Side Story: The Hero and Gozoh

Wataru Nishimi was a hero.

But even for a hero, a debt of 2,300 gold coins was a little… no, pretty… no, extremely painful.

And so, he canceled the suite and downgraded his meals as well.

The lodging fees had been provided by Haku, but since it couldn't be helped, he decided to put them toward repayment instead.

After moving to a standard room, Wataru found it wasn't particularly inconvenient. In fact, the futon was quite comfortable. He even thought he might stay in one of these from the start next time he visited.

Besides, he could still use the hot springs as much as he wanted and had access to the game room.

Even without the dungeon, this was a place he'd want to stay at as a hot spring inn.

"… But this debt really hurts… haah."

Wataru sighed while eating cream stew in the dining hall.

"Hm? What's wrong, Pudding Bro?"

"Ah, hello… um, Dwarf-san?"

"Name's Gozoh. Thanks for the pudding yesterday. So what's with the sighing?"

"Ah, I'm Wataru. Well, you see… I've gotten myself into debt."

Wataru gave a hollow laugh, as if trying to fool himself.

"Huh, is that so? Something happened right after yesterday, huh. After you took Kehma to his room? What happened?"

"Well, I did a bit of this, you see."

He showed him the dice.

"I was a little confident in myself."

"Be careful, gambling can ruin you, you know? You know that Ichika girl at the reception here? She piled up debt from gambling and fell into slavery. She looks pretty happy now though… well, actually, today she looked like she was seeing the end of the world."

"Ahaha, I'll be careful."

The name sounded familiar, so Wataru smiled wryly, figuring she'd probably received some kind of punishment.

"So your debt is to Kehma, huh. I've never seen him gamble himself, but… between us, Kehma and I talk a lot. If you need, I could ask him to wait a bit on the payments?"

"Haha, thanks… Kehma-san said he'd let me pay in interest-free installments, so I should be fine."

"Oh, is that so? That's good then."

Saying that, Gozoh took a long swig from his ceramic jug of sake.

"Huh, is that sake? I heard this inn doesn't carry alcohol."

"Yeah, brought it in myself. I trade directly with merchants and bring in what I buy for myself. They overlook it as long as I don't cause trouble in the inn… Want some? You treated me to pudding yesterday, after all."

"I'll have some."

Truth be told, Wataru had never drunk alcohol before. Summoned to this world at seventeen, he'd kept his Japanese habits and avoided both alcohol and tobacco until he turned twenty. And come to think of it, he was already twenty now—already old enough to drink, but he just hadn't had the opportunity.

Wataru took the ceramic jug from Gozoh and took a big gulp.

… It was thick and the alcohol had quite a kick. But Wataru didn't dislike it.

"Oho, nice drinking form."

"That was my first time drinking alcohol, but it's pretty good."

"First time? Hmm, you've got natural talent then. Well, drink up. I'll take you outside if you start getting rowdy."

"… Then I'll take you up on that. Itadakimasu."

"Aye, when something bad happens, drinking will fix you right up."

Gozoh pulled out another ceramic jug of sake and drank as well.

While the two were drinking, Gozoh's partner Roppu came over. Gozoh was a dwarf, but Roppu was a human woman.

"Oh, drinking? And you there, I don't recognize you. A newcomer?"

"Ah, I'm Wataru Nishimi. I'm a hero."

"Heh, so you're a hero."

"A hero?! Doesn't that mean S-Rank? Whoa, that's amazing. You were drinking with him without knowing? … Pour me one!"

And so Roppu started drinking too.

For better or worse, no one was there to stop them.

"Eeeh, 2,300 gold coins?! That's quite a haul they got off you."

"I knooow. Kehma-san is a demon! A devil! He's Kehma-san!"

"Oi oi, that's rude. A demon or devil would probably let you off for around fifty gold coins, wouldn't they?"

"Uuu, I'll have to work hard for half a year…"

"Eeh, you can pay that off?! S-Rank really is amazing."

"If I went all out without holding back, I could do it in a month! But I won't since it'd make people hate me."

"True, it's better not to make enemies. Well, drink up, drink up. Today's my treat!"

"Itadakimaaasu!"

Wataru kept drinking whatever sake Gozoh brought out.

"Hey, hey, Wataru-kun. Did you do something to Kehma-san? 2,300 gold coins isn't normal, you know?"

"Well, it was a bit of a misunderstanding… You know that dog-eared girl who was serving yesterday? It was about her."

"Ah, that young lady. Did you do something wrong to her, Wataru?"

"Hahaha, well… when I thought a little girl was being mistreated… I just wanted to help her if I could, you know? As a man."

"Waaah, Wataru-kun is so cool… But that's no good, you know? Slaves are a person's property. Besides, that girl is head over heels for Kehma-san, so she's not dissatisfied with her situation at all."

"So it seems… haaaaah, all because I stuck my nose where it didn't belong, I'm 2,300 gold coins in debt… 23,000,000 Lyon, huh."

"Here, drink up. Today's my treat, there's plenty more sake!"

"Itadakimaaaasu!"

Wataru let himself go and kept drinking the sake Gozoh brought out. With a satisfied exhale, he set down the emptied ceramic jug on the table.

"Hey Gozoh, wouldn't it be faster to go to Kantra's place? You said there's still sake, but it's at the smithy, right? And we can be louder there, right?"

"Ooh, good point Roppu, you're smart! Hey Kinue-san, give us something to snack on. We're drinking over there, Wataru, come with!"

"Coming, Gozoh-san!"

"Ah, Kinue-san. Here's the payment. Could you have it brought over?"

"Yes, certainly. I'll have Rei bring it. Will thinly-sliced fried potatoes work?"

"I'd like some fluffy fried ones too."

And so, having hit it off while Wataru vented his frustrations, they would later come to be known as "Team Bacchus," traveling the world together as comrades. But that's a story for another time.

Incidentally, Team Bacchus's main objective was "to drink all the delicious sake in the world."

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

"Man, I had no idea sake was that good."

The next day, Wataru woke up refreshed without any hangover.

Whether it was natural talent or some resistance from being a hero, he didn't know, but if he could enjoy sake and still feel fine the next day, there was no reason to hold back. He could keep doing this.

He'd planned to go to the dungeon [Cave of Desires] today, so he would've had to change his plans if he'd been hungover.

And since he'd need to head back soon, today would probably be his last day to explore the dungeon thoroughly.

So today, he planned to go as deep as he could.

"… Time to go."

Wataru grabbed his hero equipment and headed for the dungeon.