episode_0109

109. Body adjustment (3)

“Hahahahaha!!”

“Drink!!”

The drinking party started in broad daylight, and they were drinking so much that even their parents didn’t recognize them.

“Cain.”

“Huh?”

“Eat this. Ah~”

These days, Sia sometimes brings me food when it’s mealtime.

This is definitely a different attitude from before, when he was a huge eater and would cutely eat food until his cheeks were swollen like a squirrel.

“Ah… Oh? It’s delicious.”

“Right?”

“Yeah, thanks Sia. Sia eats it too.”

Swish swish swish-

“Hehehe. Yum!”

“Drink less today, okay?”

“Yeah…”

Sia, who had a hard time after drinking too much on two recent occasions, is timidly sipping her beer today.

Claude and Mr. Hawk were already having a great time together, drinking together often in addition to going to the brothel, and Lauren was sitting awkwardly between them and me, drinking her beer and watching me.

“Lauren.”

“Uh…huh?”

“If you have any questions, ask Mr. Hawk. Even though he looks like that, he is a person who survived in the labyrinth city for 15 years.”

“Is that so?”

“Then honestly, no matter how great you are, the life of an explorer is a meaningless death. Just being alive and exploring until now is amazing.”

“Oh…oh…”

“Hahaha!!! Aren’t you putting too much gold on your face, Cain?”

Mr. Hawk, who had been chatting with Claude for a while, turned his head to my explanation and burst into hearty laughter.

“Hey~ What Cain said is true, uncle. It’s okay for you to be a little arrogant.”

“Is that so?”

“Okay, let’s do it!”

“Cheers!!!”

Claude, slightly drunk, clinks his beer glasses with Mr. Hawk and laughs heartily. Lauren observes the noisy atmosphere and slyly strikes up a conversation with Mr. Hawk.

“Ho…hok..!”

“Huh? Why are you like that, elf girl.”

“Ho…Do you know Juri?”

“Phew!!!”

“Gyaaaahh …

Lauren’s question was met with a screaming Hawk spurting beer directly at her face.

“Uh…how could you possibly know that woman’s name…?”

“Ah… oh… did Julie do something wrong to you…?”

“Big… Not like that…”

Lauren waved her hands and made a troubled expression at Hawk’s words, which were so intense that his beard twitched.

“Then what?”

“How do you know Juri? Even though they are all elves, I heard that they are not a race that interacts much with each other.”

“That’s….”

I told him not to tell anyone that I was his childhood friend, but after hearing that Hawk, who was close to our party, had been around the city for a long time, he probably wanted to hear more about his childhood friend.

People who heard that Julie was their best friend and childhood friend.

“Huh… You and that elf were childhood friends?”

“Sa…Thirty years? Hey, is that elf named Juri a woman?”

“Claude, ever since I first came to the Labyrinth City, that bitch has had a bad reputation…”

At Claude’s question, Mr. Hawk’s gaze turned to the distance and he began to recall anecdotes as if reminiscing about old times.

The story of Elf, who was nicknamed Red-Handed Juri because she always had blood on her hands due to her short blonde hair, copper-colored skin, and red eyes, is told by Mr. Hawk during her active years.

“When I first came to the city, I was already level 5? 6, I think. Anyway, I reached that level and stopped exploring and started settling down in the back alleys.”

Oh? Level 5 in 15 years? Not bad growth.

“Wow…. What kind of abilities did you have, sir?”

“Hmm… I don’t know.”

“Huh?”

It felt like a question mark was floating around everyone’s head with Claude’s stupid answer.

“There are still many people who speculate, but…. Juri did summon spirits, but that was only possible because she was an elf, and no one knew about her blessings or main techniques.”

“Huh….”

Usually, the explorer parties that are treated as rising rookies in the labyrinth city or go to the middle or higher levels tend to have their abilities or powers rumored to some extent along with their nicknames.

But there is no such information?

“Mister, then…”

“Yeah, the nickname Red Hand is one she got from fighting with people in the back alleys. There wasn’t even any information or rumors about the party she was looking for.”

“Lauren?”

“Uh…huh?”

Lauren flinched in surprise at my question.

“If you were my childhood friend… Didn’t you ever contact me or anything while you were in the Labyrinth City?”

“Ah…uh…yeah…we exchanged letters!”

“Then there was nothing written in that letter about how you lived your life as an explorer?”

“Um…. Now that I think about it.”

Lauren, who had been thinking deeply about my question, opened her eyes wide.

“That…yeah! The story about exploring was written in the letter, but it seems like it was just about the labyrinth city and meeting a man.”

“You’re strict even with your childhood friend. Are you not that close with him…?”

“Ah….no!!!”

thud!!

Lauren slammed the table, angered by my suspicious expression.

“No…Of course! Julie didn’t tell me about her whereabouts like that….But…!!”

“Don’t get too excited, Lauren.”

“Ah… Mi… I’m sorry. Cain.”

Lauren apologizes, having been briefly excited by my words.

“You know, you know too well. In this city, there is no one without a story.”

“Hmm… right.”

“Could there have been a story?”

“Well…. There really wasn’t anyone who got into trouble except for the people involved in the brothel.”

“Right?”

“Ah…! I did some gangster stuff.”

match!

“…?”

Mr. Hawk looked as if he was pondering for a while, then suddenly a thought occurred to him and he clapped his hands and continued talking.

“I was directly commissioned to go to the alchemy workshop on the magic tower, but I got banned from the magic tower permanently because I messed around with the collected items hahaha!!!”

“….”

This is a story I know, I didn’t tell Lauren to avoid getting hurt, but now I know it.

“Hmm… Other than that, I haven’t done anything particularly notorious.”

“Right? Probably the reason it was so notorious in the city was because most of the people who used the brothel were male explorers, so they got into trouble and got criticized for being so bad.”

“Hmm… I see… Now that I hear it, that’s true.”

When Hawk nodded in agreement with my guess, Lauren’s expression relaxed somewhat.

Knowing Lauren’s story, I looked at Lauren as a sudden thought occurred to me.

“Ah, Lauren, you said you ran away. Is Julie coming to find you?”

“….!!!”

Lauren flinches as if she had never thought of that story.

“Think about it, it hasn’t even been two months since you ran away from home and came to this labyrinth city, and now you’re probably going to find a way to track you down.”

“Ah…..”

“If I were your parent, I would somehow persuade your childhood friend, Juri, to come find you.”

“Huh…?”

“That’s right. My daughter’s childhood friend has been living in the labyrinth city for 30 years, and now my daughter has disappeared. So who should I suspect and question?”

“Ughh …

Lauren takes a deep breath at my reasoning.

Lauren’s eyes grew wide and her breathing became increasingly ragged, as if it was a completely unexpected perspective.

“Look, you can’t guarantee it either. Lauren, I heard last time that you have noble bloodlines among the elves, but what’s your childhood friend, Juri’s family like?”

“That…isn’t that special.”

“Then you have the answer. Have you heard what Juri said after she came back from the Labyrinth City that she wanted to come back again?”

“No, he said he would never come back again while gritting his teeth.”

“But the one sent by the elves will be Jury.”

“Uh…why Cain?”

I guess Lauren is confused. Well, maybe.

Although not as much as Laurence Sia, he continued to explain kindly because his mind was like a flower garden.

“At this point in time, the only elf with a name in the Labyrinth City is Juri. That means if you were to send someone from the elves to the Labyrinth City, Juri would be the perfect person.”

“That…isn’t it?”

“Then, I don’t know much about elven politics, but you’re also the daughter of a family that’s known for making a lot of money?”

“Ugh…”

“Then let’s say the successor of that family ran away. I don’t know exactly where he went, but I guess you and Juri’s letters will lead you to the Labyrinth City. If you were to send someone to catch you again, who would you send?”

“….!!!!”

Lauren, whose thoughts are as simple as her body, flinches greatly.

“Hawk uncle.”

“Um…”

At first, Hawk was called in to help with Lauren’s physical adjustments and training, but as they discussed the situation together, his expression hardened.

“I don’t think I can call you my disciple after seeing you for just one day… But I guess we trained together. If something happens, I’ll lend a helping hand.”

“Oh…”

“Khhh!!!”

When I looked at him with a sense of surprise, Mr. Hawk burst into an awkward, embarrassed laugh.

“Why, do I feel like I’m the kind of person who shouldn’t even be providing this kind of human help?”

“Hmm… To be honest, it’s a little surprising. It’s the first time I’ve seen an old man do such a favor.”

“You little brats, do you think that taking care of your party wasn’t a favor!”

“That’s because of the mentoring program, the old man got paid to do it.”

“Ugh!!”

After saying that, Mr. Hawk said nothing more and drank some more beer before returning to his lodgings.