When I went to Cidderl's to grab a bite, Thunder Fang was sitting at a table.
But all three of them were completely wasted, radiating a thoroughly bizarre aura.
Huh? Why does Agaro look like that?
Axe in particular was good and drunk — totally plastered — and oh, our eyes met.
"Yo. Wof!"
"H-hey."
"Wof, huh."
"Wof, it be."
For some reason having my name repeated over and over was embarrassing.
People around us were looking, too. Embarrassing.
"Second floor again today, huh? You're something else! Where's your group?"
"N-no, you've got it wrong. I'm just here to eat! I don't have anyone with me!"
"Is that so. Good, then. Come sit over here."
"Come on, come on."
"Come o'er."
"H-huh?"
Reluctantly, I took a seat at their table.
What was going on? They were way more hyped up than usual.
Every time Axe's oversized ale mug ran dry, he ordered another.
Rel and Hoss were the same. There were no snacks on the table.
"You guys are just drinking nonstop?"
For Thunder Fang, that was pretty sloppy.
Normally they'd have snacks prepared and drink from extra-large mugs.
They wouldn't chug their ale that roughly like Agaro.
"Yeah. You think I can stop myself from drinking?"
There had to be some cause. Oh, come to think of it, Mineha had said something this morning.
"You met her, right? Emmy, your mother."
"I met her."
"Yeah, I met her."
"She did, yeah."
The responses were all gloomy.
"Well, drink up, Wof. It's on me."
"I can't drink yet, you know."
"Then eat up. It's on me."
"O-okay..."
Something had definitely happened.
But whatever it was, it wasn't something trivial, judging by how riled up they were.
What could have happened?
Rel and Hoss chugging drinks like this wasn't normal.
I'll go with today's lunch set A.
It's butter rice with corn soup and honey-salted lemon water.
I get the butter rice in a large portion. Set B is chicken katsu rice.
"Hey, Wof. You. Do you have parents?"
"Yeah, well, sort of."
I give Axe a noncommittal answer to his question.
They should both still be alive and well back in my hometown.
"Is that so... I had them too."
"Wait, you have parents...?"
His father is one thing, but still.
"Yeah. First off, my mom was pregnant."
"Huh, wha—!?"
"And the other party was someone I thought was dead... my old man."
"Huh, whaaaat!?"
"And my old man was frozen solid, looking almost exactly like me."
"Uh... well, first of all, congratulations..."
"Yeah... right. How nice."
Axe drains a huge mug of ale in one gulp.
He looks completely fed up. Yeah, I can see why he'd lose it over that.
Wait—his father he thought was dead was actually alive, and his mother got pregnant from that?
My family was growing. And yet things were falling apart? Rel seemed to pick up on the confused look on my face.
"It's supposed to be a happy occasion."
"That's how it oughta be."
"Right?"
"I know that, man... I know it, I swear. But still—someone disappears for months with zero contact, then shows up out of nowhere, pregnant, and the father is the guy who was supposed to be dead, and on top of that she looks about my age?! Come on, you'd be pissed off too, right?!"
He was really going off.
"What do you mean, zero contact?"
"She said all the letters were piling up at the estate, and she'd only just gotten back recently."
"Apparently there were circumstances that kept her from sending letters too."
"Circumstances?"
If they'd been able to exchange even a little communication, I felt like things wouldn't have gotten this bad.
Still, this was ridiculous. Oh—lunch set A arrived. Dessert included.
Milk pudding? From Burns. A trial recipe? Huh, thanks.
It was pure white pudding. Shiro would love this.
"So, Axe. You're really going to cut ties?"
"C-cut ties?!"
Yeah, that was a fair reaction. I could see why he'd jump to that conclusion.
"......That's not what I'm planning to do..."
"Oh, you're not?"
I tried not to look surprised.
Axe set down the extra-large mug.
"Look, back then I just lost my cool because it was too much to deal with, but... I'm an adult now. Twenty-three. I've already moved on from needing my parents. We were distant to begin with. And well, there's also the fact that I decided I'd try to meet halfway but haven't actually done anything yet. Listening to what my old lady has to say for now is... might be an excuse, but... honestly, the fact that I still can't accept it hasn't changed. I don't really want to bring it up, but what the hell is up with getting pregnant? Even if the old man was still alive... that still can't be right... I mean — not as a mother, but as a woman — what do you make of that?"
"That's something I can't really answer."
"Yeah, no idea at all."
"Me neither."
Axe murmured something like, "Yeah, figures..."
I wondered what Mineha, his disciple, thought about that. But I could tell things had gotten rough.
Mineha. She was the type who couldn't stomach something like this. Call it fastidious, or just earnest.
But then, he was her master, her savior — the person she respected most. So she probably didn't look down on him for it.
She'd probably chalk it up to recklessness, though, and take a harsh stance about it.
Depending on how things went, she might even resort to violence — even against her own master. But from what I'd heard, she hadn't.
Then he drained the extra-large mug and spoke, almost muttering.
"Honestly, I don't know what the right move is. Like, if my old lady had gotten together with someone and they had a shotgun wedding instead — that still feels like it'd be... less bad. I hate to admit it, but..."
"You think so?"
"...What do you think?"
"The fact that he's her real father... that's the kind of grudge you can't quite put into words."
"Resentment on top of resentment."
I really didn't know what to say about that side of him.
Axe ordered another extra-large mug.
"And so... I ended up fighting Ensu."
"Fight… but he'll be promoted to Rank I."
"I know. I'm not thinking I can win. I just want to punch him once."
"Whether that's even possible—"
"I know. But I want to… punch him. Even once is fine. If I can do that, I'm okay with losing."
"That's only if you can pull it off."
"That'd be tough too, huh."
"…………And another thing. I've been thinking, and the reason I can't see that guy as my father… maybe he can't see me as his son either. I mean, when he was frozen in ice, I wasn't even born yet. And now suddenly I'm over twenty. Too much time has passed for either of us to feel like parent and child."
Well, he had a point. It would be incredibly hard for both Axe and Ensu to relate as father and son.
No, it really was difficult. Hoss suddenly asked.
"By the way, why do you want to punch Ensu?"
"It's… I just want to punch him, that's all."
"You. Could it be because he's the guy who got your mother pregnant?"
"…………Who knows. How would I tell?"
Brusquely answering, he downed the extra-large mug of ale placed before him in one gulp.
"W-well, setting that aside, what are you going to do? I've fought a Rank I delver before, and their strength is extraordinary."
"You have?"
"With Arverld, it didn't even become a fight."
"'The Destroyer of Ruin,' or something… yeah, that's right."
"Guess we should ask Agaro after all."
"That's the only option, isn't it."
"There's no need for that."
A woman's voice, heard without warning, made us turn around.
There was an elf woman with green hair. She had a rather cute appearance.
She wore loose-fitting clothes, and the slight roundness of her belly made it clear she was pregnant.
Could it be…? No way.
"M-Mom…?"
So that was Emmy? She looked to be in her twenties.
Well, she was an elf, so her appearance not matching her real age was understandable.
"Axe…"
"What are you—no, why are you here?"
"Your letter mentioned a shop you always go to. It's a nice place."
"……Right, I did write that. So what do you want? I already said it wasn't necessary."
"Axe. I'm going to make it so you can punch that man, Ensu."
"……Wait. What did you say?"
"Also, I wanted to talk properly… I read all of your letters."
"…………………Yeah."
"So Axe, I—"
"A-Ah, um, excuse me."
I knew from the vibe that this wasn't a moment to intrude, but I cut in anyway.
Emmy looked at me.
"What?"
"No, I'm going to borrow the second floor, so it'd be better if we talked up there."
I'd drawn too much attention, and the people around us were buzzing about what was going on.
Well, yeah—if a pregnant woman showed up and started pleading with a bunch of drunk men, that was going to stand out.
"...Sorry about this, Wof."
"No, it's fine. I'll go ask Burns real quick."
"S-sorry for the trouble."
"No worries. I'll be right back."
I went over to the counter and gave Burns a brief rundown of the situation.
Burns was happy to oblige, and we were able to borrow the VIP room on the second floor.
So, time to head up.
Somehow, things had snowballed into something completely ridiculous.