Ken yo, kaku katariki – 40

40 – A Surprising Weakness


“That was seriously delicious…”

What the hell was that shrimp…
The huge and incredibly tasty lobster. I would very much like to eat that again…
There were other things that were good as well. Huge portions of meat that looked like they had come out of a comic book. I could not take my eyes off of them.

Also, the duke knew of my tastes, and had even prepared some sushi. It was the kind of high level stuff I could rarely eat in my past life.
There were some places that served food that was similar to what I had in Japan, but :almost none served sushi. And even if they did, they were too expensive for me. Was the Count some kind of god?

“Teacher, we’ll be leaving now.”

“Huh? You’re not returning in the car?”

I was puzzled by Ms. Iria. She chuckled and said that they were thinking about stopping at a cafe.
Apparently, this was so they could have a strategy meeting for tomorrow. I wondered if I should join them, but they objected to this, as I must be tired. Well, it was important for the students to do some things on their own.

“I see. Well, I’ll take the car then…”

“Heey! Yukito!”

The familiar, low voice. I turned my head and saw a huge, scary-looking man waving at me at the exit of the parking lot.

“Huh? Mr. Grafios? And Mr. Sylt.”

“Hey, it’s been a while!”

“Hello.”

The two Hunters approached me.
I could hear the students muttering, ‘Woah, is that a behemoth!?’ and ‘So that’s an A-Rank…’ I wondered what a behemoth was, but somehow understood it to be about Mr. Grafios.

“Hey, why do I feel like someone said something very rude?”

“You’re just imagining it. So, why are you here?”

“Ah! Let’s go get a drink! You’re not fighting tomorrow, right?”

“No thank you.”

I answered immediately. Mr. Grafios looked surprised by this.

“Well, it’s just that my students are competing tomorrow. Also, I want to return home in order to feed Kuro.”

“…Ah. Well, you can’t take dogs with you into the arena.”

That was just it. And so Kuro had to stay behind today.
This had been happening a lot lately. I could only take him out when visiting the count’s mansion, or on our morning walks.

This country was not very nice to animals. Maybe one day they would be invaded by an animal protection organization!

“Then you should bring your dog with you. I’ll pay.”

“Really? Deal.”

“Hey… Aren’t you making quite a lot…”

“My current goal is to save enough to buy a house.”

Kuro would not be comfortable in a hotel.
Kuro did not complain… But it would be ideal to have a yard, and enough space to train.

“Well, fine then. Let’s go. There is someone that I want you to meet.”

“Someone else…?”

Please don’t bring someone strange…
In any case, we headed back to the hotel in order to fetch Kuro.

Mr. Grafios then guided us to a small bar in a back alley.
It seemed to be privately owned, and part of an inn. In other words, it was like those taverns that often appeared in those other world stories.
The owner glanced at us, or rather, at Kuro, and then glared at Mr. Grafios.

“I didn’t hear about no dog.”

“Bah, don’t mind him, old man. This one will eat anything. No need for dog food.”

“Hahh… Fine. Just take a seat then.”

I was worried that we were going to be driven out—which generally happened at restaurants—but there was no problem.

I sat down in a seat, and then put the hotel dinner I had saved on the floor. Kuro then began to eat it happily.
Mr. Grafios looked at the expensive dinner with a hint of jealousy, but I waved my hand, making it clear that Kuro would not be sharing any of it.

“Order?”

“I’ll have a beer. As for food, whatever you have. Is that fine with you two?”

“I’m not allowed to drink. Don’t try to make me as if it was normal.”

“Eh!? Aren’t you eighteen?”

Uh, maybe the drinking age was different here?

I asked Mr. Sylt, who was sitting next to me. According to him, the legal drinking age was eighteen in this country. In other words, I was allowed to drink.
However, this excluded students. They were not allowed to until they graduated. Well, the schools had their own rules.

…Though, I didn’t know if I was actually eighteen. When registering, I just chose that as it seemed like a safe bet.

“And so we’ll start with three beers!”

Before I knew it, he had finished ordering, and the copper mugs of beer were brought out.

(Beer…)

So they had it in this world too…

I touched my mug, and it was icy cold.
It really did look like the same stuff they had in Japan.

In my past life, I drank at every opportunity. Socially, and alone at home.
I gulped.

“Well, to celebrate the games.”

Cheers. The mugs clinked together and I hesitantly took a sip.
And then another. Glug, glug, glug…

“Hahhh.”

“Oh, quite the drinker already!”

Damn it! I downed the whole thing at once!
Mr. Sylt chuckled and asked me if it was really my first time. He urged me to pace myself better. First time? Not even close.

After that, I nibbled on the food that Mr. Grafios ordered, and we talked for some time.

“Woah! What is this situation?”

I heard a woman’s voice sound from the entrance. The person there was…

“Ah, it’s the commentator!”

“Huh!?”

That pretty girl who was commenting on the fights!
As I excitedly went to greet her, she slapped me across the head and then glared at the others.

“Hey… Mr. Grafios?”

“Sorry, I think we gave him too much.”

“You THINK? He’s a common drunkard!”

Drunkard?

“Am nyoot! Nyot runk at yall…”

“Oh, no. This will not do at all, Mr. Yukito.”

Buh nyats impossible!?

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