Akatsuki Translations

The ruler of the Ruptured Realm of Sloth, a gold-ranked adventurer, the conqueror of the Dragon of Sin Sloth, and a king.

Known by countless epithets, revered with awe, and hailed as a hero by the Nameless masses, the man called Black.

There are many mysteries surrounding him. His background is mostly unknown. What is clear is that he is a formidable warrior and an equally cunning man.

Tonight, one of the secrets shrouding him has finally been unveiled.

 “But like, whyyyyyyyyyyyy aren’t there any girls? What happened to Rabi-chan, Jain?!” Black complained.

“I evacuated her the moment you came to my place,” Jain replied.

“I came here hoping to see that girl drunk and dressed sexy…!!” Black whined.

“I’m confident my judgment was correct,” Jain said firmly.

“Oh I got it! Shizuku-chan! Ur! Call Shizuku-chan!!” Black demanded.

“You think I’d call her after how this conversation has been going…?” Ur responded incredulously.

Black, this man has horrible drinking habits.

『HAHAHAHA! Debauchery!! Nice! Make it happen, Ur!』 Rock cackled.

“Just letting you know, the one making the biggest mess in this room right now is you, Rock,” Ur pointed out.

“Ugh! Gross! Alright! Call that maid girl from the 【Hero’s】 place! Call Jenna-chan!!” Black insisted.

“【Purification】,” Ur swiftly cast a purification spell on the spilled liquor that the magic stone couldn’t fully absorb.

“Ahhhhh!! Stop with the purification magic! You’re ruining a perfect excuse!” Black shouted.

“Did you just call my home an excuse?” Ur asked, irritated.

『HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!』 Rock continued laughing uproariously.

The skeleton was laughing. Since skeletons should have high alcohol tolerance, this level of excitement was clearly just him being obnoxious. Ur wanted to smash him to pieces.

“So Ecks, you’re…… No, nevermind,” Ur started, then thought better of it.

“Wait Ur. I want you to retort,” Eckstein pleaded.

“It’s my policy not to complain about others’ values and tastes as long as they don’t harm me,” Ur stated.

“These aren’t my tastes!?” Eckstein protested.

“Right!! They’re mine!!!” Black declared proudly.

“Go home,” Ur said flatly.

Ecks was wearing a frilly dress. It suited him ridiculously well with his good looks, but as his childhood friend, seeing him like that only made Ur feel exasperated. He was probably forced into it, but where did he even get a dress like that from?

“Lady Sousan sold it to me,” Eckstein explained.

“How much was it?” Ur asked.

“5 gold coins,” Eckstein replied.

“This cost 5 gold coins!? Scary!!” Black exclaimed.

“If you take that off during this drinking party, I’ll send you a 10 gold coin dress next time,” Black threatened.

“……” Eckstein fell silent.

Faced with the worst threat, Eckstein gave in and took a seat. He looked dead inside.

“Alright, now that we have a new guest, shall we toast again?” Jain suggested.

“My childhood friend looks like he’s at a wake, but whatever. Cheers to free booze,” Ur said, raising his glass.

Ignoring his friend who had taken on a hellish air, Ur sipped his drink. It was a fruit liquor. It had the distinctive tartness of citrus, a refreshing throat-feel, and was well-chilled to boot.

“Delicious. Easy to drink,” Ur commented.

“It’s a new product from Proudia,” Jain informed him.

Ur savored the refreshing flavor little by little, but the pace around him was quite fast. Especially Black and the others seemed to have been bar hopping, yet showed no signs of slowing down. The folks here were apparently heavy drinkers for the most part.

“Seems like it’d go well with sweet snacks too,” Ur mused.

“Yeah, that sounds tasty… If this situation wasn’t such hell, we could enjoy it more leisurely,” Eckstein lamented.

“Don’t say that, you’ll make Gramps sulky,” Black taunted.

“Please die,” Jain retorted.

“You’re awful!!” Black exclaimed.

When they first met, Jain still had some wariness and respect towards Black, but that evaporated in seconds. The way he dealt with him was even more salty than how Ur was when they first met. Ur was much the same. Caution was necessary, but showing this man respect served no purpose.

『So, Ur. What didja bring. For snacks,』 Rock inquired.

“Some good meat preserved in oil. Let’s grill it,” Ur replied.

『I can’t eat that!』 Rock objected.

“If we stick a magic stone in the used oil, it might soak up the flavor,” Ur suggested offhandedly.

However, Rock eagerly began tossing his magic stones into the jar of oil-preserved meat. It was puzzling how this skeleton seemed to be the biggest gourmet among them, despite lacking both flesh and organs.

“And it’s not like we can eat Rock’s snacks anyway,” Jain pointed out.

『Whatcha talkin’ about! I’m bein’ plenty considerate! Look at this!』 Rock exclaimed, pulling out a jar similar to Ur’s.

Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t filled with oil, but rather pretty, pale purple grains and dried fruits. It was a surprisingly refined item for a delinquent skeleton.

『It’s dried fruits preserved in purple sugar. The purple sugar seems to come from near the Great Ravine up north,』 Rock explained.

“So it’s a product gathered outside the Production Cities. Among the Nameless, there are some who occasionally gather it and sell it in the cities,” Jain commented.

『If ya lick it, it’s got the scent of fine flowers,』 Rock added.

The Great Ravine was a dangerous area with several overflowing dungeons along the way and Five-Eyed Grizzlys roaming about, making the purple sugar an extremely rare item that was difficult to obtain. This confection was likely quite expensive as well. Rock had no hesitation in wasting these kinds of consumables.

“But why do you have something like this when you can only consume magic stones?” Ur wondered.

『Well, I wanted to taste somethin’ sweet, so I tried stickin’ a magic stone in there,』 Rock replied.

“You’re contaminating it!” Ur exclaimed, fishing through the jar and indeed finding a magic stone inside.

Rock picked it up, tossed it into his mouth, and laughed uproariously.

“…How is it?” Ur asked.

『Sweet!!!』 Rock declared.

“No way…” Eckstein said with a disbelieving face.

Ur wanted to think the same, but ever since this skeleton learned the trick of soaking magic stones in alcohol to absorb the spirits into his bones, he had been experimenting with various things for fun. When it failed, he would gleefully report it, so he probably wasn’t lying.

“…So, we won’t get stomachaches from eating these fruits, right…?” Ur asked warily.

Considering that magic stones were essentially the hearts of monsters, this sugar jar was effectively candied dried fruits and organs. Why such a thing reminiscent of a witch’s potion bottle had to be served at a drinking party was beyond him.

However, while Ur was still cautious, Black grabbed one, popped it into his mouth, and took a swig of alcohol.

“You youngsters are soft. It’s perfectly edible. Seems like it’d go well with strong liquor!” Black said.

“Your ability to eat anything is unreliable. Envy Knight. Did you bring anything decent?” Jain turned to Eckstein.

In response to Jain’s question, Eckstein gently presented his gift.

“It’s nothing special, but these are dried sable squids from the foothills of the Gingan Mountains near Envy City, harvested from the Production Cities,” he explained.

“Come to think of it, that area is close to the Great Ravine,” Ur recalled.

The northwest part of the Isralia continent was Envy’s territory, including the coastal areas outside the continent and the “【Great Ravine】 where the sea falls” beyond that. While Envy City was in the mountainous region, seafood was also commonly eaten there.

Ur took a bite of the shriveled dried squid, and a strong chewiness, umami flavor, and aroma greeted him.

“Nostalgic. I used to eat these a lot when I was in Envy,” Ur reminisced.

“You often ate them to stave off hunger, right Ur?” Eckstein said.

“Mmm, delicious! I want some rice wine!” Black exclaimed.

“You’ve been drinking non-stop, Black,” Jain remarked.

“Shut up, Jain. As the host, you should be entertaining your guests,” Black retorted.

“I don’t remember inviting you…” Jain grumbled, but still headed into the kitchen, quickly returning with a plate piled with bright red fruits that Ur recognized.

“Here, eat,” Jain said, unceremoniously dropping the plate on the table.

“…The plate is piled high with an absurd amount of tolmeto[1] fruits. What is this…?” Ur asked, staring at the mound of bright red vegetables.

“Vegetables grown at my place,” Jain replied matter-of-factly.

“Those things seriously just popped out like that!?” Black exclaimed, taken aback.

However, for Ur, who often helped out at Jain’s and received some as thanks, they were quite familiar. Tasting them, they were sweet and rather juicy. As someone who frequently traveled, Ur rarely had the chance to eat fresh vegetables, so he didn’t dislike them.

“If you sprinkle a bit of salt on them, they’d probably go well with alcohol too,” Ur suggested.

『Hey Jain, make ’em into juice for me,』 Rock requested.

“Do it yourself, you old bag of bones,” Jain retorted.

Black grabbed a whole tolmeto, plucked off the stem, and tossed the entire thing into his mouth.

“Mmmm, delicious,” he mumbled while chewing.

“Savor it more when you eat. And don’t just keep eating, bring out something yourself,” Jain chided.

“Sure thing,” Black replied, still munching on the tolmeto as he pulled out a large jar. It had a distinctive smell and a sharp, stinging sensation.

“…What’s this?” Ur inquired.

“Sloth’s specialty, Pickled rice bran [2],” Black announced proudly.

“That’s one astringent local product… And aside from the smell, this is…” Jain trailed off.

“Lugara fruits, tasty right~?” Black grinned.

Ur and Jain grimaced, while Ecks and Rock looked clueless. Seeing this, Black tossed one of the fruits to Ecks.

“Here, eat it!” he urged.

“Thanks…?” Ecks said uncertainly.

“Wait a sec, Ecks-” Ur tried to warn him, but the moment Ecks put it in his mouth, his face turned bright red and he dashed to the kitchen.

Lugara fruits were a stimulant accompanied by an intense spiciness.

“Normally, you’d put in ones with the spiciness toned down…” Jain sighed.

“Why? It’s delicious!” Black laughed, crunching on the fiery pickles.

Ur prayed for the peace of the inside of Ecks’s mouth.

◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆

Cups were emptied many times over, snacks were consumed, and the drinking party progressed.

For Ur, who had a high alcohol tolerance to begin with, drinking parties weren’t particularly occasions to let loose. On the contrary, he often found them bothersome as he had to take care of those who got too carried away.

However, with this group, interesting stories casually spilled out, and he never got bored.

“I see, so 【Envy】 hasn’t changed,” Ur remarked.

“Not really. Given the land’s character, there isn’t much coming and going of people either,” Ecks replied.

“Then what’s the point of that flying fortress you guys rode in on?” Jain questioned.

“Basically, we can’t freely use that without Greylei-sama’s permission,” Ecks explained.

From what Ur heard from Ecks, Envy seemed largely unchanged from several years ago when he had stayed there – a closed-off nation of advanced magical machinery. Located on the western edge, it had little interaction with other countries and remained stagnant.

“Well, in the end, that place exists for the sake of 【Seven Heavens’】 Greylei. No way a country that revolves around that guy’s convenience would change without his say-so,” Black said irreverently.

Ecks looked a bit uncomfortable at Black’s remarks, which could be taken as disrespectful. He still wasn’t used to Black’s exceedingly rough way of talking about the Seven Heavens, who were the closest to the Wise Heavenly King in this world.

On the other hand, Rock, who didn’t seem to mind that at all, tilted his head quizzically.

『What’s that temple King, the Shinra up to?』 Rock inquired.

“The Temple doesn’t like Greylei, but the Envy Temple doesn’t have the power to do anything about Greylei,” Black stated with a guffaw. Ecks looked uncomfortable.

『Huh. Does he have that much influence then?』 Rock asked.

“Well of course, everything in that country – the technology, what they make, what they mine – Greylei is involved in all of it. The Temple can handle the power of the spirits, but it’s also Greylei who creates and updates the urban infrastructure that makes that spirit power more efficient! You think they can complain?” Black explained.

『Impossible!』 Rock agreed.

Needless to say, that technological prowess influenced other cities as well. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that all existing cities benefited from Greylei’s technology, but his hometown in particular was heavily impacted.

“And they’ve been under that influence for hundreds of years, so the power structure is rock solid. Letting long-lived races get involved in politics never ends well!” Black added.

“Says the guy of indeterminate age…” Jain remarked, exasperated at Black discussing the political issues of lifespan disparity as if it were someone else’s problem.

Appearance-wise, Black still looked youthful. He could even be seen as younger than Jain. But there was a possibility this man was at least over 100 years old.

“Um, Black-san, how old are you…?” Ecks asked tentatively.

“25!!” Black declared.

“An old man’s excessive vanity is tough to deal with,” Jain sighed.

“Stop ittt! Don’t bully my delicate heart!!” Black whined, not at all seeming like a man with a delicate heart based on his words and actions.

“So this is the Nameless’ great hero…” Ur muttered.

Ur knew fragments of information about Black, and he had gathered a bit more after hearing that Black would be visiting Uuga. An indomitable great hero who took the initiative to overcome all sorts of difficulties and achieved various feats. The actual him was far too different from that information. It was disappointing in the extreme.

As if reading Ur’s thoughts, Black looked up and grinned sloppily.

“Disappointed that the gold-rank hero is like this? I heard you’re aiming for gold rank too, Little Ur,” he said.

“Not really. I know other gold rankers, and they’re not particularly impressive either,” Ur replied.

“Ah, you mean Glen. Your starting point was Greed after all,” Black recalled, munching on the pickles he brought while casually mentioning Glen’s name.

Apparently he was acquainted with even that delinquent instructor. No matter how irresponsible his words and actions were, the breadth of his connections was indeed uncanny.

Among this group, everyone had a distinctive personality, but the most mysterious and intriguing one was definitely Black. Ur downed the remaining liquor in his cup and decided to ask,

“Why did you become a gold rank?”

“Huh? Just went with the flow,” Black shrugged.

There were quite a few people who became adventurers due to circumstances. But Black was probably the only one who would claim to have become a gold rank by going with the flow.

“…Are you joking?” Ur asked skeptically.

“I really just lived as I pleased. Did what I wanted, crushed guys I didn’t like, and took cute girls for myself. Turned out that happened to benefit humanity,” Black said nonchalantly.

“Your whole existence is a joke…” Ur concluded, unable to think otherwise.

An ephemeral hedonist. Shizuku’s impression of Black based on his letter and information seemed to hit the mark. Ur understood, but it didn’t seem like Black would serve as a useful reference for becoming a gold rank.

“Well, never mind the stories of an old fossil like me. I’d rather hear about the up-and-coming new hero making waves now!” Black deflected, passing the ball to Ur.

『He means you, Ur! HAHAHAHA!』 Rock egged him on. Ur frowned and shook his head.

“My story wouldn’t be interesting or anything even if I told it,” he demurred.

“Interesting or not, it’s bound to be a pretty wild tale,” Jain pointed out.

“I’ve heard fragments of your history, but I don’t really get how it ended up like this,” Ecks added.

Put on the spot by Jain and Ecks, Ur fell silent for a moment, scratching his forehead.

“…I’m not trying to be humble, but the intensity of my life lately has been too much. There’s a huge disconnect between my self-perception and the results,” he explained.

『A lot has happened after all,』 Rock chimed in.

Ur’s current self-image wasn’t much different from when he was chased around by Glen in Greed and running through dungeons. Even as he gained confidence, he was exposed to threats and malice that surpassed it, constantly getting crushed.

“Actually, the people around me are way more abnormal. A genius of magic, an undying warrior, a wielder of the White King Formation, the ruler of Uuga,” Ur listed off.

Throughout his journey so far, it was thanks to his companions’ strength, not his own, that he had somehow overcome the problems that arose.

Ur correctly recognized his own abilities. His combat prowess and talent were thoroughly mediocre. Thanks to Diz’s teachings and his own diligence, he trained more than others, but that just made him a hard worker at best.

Above all, effort wasn’t his exclusive privilege.

“I’m just an ordinary guy who’s been blessed with luck and opportunity. The stories of my companions would be way more worth hearing,” Ur asserted.

As Ur made that pronouncement, Ecks gave a wry smile, Rock laughed uproariously, and Jain glared at Ur with a look reserved for hopeless cases, leaving him perplexed.

　◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆

The banquet continued on after that.

They completely drank up all the prepared alcohol, devoured the snacks, and reached a point where the contents of their chatter became incoherent, at which point they decided to call it a night.

Since everyone had thoroughly imbibed, there were various messes to deal with, like Rock completely forgetting his armor and trying to saunter outside in just his bare bones, or Ecks attempting to return to the Envy Knights’ garrison still in his cross-dressing getup.

“…I’m really sleepy,” Ur muttered.

He wasn’t immune to getting drunk, just resistant, and he had been exhausted from work during the day to begin with. His belly was also full now. He had a premonition that the moment he crawled into bed, he would immediately lose consciousness.

Quickly finishing his pre-bedtime routine and chugging some water, Ur was determined to get to sleep right away.

With that thought, he opened the door to his home.

“Yo, welcome back. Darling.”

For some reason, Black, who should have gone home earlier, was waiting there.

“…What do you want?” Ur asked warily.

“The after-party,” Black grinned.

Ur wanted to tell him to go home, but Black, who had been completely sloshed just moments ago, was now entirely sober. His words sounded like joking, but there was no trace of nonsense in his eyes, just a pressure that brooked no refusal.

“I wanna sleep soon…” Ur groaned.

Unfortunately, he had a conviction bordering on premonition that this wish would be postponed a bit longer. His head began to ache.

TL Note(s)

[1] Changed the name from tolmet to tolmeto

[2] Didn’t know what pickled rice bran (nukazuke) was, but it seems interesting https://www.globalkitchenjapan.com/blogs/articles/making-japanese-pickled-vegetables-with-the-nukazuke-bijin