Chapter 80
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Drinking Contest (1)
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"""..."""
A brief silence hung in the air. I was pretty flustered myself. While I was in the middle of an investigation at the Labyrinth Guild, the staff suddenly got some kind of contact, bustled around, and hastily wrapped things up, so I headed back to the mansion. But Alensia was nowhere to be seen, and two women I'd never laid eyes on before came out of the place.
Ah, but I think I just caught the words "Sia unnie"...
"Ah, are you acquaintances of Alensia?"
With that, I tried to calm my nerves. After all, I wasn't the only one living in the mansion, so Alensia might have invited some guests.
"Uh, umm..."
"Yes, that's right. And who might you be?"
The somewhat short half-elf-looking woman seemed flustered, so the black-haired witch standing behind her stepped forward and addressed me. Whoa, a witch—aside from Vivian, this is my first time seeing one. Wait, is she actually a witch? Her outfit screams witch, though...
"Ah, uh. I'm Ian. I've been receiving various lessons from Alensia."
"Lessons?"
"Yes. Swordsmanship and such..."
"Ah, I see..."
Bella looked like she understood what I meant, then soon wore an apologetic expression.
"You're here for Sia... Alensia, right? She's stepped out for a bit."
"Uh, yeah?"
...Ah, she doesn't know I live here too. To anyone looking, I'd just seem like a guest here to meet Alensia.
"Ah, no, that's not it. I actually live h..."
"Live here?"
"........."
But I don't know exactly who these people are. Should I just blurt it out?
"I'm... here for training, but with guests around, I guess there's nothing for it. Well then..."
So, I mumbled an excuse and tried to leave the mansion. They seemed like Alensia's acquaintances, so I figured I should give them space.
"Ah, no. Wait just a moment."
Bella was flustered too. After all, she and Daphne had shown up unannounced to celebrate with Alensia. It felt like they'd barged in and were now chasing away one of Alensia's guests on their own whim.
"Ian? Why are you just standing at the entrance instead of coming in?"
"Ah, Alensia."
"You must be tired today, so get some good rest. I have something to tell y...ou?"
"........."
And right on cue, Alensia arrived at the mansion, spotted me at the entrance, and started speaking—only to awkwardly notice the two women standing inside just like me.
"Wha...t do you mean, come in and rest? What are you talking about?"
This is hell.
I'd just come back to the mansion like usual, but now I was stuck in the drawing room, under the scrutiny of two total strangers, feeling like I might choke.
"Sia unnie... who's this guy?"
"Who else? Obviously her boyfriend!"
"That's not it... no."
Alensia had almost slipped into a familiar tone but caught herself, mindful of me, and corrected it. The two eyed her curiously at this, but Alensia played it off and continued her explanation.
"Sorry about this, Ian. These two are former party members from when I was active. The three of us—plus Gloria—formed a fixed party back then."
Ah, the all-female party Lena mentioned? All of them Advanced Adventurers, she said...
"Hey! I recognize this guy!"
Daphne—the half-elf woman who'd been staring holes into my face—suddenly shouted as if something had clicked.
"He was in the files those Black Swamp guys had, right? One of their recent targets!"
Black Swamp? Why are they coming up here?
"Oh my... so this is the one?"
"Wait... just a moment..."
Alensia looked at me with extreme apology—like her expression had flipped completely. Anyway, she gazed at me like a criminal on trial.
I signed nondisclosure agreements with Alensia's two party members as well. When they heard it was related to her treatment, both signed without hesitation.
"The guy who trained beginners has the cure... what a coincidence."
"Massage... giving Sia unnie a massage..."
They latched onto different parts, but they bought it after hearing the details. At the same time, I finally heard what Alensia meant by "something to tell me."
"...You smashed the clan?"
"Yes. Just that fact alone serves as a warning to the eastern district, so no other riffraff clans will try anything for a while. Plus, it's a protest against the guild for slacking off, so they've promised to shape up."
"........."
What is this? Some isekai-style show of force?
And what? Failed to control your strength and sliced up a few buildings, leading to disciplinary action? And it ends at just discipline?
I was briefly confused, but then the two whispered among themselves before approaching me, bowing their heads, and expressing their gratitude.
"Thank you for treating Sia."
I returned the thanks, then excused myself to let the reunited party members catch up. Hmm, maybe I'll head to a brothel tonight and crash there.
With all the party members gathered, they called Gloria over too, and the Erdas party popped open some booze to reminisce.
"Ueeeng... Sia unnie..."
Daphne, weak to alcohol, turned beet red and clung to Alensia, while Gloria and Bella sipped wine casually and chatted.
"No thoughts on remarrying?"
"Not really..."
"Remarriage is your choice, but for Clara's sake, you should seriously consider it."
"For Clara?"
"Yeah. Even if it doesn't seem like it, the absence of one parent hits a child hard."
Bella, the oldest in the group thanks to her witch heritage, gave Gloria earnest advice—despite her own lack of experience with men.
"Sigh..."
"Gloria, you'll live a long time thanks to your divine power. You gonna spend all those years without remarrying?"
"Who knows..."
"Well, no decent guys around? Or maybe someone Clara takes a shine to?"
A decent guy nearby...
Working at the temple, plenty of men had asked her out. She'd turned them all down with various excuses. And someone Clara liked...
'Whoa! I made a dragon with paper crafts!'
"Pfft."
"Huh? So there really is someone?"
"No, nothing like that."
Bella teasingly pressed Gloria, who smiled faintly at the memory but deftly deflected. As talk of Gloria's remarriage wrapped up, the subject shifted to this Ian guy.
"Sia living with a man... Gloria, I figured you'd be totally against it."
"I came straight over the day I found out. Asked her if she'd lost her mind."
"But you let it slide? If you'd pushed hard, Sia would've kicked this Ian out eventually. What's he like? They really not together?"
Together like that... Gloria's mind flashed to Sia during a massage—nipples hard, juices flowing—but for Sia's honor, she'd take that secret to the grave.
"Just a good guy. You know? He touches her body without a hint of lust."
"Eeeh? No way..."
"Daphne, you're pretty drunk..."
Daphne, face-planted on the table from the booze, reacted, staggered up, and burrowed back into Alensia's arms.
"Hehehe... unnie's body is so soft and smells so good... and he touches it without any dirty thoughts?"
"Daphne... it's true. I didn't sense any lust either."
Thinking of Ian, Alensia unconsciously smiled as she soothed Daphne. But Daphne and Bella could tell from her expression. She wasn't indifferent at all.
"Unnie... be happy... even if I hate it... for your happiness..."
"Huh? What're you..."
"We'll have to call this Ian guy over later and check him out. See if he suits Sia..."
"Bella. Don't."
Even drunk, Daphne and Bella resolved to meet Ian separately soon. To check if he was interested in Alensia—and if he suited her.
Observing this new side of Sia, the Erdas party's night deepened...
"Ah, where you off to?"
I'd stepped out to give Alensia space and was wandering the brothel district, thinking I'd hit up a pleasure house. Thanks to Lust Absorption, I visited them periodically anyway.
I'd been switching up the spots each time. Maybe I'd hit the jackpot with Lust Absorption at one eventually?
So today, I was scouting a corner of the commercial district packed with brothels and entertainment spots for somewhere new.
Beastkin specialists? Meh... too much fur. Save that for when I'm more used to beastkin... A brothel with only elves over 100? All stunning looks... what's this one? ...Ah, all men. Erased from the mind... Orc women... pass. Kinda scary.
I'd tried all the vanilla places, so the untried ones left were the niche spots. I could always revisit a familiar one and pick a different girl...
"Tch... still feels like something's missing..."
...Lately, Lust Absorption had been paying off big, huh? Brothels just weren't pulling me in anymore. After tasting it on strong adventurers or equivalents, regular spots gave me no thrill.
"...Guess I'll skip it tonight and just grab a drink somewhere..."
Unable to find a good spot, I headed into a nearby tavern for some booze... and ran into someone unexpected.
"Hm?"
"Huh?"
A build a bit smaller than an average adult woman. But mismatched with huge breasts and hips.
"Miranda?"
"What're you doing here, Ian?"
She'd been dungeon-diving lately, so I hadn't seen her. Miranda sat alone in a corner of the tavern, drinking.
With an insane number of empty glasses in front of her.