Chapter 7: The Disaster Star had his first drink.
****
Preparing for the party was no trouble at all.
Rionne snapped her fingers, and everything was ready in an instant.
A table and chairs flew into place, a bonfire ignited, the house-sized boar was butchered and roasted over the fire, and simple dishes appeared on the table as if by magic.
It was the marvel of magic.
Enoch clapped, and Rionne, smiling warmly, declared the start of the party.
"Alright! Let's eat, drink, and be merry!"
Actually, they ate, drank, and were merry most days, but no one argued.
In a rare display of unity, Enoch and Undine both raised their hands.
[Yay! Party!]
As the two celebrated, Rionne checked the roast and pulled out a bottle.
"Ta-da! What's this?"
[Th-That's…!!]
Undine's eyes widened as she recognized the bottle. Enoch, however, just tilted his head.
[Flowing Dragon's Breath, 150 years aged…! I heard they only released 200 bottles, three hundred years ago…!]
"Hehe, it took some effort to get my hands on it back then."
[Y-You're opening it now…?]
"Yes. If I keep it any longer, it'll spoil. It's time to enjoy it."
[Oh… ohhh…! Brat! You're actually useful for once!]
The excited Undine slapped Enoch on the shoulder.
Enoch responded with his power.
-Crackle!
Undine, too thrilled to care, sparkled with violet electricity and quickly brought a glass.
[Here, here! Be careful! You know what happens if you spill even a drop!]
"It's my alcohol. Why are you more excited?"
[Because I'm getting some!]
Rionne chuckled and uncorked the bottle.
The cork, almost completely disintegrated due to the artisans' insistence on avoiding magical treatment, threatened to crumble, but with a simple spell from Rionne, it popped out cleanly.
[Oooh…!]
An intense aroma filled the air the moment the bottle was opened. Undine trembled at the intoxicating scent.
[Hurry…!]
The spirit was already sucking on the cork, determined not to waste a single drop.
Slightly unnerved by her friend's fervor, Rionne tilted the bottle.
Thick, golden whiskey flowed into the glass.
"Are you going to drink it like that? Isn't the glass too big?"
[Don't be silly! The smaller I am, the more alcohol I get!]
"Well… suit yourself."
Rionne sliced off a piece of the automatically rotating roast.
The cooked meat, dripping with juices, looked delicious.
The boar had been abnormally large, so it contained a lot of magical energy, meaning it would taste amazing.
"Good food, good alcohol, and good company."
Slightly tipsy from the atmosphere, Rionne swayed gently.
The deepening red of the sunset painted her hair a rose gold.
"Shall we toast?"
The elf offered her glass, and the spirit eagerly clinked hers against it.
[Cheers!]
"Enoch, cheers?"
At the elf's invitation, the boy offered his glass of apple juice.
"Cheers."
"Cheers!"
With the clear chime of glass against glass, they all took a sip.
[Oh… ohhh…!]
Undine made a strange sound as the alcohol touched her lips.
Her eyes rolled back, and she trembled, clearly not in a normal state.
[D-Delicious…!]
Thick sherry, rich vanilla, a sharp alcoholic bite…! Followed by an explosion of complex, delicate flavors…!
Ignoring her friend's unintelligible babbling, Rionne offered a simple assessment.
"Mmm, not bad."
It was a bit strong, but the flavor was so good that it went down smoothly.
Since she was suppressing her mana, she felt a slight buzz.
With the cool breeze and a bite of the roast, it was pure bliss.
"Mmm…"
"Rionne."
"…Yes?"
Enoch held out his empty glass.
He seemed disappointed to be drinking apple juice while everyone else had alcohol.
"Do you want to try some?"
He nodded immediately.
'Well, a little bit shouldn't hurt, right?'
Rionne smiled faintly and poured some whiskey into Enoch's glass…
[Wait…! Are you crazy!?]
"Goodness… what's wrong?"
[You're pouring it into the glass he just used for apple juice…!? Get a new glass!]
Rionne sighed and fetched a new glass.
Enoch stared at the whiskey with curiosity.
"Enoch, it's strong, so don't gulp it down. Just sip it little by little, just enough to wet your tongue."
"Okay."
Enoch carefully tilted the glass, as instructed. The thick, golden liquid entered his mouth. And then…
"...!?!"
He jumped. His tongue felt like it was on fire.
[Bwahaha…! Serves you right! You have no idea how precious this is!]
Flowing Dragon's Breath was an insane 240-proof alcohol.
Magically crafted, it was an insanely strong drink for superhumans.
It was an ultra-concentrated alcohol that couldn't be made normally.
Drinking alcohol from an alcohol lamp would have been several times milder.
An ordinary person would die instantly.
"Drink some water! Water!"
Enoch finally calmed down after chugging the water Rionne brought him.
Seeing his wide, still-shocked eyes, Rionne chuckled.
"Perhaps I gave you something too strong for your first drink. Enoch, want some of this?"
A bottle of wine had appeared in her hand.
It wasn't anything special like Flowing Dragon's Breath, just a light, sweet wine.
At 12% alcohol, it was twenty times weaker.
"…No, I want that."
But Enoch shook his head. He wanted to drink the same thing as Rionne.
"It's very strong…"
"It's okay."
As if to reassure her, Enoch took a large gulp of whiskey.
Gulp.
From his lips, tongue, and gums to his throat and down to his stomach, he felt a searing pain, making him acutely aware of his internal organs.
"Whoa…?"
The world began to spin. The sky spun, the ground spun, Rionne spun.
The blue gnat spun.
[Ugh, that idiot.]
"Enoch, are you alright? Enoch?"
Voices vibrated.
Words entered one ear and went straight out the other. Confused, he shot a bolt of lightning at the blue gnat.
"Ah…! My lettuce…!"
But the lightning, spinning wildly, struck something else entirely.
'That wicked gnat.'
He waved his fingers, drawing magic. Blue. Violet. Gold. Green.
He drew a boar in a multitude of colors.
A roasted boar in a wine glass, rolling over a hill.
Rionne plucking clouds from the sky and stuffing them into the gnat's mouth.
"Enoch…!"
That was his last memory.
****
[…Never give him alcohol again.]
"Yes… I intend to…"
Rionne cleaned up the mess in the yard. Enoch was fast asleep, his face flushed crimson.
[At least he didn't throw up. Imagine if he'd actually breathed fire after drinking Flowing Dragon's Breath. Ugh.]
"You should be more concerned."
[Hmph. Blah blah.]
Undine giggled, drinking whiskey from a glass as big as herself.
Rionne sighed and snatched the bottle.
"That's enough for you. This is confiscated."
[Hey! You can't take it back after giving it to me…!]
"I didn't give it to you. We'll drink it together when Enoch is older."
[Tyranny!]
"So? What are you going to do about it?"
[Mean elf!]
Rionne ignored her and laid Enoch on her lap.
The moon shone brightly in the darkened sky.
She would have enjoyed the barbecue with a drink under the moonlight…
[Old lady!]
"…Give me that, too."
Undine fled.
****
The next day, Enoch woke up groggily.
"Thankfully, no hangover?"
[Of course not! Flowing Dragon's Breath is famous for not causing hangovers…!]
Ignoring the gnat, Enoch stretched.
He had no memory of last night.
It was unexpected and a bit disconcerting, but he seemed fine, so he was relieved.
[It was chaos last night. Do you remember destroying Rionne's garden?]
"...!"
He whipped his head around and saw a hint of sadness in Rionne's expression.
"…It's okay, Enoch. I can grow more vegetables."
"S-Sorry…"
"No, it's really okay."
Rionne playfully wiped away fake tears.
Enoch was relieved that she wasn't angry.
She smiled brightly, patted his head, and said, "Even though you don't have a hangover, you must be tired. Shall we take a walk in the forest this morning?"
"Yes, I'd like that."
"Then, since we're doing that, let's go a little deeper. This forest is vast."
Enoch readily agreed.
He'd encountered a house-sized boar just going a little deeper; he was curious what strange creatures lived even further in.
****
Three years passed quickly.
Enoch still hadn't seen the deepest parts of the forest.
It was no joke; this forest was larger than most countries.
And it was filled with strange, unheard-of monsters.
"Haa…"
Enoch, now much taller, lay sprawled on a giant tree branch, yawning languidly.
All living creatures around him, terrified, bowed their heads in fear.
Enoch, as if this was perfectly normal, paid them no mind.
- Enoch!
But when he heard the elf's voice…
"Yes…!"
The ruler of the shallow forest bounded off like an obedient puppy.
All the creatures around him sighed in relief.
The tyrant wouldn't be back for a while.
****
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