear.
"That may be. I but it has always been important to me to repay a debt."
Aeneus said, then he turned to look at the spectators.
"You all heard him. This was all a tragic misunderstanding. But now you know the truth about Asagi and I have my trident back. So, why are you still surrounding them?"
Aeneus had a tone that was admonishing and left no room for argument.
"Yes…he back fine after all…"
"Uh, sorry…"
And with that, the Adventurers all apologized and then walked away. As for me, I still felt like I wanted to throw a few more punches. They had threatened to beat Daniela, and the others had agreed. I wanted to beat them all into the dirt.
"Asagi. It is enough that you feel that way."
"…Am I that easy to read?"
"Aye. I can see that you will never forgive them."
She chuckled and then squeezed my hand before releasing it. One by one, her fingers untangled.
"See, Asagi. Your pretty hands are red."
"Hmm…"
My fists had clenched so hard that my nails had dug into my flesh and was drawing blood.
"So, what were we doing here again?"
"…Right. We came to get our money."
"Exaaaactly. Please refrain from making such a scene in the future."
"Uh."
The guild worker had appeared next to us out of nowhere and was holding what looked to be a hefty leather pouch.
"Mister Asagi. You"re as strong as they say. And you know, I have a thing for strong men. Are you free tonight?"
"Sorry. I"ll just take the compliment and the money, if that"s alright."
"Tsk."
She did not bother to hide her irritation, but quickly forced a smile and dropped the pouch into my open hand.
"Oh, Asagi? Do you really need to accept the compliment as well?"
"Uh, well, shouldn"t I?"
"I can offer much more than compliments."
"What are you…"
"Well, this awkward situation has nothing to do with me."
While all four of us were standing there, Aeneus looked disinterested. This had all started because he lost his spear to the sahuagin. And then he refused to return to town because he was embarra.s.sed…
"Now don"t make that face, Asagi."
"You know, a lot of this is actually your fault."
"And I am terribly sorry. I know. I will buy you dinner as an apology."
"Ah, it is about time for that. Let us go, Asagi."
"You"re really going to let him off that easily…"
Daniela began to walk away the moment she heard the word "dinner."
"Do you want to come too, Nanaya?"
"Oh, do you mean it? Yes, yes!"
Aeneus invited the guild worker as well. If he was going to pay for everything, then I wouldn"t complain.
"Alright, then let"s go Mister Asagi."
"Don"t grab my arm. Stop pressing your chest against me. And stop trying to touch my thighs."
"Asagi. We will talk about this later."
"What…"
And like that, the incident at the Yukka guild came to a close and Asagi, the party animal was sandwiched between Daniela and Nanaya while Aeneus led them with a big grin. And the four of them soon found themselves in a bar that the locals had recommended.
It was loud.
Very loud.
"Asagi, Asagi…this trident really was important to me…ohh…I don"t know what I would…"
"Ahahaha! Mister Asagi! Look! Ahahaha! It"s the Adventurer you beat up!!"
"Miss Nanaya…please stop that…"
"Eh? You caused all that ruckus and now you want to lie low? Are you kidding me? Maybe I should strip you of your license?"
"You wouldn"t dare…"
"Glug-glug… Gulp. Hmm? Is there any more? Waiter!"
It was incredibly loud… I had a.s.sumed that we would find a quiet place where we could sip some beer and nibble on some food… But this was like some obnoxious college party.
"Hey, are you listening to me? Asagi?"
"Yes, yes, I"m listening… Haven"t you drunk enough?"
"Not at all… gggg…I am celebrating the return of my trident…"
Is he falling asleep…?
"Hey, hey. Mister Asagi. Hey."
"What?"
"I"m getting tired. Do you want to get out of here?"
"No."
"Tsk."
This guild worker…was scary…
"Asagi, this is really good."
"Hm? Let me see…hmm…mmm…ggg…yeah, it is. I like it."
I ate the thing that was some kind of roll that Daniela offered. It was filled with meat that was both sweet and spicy. The outside was also chewy and delicious.
"Waiter! I"ll have thirty more of these to take back with us."
They were so delicious that I had to buy more for my hollow bag storage. What? Our money was starting to pile up anyway. And it wasn"t a good journey around the world if you didn"t eat good food. Well, I would still save money where I could.
I looked around us again. This bar was called the Flower Lantern. It had low tables where people sat on the floor. It was surprising that there were places here that required you to take off your shoes, but Nanaya said that it was just a unique rule here.
Next to us, behind a part.i.tion, were some of the Adventurers who had attacked us earlier. In fact it was the first group who had approached us and started the fight. I couldn"t help but glare at them, but they seemed to have lost the will to engage us and avoided our eyes for the most part. However, Nanaya was quite drunk by now, and so she just had to bring it up.
Aeneus was one of those crying types. The types who get sentimental and very annoying when they get drunk. And he had continued to drone on about how special the trident was to him.
But other then that, the food and drink were wonderful. Especially the spicy rolls I had just eaten. I looked at their menu and saw that they were also open during lunch hours, and so I decided that it would be nice to come back with Daniela some other time.
"Haaaa… But really, I"m glad you are so strong, Mister Asagi. I don"t think anyone else would have been able to deal with all that."
Nanaya said in a very relaxed mood. Her clothing was maybe too relaxed, and I found it hard to look in her direction.
"Wouldn"t the guild master come out if it was necessary?"
"Oh. Well, the guild master uses magic…"
That might complicate things.
"I think the whole building would blow up in the process."
"Oh, that"s what you mean…"
Blowing up the whole building, eh? …This guild master was clearly dangerous.
"Well, don"t get me wrong, the master"s a good person. And cute."
"Cute? A she perhaps?"
"Oh, no. A boy."
"A boy. As the guild master? This empire…"
"Hmm? Ah…yes, this is part of the empire."
There were people in this world who were just incredibly gifted from birth… Something I knew nothing about.
I looked around me again. Aeneus was talking to the other Adventurers. Telling them how precious his trident was. Nanaya just stared and smiled at me. Daniela watched me from the side and ate her food.
Sometimes she would glare.
It was quite loud indeed. But sometimes, I didn"t quite mind this atmosphere. That"s what I thought as I drained what was left of my cup.