Hello again! How are you doing? Well enjoy!
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Hawk's Inn
"Well, cheers for you two!"
"Cheers."
"Well, cheers?"
Two girls and one boy were having a celebration at one table in the corner of the tavern. While the older girl had alcohol in her glass, the other two had fruit juice in their glasses as they simply did not want to consume alcohol.
"To think you two would break the record of the fastest to reach Rank C, I still have a hard time believing it you know?"
Sarah spoke with a loose smile unlike her usual professional one as she drank her drinks until only half was left. She was feeling a bit free after having some time off from her work.
While Sylvie was a bit surprised at her sudden change of attitude, Hiiragi only felt like it was normal for her to act like that. He knew that acting professionally would obviously take too much energy and sometimes people might want to let loose to release the tension.
Hiiragi drank his fruit juice with a little happiness as his plan had proceeded better than he thought. At least, he had enough reason to be known by some people.
"You know, actually I don't know you guys too well and likewise for you. I wonder why do you accept my participation in your celebration, though I know that I was the one who suggested it."
Sarah asked. She was curious of why they would accept her and not suspect one bit of her since she suddenly just jumped into their circle.
"My intuition told me you're not a bad person. I trust my intuition."
Hiiragi answered like it was nothing to be strange of. What he said was simply true, his intuition had helped him along the way in his life. Although he always acted according to his calculation and deduction, his intuition always aid him in many situations.
"Well, for me it's always better to celebrate with more people. It make things merrier."
If Hiiragi's answer was intuition, then Sylvie's would be emotions. Sylvie just thought that it would be more enjoyable with more people joined them especially Sarah who always treats them professionally even though they looked like someone who was too young for dangerous things.
Sarah could only smile wryly hearing their answers.
"You know, you should be suspicious of people who got close to you so suddenly. Not everyone is as kind as me, you know? They would try to take advantage of you."
She gave them an advice out of the blue. She was a bit worries about them who still did not experience what she had been through.
Hiiragi who heard her words replied back with an ironic tone.
"Not everyone is as kind as you....that could also be turned into 'not everyone is as evil as you thought' , you know?"
That struck Sarah quite a bit. She was surprised by Hiiragi's wordplay.
Not everyone is as kind as you, but not everyone is as evil as you thought...good saying, Hiiragi.
Sarah thought of Hiiragi's word. She chuckled bitterly at his words.
"Well, you could say that. Not everyone would be as bad as I thought. You're the perfect example for that."
"Me?"
Sarah pointed to Hiiragi as she spoke. On her face was one of mischievousness.
"When I first saw you, I felt like you are someone who could kill without caring for anything when something hurt you or something you loved. But, surprisingly you didn't even fight back when the other adventurer picked a fight with you."
"Well, that's because it would be troublesome if I did. Things could turn out worse if I do."
"That's good. Able to know when to fight and when not to. An important quality of an adventurer."
Hiiragi began eating his meals after replying to Sarah. He was quite hungry after not having to eat for an entire day except breakfast. Spending his energy to kill many goblins took a load of him. Therefore, he decided to fill his stomach until he couldn't anymore tonight.
The conversation changed partner from Hiiragi to Sylvie who was enjoying her food while listening to the previous conversation.
"I am curious about you, Sylvie. In my eyes, you do not look like a simple girl. May I have the pleasure to know?"
"Hmm, I can't say much but let's just say there's more to me than meets the eyes. Knowing more could be disadvantageous for you."
"I see, well anything to talk about your boyfriend?"
Sarah pointed to Hiiragi as she asked with a teasing and interested grin on her face. It was a face of a mischievous yet curious woman.
Sylvie was frozen like a statue for a moment.
"Boyfriend? You mean, Hiiragi?"
She asked in confusion and confirmation. Sarah nodded.
"Well, who else would I meant? You two are together from the moment I know you and you seemed like you have an inseparable relationship."
"You could say that, but he's not my boyfriend and I'm not his girlfriend. Our relationship was like, how do you say.......? Partner maybe. Whatever it may be, it is definitely not a romantic relationship."
Sylvie added while she moved another spoon into her mouth. Seeing her like that, Sarah lost her excitement and enjoyed her food as well.
"Same for me. As beautiful as she is, I don't feel anything romantic will come between us. If there is anything more, it might be that we simply seeking warmth of another."
Hiiragi said while looking at Sylvie for confirmation. He got his answer of whether he looked at Sylvie as a romantic partner or not and it was a no for him.
"I understand. By the way, why aren't you guys drinking?"
"We're drinking for your information. Fruit juice. It's delicious by the way. Not too sweet. Just the way I like it."
Hiiragi answered and he took another sip of his fruit juice.
"What I meant was why are you two not drinking any alcoholic beverages? You two are not minors right?"
In this world, any humans would be considered an adult at the age of fifteen. After that age, they could delve into any activity they wanted.
Hiiragi and Sylvie were past that age and yet they did not drink any alcoholic beverages even though they were allowed to.
Sylvie was the first one to state her reason.
"I am not very good with alcohol and in fact, I think I would vomit at my first sip. I am capable of forcing myself to drink but I prefer not to. I could handle the smell however."
"Oh, such a waste. I'd love to have a drink with you."
"Sorry about that."
"It's okay. Nothing could be done. How about you, Hiiragi?"
Sarah changed her target to Hiiragi. She was curious why he would not drink. Hiiragi made a hesitant expression as he explained.
"Well, I just, you know. Not too good in drinking and my little sister always tell me to never ever drink any alcohol without her beside me. To be honest, I am not interested in drinking at all and would not drink even if I was offered to for free."
"Really? Just because you little sister told you to? Wait, you have a little sister?"
"Yes, she is very adorable in fact. Unfortunately, she is not with me."
Sarah was surprised to know that Hiiragi has a younger sister but she was more surprised that Hiiragi decided not to drink because she told her to. While he himself stated that he would not drink if he could, it sounded to Sarah that the main reason was Hiiragi's little sister.
"You're missing a big part of your life."
Sarah said while looking at him in exasperation. Hiiragi only said back.
"Well, I'm enjoying myself."
"Well, whatever. Roana-chan, two– no, make it four glasses of 'glimp' please!"
"Okay, just a minute."
Roana went back into the kitchen to fetch 'glimp' as Sarah ordered.
"What did you order?"
Hiiragi asked her. Sarah answered him with a mischievous grin.
"Just another fruit juice. I'm sure you will love it."
"Okay...?"
Although Sarah said it was a fruit juice, Hiiragi's intuition told him that it was not all of it. There was something more of the 'glimp'.
After a minute, Roana came and put down four glasses of 'glimp'. Sarah thanked her and Roana went back to serving other customers.
"What is this glimp?"
"A fruit juice. I promise you it was a juice made out of a fruit. I always had it if I don't want to drink wine or liquor."
"If you say so, you're drinking all four glasses. You sure had a big stomach for that."
"No, silly. Let's toast. You should drink one for yourself. Sylvie might be better not drinking this since she is still eating and this could make your stomach full just from drinking this."
"I don't mind. Go along with her, Hiiragi."
"Well, if you say so."
Hiiragi toasted with Sarah and he drank the glimp as Sarah downed hers.
As the taste reached his tongue, Hiiragi felt like he was elevated. The taste surprised him. It was sweet yet not too sweet. Pleasant and definitely very smooth. It went down his throat like water. It was definitely a fruity taste like Sarah said.
By the time he noticed it, the glass was already empty.
"See, told you it was fruit juice."
Sarah said with a mischievous smile on her face. Her plan succeeded.
Glimp. It was a drink made out of a fruit called glimptous. The fruit was very famous for being tasty and healthy for humans. However, the main reason it was famous was because of it contain alcohol despite being a fruit. The mere juice made out of the fruit was rated as 46% alcohol despite the fruity taste.
Therefore, what Sarah said was not wrong. It was a fruit juice. It was just that she left out the alcoholic fruit juice part.
Her plan succeeded. She simply planned to prank Hiiragi by making him drink an alcoholic beverages. It was just a harmless prank.
That's why, she never expected that something could happen soon and she would really regret her own actions...
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The Heroes Journey
Miyuu suddenly shivered as she felt a sudden cold went down her back. It felt like something she never expected was happening. Yukari who was beside her noticed her action and asked out of worries.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just felt like something is happening to Hiira-nii. Not anything bad, but..."
Miyuu tried to explain her feelings but she could not understand it herself. Yukari knew that and comforted her.
"Well, since he's Hiira-kun he'll probably be fine."
"I know but somehow, it felt like his surrounding would get in trouble."
"What? I don't understand that."
"Me too. You know..."
Miyuu tried to explain again. But this time, she used her previous experience regarding her intuition.
Before that, the other heroes closed on to them as they noticed their talks.
"Hey, what interesting things are you talking about?"
Haruto joined the conversation as the others lent their ears. Miyuu just answered that she was just thinking of Hiiragi. Haruto remained in the conversation as he listened to Miyuu's story.
"You know, I had this same feeling when Hiira-nii drank some alcohol some time ago. It was by accident actually. It was disastrous. He was drunk just from half of the glass of a little alcohol and he was gone for a few hours. It took all of me to keep him sane."
"Oh, that time huh? Sure was a surprise that he couldn't hold himself well with alcohol."
Yukari muttered in her breath.
"What happened actually?"
Rina asked as she was very curious of what happened. Miyuu could only smile bitterly at her question.
"Well, Hiira-nii was happening. He had gone from a calm and collected person into an outrageously uncontrollable person. I could not explain it very well since he was simply indescribable. I don't know if Yu-onee-chan could explain it though."
"Even I could not explain what happened, Myu-chan....."
"I wonder what happened...."
Rina asked as she stared into the sky again. The sky was pretty as the stars were glittering brightly in the dark night. It was a peaceful moment for them....but not for those around Hiiragi.
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A shorter chapter this time. Thanks for reading. Please vote and comment.
Cyclone out! Peace~✓✌😄