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Volume 2 Chapter 21 - At a Bar at Night

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Allen walked through the dimly lit nighttime streets under the starlight.

As he got closer to the center of the city, the number of street lamp magic tools started to increase bit by bit, and although the number of people walking outside also increased, that number was far less than in daytime Lilac.

Although Lilac was relatively safe compared to other cities in the country, it was still possible to get dragged into trouble at night when it was possible to hide in the darkness, so the general public was generally not out and about at this time.

The people who did are limited to those who had a baseless confidence that they would be absolutely fine, those who thought they had nothing to lose if something happened, and those who thought they had the strength to deal with it even if they were attacked. 

The most numerous among them were the last, those who considered themselves powerful, and of course adventurers were among them.

Or rather, the majority of those who went out at night were adventurers who had finished their work and went out to bars. This was evidenced by the fact that such bars were basically the only ones open after the gates closed at 9 p.m.

Allen's destination was one such bar, and a relatively high class one among them.

Allen opened the aged door made of treant wood and entered inside, where the light was intentionally dimmed to create a calm, adult atmosphere.

Then, with slow steps, yet with no hesitation at all, he walked towards the depth of the bar.

When Allen spotted the people he was looking for sitting in special seats set up in the depth that could not be seen from the doorway, he walked up to them.

Seeing one empty seat among the five available at the table, Allen smiled slightly and reached out for it.

“I guess being here means your doubt’s been cleared.” (Allen)

As Allen called out to  them, the four people seated all turned their attention to him. The four people here were Naseem, Percy, Torin, and Pete, all part of the gold class party [Lionel], without their leader, Lionel.

Normally, they would follow along with Lionel and mock Allen, but now they show no sign of that and were staring at Allen with calm expressions.

“There is no point in standing around, so Allen-san, please sit down too. Today is Lionel's treat, so it’s fine no matter how expensive the drink you order.” (Torin)

“Oh, for real? Or rather, the person himself isn't here but, as I thought, still the same as usual?” (Allen)

Following the recommendation of the priest Torin, Allen sat down in the empty seat.

And when he asked about Lionel who wasn’t here, all four of them smiled wryly.

“Rai is weak to alcohol after all. But it seems like he couldn't help but drink today.” (Pete)

“He was betrayed by the person he saved after all. It can't be helped with Rai's personality. Even more so since Torin was also injured.” (Percy)

To the words of Pete, the scout and archer, Percy, the wizard, agreed to it and added a few words.

Allen reacted to the word ‘injured’ and glanced at Torin.

“How about the injury?” (Allen)

“Yes, I only twisted my ankle, so treatment has already been completed. I'm sorry, I let my guard down.” (Torin)

“It's not Torin's fault. What's at fault is those guys who pushed Torin and ran away.” (Naseem)

As Torin apologized apologetically, the swordsman Naseem let his anger at the ones who betrayed them show on his face.

That said, in the current situation where those people were not in front of him, that anger didn't last long, and ‘Fuu,’ Naseem let out a sigh and returned to his expression.

“More importantly, Allen. Your testimony was helpful.” (Naseem)

“Hm? Aah, are you talking about what I heard on the 9th floor? It’s not like I said anything as specific as a testimony. You guys would prove your innocence yourselves when you came back anyway. My little sister is back too, so I wanted to avoid anything troublesome.” (Allen)

“Still. That guy didn’t give up at all and we were in trouble, but as soon as Matilda-san whispered something to him, he calmed down.” (Naseem)

“Sorry, Allen. We forced Matilda-san a bit to tell us. She refused many times, but I thought we needed to know that too.” (Pete)

Even while looking apologetic, Naseem roughly patted Allen on the shoulder, and next to him, Pete apologized as he poured a high-quality liquor that shines amber into an empty glass.

“No, I don’t really care about that. But more importantly, you did something bad to Matilda.” (Allen)

“We also intend to send a gift of apology, but we also ask Allen to follow up on that. I feel bad for Allen, but it's true that we’re saved thanks to Matilda's decision. That guy had been resisting until about two hours ago, you see.” (Percy)

“Seriously? He's more crazy than I imagined, that guy.” (Allen)

Allen's eyes widened in surprise at Percy's words. Allen headed to the Guild at around 3 p.m. Since it was now past 9 p.m, that meant that he had been resisting for over four hours since Allen left the Guild.

‘Of course Matilda would’ve done something about it,’ Allen thought as he chuckled, and decided that he had to do something for Matilda, who had tried to honor Allen's request.

Allen enjoyed the pleasant feeling of alcohol passing down his throat that is typical of high-quality drinks, as well as the lingering mellow aroma leaving his nose.

“But things got tough after that, you know. His party members came to the Guild right after that, and I forgot his name, but the tall guy beat him up. The young woman cried a lot, and the other guy only tried to soothe her and wasn’t useful at all.” (Naseem?)

“Hm? What does that mean?” (Allen)

Allen, not quite grasping the situation, asked again.

‘I have a strong memory of that large man shouting out false claims, but now that I think about it, his other companions might not have been there,’ he recalled after all this time.

If his companions were there, the adventurers' hostility would have turned towards them as well, so Allen should have noticed as well. The fact that didn’t happen meant they weren’t there, Allen thought.

As Allen was thinking about that, Percy began to explain the situation.

“It seems that the man came to report earlier and tried to frame us at his own discretion. The other guys were just trying to keep quiet about what they had done, it seems.” (Percy)

“That guy’s really an idiot.” (Allen)

“This may be because two of his companions have passed away, so he may have wanted to compensate their relatives with the money he would have earned. I think it's a selfish and shameful idea, and it goes against God's teachings but, It's not that I can't understand his feelings at all. Losing a friend is hard after all.” (Torin)

At Torin's words, which he said while glancing at Allen, Allen tilted his head slightly and smiled bitterly.

This may be because he has been a priest for a long time, but Torin had a tendency to overestimate people's good intentions. Regarding this case as well, Allen could only assume that the man wanted the money for their own benefit.

Perhaps, as Torin said, some of the money was meant to be paid to the relatives of his dead companions, but Allen didn’t think that was the main motive.

That said, he wasn’t about to do something pointless like telling Torin directly.

After listening to the story, Allen was able to find out what he wanted to know, so after drinking another glass of liquor that Torin poured him again, he stood up.

“For now, I'm glad your suspicions have been cleared. Well, my business is over, so I'm going home.” (Allen)

As Allen said that and was about to turn away, Pete called out to him.

“Hey, Allen. Since your little brothers and sisters are gone, why don't we party like in the old days? I'm sure Rai really wants that too.” (Pete)

When Allen turned his gaze back to him, Pete said that and gave a small nod with a serious expression on his face. And then, the other three nodded in the same way.

The reason the four people in front of him decided to form a party with Lionel was because of a small incident that happened when Allen accepted a request to teach the basics of being an adventurer to Lionel who was a newcomer.

After that, the six formed a party for a while. But due to certain circumstances, Allen left the party and their relationship became strained as a result.

Allen thought about it for a moment, then shook his head.

“It's too late now. Besides, it'd be better to have someone outside to vent to, in that guy’s case.” (Allen)

“Are you okay with that, Allen?” (Percy?)

“Well, yeah. And it's true that that guy’s irritating to me. Half-ass this, half-ass that, he sure talks about things that others are worrying about. Aah, remembering this made me irritated. Come to think of it, today’s that guy’s treat, isn’t it?” (Allen)

Allen grabbed several bottles of unopened wine from the table. All of them are high-class items that cost over 100,000 zenny each.

“Then I'll take these as souvenirs for Rebecca. And lastly, I’ll say this now, you guys are too soft on Rai. You guys might not want that idiot to see something unpleasant, but you better remember that something like this could also happen.” (Allen)

After saying that, Allen left the bar with high quality wines in his hands. After that, when his figure disappeared behind the door, the four looked at each other and smiled wryly.

“I think Allen is plenty stupid though.” (Pete?)

“He told us to follow along with Rai, but then he’d get really hurt. That’s one bad personality.” (Naseem?)

“That's right. But Allen has a point. Wouldn't it be a good idea to have him gain some experience in preparation for a sudden accident like this?” (Percy?)

“I'm inclined to want Lionel to remain pure of heart, but I suppose it can’t be helped.” (Torin?)

The four continued their discussion. Lionel himself did not know that they were trying to prevent such things from coming near him. But the four of them were working together to keep him from knowing, so that might be natural.

They liked the straightforward Lionel. Ever since the day Lionel saved their lives, they had continued to support him, and they had continued to work hard to be worthy of it.

This could be seen from the fact that in order to break out of the current situation that had started to reach a dead end, they suggested using the level-up trap to raise their stats to some extent.

That said, the idea was rejected by Lionel himself, but that's how serious they were.

They will continue to support Lionel. So that they can see their hero flourish. They continued to discuss what they should do to achieve this until the end of the night.

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