Chapter 248


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「I’m grateful to you.」

Adam says in a gruff voice as he finishes his first beer.
Holy Knight Adam Arrogance—one of the three who oversee the Sealed Dungeon.
He has the looks of someone who could play an ex-CIA agent in a Hollywood movie, what you might call a handsome older gentleman.
Although I’ve barely spoken with him before, somehow I’ve ended up drinking with him.

「With this recent summoning, we Holy Knights have finally been properly acknowledged by the country for our achievements. The headwinds we’ve been facing should ease up and eventually disappear.」

When he mentions the headwinds, I find it difficult to respond.
The trigger for their contempt was, after all, the negative campaign against 「Holy Knight Yamada.」 Though I wasn’t the culprit, I couldn’t say I felt no guilt about it.

「Actually, I—」

Adam cuts off my words with a 「Wait, wait.」

「I’m not finished yet. To begin with, you saved us. If you hadn’t destroyed the Sealed Dungeon, we would have died before long. But I’m not going to furrow my brows and get into those details today. If you’re curious, ask Noble’s daughter about it.
Well, anyway, what I’m trying to say is, I’m grateful to you. So much so that if you ever find yourself in trouble, I’d be willing to risk my life to help you.」

Old men have this bad habit of becoming satisfied once they’ve said what they want to say. Adam is no exception—after saying his piece, he breaks into a smile befitting a Hollywood movie’s final scene with a handsome older lead actor.

「Well, enough of the serious talk. Here, drink up!」

Saga fills my sturdy glass to the brim. In my original world, saying 「drink up」 like that would be considered harassment, but for him, it’s as casual as picking his nose.
Well, since it’s a special occasion, I follow their lead and bring the glass to my lips.

The three of us make quite a bit of noise, talking about which parts of women we like, what gestures we find attractive—the kind of conversation that would make us unpopular if women heard it. An hour passes in what feels like an instant.
Then, just as my glass becomes empty for the umpteenth time, I hear a voice from behind me to the right.

「Having fun there, lad?」

When I whip around, I see it’s the old Chancellor, or rather, Chancellor Madison. The two older men, their faces already red from drinking, don’t even bother to show proper respect, instead glaring with attitude saying 「Huh?」

「You idiots!! That’s the Chancellor!! Saga, stop glaring!! Adam, stop staring him down!!」

In response to my warning, the old man says 「No need to worry about it」 with a laugh as he takes the last remaining seat at our square table.

「Ah, waiter. One beer, please. And a plate of assorted smoked foods.」

He’s fitting in quite naturally…
And so begins the drinking party between me, Adam, Saga, and Madison.
Talk about an intense group gathering in one place.


「Oh, what the hell!」

I down my new glass in one go as I shout.
While it’s a trying drinking session—feeling nervous, being forced to get refills—I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t fun.
Talking nonsense with fellow men (supposedly?) who understand each other, regardless of age or position, is indeed enjoyable.

「Ichiro, I’m sorry…」

As the alcohol takes effect, the old Chancellor seems to lose his memory and repeatedly apologizes to me.

「I’m so sorry, please forgive this old bag of bones…」

And not just once or twice.

「Uu-uuu, I’m so sorry…」

At first, I respond politely with 「Don’t worry about it. It couldn’t be helped,」 but gradually it becomes troublesome, and I start brushing him off with 「That’s enough! I get it! It’s fine!」
For some reason that isn’t particularly moving, Adam starts crying while pressing the corners of his eyes. This isn’t good. The alcohol is getting to him.

As more time passes, Saga becomes increasingly pushy about trying to set me up with his two daughters—Shion and Kanon.

I keep trying to decline, but under Saga’s fierce offensive, I eventually throw up both hands and say 「Please, give me a break.」 When the conversation enters the territory of the old man’s trump card—「What, you don’t like my daughters? (harassment)」—the old man who was crying earlier finally joins in.

「Ichiro, I have two daughters as well. Why don’t you marry one of them and become part of my family?」

It’s a bombshell statement.
This statement triggers a war between the old man and Saga over me.

「No! Ichiro belongs to us!」
「No! He’s coming to my place!」

What is this…!!
It’s like a harem of old men!!
Is this a love triangle centered around me?
I’m not happy about it at all. Obviously.
The scene looks terrible too. This is also obvious.

While I suffer being pulled by the arms from both the muscle-bound hulk and the old Chancellor, Hollywood actor Adam shows his white teeth and claps his hands with a 「Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!」 in applause.
It’s truly like the end of the world.


That’s all I can remember.
I just hope I didn’t say anything dangerous…
Anyway, come morning, the four of us who had become like corpses strewn about exchange some words like 「Never drinking again,」 「We went too far,」 「Anyone want to come get some hair of the dog?」 「No one’s going with you,」 「Then Saga, I’ll go with you,」 and after this brief chat, we exchange farewell greetings and leave.



As I start heading back, I hear footsteps behind me.

「Wait, Ichiro」

It’s the old Chancellor.

「We couldn’t talk properly. Next time, let’s have a proper conversation, just the two of us」

「Yes, we kind of… went overboard this time, didn’t we?」

「Well, never mind that. More importantly, what are your plans for today?」

「Around noon, I’m planning to go around the royal capital with Anon and the others」

「That’s fine then. Keep your evening free. Ragna and Siesta want to meet you.」

And that’s how it was decided.



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