Translator: P411

Editor: Shizukuku

Read at Watashi Wa Sugoi Desu!

Chapter 164 – Give me the alcohol! Alcohol!

Yuuta, who had obtained top-secret info from me, dropped an equally profound story in return on his way home.

“It seems the hero is training us to fight the Demon King. When we went drinking together the other day, he said it with a really serious look on his face. That’s why he wants us to get stronger. It didn’t sound like a joke to me or the members of [ Platinum Lion ]. It also sounds like he’s carefully selecting members. He actually rejected other players who saw us and requested that he train them too. He told them ‘I’m too busy loving my wife’. The players were left speechless by that reason and went back.” 

Was that really a good reason to refuse though? It already seemed like there was no one around him to question it. Well, just as expected of the hero.

But to fight the Demon King?

It seemed he was determined to break Sara-san’s seal… Could it be that the Demon King would break free when the seal is broken? And at that time, he would use the revival potion that I made to bring her back or something like that… Now I felt like Sage-san was using the secret dungeons as bait to gauge the players’ dispositions. Or something like that.

With a fake laugh, I sent Yuuta off. He said he was going to the north today to hunt with the hero. And he also said that his level was steadily going up. If it were me in his shoes, I wouldn’t be able to endure it every day.

Then, I suddenly wondered, was it okay for Yuuta to drink as a minor? Because the hero had offered alcohol to a minor. Such a terrifying frontier region. Oh, but Yuuta corrected this misinformation later on, saying they were offered tea instead.

But I needed to raise my personal level along with all my other skills. I wanted to raise my alchemist level, too. And my prayer skill as well, of course.

Thinking about my all-around low level in every skill, I sighed and put on my headgear. There was so much to do that my mind was a mess.

But I’d do what I could. 

After logging in, the first thing I did was head to the gate.

Yuuta had agreed to send me more fire liquor, but not being able to get it immediately was pretty tough, so I wanted to somehow establish a way to get liquor here.

The simplest way was to buy from Crash’s shop under Vidello-san’s name, but I didn’t want to cause trouble for Vidello-san.

When I arrived at the gate, Vidello-san was standing there in his gatekeeper’s armor.

“Huh, just you?”

“Mac. Are you going out now?”

“No, I came to talk to you and Blossom-san, but it’s rare to see only one gatekeeper.”

As I looked around, the door opened and Blossom-san came out wearing his armor.

“Ah, hello Blossom-san.”

“Hey, Mac. Going out somewhere today? If you can wait a bit, we’re about to have a shift change, so he can leave soon.”

“I’m here to have a quick chat today, but are you all busy?”

“Well, we’re a bit short on staff, so it’s gonna take a while to fill in. But it’s okay.”

I didn’t think it was okay at all. I thought I shouldn’t go out on a day like this. Because if I took Vidello-san away, the gate would be in trouble.

But since Vidello-san and Blossom-san were here, I thought it might be okay here too. 

“Um, where can I get some really strong alcohol? Like the kind with high purity or something.” 

As soon as I said it, they realized what materials I was looking for.  Blossom-san told me to wait and went back inside.

“You look busy. Should I come back another day?”

“No, Blossom will be off tomorrow, so why don’t you wait here or inside for a bit? Today is fine.”

“…Okay.”

I hoped I wasn’t interrupting his work.

But even with that thought in mind, I couldn’t stop grinning because I felt so comfortable standing next to him. What if I got caught as a suspicious person? 

“And why are you short on staff?”

“Ah, there’s a guy who got a bit injured earlier.”

“Wait, I have a high potion with me?”

Injuries could be healed with a high potion, right? So I took out a few S-ranked high potions and gave them to Vidello-san. He seemed to have taken them reflexively, because he looked into his arms and smiled, then returned them to me.

“No, the injury itself is fine now. But it would be hard on him if we made him work on the same day, wouldn’t it? That’s why we’re filling in his post so it’s alright. But, Mac, thank you.”

“Well, it’s fine if he’s okay.”

When I tried to give the potions to him again, he firmly refused, so I gave up and put them back in my inventory. Next time, I’d force Blossom-san to take them all as a gift.

While plotting such a plan, I casually observed people passing through the gate beside Vidello-san.

More than half of them were players, and not many locals left the gate on foot.

Every once in a while, a big kid would run over to the edge of the forest, pick some herbs, and come back. I wondered if he was working for a wage. Quite impressive for a kid.

The locals greeted the gatekeeper with a smile, but players didn’t do that often. Every once in a while, one of them would wave a hand to say hello, but it was relatively rare.

Watching myself from a different perspective, I could see how much I got entangled with the gatekeepers.

“When I first came here, did I bother the gatekeepers a lot? Like disturbing them.”

When I grumbled, Vidello-san’s gauntleted hand rested on my head.

“If I thought like that, we wouldn’t be in a relationship like this. I was really happy and had a lot of fun too. Don’t even talk about bothering us, you’ve been helping us a lot. Besides, everyone seemed to be waiting for you to come back, so I was quite jealous.”

“…Thank goodness. Usually, there’s quite a distance between foreigners and gatekeepers.”

“If there are foreigners that we’re distant with, there are also foreigners that we’re friendly with, and of course, there are also folks here in Tre that we’re still unfamiliar with. It is different for everyone. I was very happy that I was able to talk to you.”

His words made my heart flutter. I really liked his character, which hadn’t changed at all since the moment I met him.

When I was so happy that my face looked like some kind of suspicious person, Blossom-san without armor and two people with armor came out of the door.

“Mac, sorry to make you wait. Come on inside. You too, Vidello.”

I looked up at the two people who came out as I replied to Blossom-san’s call, and I was patted on the head by the two of them in turn.

“We’ll watch the city, so you go in and talk well with Blossom. Vidello, hurry in also.”

“Mac, also thank you always for your generous gifts.”

“Oh, you’re welcome!”

While replying to them, I followed Vidello-san inside.

I was really happy about these things.

Once inside, Blossom-san passed through the usual break room and entered the corridor at the back. I was a little confused, stepping into a new area, different from the corridor where Vidello-san’s room was located.

The atmosphere was different from the living quarters.

“Is it okay for me to come in here?”

When I looked up at Vidello-san in confusion, he smiled at me saying, “It’s okay,” to reassure me. 

The room I was led to was a little smaller than Vidello-san’s room, with a run-down-looking door, and just a desk, some chairs, and a shelf inside.

“Well, it’s not good to talk about drinking to a minor in public so I brought us back here. Here, have a seat.”

I straightened my back as I sat down in a chair and thought the room looked a lot like a conference room. 

Blossom-san, perhaps sensing my nervousness, chuckled and said, “Don’t be so tense. So, what do you want to talk about?”

He broke the ice by starting a conversation, so I asked him about the alcohol.

“Is there a place where I can get alcohol to make an anti-curse potion? I’m underage so it seems hard for me to get it.”

“Hmm, a strong one with high purity, correct? …Not for drinking though, right?”

“I won’t drink it.”

Blossom-san laughed at me when I replied dejectedly and slumped my shoulders at his words, while he glanced at me meaningfully, as if he was analyzing me. I won’t drink it, okay? I’d heard from Yuuta that I wouldn’t grow taller if I drank alcohol. When I blurted that out, even Vidello-san looked as if he was trying to hold back his laughter.

“Actually, there isn’t any strong alcohol around here. The frontier town is famous for fire liquor, and Sette has fruit wine, but there isn’t much of that around here. Moreover, we only have low-quality liquor. The liquor that is given to us is strong, but it’s pretty much tasteless. It’s just meant to warm you up or something like that.”

“I’ve got a friend who’ll send me some fire liquor, but it’s coming from the frontier town so I don’t know when it’ll arrive. I’ve only got 2 bottles left from what he sent to me last time. That’s why I’ve been wondering if there’s a quick way around here to get alcohol.”

“If it’s for strength, it’ll be alcohol that is sent to us. If it’s for quality, maybe wine from Quattro. But it’s not that strong.”

I wondered if quality and taste were relevant. I thought the taste might be related to the taste of the finished potion.

“I’d like to test all sorts of things like that at least once…”

“So, how far have you achieved?”

Blossom-san asked me in a low voice, so I answered in a low voice.

“I can only make up to rank C [ Dispel High Potion ] for now.”

The moment I answered, Blossom-san’s face was dyed with astonishment. 

And a strange voice escaped from his wide-open mouth, “Huhhh?!”