Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
At dawn, after repatriating Flair, Shinji took a nap.
Since he had no plans for the day, Shinji decided to sleep until noon.
After getting rid of his sleepiness, Shinji finished his lunch and was relaxing in his room at the inn when there was a knock at the door.
”Shinji-san. Alvin-san is here to see you”
He heard Charlotte’s voice.
He didn’t remember making a promise to Alvin, but he opened the door, thinking that he might have suddenly come up with something else.
”Hello, Alvin. What’s wrong?”
”Sorry to drop in so suddenly. I need to talk to you about something”
”It’s not a problem,” Shinji replied to Alvin, who looked unhappy. Charlotte also bows when and returns to work when Shinji opens the door.
”Do you want to talk in private?”
”No, I’d rather have a drink with you. Let’s go to the dining room”
”All right”
Shinji walked behind Alvin, who was leading the way.
When they arrived at the restaurant, they sat down and asked for an ale.
Shinji and Alvin said good work to each other and bumped into each other lightly as they held the mugs of ale that had been brought to them. Then they started to drink the ale, gulping it down.
”Fuh~… It’s great to drink ale at noon on a day off!”
”You smell like an old man even though you’re younger than me, Alvin”
Phew! Shinji laughed at Alvin, who exhaled.
”Once in a while! It’s fine, at least for today. There is no Mil, Renka or Master”
”Is it hard to talk to someone when there’s a woman around?”
”It’s not that. I mean, I can’t do anything weird in front of a woman, okay? Especially Renka. She’s always saying things…”
Shinji laughed when he saw Alvin blurting out, “It’s noisy when I’m dressed sloppily in the morning”.
”So, what do you want to talk about?”
”We’ve talked about renting a house together before, right? Why don’t we consider it seriously?”
”Fumu… I think it’s fine as it is now. What’s your reason?”
Shinji folded his arms and urged him to talk, as he could not simply nod.
”You’ve been tangled up with <Fire-Breathing Dragon>, right? I thought it would be better for you to stay close to us outside of our adventures. In addition, when we get to the higher ranks, and we get valuable items, it’s easier to store them if we have a home!”
”That’s true, but… It’s hard to manage a building, you know? I’m not particularly good at cleaning…. If we’re going to go out on missions here and there, we might as well have a small fixed cost”
Even though he has a house, which is a fixed cost, Shinji says something reasonable. If it’s a party of four with a high level of commission, it’s enough to cover the expenses in terms of income.
”Do you disagree Shinji?”
”No, I agree. The point is that there are disadvantages, but you are prepared for them, right? That’s what I’m saying”
Alvin seemed unhappy, but when Shinji said yes, his mood instantly improved.
”Shinji, you’re still so difficult to understand! If you agree, just say you agree!”
”But, at least one of us has to come up with a different opinion and examine it. If we keep going at a rush, we might get caught somewhere along the way”
Alvin laughed, and Shinji opened his mouth as if he’d just thought of something.
”But is that okay? Are you sure you don’t want to be alone with Milis?”
”Actually, yes. ─ But I’m planning to wait until after we’ve achieved our goal to have that kind of married life. Because if it’s just the two of us living together, we’ll be out of control.”
Shinji nodded to Alvin, who smiled shyly. This is something that Shinji, who actually has physical relationship with Renka and his s*xfriends in his house, understands very well. Without contraceptive magic, anyone could have been conceived.
”I heard from the conversation that your goal is to climb the <Hateyama> Mountain”
”Oh, you heard that? Yes, that’s the last place my mom and dad tried.”
Alvin turned his gaze away from Shinji as he spoke in a nostalgic tone, drank the ale in his hand in one gulp and ordered more.
”My parents were upper-ranking adventurers. They were inactive before after I was born, but… they came back after a while. Then, when I was 10, they challenged <Hateyama> Mountain”
Alvin muttered, “It was to get an herb that could be used as a medicine for an incurable disease that only grows naturally in <Hateyama>”. Shinji continued to listen in silence.
”My father and few his companion died there. The herbs were brought back by one of his companions with wounds. My uncle, who took me in, paid for them. That’s how we were able to make a living. I didn’t feel so lonely because I had Mil and Renka”
”I was blessed”, Alvin muttered.
”But I had to train until I turned 15! When I said I was going to be an adventurer, Mil and Renka started training too. I told them it was dangerous, but they wouldn’t stop. So, I decided to become strong enough to protect them”
Then Alvin said, “It’s no wonder that there was a lot of commotion when I tried to persuade them. Not many parents would want their cute daughter to become a dangerous adventurer”.
”I’ve always admired my father and mother. So, if I can climb <Hateyama> Mountain with my own party, which my father and mother couldn’t do, then it’ll mean I’ve surpassed them. I can be proud of the fact that their son has become a great man”
”That’s what I’m aiming for,” Alvin finished.
”So, this is why you’re trying to surpass your parents. That’s good, isn’t it? But you’re not trying to force yourself to climb the mountain in the shortest time, right?”
”Yeah, the most important thing is now! If I keep working hard, I’m sure I’ll get there”
”That’s right. That’s what I think, too. There’s no need to rush”
Alvin nodded with an embarrassed smile.
Perhaps it had occurred to him that he had been talking about himself, but now he leaned forward to ask Shinji something.
”Don’t you have anything in mind, Shinji? Any goals, any dreams?”
”Me? ─ Well… in a very general sense, yes. Make money and live a luxurious life. Live happily with a good woman. That’s what I’m dreaming of. I’m dreaming of a wealthy retirement”
”You’re only 19 and you’re already talking about retirement!”
Alvin laughs at Shinji’s joking talk.
After that, they had a good time talking about all sorts of silly things.
They concluded their conversation by saying that they would all go looking for a place to live next time, and Shinji and Alvin parted ways.
Alvin didn’t notice, but after all, he hadn’t been able to ask Shinji about his dreams and goals. What Shinji was thinking about in his current life, only Shinji knew.