Ah, at last, I was back.
Comeback, my hoooome~
I'm never leaving you again.
"...And to think that thought was actually a flag."
"Hahaha, Magus big bro! Let's have fun. C'mon, c'mon. Drink it down, chug it all the way~"
"That Kikus guy's completely changed. I guess that counts as growth in its own way."
"Does it? He just gained one more person he respects."
"Hey, one more beer here~!"
"Yeees~ Got it, nyaang~"
To cut to the chase, this place is a tavern called the Hostess of Fertility.
This is a restaurant I come to whenever I want something tasty, and not only is the food good, the waitresses here are all top-tier too.
The proprietress must be quite the capable woman, because every single one of them is a beauty.
That's why this place is popular even among adventurers, mostly male ones, and even though it's still early, there are already plenty of customers.
The same goes for Hermes Familia, who came here for a post-adventure party.
"Hwahahaha! Drink till you die!"
"Lulune, take it easy. And you too, Merlin. No need to force yourself to keep up."
"Hic. Y-yes~? Whaddaya mean, me?"
"Who was it! Who gave the kid alcohol!"
"Whoa! Aspi's mad!"
"I like even an angry Aspi, too~"
"Everyone evacuateee!"
It was utter, drunken chaos.
I'd always thought I'd never have any reason to join a party like this, full of social butterflies.
But these damned acquaintances dragged me here against my will while I was enjoying some rare alone time.
Thanks to that, I'm now happily drinking away too.
Oh, this is my first time having this, and it's delicious.
Should I order another one after I finish?
Money isn't an issue anyway; these folks are paying for everything.
Come to think of it, this is a chance.
Let's eat and drink as much as we want today.
"Puhah~ By the way, Magus bro. What Familia are you even with?"
"Ohhh, good question! I was wondering that too!"
"And your level, your level! You've gotta be higher than our captain, right?"
"Hey, wait. Then this guy's first-class...?"
"Shh! That's still a secret from everyone else!"
"Oops, almost slipped up there. Sorry, sorry."
Amid all that, one question came my way.
But I'd expected them to ask eventually, so I answered without a care.
It wasn't exactly something worth hiding.
"Munch munch, Familia? Gulp. Don't have one."
"Huh?"
"Is that some new joke that's in style these days?"
"I know! That's definitely mystique, right? I think I heard something similar from Lord Hermes before!"
But Hermes Familia took my answer as if it were some kind of joke.
Even Aspi looked like she didn't believe me.
But what could I do?
It was all true.
"No, really. I'm not an adventurer."
"Eh, seriously?"
"Seriously?"
Only then did they realize I was being sincere, and they panicked.
A trembling voice asked me again.
"T-then your level too?"
"Of course. I've never even received [Falna]. Physically, I'm just an ordinary civilian who isn't even Level 1."
"But in the Dungeon..."
"That was just a momentary thing because I reinforced myself with mana. Normally, this is how I am."
"You can reinforce your body with mana? Merlin, what does that mean? Is that even possible?"
"Hic. Hic. Fuhihihihi..."
"Ah, he's completely drunk. Dodon, take care of Merlin."
Giving alcohol to a child.
Honestly, the standards in this city are still so vague.
Just as I was thinking that and about to resume eating, someone suddenly barked out in a rough voice.
"Liar!"
"Fork."
It was a little Pallum with a nasty temper, the type who seemed to have a complaint about everything in the world.
But well.
In the end, kids like that usually turn into tsunderes and become popular.
남캐따위 내 알 바 아니지만.
"A Magus without [Falna]? I've never even heard of such a thing!"
"Then you're seeing one for the first time now."
At my answer, the table fell silent for a moment.
Then the one who opened her mouth again was Teacher Aspi's little lecture time.
"Originally, magic belonged only to elves and certain beastfolk."
"Aspi?"
"The ancient mages were the ones who tried to make it usable for other races as well. Even so, learning the basics required extraordinary talent, and going beyond that demanded tremendous effort. There were so few of them that progress was slow."
And then the gods descended to the mortal world.
The gods who came down to the surface gifted [Falna] to humanity, and [Falna] gave humanity a simpler and stronger path to magic.
That was the beginning of magic in this world.
Most of the magical knowledge from before then was judged meaningless if it couldn't be carried on, and was discarded.
That was the reality of ancient magic.
"The truth is, all magic today is controlled by [Falna]. As you all know, you learn a little introductory magical theory, then through [Falna] you obtain and use up to three spells depending on your talent and affinity. That's what people commonly call a mage. The mages of the Magocracy of Altera are no exception."
"Then what about you, Magus bro?"
"As far as I know, there are only two ways to use magic without [Falna]. First, you're born into a race naturally gifted in magic and learn through secret knowledge passed down through the family line. And second, there's only the knowledge of 'ancient magic'—hard to learn, not very effective, and long since abandoned and forgotten by humanity."
Then I guess, by this world's standards, I'm the latter kind of person.
Everyone listening to Aspi looked surprised, and a little puzzled too.
Was there something they didn't understand?
"Hmm, I'm not sure, but ancient magic is inefficient, right?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Then what in the world is that Magus bro's stuff? All of it was incredible!"
"That is..."
At Lulune's question, Aspi looked a little reluctant and glanced at me.
I didn't really know why she was hesitating, but she could just make something up.
What an unnecessarily earnest girl.
"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying!"
Bang!
At that moment, Fork, who had just emptied another mug of beer, jabbed a finger at me in a fit of temper.
Well, I knew he'd probably been raised rough since he was a Pallum kid, but his manners were really terrible.
But Fork seemed to ignore my feelings entirely and said, looking at me with obvious frustration,
"That's weird to begin with! Why would you do that? You've got that much talent, right? If you just received [Falna] from any god, you could've gotten stronger more easily than before! No, maybe you'd have become even stronger thanks to the blessing. You could've lived a much better life. So why didn't you take [Falna]? Why come down into the Dungeon without it? Why would you choose to take that kind of risk?"
Hmm, is that how it looks to other people?
I quietly checked the expressions of the others around me.
Yeah, they all seemed to be curious about the answer too.
Come to think of it, I've always known, felt, and experienced that I was a little "weird" compared to other people, even in my previous world.
I'm fully aware that being rejected to some degree is only natural, so it doesn't really bother me.
More than that, magi to begin with are creatures different from ordinary people, and even among them I was treated like a weirdo, so I guess there's no helping it.
With that in mind, after gathering my thoughts for a moment, I chewed and swallowed the meat in my mouth and answered his question.
"Because it's fun."
"What? Fun?"
"Yeah, fun."
I guess I was getting a little tipsy too.
With a slightly exhilarated mood, I let them hear a bit of what was in my heart.
"A mage through [Falna]. Sure, it'd definitely be easier than the effort I've put in so far. The process would've been smoother, and the sweetness of what I'd gain might have been more valuable and impressive too."
But that wouldn't do.
I, of all people, absolutely could not let it be that way.
"Little Pallum, I have a dream. A dream of pursuing my own romance."
The path of magecraft is surely a means to that end.
There is absolutely no lie in enjoying it and cherishing it.
But precisely because of that, that path needs my own standards, my own purity.
If I lose that purity, I will surely turn inside out and outside in.
I'd collapse and break down just like that worm old man from Fuyuki, and in the end become some grotesque, twisted thing.
I refuse such an ugly ending, absolutely.
"Call it stubbornness, obstinacy, fixation, conviction, obsession—whatever you like. But there's a line I can never give up."
Yes, that is my dream.
The road toward my romance, my dream.
The final path that uses everything as a means, yet still cannot be compromised.
"The praise of humanity is the praise of courage."
A great saying I once heard, once saw, once felt.
"The greatness of humanity is the greatness of courage."
Simple and childish... and yet it was the standard of life that sank deepest into my heart.
That is the [Dream Road] toward my romance.
"That's why I don't take help from gods. I might be able to deal with them or form bonds with them as one human to another. But I can't receive anything from them as gods. I won't. So I don't need [Falna]."
To do otherwise would go against that great saying, that teaching.
Would that be right? Would that be acceptable?
In my three lives, I already compromised with reality in the first one.
In the second, I finally gathered my courage and took my first step.
Then in this third one...
"I'll achieve my goal with my own hands, with nothing but human strength. I'll move toward my dream. That is the path of magecraft I pursue. No, the identity of my life!"
Well, something like that should be enough, right?
I hadn't laid out everything in my heart, but it wasn't a lie either.
Besides, JoJo, come on, it's great, right~?
That kind of standard for living is part of my romance too.
"That's roughly why. So, still got a problem with it?"
"Ah..."
No answer came at the end.
The table was silent.
Maybe I'd gotten too heated and left everyone speechless.
Come to think of it, that was pretty childish of me.
Ugh, no, I didn't think it was, but...
I guess I really was pretty drunk too.
To think I'd do something this embarrassing in front of everyone without hesitation...
"Co... ol..."
"Huh?"
When I lowered my gaze from where I'd been looking up, Fork came into view.
But for some reason, the little Pallum was looking at me with eyes that were... way too sparkly, full of starlight?!
Just like those troublemakers from the neighborhood cartoon!?
Gah! Don't look at me like that!
Even if you do, I've got nothing to give you!
"Puh, puhahahaha! Wow, that's cool! As expected of you, bro! Your guts are on a whole other level from everyone else!"
"Ooooh! I respect you even more now, Magus bro!"
"Hee, you can even say pretty good things. That was cool."
And then came a sudden barrage of praise.
Ugh, stop it!
My embarrassment meter is already at zero!
Before I knew it, I was receiving praise, encouragement, and cheers from everyone, and I downed the beer in my hand in one shot as if fleeing.
I'm pretty sure my face is redder than it's ever been in my life right now.
Damn it, this is all because of alcohol!
Never again am I drinking with other people!
"Still..."
It does feel like I'm living like a proper human for once.
Well, I'm never doing this again, though.
*
"More interesting than I expected..."
Far away, inside a dark room, she smiled.