Eventually, I realized that Capitan and I had been talking for some time—probably because it had been a while since we’d last seen each other.
“It’s a bit late for me to be saying this, given how much of your time I’ve taken up, but shouldn’t you go report to a receptionist?” I asked.
“Ah. Well, the guild’s open at all hours, so it doesn’t matter that much, but you’re right that there’ll be fewer appraisers around the later it gets. I guess I should get it done earlier. Mind waiting for me? I’ll be right back. Oh, feel free to go to the tavern and grab a drink, even. I’m meeting the sailor I hired there later—I’ll introduce him to you. The tavern’s over by—”
“I suppose I should introduce Niedz and the others too, then,” I said, after Capitan had given me directions to the tavern. “If you don’t mind, that is.”
He nodded. “Sure. Then we’ll all meet up there. Invite that curse vendor too. Diego, was it? I owe him a drink for looking after my student.”
“Got it. I’ll see you later, then.”
I left the adventurer’s guild, finding that it was dark outside—the sun had already fully set. Nevertheless, Lucaris was a lot brighter than Maalt at night. The streetlamps were all illuminated, light shone through windows, and the entire city still seemed active and alive.
The foot traffic hadn’t lessened either, though its makeup had changed. Instead of housewives shopping for ingredients or daily necessities, I saw adventurers returning from their commissions and men headed to taverns for a drink after a long day’s work, accompanied by their business associates.
The atmosphere had gotten a bit rowdier, to the point where I wouldn’t have recommended a young girl go out alone, but that wouldn’t be a problem for people like Niedz and Diego. In fact, they seemed more the type to pick the fights rather than run into them. Hmm... On second thought, maybe that was a little rude to say of Diego.
“Diego?” I called out, having reached his store. “Niedz? Are you there?”
The door opened, and the beast-folk man popped his head out, looking puzzled. “Hmm? Rentt? Weren’t you going to come back tomorrow?”
“That was my plan, yeah. But—” I then told him about how I’d managed to find Capitan, what we’d talked about, and his invitation to go drinking.
“Oh? Well, far be it from me to turn down a free drink. I imagine Niedz and his friends are of much the same opinion. Hold on a moment—I’ll call them over.” Diego turned and headed back inside to his living quarters.
Part of me wondered whether Niedz was in any condition to drink alcohol, given the internal damage he’d suffered, but that was probably an unfounded fear. He’d seemed completely recovered earlier, and on the off chance something did go wrong, I could just heal him with my divinity.
Fortunately, I hadn’t gone out on a job today, so my reserves were topped up, so to speak. While my body made it difficult to get a good night’s sleep, my divinity would still fully recover in the time between an ordinary person going to bed and waking up in the morning.
The door opened again to reveal Diego with the three adventurers behind him.
“They’re here,” he said.
“Boss Rentt!” exclaimed Lukas, the shorter, plump adventurer. “Are you really treating us to drinks?!”
“Strictly speaking, it’s my mentor who’s going to be treating us,” I explained. “We’re not just meeting up to drink, though. Starting tomorrow—well, we haven’t actually decided on the day, but definitely some time soon—we’ll be having you work with us in the Dungeon of the Sea God’s Daughters. That means we’ll need a boat, but my mentor’s been kind enough to let us join him on the one he hired, so tonight’s about introducing everyone to each other. Don’t do anything too rude.”
If Niedz or his friends drank too much and angered the sailor enough for him to cancel his contract, I’d be depriving Capitan of his vessel—and to make up for it, I’d have to fly him to and from the dungeon each day. Giving out a strict warning was a small price to pay to avoid that.
“O-Of course, Boss!” Lukas turned to his friends. “We’ll be on our best behavior! Right, guys?”
Gahedd, the tall one, nodded. “This might not sound all that convincing, given we attacked you in that alley, but I promise to stop Niedz or Lukas if they look like they’re about to screw something up.”
“You promise you can manage that?” I asked.
It wasn’t that I was doubting Gahedd’s intentions. It was just that, by all appearances, the trio were at roughly the same skill level, so asking him to stop his friends by himself if they really went wild might have been a bit much to ask.
Surprisingly, it was Niedz who answered me. “Don’t know how it is for you, Rentt, but Lukas and me are the type to flop around like helpless fish when we’re drunk,” he said. “Gahedd’s got nothing against drinking himself, but when it’s the three of us, he always stays sober enough to knock our heads together if we get too rowdy.”
That made sense. If pressed, I would’ve said I was the type to avoid getting drunk in the first place. I enjoyed a drink or two, sure, but I preferred keeping a general eye on things and staying alert enough to defuse any quarrels that looked like they might break out. In that sense, I could understand where Gahedd was coming from.
Lorraine, who was my frequent drinking companion, had an incredible tolerance for alcohol, so she usually joined in for peacemaker duty. Of course, in Maalt’s taverns, the troublemakers were most often Iron-classers or the weaker Bronze-classers, either of whom I could handle on my own. Anyone stronger, and I got a little more leery about the idea of getting them to settle down with brute strength alone, but there were always other ways. Everyone had a weakness, after all.
When it came to booze, there would always be the type who drank themselves into a stupor and caused trouble for everyone else—but in the end, all it took was a little, ah, persuasion to smooth things over. Thankfully, it didn’t seem as though that would be necessary for Niedz and his friends.
“All right,” I told Gahedd. “I’ll count on you, then.”
Gahedd straightened, and his expression became equal parts grim and heroic. “Understood, boss,” he said, nodding. He was acting like I’d entrusted him with some kind of grave duty, but I supposed that just meant I’d got my point across loud and clear.