NOVEL NEXT Chapter 11 - Void (3)
A bustling yet cozy atmosphere filled the beer house.
Three or four men approached, glaring.
The mood suddenly turned hostile, and people around started murmuring.
“Hey, what did you just say?”
“Wow, you didn’t hear that? Did you pour the beer into your ears instead of your mouth?”
Zeron chuckled and retorted to the man’s words.
Medea just hung her head low, covering her face with both hands.
“Well, well. Trying to show off in front of a girl just because you’ve got a dick, huh?”
“Dick? Hey, did you hear that? Hahaha…! Look at how this bastard talks! He said dick!”
“Hahaha…! Shit, is this guy crazy? Pfft…!”
The men seemed to have had too much to drink, cracking jokes among themselves.
Though he knew his own personality was messed up, Zeron felt his body heating up for some reason, and the corner of his mouth curled up.
He smiled mischievously and opened his mouth.
“Hey, hey. Don’t just talk, try hitting me. You can’t hit me, right? Punk. You’re a master of bluffing, aren’t you?”
“This bastard is really asking for it!”
“Come on, hit me. I’m even giving you my face to hit. Can’t you do it?”
Zeron thrust his face forward and tapped his cheek.
The man’s face turned bright red, and veins bulged on his forehead.
“You bastard!”
Whoosh-! The man twisted his waist and swung with all his might.
Zeron glanced at the fist and simply knocked it aside.
“Huh!?”
The punch went wide, and the man lost his balance, staggering.
Zeron smirked mischievously and brought his hand to the man’s half-exposed forehead.
“Now, this might sting~”
Thwack-! A powerful flick hit the man’s forehead.
“Ugh…!”
The man fell backwards with a thud.
“Hahaha…! Hey, look at this guy! He fell from a forehead flick!”
“You idiot! Puhahaha…!”
The men were laughing, but as time passed and the fallen man showed no signs of getting up, their expressions gradually turned serious.
“Hey, is he dead?”
“I don’t think he’s just too embarrassed to get up…”
Eventually, all eyes turned to Zeron, who had delivered the flick.
The men tried to shout something in anger, but-
Thwack-! Thwack-!
They received flicks in quick succession and fell backwards.
The beer house, which had quieted down for a moment, heated up again at this sight.
“Wahaha! This guy’s got skills!”
“I knew those idiots would get it someday!”
It was a strange scene where the atmosphere heated up instead of cooling down after the sudden fight, but Zeron seemed used to it. He smirked and shoved the men into a corner.
“It’s better now that it’s a bit quieter.”
He trudged back to the table and gulped down the beer that had appeared.
With each swallow, the carbonation scratched his throat, and the coldness made his head clear.
“Phew…”
He slammed the beer mug down and spoke to the kid who still seemed too embarrassed to lift her head.
“Hey, hey. It’s okay. Most of the people here are adventurers, so they don’t care about this kind of thing, you know?”
“…How do you know that?”
“I can tell just by looking. They all look like they’ve eaten their share of sword fodder.”
“…You would’ve done that even if they weren’t adventurers.”
“That’s true.”
Zeron chuckled and stabbed a sausage with his fork.
As the fork pierced it with a squelch, juices burst out.
Impressed by the sight, he took a bite, and a salty flavor filled his mouth.
“Oh. Hey, this is pretty good. Try it.”
“Shut up… I’m never going out with you again…”
The kid glared at Zeron and gulped down her beer with a furrowed brow.
“Guh…!”
She immediately grabbed her throat and started coughing.
I don’t know what she’s doing.
She did this last time too.
Zeron chuckled and held out his fork.
The kid glanced at it with teary eyes, then bit the opposite end of the half-eaten sausage.
“Hot…!”
“What an idiot.”
“Shut up…!”
The kid blew on the hot sausage and chewed it up.
Then another sip of beer.
This time, she seemed to have learned a bit, only shuddering with a “Phew…!” after gulping down the beer.
“That’s right, drink well. Are you good at drinking?”
“Of course. Never mind that, give me some of that.”
Zeron laughed, finding it ridiculous.
“Don’t you have hands or feet?”
“Just hurry up and give it to me.”
“Sigh… here you go.”
When he dipped the pizza in honey and held it out, she munched on it like a squirrel eating food.
Finding it somewhat amusing, Zeron kept offering her sausages and pizza.
One sip of beer, one bite of sausage.
Another sip of beer, one bite of pizza.
After endlessly repeating this routine…, the kid got completely drunk.
…It was as inevitable as the fact that a person dies when stabbed in the heart.
*
“Hey, are you okay?”
“I’m fiiine… Not even a bit drunk…”
“You’re completely gone, aren’t you?”
Zeron clicked his tongue and downed the rest of his beer in one go.
“Let’s see…”
I drank 8 glasses.
The kid drank 3 glasses.
For food, we had one sausage and one pizza, plus another sausage…
…Ah, I don’t know.
“Owner! How much is it?”
“Uh… just a moment.”
The owner finished calculating by folding and unfolding his fingers, and Zeron casually put some coins in his hand before heading out.
“Hey, can you walk?”
“Yeaah… I can walk…”
Supporting her a bit as they walked, she staggered but managed to walk somewhat straight.
Zeron walked like that for a while, then suddenly remembered something and checked the kid’s ankle.
“Is your ankle okay? You sprained it earlier, right?”
“Ankle…? Pfft… Are you stupid…?”
The kid giggled.
Her face was flushed red from drinking, and she was grinning like she’d lost her mind, making Zeron chuckle involuntarily.
“The stupid one is you, you idiot.”
“Nooo, you’re the stupid one… After all, I’m a mana user too… How could I sprain my ankle like that…? Stupid…”
“Oh…?”
Come to think of it, that’s true.
Was this brat acting then?
“Wow… So you were lying about that because you didn’t want to walk and wanted a piggyback ride? You’re quite something, aren’t you?”
“…Really stupid. Idiot. Shit for brains…”
“No… I should be the one cursing… Oops.”
Seemingly at her limit, the kid collapsed.
Zeron quickly supported her.
Anticipating this, he had asked for a large shopping bag at the bar.
Impressed by his own foresight, Zeron hoisted the kid onto his back.
Despite eating quite a bit, she was still light.
There was still nothing touching his back.
“Hey, don’t throw up on my back, okay?”
“Shut up… My head’s ringing…”
“Alright, alright. If the princess says to shut up, I’ll shut up.”
As he grumbled, she somehow heard the word “princess” and bumped her head against his back in protest.
Here’s a question.
What happens when someone with a headache from drinking uses their head so roughly?
“Urgh…”
The answer?
They suffer for it.
“Dummy.”
Zeron chuckled.
It was definitely still chilly, as expected for spring.
When he exhaled, a faint white breath dispersed in the wind.
Zeron walked like that, carrying the whimpering kid on his back, listening to her complaints about being cold, having a headache, and her feet being cold.
“…Hey, mister.”
“‘Hey’ is rude, brat. Don’t speak informally.”
“Mister…”
“What?”
“Mister……”
“Right, I’m the fool for trying to have a conversation with a drunk person.”
Zeron quickened his pace, hoping the kid wouldn’t add any decorations to his back.
Just as things seemed to quiet down a bit, the kid rested her chin on his shoulder and whispered in his ear.
“Mister.”
“That tickles.”
“Mister.”
“Yes, dear.”
“Ah, what!”
When he yelled, the kid giggled.
This is definitely the annoying type when drunk. As he lamented this,
Squeeze-, the kid hugged his back a bit too tightly.
“……Oppa.”
“Huh…?”
He turned his head quickly to see the kid sleeping soundly, breathing softly.
“Puberty is definitely a disease.”
Zeron grumbled as he quickened his pace.
The sky had already grown dark.
He had to hurry a bit to avoid missing the kid’s curfew.
*
Fortunately, they arrived at the dormitory in time.
The problem was that Zeron couldn’t enter the girls’ dormitory.
“Hey, wake up. You need to go in, dummy.”
As he was shaking Medea, who was clinging to his back like a koala, a voice called out from afar.
“Oh? Medea?”
“What, is it the kid’s friend?”
“Ah, yes. You’re… Instructor Zeron, right?”
“That’s right. Good timing. Can you take her in?”
He shook the kid awake and handed her over to the girl who seemed to be her friend.
The kid was so tired that she kept nodding off while leaning on her friend.
“Medea, it’s me, Flone. Try to wake up a bit, okay?”
So her name was Flone.
Anyway. Flone supported the kid and disappeared beyond the dormitory door.
I should head back too.
Yawn… Zeron yawned as he started walking.
*
Flone struggled to carry Medea to her room.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, Medea’s room was right next door, which made things a bit easier.
“Phew, why did you drink so much?”
“…I think I’m gonna throw up.”
“Huh!? W-wait a second…!”
She hurriedly moved Medea to the bathroom, but fortunately, she didn’t throw up.
Flone sighed and sat Medea down on a chair.
“Wouldn’t it be better to sleep now?”
“If I lie down now, I think I’ll throw up… The world is spinning…”
“Ah geez, should I make you some honey water then? My dad always asks for honey water when he comes home drunk.”
“Yeah… Thanks…”
Flone searched the kitchen and found some honey.
The dormitory rooms all had the same layout, and most basic items were provided, which was convenient.
She mixed honey with warm water and handed it over. Medea started sipping the honey water.
“By the way, you seem pretty close with Instructor Zeron?”
“…Yeah, well. I’ve known him since I was little.”
“First love?”
“Pffft…!”
Medea spat out the honey water in her mouth like a breath attack.
“W-w-w-what are you saying…!”
Flone, who barely dodged the honey water breath, smirked.
“Oh my. They say a strong denial is as good as an affirmation.”
“I-it’s really not like that!? Why would I like that grumpy old man…!”
“Hmm… suspicious…”
“I’m telling you it’s not…!”
Medea shook her head vigorously, her face turning bright red.
…Then she grabbed her aching head in pain.
“Ugh… Anyway, it’s not like that… Why would I like an old man like that… He’ll probably die alone with that personality. No woman could put up with him. Yeah, that’s right.”
Medea assured herself.
She was half-serious.
What woman other than herself could put up with that personality?
His face is… well, if he’d just cut or push back that messy hair, he’d be decent-looking…
Anyway, everything else about him was terrible.
Always drinking, bad personality, constantly causing trouble, smoking anywhere he pleased.
Who would want someone like that?
This was an undeniable fact.
Yeah, that’s right.
She could really guarantee it.
*
In a dark room where the only light came from the moonlight through the window.
Ice clinked against the glass of an on-the-rocks tumbler.
Zeron, holding the glass up to the moonlight, suddenly spoke.
“Maid.”
“Yes, do you need something?”
“Come in for a bit. Would you like to have a drink with me?”
In the dead of night.
Creak-, the door opened.