The Rising of the Scythe Hero-Chapter 78

Sadeena burst into the tavern ahead of everyone, full of energy, immediately claiming a table and placing an order. We weren’t in much of a hurry, so we arrived among the last, just in time to watch Filo singing with a group of musicians and Raphtalia, for some reason, arm-wrestling with hulking men.

"Don’t even ask. I have no idea how it came to this," Naofumi disclaimed right away, standing by the bar.

And standing there, by the way, he was munching on a handful of berries that looked a lot like grapes. I, of course, knew exactly what they were — as did just about everyone else present. Those were Kogol berries, the kind you usually drop one of into an entire barrel to brew alcohol. Just one berry was enough to infuse a whole cask with some pretty potent liquor.

And Naofumi was popping them like a casual snack. Could I possibly allow myself to fall behind?

"Hm? Nott? You came to relax with your group too?"

"Something like that. But mainly, I’ve got someone in the party who just can’t walk past a place like this." Smirking, I glanced at Sadeena, who by then had already joined a drinking contest.

"I see..."

As the conversation went on, we both absentmindedly snacked on the berries — which, in essence, were nothing less than concentrated chunks of the strongest booze.

"M-monsters... they’re actual monsters..."

"What’s with them?"

"Who knows?" I shrugged at Naofumi’s question. Let someone else enlighten him about the berries; I couldn’t be bothered.

"They insult Nott-sama... I will never forgive them."

"For me, that’s more of a compliment than an insult. So don’t be too upset with them, Atla." Seeing the girl’s furrowed brow, I couldn’t help but grin at the fact that she not only said those words but genuinely felt them.

Atla... she was clever. And witty. She said those lines mostly in earnest, but deep down she understood perfectly well just how absurd and exaggerated they sounded. In other words, she deliberately shocked people with her strange remarks and interpretations — and that, honestly, was what I liked about her.

And she knew it! After all, like me, Atla constantly worked with Qi — probably even more often and better than I did myself. Long ago, in my previous life, I’d read somewhere that the lack of basic sensory abilities — blindness, deafness, and the like — forced other senses to develop rapidly.

In Atla’s case, it was clearly her sense of Qi — the life energy within herself and within others. Just like me, she could feel the emotions of those around her through the flow of their life energy. Sure, I could try to block her from "reading" my emotions... but why? I could sense what Atla felt, and she could sense what I felt. In that regard, things were perfectly fair.

"Ah..."

"Oh. Well then, let me introduce my companions." I noticed Naofumi’s gaze fall on Atla. "This is Atla. And this" — my hand gestured toward the scowling Fohl standing nearby — "is Fohl, Atla’s brother. By the way, he’s got a sister complex."

"What?!"

A funny detail — the translator built into the Weapons mostly rendered speech literally, but in a way the listener could understand. Meaning, if I said "sister complex," what reached Fohl’s ears was probably something like "an excessive attachment to one’s sister" or "an unhealthy fondness for one’s sister."

"Ooh... tough case, huh?"

"Tell me about it." I then turned back toward Atla and Fohl. "And this is Naofumi. One of the summoned Heroes — the Shield Hero."

"The Shield Hero?" Both siblings looked surprised. "I’ve heard much about the previous Shield Hero, and about you, Naofumi-san, but... reality always has a way of surprising me."

"What do you mean?" he asked, puzzled, as the girl, eyes still closed, fixed her face in his direction.

"You’re a very kind person, Naofumi-san. I never thought someone so kind could exist. Your loved ones are very fortunate."

"Somehow everyone but you notices your good qualities, Naofumi-sama," Raphtalia said, shaking her head as she approached.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about." Brushing it off, the Shield Guy tossed another berry into his mouth. "By the way, this is Raphtalia, and that one singing on stage is Filo. They’re both my companions."

"A pleasure to meet you, Raphtalia-san," Atla said politely, nodding.

"And to meet you as well, Atla-san." Raphtalia answered with a sweet smile, but...

For some reason, I felt like in one fleeting instant between them, a real spark had flashed.

endurance against the delicate-looking girl.

"Ooh, Nott-chan! Care to join me? Surely you won’t keel over after a measly ten mugs!"

By "mugs," she meant the massive wooden tankards they served drinks in here. Sure, the tavern had normal-sized mugs too, but of course that volume would never be enough for Sadeena.

"I’m afraid at this point I probably can’t keel over no matter how much alcohol I drink."

"Hm?"

"I’ve got a few skills that grant resistance to poison and other negative effects. And today, all of them leveled up quite a bit."

For some reason, the monsters of Cal Mira loved dropping resistance or crafting skills. In just this one day, I’d raised Poison Resistance to level 9, and the rest of my resistances to level 7. Considering most of them had been barely above level 1 not long ago, that was saying something.

Experience from them wasn’t much at this stage, true — but I absolutely had to gather materials from them. After all, I had plenty of skills in my arsenal that boosted stats by a percentage, and it wouldn’t do to forget that the percentage was based on raw values.

"Ooh-hoo... That means you and I can drink for practically an eternity, Nott-chan!"

Night, Atla, and Fohl had been with me the whole time, while Mia chose to stay by the orca’s side, quietly sitting next to her and watching everything with a faint flicker of curiosity.

She clearly wasn’t planning on ordering anything herself, so I had to take the lead. Within ten minutes, a whole barrel of wine brewed on kogol berries stood beside our table, and the table itself was steadily filling with snacks. Mirelia had been generous, and after the job we’d done together, she’d more than repaid me — so denying myself anything here would’ve almost felt like a sin.

"Dig in." I nodded at the fox girl, catching her uncertain little face. "And start getting used to the fact that no one here will treat you like a slave."

"I... understand," she replied, still flustered, but she nodded all the same and finally began eating.

And she ate... carefully, let’s put it that way. I’d even call it aristocratic. The fox girl didn’t look a day over eleven, part of which she’d spent in slavery. Which meant that etiquette had been drilled into her from early childhood. Add to that the fact that she needed level sixty to Class Up — a trait of "elite" demi-human races... it turned out she hadn’t lied to the slaver about being from some noble family. The only question was whether it had truly been a ruling one.

Although... in the end, did it really matter?

At the time, I had no idea just how much it actually would.

"A-Atla!" Fohl’s panicked cry snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Don’t interrupt me, brother! I can’t lose to Sadeena-san!" With the most serious face imaginable, the girl clutched a wooden mug in both hands and downed it in one go. "Ugh..."

I could see the life energy in her body immediately clash with the "poisoning" effect, neutralizing about seventy percent of the alcohol. But since Atla’s body had been in perfect condition ever since the Yggdrasil Potion, the final number was closer to eighty percent.

The problem was, Atla’s body was still growing — closer to that of a child — which meant the drink hit her harder than it would any adult. But given her potential, one day she really could rival Sadeena’s alcohol tolerance.

"Ooh? Looks like I’ve found myself a rival."

"Why didn’t you stop her?!" Fohl jabbed a finger at me in desperation.

"And why should I? Believe me, with her talent for Qi control, the worst that’ll happen is she’ll get drunk. Better she experiences it now, while we’re all here, than at some other time, right?"

"Kh... You’re right, but..."

That was one point he couldn’t argue. But I didn’t like the glint in Sadeena’s eyes at all — mischievous, almost devilish — as she watched Atla continue to pour mug after mug down her throat. Was she deliberately trying to get her drunk?

As for the fox girl, she only wrinkled her nose cutely at the drink’s smell and never touched it. Instead, she seemed to have discovered some kind of juice or compote and was happily demolishing its entire supply.

"Look at him, he’s keeping up with her just fine!"

"Monsters... they’re both alcohol monsters!" While Sadeena and I kept drinking, I couldn’t help a déjà vu — I’d heard almost the exact same kind of commentary before.

"By the way, Fohl."

"Huh?"

"At what level do hakuko usually start maturing?" I asked the question that had been nagging at me for a while now, trying to ignore the background noise.

"Well... usually around level 70, maybe closer to 80."

"I see. Does that apply only to your race, or to all the ’special’ ones?"

"I’d say all of them. Why?..." His look grew suspicious.

"Oh, nothing. Just curious."

So it wouldn’t be long now. Experience from Cal Mira monsters dropped off after level 80 anyway. I figured within a couple of days all of my companions could reach it.

"Damn, I got distracted! Atla!" The tiger cub clutched his head when he realized his sister had vanished from where she’d been sitting.

"You insulted Nott-sama... Unforgivable..." A voice suspiciously similar to hers rang out from the same direction the earlier comments about me and Sadeena had come from.

"Gwahk!"

"By the Four, she floored him!"

Turning my head, I saw Atla herself — hands planted proudly on her hips, one foot triumphantly resting on the chest of a man three times her size. Her face radiated joy and satisfaction, as if she’d just defended her master’s honor. Though really...

"Atla-san... you can’t just go around starting fights like that," a tipsy Raphtalia scolded, stepping up to the scene with a serious expression.

"I couldn’t forgive him. That worthless man dared insult Nott-sama..."

"Be that as it may, you can’t just jump straight into a brawl."

"You don’t understand, Raphtalia-san. That insect dared question Nott-sama’s greatness... Nott-sama is the most magnificent, the most wonderful person of all! And there can be no forgiveness for anyone who thinks otherwise."

"Allow me to disagree with you, Atla-san," Raphtalia frowned slightly. "Because Naofumi-sama..."

"It seems things are getting interesting," Sadeena, already quite tipsy herself, watched the unfolding clash of two fanatical devotees with open amusement.

"You knew this was how it was going to end, didn’t you?" I asked, my own gaze following the girls as they, quite reasonably, decided to settle their differences with an arm-wrestling match.

The minor obstacle of two men occupying the table had been resolved in the fastest, most radical way possible. Honestly, it seemed like neither of them even noticed the table had been taken.

"Maybe I knew, maybe I didn’t..."

"Naofumi-sama is a very kind and wonderful person!"

"Yes, Naofumi-san is kind, but Nott-sama is also a good person! And very strong!"

"Naofumi-sama protects all of us."

"Nott-sama can defeat anyone before they have the chance to hurt anyone else."

"Naofumi-sama helps anyone in need and wouldn’t ignore even a beaten dog!"

...Not sure that’s really the kind of thing you should be so proudly listing as a virtue.

"Nott-sama... Nott-sama is still super cool!" The girl, clearly cornered, slammed her fist on the table, making everything on it jump. Her opponent, however, didn’t so much as flinch.

And honestly, something so plain and clumsy as "he’s super cool" was not at all what I expected to hear from Atla. Clearly, that mug she’d snatched on her way to the "battlefield" was starting to take effect.

"Ha! Naofumi-sama is cooler!"

"Ladies, would you—"

"Don’t interfere!" Atla jabbed her finger into the stomach of the man who had stepped up to mediate, and he promptly collapsed on the spot.

"Uh... Nott, don’t you think we should stop them?" The Shield Guy edged over to me cautiously. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Nope." I just waved my head cheerfully. "Let them have their fun. Mirelia will cover the expenses anyway, and it’s not like our reputations can get much worse at this point."

"You’ve got a point."

"Hm? What’s this?" Drawn by the commotion, Motoyasu happened to pass by. And for some reason he just had to stop right next to us, turn his head...

And that’s when it all kicked off.

"What?!" His eyes fell on Night, sitting quietly beside me. "You too, Nott?!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Naofumi... Nott... why do you both have angel-chan girls?!?!" Motoyasu clutched his head in despair, darting glances between Filo, still singing on stage, and Night, calmly chewing on a pastry next to me. "No... no-no-no... Filo is an angel-chan, that’s true, but she..." He stretched a trembling finger toward Night. "She isn’t just an angel-chan... Those pitch-black, silk-smooth hair, brimming with darkness... that indifferent gaze, freezing the very soul... and those black wings... She’s not an angel-chan... she’s a true FALLEN ANGE-E-EL!!!"

It was a critical hit. The crazed Motoyasu was already half a second from leaping across the table at Night, but he never managed it.

"Don’t you dare touch Sister Night!" Out of nowhere, Filo appeared and booted the hopeless womanizer clear across the room.

All in all, the day had gone splendidly, and the evening — even better. I won’t even try to explain what it took to finally get a drunk, fiery Atla to sleep in her own bed that night, since in her state "just sleeping" would’ve been... let’s say, extremely unlikely. She was far too determined at the time. Night stayed behind to watch her — a kind of compromise.

Which, of course, was something a certain tipsy orca absolutely couldn’t resist taking advantage of...

"Nott-chan, did you know this inn is the best on the whole island?" she asked in a conspiratorial tone, slowly edging toward the bed.

"I had a hunch."

"Ooh... And did you know that in establishments of this level, the walls don’t let a single sound through?"

"That’s news to me."

"I see... You know, Nott-chan, like our esteemed Queen, I believe Heroes truly deserve only the best." By this point she was standing right beside the bed, her finger idly tracing along the sheets. "No offense to the fine owners of this establishment, but I’d really like to test whether the conditions truly match the status of their guests. You’ll help your big sister with that, won’t you?"

"Eh... what am I supposed to do with you?"

"I think we’ve already been through that..."

"Yeah. We have."

Words no longer had much point. With a playful giggle, Sadeena let out a happy squeal and leapt onto the bed, landing squarely on top of me.

Well then, I could play by the rules of a tipsy orca girl. Wouldn’t hurt me any.