Chapter 28: Axe’s Worst Day (2)

When I went to the Cidre Inn to get something to eat, the members of Lightning Fang were sitting at a table.
Except… the atmosphere was weird. All three of them were completely drunk.

Uh—why do they all look like Agaro now?
Especially Axe—he was wasted. Ah, our eyes met.

“Yo, Wof!”
“Uh, h-hello.”
“Wof, huh?”
“It’s Wof, y’know.”

Why are they repeating my name like that? It’s embarrassing.
Everyone around us is looking at me too—ugh, so embarrassing.

“You staying upstairs again today? As expected! Where’s your companion?”
“N-no! I just came to eat dinner normally! I’m alone!”
“Yeah? That’s fine then. Come sit over here.”
“Yeah, come come.”
“Come on over.”
“Uh, o-okay.”

I reluctantly sat at their table.
What’s with them? They’re unusually fired up today.

Axe drained a giant mug of ale and immediately ordered another.
Rell and Hoss were doing the same—no snacks on the table at all.

“Are you guys only drinking?”

That’s sloppy, even for Lightning Fang.
Normally, they’d have snacks, and they wouldn’t drink from those oversized mugs like Agaro does.

“Damn right. Like we could not drink after that!”

Something must’ve happened. Oh wait—Mineha mentioned something this morning.

“You… met your mother, right? Emi-san?”
“Yeah, met her.”
“Sure did.”
“Met her, yep.”

Their answers were dark, heavy.

“Well, Wof, drink up. My treat.”
“I can’t drink yet.”
“Then eat. Still my treat.”
“O-okay…”

Yeah, something definitely happened.
But this level of gloom—this isn’t normal trouble.

What did happen?
Even Rell and Hoss were pounding down drinks like crazy.

I ordered the Lunch Set A: butter rice, corn soup, and honey-salted lemon water.
I got the large portion. Set B had chicken cutlet rice.

“Hey, Wof. You got parents?”
“Uh, yeah, kind of.”

I answered Axe’s question vaguely.
They should still be living peacefully back in my hometown.

“I see… I had parents too.”
“Wait, had?”

But wasn’t Axe’s father supposed to be—

“Yeah. First off, my mom’s pregnant.”
“Wh-what!?”
“And the guy is the one I thought was dead—my old man.”
“Wha—whaaaat!?”
“And get this—the guy was frozen in ice, and he looks almost exactly like me.”
“Uh… r-right… well… congratulations?”
“Yeah… sure. Congrats, huh.”

Axe chugged another giant mug of ale straight from the rim.
He was clearly drinking out of frustration. Yeah, I get it now.

His dad turned out to be alive, his mom’s pregnant, and the family’s growing…
But he’s mad about it? Rell noticed the look on my face.

“Well, it should be something to celebrate.”
“Yeah, you’d think so.”
“Right?”
“I know, okay!? I know! But come on—after months of no contact, she suddenly shows up, pregnant, and the guy’s my supposedly dead father who looks just like me!? You tell me that doesn’t sound insane!?”

Wow, he really let that all out in one breath.

“Wait, what happened with the no contact thing?”
“She said all my letters piled up at the estate, and she only got back recently.”
“Said she couldn’t send replies ‘cause of circumstances, apparently.”
“Circumstances, huh…”

If they’d just stayed in touch a little, maybe things wouldn’t have blown up like this.
Still, wow. Oh—my lunch set’s here. It even came with dessert.

Milk pudding? From Barnes-san? A prototype?
Pure white pudding—Shiro would love this.

“So, Axe. Are you really cutting ties with her?”
“C-cutting ties!?”

Yeah, that reaction makes sense. I’d be thinking the same thing.

“…No. I’m not planning to.”

“You’re not, huh.”

Surprising, honestly—but maybe not.
Axe set down his mug with a thud.

“At the time, I just lost it… but I’m an adult now. Twenty-three. I’ve already grown independent.
We were distant to begin with. And, well… I did decide to try to make amends before all this happened, but never got around to it. Guess I at least owe her a chance to talk… maybe that’s just an excuse. Still, honestly? I can’t say I’m okay with it. I mean—pregnant? Really? Even if my dad’s alive, that’s… come on. As a woman, not a mother—how am I supposed to take that?”

“That’s beyond my understanding.”
“Same here.”
“Me too.”

Axe just muttered, “Yeah… thought so.”

I wonder what Mineha thought about all this.
She probably didn’t take it well—she’s the type who can’t stand that kind of thing.
Strict, serious, upright.

Still, she owes her master her life and respects her deeply, so she probably didn’t despise her.
Just thought she was reckless—and maybe treated her coldly.
Knowing Mineha, she might’ve even raised a hand if it got bad… though from what I’ve heard, she didn’t.

“Honestly, I don’t even know what to do anymore. I mean, if Mom had just started seeing someone and it turned into a shotgun marriage, that might’ve… actually felt better than this mess.”

“You think so?”

“…Who knows.”

“The fact that the guy is actually your real father is what makes it so tangled, huh.”

“Yeah, tangled beyond repair.”

Seriously, I don’t even know what to say in moments like this.
Axe ordered another giant mug of ale.

“And then, well… I’m going to fight the old man—Ens.”

“Fight!? But he’s about to be promoted to First-Class Explorer!”

“I know. I don’t think I can win. I just… want to hit him. Once.”

“Even that might not be possible.”

“I know that too. But still—I want to hit him. Even just once. If I can do that, I don’t care if I lose.”

“That’s assuming you can pull it off.”

“Yeah, it’s probably impossible.”

“…And you know, I’ve been thinking. Just like I can’t think of that guy as my father… he probably doesn’t see me as his son either. I mean, when he was frozen in ice, I hadn’t even been born yet. Now I’m over twenty. Too much time’s passed for us to feel like father and son.”

Well, he’s got a point. It’d be hard for either of them to relate as family after all that.
Yeah, really hard.

Hoss then suddenly asked:

“So, why do you even want to punch Ens?”

“Because… I just do, okay?”

“Wait. Is it ‘cause he’s the guy who got your mom pregnant?”

“…Who knows. Like I’d know that.”

Axe gave a curt reply and then downed his next massive mug of ale in one go.

“Well… anyway, what’s your plan? I’ve fought a First-Class Explorer before—they’re insanely strong.”

“You have?”

“Yeah. Alweld. Didn’t even count as a real fight.”

“‘That one huh… Yeah.”

“Maybe we should ask Agaro for help.”

“Probably no other choice.”

“――No need for that.”

A woman’s voice interrupted us suddenly, and we all turned toward it.
Standing there was an elf woman with green hair—she had a gentle, pretty look about her.

She wore loose-fitting clothes, and her rounded belly made it clear she was pregnant.

Wait—don’t tell me…

“M-Mom…”

So that’s Emi. She looked about twenty, though with elves, age and appearance don’t really match up.

“Axe…”
“Why are you—no, how’d you even find this place?”
“You wrote in your letter that this was your regular spot. It’s a nice place.”
“…Right, guess I did write that. So what do you want? You didn’t need to come.”
“Axe. I came to make sure you can hit that man—Ens.”
“…Wait, what? What did you just say?”
“And I wanted to talk. I read all your letters.”
“………………Yeah.”
“So, Axe, I—”

“U-um, excuse me.”

Yeah, I could tell this wasn’t a moment for outsiders—but I butted in anyway, on purpose.
Emi turned her eyes on me.

“What is it?”

“Well, uh, we’re going to rent a room upstairs, so maybe it’d be better to talk there?”

I mean, it was already drawing attention.
Of course people were staring—an upset pregnant woman showing up to confront a bunch of drunk men? That’s not something you see every day.

“…Sorry, Wof.”
“No worries. I’ll go talk to Barnes-san.”
“I-I’m sorry about this.”
“It’s fine, I’ll handle it.”

I went to the counter and quickly explained the situation to Barnes.
He nodded understandingly and let us use one of the VIP rooms upstairs.

So we all moved there.

And just like that—things suddenly got way more serious than I ever expected.