Chapter 102: The King Of The Little Ones III & IV (1/2)

<The King Of The Little Ones III>

「Solcia, you're a really weak drinker, so take it easy with the drinking, alright?」

「Then I’ll have the weakest and most expensive one. Put it on the, hic, Horns' tab」

「Give us expensive stuff that has been watered down」

Lanseal had gone back to the castle with the king in that state. She had looked very sleepy. It was past the time children went to bed, so it couldn't be helped.

As for me, I had gone to a bar with the Guild President.

Lanseal had told us to drink away our grudges.

We were at my regular bar, the Raging Bull and Silver Fox bar. It was a bar managed by the Kingdom of Lemuria.

I was seated at a counter seat, drinking cheap alcohol with the Guild President, who was smashed.

After what had happened, I couldn’t blame him.

But isn't he too weak with alcohol? To think that he would be dead drunk after only a mug or two of ale.

「I tried my best in my own way too~. If not for our respective circumstances, I would have done everything in my power to get the princess, even if it meant snatching her~」

「Yeah yeah」

Like a flashback, Lanseal's words came to mind.

『When it comes to being scheming, you two are so alike!』

She had said.

Though that's not true, my feelings were deeply hurt.

I would never do things like getting drunk and involving myself with a guy who slept with the person whom I loved but couldn't be with. I think.

「Why~, oh why~, is she with this kind, this kind! This kind of person!」

My shoulder was getting peppered with weak punches.

They don't hurt, but we've been subtly drawing a lot of attention for a while now.

Well, he's the President of the Adventurers' Guild after all.

His looks are what they are, so many people remember what he looks like.

It feels like strange rumors are going to be spread about this.

Jeez, I'm starting to get tired of even thinking about it.

「Master, I'll have another as well」

「Got it. You're in a rare drinking mood tonight」

A new mug was placed in front of me. The ale here was less carbonated, so it was possible to down it in one gulp.

I gulped it down.

After a strong bitterness, I could taste a fruity flavor and sweetness in my mouth. As it went down my throat, the bitterness turned into a pleasant and refreshing sensation. I came to the realization that alcohol drunk after going through something like that tasted better.

I have no desire to drink to the point of addiction, but I understand a little better the feelings of a person who does.

Once again, I’ve grown a little.

「Princess~! Princess~!」

But what should I do with the drunk guy next to me, I wonder?

Can someone please tell me?

【118th day】

Carrying a dead drunk Guild President on my back and not knowing where he lived, I went to the store owned by his foster father………………Oh.

「I see, so that's what happened」

「Yes, that's what happened-nya」

When I woke up, I found myself lying naked on a big bed.

To my right was a blonde cat beastkin dressed in sheer silk.

To my left was the Guild President, who was in the arms of a baby-faced, big-breasted woman.

I could imagine what had occurred.

「Tyutyu, by any chance, did I……」

「Thank you for using our services-nya」

She had a big smile on her face as she trailed her fingertips over my chest.

On her flushed cheeks was a look of satisfaction.

I see.

This is how men grow up, isn't it, King Lemuria?

The moment I came to that understanding, I passed out.

When morning came, the Guild President was nowhere to be seen.

I had a horrible hangover. It felt as if every cell in my body had been corroded.

I decided then to never drink again.

After borrowing the brothel’s bath, I cleaned up in a lot of ways. However, I couldn't seem to wash away the headache and the inconvenient truth.

I declined Tyutyu's company, as it felt like that might be putting the cart before the horse.

It at least helps that I have no memory of what happened, but doing anything more would leave me with no excuse.

Well, I do feel like what I’ve done is already inexcusable though.

I was about to leave when I was caught by Otou-san and made to prepare breakfast.

By randomly combining ingredients that I found in the kitchen, I made pasta.

I didn't do it consciously, but I ended up making the prostitute pasta[1] I had seen in an old manga.

It was fairly well-received, and it seemed that they were going to add it to the brothel's refreshments menu.

I gave the recipe to the proprietress, paid Tyutyu, and then fled out the back door while the prostitutes were preoccupied with the pasta.

My destination was the Adventurers' Guild.

On the way, I contacted Makina to explain what had happened last night.

『Makina has already been informed by Yukikaze-chan. Please submit the receipt later, alright?』

「O, okay」

The bars and brothels on this side don’t have the practice of issuing receipts though.

Or rather, I can expense this? Well, Makina is the one in charge of our finances, so……

「To Rana and the others………………What did you say?」

『Makina said that Souya-san went out drinking with a guy. There's no helping it for men, right? This kind of drinking session after work is also a part of maintaining business relationships, isn’t it? As for what happened after………Makina is just a child, so Makina doesn't know anything』

「I'll explain in detail later. Just don't say anything weird to Rana and the others」

『What do you mean by weird?』

Her question was both bald-faced and sarcastic.

「I'm talking about the stuff that happens between adults[2]」

『Hmpt~』

Communications was cut off one-sidedly

Recently, Makina's favorability points have only been dropping. Though she doesn't have it in her to rebel, she just might run away from home.

It feels like it would be a huge hassle if the A.I. ran away or something like that.

It's not the first time I'm thinking this, but why do I run into so much trouble and concerns that aren't related to the dungeon?

Even though all I want to do is explore the dungeon……

I took a short trip down memory lane while walking.

「………………Fuu」

For myself and the others, there are many things that come to mind.

Hmm, well, I guess I got what I deserved.

There’s no use lamenting over the past now though.

I stopped my reminiscing.

Since there was nothing just thinking about it would accomplish.

And then,

I arrived at the Adventurers' Guild.

It was early in the morning, so there weren't many Guild employees or adventurers there. I looked around――and quickly found who I was looking for. He came to me by himself.

「Hey, Souya」

The Guild President seemed to be even more hungover than I was.

His white complexion was absolutely ghastly. His legs were also trembling.

「This is the last request. Once you complete this, urgh――」

The Guild President covered his mouth with a handkerchief.

Are you going to throw up? Hey, are you going to throw up? Should I get you a bucket?

「――Once you complete this, you’re free to explore the dungeon again」

He held it back.

I took the scroll from him and unrolled it.

The request was to ”forget all about the unsightly behavior showed by Solcia, the Guild President of the Adventurers' Guild, last night.”

「Understood」

「Sign it」

「Alright」

I scrawled my signature in the appropriate blank space with a ballpoint pen.

「Here」

Five gold coins were pressed firmly into my hand.

I wordlessly pocketed them.

「I'm sure you understand, but if you ever speak of it to anyone, I’ll place all sorts of curses on you」

「Yeah yeah」

I would never do something so tasteless.

They won't work on me too, by the way, curses.

「Lastly, hand over the elixir that reverses the effects. The Guild will hold onto it」

「That's fine, but won't it be needed to turn Lanseal back to normal?」

「That's exactly the point. This morning, I received a secret order from the king, saying, ”The current Lanseal is like a grandchild, so it's not bad. I'd prefer that she stays like this for a while”」

My king……… Is that really alright?

I'm pretty certain that he's just scared of what will happen if the current Lanseal goes back to being a grown-up.

「Hand it over」

「Alright alright」

It was a royal order, so I gave the Guild President the elixir.

She'll turn back to normal in time, so that elixir isn't really needed, but I'll leave the rest to the king. If something were to happen, I can just ask them to make another bottle.

Speaking of which,

「By the way, Guild President, do you know about the Gunmerrys? I have a feeling that they're pretty dangerous」

「I know about them. They're certainly dangerous, but they're needed in case this city faces a certain crisis」

I can't imagine a situation where those guys would be needed though.

「In folklore, there's a large spider that was defeated by Heures and Lumidia, right?」