Ch.153153. Would You Like Another Drink?

In South Korea, alcohol is a product prohibited for sale to minors.

However, while selling is prohibited, there isn’t strict regulation on consumption itself.

So, there’s this somewhat difficult-to-understand culture where it’s acceptable to drink alcohol given by adults.

This rule applied almost identically in this world too, so drinking alcohol itself wasn’t really a problem.

However… there were no adults here right now, and the fact that we were both in a somewhat awkward position was troubling.

If you enter the academy at the normal time and stay until graduation, you’re generally recognized as an adult. But we were both still academy students.

“Senior Alkine, why suddenly alcohol? We’re still students.”

When I said that, Alkine smiled cheerfully as if there was no problem.

“Don’t worry. I’m good with alcohol.”

Of course, Alkine belongs to the category of people with extensive alcohol experience.

Extensive is an understatement—she’s ridiculously strong with alcohol.

People from the North are generally like that.

They have that image of being tough and loving alcohol.

Alkine was a woman who had been exposed to alcohol since childhood, and with her natural talent, she became a demon of alcohol who never gets drunk no matter how much she drinks.

She loved alcohol as much as she drank it.

There’s a saying in the North.

If she weren’t the daughter of a duke, her finances would have dried up from alcohol expenses.

Of course, that’s somewhat exaggerated, but it means she drinks that much.

Thinking about it, it’s rather impressive that she’s held back until now, but why is someone who’s been so restrained suddenly talking about alcohol here?

“Today I just feel like it.”

As expected, I couldn’t get a proper reason.

But well… they say travel makes people excited. Maybe after always moving around inside and outside the academy, coming out far away naturally made her think that way.

But! Despite all that!

What’s not allowed is not allowed.

“How are you going to buy it?”

“Just buy it and drink it.”

“No, we’re minors…”

“Who’s going to check? Just pretend you’re not and buy it.”

…When she puts it that way, I have nothing to say.

It was actually true. Unlike South Korea where verification is easy with IDs and such, this place had no such thing.

It means if you brazenly say “I’m an adult,” the store has no choice but to say “I see, here’s your alcohol.”

Moreover, both Alkine and I have builds that don’t look particularly cute, so we probably won’t raise much suspicion.

But it still makes me feel guilty.

More precisely, how should I put it? As someone who was an adult in my previous life, drinking alcohol with a minor—and a pretty girl at that—felt very uncomfortable.

So as I hesitated… Alkine, seemingly unable to wait any longer, grabbed my wrist.

“Ah, what are you so unsatisfied about? It’s so frustrating. Just follow me.”

“…Yes.”

At this point, resistance would be meaningless.

I decided not to think further and just follow her footsteps.

Afterward, there was an extremely embarrassing incident where we entered a random place only to belatedly realize it was an adult entertainment establishment and fled, but we agreed to pretend it never happened.

///

A bustling atmosphere. The space filled with people trying to end their day was far from quiet.

Alkine and I entered the bar, naturally took our seats, and as expected, were able to order alcohol without any problems.

“Ah, delicious.”

“You find that tasty?”

“All alcohol is delicious.”

For some reason, Alkine ordered the cheapest alcohol first, downed it in one shot, and said that.

Even though she wasn’t drunk, that one glass seemed to put her in a good mood as she smiled brightly… she really looked like someone who loves alcohol.

“Three more of the same here!”

Getting drunk on the atmosphere rather than the alcohol. Her voice seemed to have gotten a bit louder.

I was worried someone might recognize her, but thinking about it, in a place where even proper photographs aren’t widely distributed, recognizing someone just by face isn’t an easy task.

Besides, the other tables…

“Today’s on me!”

“What? Did you win something?”

“No. I lost everything. I’m going to spend the rest of my money on you guys and then die.”

“Hey, stop him.”

“Leave him be. It’s not his first time acting like this.”

Everyone seemed too busy chatting among themselves to care who was at other tables. So there was no worry about being caught for age issues even if we were noticed later.

So I decided to take a sip too.

This is my first time drinking alcohol since coming to this world. It feels strange to drink like this.

With that thought, I took a sip of the alcohol Alkine ordered.

It was terribly bitter.

“…Why do people drink this?”

“You sound like someone drinking alcohol for the first time.”

“This isn’t alcohol, it’s practically pure alcohol.”

“That’s what’s good about it.”

I already knew, but she’s an amazing woman. I quickly ordered a different drink and decided to drink that instead.

I’ll definitely control the amount. I had to be careful because I didn’t know how I’d behave if I drank even a little too much.

“Ludion. Am I a person without much charm?”

Especially in situations like this.

Wait, what? After emptying all three new glasses, she was quiet for a moment and then said something like that.

It was troubling because I had no idea how to answer.

However, having somehow learned that giving deep answers to such questions would be fatal for both of us, I carefully gave a noncommittal answer.

“If Senior Alkine were looking for a husband, there’d be a line from the academy all the way here.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“But why are you like that?”

…My floating answer sank coldly.

Unfortunately, Alkine’s gaze toward me was sincere, not joking.

“Hm? What do you mean, why am I like that?”

“Could you give me some time to answer?”

“Sure. We have plenty of time. I’ll wait.”

Should I call it fortunate? At least she didn’t seem intent on pressing for an immediate answer.

With that time of reprieve, I decided to carefully think.

Let’s see… come to think of it, it’s been quite a while since I properly conversed with Alkine like this.

After all, Celia was always by her side, and Celia took the lead in most situations.

It wasn’t because Alkine was incompetent. Celia was just so extremely efficient that there was no need for Alkine to step up.

If my guess is correct, Alkine is probably more skilled in terms of combat. It’s just that we haven’t had the opportunity to meet opponents that would challenge her.

Whatever the reason, it’s true that I’ve been neglectful toward Alkine due to such excuses and circumstances.

Knowing this, I proposed this… date in response to Lilith’s favorability reversal situation.

Yes. I knew it. I knew, but…

“Do you need more time?”

“Yes. Please.”

When I actually had to think about it while being alone with her, my mouth went dry.

After pondering while drinking the ordered alcohol… I ended up getting drunk.

“Ludion. Are you okay?”

“Ugh. I don’t think I’m okay?”

My head was spinning, and my vision was shaking. This was definitely being drunk.

Is this for real? I’ve only had one glass.

By the time I realized this body was terrible with alcohol, my mind was already starting to get hazy.

I seem to have had some conversation with Alkine, but the memory is so dim.

Thankfully, since I didn’t drink after the first glass, by the end, the alcohol wore off a bit and I regained my senses…

“I told you not to talk about them right now. We’re in the middle of a conversation.”

“Sorry. I’m drunk and not thinking straight.”

“…What? Seems like you’re sobering up a bit?”

“Yeah, I think I’m feeling a bit better now.”

“Want another drink?”

“No thanks. You drink more.”

“…Alright. That’s a shame.”

But I have no idea how we got to this point.

Seriously. What conversation did we have that I’m naturally speaking informally to Alkine, who is not only a third-year senior but also the student council president?

But since we’ve already been talking for quite a while, it seemed awkward to suddenly switch back to formal speech, so I decided to maintain it.

If I’m going to change, I should check in the morning and change then.

Anyway, thanks to regaining my senses to that extent, I was able to have the last conversation with a clear mind.

“Ludion.”

“Yeah?”

“That ring. Are you using it?”

Ring. Since I only have one ring, I immediately knew what she was talking about.

The “Ring of Exploration” that allows one to see the other person’s stats, characteristics, current emotions, or thoughts.

“No. I’m not really using it.”

“Why?”

Even if you ask why… should I say I don’t particularly need it?

Our party is unbalancedly strong, so there’s no need to check the status of enemies one by one.

The function to check the other person’s thoughts would be useful, but I was afraid of abusing it, so I ended up not using it and forgetting about it even when needed.

To me, Alkine said:

“Do you remember when you first showed that ring? I said I’d prefer if you didn’t read my thoughts unless it was really necessary.”

“I remember.”

Actually, that’s another reason why I didn’t use the ring.

At that time, while Celia was okay with it, Alkine showed a negative attitude.

“You really didn’t use it after that? Not even once?”

“Well, there’s no need to cause anxiety for someone who dislikes it.”

I thought I could just use it on Celia, but somehow, I felt like I’d end up secretly using it and then lying about not using it.

It was a decision I made because I couldn’t trust myself.

“Right. I thought so. That’s what I expected.”

“So, why are you suddenly bringing this up?”

“It’s nothing special. At that time, I thought you were reliable, but as time passed, I started to regret it.”

“Regret means…”

“Yes. Now I think it would be okay even if you read my thoughts. Ugh… as Celia said, it’s more embarrassing to change my words. Anyway, that’s what I wanted to say.”

Alkine’s face was flushed as she said this, but I couldn’t tell if it was due to the alcohol or because she was embarrassed by what she just said.

Whatever it was, it was a bold statement.

After saying this much, she’d probably feel hurt if I didn’t start reading her thoughts from tomorrow.

But… unfortunately, I couldn’t do that.

I still didn’t trust myself.

Celia said it was okay.

Now Alkine said it’s okay too.

But now, it’s not just the two of them anymore, right?

I was about to say that, but Alkine beat me to it.

“Lilith will be persuaded by Celia and me, so don’t think about her right now.”

“…Oh. Okay.”

What’s with that forcefulness? No, it’s not just forcefulness, it’s almost like a threat.

Scary, so scary.

Whatever it was, I had no choice but to accept.

Well, fine. I can say I’ll use it and then not use it.

“Take out the ring and put it on now. And don’t take it off.”

…Even that option was blocked.

What’s going on? What kind of conversation did I have with Alkine while I was drunk that she’s going this far?

I couldn’t understand, but overwhelmed by her insistence, I wore the ring and returned to the inn.

And the next day.

“…Hmm.”

Celia stared at the Ring of Exploration on my hand and gave Alkine a thumbs up.

“You did it, Alkine.”

“Yes, that’s how it turned out.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“I’ll explain to Lilith later.”

Only Lilith, who knew nothing, ended up being pitiful.