Chapter 69: Please drink only in the underground tunnel from now on

“Gahahahaa! This thing’s delicious!”

“Sure is. But we’re wasting it if we drink it by itself. Oi, you, do a trick or something!”

“Then let me show you my famous belly drumming!”

The dwarves were nervous wrecks just a while ago, but after having a drink, they completely changed.

Laughter could be heard here and there, and puzzling party tricks could be seen as well.

There were even some who got half-naked and danced. A few of which were female dwarves…

Hey, your breasts are showing! Alright, time for the children to go to bed!

“Huh? Their personality completely changed after just a few drinks?”

“Yeah…although it might be more accurate to say that they’ve gone back to the dwarves I’m familiar with.”

Philia-san, with a look of exasperation on her face, sighed.

“Wow!”

“Woohoo!”

“Woohoohoohoo!”

A few drinks more and they started to cry like gorillas.

Drink in hand, they then began spinning around. It was like they were having the time of their lives.

“Uh-huh! Uh-huh!”

One of them then pointed at me and declared something.

I didn’t speak the gorilla-dwarf language, so I unfortunately didn’t know what he was trying to say. The other dwarves understood him though, almost perfectly.

“””Whooooooooooooooooooo!”””

The dwarves all at once rushed toward me.

“Hey!? Ha!?”

“““Uhohoohoohoo! (Chief Luke, hooray!)”””

The next thing I knew, they were lifting me up with their superhuman strength.

Like that, they proceeded to throw me up in the air multiple times.

“Woaaaah!? Why? Why are you tossing me!?”

“““Uhohoohoohoo! (Chief Luke, hooray!)”””

“What are you saying!?”

“““Uhohoohoohoo! (Chief Luke, hooray!)”””

“I don’t understand any of that!”

◇　◇　◇

I was able to break free from being continuously tossed up in air, but the dwarves still continued with their merrymaking throughout the night.

It only became peaceful again when all the dwarves have fallen asleep.

The next morning, the dwarves who were like corpses in the village square were awoken by the morning sun.

“…ngnh? Wh…?”

“…! Why am I naked!?”

Realizing that they were almost naked and also exposed to the sunlight, they panicked.

“So, so embarrassing…!”

“The sun’s too bright!”

They picked up their clothes that were scattered all over, and then rushed toward the underground tunnel.

“…from now on, the dwarves will be allowed to drink only in the tunnel.”

　　　　◇　◇　◇

“Y-yes, if you say so, village chief…but if I may ask, is this because we did something to displease you…?”

After I informed Dolan-san of my decision in a slightly firm tone of voice, he nervously asked me so.

“Eh? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten what you did yesterday?”

“D-deepest apologies, but we were so drunk we couldn’t…”

They had apparently forgotten most of last night. It was for that reason that they were so surprised when they woke up earlier.

“Ehh? We did such embarrassing things…? Maybe there’s just a mistake…?”

“Sorry to say, but that’s the truth.”

“…now that I think about it, there have been times when I drink at night and find myself waking up naked and somewhere unfamiliar…”

“That’s exactly what must have happened there too.”

I couldn’t really blame him for being in doubt. I myself still find it hard to believe that this dwarf—whose figure was shrinking in each passing moment—was the same dwarf who led the others in taking off their clothes, drawing a face on their bellies, and then dancing.

“At any rate, please drink only in the underground tunnel from now on.”

<<The 124 dwarves represented by Dolan are now villagers.>>

After this and that, the dwarves became the newest addition to the village.