“Cheers to a successful mission and to everyone making it back alive.” Everyone held up their wooden mug. The first day of curion extermination in the Forbidden City Luzarigue had safely come to a close.
After taking a carriage to the nearest city, our squad was throwing a party just like we’d agreed. Everyone around me at the table was a beautiful woman or girl. Starting clockwise from me, it was Cuphea, Linum, Monia, Hypericum, and finally, the princess. That meant Cuphea and the princess were sitting next to me at the round table.
Although we were the center of attention since we still had our saint uniforms on, no one dared to approach us. Holy women typically being children of nobility was common knowledge even among commoners. No one was foolish enough to hit on someone when one wrong move meant death.
“I-It’s my first time in a place like this.” Holding her mug with both hands, the princess drank just enough to wet her lips.
“We haven’t either. Eating out feels like a waste, so we barely do it,” Cuphea said, spearing some meat with her fork and bringing it to her mouth. Since most of Cuphea and Linum’s reward money went to the orphanage they lived in, they hadn’t been able to have experiences like this.
“It’s my first time drinking too. I’m a little nervous.” Linum was swaying happily from side to side with foam around her mouth. Although being fifteen meant you were an adult and could drink, alcohol tolerance was a different matter and depended on the person. Had she really gotten tipsy off one sip?
“So commoners really eat at places like this, huh? I’ve heard about it, but I’ve never experienced it for myself.” Monia looked around curiously.
“While some places are quieter than this, others are louder.” Hypericum apparently had experience in pubs like this.
As a commoner, I felt right at home. Even three centuries later, the crowded, noisy atmosphere of pubs hadn’t changed. It was comfortable precisely because it didn’t pretend to be anything it wasn’t. I had wondered if commoner food would suit the noble ladies’ palates, but the princess and Monia ate without complaint.
That said, holy women would have to camp on the way to the Forbidden Cities and fill their stomachs with preserved food and portable rations. To ensure they could stomach it when the time came, they even ate them in class. Noble ladies who wanted to become holy women were surprisingly resilient. For a while, the night continued peacefully.
“Albert! I’ve got somethin’ to say to you!” Cuphea stood up and turned to me, her face as red as her hair. Because she was bending forward, her boobs landed on my head. Soft yet weighty, they bounced above me.
“What is it, Cuphea?” I responded calmly, focusing on the top of my head.
“You went on a date with Astrantia even though you told me to wait two years!” She must have been talking about when I went to the festival with the princess. I’d thought she’d forgiven me after I got her a gift, but apparently it was still bothering her.
“I told you, that wasn’t a date.”
“Then what was it, my knight?” To my right, the princess puffed out her equally red cheeks, then pressed her forehead against my shoulder. Was she trying to protest my denial?
Oh... Once again, being fifteen in this country meant you were an adult, so drinking wasn’t an issue for everyone here. However, the only ones who had experience with alcohol were me and Hypericum. You couldn’t tell how you would handle it until you tried it, so rather than risk having their first experience in an important situation, we had decided it would be better to try it at a party surrounded by friends.
Neither the princess nor Cuphea seemed to have much tolerance for alcohol. Linum giggled as she rocked back and forth. It looked like she was a happy drunk. Her childhood friend, on the other hand, was an angry one.
“Shee! Ashtrantia thinksh it wash a date!” Just as I thought she was going to sit back down, she grabbed my arm and vented her frustration. She was already slurring her words—was she really this bad of a drinker? No, she didn’t seem to be sick. Rather than a bad drinker, she was just a bad drunk.
Normally I would have rejoiced as her boobs forcefully engulfed my arm, but as she’d said herself, I couldn’t make a move for another two years. However, that only applied to us as a man and woman.
“Then do you want to go somewhere together too?” I didn’t mind hanging out with her just as close friends.
Unfortunately, Cuphea was repulsed by my offer. “Now it seems like I’m forcing you!” She absolutely was, but I kept my mouth shut.
“No, I really want to.”
“You do...?” Her timid behavior was like that of a fickle cat that rarely became affectionate. It had destructive force behind it.
“Of course.”
“Then let’s do it.” She nodded.
Thinking it was settled, I went to take a drink, only to find that my right arm wouldn’t budge. Cuphea was grabbing my left arm, so that was the one I had expected to be immobile. Turning to the side, I found Astrantia clinging to my right arm. “Princess?”
“Albert, my knight.”
“Yes?”
“I’m proud to have you as my holy knight, and I know that doesn’t give me the right to intrude on your private life, but...”
“Yes?”
“But I’m not happy!” the princess whined, puffing out her cheeks.
“You’re not making this easy...” I barely managed to eke out. The words wouldn’t come out when I looked at the tears in her eyes.
✦ ✦ ✦
“I don’t like imagining you surrounded by women when the day we promised comes.” After we’d settled everything, when the princess died, my life would also come to an end. That was what we’d promised. She had wanted to be alone with me in that moment, but it seemed like she was worried it would be a crowded scene, given my personality.
Imagining it almost made me laugh. However, I saw how serious she was and straightened up. “It’s all right. That won’t happen.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“I believe you.” Relief on her face, she promptly fell asleep, her head resting against me. Before I knew it, Cuphea was doing the same.
“Maybe we should’ve had the party another day.” As I was overwhelmed by both pleasant and torturous feelings, the party continued on.
Despite Hypericum having several drinks, her complexion never changed. She was a heavy drinker. Monia, on the other hand, was the type of drunk who spilled her guts while sobbing about how much she regretted her past.
Before long, the two who had fallen asleep woke up and our mostly female squad engaged in lively conversation. Although Monia and Hypericum were a little distant, we seemed to have bridged the gap between us a little. In that sense, the party was a great success.
The next day, all the girls save for Hypericum were hungover and had to use healing magic to cure their headaches. Of course, we never would have gone to a pub when we had a mission the next day unless that was an option.
“G-G-Good morning, my knight.”
“L-Let’s do our best today, Albert!”
The princess and Cuphea seemed to have a complete recollection of their night of drinking and were embarrassed by their actions. Maybe it’d be for the best if they refrained from drinking in the future.