Day-off tomorrow but before that dinner.

It was unlucky for me to have that on my first quest.

The magic spell Mira used on the Finral Forest was worthy of being a B Rank.

I wonder if she has some stronger spells.

Speaking about rank, there was no change in my Ranklet and mastery of the abilities.

Well, it was my first quest so it won’t level up that quick.

Mira did say that achieving C Rank is easy to achieve but the question is—how easy is it? How many quests or hours of training will it take to get me from F Rank to E Rank?

There was no clear indication of it. The simplest answer to that depends on the adventurers’ potential itself.

Sigh. Me having a scrawny build, it might take a long one for me though.

And with such conflicts residing me, I returned to my room.

A new set of clothes are on top of the bed.

I took a bath and an extensive one at that too.

The hot water never gets old. It feels great. Damn, I sounded like what an elderly would say.

My eyes feel heavy all of a sudden but I can’t fall asleep yet.

“Today was definitely tiresome.”

F Rank. I can't get it out of my system. What will change within me if I ranked up? Perhaps there would be an increase in my internal mana? Or my overall stats would improve?

I’ve still got a lot of ways to go.

Anyway, I just got to trust Mira’s credibility on it.

After all, I’m at the bottommost level and the only way for me is to go up.

Besides, there’s also the alternative of living a decadent lifestyle.

I have the money.

I suppose being an adventurer for me is just a sort of entertainment, plain and simple.

Even though I’m not used to killing—no, that sounded inhumane—fighting monsters to the state of unconsciousness. There, it fits better.

Adjusting to it was harder than I expected it to be.

After dipping on the long bath, I changed my clothes and folded my adventurer attire, placing it above the table.

I still have twenty minutes or so.

… … …

As expected, no one is in the lobby yet.

I spent my time just gazing at the night sky.

There are several twinkling stars tonight.

Did you know that if there are stars in the sky, the probability of rain is very low?

Even though I had no memories of my past, I know this kind of trivia. Hahaha.

I don’t know if it’s just me but doing this felt really nostalgic.

It was similar to yesterday. The time I woke up, if I may call it, I was looking at the sky.

Is there a hidden meaning to it? Nah. Even if I dwell on it, nothing will happen.

Changing the topic, do they even close this door?

Last night it was wide open and let me remind you that we got home at a very late hour.

What if there’s a robbery attempt? Nah. An idiot would only do that.

“Hehe, look who’s early?”

Amidst my imagination of thieves barging in, Aeri who’s behind me said that in a teasing manner.

“There wasn’t anything much to do anyway so I waited here instead.”

I turned to them as I replied.

Both of them had matching sleeping pajamas again.

“If you want, you can visit the library here and take some books.”

Mira suggested.

Hm, there’s a library here. I’m not fond of reading but there might be interesting ones there.

“Where's the library at?”

“It’s at the back of the mansion.”

I haven’t checked the back part yet. I suppose I’ll do it tomorrow and it’s a day off as well. It might be a good pastime.

Shortly, Ranju showed up with the exact condition as yesterday.

From the rambling of the two up to the ordering of food was a complete repeat.

Even the food, it’s basically the same.

“Thank you, Chi.”

The waitress lady winked at us and left the table.

“Do you guys always order the same meal every dinner?”

“Yes.”

The three said in unison and with coordinated nodding.

“…”

Having heard that, I haven’t further spoken about it and proceeded with my meal.

Of course, I ordered something different. I wanted to try it all and evaluate what suited my palate the best.

After taking the last bite, there’s a creaking sound behind me.

It seemed another expected scenario is about to happen.

Intuitively, Ranju and I had our line of sight met with one another.

That being the case, we suddenly stood up and the creak behind me stopped.

“Let’s go, Ranju.”

“Yeah, I’m going all out this time.”

I turned around to see that our opponent's faces were utterly shocked.

We had confidence in our skills and will not back down from their petty menace.

… … …

“““DRINK! DRINK! DRINK! DRINK! DRINK! DRINK! DRINK! DRINK! DRINK!”””

Gulping the non-alcoholic wine in one go, I raised a fist.

Burp!

“““WOOOOOOOO! REIJI! REIJI! REIJI! REIJI! REIJI!”””

The stout men cheered for me.

Mira was merrily clapping her hands with a lovely smile.

That caused the stout men to blush in enchantment. I understand that too…

“Never fear, everyone! Ranju, the hero of Wilsche is here!”

Just to be clear, we made sure it was non-alcoholic.

I swear on the Guild Master’s name that Ranju wasn’t drunk. It was just him spouting one of his embarrassing lines.

When Aeri heard that, she laughed loud enough that even though I was situated on the counter I can hear it.

“““DRINK! DRINK! DRINK! DRINK! DRINK! DRINK! DRINK! DRINK! DRINK!”””

Cough! Cough!

Ranju gagged mid-way gulping the non-alcoholic wine.

“““BWAHAHAHAHA! ORANCHU! ORANCHU! ORANCHU! ORANCHU! ORANCHU!”””

This made Mira panickily ran toward him and lightly caressed his back.

Aeri tailed on just to continue mocking on his ruined face.

“Hey! My name is… Ranju! RANJU!”

He said while still coughing from the drink.

“Don’t worry about the beverage kid. It might taste like wine but it has zero percent alcohol content. Drink to your heart’s content.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll gladly take that.”

I reclined my back on the counter. The owner had a bottle of beer on his side.

“Are you sure you should be drinking? How about the customers? You’re the cook, right?”

“Hahaha! You’re right… But my regulars here are mostly you guys and those idiots right over there drinking away their lives.”

He made a big gulp of beer and let out a satisfied breath from his mouth.

“Ever since Miss Aeri, Ranju, and you came along, Miss Mira got a lot livelier than before. That’s why the idiots here are thankful to you all.”

I looked at the rowdy people who could be easily misconstrued as violent.

Never judge a book by its cover, they say.

“Not just us. There’s a reason why Mira always goes here. And what I meant is not the food.”

The owner beamed at me and I beamed back.

“Hey! Reiji! It’s your turn now!”

That was too fast. It’s my turn again? I guess the round is just starting, better boast a little even if my drink is literally for non-adult.

“Got it! And make it double!”

“““WOOOOOOOOOO!”””

Before heading back to them, I turned to the owner one last time and confidently said.

“If you want to see Mira being lively, then we just need to make sure that every time she’s dejected—she’ll remember this moment.”

That was a cringy statement but I guess that was what I really want to convey.

“Hey! Reiji!”

“Coming!”

The exhilaration went for a while. The usual sing-along and arm wrestling competition.

After they settled for that, I had gone out of the picture.

I just spectated them from afar and noticed that Mira was sitting nearby.

She had a wine cup with her and would take a sip from time-to-time.

Aeri was happily beside Ranju who’s competing at the moment.

Something tells me that there’s more than meets the eye.

Setting that aside, I walked towards Mira and had taken a seat.

“Good thing that there aren’t any complaints otherwise we would’ve been evicted from the capital.”

Well, it’s not like there’s a sound leaking from the outside and if there was, the ordinary people wouldn’t dare it.

Unless the officials will take action for themselves.

“The place has a sound-proof emblem that obstructs the noise so even with the loudness of the place, it won’t bother anyone.”

Mira stared at the ceiling which prompted me to do the same.

There are square intricate paintings attached to the light fixtures.

That must be it.

As I think of that, the clank of the glass bottle made me look down once more.

Mira was pouring the bottle into her cup… It was an alcoholic wine.

“Hey, Mira, don’t drink that. It might get you drunk.”

“I’m fine, Reiji. I’m already at the legal age.”

I bleakly stared at her and straightforwardly asked.

“May I ask, what age are you, young lady?”

“I’m already eighteen.”

Hm, so eighteen is the legal age of drinking and she’s a year older than me…

No! That’s not it.

“Just limit yourself, Mira. You’ll get a hangover if you drink too much.”

“Yes, I can still hold myself up as of now.”

“So, when did you start drinking?”

After taking a sip, she answered.

“Just from yesterday, Chi gave me one.”

Oh, so she’s the culprit. It’s her fault. Where is she?

Just around the corner, I saw that woman. She had a wine glass in her hand and hailed it at me.

She had an expression saying “cheers.”

This poisonous lady...

When we were about to leave, I got a sidelong glance below Mira’s table.

The sidelong glance turned into gawk after counting the number of bottles underneath.

There were eight bottles in total.

Don’t tell me... But she’s walking fine and all, maybe it wasn’t hers.

Yeah, you just need to refuse to believe, Reiji.

As we left the inn, a familiar scene came into view.

“GOODBYE, MISS MIRA, MISS AERI, REIJI, AND ORANCHJUS!”

Grownups sobbing like infants.

“Oy! Oy! Who the hell is Oranchjus?!”

I plopped right straight into the soft bed and slowly crawled where the pillows are.

The day ended on a positive note overall and I closed my eyes.