Living My Third Life In Danmachi Chapter 22: Rumi Warhowl (1)

Chapter 22: Rumi Warhowl (1)

The Mad Wolf of Loki Familia. A Level 4 adventurer known by the alias "Vanargand"—Bete Loga.

The moment I met that guy, our eyes locked, and I felt an odd sense of understanding.

This bastard is like me.

A rough life—maybe not exactly the same, but he's been through his fair share of highs and lows.

"You, a real man?"

"Looks like your life hasn't exactly been smooth either."

At the very least, this guy knows how to follow his own code while recognizing when to risk his life. I like people like that the most.

Of course, I prefer women over men, but among guys, that kind of person is easier to connect with.

On the other hand, pure and delicate types are my complete opposite.

"So, what brings you here? Oh, are you here to pick up Aiz or something?"

"Every week, you always go somewhere. I got curious about where exactly you're heading. You're Thousand Slayer, right? The record holder for reaching Level 3, and even Level 2 before that."

"Well, it just kind of happened. If you fight for your life in a real battle, there's nothing you can't do."

"Hah, I like you already."

"I'm not into men."

"Same here."

Bete and I climbed down from the city wall and decided to take a short walk. Even though it was our first time meeting, he handed me a potion, allowing my broken arm and body to recover somewhat.

This stuff works well… A high potion, maybe?

"If possible, don’t tell your Familia members about me. As long as Aiz herself doesn't say anything, Loki-sama already knows, so she won't make a fuss."

"Why not? Even if you lost, you fought a Level 4 to a standstill. Wouldn't it be good if rumors spread?"

"I don’t care about that."

I fight simply to survive.

Killing someone is just proof that I'm still alive.

As long as I'm alive, that's all that matters. My life is the most important thing to me.

Maybe Riseria would be an exception. If I had to weigh my life against Lili’s, it’d be about equal. But when the moment actually comes… who knows how I'd feel?

"I really do like you. When I first heard about you, I thought you were just some crazy small fry. But turns out, you're a proper man. No wonder Aiz trusts you so much."

"Geez, you sound like Aiz's older brother. But I guess that makes me more like her dad… Go on, call me ‘Dad,’ you brat."

"Like hell I will!"

If we’re talking about age, Bete’s probably older than me… but whatever. Not worth thinking about.

He shouted, but his face didn’t really look angry. More like he was just playing along with the joke.

Yeah, this bastard… I really do get along with him.

And when two guys hit it off, there's only one place to go—the bar.

"Oi, let’s grab a drink. I know a good tavern. You a heavy drinker?"

"A drinking contest? No reason to refuse! Loser pays for everything!"

"Hah! Let's see how deep the pockets of a Level 4 adventurer really are!"

And with that, Bete and I headed to The Hostess Of Fertility.

…After that, the film cuts out.

When I opened my eyes, I was lying on the floor.

And on my bed? A girl I'd never seen before was fast asleep.

Wait. No way. This can’t be, right? Tell me this isn’t what I think it is.

"Hold on a second."

Calm down.

I checked my body—everything was normal. I mean, come on, any man would feel something if he'd gone all the way. But there was nothing.

And besides, if I had done something… there’s no way it would’ve ended with just one round.

Yeah, no. Nothing happened.

Besides, Lili must have come to pick me up. If she had seen anything weird, she probably would've called Susanoo to put a stop to it.

There’s no way Bete suddenly pulled a "Did you think I was just a beastman dude? Too bad! I was actually a beautiful beastwoman!" and gender-swapped on me, right?

Dragon God: That’s beyond even my power. Wish for something more realistic, like a girlfriend.

That useless dragon god retreats back into my subconscious.

…Wait, hold on. A girlfriend? Get back here!

Enough escaping reality—time to face the situation.

"LILIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!"

"In times like this, Lord Susanoo said I should…" Lili muttered. "I don't have some kind of four-dimensional pocket for this!"

"Susanoo! You really trained Lili well while I was gone!"

Even if she doesn’t get the joke, at least she responds properly now!

I set aside the nonsense for now and turned to Lili with a serious question.

"What the hell happened last night?"

"Well," Lili began. "From what I saw, two high-ranking adventurers drank so much that they nearly bankrupted a tavern. In the end, the Level 3 won, got completely wasted, and, on the way home, rescued a girl from some thugs… and then kidnapped her back to the house."

"I'm such a disgrace of a father—I'm so sorryyyyy!!!"

"If you know that, then at least show some remorse!"

So Bete paid for the drinks? Thank the gods!

Lili smacked me a few times, but now that I'm Level 3, her hits don't even faze me!

"I don’t remember a damn thing… But at least I did something good while I was out of it."

"…Honestly, if you rescue a random kid in the middle of the night, it’s hard to find where they live, and it’d be dangerous to leave them alone. Bringing her here was the right call."

"Then why did you call it kidnapping?!"

"Did I say that? Oops, I must’ve bitten my tongue!"

"That wasn’t just biting your tongue—that was a full-on linguistic assassination!"

But she's cute, so I'll let it slide!

First, I needed to check what kind of kid I'd brought back—whether she was someone I knew.

I looked back at the girl sleeping in my room.

She seemed to be around Lili’s age. Her white hair gave off a similar vibe to Bete’s, but… the scars on her face were way too big for a girl.

A long scar ran across her cheek just under her eye. Another deep one cut from her forehead, over her right eye, and down to her cheek. The two intersected, leaving a cross-like mark—far too brutal for a girl her age.

Without those scars, she’d be pretty cute. But that wasn’t the worst of it. She even had scars on her neck.

…These weren’t from torture. I could tell. If a person had done it, the wounds wouldn’t look like that.

She must have been burned—probably by something really hot.

"…When she wakes up, let’s feed her first, then take her home."

"Lili agrees."

Alright, then. Time to cook up a slow, relaxing breakfast.

While I was in the middle of making breakfast, the girl finally woke up—around 10 AM, just before the sun reached its peak.

Blinking sleepily, she rubbed her eyes and stretched. She seemed… surprisingly cheerful.

"Morning."

"…?"

The girl tilted her head at me in confusion.

"…Yeah, sorry. To be honest, I don’t remember you either. Apparently, I brought you here while drunk, but my memory's completely gone. I'll make you some breakfast and send you home, so can you tell me your address later?"

At that, she pointed at her neck and shook her head side to side.

A universal gesture—she couldn’t speak.

"Can you write?"

She nodded. That’s a relief.

I handed her something to write with and took a seat.

Now, time to get an explanation of how she ended up here.

Thugs repelled, rescue successful.

[Thank you for saving me.]

"It's no big deal."

[My name is Rumi Warhowl.]

"Rumi?!"

Hearing that name made a lot of things flash through my mind.

In my previous previous life, it was a name I once called Mom!

And in my last life, there was a girl with that name too… A devious little grade-schooler who tried to win me over. Rumi Tsurumi, the terrifying child…!

[Is something wrong?]

"Ah, no, just reminiscing a bit."

This girl… how should I put it? She seems calm. Kind of mature, like Lili—

…Wait, no. That’s not it.

Her personality is completely different from Lili’s.

Rather than being polite, she just seems timid.

It’s not maturity—it’s shyness.

A kid like her probably opens up and gets lively around people she’s comfortable with. Classic introvert.

"Anyway, let’s eat first."

Food is power!

Breakfast was nothing fancy—simple toast, eggs, and bacon. Almost like an English breakfast.

Even if British food has a bad reputation, their breakfast is actually good. There’s even a saying: If you want to eat delicious British food, just have breakfast three times a day.

But honestly, my previous life was as a Japanese, so sometimes I really crave rice. Even Susanoo, being a Japanese god, occasionally mentions missing it.

Apparently, some trading posts sell rice. I should check that out.

"I really need to cut back on drinking… getting black-out drunk like that is just—"

"That would be for the best. The expenses aren’t small, either. Your allowance is getting cut in half from now on."

"Wait, what?! Help me, Susanoo!"

"Managing the household budget is Lili’s job, so I can’t help. Even I just get an allowance these days."

"Useless god!"

Gods are worthless.

"Oh, right. The Soma Familia sent a gift. Something about repaying you for helping them restart? They sent some trial products."

"Tonight’s a drinking party!"

"You just said you’d cut back on drinking!"

Lili smacked me a few times, but it didn’t hurt at all!

Heh… Level 3 power! I was basically at the point where I could yell "WRYYYYYY!!" at any moment!

Meanwhile, Rumi was just watching us, quietly nibbling on her toast. She chewed slowly, looking so at peace that it was oddly healing.

Like a rabbit.

…A wolfgirl acting like a bunny—what a beautifully unbalanced contradiction.

"Alright, dishes are Susanoo’s job today. No complaints, just do it!"

"Damn it!"

After finishing our meal, we set out to take Rumi home.

Riseria had locked herself in her room, saying, "I finished making the grimoire, so now I just need to finalize it." She looked ready to pull an all-nighter.

That left just Lili, Rumi, and me walking through the main street.

"Where do you live?"

[East Main Street, in Daedalus Street.]

"…Isn’t that a slum?"

[I live there with my grandfather.]

So, she has family. That’s a relief.

With that in mind, I took Lili’s hand and started heading toward Daedalus Street.