episode_0134

After some time has passed.

“So this is that wine?”

I smiled as I looked at the wine Mel had brought.

“Yes… … . Yes.”

“Okay. It would have been easier if they had cooperated so obediently from the beginning. Since you keep lying, I have no choice but to act harshly.”

“… … Sorry.”

“It’s okay. It’s okay now that you understand. Okay, now give me some wine.”

Mel nodded at what I said and quietly came over to me and handed me the wine.

When I received the wine, the first thing I did was carefully inspect the bottom, neck, and body of the bottle to see if it had been magically treated. There was no sign of any magical treatment.

The contents of the wine bottle were full, and the cork was clean, as if it had never been opened.

“Let’s see… … .”

I got up from my seat and moved the wine bottle around in the sunlight and looked inside the wine bottle.

When I got the right angle, I could vaguely see the inside of the cork, but it didn’t look like anything was engraved on it.

I thought they didn’t touch the contents and replaced the cork with a new one with a detection barrier or something like that engraved on it, but I didn’t know they really sent a new item.

“Good.”

After looking around and making sure there was nothing wrong, I used basic fire magic to create a small flame on my palm and began to slowly heat the neck of the wine bottle.

I turned the wine bottle around to heat it evenly for a moment, and then the cork shot forward with a popping sound like when champagne explodes. I smiled and smelled the wine.

In addition to the wine’s unique scent, it had a mildew-like but slightly different, sweet smell, and I nodded after confirming that this was real opium wine.

“Hmm… … .”

good. No problem.

No matter how the story goes, I looked at Mel with a grin after confirming once again that I could hang both Priscilla and her brother at the same time.

“Mel.”

“Yes, lady… … .”

“I’m trying to change the contents of the wine here… … .”

Mel, who was listening to me, began to tremble as if she had vaguely guessed what I was saying.

Mel, who was desperately shaking her head, swallowed dry saliva and said.

“Sprinkle it on flowers or flower beds. I will throw it into the sewer.”

“I’m a little worried about just spraying it on the flower bed or throwing it away in the sewer. If someone sees that, they can say that we destroyed the evidence, right?”

“I will take care of it! We will handle everything without anyone finding out!”

I tilted my head at those words.

“What do I believe in?”

“Ah.”

Mel lowered her head with a resigned look on her face, and seeing her look like that, I crossed my legs and lightly turned the bottle of wine.

I slowly blinked my eyes to the sound of rustling, and let out a small sigh.

“Mel. Trust, once it is broken, is difficult to build up again. Once there is a crack in faith, sprouts of doubt take root in the crack. So no matter how hard the other person tries, you end up doubting them because of that one suspicion that grows from that small gap. That’s something that can’t be helped. It’s like a very natural law of the world. Even if you put a broken vase back together, the traces of it do not disappear.”

After saying that, I got up and walked over to Mel.

“But… … . okay. Because Mel also worked hard by my side for a long time.”

What was so scary and what was so sad? I asked while lightly stroking Mel’s cheek, who was trembling with her head down.

“Just like I did with Sera, I’ll give you one last chance.”

I said that and placed the wine bottle in Mel’s arms. Mel looked down at the wine bottle for a moment and then looked at me with an expression of disbelief.

“Do you trust me? … ?”

“Yes. You have to believe me. Oh, of course, there is a condition: if you do everything perfectly this time…”

Mel flinched and trembled at my words.

I felt like I could tell what he was thinking just by looking at him, so I laughed and shook my head.

“I’m not trying to make you do something completely impossible like throwing the vase earlier, so don’t worry too much. Because what I’m going to do this time is really easy.”

“… … Okay.”

“It looks like you don’t really want to do it? Hmm… … . Ok, fine. Then let’s do it like this.”

I shrugged and stepped back.

“If you complete this task well, not only will I trust you, but I will also entrust all matters regarding Mia to you.”

Infinitely kind and gentle, I groped Mel’s heart and found a gap.

Mel was falling little by little, staggering like a fly charmed by my sweet words.

“The words are――”

“I am saying that I will never touch Mia in the future.”

“… … .”

Just a little more and I’ll get over it completely. I smiled slightly and made one last move.

“I trust you and leave everything to you, unless you or Mia call me separately until the end of the semester. There will be no need to visit the villa on my own. You and Mia, I don’t know what you two will do.”

Well, you and Mia will never call me.

… … In many ways.

“Are you really――?”

“I don’t lie.”

It’s just that I’m not telling the whole truth.

I said with a smile, and Mel thought about those words for a moment and then slowly nodded.

“I will follow your wishes.”

“So you’re doing it?”

“Yes. Instead, you must keep your promises.”

“This happened because you didn’t keep your promise to me, but you asked me to keep my promise. Mel is so selfish. Well, okay. Because I keep my promises no matter what.”

And I looked at Mel, who was looking at me with determination in her eyes, and said,

“Drink.”

“… … Yes?”

Mel listened to what I said and asked back with fluttering under her eyes. I just smiled and tapped the wine bottle Mel was holding in her arms.

“Drink it, right in front of my eyes.”

“Woman, here… … . Are you telling me to drink it? … ?”

“Yes. Drink it all.”

Don’t leave a single drop behind.

Mel could only look down at the wine bottle with trembling eyes, but could not even bring the wine to her mouth.

“Oh, by the way, if you can’t drink it all here. I’ll tell Mia to drink the rest.”

“Oh, no! Isn’t that different from a promise!!”

“Different from what was promised?”

I said, looking at Mel with a drowsy face.

“The promise I made with you was to do this job ‘perfectly.’ If you can’t drink it all and have some left over, it’s not perfect, right?”

“That… … . Such unreasonableness… … !”

“If you don’t like it, it doesn’t matter.”

Really. I do not care.

I said that and smiled, and Mel just stood still and looked down at the wine bottle and didn’t say anything.

After waiting for a moment, Mel gritted her teeth and brought the spout of the wine bottle to her mouth.

“Wow… … . Ugh… … .”

Mel seemed to be nauseous again and again, perhaps because her body was rejecting the alcohol. He never took his mouth off the bottle.

The contents of the bottle began to decrease at a rapid rate, and as the contents decreased, Mel’s face also changed.

At first, I was contorted with nausea, and when half of the bottle was gone, my face turned pale due to the large amount of alcohol coming in at once, and when almost all of the contents of the bottle were gone… … .

“Puhaaaa――”

His face looked as if his brain had melted with pleasure.

I took the bottle from Mel’s shaking hands and shook it lightly.

The wine bottle was completely empty, so no sloshing sound could be heard.

“I really emptied it without leaving a single drop. It’s amazing?”

“Huh… … .”

At first glance, Mel’s condition was not normal.

“Hauung――Ahaa… … ♥”

I smiled and patted Mel’s head.

“Good job. Mel.”

Mel looked up at me blankly, then started rubbing her cheek against my hand.

A face that is completely relaxed, a body that is hot, even movements that try to twitch and come together little by little.

Is it because I drank so much alcohol and drugs at once that I lost half of my mind?

“Still, I have to say this.”

Well, it’s worth it. That wine you just drank must have contained a significant amount of opium.

Plus, since Mel had already tried drugs once, the effects of the drug would have doubled as the amount of time he had not touched drugs.

” As promised, I will leave all matters related to Mia to you. I won’t touch Mia from now on. And unless something really big happens, I won’t come to the villa.”

Instead, you will be the one who touches Mia, not me.

Instead of gaining my trust, you’ll lose Mia’s trust.

There is no such thing as a profitable deal in this world, Mel. When you get something, you have to give something else. That’s the law of equivalent exchange, right?

“Oh, you won’t hear me if I say it like this?”

I chuckled and quietly got up from my seat.

“I don’t think I can move on my own, so I’ll call Mia. Oh, and I’ll take this wine bottle with you?”

I said that and came out of the room, and immediately ran into Mia, who looked quite exhausted.

As soon as Mia saw me, she gritted her teeth and tried to attack me.

“You… … . You… … !!”

“I apologize for what I just did. Are you sorry?”

“You fucking bastard! Do you think you can get away with just apologizing like that!?”

Mia said that and grabbed me by the collar, and I lightly raised both hands as if I was surrendering.

“If you shout like that, your mother in the next room might wake up. You seem to be sleeping very comfortably… … . Huh?”

“Dog, cub… … !! Now you’re threatening my mother… … !”

“It’s a threat. I was just telling you the truth.”

At those words, Mia glared at me as if she were going to kill me, and I smiled lazily and shrugged my shoulders.

The confrontation continued like that for a while, and of course it was Mia who raised the white flag first.

“Fuck… … !!”

I patted my front lip with my hand and looked at Mia, who was still fuming and couldn’t calm down her anger, and said,

“Ah, yes. Mel’s collapsed inside there. I’m busy with work and have to go, so you go help me.”

“… … Damn it!”

Mia glared at me once and then headed towards the room where Mel was. After confirming that Mia entered the room, I placed a locking spell on the door.

It doesn’t contain that much magical power, so roughly… … . It will open on its own after about 5 hours.

[Now, wait a minute!? Me, Sister Mel!! Sister, wait a minute!!]

“Have a good time.”

Okay then. Should I go get some wine again?

I walked away, ignoring the loud noise coming from behind.