Chapter 07
I had been staring up at him in a daze before I finally snapped back to my senses.
“…Ah! Captain, hello.”
“Yes. Go on in.”
After opening the door for me, Calix passed by and walked inside at a calm pace.
I stood there blankly watching his retreating back. Then, when I turned my gaze to the side, a gasp escaped my lips without me realizing it.
“Wow…”
Inside what looked like a fairly large dining hall, several long wooden tables were lined up. The tables were piled high with barbecue, alcohol, and fruit.
The people already seated—clearly a bit tipsy—waved at me with flushed faces.
I had never seen a scene like this before. My heart began to race.
This is living!
“Waaah! You’re finally here. Is that the new recruit who fixed the vice-captain’s bald patch?”
“Really? No wonder the vice-captain’s been so excited!”
Just then, the vice-captain appeared behind us.
“Hey, quiet down, all of you. Come on, follow me. The new recruits sit over here.”
Following him, I saw the other two applicants already seated at the central table. I took the empty seat next to the muscular man.
While the vice-captain went off somewhere again, the muscular man turned to me cheerfully.
“Oh! You’re here! Welcome! I’ve been waiting!”
This man felt… dog-like. I mean that literally—he had the vibe of a big, friendly dog.
“Yeah.”
“Wow, what you did earlier was amazing. Ah! My name’s Boris. And this guy here is—”
Boris turned to the quiet man. The quiet man spoke with an indifferent expression.
“Jude.”
“Oh! Jude, nice to meet you. We all seem about the same age, right? I’m twenty-two!”
“I didn’t ask.”
This guy was prickly. Like, genuinely prickly.
“Huh.”
Boris froze at Jude’s response.
Honestly, I was surprised. I thought he’d be at least ten years older than me—but he was actually two years younger.
‘Boris… your face has aged a lot.’
Even with Jude’s cold reaction, Boris didn’t give up and kept talking.
“So, uh, how old are you—”
“I’m twenty-eight.”
“Oh! You’re my senior then!”
“I’m not your senior.”
“Huh.”
The clash between them was funny, so I watched quietly—until Jude’s eyes turned to me.
“And you?”
Come to think of it, Jude kept talking casually. Fine. Then I would too.
“Riana. Twenty-four.”
Jude nodded.
“I see. You had healing ability. Former priest?”
‘Former saint, actually.’
But obviously I couldn’t say that.
“Something like that. You’re a swordsman?”
“…Obviously.”
He looked a bit flustered by my response, but quickly continued in a calm tone.
“Still, surviving a fall from a cliff seems difficult. I’m curious about your method.”
Method? My method is insane healing power—but let’s give a safe answer again.
“Trade secret.”
“Tch.”
At that moment, Boris—looking shocked—ruffled his dog-like brown hair and turned to me.
“Wait. I’m the youngest? No way! You all look so young! You—”
“Hm?”
“Damn it… noona!”
“……”
Despite his rough personality, Boris was surprisingly good with honorifics.
“Yeah.”
“Oh! I’m glad to have an older sister and brother! Haha. But how did all three of us pass? Is it fate? Are we going to be together from now on?”
I didn’t plan on sticking together that much, but I smiled politely. Excited, Boris laughed loudly and downed the beer in front of him in one go.
“Alright! Then it’s a promise!”
“……”
Jude immediately ignored the pinky Boris held out. Boris looked completely at a loss.
Seeing that awkward hand dangling there, I found it funny and hooked my pinky with his.
“Okay.”
“Yes!”
Just then, a mercenary I hadn’t seen before sat down beside me.
He was even bigger than Boris, which caught my attention. He spoke first.
“Hey. You’re Riana, right?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
“I heard you fixed the vice-captain’s bald spot. Think you could fix my ear problem too?”
“Ear problem?”
Ah. Word had spread. This could be troublesome.
I grew a little tense. If it were even slightly serious, I wouldn’t be able to heal it.
Sweat prickled down my spine, but I answered as calmly as I could.
“Let me take a look. Which ear?”
“This one. I haven’t been hearing well out of it for weeks.”
“This ear?”
I placed my hand on the ear he indicated and tried to sense the problem.
‘There’s nothing wrong?’
It was true. I could feel even the faint ailment in the vice-captain’s hair loss—but here, nothing.
No illness, yet no hearing… then maybe—
‘I’ll just have to try something.’
I grabbed a small teaspoon from a nearby table. Then I held the back of the spoon over a candle flame as if sterilizing it.
“God of resonant sound, this poor servant wishes to hear your voice. Please grant your blessing.”
Then I slowly inserted the tip of the spoon into his ear. Almost immediately, I felt it catch on something.
‘Yep. As expected.’
Keeping the spoon in place, I sent a tiny bit of healing power through it and declared,
“Begone!”
Earwax!
I kept that last part to myself. The moment the healing power pulverized the earwax—
“Huh?”
The mercenary’s eyes widened.
“I—I can hear again! Suddenly it’s clear! This is unbelievable!”
“The god has answered your earnest prayer.”
I replied with a sacred expression and discreetly tossed the spoon far away. The man, still overwhelmed, covered and uncovered his ear excitedly before suddenly turning toward me.
“Thank you so much, rookie!”
Then he spread his arms wide.
‘Oh no. Don’t tell me… a hug?’
I instinctively shrank my shoulders.
Tap—
Someone grabbed the man’s arm. A dry voice followed.
“The welcoming ceremony is about to begin. Go back to your seat, Jerome.”
“Huh? Y-yes!”
Turning toward the voice, I saw Calix standing there, expressionless, holding Jerome’s arm.
Jerome looked at me awkwardly.
“Uh… Riana, right? I swear I’ll repay this debt.”
“Oh, no, it’s fine—”
“No! I, Jerome, always repay my debts!”
“…Okay.”
As Jerome kept talking, Calix lightly tapped his shoulder again and tilted his head, clearly signaling him to leave.
Jerome stood up reluctantly.
“Then I’ll get going. Anyway, welcome to Henes!”
“Thank you.”
After confirming Jerome had returned to his seat, Calix glanced at me once, then went back to his place without a word.
‘Did he just happen to pass by?’
I didn’t know. Still, I was grateful—I’d avoided an unnecessary hug.
Then the vice-captain approached.
“Alright, new recruits. Follow me. Henes has a traditional welcoming ritual.”
‘A welcoming ritual?’
Curious, I followed him to a platform-like area at the front. On it lay a massive oak barrel placed horizontally.
As the three of us stepped onto the platform, the mercenaries at the tables turned their attention toward us and cheered.
“Every new member of Henes must go through this rite of passage. This is it!”
Everyone clapped and shouted, but since I’d never heard of this before, I tilted my head.
‘That oak barrel is the ritual?’
At that moment, Boris stepped forward boldly and picked up a cup beside him.
“I’ve always wanted to try this!”
“Oh? You know what it is?”
At the vice-captain’s question, Boris pounded his chest proudly.
“Of course! It symbolizes sharing all hardships and trials together by drinking the alcohol in this barrel!”
“Correct. Then you know senior members aren’t required to participate?”
“Yes! If no one helps us, the three of us have to empty the whole barrel ourselves, right? Haha! No problem!”
‘If no one helps, we have to drink all of that ourselves?’
I had never really drunk alcohol before. The wine used in temple rituals was basically fruit juice.
And now I was supposed to gulp down that much alcohol?
‘This is amazing.’
My heart started racing with excitement. Just then, several senior mercenaries stepped forward in front of Boris.
“Henes is one. You were wrong if you thought no one would help.”
“But you’d be even more wrong if you thought we’d help a lot. Haha.”
Each of them picked up the smallest cups available, poured a bit of the yellow-colored liquor, took a few sips, and stepped back.
It looked incredibly delicious.
“Thank you for your help, seniors! Haha!”
Boris laughed joyfully, then suddenly shouted forward.
“Alright! You don’t have to help anymore! The rest is on the three of us!”
“Hey! You didn’t even discuss that with us—!”
Jude snapped, but Boris had already begun pouring liquor into the biggest cup.
The cup looked bigger than a water bottle. Boris lifted it and started chugging.
One cup. Two cups. Three cups.
Cheers erupted with every emptied glass. Fired up, Boris poured another.
“Seniors! Watch me!”
He swallowed all four cups and raised the empty glass—
Thud.
Boris collapsed unconscious.
