The Rising of the Shield Hero Volume 05 (13 page)

I took her invitation to relax though. I stretched my legs out and started to recline when I heard footsteps approaching.

Who was it?

I was about to jump to my feet, when I realized it was L’Arc and Therese.

“Everyone is freaking out that you guys haven’t come back yet, so we decided to come looking for you!”

“What?”

“The boat manager at the docks was getting worried about you kiddos. He said that you left forever ago and hadn’t come back.”

“I’m sure adventurers die on the islands all the time. There’s no need to freak out over us.”

He thought that I was just a normal adventurer pretending to be the Shield Hero. Wouldn’t it be normal for a new adventurer to overestimate their abilities, run off into the wilderness, and end up dead?

Honestly I hadn’t spent much time speaking with other adventurers, so I didn’t really know for sure what they considered normal.

“That might be true. But we got a little worried.”

Hmm . . . so they were worried about us and took a boat out to an island in the middle of the night?

A part of me was thankful for that. A little part of me felt some affection for them.

The two of them must have been real worrywarts. They were less like adventurers and more like paladins, or something.

Even though the knights and paladins of Melromarc were a bunch of jerks.

“We wanted to make up for lost time, so we decided to battle through the night.”

“Anyway, come back to the hotel with us. You have everyone worried.”

“Fine.”

I had to take care of my curse anyway. That was probably enough night battling for today.

“Alright, let’s head back.”

“Yes, let’s. And we’re sorry to have worried you.”

“We’re going back?!”

Filo cocked her head to the side.

“Yeah.”

“Okaaaay! Let’s go go!”

We packed up our camp and went back to the main island.

The random people we met on the docks were becoming more entangled in our lives by the day.

Chapter Seven: The Tavern

“Sorry for the trouble.”

“It’s no trouble at all, kiddo.”

We climbed back into our boats and returned to the main island.

It was very dark now, and all the lights had been lit in town. The businesses that had all been bustling during the day had all been shuttered.

All of them, that is, except for the tavern.

“Hey, kiddo! Why don’t we celebrate your safe return with a trip to the tavern?”

“I’d really been planning on hitting the hot springs and then getting to bed early . . . .”

“You’re no fun at all, are you?”

These two had worried about us and come looking for us. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to stick around a little while longer.

“Fine. But just for a little.”

“Yeah!”

The tavern was cheerful and there was quite a raucous inside—adventurers were really cutting loose.

It sounded like most of them were discussing the best places to level.

It turned out that the queen had already arranged to cover the bar tabs of the heroes. I was planning on using the money that had been set aside for another purpose.

We found a table large enough to accommodate us all.

The old guy working the counter came over and started pouring us drinks.

“Filo, what will you do?”

“Huh?”

Filo hated the smell of alcohol. She wrinkled up her human nose and looked around at the loud tavern.

“It looks so fun, but it smells weird.”

“Well said.”

Filo was clearly too young to enjoy the bar.

She was just a child. Besides, who knew what would happen if you gave alcohol to a filolial? I didn’t want to be held accountable if anything crazy happened.

“So who’s going to win?”

Someone was shouting at a table across the room. A man clearly impressed with the size of his biceps was looking for arm wrestling challengers.

Another person sat down. They clapped their hands together and started pushing and straining to wrench the other’s arm down.

A crowd formed behind them and started betting on the outcome. I looked around the crowd and spotted Motoyasu leaning in on a girl, giving her more to drink. He never changed. He’d turn into a monster on the way home—no doubt about it.

A girl danced provocatively behind them. A group of musicians lined the wall next to her, plucking strings and singing. Looking over the scene, it really felt like a different world.

“Heeey! That looks fun!”

Filo was a bird monster, so she got really excited about music and songs.

“Go check it out then—but don’t bother anyone.”

“Okay!”

Filo tottered over in the direction of the dancing and song.

At the same time, our drinks arrived. I took a small sip.

Yup, alcohol tasted pretty much the same in this world.

“So THIS is alcohol . . . .”

Raphtalia was carefully inspecting her glass.

“Oh that’s right. You shouldn’t drink any of that.”

“Hm? Why not?”

I suddenly realized that Raphtalia was still a child.

But hadn’t her body already matured? In that case, was it technically okay to drink or not?

“Fine. Just don’t drink too much.”

“Okay!”

She looked like a child tiptoeing into a pool—she approached the glass slowly and deliberately.

“It’s a little bitter.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Ahaha! Maybe Raphtalia-chan isn’t quite ready for it.”

L’Arc raised a huge stein and started chugging it.

Therese was slowly sipping her drink. The way they both drank seemed in encapsulate their personalities.

I didn’t think it was very different from drinking water or soda. I guess it’s because I don’t get drunk.

“Mr. Naofumi, what do you think about alcohol?”

“I don’t really think anything. It’s not a pastime of mine. Sometimes I drink with other people.”

“Oh, okay.”

“There are plenty of people back in my world that don’t drink—but that might be more rare here.”

Ren and Itsuki were underage back home, but they might have been drinking age in this world.

I spotted Itsuki. He was sitting outside of the tavern, part of some kind of party. He was definitely under age.

But I guess this was a different world. It wasn’t against the law here. If Itsuki was drinking, then Ren probably was too.

“It might be a good idea to keep an eye on how much you are drinking.”

“Oh . . . .”

Raphtalia held her cup up and downed it in one gulp.

“You mean like that?”

“Hey yeah! Look at her go!”

“Sure.”

It reminded me of parties back in my own world.

I certainly didn’t have a problem with girls drinking.

Since ancient times, people have used alcohol to relax after a hard day of work. If people had been doing it for so long, then it was safe to assume it was effective.

Raphtalia always behaved herself and acted proper. I kind of wondered what she would be like if she let her guard down.

“No need to be scared of it. Drink up.”

“Okay.”

I slid another cup over to Raphtalia, and as I did some sort of disturbance erupted over by the musicians.

I looked over to find Filo singing along with the group. She was kind of good at it.

At first the musicians were surprised and worried, but they quickly realized that she was actually pretty talented, and now they were all excited.

What’s that? Motoyasu had noticed Filo’s singing.

“Filo! Bravo! Bravo!”

What had happened to the girl that was with him?

“Yaaaah!”

The tavern was getting wild.

Thirty minutes passed.

“How much leveling can we do on this island? If we go further in will the monsters be stronger?”

“Ha . . . kiddo . . . . This girl is tough!”

Raphtalia had downed 15 bottles of booze. She turned to me and started talking.

Apparently, she could really hold her liquor.

“Buzatt . . . zat’s uat am sajin . . . .”

L’Arc, on the other hand, had clearly overdone it. He was as drunk as drunk gets. All his words were jumbled together.

“Come on L’Arc, we need to get back to our room soon.”

Therese climbed under his arm and hoisted him up by the shoulder.

I was impressed with how much weight she could handle, but then I noticed she was using magic.

“That’s just about enough for tonight, isn’t it? We’ll be heading back to our room now.”

“Sure. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You two can certainly handle your liquor, especially you, Mr. Naofumi. It’s like you’re completely unaffected.”

“Yeah well . . . I’ve always been like this.”

“I’ve never scene anything like it.”

Therese smiled, shifted L’Arc’s weight onto her shoulder, and left the tavern.

“Mr. Naofumi?” Raphtalia said. “Let’s drink a little more.”

“Are you sure you want to drink so much?”

The barkeeper couldn’t hide his surprise either. Raphtalia was really holding out. I wondered if maybe alcohol affected demi-humans differently. I couldn’t help but think of the Shigaraki Tanuki statues and the massive tokkuri they carried.

The loser of the latest batch of arm wrestling came stumbling over and tripped, collapsing onto our table.

“Excuse you! We’re having a discussion here, so please don’t bother us!”

Raphtalia shouted at the drunk man.

Normally she wouldn’t be so brash. Maybe the alcohol was affecting her?

I thought back on the last few months we’d spent together. We were always traveling, selling things, fighting in the waves, and running from the crown. We hadn’t ever really stopped to catch out breath.

Maybe she needed to blow off some steam.

“Ha! If you got a problem with me, let’s settle it with an arm wrestle!”

“If that’s what you want, then fine. I’ll be your opponent.”

Raphtalia announced that she would be participating in the arm wrestling match.

She’d be fine, right? Our whole leveling campaign would collapse if she got hurt now.

I was worried about her, but I moved over to the bar and decided to watch from a distance.

There was a bunch of fruit, something like grapes, hanging there next to me, so I reached out for one and popped it into my mouth.

“?!”

It was so delicious I couldn’t believe it. It tasted like a very strong grape, but the aftertaste was clean, but it hung around, delicious as ever, encouraging me to take another. So I did.

“We have a winner!”

“This girl is STRONG!”

“I won! Whose next?!”

Raphtalia threw a fist into the air, triumphant. Maybe she was drunk after all.

Should I put a stop to this before it got out of hand?

“Excuse me . . . .”

The bartender came over to me, and he looked worried.

“Yes?”

“Is everything okay?”

“You worried about the shop? You might be right. I’ll try and wrap things up.”

“That’s not what I meant . . . .”

“Huh?”

His face was pale. I looked him in the eyes and even more color drained from his face.

It was because Raphtalia was defeating these strong men in arm wrestling. He must have just been surprised by it all.

“Booze! We need more booze over here!”

A large man came lumbering in. He was holding a large barrel. Setting it in the corner, he picked one of the grape-like fruits and dropped it into the booze before stirring. I guess it was some kind of secret ingredient. Those things were really delicious.

The tavern continued to grow more and more lively.

Raphtalia continued to win her arm-wrestling matches, and the betting going on behind her was getting more intense.

“Can anyone beat this girl?!”

As for Filo, she had joined the other musicians in song, and they were all really into the performance.

Everyone looked happy and enlivened.

I picked another fruit and popped it into my mouth.

“Hey you! What are you doing?!”

A man screamed. He was pointing a finger at me. The whole room fell silent. “What? What’s the matter?”

I swallowed the fruit.

Maybe he was just drunk?

“You can’t just EAT a rucolu! You’ll die!”

“What? What are you getting at?”

There was another bunch nearby, so I picked another fruit and threw it into my mouth.

The whole tavern erupted in shocked murmurs. Was it so strange?

“Mr . . . Mr. Naofumi? Are you all right?”

Raphtalia seemed to have instantly sobered up.

“I’m fine. What’s everyone freaking out about?”

They were so delicious. They were quickly becoming a favorite of mine. I wanted another.

I picked another one and threw it back.

“WHAT?! He ate ANOTHER one?!”

All the eyes in the room were fixed on me. Why did everything have to be such a big deal? Couldn’t I just eat in peace?

What was so shocking about that?”

“What’s the big deal?”

Motoyasu came sauntering over and shouted condescendingly at me.

“Nothing. I eat a grape and the whole room starts freaking out about it.”

“Oh yeah? Maybe those things are really expensive?”

“Are they? If so, then I’m sorry. I’ll pay for them, so just give it a rest.”

The queen was going to cover our tabs anyway. I could really eat as much as I wanted.

“Well they are somewhat expensive, but that’s not really the problem . . . .”

The barkeep started to explain. He was very cautious.

“What’s the problem then?”

“Rucolu are, um . . . . Well that barrel is full of water. Dissolving a single fruit in all that water turns it into alcohol. If you eat one directly, well . . . .”

“What are you talking about? That can’t be true! Stop with the jokes.”

“I’m telling the truth.”

“But Naofumi isn’t drunk, so you have to be lying.”

Motoyasu picked one of the fruits and popped it into this mouth.

“You know, they are really delicious, savory, in a way . . . .”

Before Motoyasu could finish his review, he clutched his stomach and fell forward, collapsing to the floor with a loud crash.

Haha! His eyes rolled back into his head! Hilarious. But were those fruits really so dangerous?

“Oh no! He ate a rucolu whole!”

“We have to make him throw it up!”

“Yeah!”

The whole tavern sprung into action. Men gathered around and lifted Motoyasu up, then carried him out of the room.

Well . . . so much for our fun night.

But I guess the fruits really were filled with strong alcohol. I had an idea.

“Raphtalia, you want one?”

“No . . . .”

“What about you Filo?”

Filo stopped singing and came running over. I held a fruit out to her and she came close to sniff it.

Then she covered her mouth with her hands and backed away quickly.

“No!”

“But you eat everything.”

“I don’t like that thing!”

Well that was a strong reaction—specially coming from Filo. I hadn’t been expecting her to turn it down.

“We’ve got a real devil here!”

“A monster!”

“The alcohol gods have run away, their tails between their legs!”

The crowd was wild and raucous again.

I wondered if the fruit was some sort of prank they were all playing on me. Or maybe human biology was different in this world? Motoyasu and I might have had a lot in common, but we did come from different universes.

“Well I’m sorry for causing such a fuss. We’ll be going back to our room now.”

“Oh . . . alright then.”

The tavern was still in an uproar as we collected our things and left for the night.