-- While we were enjoying our dinner for a while, a group of new adventurers in the dining room tried to walk past the table we were sitting at.

　It's a good idea to make sure that you have a good idea of what you're looking for.

'Oh, long time no see, Luke!　Glad to see you're back in one piece!
What is it, Travis? I thought we had a new party. As usual, every time I see you, you change your look.

　It was nothing.
　I simply couldn't get my head around it, and instead of remembering seeing it, it was an old familiar guy's party.

　I have my own version of what I almost mistook for a party.

　Travis' party has set rookie training as an important activity, and they actively accept rookies and train them up to stand on their own, so with the exception of a few core members, there's a lot of turnover.

　He says that it's easy to put together a party of top-notch adventurers, but it's the duty of the A-rank to think about improving the level of the industry as a whole, rather than pursuing adventuring for their own profit in that way.

　Of course, this was just Travis' personal beliefs, and not all A-Ranks operated under such a policy.

　However, even with such restrictions, it is clear that Travis's ability is high enough to be able to perform an activity worthy of an A-rank.

It's a good thing that the white wolf ...... is Travis. Hey, Leila!　Travis is here too!

　A tipsy Garnett called out to Layla, who was sitting on the opposite side of the table.

　Leila, who had been relaxing, looking completely off guard, but as soon as she noticed Travis' appearance, she began to adjust her posture and appearance in a flurry.

　Erica, who was sitting right next to Layla in too much of a hurry, almost got caught up in it as well, but she didn't seem to have the time to worry about such things.

''No!　Wait, wait, wait, wait!　I'm not planning to sit down and talk to you today!　I'm not going to get in your way.

　After receiving Travis' response, Leila sat back in her chair with a relieved and disappointed expression on her face and behaved herself a bit more.

　If the reaction is so blatant, it would be easy for an outsider who doesn't know what's going on to see through it, but Leila has romantic feelings for Travis.

　Travis on the other hand is also aware of this and seems to have sincere intentions to face it, but apparently there was no particular progress even while I was down in the fifth labyrinth.

　Well, if the dislike for women that I've held for nearly twenty years - meaning that my own monstrous power might hurt them - if I could get rid of it so easily, no one would have a hard time with it.

'It's more than that, Luke. I hear things have gotten a lot more important downstairs. Looks like things are about to take a big turn for the worse.
'You don't plan to sit down and talk about it, do you?　That's a long story, and in a place like this, I can't give you all the details.
I know what I'm doing. It's just a confirmation and a thank you. The fact that you're enjoying your drink like that means that at least it didn't go badly for us.

　What's that criterion for judging it, I tried to retort, and drank my words when I realized I had no material to deny.

　Indeed, if the meeting with the Demon King Gandalf in the Fifth Labyrinth hadn't gone well, I'm sure we wouldn't have been able to enjoy a drink and a meal like this without a care in the world.

　I would have bought the others dinner to make them feel better about themselves, but I would have been here in a state of mindlessness, pondering over how to recover from this.

　I feel like Travis understands me better than I understand myself, which is somewhat complicated, but maybe that's just the way relationships work.

　After all, the one entity in this world that is hardest to see objectively is yourself.

I'd be more than happy to give you a bottle of booze to help you out.
I figured you'd say that, so I had it ready for you. He's the one you like best in this store.

　Travis accepted the bottle of liquor brought by the adventurer from the party and placed it vigorously in front of me.

'My treat. Enjoy.
'...... You told me to buy it earlier. You're a shrewd guy, really.

　This exchange was a complete loss for me.

　In a party full of rookies, the man who achieves a result that is considered to be one of the best in a number of A-ranks, it seems that he has no weaknesses in judgment and perseverance even in such situations.

　If he's no longer bad with women, he won't have any weaknesses that seem like weaknesses.

It's a very good idea to have a different type of beer. I'm not sure I've ever asked you which one you prefer, since you drink a different drink every time. Then let's get right to it.

　Garnett, who was sitting next to me, immediately reaches for a bottle of liquor, cuts the seal and pours it into my cup and my own, respectively.

'Do you drink too?'
Don't be stingy with me. I'm just trying to figure out what kind of stuff you like to drink.
'No, I don't really care if you drink it: ......

　Perhaps it was the drunkenness of what he'd been drinking, but Garnett seemed incapable of careful thought, and before he could warn her, he stoked his glass of liquor.

'It's hard, that one,'
Haha!

　Garnett swollen up in a heap.

　And Erica and others who are laughing and rolling around with the force of drunkenness - what is funny even if the chopsticks fall over, though I guess this is not the meaning of it.

　Garnett unguardedly stirred up the steamed(-)distilled sake.

　It's a sake to drink with water or other liquor, or to sip and savor little by little, not something you'd accidentally take in your mouth all at once.

　I wiped the unusually teary-eyed Garnett's table and decided to order some liquor from Sylvia to break up the spirits.