"Happy birthday!"
When I just returned from the city to buy some wine with Paul, this happened.
There was everyone I had met and traveled with over the past few months, from Roxy, Talhand, and Isolde to Paul's family, Geese, the Vierra sisters, Shierra, and the others. Oh, and of course, there was Larry, my black cat, sitting proudly on Shierra's shoulder.
Along with them was a series of unique and inviting dishes competing to release provocative aromas. From the birthday cake, roasted meat, and the fried chicken that this place calls Nanahoshiyaki, to the tuna sashimi I had asked Geese to make.
The candlelight, the sound of applause, and the cheering all combined truly overwhelmed me, leaving me motionless for a moment.
"Birthday?" I asked subconsciously, pointing at myself. "For me?"
"Who else would it be for?" Paul set the barrel of booze down and ruffled my hair with a wide grin, acting as if I were his son. "Happy birthday, kiddo!"
So that was it. I knew I had reached or passed my actual birthdate, and I figured sooner or later there would be a birthday party for me; Isolde did say she would prepare one. But I didn't think it would be held right at this moment.
I did notice everyone acting a bit weird today, but I just assumed they were energetically preparing to continue our journey. Who would have thought it was to throw a birthday party.
"Don't tell me that booze run was just you luring me away so everyone could set this up."
Talhand was still wide awake and even wishing me a happy birthday; so the whole 'he drank all the booze' thing was a lie. So I was tricked, huh?
"Couldn't be helped. Everything was supposed to be ready by the time you got back, but oh well." Paul shrugged and clapped me heavily on the shoulder. "But you're an adult now, so you gotta understand us adults, nephew!"
"Yes, yes, I understand," I smiled wryly.
I could understand the action, but I didn't quite understand the point of this secret birthday party. I mean the very nature of throwing a surprise party. A surprise sounds like a neat thing, but I had absolutely zero preparation to deal with this situation. Maybe because they were afraid I'd expect too much? I don't think everyone thinks like that.
Besides...
"If you're thinking that we shouldn't be celebrating a birthday when everything is still unresolved, you don't need to worry." Isolde suddenly spoke up; she truly always knows what I'm thinking.
"Ah, yeah." I nodded. "I'm really glad to celebrate my birthday, but... when I think about how everyone's families are still separated..."
To be blunt, I probably didn't think I deserved this. Especially when many people still had so much to worry about, while I got to celebrate. It's really unfair, isn't it?
"Don't think like that." Isolde chopped the top of my head, a light affectionate strike, slightly annoyed but not painful at all. "You're always so good at overthinking nonsense. Those words of yours are exactly what kills the mood."
"Is that so..." I scratched my head.
Honestly speaking, I never really cared about birthdays anyway. Because for someone who has lived long enough, I just felt that adding a few years only showed time passing pointlessly.
In my past life, I was always alone on my birthdays. Since I didn't have any friends to begin with. The kids my age always saw me as a smug weirdo. It was the truth; I used to be a guy who always thought he was the best. But because of that, I never had a proper birthday.
Even when I turned thirty, my birthday was just another boring, ordinary day spent by myself in front of a computer screen. My only birthday party guests were tissues and porn. That night, I even prepared all sorts of grimoires to test if I could use magic.
Thinking back, I really was a loser, wasn't I?
Even when I crossed over to another world, my first few years weren't much better. Up until my fifth birthday, it was just a cheap show for Pilemon to brag about how well-educated his child was.
Perhaps up until that point, I had no idea how to properly be cherished or how to cherish others.
"Isolde is right, Atur." Roxy suddenly chimed in. The demon mage stepped up and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Besides, everyone cherishes you. With everything you've been through, everyone agrees you deserve a proper birthday party."
"Yeah." Vierra nodded. "Shierra also said she wanted to make more good memories with you before we hit the road again."
"Sis! I didn't say that!" Shierra, standing nearby, immediately blushed. Then she jolted when she saw me looking. She fidgeted for a moment before whispering, "Um... I... also wanted to celebrate your birthday so... um... please don't feel anxious."
"Meow." Even Larry, sitting on Shierra's head, nodded along.
Meanwhile, Lilia also added, "Young Master Atur has worked very hard for everyone. So please accept our gratitude."
"That's right!" Aisha chimed in, raising a hand. "Brother Atur is family too. Just treat this as your party, and when our whole family reunites, we'll have another one. The more parties, the merrier, right, Norn?"
"Ah!" Startled at being mentioned, Norn hurriedly nodded. "Mhm."
Ah... So that's how it is.
Perhaps I had forgotten something. That nothing in this world ever keeps its exact nature forever. I used to be a failure of a bastard, lonely and pathetic. But that didn't mean I would remain that kind of person forever.
I had changed, and the people around me would too.
In the end, I had met good people. People I could call friends, and even people I could consider family.
So this is what happiness feels like.
And so, I couldn't do anything but break into my most genuine smile.
"Then thank you, everyone, for preparing the party." I bowed my head. "I am truly very grateful."
"Come on, don't be so formal!" Paul slapped my back heavily and shoved a cup of booze into my hand. "Tonight we drink until dawn, nephew! Talhand! Geese! Help me defeat this Demon Dragon King!"
"Bring it on!" Geese raised his cup high.
Meanwhile, Talhand stroked his beard. "Don't pass out on me too early this time, Atur."
"Of course not," I grinned.
"Hold on with the drinking, though." Isolde glared at me. "Let's start the party properly first. Get some food in your stomach."
"Ah, right..." And so, I had to listen to my girlfriend.
Thus, the party began as the sun turned crimson, dyeing the entire horizon.
…
The party was more fun than I thought. The food was absolutely delicious because it was made by the top chefs of the world, after all.
Especially the cream cake made by Aisha herself. I was honestly quite surprised that a child not even ten years old could make something so perfect, from its appearance to its taste. You could say it was the most delicious cake I've ever eaten.
The other dishes were equally good. Especially the tuna sashimi. I don't know how Geese did it, but it tasted more fantastic than anything I could have imagined. It was cool, sweet, and had the tang of vinegar, absolutely exquisite down to every detail. His knife skills for slicing the meat were truly extraordinary; every slice of meat was cut evenly, bite-sized, with just the right portion to make everyone want to immediately pop the next piece into their mouth.
"How could you make it so amazingly delicious on your first try?" I was genuinely shocked.
Geese shrugged. "Actually, this isn't my first time making raw fish. I made it once before for my boss."
"Boss?"
"Rudeus, Paul's son."
Ah right, he'd probably want to eat sashimi too. Though I thought he was the type who'd prefer simpler things. People might think sashimi is simple, but it's actually quite complex.
Now I suddenly remembered, Minitona also mentioned some monkey-faced guy traveling with Rudeus. So that must have been Geese. I did say this before but this world really is smaller than I thought.
"I see." I nodded decisively. "Then could you teach me how to use a knife to slice fish?"
After all, the only thing missing from my cooking skills was knife work. Everything else was already solid; now that I had the chance to meet a master like this, it was a prime opportunity.
"That's a no-go." Geese shook his head, crossing his arms into an X.
"Eh? Why? Don't tell me knife skills are some family heirloom technique or something."
"It's not an heirloom; I just don't want to teach anyone how to cook," Geese explained. "Besides, you're a swordsman, so why learn to cook?"
"Um… you know full well that I was a chef before I became a swordsman right?"
"I know you're truly multi-talented but let me have something for myself. I don't know how to fight like you after all."
"Then let's teach each other." I gave a thumbs up. "I'll teach you how to use a sword, and you teach me how to use a kitchen knife."
"Please spare me, I don't have the talent." Geese sighed. "I tried practicing swordplay once and didn't get any major results, so I already gave up on it."
For some reason, this answer made a vein pop on my forehead.
"If you don't have the talent, you just have to try harder." I held out my fist with full determination. "If you're not a genius, you have to use effort to reach your goals! Not just say you can't and then not do it! You have to use your burning passion to overcome adversity to be worthy of the title S-rank adventurer! Passion! You got it!?"
"Hey, hey... is all that yelling really necessary?" Geese covered his ears.
"Hm, what are you guys talking about?" A wild Paul appeared. "Geese wants to learn Atur's swordsmanship?"
"That's right." I nodded.
"Absolutely not." The monkey-faced adventurer raised his hands in surrender. "Besides, tomorrow we're splitting up and heading in two different directions, so what can you teach? Don't tell me you can teach me to become a sword master in just one night?"
"Then I'll teach you." Paul pointed at himself.
"What the hell do you know about teaching the sword? You already tried once."
"It's different now, I can do it. Atur being where he is today is partly thanks to my teaching after all," Paul said decisively.
That assessment wasn't wrong; Paul taught me quite a few things every time I dropped by Buena village. You could say it's thanks to him that I have a pretty solid North God Style foundation.
However, Paul's teaching method wasn't exactly great. He was the type to go 'just do it like this' and swing his sword around wildly without explaining what 'like this' meant. Both Rudeus and I had to do a fair bit of guessing and analyzing together to understand.
But for Paul, he probably thought he'd succeeded and wanted to try again. Just look at the way he threw his arm around Geese's neck and laughed heartily.
"Then it's decided! We'll start again tomorrow."
"You've doomed me, Atur..."
And so, Geese's journey to become a swordsman began anew.
…
The party continued after that, and the most notable part had to be the gift-giving segment. If I said I wasn't looking forward to it, I'd be lying.
"Here is the gift everyone wants to give you, Atur." Roxy was the one representing everyone to hand me that gift.
It was a box, not too big, looking like a clothing storage box you might see in inns. But there was something unusual about this thing; even though it was made of wood, it felt lighter than normal, and I could recognize some patterns carved into it.
They were magic circles...
"It's called a 'preservation box'. They say if you put fresh food inside, it'll be kept cool and preserved much longer than usual," Roxy explained. "Everyone knows you like magic implements and love to cook, so..."
"Fucking awesome! Aaaaaah!!!" I hoisted the box up with all the joy in the world. "A portable fridge! I owe you all my life!"
"Hey now! Stop kneeling like that!"
"He's literally crying now!"
…
After experiencing that emotional outburst, we returned to the party. After eating to our fill, we moved on to the drinking segment.
First of all, the liquor of the Dragon King Kingdom suited my taste quite well since it was made from rice. It wasn't Japanese-style sake, of course. Instead, it was more like the liquor from Southeast Asian countries. It had a strong, spicy kick and a slight astringency on the tip of the tongue. For someone with low alcohol tolerance, it would definitely be hard to last long.
For example, Roxy; she was drunk right after drinking her third glass and passed out completely by the seventh. Lilia had to take her back to the inn room first. Isolde and the other girls followed suit, leaving only the men behind.
After a few more rounds, only the three former Fangs of the Black Wolf members and I were left standing. But as for me, I was getting a bit dizzy too.
"Gah! Stuff like this is still too light!" However, for a veteran drunkard like Talhand, it was truly nothing.
Oh, I forgot, he's a dwarf, after all. They drink alcohol like they drink plain water. That made me a bit curious.
"Mister Talhand, when did you first drink alcohol?" I asked.
"Since I was born. We dwarves drink breast milk mixed with wine," Talhand replied. "Even right after birth, instead of soaking in hot water like humans, we soak in hot wine."
"Really!?"
"No. Just kidding. As I recall, it was when I was three or four years old." The dwarf explained. "The hot wine soaking part is real, though."
"Even so, three or four years old is still way too young," I marveled. "Dwarves sure are interesting."
"You just want to be able to drink more alcohol, don't you?" Geese laughed.
"Well yeah." I admitted. "But don't make it sound like I'm an alcoholic. I like drinking alcohol if there's a proper reason."
I mean, I like alcohol, but not to the point of needing it every day. I like drinking when emotions are running high. If there's no reason to pump alcohol into my body, it's pretty tasteless.
Especially if I have to drink alone. That reminds me of how lonely I used to be in the past. Sounds a bit weird, but I genuinely feel sad when I think about it.
"Didn't you make alcohol when you were six, Atur?" Paul set his freshly emptied glass on the table, his eyes turning toward me. "Could you have some dwarf in you?"
"I don't think so." I scratched my head.
"Isn't Atur half Dragon Tribe?" Geese also asked. "He's clearly the Demon Dragon King, right? Wait, so you are a Demon, a Dragon and also a human huh?"
This issue again...
Good grief, I'm human, so why do I keep getting caught up in things related to the Dragon Tribe all the time?
If I were actually a Dragon Tribe member, it might be due to my mother's side—a person I've never even met. By the time I could see and understand what was going on, she had already passed away. I didn't even know where she was buried to go visit.
As for my relatives, I barely have any information. Basically... quite mysterious. But when I asked those who knew her, everyone said she was an ordinary woman, supposedly beautiful, quite quiet, gentle, and definitely human. All in all, a lovable woman. If she were still alive, maybe my early years wouldn't have been so bad. Oh, importantly, she had yellowish-brown hair and blue eyes, completely unlike the silver hair and golden eyes of the Dragon Tribe.
So I am definitely not a Dragon Tribe member. No matter what Sir Lan Xin or anyone else says, I'm certainly still human. Because if I had non-human blood and only had this level of ability, it would be humiliating...
Well, I mean, I'm not that bad. It's just that the Dragon Tribe in stories are all outstanding individuals. Their most average people are already at the level of human geniuses. So for me, a North Saint, it's hard to compare.
Even though Isolde always tells me I'm as strong as a Water King or even stronger, I still occasionally lose to a Water King—who is exactly her—all the time.
In the end, I really don't know if I'm strong or weak. How bizarre.
Anyway, back to the current topic.
"That's just a nickname given by other people," I explained. "I'm 100% human. Both my parents were human. If not then uncle Paul is a Dragon Tribe too."
At least as far as I know. If fate decides to mess with me using some other plot twist, I give up, hands tied.
"Is that so..." Geese rubbed his chin. "But there's a possibility it's a distant relative or something. Like a grandparent, or great-grandparent, for example."
"Huh? If that's the case, then his mom wouldn't be a normal human either, right?" Paul chimed in.
"I'm not sure either, but sometimes half-bloods can end up not looking like the race of either parent at all."
"Or have traits from both," Talhand added as he drained yet another glass. "Especially a hybrid between a human and a dwarf; they'll have the height of a human and the beard of a dwarf."
"Haha! Is the most important trait of you dwarves your beards?" Paul burst out laughing.
And so the conversation naturally shifted to another topic.
…
We continued drinking like that until midnight. I was starting to get drunk when Paul stepped in to stop me and made me go back to the inn.
Why was I surprised that my uncle was actually acting like an adult? Maybe because in reality, he's younger than me? Actually, I don't hate being treated like this at all.
But maybe I'll soon no longer be treated like a child.
As of today, I am officially 15 years old, a major milestone marking one's transition to adulthood. Even though that actual day passed a few weeks ago.
And adulthood...? I suddenly recalled the day we just left Millishion, Paul also said I had grown up. I didn't think much of it then, and even felt a bit offended since I was over forty if you combined both my lives.
But now, walking alone down the deserted street, I asked myself a question. What does it really mean to be an adult?
Then I suddenly remembered my old self. My past life, specifically. A guy with accomplishments and academic recognition but full of flaws, prone to shifting blame, and above all, smug to the point of stupidity, driving myself to a dead end twice. If I said it out loud, many people would probably think I sounded like some high school or even middle school brat rather than a grown man.
For years on end, my only friends were numbers and calculations. To the point that I grew sick of it, and the very first thing I wanted to do in my next life was just enjoy myself. I just wanted to live a quiet life, stay away from complicated things, and cook delicious food until the end of this second life.
Now, things are different.
I know how to move forward more confidently. I can look back at my mistakes, fix them, and become a better person. I might still have a long way to go to become a truly wonderful person. But I've tried, and I will try even harder.
I want to become a better, more complete person so I can have a life I won't regret.
And that is exactly what I will undoubtedly strive for, right up to my very last breath.
So that when I lie down, officially ending this journey once again, I can tell myself that I am proud of who I am.
That's right. I want to be proud of myself. That is what I will do.
Returning to the inn we rented when we first set foot in this city, luckily for me, the owner was still awake. Perhaps he also knew today was my birthday and waited; once I showed up, he locked the door and went straight to sleep.
After a word of thanks and a long enough yawn, I headed back to my room. It was the room at the end of the hallway upstairs. I tried my best to move softly and slowly so as not to make a loud noise.
But when I reached the door to my room, I noticed something strange.
Light from inside was spilling out from under the door gap. It was candlelight, even though I swore I never forgot to extinguish candles since the price of those things is exorbitant and I don't want to go broke just like that.
In that case... Don't tell me that...
"..."
I hesitated for a moment and then pushed the door open. And exactly as I guessed, someone was already waiting for me inside the room.