Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 158
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 158
Thwip!
“Skreee!”
One arrow embedded itself deep into the demon beast’s head.
The Demon Beast’s body crumpled, its vital point pierced clean through.
‘Oh my god…’
The employee who had been watching gaped in astonishment.
Even though they released only large, weak demon beasts tailored to the guests’ tastes, piercing that tough hide and skull was no easy feat.
And wasn’t this a night when they had no choice but to rely on moonlight?
The employee swallowed dryly.
During his time working at these hunting grounds, he had seen all sorts of things.
He had even dealt with plenty of guests who were handy with a sword.
But even those guests hadn’t brought down that thing with a single arrow.
It was on a whole different level.
‘He isn’t a guest who hunts as a hobby.’
And what was amazing…
was that he was merciful.
Having dealt with many guests, the employee knew well how merciful it was to end a life in one blow.
Many guests, engrossed in the sport, would deliberately leave demon beasts alive but injured, drive them into a corner, and only then take their lives.
After seeing only such vulgarity, encountering someone like this gave him a strange sense of awe.
‘What kind of person is he, I wonder.’
The guest had been disguised since arriving at the hunting grounds, so his identity was impossible to discern.
‘…No, I mustn’t pry.’
There was one unwritten rule for long-term employment at Easter: do not be curious about guests’ personal information.
Especially guests who came deliberately wrapped up tightly were even more so.
If you dared to find out, you could lose more than just your job.
The employee bowed his head as he handed over an Egg Coin.
“Congratulations. Since you performed more brilliantly than anyone at the hunting grounds, I present you with an Egg Coin.”
The guest silently accepted the Egg Coin.
“Ah, and also, this…”
It was just barely before midnight.
Since no more Egg Coins could be obtained for the day, the employee produced an invitation from inside his coat.
“…”
Slip.
The man seemed to check the invitation for a moment, then used the Egg Coin and vanished before his eyes.
“Hoooh…!”
The employee let out a sigh of relief.
For some reason, just his presence had made it hard to breathe.
Even though he had shown not a shred of hostility toward him.
“Well, I guess I couldn’t help but be afraid.”
The employee turned his head and looked at the path the guest had taken.
In the darkness, the corpses of demon beasts were scattered along the trail.
“All of them in a single shot…”
The employee muttered as he pulled the arrows from the Demon Beasts.
But, I could have sworn that at first he wasn’t very skilled with the bow…
“Nah. Must have been my imagination.”
With skill this excellent,
he must be a famous knight, I’d guess.
* * *
“…”
Lion was honestly a little taken aback by the bizarre ingredient before him.
Pssshhh—
As the bartender uncapped the liqueur, something like mushroom spores gushed out like a troll’s burp.
‘…The visuals are spectacular.’
Even Lion, who was hardened to most things, had to admit it was overwhelming enough to make him step back.
He glanced around.
He was troubled.
It wasn’t that using it was the problem; it was that if he handled this without hesitation, all the effort of his disguise would go to waste.
‘He’ll definitely be found out. With this.’
Just imagine. If you cheerfully mix and shake a liquid that looks blatantly disgusting, anyone would think, “Ah, that person is a real eccentric,” wouldn’t they?
Especially among the guests here, very few wouldn’t recoil at this liqueur, and the idea of making something with it to consume…
At least within the hotel, it would be just this bartender and himself. Only the two of them.
Even so, getting his identity exposed for one more Egg Coin wasn’t a welcome thing.
What rumors would start.
‘What to do.’
As he fretted and kept looking around… something was strange.
Surprisingly, no one was paying much attention to this situation at all!
As if answering his unspoken question, the bartender spoke.
“You need not worry about others’ gazes. To their eyes, it will only look like someone enjoying a cocktail.”
“I see.”
A few glanced, but even those were just looks that said, “Ah, he’s going to make a cocktail, I guess~.”
He suspected some sort of illusion magic had been cast on the ingredients.
‘Really, the best in terms of security.’
If so, there was no burden.
“That’s a relief. I was a bit concerned about the eyes.”
“…”
The bartender rolled only his eyes, looking once at the ingredients, once at the guest before him.
He had known the guest was no ordinary person, but to show so little reaction to this ingredient…
‘You are a bold one.’
But making a cocktail wasn’t something that could be done just by having a bold heart.
Of course, it would be nice if the guest enjoyed it, but…
‘Even if it turns out badly, I won’t help you.’
If the guest had come this far, he must have an immense sense of adventure, and he believed that without a doubt.
“Then please follow my mixing process exactly.”
“Sure. Got it.”
The bartender immediately began crafting the cocktail.
He carefully poured the liqueur—which looked like a toxic mushroom spewing spores—into a glass filled with ice he had prepared beforehand.
Ssshhhooo—
…The liquid was stickier than expected, and it flowed out of the bottle with a strange sound.
‘I think Freyania once made something like that.’
The slime born from her alchemy homework, that is.
To put it kindly, it had a mysterious appearance, but honestly, the color and texture were making him feel a bit queasy at the thought of this liqueur entering his mouth.
Because anyone could see it was a suspicious dark purple liquid with white particles floating around.
But—
‘This… is rather impressive?’
Lion’s eyes, which had recognized the liqueur’s true value, glinted softly.
[Mushberry Liqueur (★★)]
- A special liqueur devised by Easter. It looks bizarre, as if made from toxic mushrooms, but it is actually made from special berries, not mushrooms.
- Don’t worry about the particles floating inside. They are sweet, fragrant orange-flavored powder that simply makes you ‘feel good’ when consumed.
- Excessive drinking is harmful to your health.
- Upon consumption, you feel as if your luck has improved slightly.
The appearance might be horrific… no, unique, but the liqueur itself was made of ingredients harmless to the body.
Moreover, it wasn’t mushrooms but berries.
And in fact…
“The aroma is nice.”
Really surprisingly, the sweet-and-sour aroma was exquisite.
It wasn’t like a liqueur; it was like the fresh scent when you grab a handful of raw fruit flesh.
At those words, the bartender’s mustache twitched upward again.
“Yes. Appearances aren’t everything.”
He seemed pleased that the liqueur’s true worth had been recognized.
The bartender then cut a lemon and a lime in half, squeezed the juices in, and also poured syrup into another glass with a smooth, swift motion.
“The characteristic of this liqueur is that its taste becomes very good when it meets smooth milk.”
With that, the bartender brought out a bottle of milk.
“This is Snow Cow Milk airlifted from the Bydantis Territory. Its smooth, creamy flavor is superb.”
“Oh.”
Lion was impressed.
He knew that taste well!
He had made hot chocolate with this milk at the Bydantis family.
But this…
‘I heard it’s not cheap.’
As expected of a super-luxury hotel.
The bartender didn’t stop there; he scraped the seeds from a vanilla bean and put them into the shaker.
“Now, shall you try following what I’ve done so far?”
“Got it.”
So far, there was nothing difficult.
Lion selected the ice and filled his glass, added the liqueur as the bartender had in his recipe, and squeezed in plenty of lime and lemon.
He didn’t forget the syrup and vanilla bean either.
“Excellent.”
“The next part will be the problem, right?”
“…! You know well. Yes, that’s right.”
The bartender answered calmly, not showing his surprise.
The guest was right.
In truth, when making a cocktail, it was important to follow the recipe precisely, but the mixing process was even more crucial.
Depending on how you held the cup and how you mixed, each person would have a subtly different taste.
“Then I will demonstrate.”
The bartender covered the cup with the shaker and shook it up and down.
It looked like ordinary shaking, but…
‘This bartender’s skill is no joke.’
It was different.
On close inspection, although it looked like up-and-down shaking, in reality, side-to-side shaking was more frequent.
‘Cool.’
Not a single wasted motion.
He’d expected an older bartender would naturally have experience, but he hadn’t expected it to be to this degree.
It was as clean a motion as the movements of veteran swordsmen.
‘It looks easy.’
He knew well. When someone else’s work looks easy, it often means that person has immense skill.
‘A tremendous master, indeed.’
He’d thought it was just a fun game, but now that he thought about it, he was learning from a quite remarkable bartender.
‘That makes it twice as good.’
Lion’s eyes still glinted as he watched without missing a beat.
After some time, the bartender strained out the ice, then shook the shaker for quite a while without ice.
He seemed to be trying to make the milk inside as smooth as cream.
Soon the mixing was done, and the bartender poured a little Mushberry Liqueur into a new chilled glass, then slowly poured the cocktail from the shaker on top.
With that, the previously horrific color was nowhere to be seen, and a fine drink of lovely light purple cream with a sweet, blueberry-like aroma was created.
After a moment,
Pop!
“…!”
Bubbles frothed up from the Mushberry Liqueur and rose through the cream!
It looked just like… a mushroom growing!
The bartender topped it with a mushroom-shaped meringue cookie and handed it to Lion.
[Mushberry Fizz (★★★)]
- A cocktail whose rising bubbles evoke a mushroom cap!
- With every sip, a crisp fruit fragrance spreads out… *sigh* it’s superb!
- Be careful, its alcohol content is higher than you think!
It was like a work of art.
To create such a beautiful form from that shady, unpleasant mushroom liqueur…
“Appearances aren’t everything.”
“I’m truly glad you appreciated that.”
The bartender bowed politely and tidied up the glasses.
And then…
He glanced.
He looked at Lion.
It wasn’t a look urging him to shake quickly.
“…May I taste it first and then learn?”
“Yes, of course.”
It was just as Lion expected.
Well, the maker’s perspective is always the same:
they want you to enjoy it freshly made.
Above all, it would be rude to leave such a painstakingly made cocktail untouched.
‘…I came here to enjoy myself, so let’s have a taste!’