Chapter 39: Eve of the Festival (1)
Hydrangea Grand Hall — Restaurant District
“Hey, you, kid! Don’t hold back — eat up, yeah?”
“Y-Yes…”
“Kids love meat, right? Eat as much as you want.”
“O-Okay.”
“Pii… pipii… pi-pi-pi———”
“……”
“Gahahahaha! Still as round and tough as ever! Drink up, drink up!”
“I’m underage.”
Right now, I was surrounded by a bunch of weird people — a man with a loud, ridiculous afro, a handsome young guy in a casual kimono, a pink floating orb, and a bandana-wearing old man laughing like thunder.
“I really like these meat dumplings, you know! Hey, you, nice choice, yeah!”
Please don’t stand up and wave at me like that.
Also, what is that gold short-sleeved jacket over a white T-shirt? What kind of fashion sense is that?
And the shirt has big black letters that say ‘DOHA’ scrawled across it.
Doha… I’ve seen that somewhere before…
And those yellow star-shaped glasses…
Are you telling me party-people gear exists in this world too?
“Pii… pii… maximum… score… detected… pi-pi-pi…”
What the heck is this pink sphere? Seriously, what is it?
“Gahahaha! Hey, the pink ball said something!”
Whoa, the old man’s slapping it around! He’s totally drunk.
“Oh? It’s rare for the Afterlife Vision System ver.β to emit sounds other than beeps.”
The kimono guy said that smoothly and quickly.
Wait—what’s with that super-systematic name? I feel like I’ve heard it before…
Anyway… how did I end up like this?
Right—when I arrived at Hydrangea Grand Hall, I was starving.
I remembered there was a restaurant district and decided to check it out.
That’s when I saw this place.
“Cidre Inn Second.” As the name suggests, it’s their second branch.
I remembered they said they’d opened a new one, so I went in—but it was almost full.
I was about to give up when a waiter told me I could share a table if I didn’t mind.
And that’s how I ended up at this table from hell.
“Hey hey hey, heyyoo! Meat, baby, yeah! Me is meat! You is you! Kid, eat more, yeah!”
“I-I’m eating.”
Honestly, it’s hard when it’s all meat.
“Gahahaha! When I was young, I’d eat, drink, eat, drink—come on, drink, drink!”
“I’m underage.”
“Oh my, this salad is quite delightful.”
The handsome kimono guy — he’s the only one eating salad.
“Pii… pii-pi… pi-pipii———”
The pink sphere started spinning around the table.
Ah, the old man poured alcohol on it! But the smaller orbs around it formed a barrier and repelled the liquid.
That’s… actually kind of impressive. Wait, these people… aren’t they First-Class Explorers?
I think I saw something like that on the registry.
And “Doha” was on there too.
Then that means this kimono guy and the headband old man might be as well.
But this “system” thing… it’s clearly not human.
I mean, the name alone screams non-human.
But… non-humans can’t become explorers anymore, right?
“By the way, hey, you heard, yeah?”
“Heard what?”
“The big wave! About Wof, yeah!”
…Me?
“Oh? What happened?”
“They say the four from the Impregnable Fortress all ended up in the same room as Wof! For real, wow, oh-oh, crazy stuff, yo yo!”
“Oh? So that means… one person will be facing all four of them?”
Facing them? What does that mean exactly?
“Gahahaha! Impressive! As expected from an Impregnable Fortress challenger. Youth sure is something! Come on, drink up!”
“I’m underage.”
I’m not even challenging anyone… oh, this lemonade’s pretty good though.
And it looks like they don’t know I’m Wof.
Well, it’s not like my photo’s ever been circulated.
At best, people only have rough sketches in this world.
“Pi-pi… pi… critical… error… pi-pi…”
Wait, critical error!?
“Uh, it just said something about a critical error.”
“Oh yo, hey kid, what’s an error, huh?”
“Hm. So the Afterlife Vision System ver.β is producing actual words now? How fascinating.”
“Gahahahaha! Hey, how did this round thing even become an explorer? I thought things like that weren’t allowed anymore?”
“Ah, yes, apparently one day it just was an explorer, and before anyone knew it, it became First-Class.”
What the heck—creepy! But… somehow, that fits.
Ah, yeah, Alhazard Abramelin would totally love stuff like this.
“Gahaha! That’s some light horror right there.”
“Hey kid, you still eating?”
“I am.”
“By the way, I was surprised when I looked at the schedule today. Doha—you’re in the exhibition match, right?”
“Oh yeah, first time in a while, yeah.”
“And your opponent is Gymnema Sylvester… the Sea Duke himself?”
“Hey, I’ve got no complaints about the opponent! Oh yeah, oh yeah!”
“Gahahaha! Youth sure is great. If I were twenty years younger, I’d challenge Unbreakable Fortress myself!”
“John, that’s reckless even for you.”
“Pi-pi… pi… pi-pi———”
“As expected, John! Nice joke!”
“Gahahahahaha! My wife’s gonna kill me if she hears that!”
“Haha…”
Ah, this lemonade is really good.
“What is this nightmarish scene full of monsters and freaks?”
The one who spat that out was a girl with blue-and-green two-toned hair.
Her eyes matched — one blue, one green. She had a lovely face and wore a robe.
Beside her stood a fully armored knight in a closed-face helm. He looked strong.
“Oh, if it isn’t Loliev and Gilbald.”
“You’re the Dancing Princess, right? Yo, Loliev and Gilbald too. Yo-yo, hey.”
“Gahahahaha! The Dancing Princess! Still as stiff as ever, Gilbald!”
“……”
“Pii-pii… pii… —— pii.”
Loliev and Gilbald…
Those names sound familiar.
“Oh yo, so the Wind and Water Dancing Princess is dining in a place like this too, huh?”
“I would have thought you preferred the kind of restaurants Alweld frequents.”
So, high-class restaurants, then.
Yeah, Alweld seems like the type who’d eat somewhere with a membership or invitation policy.
“I go to those too, but when something tastes good, the place doesn’t matter.”
“Pii-pii… pii… pi-pii.”
“By the way, who’s that kid?”
Loliev looked at me suspiciously.
Well, fair enough — I’m just sitting here in the middle of this circus of chaos.
“I’m just sharing the table.”
“This kid here’s the one, yeah. The kid.”
“Gahahahaha! He’s a minor! Come on, drink, drink!”
“I’m underage.”
“Pii-pii… detected… large-scale singularity…”
A large-scale singularity!? Wait, is it talking about me!?
Loliev looked genuinely shocked.
“This is the first time I’ve seen it say anything other than ‘pi’.”
Ah, I knew it — that’s not normal, huh.
“So, did you come here for something?”
“No. Just running into you, you stubborn freak.”
Loliev sighed, then said, “Let’s go,” and headed up the stairs near the counter.
Apparently this place had a second floor — a VIP area.
“Fuu-yuu, still the same as ever, huh? The wild Dancing Princess, yeah!”
“Gahahaha! Lively girl.”
“Stubborn, you say? Yeah, that’s accurate.”
“Ho-ho. Hey, kid. Eat up, eat up, yeah!”
“I’m eating. Uh… are you drunk by any chance?”
“Oh, so you noticed. In fact, everyone except me is drunk.”
The kimono-clad young man said that smoothly.
Yeah, I figured. The afro guy just started shouting “Check it, yo-yo!” again.
“Gahahaha! Come on, drink, drink!”
“I’m underage.”
Alright… maybe it’s about time I escape from this hellish table.
How do I get out of here?
Still, that lemonade really was delicious.