The Original Rite of Passage
Their eyes sparkled with anticipation as they looked at Jun…
"So that's how you fill it out. Got it."
He desperately averted his gaze and silently continued filling out the paperwork.
Before long, the jeers of adventurers rang out across the central plaza.
Woooo!!!
"Hey! Don't chicken out!"
"Everyone goes through this rite of passage at least once!"
"If you don't do it, we won't even treat you like a real adventurer!"
"…You're lying, right? You're just messing with me, aren't you?"
Among the noise, some particularly concerning words reached his ears.
Jun looked around at his companions with a pitiful expression, desperately hoping they would confirm those words were false.
They shook their heads.
Unfortunately, his wish went unfulfilled. Even faced with his pitiful expression, Emili and Carol firmly shook their heads.
"Don't be too embarrassed, Jun oppa. Right now you might feel so ashamed you can't even lift your head, but later you'll be shouting it out like it's nothing."
Before that, wouldn't my hands and feet cramp up from secondhand embarrassment and need to be cut off first?
Jun found himself wondering, but seeing Emili staring off into the distance with a look of enlightened detachment, he decided not to voice the question.
Where was she looking, anyway? Was she reminiscing about her younger self, back when she still had fresh, tender shame?
"Not many adventurers know how to write. So introducing yourself verbally became the norm, and naturally, doing it in front of everyone turned into a rite of passage."
"What happens if I don't do it?"
"You'll have a hard time recruiting party members. Jun, just close your eyes and get it over with. You'll feel much better that way. Hehe."
"…You seem to be enjoying this quite a bit."
"Me? Goodness, no. Absolutely not."
"For someone who's not enjoying it, the corners of your mouth keep trying to curl upward. Wait—what are you doing with that recording crystal?!"
Jun cried out, but Carol paid him no mind as she set up the recording crystal she'd somehow produced, positioning it for a clear shot of him.
"U-um, Jun. If you really can't do it, F-Fortuna can do it for you instead."
When Jun was so flabbergasted he just stood there with his mouth hanging open, Fortuna fidgeted with her fingers and made the offer.
The faint longing in her voice made Jun ask in shock:
"Are you serious?"
"Of course! I-I mean, Fortuna doesn't want to do it either because it's embarrassing, but Fortuna is Jun's guardian fairy and his mom, so she has no choice—really no choice—but to sacrifice herself in your place."
"No, there's no need to sacrifice yourself."
"H-huh? But—"
"No need."
"Hiiing∼."
Fortuna drooped her wings in disappointment.
She must have really wanted to try the self-introduction. Even though she hated being stared at, she secretly loved showing off.
While soothing the dejected fairy, Jun checked the escape route he'd scouted earlier. If they kept pushing him, he fully intended to just bolt. With his level of skill, he was confident he wouldn't get ostracized just for skipping some rite of passage.
"You look quite troubled, my friend."
Just as Jun found a suitable escape route and was about to make his move, Tatsu spoke up. He rested both elbows on the table, covering his mouth with his clasped hands, radiating the aura of a shadowy mastermind.
"Oppa, cut the crap."
"Shut up for a second!"
Of course, nobody was intimidated in the slightest.
"Why? Got a solution?"
Jun asked, half hopeful.
Tatsu casually raised one hand and snapped his fingers—snap! (He repeated it three times, apparently unsatisfied with the sound.)
"Yuna."
"Yes."
"'That,' one glass, for my friend here."
"…Are you serious?"
"Oppa! Even so, that's—!"
"Jun, just do the self-introduction."
Murmur murmur murmur
Yuna, who seemed like she would never lose her deadpan expression no matter the circumstances, looked visibly shocked. Emili shot to her feet and started pounding on Tatsu's back. Carol stopped fiddling with the recording crystal and offered sincere advice.
The adventurers also stopped jeering at Jun, their faces turning pale as they whispered things like "That?", "He's insane, seriously.", "That's… not right."
What the hell is "that"?
As Jun watched the adventurers who were too terrified to even name it, recalling a certain wizard from a famous movie, Yuna—who had quickly left her post—returned.
She approached carrying a tray with a single cup, tissues stuffed up both nostrils as if dignity was the last thing on her mind.
"Thank you for waiting. Here is one glass of that."
"Good heavens, Lord!"
"Get it away! Get that thing away from me!"
"Somebody please plug my nostrils!"
The adventurers went into hysterics.
Even Emili and Carol leaned back in fear, while Jun accepted the cup from Yuna with a peculiar expression.
This is…
"Drink, my friend. If you can finish that, not only will you complete the rite of passage—you'll earn the respect of every adventurer here."
"Really?"
"Indeed. Originally, finishing that was the rite of passage. The self-introduction rite was only created by mutual agreement because that one's difficulty was far too brutal."
"Is that so."
"Yes. Though as I said, its difficulty is far too bru…tal?"
Tatsu couldn't finish his sentence. He sat there with his mouth hanging open, completely dropping the weighty atmosphere he'd been cultivating.
"Dear God, I think I've finally lost my mind."
"Did I drink too much? I'm seeing things."
"Someone pinch my cheek. I need to wake up."
The others were the same. Some couldn't accept the reality before their eyes and looked away.
And for good reason—
Gulp! Gulp!
Because Jun was freely downing "that"—the very thing even adventurers who had faced countless monsters and brushed with death found terrifying and repulsive.
Clack!
The sound of the empty cup being set on the table rang out unusually loud.
Those frozen in shock and those who'd been denying reality snapped back to their senses at the sound.
"Huh∼."
"Good heavens."
"For real?"
A brief silence followed the short gasps of awe.
But only for a moment—
Waaaaah!!!
A thunderous cheer erupted.
"Come on, what's the big deal about finishing one potion?"
The "that" everyone had been so terrified of was none other than the Potion of Growth.
To Jun, who drank the stuff like water whenever he got the chance, people's reactions looked like they were half teasing him.
"My friend, 'just'?! I've been hanging around guilds since I was a snot-nosed kid, and I've never seen anyone properly drink even a single mouthful of that potion, let alone a whole cup!"
"He's right! That's amazing, Jun oppa! I always wondered how you could be so strong even though you're still young, but watching you drink that potion, it all makes sense now!"
"I knew from Sister Kate's report that you were drinking the potion, but seeing you actually drink it in person… I can't help but be impressed."
"Heh-heh! Our Junie is amazing! More! Praise him more!"
Tatsu, Emili, and Carol all shared their honest feelings. At that, Fortuna—who had been drooping because she couldn't do the self-introduction—immediately puffed out her chest and preened.
Pfft.
Jun let out a short laugh. Partly because the angel's proud preening was adorable, and partly because he found it ridiculous how sensitive he'd been to the reactions around him.
Feeling considerably more at ease, he raised a hand and quietly called Yuna over.
She approached without a sound, just as she had when they first met, and naturally reached to clear away the cup that had held the potion.
Did she think he'd called her over to take the cup? That wasn't it, though.
"Yuna, wait a moment."
Jun hurriedly stopped Yuna as she was about to turn and vanish. Yuna began examining his complexion with a deeply worried expression.
This seems a bit excessively kind.
"Is something bothering you? Shall I show you to the restroom?"
"I'm fine. My insides are perfectly fine."
"Then shall I bring you something to cleanse your palate? Personally, I'd recommend a refreshing strawberry parfait. Embarrassingly, I've failed to drink the potion a few times myself, and eating that afterward worked best."
Having said that, she looked at Jun with eyes full of reverence.
Only then did he understand her excessive kindness. She'd failed at something he'd succeeded at, so of course she respected him.
Then how will she react after hearing what I have to say?
Curious about how someone with almost no facial expressions would respond, Jun spoke—pulling a large potion-dedicated cup from his subspace storage and holding it out to her.
"The amount of potion was a lot less than what I usually drink. Could you fill this cup and bring it back?"
"…Excuse me?"
The cool-looking cat-eared beauty tilted her head with a blank expression.
Jun chuckled and repeated his request for the sake of someone who clearly wasn't processing reality properly.
"Fill it with the potion. This cup."
"…This cup, you mean?"
Yuna alternated between the two cups in her hands—their capacities differing by several times over—comparing their sizes, then asked again as if to confirm he was serious. Her eyes were trembling as she looked at him.
"Yes, that cup. Ah, fill it to the brim. Right up to the edge."
"…Will you be all right? It looks bigger than a beer mug."
"About half again as big, yeah. And I'll be fine. I drink one after every meal."
"If I may be so bold, is your tongue… no, never mind. Please wait a moment. I'll bring it right away."
With that, Yuna staggered away from the table, and a short while later she returned even more unsteadily than before. Then, with trembling hands, she set the cup brimming with potion down on the table.
Thud!
The table shook—and so did the eyes of everyone who had been silently watching.
Paying their reactions no mind, Jun casually lifted the cup and began drinking the potion without the slightest hesitation.
"""…"""
A silence heavy with shock and terror settled over them.
Gulp! Gulp! Only the sound of Jun's swallowing echoed hollowly through it.