Chapter 119: As Substitute for Booze (Sword’s Point of View)
Shadow finally poured the wine in the king’s glass, and we toasted.
“…Okay, just as I thought, this stuff’s really good. The aroma comes out when it’s not cooled too much, huh?”
“It’s cool, isn’t it?” Shadow retorted.
“If you cool it down a bit more, it’ll become easier to drink. But, the aroma won’t be able to fully unfold, I s’pose. By the way, booze becomes sour if you don’t store it in a dark, cool place or so I heard.”
“Eh?”
While I talked with Shadow, Arkhide drained down his wine. While at it, he also wolfed down the snacks which hadn’t been tested for poison yet.
“…Hey, wait a minute! I take my eyes off you for a moment, and then this!”
Shadow had finally noticed the king’s antics.
“It doesn’t really matter anymore, does it? I’ve been starving here, okay? This wine…it’s frustrating to admit it, but it’s really superb. …Shit! Being an adventurer must be so nice! I’ve become a king, and yet I can’t drink such great wine, you know?”
“Very well, then we will have Sword offer it to you as a gift.”
“Wait a sec. Could you not steal my booze as you please?”
“Also, these snacks are great. Where did you get these?”
“Hmm? I got Indra to make ’em for me.”
Shadow froze audibly.
“You mustn’t, my Liege! They are poisoned!”
“No, they’re not. By the way, Indra was also the one who brewed the drinks. I just provided the cash.”
Shadow stiffened up once more.
“Hooh! Indra Springcoat appears to be a fairly talented woman despite being born into nobility.”
“That’s why we call ourselves 【Allrounders】. She also made the clothes I’m wearin’ today. …At this point…I really wonder why Shadow would pick a fight with a girl like her…”
If that girl seriously enters her S-mode, it wouldn’t end with things just gettin’ dangerous. You’d get tortured on end, man. You’d turn into a total cripple, you know?
“Okay, I am terribly sorry! I did not intend to pick a fight with her, however!”
“Either way. please don’t piss her off, ‘kay? That girl grew up in a shit hole of permanent abuse, resultin’ in her bein’ quite crazy. She’s capable of bein’ kind to frightened monsters, but she’ll joyfully torture any human opposin’ her. I mean, even you’d hate to have your skin peeled off with the sole excuse that it’d be curable with a special-grade healin’ potion, right?”
Not only Shadow, but even Arkhide became pale.
“She’s crazy, seriously. The responsibility lies with her parents. Though I’ve heard her mother’s died already.”
“That’s true. …The marriage over there was apparently the worst. In the first place, the present Earl Springcoat was famous for being an extraordinary womanizer and lustful man. His marriage with the young lady of the ducal house caused a huge discord. But, Earl Springcoat belonged to the neutral faction during my enthronement, and since he’s still loyal to me, I can’t interfere.”
I shrugged my shoulders, “At this point, it probably doesn’t matter ‘nyway. It looks like she can lead a much better life with me than at the Springcoat mansion.”
Ah, I remembered due to the talk about special-grade healing potions.
“I’ll give you these as a substitute for booze, so please leave my drinks alone.”
I handed healing potions made by Indra to Shadow.
“Those are?”
“Indra’s carefully produced, special-grade healin’ potions. She said it can heal any injury, as long as it’s bones or somethin’ regarded as bones. However, if it also has to fix muscles, you apparently won’t be able to move the body part well afterwards. You’ll need to do rehabilitation, but that’s still fine as long as you can recover, right?”
The two were lost for words.
“……Indra Springcoat can even produce special-grade healing potions, is what you’re saying?” Shadow asked while bein’ at a loss.
“Rather, she can do ‘nythin’. Is there actually ‘nythin’ she can’t do? …Oh, she mentioned she can’t imitate how I 『somehow perceive an enemy without hearin’ or seein’ ’em』. But, since she’s able to see stuff you can’t see with the naked eye, it’s basically the same in the end.”
Which reminds me, she mentioned she can’t simply follow orders and she’s unable to go easy on others…yeah, ‘kay, let’s forget ’bout those.
Shadow sighed, “………Is that so? So, you are saying almost nothing would be impossible for you, if you and her team up. Certainly, then it will not be a smart choice to be hostile towards you two,” muttered Shadow, apparently havin’ grasped it himself, at long last.
