"Ahem."
In the quiet tavern, only one woman's cough echoed through the room.
A quiet tavern. Was there any phrase less fitting? Considering that the overwhelming majority of people there were adventurers, it was an even more unbelievable sight.
But once you knew the circumstances, there was no choice but to accept it. After all, this gathering was—
"Then! To the subjugation of Leviathan this time, and to everyone's safe return!"
The woman raised her voice with genuine joy as she looked over the faces she had gotten to see again.
And at the very end—
"And to bless the future of the child who will be born soon!"
—it was a celebratory banquet honoring the Leviathan subjugation and the birth of a new future.
"""""Cheers~!"""""
Clink!
With the sound of glasses ringing out, the feast began.
"I'm sorry. I added people without asking."
"It's fine! The more people, the better, right?"
Despite the sudden rudeness, Meteria just laughed it off. It would have been understandable if she'd been offended, but she was truly a kind person.
"Don't worry. There's even an inconsiderate god over there who came without being invited."
Arphia, sitting beside her, chimed in as well. Was it just my imagination, or had she become a lot more easygoing too?
"It feels like it's been a long time since we had such a lively gathering."
"Exactly! Harvest Festival feels like ages ago, but time has already passed this much?"
Come to think of it, it hadn't even been a few months since the Harvest Festival.
And yet that time felt so distant. It wasn't just because we had spent such intense days since then; the time itself had been far too special.
So special, in fact, that everything after it felt unbearably long. For both me and her.
Suddenly, the memory of moonlight blue as the sea surfaced in my mind.
Lady Artemis... I wonder if she's doing well. Human hearts are fickle; I thought I had already let go, but when things calm down like this, I find myself wanting to see her again.
...Still, I'd be happy as long as she was healthy. Anything more would be greed.
"Tch."
At the mention of the Harvest Festival, a short, rough sound escaped Arphia's lips. For her, that day had been the worst possible day.
One person was clinging to a woman, and one person was with that pathetic man...
Grit. The sound of teeth grinding was downright vicious. The dense killing intent leaking from her made the faces of several people nearby turn pale.
"Arphia, really... Are you still angry?"
"I'm not angry."
Lies. Everyone there thought the same thing.
It was obvious not just from her expression and atmosphere, but even from the thick veins bulging on her forehead.
In that corner of the tavern, Arphia glared at Cranel, whose face had gone white, then let out a sigh.
Watching that situation, Ais suddenly spoke up.
"Big sister."
"Hm? What is it, Ais-chan?"
"Does a baby come out of your belly?"
The cute question instantly softened the stiff atmosphere. Arphia, too, seemed to lose some of her edge as she sighed and took a drink.
...How many glasses had she had? Looking over, I saw dozens of empty ale cups rolling on the floor. So she was a heavy drinker after all.
"Yes. The baby will be born soon."
Meteria's face as she said that was so happy it made everyone watching feel warm inside. And in proportion to that, the pain in Arphia's heart only deepened.
Putting aside the fact that the child was with that piece of trash... she knew very well that Meteria's frail body might not survive childbirth.
The reason Arphia had been furious the moment she found out about the pregnancy wasn't just because she was pregnant.
Did she not know that? Was that why she could smile so happily?
How could she cherish so dearly the child who would be born at the cost of her own life? Arphia couldn't help but wrestle with that question.
But she didn't say it aloud. She only glanced sideways at the white-haired man.
There was a deep, complicated emotion in her eyes—something that didn't seem like it could fit inside one person.
"Wow..."
Ais stared at Meteria's swollen belly with pure admiration. Her eyes held no other emotion, only innocent awe and wonder.
Well, to a child, pregnancy and childbirth would only seem mysterious.
"How did you end up like this, big sister?"
"Hehe, that's because I shared my heart with the man I love."
Meteria's gaze turned toward the pale-faced man.
What an unreliable man. A trivial man. An embarrassing man.
Why had she fallen in love with someone like that? Could she really not see how pathetic he looked?
Or maybe she could love even that pathetic side of him.
"Will I have a baby someday too, like you?"
"...Yes. I'm sure you will, Ais."
A child's innocent questions sometimes made adults feel unexpectedly fond. That was exactly how Ais felt right then.
"When this baby is born someday, will you be friends with it?"
"Me...?"
"Oh my, do you not want to?"
"No."
The adults smiled warmly as Ais shook her head. Children really did have something healing about them simply by existing.
"Oh, so Ais is finally not the youngest anymore?"
"Hah, indeed. Ais will have to take good care of the child."
At Finn and Riveria's words, everyone exchanged cheerful remarks, and the warm atmosphere continued. Then—
Thud—
"Gareth is down—!!"
"Zard's the winner!"
"...How noisy."
Boisterous commotion filled the tavern. Arphia's irritation rose at the noise, and her eyes turned toward the center of it.
At the center of the crowd gathered by the dozens were Gareth, collapsed on the floor, Zard guzzling alcohol straight from a barrel, and dozens of already-fallen barrels rolling around like fallen soldiers.
"No way... Gareth lost in a drinking contest?!"
"Haha... I never expected to see something like this."
Finn and Riveria watched the scene with dumbfounded expressions. Since they knew just how strong Gareth was when it came to alcohol, they couldn't help but marvel at what they were seeing.
"To think I'd live long enough to see that guy drink himself into the dirt..."
"That's a ten-year teasing target right there. Tomorrow morning's face is going to be priceless."
"Tch. If you're going to drink, at least do it quietly."
Everyone reacted differently, but no one actually stepped in. No one there would have failed to recognize that this was, in its own way, an adventurer's drinking bout.
"How strange."
I watched the scene with a sense of wonder. Loki Familia. The legendary Zeus Familia and Hera Familia.
Their drinking parties weren't any different from the ones I knew. Noisy, lacking in decorum, and yet joyful and lively—just the sort of drinking party you'd expect.
Some things don't change, even when the age changes. Adventurers' habits like this were passed on naturally without anyone teaching them, which was fascinating in its own way.
If I could one day watch this sight with others...
I shook off the stray thought and took a drink. I don't particularly enjoy drinking, but for some reason it was going down easily tonight. Maybe I really was a step closer to being an adult.
Stare.
"..."
Staaaaare—
"...Ais, do you have something you want to say to me?"
Ais was staring at me with such intensity that it was almost uncomfortable. Since she wasn't speaking and only watching, I ignored it at first, but in the end I had to speak up first under that expectant gaze.
"Vesta drinks too..."
"Of course. I'm an adult too."
"Muu..."
When I said that with a proud expression, Ais puffed out her cheeks and made a strange sound.
Come to think of it, was Ais forbidden from drinking? Well, if I had a kid like her, I'd stop her too.
'Huh? Now that I think about it...'
Ais... had once turned into a drunken frenzy, wildly swinging her sword after drinking. Would she be like that now too?
...Yeah, let's never let Ais drink. Just remembering what happened back then still made my teeth ache.
"I want to drink too."
"Not a chance."
"Don't even think about it."
Ais's complaint was cut off firmly by my voice and Riveria's. Perhaps offended by the resolute refusal from her two guardians, she trotted over to Meteria, whom she'd grown close to here, and started whining to her instead.
Riveria let out a sigh at the sight, but Meteria didn't even frown, only soothing Ais with an "Oh my, oh my."
She already had the bearing of a mother. Mothers really were amazing.
Maybe that was a big reason Ais had grown close to Meteria so quickly.
Maybe she saw in Meteria the image of the parents she had lost.
"Haha, I think it'd be fine for her to have a little..."
Glare—
"...I was just kidding, hahahaha!"
The Pallum hero barely got the words out before being sunk by a single look from the elf queen. This set of parents was no pushover either.
"Sigh, come here, Ais. Have some fruit juice with me."
"..."
With a pouty expression so obvious it might as well have made a sound, Ais still didn't refuse my offer. Everyone watched her with warm smiles.
Maybe bringing Ais here had been a stroke of genius. I had no idea how many times she'd already lightened the mood.
A place to celebrate a baby—maybe that meant adults were being especially indulgent toward children?
Ais, who had hopped onto my lap, accepted the fruit juice I handed her. If it had been the old Ais, she might have forced herself to drink alcohol... she really had changed a lot.
'Changed, huh...'
It wasn't just Ais who had changed. Arphia, Riveria, Fels, Xenos, and many others had changed too.
It was a good thing, but it also meant the people I knew were disappearing. When the Ais in front of me grew up to the same extent as Ais, she would no longer be the Ais I knew.
She would still be the same person, but Ais would become someone far more beautiful and wonderful than the Ais I knew. Into a form I couldn't even imagine.
My feelings became strangely unsettled. It was such a good thing, and yet for some reason it didn't sit right with me—a contradictory feeling that kept circling inside me.
Did I not like this situation?
'No.'
I reached a firm conclusion in my heart. But for some reason, the vague unease still had no intention of going away.
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