It was the night of the day the Queen Bee Incident had taken place in the dungeon. Deep into the night, amidst the sweltering, stifling heat peculiar to summer, Rei headed out of the inn.
Under normal circumstances, a city street after sunset was a dangerous place, teeming with rowdy drunks. For Rei, however, such riffraff posed no threat. More importantly, for reasons he couldn't name, he didn't feel the slightest bit sleepy.
Perhaps if Elena had been awake, they could have spent the time talking. Rei truly held feelings for her, and since she had allowed him to kiss her several times now, he had a vague sense that she reciprocated those feelings.
Fortunately or unfortunately, she seemed to have been mentally exhausted by the day’s events. When he had stopped by her room, there was no response to his knock, and she appeared to be already fast asleep.
With nothing but time on his hands, Rei decided to treat himself to a taste of Exil's nightlife.
It was nearly nine o'clock. Even in summer, the city was shrouded in total darkness, punctuated only by the occasional glow of Magic Items. Those lights were concentrated mostly in the entertainment district, serving taverns and brothels.
As he walked, a street stall on the main street caught his eye.
"Heh, a street stall at night? That’s rare."
The sight of a nighttime stall immediately brought back memories of festivals and night markets in Japan—takoyaki, okonomiyaki, yakisoba, cotton candy, and grilled squid. He had heard that some places even had rare stalls like doner kebabs, but in the region where Rei had lived, they only ever had the basics. A slightly more unique offering might be oden, or perhaps salt-grilled river fish like ayu, iwana, or yamame.
"Welcome. You want to grab a bite, kid?"
A vigorous middle-aged man in his 40s called out to Rei, having noticed him staring.
Rei hesitated for a moment. He was reasonably full from the meal at the inn—the dining hall had turned into a literal war zone in the staff's attempt to fill Rei’s bottomless stomach—but he still had some room left.
Fortunately, the stall primarily served light fare like sandwiches and soup. Rei realized these were likely intended for patrons looking to settle their stomachs after drinking.
It’s true that people often crave ramen when they’re drunk, he thought. Maybe I could make a killing if I sold udon here. No, they already have stalls for that in Gilm; someone might have already moved in on the drunken market here too.
The udon from the Full Belly Diner crossed his mind, but he didn't expect to find anything of that caliber here. Moreover, since udon itself was practically unknown in these parts, he realized eating it here was a pipedream. He simply ordered a sandwich.
Since it was night, the stall didn't provide any seating. With no other choice, Rei leaned against the wall of a nearby building and bit into his ham and cheese sandwich.
It seemed to have a spicy mustard of some kind inside. The sharp heat merged with the mellow cheese and salty ham, creating a savory blend that prompted him to take another bite, and then another.
While savoring the sandwich, he watched the people passing through the street, their figures illuminated by Magic Items. There were adventurers in leather armor and men who appeared to be thieves, wearing light clothing instead of armor to prioritize agility. A man carrying a spear must have had one too many; he walked with an unsteady gait, using the butt end part of his weapon like a cane.
In addition to adventurers, there were plenty of merchants and residents of Exil. They were all drinking wine or ale, singing, making noise, and even brawling, as if trying to blow away the stifling summer night.
As he watched the main street, a hand suddenly reached out from the side. Rei’s instincts flared to grab it, but he immediately sensed a complete lack of murderous intent from the owner and stayed his hand.
The hand plucked several sandwiches from Rei’s bag and brought them to its mouth.
Despite the summer sun, the arm was a bewitchingly pale white, unmarred by any tan. It was wrapped in an outfit made of multiple layers of fabric so sheer you could almost see through to the other side.
Even without seeing her face, Rei knew exactly whose arm it was. She had left such a powerful impression on him that it was impossible to forget her. The only reason he hadn't been certain was the absence of her trademark gauntlets.
"Vihera, wasn't it? What are you doing in a place like this?"
"Ufufu. I was just walking along, enjoying a drink, when I spotted a familiar face. Just a little greeting, that's all."
Vihera, her aggressive beauty accented by a smile, bit into a sandwich. Even the simple act of her eating was somehow refined. However, that sophisticated air vanished instantly when she licked her finger after finishing the snack.
"Enjoying a drink, huh? For someone just out for a stroll, you’re giving off a distinct scent of blood."
Rei gave a small sniff and turned his gaze toward her. Coming from the woman before him, mixed with the smell of alcohol and her perfume, was the undeniable scent of blood.
"Heh. You noticed? You have a very good nose... Are you a beastman, by any chance?"
"No, just a regular human."
Strictly speaking, he was closer to an artificial human, but he couldn't exactly say that out loud.
"Is that so? You seem quite sharp for a human—and not just your sense of smell."
"Who knows. So, is that blood because you were out fighting someone?"
Rei asked the smiling woman, his hand ready to draw the Death Scythe from the Misty Ring at any second. They had only met once for a few minutes, but he understood that the beautiful woman before him enjoyed blood—or more accurately, combat.
Vihera gave a small shrug, her aggressive beauty illuminated by a smile. The movement caused her large twin mounds to sway, drawing the stares of every drunk on the main street. She seemed entirely unfazed, likely long accustomed to the rude gazes of men.
She was easily one of the three most beautiful women Rei had ever seen. When such a woman wore a sheer dancer’s outfit that left so much skin exposed... and when it was nighttime on a street full of drunks...
"Hey, lady. Why waste time with a brat like that? Why don't you come play with me? I've got plenty of coin. Hic."
It was practically a mathematical certainty that someone would call out to her.
A sturdily built man in his late 20s to early 30s, nearly 2 meters tall, approached. His cheeks were flushed red with drink as he looked over her enticing body with a leering gaze, licking his lips. He was only carrying a longsword at his hip, but his massive physique was a weapon in its own right.
"I’m not interested in people who are weak and slow. My apologies," Vihera stated flatly.
She didn't want her conversation with Rei—someone who had actually caught her interest—to be interrupted, but more than that, she could tell the man’s strength at a glance. He had a good build and was likely strong, but his movements betrayed a complete lack of technique, even accounting for his drunkenness. He was a typical power fighter, and one who was clearly inferior to her.
Having lost interest, she dismissed him. But the man wasn't about to stay quiet. Proud of his own strength and blinded by drink, he didn't see Vihera as a combatant. His temper flared instantly.
The misfortune here was that Vihera wasn't wearing her gauntlets or greaves. Had she been wearing them, the mismatch between the dancer's outfit and the heavy armor might have tipped the man off to her true identity.
But he didn't realize. Ignored by the beauty in favor of the kid beside her, he reached out—only to find that she was suddenly gone. His hand was now reaching toward Rei instead.
She had evaded the man’s grasp and glided to the other side of Rei with footwork so fluid she seemed to slide across the ground.
If the man had been sober, he would have recognized that skill and backed down immediately. But in his drunken stupor, he was incapable of such judgment. Seeing Rei—who, from the man's perspective, was intimately chatting with a top-tier beauty—he clenched his reaching hand into a fist and swung, intending to knock the kid down as an afterthought.
"Good grief, don't drag me into your mess."
Sighing, Rei caught the incoming fist with his right hand. He pulled hard to break the man's balance and swiftly swept his legs.
The man had been confident in his power; he was actually a somewhat well-known D-Rank adventurer. But his strength was nothing compared to Rei’s. Half-conscious with drink, he was easily upended and slammed onto his backside.
"Waaaah!"
Rei pinned him by pressing the sole of his foot against the man's solar plexus, applying just enough weight to keep him from moving.
"L-Let me go! Dammit, you brat! W-What did you do?!"
The man’s face turned bright red as he thrashed about, but from a lying position, he couldn't muster any leverage. He struggled pathetically.
Rei let out a small sigh and looked at the woman beside him. She could have easily handled a man of this caliber herself, yet she had deliberately involved Rei. He didn't voice his annoyance, however, because he knew he would have been targeted eventually anyway. He was well aware that, at least in appearance, he looked like a mere 15-year-old.
"Oh, as expected. I knew I had judged you correctly."
At the word "judged," the gazes of the onlookers turned toward Rei. Some were filled with jealousy, others with curiosity. The men fell into the former category and the women into the latter, a clear reflection of the crowd’s nature.
Rei applied a final bit of pressure to his foot, knocking the man unconscious, before speaking.
"I think the way you use the word 'judged' is definitely different from the definition I know."
"Now, I wonder? It might be the true meaning, you know?"
As they spoke, a murmur rose from the surrounding crowd.
"Good grief, another drunken brawl? Why is it always so rowdy when summer hits?"
"No use complaining now. Look, that guy on the ground is the one. Let's haul him off. Alright, alright, clear out! The show's over!"
Two guards approached, sighing as they called out to the onlookers. They stepped up to Rei and Vihera and picked up the unconscious man between them.
"Are we not in trouble?" Rei asked. He hadn't expected to be arrested, but he had assumed they would at least want a statement. Seeing them take the man without a word to them, his curiosity got the better of him.
"Yeah, don't worry about it," one guard said, attempting a shrug that was hampered by the man he was carrying. "We heard the gist of it from the sandwich stall over there. Besides, it’s pretty obvious what happened just by looking at this."
If it were daytime, they might have asked for more details. But at night, these brawls happened dozens of times. With so many rough adventurers in the city, it was inevitable. Simply put, they didn't have the time to care about the specifics of every minor scuffle.
The guards left with the drunk, and the crowd, seeing that the entertainment was over, dispersed. A few men lingered, looking with longing at Vihera’s provocative outfit, but the memory of what had just happened killed their nerve. They soon followed the others.
Once they were alone, Vihera leaned in and whispered into Rei’s ear.
"Say... why don't you have a good time with this big sister?"