Ariane’s Drunken Misadventures

There was a small town built just off the road. To the west, a large swath of forest and

the Riebing Mountains loomed behind it.

The town's stone walls looked sturdy, and it sported an elegant, multi-story gate.

However, the whole scene looked rather desolate, with only the two guards standing

watch out front. I called out to them, asking to be let inside. Despite how suspicious

we must have looked, draped in our dark cloaks, armor peeking out from underneath,

the guards quickly let us in.

Maybe they didn't get many visitors? But that seemed unlikely, given the town's

proximity to the road.

As we passed through the gate, I asked one of the guards for directions to the town's

inn. The streets were crowded with people rushing back home before night fell,

though a few of them offered us side glances as they hurried past. The inn the guard

had pointed us to was near the center of town facing the square, which was bustling

with activity.

The inn was larger than the buildings surrounding it. Judging from the din of voices

and the smell of food drifting out, I guessed that the first floor was some sort of tavern.

A bell clanged as I pushed open the old wooden door, announcing our entrance.

The tavern was filled with several round tables, men and women with glasses in hand

crowded around, bantering as they drank. Behind a counter, I could see several

middle-aged staff members bustling about the kitchen. A large, well-built woman

dried her hands on a towel hanging from her waist and looked over toward us. She

seemed to be the innkeeper.

The boisterous atmosphere quieted like a receding tide as everyone followed her gaze

to the two mysterious new guests.

"Welcome!"

The woman stepped away from an old man grumpily stirring a pot in the back and

offered us a wide grin.

I cut through the crowds of men whispering among each other, my armor clanking on

the stone floor, and approached her.

"I'd like two rooms for the night."

The woman nodded, all business. "Right-o. And whaddya think about dinner?"

I glanced over my shoulder at the crowd. Several of them were still staring at me,

though they quickly turned away when they noticed me staring back.

"I'd prefer to take it up in our rooms, if we can."

She caught sight of the helmet under my hood. "I see, I see. Ya know, I have some nice

liquor just right for a knight like yerself. All the blokes 'round here order the cheap

stuff. If ya buy a drink, I'd be okay with ya eatin' in yer room. Whaddya say?"

The woman patted a small cask sitting next her and grinned. It looked much smaller

than the other liquor barrels, no more than five liters or so.

A drunk man watching us shouted toward the woman.

"Ya got it all wrong, lady! Momma jus' won't give us enough money to pay for the good

stuff!"

The tavern burst out into laughter, shattering the silence.

She'd probably taken one look at me and figured I had money to burn. I couldn't help

but smile at her sales tactics.

"That'll be fine. Is this enough to cover the cask and two rooms for the night?"

I reached into the leather pouch at my waist and showed her five gold coins.

"Th-that's way too much!" The woman's eyes went wide as I dumped the coins into

her hand. She immediately started counting out my change. "Jus' hold yer horses.

Lessee, five sok, so I owe you…"

I gestured for her to stop. I'd always wanted to say this. Now was my chance.

"Keep the change, ma'am."

I struck a pose. The women simply looked back and forth, wide-eyed, between the

coins and me. It seemed as if she wanted to object, but instead, she thanked me. I put

the small cask under my arm.

"Now, about our rooms?"

She hurried out from behind the counter and showed us to a pair of nicely decorated

rooms at the far end of the second floor before rushing off again to grab our dinner. I

instructed her to bring both meals to my room and closed the door after her. Even in

the back of the building, we could still hear the muffled bustle from downstairs.

"I was supposed to pay for our lodgings, you know. Anyway, can your body actually

consume liquor?"

Ariane drew back her hood and tilted her head up to fix her golden eyes on me.

"I'm not particularly hurting for money right now. Besides, it's been a while since I've

had any liquor."

I'd also figured that if I set myself up as a heavy spender, it would keep the innkeeper

and other townspeople from meddling in our affairs. My armor made me stand out as

it was, so I didn't think throwing money around would draw any extra attention.

I'd originally become a mercenary to eke out an existence, but now that I had more

than I could possibly need, my attachment to it had faded. It also didn't really feel like

I was even spending money, given how different the currency was in this world. But

maybe that would all change once I adjusted to living here.

Right now, all I wanted to do was get a taste of the local liquor.

A delightful blend of wood and something I couldn't place wafted up from the small

cask under my arm. There was probably more than enough alcohol inside for both

Ariane and me, but carrying it around in my bag didn't seem like a viable option.

The innkeeper soon reappeared with our dinners. After locking the door, Ariane took

off her cloak and we sat at the small table. She shook her head, running her fingers

through her long, white hair, and let out a sigh.

I gently lifted Ponta from my head, then removed my helmet and set it on a chair.

The meal consisted of vegetable soup, with a piece of black bread and some flamebroiled meat. It was much simpler than what we'd eaten back in the elven village, but

it was also better than a lot of the human food I'd tasted in other inns.

I looked at the cask on the table, then up at Ariane.

"Do you drink, Ariane?"

She scowled in response.

"Of course I do! I was drinking back in Diento, remember?"

I noticed she didn't look at me directly as she said this.

I thought back to our time in Diento, searching through my memory. I recalled Danka

and Ariane buying some alcohol while we waited for night to fall so we could rescue

the enslaved elves, but I didn't remember her getting drunk or anything.

I grabbed one of the glasses the innkeeper had provided.

"Well then, would you care to have a drink with me?"

She took the glass from me, and I pulled the cork from the cask, pouring a measure of

amber liquid into it while she watched with narrowed eyes.

"If you don't drink that much, there's no need to push yourself."

Ariane replied by tilting the glass back and downing it in a single gulp. She slammed

the empty glass onto the table and shot me a defiant look.

"I'm not a child, all right?"

"Kyi kyiiii!"

Ponta wagged its tail excitedly, as if asking for its own glass.

"Sorry, Ponta. Have some of this instead."

I cut off a chunk of flame-broiled meat and set it on a separate plate in front of Ponta.

"Kyiiiiiiii!"

As soon as the plate touched the ground, Ponta let out an excited squeal and buried its

face in the meat. I poured myself a glass of liquor and took a whiff. It had a unique

smell, with just a hint of herbs.

I took a swig, and my mouth was immediately filled with a slightly bitter taste followed

by a sweet tingling that assaulted my senses. The back of my throat burned as I

swallowed, warmth filling my body.

The alcohol content was much higher than I'd assumed.

"This tastes pretty good! I wonder if I could put it on the rocks with a little ice magic,"

I mumbled to no one in particular.

A hand slamming onto the table startled me from my thoughts.

"Jussa second there! Are ya gonna refill my glass or what?"

"Huh?"

I did a double-take at Ariane, surprised by her already-slurred speech.

The room was lit only by oil lamps, which were far dimmer than the magical ones used

in elven villages, and filled the room with a pungent smell. The glow they gave off was

about the same as you'd get from a bean-sized bulb in my world. I couldn't be sure in

such low light, but I thought Ariane's amethyst hue had taken on a reddish tinge.

"Hey! Didja hear me?"

In stark contrast to her usual, cool demeanor, Ariane glared at me through half-lidded

eyes.

"Huuuuuurry uuuuuuuup!"

She held her empty cup out to me unsteadily, her eyes struggling to focus.

It was certainly strong alcohol, but if I had to guess, I'd say it wasn't higher than forty

proof. And she'd only had one glass. It had become quite clear that Ariane was a

lightweight when it came to drinking.

Hmm. Now that I thought back on it, I couldn't remember having seen her take a drink

in Diento. Had she not even touched the glass back then?

"Miss Ariane, I really think it's best that you quit while you're ahead."

I picked the cask up from the table and set it down behind me. Ariane's hands lunged

forward at lightning speed, grasping my skull on either side.

"Aww, yer such a tease, Arrrc! You're not gonna gimme anymore booze?"

She continued glaring at me through unfocused, glistening eyes, shaking my head back

and forth. The world started to blur, and I could hear my bones clattering about.

If I'd been in a human body while this was happening, I'd have certainly thrown up by

now.

"C-calm down Ariane! Why are you acting desperate?"

She tightened her death grip, raised her voice, and brought her face even closer to mine.

"Desperate? No one here's desperate for nuthin'!"

Her golden eyes widened, and I could smell the sweet scent of alcohol on her breath

as it blew across my fleshless face.

"You 'member that thing Carcy was sayin' about elves and humans comin' together?

D'ya really think that'll ever happen?"

She snatched the cask away from me and poured herself another glass, once again

drinking it in a single gulp. She let out a satisfied sigh.

Obviously, Carcy's view of the world was at odds with Ariane's, at least for as long as

humans were buying and selling elves. Given everything Ariane had been through, it

only made sense she would have a negative impression of humans. However,

compared to someone like Danka, whom we'd worked with back in Diento, her disdain

toward humans seemed less extreme. I'd like to think it had even decreased since

meeting me.

Ariane had treated the children we'd met back in the Houvan slums no differently than

she treated any of the elven children I'd ever seen her with. She'd even taken a chance

on me, despite my humanity.

Looking at it in that light, perhaps Carcy and Ariane's feelings toward humans weren't

all that far apart, though she seemed a bit uncertain about it herself, at least, when she

let her guard drop.

"There are many kinds of humans, Ariane. It can't hurt to believe that there are at least

some people out there willing to move forward together."

Like she and I had. Though, I left that part unsaid.

Her golden eyes stared at me, and she looked like she might fall asleep at any moment.

"Hmm…"

"Besides, I'm a human. Or… at least, I think of myself as one."

I took the cask from Ariane's hands, filled up my own glass, and took a drink.

"What're you talkin' about? There's nuthin' human about you, Arc."

Her rose-tinted cheeks drew close again, her unsteady eyes still trying to focus. She

raised her voice, as if trying to compete with the cacophony rising up from the floor

below.

"Harrumph. Humans and elves, hand in hand. What a joke."

Maybe she was right. But it was precisely that kind of thinking that made it necessary

to build up relations, bit by bit.

Ariane continued muttering to herself as she tried to stab one of the pieces of meat,

chasing it around the plate. I used my own fork to hold it down for her, earning a halflidded glare from her. She almost looked like some sort of dangerous beast. Her golden

eyes bore straight through my empty eye sockets, locking onto the blue-white flame

that danced about inside my skull.

The atmosphere in the small room had grown tense.

"I thought all elves were vegetarians."

"What're ya talkin' about? Soldiers can't survive on a diet of leaves!"

I blocked Ariane's fork with mine and pulled the meat toward me. Out of the corner of

my eye, I caught a glint of the knife in Ariane's other hand. With a slash, she chopped

the meat in two, sending a chunk flying into the air. Both our forks shot up after it,

looking like gleaming arrows arcing into the night sky.

"Heh. You'll get a stomachache if you eat something you're not used to, Ariane."

"Don't worry about me. If yer not gonna hand over the meat, then gimme the booze!"

"Kyiiii!"

A certain green, cotton-tailed fur ball dove through the air and expertly caught the

meat in its mouth, dashing away into a corner of the room and munching happily on

its prize.

Ariane and I shouted in unison.

"P-Ponta?!"

"Pontaaaaaa?"

Ariane's golden eyes once again locked on the flame flickering inside my skull.

"You know, Miss Ariane, sharing is caring. We both could stand to learn that."

"Ya know, yer right. We're both fighters, but at the end of the day, we're on the same side."

After offering up our apologies, we clinked our forks together.

"Hahaha…"

"Hyahaha…"

We shared a warm, broad smile. I broke the silence.

"Oy, Ponta!"

Ariane turned to see what I was shouting about. While she was looking away, I stabbed

my fork toward the last piece of meat.

"It's mine!"

"Too slow, Arc!"

A gust of wind blasted me in the face.

"Only a coward would use magic!"

"Big words coming from someone playing dirty tricks!"

Ariane had already snatched the meat from the plate and offered it to Ponta. She held

the cask of liquor by her side.

"Gonna need to watch your flank better, Arc!" She shot me a sweet smile.

"Slow down, Ariane! I really think you've had enough for one night."

But she paid no heed to my protests. She tilted the cask back, preparing to drink

straight from the spout. I rushed over to try and stop her.

While we battled over the alcohol, Ponta finished eating the meat and curled up on the

bed, falling asleep instantly.

It took much longer to calm Ariane down and get her to bed.

The next morning, the innkeeper remarked that it had sounded like we'd had a pretty

wild evening the night before, apparently misunderstanding what we'd been yelling

about. All I could do was bow my head in embarrassment.

My room had been pretty trashed after last night's events, but somehow, I'd managed

to make it presentable come morning. If I'd been hoping for some sort of compliment

from the innkeeper, none was forthcoming.

Ariane hadn't taken to liquor well. As for me, it seemed like I wasn't able to get drunk

in this body. I hadn't felt my senses dull at all last night, and I wasn't feeling hungover

this morning. I felt a bit jealous of Ariane's ability to laugh and have a good time.

I looked over toward her. She returned my gaze, giving me a glimpse of her ashen face

beneath her charcoal-gray hood.

"Nng… my head huuuurts. What happened last night?" she groaned, rubbing at her

temples in a vain attempt to make the headache go away.

I made a mental note as I watched her walk out on unsteady legs. In the future, it'd

probably be better if I just drank alone.