Chapter 42: What Happened in the City of Water (3)

Miki was indeed a shy person, but the usual sheepish reaction and this flustered, unable-to-even-meet-my-eyes reaction were… definitely different.

“Uh…”

Something… something definitely happened.

“…Hey, Rine.”

At that, I approached Rine and whispered quietly.

“Did I… do something… at the drinking party yesterday?”

As far as I could remember, Rine hadn't drunk much, and even if she had drunk a lot after that, Rine was someone who would never get drunk.

Of course, since she was immune not just to alcohol but to all sorts of ‘debuffs’.

So I thought Rine might be able to fill in the blank in my memory……

“…….”

Rine looked up at me silently, then simply nodded her head without a word.

Wait, what?

What does that nod mean?

Perhaps sensing my sudden confusion, Rine took it a step further and raised her index finger to her lips with a look that seemed to say, ‘trust me’.

As if she would never tell anyone.

……Wait, what the hell??

For Rine to react like that, it was clear that the me from my lost memories had made her keep quiet.

If not, Rine would have surely given me the answer right away.

So what on earth did I do that I had to make her keep it a secret……?

“Puhahak!”

Just then, Ibi, who had been suffering from a hangover, suddenly shot up and burst out laughing.

“You, don't tell me you don't remember a single thing you did yesterday?”

“……What?”

“You lightweight bastard, I knew it when you got wasted from just that much── Uuup!”

But not long after, Ibi quickly covered her mouth and bent over again.

…Well, to be honest, even if Ibi had been fine, she probably wouldn't have told me the truth.

Rather, she would have used this situation to mess with me.

Whatever it was, I had to confirm at least this one thing for sure.

“By any chance… I didn't take off my mask in front of anyone, did I?”

“You did not.”

This time, Rine answered promptly and shook her head.

“……Well, then I guess it's fine.”

If it wasn't a case of someone being 「Charmed」 because I had thrown off my mask in a drunken stupor… no, even if they were, as long as it wasn't a companion in this party, it wouldn't cause a major problem for our future travels.

“…No.”

Unless there was a possibility that Rine hadn't seen it herself.

That's why I approached Ibi, who was still bent over, and leaned in just like her, whispering quietly in her ear.

“Hey, Ibi. You… you haven't fallen for me or anything, have you…?”

“Guweeeeeek──”

“Agh.”

As Ibi started to pour a rainbow again, I hastily stepped back.

Anyway, that reaction was answer enough.

So, all that was left was…

“…Miki?”

Miki, who had been called by his name, once again showed a startled reaction.

“By any chance, what do you think of me?”

“W-Whaat!?”

“…Never mind. I'll ask more specifically. What do you think of my face?”

“M-My face…?!”

At that, Miki couldn't answer easily and seemed to be fidgeting, then he continued in a voice that couldn't hide his shyness.

“I… from the first time I saw you, I thought you were a very beautiful person…”

“…Really? Thanks.”

As I stared at Miki's face and observed his reaction, Miki eventually got embarrassed again and quickly turned his head away.

But fortunately, it was definitely not a ‘charmed’ reaction.

Most importantly, his eyes were just their usual blue.

And Rine, who was still staring at me, well, she had ‘Charm Immunity’.

“Hmm.”

At least, judging by the reactions of the three of them, it didn't seem like anyone was 「Charmed」, or at least that I had made a mistake that would cause a crack in our relationship… so this should be enough for now.

If it wasn't something that would cause problems in the future, it might be better for me not to dig into it.

Sometimes in life, there are memories that are better left forgotten.

Yeah, well, I probably got wasted and did some embarrassing dance or something!

It happens!

“Crazy axe-murderer bastard…….”

“Ah, you done puking?”

“Thanks to you, you son of a bitch….”

Ibi's complexion as she stood up, saying this, still didn't look very good.

“What kind of crazy talk are you spouting now? Are you still drunk?”

“It's an important issue, so I had to check before we go. Whether our party can continue.”

And whether we can go save the world as planned.

“As you all know, I'm a little, pretty, right?”

“I really want to hit you with an axe.”

What can I do, it's the truth.

To be in a position where I always have to check if my companions, with whom I've fought back-to-back, have fallen for me.

Ah, the life of a 「Kingdom-Toppling Beauty」 is truly a hard one.

“…Sh*t, I feel like I'm going to puke again.”

Stout is the city of liquor.

As a place overflowing with the most delicious liquors on the continent, it's also a place overflowing with people drunk on that liquor at every opportunity.

So what do those drunk people do?

That's why there was a saying in this world.

“What happens in Stout, stays in Stout.”

“What?”

“There's a saying, right?”

Also, Stout is the city of water.

As I've said before, facilities using water were installed all over the city.

In other words, it means that the facilities for ‘disposing’ of that water were also well-prepared.

“Rine? If you would.”

At my words, Rine quietly nodded and lightly raised her staff, and.

Chwaaak!

The 「Water Bomb」 that poured out cleanly washed away the ‘traces’… in the direction I had gestured and sent them flowing into a nearby sewer.

Like many things that happened in Stout.

“──Well then.”

Now that the cleanup was done.

“Shall we go now?”

It was time to hit the road again.

* * *

“Alright, take a look here.”

Chwaak!

I spread the map wide and placed it on the floor so that everyone gathered around could see it.

It was a map of the eastern part of the Zodiac continent, where we would be traveling.

“First, this is the Wall.”

Then I placed a finger on it and said.

“And this is Stout. So from here, like this, I plan to go up along the Starlight Coast road.”

As my finger gradually moved up and eventually pointed to the port city of ‘Tiaria’, Ibi and Miki both flinched at the same time.

Both of them had their ‘homes’ there.

“Th-Then our next destination will be ‘Daian’!”

As if to forcefully push that fact out of his mind, Miki said in a more energetic voice than usual.

“Yup, that's right.”

As Miki said, if we followed the path I had just traced, we would naturally stop by Daian.

One of the 12 cities── the city of wind, which served the god of wind, ‘Dairus’.

However.

“But there's a place we need to stop by first.”

“A place to stop by?”

“You see a village here, right?”

I lowered my raised finger and pointed to the village mark drawn between Stout and Daian.

“Sista Village…?”

Miki, who saw it, tilted his head, and then.

--

Michael Irons

[History] Success

--

“Ah, it's the village that serves the goddess of the hearth, ‘Sistina’!”

He succeeded in the [History] check and immediately came up with the answer himself.

The gods of this world were not just the twelve gods of the 12-God Religion.

Those twelve gods were just the ones with the most followers and the highest divinity in the human world.

There were many other gods in this world besides them, and the goddess of the hearth, Sistina, was one of them.

“You know it?”

“What? Ah, no. I've never been there myself, but I remember hearing stories about it.”

That was understandable.

As you can see from the map, Sista Village was a small village, but it was quite well-known for its size.

To be precise, it would be more accurate to say that the goddess they served, Sistina, was widely known.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Sistina was the most worshipped god among those who were not one of the 12 gods.

She wasn't a god who was worshipped in a large temple, but a god who was part of people's daily lives.

For example, even those without a particular faith would pray to Sistina whenever they wanted to finish their hard day's work and rest in front of the hearth.

“Sistina is known as a gentle goddess, just like the hearth she presides over.”

And as a village that served such a goddess, Sista was a peaceful and warm village.

“As a place where the followers of Sistina are gathered, it's famous as a village that welcomes any weary traveler without any conditions.”

“I've heard a little about that place too.”

Suddenly, Ibi, who had been listening quietly, interjected.

“What was it? The ‘Swamp’?”

“It certainly had that nickname too.”

As Ibi said, among adventurers, there were those who called Sista the ‘Swamp’.

“Because they're so welcoming, many people are so moved by the atmosphere that they end up staying in the village for a few days or months, and eventually settle down there.”

They say that by the time they come to their senses, they have become not just a follower of Sistina, but a villager themselves, and so once you fall in, you're helplessly drawn in and your adventure ends there.

In terms of not being able to continue the adventure, it was certainly one of the fatal, though not malicious, traps.

“Ha, they're all just playing games.”

Ibi sneered at that and commented.

“There's no such thing as unconditional kindness in this world. It's all a tactic. That's how they plan to increase the followers of the god they believe in.”

Sure enough, at Ibi's cynical perspective, a small chuckle escaped me.

“Still cynical today, aren't we, Ms. Ibi?”

“I'm just speaking the truth.”

And don't f*cking call me that.

Ibi immediately narrowed her brow and added.

“W-Was that so…!?”

Meanwhile, Miki, who had taken Ibi's words very seriously, had a shocked expression.

“Of course, boy. That's just how the world is.”

“That’s…”

“You don't have to take it so seriously, Miki.”

Though Ibi would deny it, at least their kindness was real.

It wasn't a plan carried out with careful calculation, but just them purely following the teachings of Sistina.

“Anyway, we'll stop here first to resupply for the trip to Daian.”

And there, I plan to welcome a new companion.

“Who knows? Maybe those people will melt your cold worldview with the warmth of their hearth.”

“Ha, bullsh*t. Let them try.”

Of course, I had no intention of naively saying that this world was a warm place either.

But there are always exceptions.

Sista was that exception.

It was a warm village, full of truly warm people.

* * *

Hwareureuk!

Torches flickered.

“There is no place for you here anymore! Leave our village at once, outsiders!”

Then one of the people holding a torch shouted at us in a loud voice.

“If you come any closer…! With the flames of Lady Sistina, we will bu-burn you…!”

“Well, you were certainly right.”

At that, Ibi glanced at me and jeered.

“It seems those guys are going to melt us for real.”