No, How Can an Atheist Become a Saintess!? – Chapter 92

No, How Can an Atheist Become a Saintess!? – 92

EP.92 Stubbornness and Arrogance (4)

Thankfully, there was no dance at the welcoming ceremony. The dwarves’ celebratory dances weren’t performed by men and women together. Instead, they were mostly performed by the men.

Drunken dwarven men, their noses flushed red, stood facing one another and performed something that closely resembled a Cossack dance, laughing heartily. Around them, others clapped along to the rhythm, while the musicians gradually sped up the tempo, egging the dancers on.

Eventually, when one of them lost balance and fell, that person was declared the loser. And the penalty? Another drink—though calling it a “cup” was an understatement. From what I could see, they were downing what looked more like an entire jug. Wouldn’t drinking more make it even harder to stay balanced? It seemed like the more they lost, the more they drank, which only made them lose even faster.

It was a bizarre sight—men dressed in noble attire engaging in such a raucous display. But at the same time, their rugged, stereotypical dwarven appearances somehow made it feel oddly fitting. The dwarf women didn’t seem to dislike the spectacle either. They stood a little further away, covering their mouths with decorative fans as they giggled at the scene.

If the dwarven men fit the classic fantasy stereotype, the women were more like scaled-down versions of human women. Their proportions weren’t wildly distorted, but they all had a slightly stocky build, making them appear a bit wider than humans. That said, a few among them—like the princess—had the appearance of what could only be described as “exotic beauties.”

Perhaps this was an influence of the web novel setting rather than a Western MMORPG. If this were an American-made fantasy world, the dwarven women would probably have beards.

“You’re not going to drink?”

“Hmm… I don’t know.”

I gave Ria a vague response.

“Have you ever tried alcohol before?”

“…….”

Well, I have. In my past life.

Technically, we were of legal drinking age. Both Ria and I had reached adulthood this year, and in Korea, the drinking age wasn’t strictly tied to one’s exact birth date—it was based on the year you turned legal. So from the beginning of this year, both Ria and I were allowed to drink.

“What about you, Ria? Have you ever had a drink before?”

“Huh? Uh, um, y-yeah?”

At Ria’s stammered response, my eyes narrowed slightly.

So, she’s had drinks with someone else before.

Not that it was wrong or anything. It would be ridiculous to expect otherwise.

But… who did she drink with?

……

I wasn’t sure why I felt this way. It was probably just me being weird. Ria was the only person in this world I could genuinely call a friend, so maybe I was being overly sensitive.

“Are you good at holding your liquor?”

“Me? Oh, yeah, of course!”

Ria answered, but her eyes darted around in a way that seemed almost… nervous.

So, she’s even tested her limits before. Knowing one’s drinking capacity typically meant drinking until reaching the verge of blacking out. In other words, if she knew her limit, that meant she’d drunk to the point of nearly passing out at least once before.

Ria wasn’t the type to get into trouble, and the author of this world seemed decent enough not to throw in some unexpected betrayal subplot just for the drama. Still… it meant that someone had seen her when she wasn’t in control of herself.

That… somehow didn’t sit well with me.

“Really? Then could you teach me how to drink properly?”

At my words, Ria blinked in surprise.

“Uh….”

“Here, this way.”

I headed toward the bar I had noticed earlier.

Yes, that’s right.

The dwarves seemed to drink alcohol as if it were water, and there was a fully stocked bar blatantly set up in the corner of the grand banquet hall—where the king himself was seated.

Behind the counter, dwarven bartenders were bustling about, expertly handling bottles and glasses. Despite their burly builds, the male dwarves were still shorter than us, so the barstools weren’t excessively tall like at human establishments.

“Hmm?”

As Ria and I took our seats at an empty spot, the bartender looked at us with a slightly puzzled expression.

“Could we each get a drink?”

The dwarf glanced between Ria and me, his eyes narrowing slightly.

“I’m sorry, but we only serve high-proof distilled liquor at this bar. If you’re looking for beer, you’ll want to head over—”

“Distilled liquor is fine.”

At my response, the bartender simply shrugged.

Without further argument, he set down two small straight glasses in front of us and filled them to the brim with amber-colored liquid.

I picked up my glass and showed it to Ria. She hesitated for a moment before awkwardly gripping hers. With a light clink, the glasses met. And without further ado, I tipped mine back, swallowing the drink in one go.

“Hah.”

A small sound escaped my lips as the familiar burn of alcohol spread through my mouth.

The bartender wasn’t exaggerating—this was some seriously strong stuff. The way it burned down my throat before settling with a refreshing warmth in my stomach confirmed as much.

I wasn’t exactly a strict abstainer. Sure, I had ended up living that way, but back in my working days, I had done my fair share of drinking. My old family used to tell me not to drink at home, but so what? In the end, I had long since severed ties with them.

Ria followed my lead and downed her drink in one shot—

“Cough!”

But it seemed a bit too strong for her. She coughed slightly, as if the alcohol had caught in her throat.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight and raised a single finger toward the bartender. He shrugged again but dutifully refilled both our glasses.

“…Have you even had alcohol before?”

Ria eyed me suspiciously, clearly surprised by how easily I had handled my drink.

I said nothing, simply raising my glass again before downing it smoothly.

She shot me a brief glare before doing the same. But as she drank, I noticed her ears slowly turning red. It seemed she wasn’t particularly strong with alcohol.

“Oh my.”

A soft voice interrupted us.

I turned toward the sound—

“Princess.”

The bartender bowed his head slightly toward the speaker.

“You’re already enjoying yourselves, I see.”

The dwarven princess strolled leisurely toward us before taking the empty seat beside me.

“I’ll have the same.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The bartender, unfazed as if this were routine, poured the same drink into a glass for the princess. She took it without hesitation, downing the liquor in one swift motion before speaking.

“Sister Anna,” she said, turning to me.

“Are you familiar with the Dwarven custom of welcoming guests?”

“Unfortunately, this is my first time meeting dwarves.”

“The welcome is quite simple. We keep serving the guest drinks until they are properly warm—until they can no longer feel the cold.”

That certainly sounded like a very dwarven tradition.

“But, times have changed,” the princess continued with a small smile. “These days, not all guests appreciate the traditional way of welcoming.”

“What a shame. It’s always sad to see beautiful traditions fade away.”

At my words, the princess laughed.

While we talked, the bartender silently refilled her glass, and once again, she tipped it back without hesitation.

With that, all three of us had now had two drinks each.

“You don’t seem to dislike alcohol as much as I expected, Sister Anna,” the princess observed.

“Hard to say. This is my first time drinking since birth, after all,” I replied nonchalantly, glancing toward Ria.

She widened her eyes slightly and stared at me.

“If I may,” the princess said, a playful glint in her eyes, “I’d like to offer you an official Dwarven welcome on behalf of my people.”

“How could I refuse such an honorable offer?”

At my words, Ria’s gaze sharpened ever so slightly.

The princess raised her glass, and both Ria and I followed suit.

All three of us downed our drinks in unison.

Our glasses were promptly refilled.

“May alcohol wash away all grievances,” the princess declared, lifting her glass once more.

“A dwarven proverb?” I asked, mirroring her motion.

“Hic.”

Ria answered with a hiccup.

*

“May alcohol wash away all grievances.”

It was a Dwarven proverb, but at the same time, it served as a warning. Sure, you wouldn’t remember any offense committed while drunk. But at the same time, drinking could make you the one committing the offense. And ‘offense’ covered a lot of things—words you spoke without realizing, things you let slip that you shouldn’t have, or habits that revealed more about you than you intended.

I didn’t end up collapsing. Maybe it was because I drank too much in my past life, or maybe the ‘Saintess’ persona came with a naturally high alcohol tolerance. Either way, it didn’t matter much.

It didn’t seem like the princess was trying to extract any secrets from me. More than anything, she seemed curious about what kind of person I was. After all, when we met officially, I’d be bound by etiquette. Even I would be.

Somehow, our drinking match had drawn in an entire crowd of dwarves, watching and cheering.

But—

“…Mmmnya.”

—unfortunately, our contest was cut short.

Because one of us turned out to be absolutely terrible at drinking.

“…Ria, are you sure you’ve had alcohol before?”

By now, it was pretty clear what her tolerance was.

Back in our shared room, Ria was clinging to me. I had only meant to support her, help her to bed—but instead, she had pulled me down with surprising strength, toppling me onto the mattress.

It wasn’t anything particularly improper—

“……”

—but with her face buried against my chest, it did feel a little… something. Not that it was anything special. She had just fallen asleep using me as a pillow.

“…Without even washing up.”

I muttered, exasperated.

“…Mom.”

At that word, my arms, which had instinctively moved to push her away, stopped.

Mom.

How long had it been since Ria had held onto someone like this?

Her father wasn’t the type for affectionate gestures. He was the kind of man who hid his emotions behind strict discipline rather than open warmth.

“…Mom…”

I could only assume that, in her drunken state, the words had slipped out unintentionally.

Slowly, I lifted my hand and began stroking Ria’s hair.

Just as she sometimes did for me.

Normally, it would have felt too awkward to even attempt. But like this, I just… wanted to.

“……”

As I smoothed her hair, Ria gradually fell silent. She still smelled like alcohol, still felt a bit sticky with sweat, and her face was still flushed red.

But even so—

She looked kind of cute like this.

I chuckled quietly, deciding to let her be.

It seemed that bathing would have to wait until early morning.