episode_0098

“… So you’re saying that Ariel poured the entire keg of wine and passed out? ”

“I didn’t have time to stop it. When I entered the living room, it was already pouring.”

“Hehehe… . You can’t even drink well, so why are you being so rude… .”

Rendler, Elden, and even Lumiang gathered in Ariel’s bedroom.

Everyone was lying on the bed, looking down at Ariel who was sleeping, with worried faces.

Of course, Elden had a slightly different face.

A face filled with more doubt than worry.

He didn’t tell Rendler and Lumiang what he had heard in the living room.

Because the things I heard were unbelievable, incomprehensible, and inexplicable.

Ariel, who should have explained it in detail, was in a deep sleep from a hangover, and Rachel had suddenly become a runaway ninja, leaving behind only a broken window frame, so now was the time for silence rather than explanation.

“There’s no way we’d have a drinking fight that didn’t even match… Hehe, I guess I don’t know even though I know.”

Renderer kept stroking his moustache and trying to guess the reason for the situation, but he had no idea since he had gone down to the basement to unpack.

Ariel and Rachel.

Knowing what was going on between the two women, Lumiang expected Elden to be at the center of this situation, but as expected, he couldn’t figure out the exact reason.

I haven’t heard Anna’s past story of being “dumped because she was ugly”.

“Hmm… Hmm… .”

snoring.

Fortunately, Ariel’s condition didn’t seem too bad, as she occasionally let out a sigh or something similar to a sigh.

The strong smell of alcohol that spread with every breath was a little poisonous.

“It’s fortunate that it’s this much. If someone who can’t drink drinks too much too quickly, they might fall into a coma.”

“That’s right. I guess I secretly have a constitution that can handle alcohol well.”

“I vaguely heard that Earl Elrond was quite knowledgeable about wine.”

“Anyway, he’ll need nursing care until he wakes up. It could be dangerous if he vomits while asleep and his airway gets blocked.”

“Oh, you’re so knowledgeable.”

Elden smiled bitterly at Renderer’s admiration.

I only saw it on the internet news once.

This is a collection of absurd death news stories created to raise awareness.

“Then I’ll go first. You two go wash up and rest.”

“I’ll see you next time.”

[Then I will do it next.]

So the night shift order for the binge drinkers was decided, and the next problem was the robber who broke the window and escaped.

“By the way, if there was a drinking fight, why did Rachel run away in a hurry, even breaking the window?”

“… … I don’t know. It might be alcoholism that I didn’t know about.”

Even though he knew that it wasn’t an injection, Elden just kept on talking, looking at him in shock and running away.

“Hehe. If that’s true, then it would be a very Rachel-like injection.”

“Well. I guess so.”

“If it happens, shouldn’t I go and look for it? I’m worried that I’ll break another house’s window.”

If it were Rachel now, the further she would chase after me, the farther away she would get.

Elden shook his head as he thought about that.

“Rachel will be okay.”

“Well, even if you break another house’s window, Rachel won’t budge. Then hurry up and wash up and rest. I’ll watch over Ariel.”

“Yeah.”

Even though she was drunk, she wasn’t unconscious and was strong enough to be praised as a purple knight, so Elden and Lumiang put aside their worries about Rachel and went to wash up.

Same time.

A woman’s scream-like scream was heard from the top of a tree in a small forest south of Daegongryeong.

The sound was so passionate and scream-like that those who heard it while passing through the forest began to spread a ghost story the next day that “a ghost with a woman’s grudge has appeared in the southern forest.”

**

The food tour across the country has come to an end.

Although it was difficult, hard, and sometimes dangerous, it was a meaningful time filled with meaning and fun.

So much so that I would gladly follow you even if you left again.

While wandering around the country, I settled down in one of the places I had been keeping an eye on.

It was a place with good water, good land, and good air, no monsters nearby, and a big city, so it was a great place in terms of safety and quality of life.

also.

It was also a great place to start a second life.

Because the land was good, everything I planted yielded a bountiful harvest, and because the water and air were good, my body felt like it was getting healthier every time I drank and breathed.

A place where you can live alone and be assured of abundance and comfort for the rest of your life.

What more could you need if you had someone to join you in such a place?

And what can I say if that person is someone who has promised true, unchanging love?

That is where the paradise of the gods is, and the cradle of eternal happiness.

《Elden.》

The story of a culinary journey has come to an end.

“It’s really nice here, isn’t it?”

Where another story begins.

It would truly be like a dream.

It is said that a novel written with ideals, hopes, and selfish desires becomes reality.

The moment of sitting on a hill with a refreshing sun shining, leaning on his shoulder and enjoying the warm breeze, following the epilogue that was the end and new beginning of the novel, was something I had only dreamed of and a vague expectation.

This very moment, when it becomes reality and a happy story is being written.

I leaned on Elden’s shoulder and asked him about the beauty of this place, but received no answer.

《…Elden?》

I looked up and looked at him.

But he was just looking at the sunset.

The moment when the refreshing sunlight became damp and the cool breeze became lukewarm came without a farewell.

“I can’t live with you.”

“What… … ? Suddenly?”

“I’ve been thinking about it all along.”

“Wh, what were you thinking…?”

“I don’t think this is it.”

“Why… …what are you saying? We’re happy.”

“No. I’m not happy.”

“what…?”

The cracks that suddenly appeared in the beautiful scenery quickly widened as if they were competing fiercely among themselves, and eventually began to scatter small pieces.

and.

This scenery began to mock the fact that this world was nothing more than an illusion.

《What does that mean?》

“I’m not happy living with you.”

“You’re not happy? You’re lying… right? You’re kidding me?”

Elden caught a crumb of the crack that was sinking down.

“It’s not a lie. This is a lie.”

“What? What the hell are you talking about? Speak so I can understand!”

Tzuzu… .

Even if we try to mend the cracks with our best efforts, if only the speed at which the world falls apart would slow down a little, the cracks that have begun will break everything apart.

and.

At Elden’s subsequent answer, the world falls apart.

“You’re ugly. That’s why I hate you. It’s hard to see your face every day.”

“What? I’m… ugly? So you’re saying… that you’re not happy?”

“Yeah. I don’t want to have a baby that looks like you. It’s so pitiful.”

《Poor thing…? Am I that ugly? Then why did you say you loved me?》

《It’s a challenge. But it won’t work. Let’s stop here.》

《Bad. How… How could you say something like that?》

《Find a man who suits your face. I’ll find a woman who suits mine, too.》

The world, shattered and distorted, crumbles, and the crushed world melts and flows down like muddy water splashed on a wall.

I now know that the beautiful happiness was an illusion that I created on my own, but just as a chewed grapefruit tastes bitter after an apple, it was inevitable that sour resentment would follow the sour happiness.

《Okay. Bye.》

“Ugh… bad… . You’re really bad… .”

like that.

The world that had been flowing away soon covered everything in darkness.

That was the end.

**

“Ugh!”

Bam!

Early morning, with the dim light of dawn and the petty commotion of dawn.

In a bedroom where only silence existed, a woman woke up in a fright.

“Ugh… .”

The woman placing her hand on his pounding heart is none other than Ariel.

I couldn’t tell if the hazy morning was due to the lingering intoxication or the drowsiness, but I knew that my pounding heart was due to a terrible nightmare.

“… What a dream.”

Although he had a glimmer of hope from the drink he shared with Rachel, it seems the shock was still severe.

Or maybe it was the toxic power of alcohol that created the toxic dream.

Anyway, I had a really painful and bitter nightmare, and my pounding heart wouldn’t calm down for a while.

“Hoo… That’s right.”

And the evening of the day before, which I remember belatedly.

Not knowing what to do, he poured the barrel down and, judging by the fact that he had no memory of what happened after that, he seemed to have passed out.

That would be fortunate.

If only I could have avoided that moment by fainting.

Ariel wipes away the tears from her eyes, her heart filled with relief.

“… … Ugh!”

The one who entered her gaze was none other than Elden.

Elden was seen sleeping soundly, with his upper body prone on the bed, sitting on the chair next to the bed.

Ariel held her breath and laid back down.

I immediately closed my eyes.

My breathing was ragged and my closed eyelids were fluttering, but I tried to pretend to be asleep.

Unfortunately.

“I guess I had a nightmare. Ariel.”

But I couldn’t help it, with Elden’s vivid voice ringing in my ears.

I was clearly sleeping.

Why can I hear a voice?

Why on earth was Elden there?

I was resentful of the sky and of myself for waking up at this moment, but it was impossible to avoid reality now.

Ariel opened her eyes, groaning, as if she had broken down, and raised her upper body.

and.

Ariel was frozen, as if she was broken.

This is what Elden said next.

“I never once thought you were ugly, Ariel.”

“What…?”

“You’re pretty. So don’t have nightmares like that.”

“… Again, is this a dream?”

Taaak–!!

Ariel, who hit both of my cheeks hard with both hands, rolled her eyes again and fainted.

Slap.

Perhaps it was the lingering hangover, or the shame of Elden having heard her embarrassing nightmare, but Ariel fell into a deep sleep once again.

And at the same time.

The ghost-hunting group, who were dispatched to the scene excited by the news of a ghost making a woman scream, encountered over a hundred trees that had been mercilessly cut down, leaving only the stumps.

It was as if a logging war had broken out, and the ground was littered with cut tree trunks and branches.

“… Hey.”

“Yes.”

“Is there a monster whose hobby is logging?”