Chapter 46: Drinking Party

The vast ocean that I arrived at after flying for several days swayed with the beat of my wings.

The cool sea breeze brushing my scales felt very pleasant.

‘By the way…’

I glanced at Nice sitting on my back.

Despite the journey across the vast land and the vast sea, she sat with an elegant posture.

Not a single wrinkle in her black dress was out of place.

‘It looks really comfortable. Is my back comfortable?’

Come to think of it, I’ve never had anyone else ride on my back except Nice.

‘Next time, I should ride Rico too.’

Finally, a familiar silhouette began to appear on the sea far away.

A huge deep trench like an abyss.

It seemed that we had almost reached Desmere.

“I see you over there, Lady Frostia!”

Nice’s voice pierced through the wind.

It was much brighter than usual.

“That’s right.”

I answered shortly.

I didn’t mean to be blunt, but I wanted to go back quickly and see Rico.

The closer I got to the trench, the clearer her unique appearance became.

Around the shell-shaped temple that was visible deep in the sea, the deep, dark waves of the abyss rippled.

The deep-sea labyrinth that Nis had ruled for thousands of years.

There were many seafoods and rare treasures, but it wasn’t my taste.

The ice and snow of Sia Kalt were better.

And more than anything, I liked where my Rico was now the best.

Thinking about it, I felt like I had left Rico too often.

Now that Rico was stronger, it would be okay, but I still felt a sense of anxiety that something might happen.

‘I have to go back quickly.’

I quickly flew toward the trench.

I had been there several times, so it was familiar.

Every time I visited here, I would dive deep under the water in dragon form, go to the entrance of the temple, and then transform into human form.

As I went underwater, the cold current seeped through my scales.

The deeper I dived, the darker my surroundings became, but with my dragon’s eyesight, I could see without a problem.

The gigantic temple on the bottom of the deep sea came into view.

It was overwhelmingly large no matter how many times I saw it.

A building decorated with magnificent pillars and intricate carvings that seemed to come out of ancient myths.

Suddenly, I remembered when I had come to pick up Nis.

Even back then, Nis had ridden on my back and chattered happily.

I smiled slightly as I remembered that image.

When I arrived in front of the temple, I slowly slowed down.

Then I transformed into a human form.

Then, a figure suddenly appeared.

“Nis! Ah! Even Prostia! Did you return safely?”

It was a woman in black armor.

She was covered in dark armor from head to toe, and only her red eyes sparkled.

‘It’s Deiana.’

The most loyal death knight among Nis’ subordinates.

It was a bit funny to see her standing up straight like a soldier.

“Yes, Deiana.”

Nis said, waving his hand.

“Did anything happen while I was away?”

“Yes! Nothing happened!”

Deiana shouted so loudly that my ears hurt.

She was full of spirit like a trained soldier.

‘Why on earth are they so loyal? Is there a reason for them to be so loyal to Nice…?’

The relationship between Nice and Deiana was always questionable.

I don’t know what happened to Deiana and Nice, but she was overly loyal.

“Really? You worked hard.”

Nice said with a small smile.

Deiana’s eyes lit up even brighter at those words.

“Thank you, Nice!”

‘It’s annoying.’

It was time to go back.

Now that I had safely returned Nice, I thought I should go back to Sia Kalt.

“Well, I’ll be going now,” I said as I prepared to transform into my dragon form again.

“Rico will be waiting for you.”

“Oh my, already? It’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”

“We didn’t really talk much among ourselves.”

Nice suddenly grabbed my sleeve.

Her face showed a look of disappointment.

“Will you stay with me for a little while? Okay?”

“Um… It’s annoying.”

She said honestly.

But she didn’t completely reject me.

“Isn’t that too much for your only friend?”

Nice’s expression suddenly turned gloomy.

She pouted like a child who has had candy taken away.

‘Friend…’

I thought about those words for a moment.

Yes, Nice was similar to me.

You could say she was my kind, and there was no one I had seen as long as Nice.

Come to think of it, it had been a long time since we last met, but I had only talked about Rico.

When Nice showed interest in Rico, I was wary, but I hadn’t even had a proper conversation with Nice.

“Okay. Then I’ll be there in a bit.”

Nice’s face brightened at my words.

“Really? Okay! Follow me!”

Nice walked ahead, looking as excited as a child.

Deiana made a puzzled expression for a moment, then lowered her head and made way for me.

I followed Nice deep into the labyrinth.

The salty smell and damp air unique to the deep sea labyrinth brushed my nose.

I missed the cold, dry air of Sia Kalt.

After passing through the complicated corridors, we finally arrived at Nice’s room.

As always, the room was filled with all sorts of treasures.

From gold and silver treasures to rare weapons and beautiful ornaments.

Nice’s hobby was collecting, as expected.

“Here it is!”

Nice approached the ornate display case.

There were bottles of various shapes and colors neatly arranged there.

“These are all very rare. But, Rico likes alcohol, right? Shouldn’t you let him taste it?”

She took out several bottles and handed them to me.

A blue liquid in a crystal bottle, an amber-colored liquor in a wooden barrel, and a silver liquid in a small glass bottle.

‘Give it to Rico?’

We had briefly mentioned Rico’s liking for alcohol while we were flying by…

“There’s no need to go this far.”

Seeing Nice like this, I thought Rico had no ulterior motives.

I felt a little sorry, thinking that I had doubted him for nothing.

“It’s okay. I don’t drink anyway,” said Nis with a smile.

Then, after a moment of thought, his eyes suddenly sparkled.

“But, should we have a drink together?”

“…I don’t need to eat or drink.”

To me, a dragon, food and drinks were just entertainment.

“Of course I know that. It’s just entertainment, right?” said Niss with a meaningful smile.

“Ah…”

I sighed inwardly.

In fact, I wasn’t good at drinking.

Maybe it was because of my constitution, but I got drunk much faster than humans.

So I wanted to avoid it if possible.

Just as I was about to refuse, Niss took something out from deep inside the display case.

It was a gold flask with all sorts of jewels embedded in it.

Rubies, sapphires, emeralds…

The flask, decorated with sparkling jewels, was like a treasure in itself.

“What’s this?” I asked, unable to contain my curiosity.

“Oh, this? It’s something I took from the royal treasury when I destroyed the dwarven kingdom about a thousand years ago.”

Nice answered innocently.

It was a light tone, as if he had picked up a rock on the street.

“It’s a golden wine made by the dwarves with the best distillation techniques. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’ve been saving it for a special day.”

It was hard to refuse when I saw Nice’s sparkling eyes.

Come to think of it, it was my first time drinking with someone else.

‘It would have been better if I had been with Rico…’

I felt regretful that I had only had a little bit of a drink when Rico drank.

A smile spread across my lips as I remembered the moment when Rico confessed to me while drunk.

Then, Nice suddenly said, “Actually, this is my first time drinking alcohol.”

“…What?”

I was a little surprised.

Nice, who had lived as long as I had, had never tried alcohol.

“Then why on earth do you collect all these drinks?”

I really couldn’t understand.

“Um… because they’re cool?”

Nice shrugged and answered.

‘… That’s ridiculous.’

I thought I would never understand this guy’s way of thinking.

I was just puzzled by his behavior, like a crow collecting pretty and shiny things.

Nice brought out two fancy crystal glasses and poured the golden wine.

The clear liquid with a golden tint filled the glasses.

“Let’s try it!”

Nice said, holding out the glasses.

I also picked up my glass and lightly clinked it against hers.

“Ta-da!”

Nice shouted excitedly and took a sip.

I also took a careful sip.

“Wow! This is delicious!”

Nice exclaimed with wide eyes.

The wine was really delicious, beyond my expectations.

The fragrant aroma that filled my mouth, the soft sweetness, and the warmth that went down my throat.

It wasn’t as good as Rico’s honey, but if I hadn’t tasted that honey, I would have thought this was the most delicious.

“It’s better than I thought,” I said honestly.

“Right? Oh, I should have tried it earlier!”

Nice said with a bright smile.

“Then, why didn’t you try it earlier?”

“Ha, you shouldn’t drink alcohol alone, you should drink it with someone!”

Nice answered while refilling her glass.

‘You have some strange beliefs for the first time drinking it…’

Still, it wasn’t a bad time.

It felt like we were having a comfortable conversation after a long time.

After drinking her third glass, Nice’s eyes sparkled even more.

As the alcohol took effect, her chatter increased.

“Oh, come to think of it, aren’t you curious about the other Great Labyrinths?”

Nice suddenly changed the subject.

“No, it was only in Sia Kalt. I didn’t have any reason to be interested in the other Great Labyrinths.”

I shrugged my shoulders as if I wasn’t interested.

In fact, only Nice and I knew exactly who the rulers of the Eight Great Labyrinths were.

Even then, we only knew about each other, and the other rulers…

we only knew that they existed.

“My subordinate Deadhead recently went around the continent gathering information. He heard some very interesting news,” said Nis, shaking her glass.

Her face was already flushed.

“Hmm. What did you hear?”

Despite my lack of interest, Nis continued talking excitedly.

“Do you remember? Tertes of Eld Island!”

“Tertes…? Oh, that steel golem.”

I vaguely remembered.

The ruler of the Great Labyrinth in the shape of a giant golem made of steel.

I had seen it once before.

“Yes, yes! That Tertes has been making incredible golems lately. From what Deadhead heard, he made a giant rock golem called Petramos or something…”

“Petramos?”

“Yes! It’s a giant golem made of rock. There’s even a rumor that all the adventurers who entered Eld Island were wiped out because of that golem…”

Nis said in an excited voice.

However, I wasn’t really interested.

It didn’t matter to me what the other rulers of the Great Labyrinth did.

“Really? Interesting.”

As I gave her a vague nod, Nice continued talking, seeming even more excited.

“And the Great Labyrinth in the East is even stranger!”

“The East? Oh, that’s where the humans live…”

“Yeah, that’s where… um… what was it, the name of the human empire… Diat? Dihas?”

Nice tilted her head and searched her memory.

“Anyway! The Great Labyrinth there recently resumed its activities. It was closed for hundreds of years, but it suddenly opened.”

“Really? Who was the ruler of that labyrinth…”

In fact, I didn’t really know who the ruler was.

I’d never seen him before.

“I don’t know either! Deadhead said he only saw a ‘silhouette engulfed in darkness’. Anyway, the monsters suddenly became active around there. All the humans ran away or something…”

Nice shrugged.

“So why? Is there something important?”

I poured myself a drink as if I was bored.

I couldn’t stop thinking about Rico, rather than the other stories about the Great Labyrinth.

“It’s not important! It’s just a fun story.”

Nice snickered.

“The other labyrinths… Well, I think Deadhead talked about them more… I’m not really interested…”

Nice’s voice grew quieter.

It seemed that she wasn’t really interested in the other great labyrinths either.

…

Nice continued to fill our glasses, and we talked about this and that.

Mostly Nice, but.

Stories about her collection, anecdotes from the Deep Sea Labyrinth, and most of all, interesting episodes of dealing with humans.

After a few more glasses, I started to feel hazy.

My whole body felt sluggish and tired.

‘Ah… I think I’m too drunk…?’

The lights in the room suddenly became brighter and more beautiful.

Nice’s voice also seemed to sound more and more distant.

Suddenly, when I looked at Nice, her figure appeared blurry.

When I looked more closely, Nice was already fast asleep on the table.

Her face was slightly red, and her breathing was even.

‘I fell asleep…’

I felt my eyelids getting heavy.

‘I have to go back quickly…’

Rico must be waiting for me.

She might be worried.

But I was so sleepy.

My body was extremely tired, perhaps because I’ve been so active lately.

‘Really… Should I close my eyes for a moment…’

I leaned my head against the table and my consciousness slowly faded.

Rico’s image lingered until the very end.

In my drunken state, I smiled without realizing it, thinking of Rico’s adorable flower petals and glowing red stamens.

And then I lost consciousness.