Chapter 145: Drinking with A ‘Bad’ Friend (First Part)
The whole chapter will be from Sig’s POV.
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“Sig, thanks for waiting.”
“Don’t erase your presence in a place like this. Are those brats already asleep?”
I had dinner in the orphanage and I was waiting for Lucas in the dining room while polishing my sword when Lucas came without making a sound from his footsteps or leaving a sign of his presence. It must be a habit that stuck to him as an adventurer even though he was still recuperating.
“Sorry about that. The little ones are already asleep, thanks to you guys playing with them this afternoon. Even the older ones, who usually stay up late, are already asleep too.”
Usually the children would be so excited during the day when I came and ended up sleeping early at night because they already tired themselves out from being excited but this time, it must be due to Ren’s magic beasts that they were this tired. Ren’s magic beasts tend to go outside but generally speaking, most magic beasts usually stayed in their contracted accessories and only came out when they were needed. So outside of battle tournaments, it must be the first time everyone had seen a magic beast outside of their contracted accessories like this.
Not to mention, they get to touch and play with the magic beasts too. It wouldn’t be weird for them to get super excited about it. Some of them might be dreaming of riding on Spica tonight.
“Then, let’s go.”
“Okay. We’re going to the usual place?”
“Yeah. It’s been a while since I’ve been there too.”
I put the sword I had been polishing in the magic bag attached to my hip and left the orphanage together with Lucas. The usual place we were talking about…. It was a bar that we often frequented even before we were of legal age. It might be weird to say this since I had been going there ever since I was still a brat but that place was a calm and sophisticated place with a lot of adults without much bratty smell there. I almost always go there every time I come to the royal capital to visit the orphanage.
“Okay then, let’s go to the usual place. It sure has been a while.”
Lucas started stretching himself, warming his body up by turning his hips to the side.
“As usual, the loser is the one paying?”
“Yeah. It’s a race!”
The two of us started running on Lucas’s mark. Every time we went to the bar, we always went there running. Although we were no match against the magic horse who was running at full speed, we were still faster than ordinary humans since we were beastman. Though we definitely could win against magic horses if they were to walk leisurely like how I rode on Oscar today.
As a beastman, we had quite the stamina too so we could keep on running for 1 or 2 hours but well, when I was on a quest, I’d prefer to ride on Oscar to save on my stamina.
At some point, we had a rule between us that the one losing the running race had to pay for the bills. Currently our winning and losing rate was at roughly 50:50 so it was a pretty much equal give and take situation between us.
“But that Ren kid, it seems he doesn’t have much stamina, huh?”
“Spot on. Well, if there’s a situation where we have to run, I will just carry him and go running so there’s no problem.”
“……..”
I answered Lucas’s question as we ran. Ren was not very strong physically speaking so it would definitely be much faster if I were to carry him and run. Even though he could use ‘heal’ to recover his stamina, it was still better to carry him rather than stop and have him use ‘heal’ each and every time.
As for Chris and Fer, although they weren’t as physically strong as me, they were still faster than ordinary humans so there weren’t any problems with them.
But when I answered Lucas that, he only stayed quiet with his eyebrows furrowed together. He looked confused. His expression was basically saying “what the hell is this guy talking about?”.
Well, if I was still the old me, I would never say anything like that so it was understandable he’d look at me strange like that….
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“Okay! Haaah… Haah…. It’s my win, right…? You’re going to let me drink expensive liquor to celebrate my engagement, right?”
“Haah…Haahh…. A loss is a loss so I will let you drink as you like… Oi! Don’t leave me behind!”
We ran for about 20 minutes I guess? I was the one who touched the bar’s door first and Lucas arrived several seconds later. I then went inside without waiting for him who was still breathing heavily.
“Welcom-… Ah, if it isn’t Sig? It’s been a while.”
“Hey, Zenon-san. Can you give me a seat at the counter?”
“Yeah.”
“Sig! Don’t leave me behind!”
When I entered the bar, I saw Zenon, the owner of this place, at the counter with his back turned on me. He then turned his head over to greet me and smiled with his cigarette still in his mouth.
Smoking a cigarette while working was unbecoming for someone who was working in the hospitality industry but with his gray hair combed to the back casually and the somewhat bad boy vibe he was giving off despite looking like he was about to reach his 50s, there were a lot of patrons coming here just for the sake of meeting him.
After receiving his permission to sit at the counter, I was followed by Lucas who came rushing in while voicing his complaint.
“It’s your fault for being slow. Zenon-san, can I have a glass of Henriot and maybe something to snack on?”
“Okay. Lucas, are you fine with the same order as Sig?”
“Yeah, please give me the same one!”
I shut Lucas down who was booing at me with a single remark and then asked for a drink and snack from Zenon-san.
“Here you go.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“Sig, congratulations for your engagement! Cheers!”
“Thank you.”
I received a glass of drink that was prepared in an instant and Lucas clinked our glass together so hard like it was close to breaking and then he drank his drink all in one go. This drink was a pretty strong one so one glass of it would be enough to make someone who was weak at drinking to pass out but Lucas had a pretty good alcohol tolerance so he should be fine.
“Oh? Engagement? ……Ah, I can see your engagement cuff now. Then I guess this one is on me.”
“It looks delicious, thank you Zenon-san.”
Overhearing our conversation, Zenon-san checked the cuff on my left ear for confirmation and then he handed me a plate with something like a ham after he congratulated me. I took the free plate of food gratefully. He then kept on standing in front of us at the counter, it looked like he wanted to join in our conversation.
I looked around the bar, there were few other patrons but there were other staff handling them so it should be alright for Zenon-san to stay with us.
“So what happened in the three months I didn’t see you?”
“Hmm well, first, the guildmaster in Pedrel, Malik-san, asked me to try to meet his son. Well I thought there shouldn’t be anything bad from just trying to meet him so I did. It turned out not only he’s super adorable but he’s good at cooking and has a good personality too. He’s excellent at support magic too and to top it all off, he smells good.”
“Oh, I heard for a beastman like you guys, someone’s smell is extremely important.”
Lucas asked me about it so I started telling him. It felt like it just happened recently. I believed I had never met anyone as cute as Ren. I was really grateful that Malik-san chose me as one of the potential partners for Ren and allowed me to meet him. Ren’s scent was really pleasant to smell. Even now, I still liked to sniff behind his ear as I hugged him from behind while we slept.
I guess it was something that a human like Zenon-san couldn’t understand, huh.
“Scent? I couldn’t really tell it though since you guys’ smell was mixed in together.”
“When did you smell him?!”
When I mentioned Ren’s scent, Lucas tilted his head to the side in confusion as he said that.
Huh? Just when did he smell Ren?!
“You know, when I told him that I wanted to go drinking with you. I came over to his side because I wanted to talk to him and that was when his scent hit me. It’s not that I’m purposely trying to sniff him.”
He said, giving me the “don’t you remember?” look.
“Ah… I see….”
So he smelled him at that time…
“Judging from how you are and how your smell is mixed in together, I knew you already held him but did you really put yours into that small kid?”
“Buffttttt!! Cough… You, what kind of question is that?!”
I was drinking my drink while thinking “oh, I see” when Lucas suddenly asked a very frank question at me, causing the drink to enter my windpipe and make me choke on it. On the other hand, he didn’t seem unfazed at all. He casually handed his empty glass to Zenon-san.
“Sig, use this to wipe yourself. Lucas, don’t you think your question is too crude?”
After receiving the empty glass from Lucas, Zenon-san handed me a wet cloth for me to wipe the drink that had spilled a little from my mouth. Zenon-san then chided Lucas while handing him a new drink.
Really, this idiot. What a thing to ask.
“No, but it’s because Zenon-san hadn’t seen Ren yet! Ren looks really, really tiny, you know? I don’t think he’s even 180cm tall?”
“Yeah, I think he said he’s 175cm.”
“Oh? He’s that small? He’s already an adult, right?”
Why are you guys emphasizing that part so much? It is true that for an adult man, Ren is really short.
I told Zenon-san Ren’s height since I remembered he had told me before but Zenon-san instead asked me another question with one of his eyebrows raised.
Well, if we’re looking at Ren’s height, even the brats at the orphanage…. I guess it can’t be helped that you guys think of me like that.
“Ren is an otherworlder so even though he’s already an adult, he’s still short and delicate. I can completely fit him into my arms.”
“An otherworlder adventurer that goes by the name Ren…. Could it be that he’s Black Flower Princess?”
“You know him?”
“In a place like this, the flow of information is extremely important after all.”
I told them that Ren was an otherworlder so that they could understand what I was talking about. Zenon-san then pushed his cigarette into an ashtray on the counter and muttered Ren’s nickname like he was trying to remember something.
It seemed even Zenon-san had heard about Ren’s nickname. I felt complicated because now I was reminded of what I felt when my nickname was spreading everywhere. I was truly happy that I could become an A-rank adventurer but still, that nickname was really painful to take….
“175cm so he’s about 50cm shorter than you, right? ………..So, can it go in?”
Receiving a new glass of drink, Lucas seemed like he was in a deep thought before he shot me another question.
“Well if you’re asking me can it go in then yes, it can.”
“…Sig… You’re forcing something so outrageous on such a small kid like him…”
Don’t tell me, you’ve been staying quiet because you were thinking about this? Well, I honestly told him I’ve already done it with him since it is true I have a sexual relationship with Ren but Lucas is staring at me like I’m some sort of criminal or something.
“No! It’s not like what you think, okay?! It took a number of days for him to get accustomed to it and I also let his body properly remember how good it feels to be played from behind, okay?!”
“……..So that he will let you put it in.”
No,no,no,no…. I didn’t just thrust it inside forcefully like that. I really wanted to put it in him quickly but I endured it… And endured…. And after enduring it, I was finally able to do it but since there were three of us, a sad incident occurred while we were doing Ren so…
“You guys… Just what are you guys talking about in my place…”
“Huh? But you see….”
Zenon-san looked exasperated but Lucas didn’t show any ounce of shame in the slightest. The two of them would continue asking me questions and I’d answer their questions. We kept on drinking just like that.
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Name: Zenon
Age: 48 years
Height: 207cm
He has gray hair and orange eyes. He’s an old but fashionable man and the owner and also the bartender of Floquet Bar that Sig frequents ever since Sig was young.
Chapter 145: Drinking with A ‘Bad’ Friend (First Part)
The whole chapter will be from Sig’s POV.
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
“Sig, thanks for waiting.”
“Don’t erase your presence in a place like this. Are those brats already asleep?”
I had dinner in the orphanage and I was waiting for Lucas in the dining room while polishing my sword when Lucas came without making a sound from his footsteps or leaving a sign of his presence. It must be a habit that stuck to him as an adventurer even though he was still recuperating.
“Sorry about that. The little ones are already asleep, thanks to you guys playing with them this afternoon. Even the older ones, who usually stay up late, are already asleep too.”
Usually the children would be so excited during the day when I came and ended up sleeping early at night because they already tired themselves out from being excited but this time, it must be due to Ren’s magic beasts that they were this tired. Ren’s magic beasts tend to go outside but generally speaking, most magic beasts usually stayed in their contracted accessories and only came out when they were needed. So outside of battle tournaments, it must be the first time everyone had seen a magic beast outside of their contracted accessories like this.
Not to mention, they get to touch and play with the magic beasts too. It wouldn’t be weird for them to get super excited about it. Some of them might be dreaming of riding on Spica tonight.
“Then, let’s go.”
“Okay. We’re going to the usual place?”
“Yeah. It’s been a while since I’ve been there too.”
I put the sword I had been polishing in the magic bag attached to my hip and left the orphanage together with Lucas. The usual place we were talking about…. It was a bar that we often frequented even before we were of legal age. It might be weird to say this since I had been going there ever since I was still a brat but that place was a calm and sophisticated place with a lot of adults without much bratty smell there. I almost always go there every time I come to the royal capital to visit the orphanage.
“Okay then, let’s go to the usual place. It sure has been a while.”
Lucas started stretching himself, warming his body up by turning his hips to the side.
“As usual, the loser is the one paying?”
“Yeah. It’s a race!”
The two of us started running on Lucas’s mark. Every time we went to the bar, we always went there running. Although we were no match against the magic horse who was running at full speed, we were still faster than ordinary humans since we were beastman. Though we definitely could win against magic horses if they were to walk leisurely like how I rode on Oscar today.
As a beastman, we had quite the stamina too so we could keep on running for 1 or 2 hours but well, when I was on a quest, I’d prefer to ride on Oscar to save on my stamina.
At some point, we had a rule between us that the one losing the running race had to pay for the bills. Currently our winning and losing rate was at roughly 50:50 so it was a pretty much equal give and take situation between us.
“But that Ren kid, it seems he doesn’t have much stamina, huh?”
“Spot on. Well, if there’s a situation where we have to run, I will just carry him and go running so there’s no problem.”
“……..”
I answered Lucas’s question as we ran. Ren was not very strong physically speaking so it would definitely be much faster if I were to carry him and run. Even though he could use ‘heal’ to recover his stamina, it was still better to carry him rather than stop and have him use ‘heal’ each and every time.
As for Chris and Fer, although they weren’t as physically strong as me, they were still faster than ordinary humans so there weren’t any problems with them.
But when I answered Lucas that, he only stayed quiet with his eyebrows furrowed together. He looked confused. His expression was basically saying “what the hell is this guy talking about?”.
Well, if I was still the old me, I would never say anything like that so it was understandable he’d look at me strange like that….
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
“Okay! Haaah… Haah…. It’s my win, right…? You’re going to let me drink expensive liquor to celebrate my engagement, right?”
“Haah…Haahh…. A loss is a loss so I will let you drink as you like… Oi! Don’t leave me behind!”
We ran for about 20 minutes I guess? I was the one who touched the bar’s door first and Lucas arrived several seconds later. I then went inside without waiting for him who was still breathing heavily.
“Welcom-… Ah, if it isn’t Sig? It’s been a while.”
“Hey, Zenon-san. Can you give me a seat at the counter?”
“Yeah.”
“Sig! Don’t leave me behind!”
When I entered the bar, I saw Zenon, the owner of this place, at the counter with his back turned on me. He then turned his head over to greet me and smiled with his cigarette still in his mouth.
Smoking a cigarette while working was unbecoming for someone who was working in the hospitality industry but with his gray hair combed to the back casually and the somewhat bad boy vibe he was giving off despite looking like he was about to reach his 50s, there were a lot of patrons coming here just for the sake of meeting him.
After receiving his permission to sit at the counter, I was followed by Lucas who came rushing in while voicing his complaint.
“It’s your fault for being slow. Zenon-san, can I have a glass of Henriot and maybe something to snack on?”
“Okay. Lucas, are you fine with the same order as Sig?”
“Yeah, please give me the same one!”
I shut Lucas down who was booing at me with a single remark and then asked for a drink and snack from Zenon-san.
“Here you go.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“Sig, congratulations for your engagement! Cheers!”
“Thank you.”
I received a glass of drink that was prepared in an instant and Lucas clinked our glass together so hard like it was close to breaking and then he drank his drink all in one go. This drink was a pretty strong one so one glass of it would be enough to make someone who was weak at drinking to pass out but Lucas had a pretty good alcohol tolerance so he should be fine.
“Oh? Engagement? ……Ah, I can see your engagement cuff now. Then I guess this one is on me.”
“It looks delicious, thank you Zenon-san.”
Overhearing our conversation, Zenon-san checked the cuff on my left ear for confirmation and then he handed me a plate with something like a ham after he congratulated me. I took the free plate of food gratefully. He then kept on standing in front of us at the counter, it looked like he wanted to join in our conversation.
I looked around the bar, there were few other patrons but there were other staff handling them so it should be alright for Zenon-san to stay with us.
“So what happened in the three months I didn’t see you?”
“Hmm well, first, the guildmaster in Pedrel, Malik-san, asked me to try to meet his son. Well I thought there shouldn’t be anything bad from just trying to meet him so I did. It turned out not only he’s super adorable but he’s good at cooking and has a good personality too. He’s excellent at support magic too and to top it all off, he smells good.”
“Oh, I heard for a beastman like you guys, someone’s smell is extremely important.”
Lucas asked me about it so I started telling him. It felt like it just happened recently. I believed I had never met anyone as cute as Ren. I was really grateful that Malik-san chose me as one of the potential partners for Ren and allowed me to meet him. Ren’s scent was really pleasant to smell. Even now, I still liked to sniff behind his ear as I hugged him from behind while we slept.
I guess it was something that a human like Zenon-san couldn’t understand, huh.
“Scent? I couldn’t really tell it though since you guys’ smell was mixed in together.”
“When did you smell him?!”
When I mentioned Ren’s scent, Lucas tilted his head to the side in confusion as he said that.
Huh? Just when did he smell Ren?!
“You know, when I told him that I wanted to go drinking with you. I came over to his side because I wanted to talk to him and that was when his scent hit me. It’s not that I’m purposely trying to sniff him.”
He said, giving me the “don’t you remember?” look.
“Ah… I see….”
So he smelled him at that time…
“Judging from how you are and how your smell is mixed in together, I knew you already held him but did you really put yours into that small kid?”
“Buffttttt!! Cough… You, what kind of question is that?!”
I was drinking my drink while thinking “oh, I see” when Lucas suddenly asked a very frank question at me, causing the drink to enter my windpipe and make me choke on it. On the other hand, he didn’t seem unfazed at all. He casually handed his empty glass to Zenon-san.
“Sig, use this to wipe yourself. Lucas, don’t you think your question is too crude?”
After receiving the empty glass from Lucas, Zenon-san handed me a wet cloth for me to wipe the drink that had spilled a little from my mouth. Zenon-san then chided Lucas while handing him a new drink.
Really, this idiot. What a thing to ask.
“No, but it’s because Zenon-san hadn’t seen Ren yet! Ren looks really, really tiny, you know? I don’t think he’s even 180cm tall?”
“Yeah, I think he said he’s 175cm.”
“Oh? He’s that small? He’s already an adult, right?”
Why are you guys emphasizing that part so much? It is true that for an adult man, Ren is really short.
I told Zenon-san Ren’s height since I remembered he had told me before but Zenon-san instead asked me another question with one of his eyebrows raised.
Well, if we’re looking at Ren’s height, even the brats at the orphanage…. I guess it can’t be helped that you guys think of me like that.
“Ren is an otherworlder so even though he’s already an adult, he’s still short and delicate. I can completely fit him into my arms.”
“An otherworlder adventurer that goes by the name Ren…. Could it be that he’s Black Flower Princess?”
“You know him?”
“In a place like this, the flow of information is extremely important after all.”
I told them that Ren was an otherworlder so that they could understand what I was talking about. Zenon-san then pushed his cigarette into an ashtray on the counter and muttered Ren’s nickname like he was trying to remember something.
It seemed even Zenon-san had heard about Ren’s nickname. I felt complicated because now I was reminded of what I felt when my nickname was spreading everywhere. I was truly happy that I could become an A-rank adventurer but still, that nickname was really painful to take….
“175cm so he’s about 50cm shorter than you, right? ………..So, can it go in?”
Receiving a new glass of drink, Lucas seemed like he was in a deep thought before he shot me another question.
“Well if you’re asking me can it go in then yes, it can.”
“…Sig… You’re forcing something so outrageous on such a small kid like him…”
Don’t tell me, you’ve been staying quiet because you were thinking about this? Well, I honestly told him I’ve already done it with him since it is true I have a sexual relationship with Ren but Lucas is staring at me like I’m some sort of criminal or something.
“No! It’s not like what you think, okay?! It took a number of days for him to get accustomed to it and I also let his body properly remember how good it feels to be played from behind, okay?!”
“……..So that he will let you put it in.”
No,no,no,no…. I didn’t just thrust it inside forcefully like that. I really wanted to put it in him quickly but I endured it… And endured…. And after enduring it, I was finally able to do it but since there were three of us, a sad incident occurred while we were doing Ren so…
“You guys… Just what are you guys talking about in my place…”
“Huh? But you see….”
Zenon-san looked exasperated but Lucas didn’t show any ounce of shame in the slightest. The two of them would continue asking me questions and I’d answer their questions. We kept on drinking just like that.
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
Name: Zenon
Age: 48 years
Height: 207cm
He has gray hair and orange eyes. He’s an old but fashionable man and the owner and also the bartender of Floquet Bar that Sig frequents ever since Sig was young.
