Clearing the Air Over a Few Drinks
A week had passed since the entrance exam that would forever live in infamy as my black history. After finally clearing out every last task that had piled up, I found myself with actual free time for once. So I dragged Riel out for a little excursion.
“Why are we suddenly going out to eat something good?”
“Because it feels like a certain someone is still walking on eggshells around me. I figured we could clear the air a bit.”
Riel flinched, clearly hit right where it hurt.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You’ve been like this ever since that day. Don’t play dumb.”
I’d thought we could just brush it off like nothing happened, but our dear Deputy Tower Master clearly hadn’t been able to let it go.
“Or would you rather drink? Alcohol has a way of dragging out the words stuck in your heart. You’ll feel refreshed afterward. Sounds good, right?”
“Hmm...”
For once, Riel actually seemed to be considering it. Normally she would have shot me down with a firm I don’t drink that sort of thing. She must have realized how much was weighing on her own mind.
“Fine. Let’s do it.”
“Perfect. I know just the place.”
I led Riel down a quiet side street. It wasn’t the kind of alley most people frequented, which made it perfect.
“Here we are.”
It was a tavern with a worn, shabby sign hanging outside. But the moment we stepped in, the interior turned out to be surprisingly clean and well-kept.
“Hmm?”
A middle-aged man who had been quietly reading a newspaper glanced between me and Riel. Then he looked straight at me and asked bluntly, “Got yourself a girlfriend already?”
“Not a girlfriend. This is Riel, my eternal partner, friend, and the Deputy Tower Master.”
“Eternal partner is just a fancy way of saying girlfriend. Tsk tsk. So what brings you here, kid?”
“We came to drink. What else would I be doing in a tavern?”
“The guy who never shows up even if you threaten him with death suddenly decides to grace us with his presence?”
The middle-aged man clicked his tongue again before disappearing into the back.
“I’ll bring the drinks out soon. Find a seat yourself.”
“Will do.”
I sat down with Riel. She glanced briefly toward the room the man had entered before asking me, “So who is he?”
“A friend of my master.”
“Your master’s friend?”
“Yeah. I stop by once in a while to drink or keep him company. I actually visited my master’s grave not long ago. Didn’t expect to be back here again so soon.”
“Once in a while? You call once a year ‘once in a while’?”
The man had returned without a sound, setting two glasses down on the table with a loud clack.
I simply shrugged at his scolding. “Once a year counts as occasionally. I’m ridiculously busy with magic research, you know. And recently the whole Magic Tower entrance test added even more work on top of that.”
“Useless brat… Drink moderately and get lost.”
“Aww, there you go playing hard to get again.”
The man grumbled all the way back into the inner room. It was clearly his way of giving us space to talk comfortably.
I watched his retreating back for a moment before lifting my glass.
“Alright, shall we clink these properly? One, two, three—”
“Cheers!”
We knocked our glasses together and immediately drained them.
After that, the cycle repeated endlessly: the moment a glass was emptied, it was refilled. A mage could dispel the effects of alcohol if they wanted, but since the whole point was to drag out the words buried in her heart, Riel left the intoxication untouched and drank without mercy.
She clearly had a mountain of things she wanted to say.
One glass. Two glasses. Three. The empty cups gradually stacked up.
“Hic!”
By the time the eleventh glass had been emptied, Riel was completely smashed.
“Tower Maaaster…”
“What?”
“Tower Master, why… aren’t you drunk…?”
“I have a high tolerance. It takes a lot to get me tipsy.”
“Tch… This way I’m the only one who got drunk.”
“So what? You’re the one who wanted to talk.”
“…But still…”
Riel’s face was flushed bright red as she poked at her empty glass.
“But still… how can you stay so calm…? I still regret it every time I think about it.”
“If you feel that bad about it, why did you get so angry? I told you I didn’t mind.”
“That’s! Not! The point!”
Riel jabbed a finger at me.
“Everything about you is connected to your master, and it was even the anniversary of his death recently! How can you act like none of it matters!”
“What, should I have thrown a tantrum instead? Get mad at you for doing something when you didn’t even know the circumstances?”
“Huuuung… Tower Maaaster…”
“Oh great. Now she’s crying.”
Thoroughly drunk, Riel began to sob. The sight was so pitiful that anyone watching would have thought I was the one who made her cry. She wept endlessly until she finally exhausted herself and passed out.
At this rate, we hadn’t had a proper conversation at all. All we’d done was add another entry to Riel’s growing collection of black history.
I carefully lifted her into my arms and carried her inside.
“I’ll let her sleep for a bit.”
“Do as you like.”
Listening to the man’s gruff voice, I gently laid Riel down and covered her with a blanket so she could rest comfortably.
When I returned to my seat and picked up my drink again, the man spoke.
“Want some company?”
“I’d like that.”
He sat across from me, glass in hand.
“You look like you’ve got a lot on your mind.”
“When have I not? I just live with it.”
“That’s true. The kid who cried his heart out back then would naturally have a lot weighing on him.”
“I don’t remember crying.”
“The brat who hugged a corpse and cried for an entire day has the nerve to say that?”
“That was over ten years ago. Ancient history.”
I had buried it away like a single old memory.
“So, what happened this time?”
I gave him a brief summary of recent events. The man’s face crumpled into a deep frown.
“You’re the one at fault here, kid. Dead is dead. Why take it out on someone else? Idiot.”
“Which is why I still have a long way to go. I tried to justify it to myself, but… I guess I’m still not mature enough.”
When I spoke with a sigh, the man shook his head.
“It’s the opposite. You’re too mature.”
He took a long drink.
“You’ve always been like that. Even as a little brat, you never had a shred of cuteness. Then your master suddenly dies, and you throw yourself into magic while acting ridiculously lighthearted.”
“Well… yeah.”
“A person’s true nature can’t be hidden no matter how hard you try. No matter how much you suppress it, it always finds a way to show.”
The man’s eyes grew distant as he stared at the remaining liquor.
“You’ve spent ten years crushing down your real self. That obsession with magic. The Magic Tower. All of it was that man’s dream. Not yours.”
“…”
“This recent incident is the collision between your suppressed nature and the mask you’ve been wearing. It’s left you confused. It would have been better if you were just an ordinary kid who never grew up.”
Tsk tsk. The man clicked his tongue and emptied his glass.
“If he were here, he would have given you a proper scolding. His own disciple can’t let go of his master’s shadow. When you showed up with that woman earlier, I thought maybe things had changed. But it looks like it’s only gotten worse.”
“You’re not pulling any punches.”
“Damn brat. I’m telling you to stay vigilant.”
“I’m always vigilant.”
“And yet here you are?”
“…Fair point.”
I let out a deep sigh.
“Still, there’s one thing I’m certain about. My obsession with magic isn’t solely because of my master.”
“Then why?”
“Because it’s everything to me.”
The final legacy my master left me. My life. My very essence. When I researched magic, when I immersed myself in it, I could focus without a single distracting thought.
As if seeing straight through me, the man looked at me with a pitying expression.
“You’re saying it’s nice that you can focus only on magic. But in the end, isn’t that the same thing?”
“Maybe. Still, I’m not forcing myself to do magic because of my master. After all, I was the one who sought him out to learn it in the first place.”
“Even so, you need to sort out your heart. You can’t keep living like this forever. At the very least, your current goals shouldn’t be built on his memory. If you want to become a mage respected by all, you need to learn how to walk your own path.”
“You’re right.”
I let out a hollow laugh.
“To think the so-called Archmage is sitting here like this. Ugh…”
I scratched my head and stood up.
“Leaving already?”
“I have to. Popular guy like me has people waiting, you know. Still, talking with you really cleared my head.”
“Damn brat. Take good care of that girl. She seems soft-hearted.”
“I will. I’ll be going now.”
“Don’t come back. I’m sick of looking at your face.”
“Sure. I’ll drop by again soon.”
I left the tavern with Riel on my back. She was still out cold from the alcohol.
It was a breezy afternoon. We headed back toward the Magic Tower with the cool wind against our faces. For some reason, I found myself smiling with a strangely refreshed feeling.
“Haaap!”
“Awake already?”
I watched as Riel shot upright and asked her the question. Her eyes were spinning wildly; she seemed to have completely sobered up from her hangover.
“T-Tower Master.”
“Yeah?”
“N-Never mind!”
“About what?”
“Everything!”
The image of Riel sobbing Huuung… Tower Maaaster… flashed through my mind. When I grinned at the memory, her face instantly filled with dread.
“I wonder. All I can remember is you crying your eyes out while calling my name.”
“Erase it right now! Delete it from your brain this instant!”
“And if I don’t want to?”
“Then die!”
Riel lunged at me. She wasn’t truly trying to hurt me, but her entire body screamed erase it immediately. Of course, I had no intention of obeying.
“Huuung… Tower Maaaster…”
“You bastard! I said erase it!”
“Nooo~”
“Erase iiiiit!!!”
Our little scuffle continued for quite some time after that.