"What?! What happened?!"
At the four shouts, the old man came rushing out of the kitchen.
"Tenma! You're the one causing all this commotion?!"
The old man, having immediately identified me as the center of the uproar, headed straight for our table. But before he could get there, Lily and the others crowded around me first.
"You're leaving?! What does that mean?!"
"What happened, Tenma?!"
"At least explain properly!"
From the three of them, the old man seemed to grasp what had happened. He explained to the surrounding patrons that it was nothing unusual.
"Is it because of Regil?"
Flute, unlike the other three, remained calm and asked while trying to soothe them.
"That's not the only reason, but it is part of it."
With that, I began to explain what had been on my mind lately.
In addition to what I had told the Duke, I had started to become concerned about the jealousy and envy from fellow adventurers, and with this incident, it seemed I had also earned some resentment from the townspeople.
The resentment from the townspeople came from those who had lost bets and even racked up debts over it, so it was completely misplaced grumbling, but it still didn't feel good.
When I told her this, Flute apologized, though I told her not to worry about it since it was the fault of those who had gone along with the bets. Still, she was downcast about having played a part in causing it all.
"So that's why I thought this might be a good opportunity."
I tried to say it as cheerfully as I could, but Lily and the others didn't seem convinced at all.
"Then we can just commute from our village to this town!"
"Right! We could totally do that!"
"It's settled then!"
They said it like they had found the perfect solution, but—
"That won't work." The one who shot it down was the old man. The three of them hadn't expected to be denied by him, and they seemed at a loss for what to say. Looking at the three of them, the old man said:
"Hey, ladies. Actually, this whole incident—it's not just adventurers. Some of the townspeople have come to fear Tenma too."
This was the first I'd heard of it as well.
"Think about it. A fifteen-year-old brat completely shut down a group of adventurers, punched a noble, and got his title stripped away."
"Old man, the one who stripped his title was the Duke, though..."
"To the townspeople, it's all the same. He's connected to the Duke behind the scenes, and he has the power to easily defeat a noble's personal adventurer squad... Anyone without power would naturally feel afraid of that. After all, if you crossed him, you'd almost certainly end up dead. Especially when the other party is dealing with rough-and-tumble adventurers."
Hearing that, Lily and the others fell silent. Apparently, the old man had learned about this through the innkeepers' network.
"The reason I picked a Dungeon City is because the residents are used to rough types, right? Besides, this town is too small for Tenma to really flex his power."
Thinking about the current situation, that was even more true... With that, he gave his approval and headed back to the kitchen.
"You're right... It's lonely, but we can't let our own selfishness redirect Tenma's path."
Flute said this, emphasizing the words "our own selfishness."
They were words meant for Lily and the others, but they still didn't seem convinced. Finally:
"Then I'm coming too!"
"Me too!"
"Of course I'm coming too!"
All three of them said something outrageous. Before I could respond—
"...What about your families?" Flute intervened.
Lily and the others came from a village about half a day's walk from this town, and they had large families. Between their parents, their parents' grandparents, their brothers, and five sisters, there were eleven in total. Since their grandparents' health had been declining recently, Lily and the others spent nearly half of each month back at their family home, caring for them.
I knew about this too, but Flute, given her line of work, probably had it on record. Whether that was the reason or not, even though Lily and the others were highly promising adventurers, they had never been assigned quests that required long-term commitments.
Snapped back to their senses by Flute's words, the three of them began to wrestle with the decision—
"Lily, Nelly, Milly, what are you hesitating for? You three should value your families. Unlike me, you have families waiting for you."
At my words, the three of them—
"...Sorry for being selfish, Tenma."
"We care about you too, Tenma, but our families are even more important..."
"But you have to come back to this town, okay? You promise!"
Saying that, they finally seemed to convince themselves.
I knew it was cowardly to bring up their families, but I figured that if they threw away something precious on a momentary impulse, they would definitely regret it later. So I deliberately used that argument.
"Yeah, I'll come back to this town someday."
I made that promise, but the mood was too heavy to resume the meal.
Just then, the old man and the proprietress appeared.
"Today is a joyous day—Tenma has decided to move forward! So drink to your heart's content!"
"When someone sets off on a new path, adventurers see them off with smiles! It's my treat, so don't hold back!"
With those words, they set four cups on the table, brought over a barrel of sake, cracked it open on the spot, and began filling the cups.
"Hey! You lot, raise a glass for Tenma too! It's my treat. A toast!"
At the old man's words, everyone in the establishment swarmed the barrel at once, and one by one came to offer their words to me.
Once everyone had their sake, the old man took the lead and called for a toast. In that moment, a deafening cheer erupted.
Lily and the others knocked back their drinks at a rapid pace, while Flute ate snacks between sips. At the surrounding tables, more and more customers were placing orders, and the old man and the others seemed quite busy.
Watching all this, I was lost in thoughts about the three years I had spent in this town... or so I was—
"Te~n~ma~! Ahahahaha~! There's so many Tenmas~!"
"It's true~! There are Tenmas everywhere~! Let's take one home~!"
"I want this one~... Huh~? I can't grab him~ Don't run away~ Tenma~!"
Three magnificent drunkards had made their appearance.
"You three!"
Flute quickly stood up to stop them... or so it seemed.
"This one's mine, so I'll be taking him!"
As she said this, Flute grabbed my arm and pulled me against her chest. The soft sensation should have made my heart race... but it didn't. Under normal circumstances, I'm sure it would have, but the reek of alcohol wafting from Flute made me instinctively turn my face away.
"Aah~! Flute caught all the Tenmas~!"
"That's cheating~! Flute~!"
"Wait, there's lots of Flutes too~. Why~?"
It seemed Lily and the others were so drunk that their vision was splitting and blurring. As a result, even Flute, who had come to my side, appeared to them as multiple people. As for Flute herself, she looked sober at first glance, but she was actually quite drunk.
The four of them continued tugging me back and forth, and other patrons who were watching started placing bets on who would manage to catch me. The Stuffed Belly Inn was in a full-blown uproar, even though the hour had long past midnight.
Despite having drunk quite a lot myself, I wasn't all that drunk. Perhaps it was because my Abnormal Status Resistance was high—alcohol seemed to affect me the same way as any other poison, barely working at all. Whether that was a blessing or a curse in moments like these, I couldn't say...
By the time dawn was approaching, most of the patrons had passed out drunk. Some of the slightly more coherent ones were led home by others, but the majority simply slept right there in the dining hall.
Lily and the others had passed out too, but the proprietress said:
"I can't exactly leave the girls to sleep here in a place full of men," and carried them up to an empty room on the second floor.
I tried to help with the cleanup, but she refused, saying she couldn't have a guest do the work. So I went back to my room and went to sleep.