Drunken Truths #1
Drunken Truths #1
Our victory was exquisite, a blend of luck and skill. If the kobolds hadn't nested inside the abandoned mine, we would've had to face those orcs at full strength.
I could shrug off the other orcs, but that Orc Warrior was an absolute monster. Just thinking about how he split that boulder with his glaive still gives me goosebumps. We might well have lost a party member or two.
But luck or not, we won. That's a fact.
Isn't there a saying that luck is a skill too?
That means we won this promotion match through pure skill alone.
Life's just a fucking roll of the dice anyway!
"I'll treat everyone now."
Once the battle ended, Kate dashed around busily, healing the party members. Her whole body, endlessly radiating Divine Power, was soaked through with sweat.
"Mongma-nim, are you injured anywhere?"
"My arm got scraped on a rock shard when I rolled earlier. You can heal that, right?"
"Hold out your arm, please."
I extended my injured arm toward Kate. The sleeve was stained red where a sharp rock shard had pierced through. The moment Kate began sprinkling healing light over it, the stinging pain started to fade.
I watched the wound knit itself shut in an instant and couldn't help but marvel.
Divine Power really is an incredible force. It can heal even a scar that would normally take days of recovery, and in a single breath at that. The pain vanishing was just a bonus.
I looked at Kate and couldn't help the greed stirring inside me.
The greed to recruit her into my party.
The desire to make this blonde nun my own personal little sister.
"Good job, Kate."
"Huh? Good job?"
I cleared my throat and spoke. Even if she's a tool, you've got to properly praise someone when they've done well. The occasional carrot instead of just the whip — that's the proper way to tame a tool.
"That lantern you threw. You nailed the orc right in the head. Your throwing skills are pretty impressive."
Hitting the charging Orc Warrior square in the head with a lantern!
Without that, I'd be a tornado of minced incubus meat skewered on a spear blade right about now. I'd sensed it since the underground waterway — this blonde chick has a talent for throwing.
Unlike certain XCOM operatives.
Those bastards miss every time they pull the trigger.
"So yeah, good job!"
I praised Kate honestly.
"Is that so."
But for some reason, Kate was looking at me with a meaningful smile. She wasn't flashing that easy grin like she did when she'd received praise back in the underground waterway.
"But surely that's not all, is it?"
"What?"
"I saved Mongma-nim's life, didn't I? You're going to end this with just empty words of praise? Shouldn't you give me a proper reward?"
I was dumbfounded by Kate's words.
What more does she want beyond verbal praise?
Is she saying that since she saved my life, I should cough up some cash or something?
"So, I'll be taking my reward now."
"Huh?"
"Don't move."
That was when it happened.
Kate suddenly leaned in and pressed her lips toward me.
Smack!
Her soft, plump lips touched my cheek.
The warm, moist sensation made my face instantly flush with heat.
A cheek kiss drawn out long enough to make an audible sound.
I couldn't even pull my body back.
Because Kate had already wrapped her arms around me, pulling me close.
A moment later, Kate pulled her lips away from my cheek, stepped back a few paces, and spoke with a bright smile.
"That's the reward I wanted!"
"I-is that so."
"Truthfully, I wanted to do it on the lips, but that wouldn't be right, would it? We're friends, after all."
Kate placed her index finger atop her own red lips.
The moment I saw that seductive gesture, every manner of sinful thought flashed through my head.
The thought of pinning down this bewitching blonde chick.
I wanted to pull Kate into my arms and teach her what a real kiss was.
I wanted to leave Kate's body melting and slick from kisses alone.
'Hold it in.'
I pushed my patience to the absolute limit and barely suppressed the urge.
If I'd truly been alone with Kate, I wouldn't have been able to endure it.
But there were other party members here in the mine.
Ally, who had silently approached, was staring fixedly at Kate and me.
"So the two of you really were in that kind of relationship. There was a strange atmosphere in the carriage too — so I wasn't imagining things. An incubus and a nun dating... how surprising!"
Ally seemed to harbor a serious misunderstanding about my relationship with Kate. Whatever that little runt was thinking, it's not my problem. I turned toward Kate, who still had her finger perched on her lips.
"We're friends, so it's a no."
Reluctance dripped audibly from my voice.
Kate looked at me, and her eyes sparkled all the more.
"So a cheek kiss is okay then!"
"Ack."
Is she interpreting "deep kissing is off-limits" as "cheek kissing is allowed"?
I couldn't contain my shock at Kate's sheer shamelessness.
"I'm joking! With Rebecca here, there's no way it'd be okay. Not even a kiss on the cheek."
"That's how it is. Glad you understand."
"Yes, I understand."
Kate nodded, her voice trailing off. The conversation had ended, but the subtle current still flowing between Kate and me hadn't disappeared.
I had to steady my fluttering heart.
After my body had fully recovered, I spoke to the party.
"All five orcs have been eliminated. Before we return to Kunbilia Village, let's collect something to serve as markers. We'll need to submit proof to the Adventurer's Guild that we killed the orcs."
"What kind of markers should we collect?"
"We can take their heads. Among the markers the guild requires, a quarry's head carries the highest credibility."
"Decapitating pig-heads!"
Brut took charge of cutting off the orcs' heads. True to a lizardman who'd lived among primitive tribes, he showed no hesitation when it came to severing necks.
He even had a large sack inside his backpack, so he could stuff the severed orc heads right inside.
Orc heads acquired: four in total.
We'd just grab the last one from the orc corpse near the mine entrance.
"I'll carry the orc heads."
"Brut, isn't the sack heavy? If it's too much, how about we carry it together?"
"Manageable. The shame of being pushed back by the tattooed orc earlier. I'll atone by carrying the heads."
Brut seemed to be dwelling on his failure to hold off the Orc Warrior. Was he trying to repay his inability to fulfill the tank role through physical labor? Brut hoisted the sack of orc heads alone.
In exchange, the rest of us, myself included, each grabbed a piece of orc equipment.
Spoils like the glaive and axes.
We could sell them to a smithy for some coin. I wasn't sure about the prices, but the glaive the Orc Warrior had been swinging — that had to be worth a fair bit, right? Its appearance alone marked it as no ordinary weapon.
*
By late afternoon, we had returned safely to Kunbilia Village. We'd naturally grabbed one more orc head near the mine entrance. With that, we'd secured all the markers to submit as proof to the Adventurer's Guild.
"You've returned safely! Young adventurers!"
The village chief of Kunbilia personally walked out to greet us. His gaze lingered on the heavy sack Brut was carrying.
"What is inside that sack?"
"Orc heads."
"What?!"
Brut opened the sack himself and showed the contents to the old chief. The chief peered inside and exclaimed in a startled voice.
"It's them. Those are indeed the orcs who killed our villagers. Especially this one with the red tattoos — I could never forget him. You've truly wiped out all of those orcs for us. One of the village's headaches has been resolved."
"By the way, Chief. Before we left, you told us to search for a kobold nest in the abandoned mine, didn't you?"
"Did you discover something?"
"Your prediction was spot on. Kobolds were swarming inside the mine. The orcs we fought had already lost several of their own to them. There's likely a kobold nest underground in the mine."
"Kobolds! Those little bastards are in the mine—!"
I gave the old chief a detailed account of the kobolds we'd seen in the abandoned mine. Upon hearing my story, the chief flew into a rage on the spot.
"I'll have to issue another quest to the guild. I won't be satisfied until that kobold warren is smashed to pieces. By any chance, could you lot eliminate those kobolds right now? I'd pay you handsomely."
"We can't do that."
I cut the chief's proposal down flat. I had no desire to be tied to this village any longer because of a quest. Of course I wanted to earn money. But we'd just gotten back from that mine — and he wants us to go right back in? Honestly, that's just self-abuse.
I want to bask in sunlight.
I wanted to soak up some goddamn sun and produce some vitamin D. You can't photosynthesize inside a pitch-black cave. Your immune system tanks, and you end up suffering from extreme stress.
In short: it's fucking awful and I can't deal with it!
"Chief, my girlfriend is waiting for me at home."
"Well, if it's your girlfriend, there's no helping it. You may go. What about the other adventurers? What do you think of my offer? Would you like to become kobold slayers together?"
My party members seemed to share my feelings.
They couldn't meet the old chief's eyes.
"I have a church event tomorrow."
"The nun is out! Then how about the halfling?"
"I have a disease where I die if I enter the same cave twice!"
"S-such a disease exists? I see! What about that sturdy-looking lizardman?"
"Brut. Must deliver orc heads. Cannot detach from party!"
"So you all have your reasons, is that it? Then it can't be helped. I'll simply have to hire new adventurers from the guild."
The old chief fixed us with a weary stare. If we stood around like this, he might drag us off to explore that godforsaken mine again. In that moment, my party and I were of one mind and backpedaled in unison.
"Farewell, Chief!"
"Before you go, wait a moment. Since you discovered the kobold nest, I should give you the reward money as promised."
The old chief pulled five silver coins from his bosom. After collecting the reward, I bolted for the village entrance without looking back. The other party members did the same.
In that moment, four Bronze adventurers were unleashing the Lightness Skill.
"Kate. Your feet are unusually quick today."
"Fufufufu!! Because I want to escape from here fast!! I want to go back to the church and rest!!"
"Rest? What about the event tomorrow?"
"Obviously a lie!"
"Knew it."
Just as I'd expected — it was bullshit.
Ally, running alongside us, wiped under her nose with a finger and grinned.
"Mine was a lie too! I don't actually have a disease where I die if I enter a cave. Everyone was surprised, right?"
"No."
"Ally. Was not surprised."
"Hmph."
In the end, we succeeded in boarding the carriage waiting at the village entrance. I woke the dozing coachman and got the carriage moving. To return to Yoen-su, that is.
"Coachman! Let's get moving, please!"
"You're back already? Did you finish everything and return?"
"Wiped them all out and came back."
"Oh. Then I'm currently carrying Silver Tier adventurers in my carriage. Congratulations on passing the promotion match. I'll see you back comfortably. Hyah—!"
The coachman's whip cracked, and the carriage began to roll. With the thought that the quest was nearly complete, I sprawled out limply inside the carriage cabin. All we had to do now was watch out for monster attacks on the way back.
Time passed, and the carriage entered the highway leading to Yoen-su. For a while, the inside of the carriage was nothing but quiet. Ally was busy keeping watch over our surroundings, and the rest of the party, myself included, joined in scanning outside the carriage.
Then, suddenly, Kate spoke up. Her bright voice cut through the silence.
"Everyone, do you happen to have time tomorrow evening?"
"Tomorrow evening?"
"It feels a bit abrupt to just split up the moment we get back to Yoen-su, doesn't it? We're comrades who took the promotion match together. So, in that spirit, how about sharing a drink?"
"A drink? I'm in."
Kate stared intently at me, the first to answer.
Was it the heat of the summer night?
For some reason, her cheeks were faintly flushed.
"You sure it's okay? I plan to order something really strong."