Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Wine Under the Stars
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4
The wine glass filled with a reddish-brown liquid.
The red wine, infused with moonlight and glowing faintly, carried a strange allure.
I swirled the glass lightly, and the wine spun smoothly in response.
Gazing at the circling wine, I leaned back against the bench.
"Weekends are always too short...."
I'd been summoned by Edmund in the morning, had a brief chat with Leon, and lounged around the dorm—that was it, yet my precious Sunday had vanished entirely.
Weekends flew by just as quickly here as they did in the real world.
Poke, poke. Someone prodded my arm.
Glancing down, I saw Choco sitting beside me on the bench, holding out the wine glass with her tiny front paw.
She looked like she wanted a sip too, but I couldn't give alcohol to a raccoon.
Instead, I filled her glass halfway with water.
"Want to cheers?"
As if she understood, Choco extended her glass.
I was used to it by now, so I lightly clinked my wine glass against hers.
Clink.
The clear, crisp sound melted into the moonlight.
Looking up at the sky, countless stars twinkled in the wake of the blue moon.
It was a sight impossible in the modern world, where earthly lights obscured the heavens.
I took a sip of the swirling wine.
The wine's acidity was lower than expected when it touched my tongue.
Instead, a heavy sweetness lingered.
"They raved about the wines from the Bragor region, and sure enough, it's delicious."
The Bragor region lay in the northwest of the continent.
With its Mediterranean climate, it produced wines higher in alcohol than average but relatively low in acidity.
That explained the prominent sweetness.
The warmth rising within suggested I'd be in trouble if I drank too fast, though.
Theo's body had a sturdy liver, showing no real impact, so I savored another sip.
"Wine while stargazing—quite the elegant pastime."
Who would've thought I'd go from drinking cheap domestic beer in my tiny apartment to this luxury.
And beside me sat Choco, lapping at the water in her wine glass before gnawing on a smoked chicken leg.
Talk about extravagance.
"Tasty?"
Choco nodded, clutching the chicken leg.
I stroked her head a couple times and poured more wine.
"Friend, enjoying yourself alone in the dead of night?"
Ethan had butted in out of nowhere.
His large frame was hunched apologetically, which didn't suit him at all.
His innocent blue eyes brimmed with regret.
Well, he did bear some responsibility for dragging me into that mess.
As a gesture to say not to worry about it, I raised my glass instead of a greeting.
"As you can see. What brings you out at this hour?"
"I don't need a reason to visit, do I?"
Teasing, Ethan sat down beside me.
I offered him the wine, but he shook his head.
It was delicious, too.
"Nice weather!"
"It's the middle of the night."
"Still better than a sky full of clouds hiding the moon, right?"
"Fair enough. If you have nothing to say, should I head out?"
"Friend, isn't that a bit cold between us?"
Ethan shrugged dramatically.
Between us? What are we?
He sure knew how to banter.
But knowing it was banter made it easy to guess why he'd come looking for me.
"You're here about Felt, aren't you."
"Ahaha, as expected of a friend! You already knew?"
I sipped my wine instead of answering.
The inevitable silence settled, and Ethan laced his fingers together, slowly working his lips.
"Felt and Louis are staying at the orphanage. The director's handling all the arrangements, so there shouldn't be any more danger."
"Good to hear."
"Yeah, it is. Thanks, Theo. It's all thanks to you."
"I didn't do much."
Ethan was the first to step up for Felt.
He had the connections to the orphanage, and he handled the specifics.
All I'd done was use some rune magic out of necessity.
"You handled the biggest part. No one died because of you."
Ethan smiled bitterly.
He was surely talking about the rune magic.
"I'd prefer you pretend you didn't see that."
"Ahahaha! More importantly, how long have you been hiding something that amazing?"
"...I'm invoking my right to remain silent."
"I get it—prying too much isn't polite!"
Silence fell again.
I glared at Ethan, who sat with his hands clasped and back hunched, and finished my wine.
"...I'm jealous. I need to get stronger too."
I could have let Ethan's mumble slip by.
But it inevitably brought his circumstances to mind.
Ethan Mertezacker.
The scion of the great merchant Mertezacker family had a younger sibling.
When Ethan was young, he and his sibling were kidnapped.
Ethan barely escaped, but his sibling never returned.
Since the day he returned alone and held the funeral, Ethan had carried the guilt of being the sole survivor.
Even though he was blameless.
Beneath his smiles, Ethan blamed his own weakness.
That past must have driven him to help Felt.
"...Felt and Louis survived purely thanks to you."
I broke the silence with a subtle remark.
No matter what anyone said, Ethan was the one who stepped up for them.
That was an irrefutable truth, even to him.
"What'd you say?"
Ethan's lips twitched upward as he asked.
As if he hadn't heard.
"...Forget it if you didn't. Must be the alcohol talking."
I brushed it off, and Ethan chuckled.
By the time I'd emptied my glass, Choco had finished her chicken leg too.
As I stood,
"If anything comes up, let me know."
Anirza, who appeared in the Felt and Louis incident, wasn't in the original story—a black mage.
This was a Broken World, but subtly different from the one I knew.
Even if it was just a butterfly's wingbeat now, who knew how it might change? Better to stay vigilant.
"That's what I meant," I said, and Ethan replied with a bright smile.
"You offering to help?"
"I'll think about it."
"Ahaha, got it, friend. I'll tell you first if anything happens!"
His smile was pure golden retriever innocence.
Which felt oddly off.
The Ethan Mertezacker I remembered barely moved his facial muscles.
He was supposed to party with Leon later on.
What had happened to Ethan in the meantime?
My thoughts naturally drifted to Felt and Louis.
If, that day in the original, Ethan had gone alone to buy a shield and run into Felt.
But failed to assault the Corbus Family hideout head-on, letting Anirza complete the ritual.
If he couldn't save Louis, or even Felt in some cases, and survived alone again.
Anirza would've succeeded and withdrawn, the altar reverting to a normal warehouse, and Ethan would've cursed his weakness, harboring venom.
It was just inference, but it fit.
...Yeah, all just inference.
Meaningless hypotheticals now.
Felt hadn't died.
Louis hadn't become a sacrifice.
Anirza's plan had failed, and Ethan no longer needed to curse his powerlessness.
That was enough.
Still, I found myself patting Ethan's shoulder.
"You did well."
"Huh?"
"...Just the booze talking."
Anyway, blame the alcohol.
5
"...Monday first period is the worst."
The day after my moonlit solo session.
Theo headed to the lecture hall with no hangover—either his liver was ironclad or it was good wine.
I hated Mondays.
Nothing baffled me more than people who claimed to like them.
Stumbling to class, I ran into Meyrill at the academic building entrance.
"Morning, Meyrill. First period—where you headed?"
Our schedules overlapped a lot.
Wondering about it, I asked, and she tilted her head.
"First period's canceled today—didn't you get the notice yesterday?"
"...First I'm hearing of it."
"Oh no... I told a few people in class to spread the word...."
Yesterday... yeah.
I'd only stepped out briefly in the morning and stayed in the dorm otherwise, so no one crossed paths with me.
Not to mention my solo session was late at night, and Ethan skipped first period Mondays anyway.
"Sorry, I'll tell you directly next time."
"No need to apologize. Couldn't be helped."
In the modern world, group chats or texts would've spread it easily, but no smartphones here.
Relaying it person-to-person led to mix-ups, and someone always got left out.
I parted with Meyrill and sat on a nearby bench.
"Should've taken my time with breakfast...."
The tender lamb stew with tomatoes had melted so nicely on my tongue.
Still, a free Monday morning was a win.
Dorm life meant less than ten minutes commute too.
"So, what now."
Going back to sleep? I'd had plenty last night.
No desire to train either.
"Nice weather...."
The sunlight was warm—peak late spring.
It'd heat up soon enough.
Perfect for an outing.
"...Speaking of which, maybe a picnic."
6
"No surprise it's empty at this hour."
I sat by the riverbank, gazing at the flowing Centor River.
The Centor River cut through Eset.
Its value was incalculable—reason enough for Eset to become the capital.
Geography, economy, politics—I couldn't care less.
What mattered was the Centor River's beauty, so captivating you lost track of time just watching.
Sunlight shattered in dazzling reflections on the surface.
I savored the river's briny breeze while watching the shimmering water.
The Centor River was unrealistically beautiful even in graphics, but facing it in person hit different.
The pungent fishy smell and the wind carrying it felt vividly real.
I lost my words at the realism beyond a monitor.
Denying the nostalgia would be a lie.
After Broken World fell into my hands, I didn't play for a while.
Couldn't bring myself to.
It reminded me of my parents, searching and asking staff to pick out Broken World for me after exams.
I only played after pulling myself together.
By then, the world had branded it a trash game.
And it had serious flaws, but I quietly followed the main story.
Starting at Esterro Academy, the first time I ventured into Eset proper.
Gazing at the serene Centor River, I first felt this world was beautiful.
After that, I'd boot up Broken World and just stare at the Centor River, ignoring the main story.
Truth was, the Centor River evoked past vignettes.
Childhood memories of family outings to riversides.
Maybe that's why.
When I turned from the Centor River back to the main story, my heart felt lighter.
Finding solace in scenery wasn't a lie after all.
The first place to teach me that was the Centor River.
So today, I gazed at it again.
"...Nothing changes here."
My quiet murmur sank silently into the water.