Volume 5 Chapter 25 It's A Party!!!
――Ten minutes after Nikyou's explosive laughter.
"It's a party!!!"
Ohhhhhhhhh!!!
As Nikyou raised his wooden cup, all the members of the Jingin Family in the room shouted in unison.
Before we knew it, the VIP room had descended into chaos. Where did the quiet and elegant atmosphere go? Rough-looking men and seductive women were loudly raising their cups filled with alcohol everywhere.
"Hey hey, what's up with the guest of honor being so cold? Drink up, dude. If you don't drink, I won't forgive you."
"What kind of way is that to offer someone a drink!? How did it even come to this!?"
"It's not about how it came to this! After hearing such an amusing story, how can you not drink? Take responsibility and drink up!"
"But what kind of responsibility is that!?"
Nikyou pushed a cup filled with alcohol towards me.
A few minutes ago, Nikyou, who was clutching his stomach from laughter, slowly stood up and loudly commanded his underlings...
'Bring those guys below! It's party time today!'
――He shouted. And then, this happened.
"Glug glug glug... ――Haha! I heard you were some serious guy under the control of that rigid attitude Silver Flash, so I thought you were a straight-laced dude. But I never imagined you'd be such an idiot! Black Blade—no, Yukina. Nice to meet you.."
"Hey, is that a compliment?"
"Of course it's a compliment. It's a huge compliment."
The initial dignified demeanor vanished, and he completely transformed into a rowdy drunkard, fully immersed in the tavern scene.
'Probably this side is his true self. In the mafia, reputation is everything. If you get underestimated, it's game over.'
But seriously, the contrast is too much. I still can't get used to this change.
By the way, Aina and the others are sitting a little apart from Nikyou and me. As soon as the party started, Kyunei took Aina away. Mikage is keeping the drunkards who might bother Kyunei and Aina away.
Looking at Kyunei, she just smiles and waves, not making any move to come over here.
――Somehow, there's this lingering feeling of being abandoned that I just can't shake.
"Here, have a drink as a sign of getting closer. Or rather, just drink."
"You've been ordering me around! Alright, alright, I get it! I'll drink, okay!"
Since he keeps insisting, I reluctantly accept the wooden cup from Nikyou. Now that I think about it, this place seems like an exclusive tavern for regulars. The alcohol served here must be really good. It's not something you get to drink every day.
While enjoying the privilege of free drinks, I gulp down the contents of the wooden cup.
"――――!?"
A rush of heat travels from my tongue down my throat to my stomach.
"Cough, cough! Whoa, what's this?! This stuff is insanely strong!"
I instinctively cough and wipe away the alcohol that almost spills from my mouth. It sure tasted good, that's for sure. But more than that, the alcohol was intense.
"Don't sweat the small stuff. Hahaha!"
Nikyou laughs heartily as he pours the contents of the bottle into the wooden cup and chugs it down in one go. He drinks it so quickly that it might have been faster to just drink straight from the bottle. Wait, is this the same stuff I just drank?
'That guy has been downing that stuff like it's water. He's a real pro. Be careful, or you'll end up wasted if you try to keep up.'
Since it's a party, Gram leans against the wall of the room instead of being carried on my back. It's not a problem though, as I can call it whenever I need it.
"Hey, Yukina, are you listening?"
"I'm not listening to a drunkard like you! When did you become so familiar!? Sheesh!"
"You don't need to be so formal. Just call me Nikyou, brother!"
"Whoa, you're raising my likability level by leaps and bounds with that!"
"Hahaha! I like you, buddy. I'd love to share a brotherly drink with you if the opportunity arises."
"What's with this brotherly drink talk!? I'm an only child, you know!"
"Don't sweat the small stuff! Here's to this new encounter!"
"Listen to what people are saying!!!!"
Before I knew it, Nikyou had his arm around me, and I was being forced to clink glasses.
――And then, several minutes later.
Two men facing each other at a round table, locking arms and intertwining their right hands.
"Ready――――"
The man standing beside them grabs their locked hands.
"――――Gooooo!"
"Take thaaaaaat!!"
Crash!
"Aaaahhhhh!?"
The moment the signal was given, the two men facing each other—me being one of them—swiftly slammed the other man's hand onto the table.
The table echoed with a sound like it was about to split, and the opponent screamed in pain from the blow to his hand.
"The winner, Yukina! That makes five in a row!"
"Yessss!"
I raised my arm to show off my strength, and the room erupted with cheers that could have shattered glass.
"That guy's amazing!"
"He just breezed past all those boastful punks from our family."
"And he looks totally relaxed doing it! Is he really human!?"
"Having a babe like that as a lovers, damn, I'm jealous as hell!"
"...Those muscles, they're beautiful."
Amidst the surprise, admiration, and jealousy—and some weird comments thrown in—I've been hearing more and more of these kinds of reactions lately.
It all started when Nikyou suddenly brought it up.
'Come to think of it, you've got quite the reputation for being super strong.'
'Super strong? More like, that's all I've got.'
'All right then, let's see how you fight against the guys from my family!'
'Huh?'
It's the Jingin Family versus My Arm Wrestling Tournament, sparked by Nikyou's sudden remark.
One after another, tough-looking guys come at me, but I've been swinging Gram around using Enchantment - Weight Increase every day. My training's a bit different.
"Who's next? Keep 'em coming!"
At first, I was reluctantly dragged into it, but somewhere along the line, I started to enjoy myself. My head feels fuzzy and my body's tingling, but that's probably just from the heat in the room.
'You're totally drunk, partner! You can't even stand straight! Ahh, well, guess you can't complain because you got dragged into this by Nikyou's boss after all... Anyway, I didn't see that coming."
Gram muttered something that sounded like a lament, but I couldn't quite catch it.
Meanwhile...
"You guys so weak!!"
Thunk!
"""Aaaaahhhhh!?"""
I slam my clenched arms down onto the table. And this time, I'm doing it against three people at once. It's a little more challenging than when it's just one-on-one, but I'm still feeling pretty confident.
"...Hey, Silver Flash, isn't your nerd a little too strong for this?"
"Well, he’s the lord I serve. He's so strong he can even take on a charging Hornbull head-on without flinching. No way he’d lose to some random street thugs."
"So his strength is like 2nd-rank mercenary level?"
"I believe that Yukina-sama will eventually reach the level of 1st-rank. He’s on his way up."
I can hear Reed and Mikage talking. It looks like he's trying to get close to Kyunei, but Mikage is keeping a watchful eye, so I don't have to worry.
"By the way, Aina-chan, you can really handle your drinks, huh?"
"My family taught me to build up a tolerance, so I got quite a bit of practice with alcohol."
"I see. If Aina-chan messes up while she's drunk, it could be really embarrassing."
"I heard there have been cases like that in the past. Besides, I just genuinely like alcohol."
Meanwhile, Kyunei and Aina were enjoying their drinks together. It was a completely different atmosphere from the intense arm wrestling going on over here. Though the arm wrestling tournament was fun, it seems like I'm running out of opponents. Even facing three opponents at once isn't much of a challenge. I kind of want to join Kyunei and Aina for a drink.
As I'm lost in thought about that, someone suddenly approaches me. When I turn to see who it is, I'm met with a new challenger.
"Hey there, Champion, wanna have a go?"
It's Nikyou Jingin, the boss of the Jingin Family, wearing a grin that screams readiness for a fight.
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