Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Heavenly Killing Star's First Drink
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The Heavenly Killing Star took his first drink.
Preparing the party was no big deal.
With a snap of Leone's fingers, everything was ready in an instant.
Tables and chairs flew into place, a bonfire roared to life, and a house-sized wild boar—already dressed and roasting over the flames—was joined by simple dishes that appeared on the table one after another, fully cooked.
It was the greatness of magic.
Enoch clapped his hands, and Leone beamed with satisfaction before declaring the party open.
"Come on! Let's eat and have fun without a care today!"
In truth, they spent most days lounging and feasting like this, but no one raised any objections.
Even Enoch and Undine, in a rare show of unison, shot their hands up high.
[Yahoo! Party!]
Seeing their excitement, Leone checked the roast while slyly pulling out a bottle of liquor.
"Ta-da! What's this?"
[Th-that's…!!]
Undine, recognizing the bottle, widened her eyes until they nearly split.
Enoch just tilted his head.
[Flowing Dragon's Breath, 150 years old…! I heard only 200 bottles were released 300 years ago…!]
"Heh, it was a real hassle to get it back then."
[Y-you're opening it now…?]
"Yeah. If I hold onto it any longer, it'll go bad for real. Moments like this are what it's for."
[O-oh…! Kid! You actually have your uses!]
The thrilled Undine slapped Enoch's shoulder repeatedly.
Enoch responded with his power.
Zap!
But the overly excited Undine didn't care.
Sparks of purple electricity crackled over her body as she hurriedly grabbed a glass.
[Come on, careful! You spill even a drop, you know what happens!?]
"Hey, it's my liquor—why are you more excited than me?"
[Because I'm getting it for free!]
Leone chuckled and uncorked the bottle.
Since the artisans had stubbornly refused magical preservation, the cork was nearly rotted through and crumbly, but a simple spell from Leone popped it out with a clean *pop!*.
[Ooh…!]
The instant it opened, an intense aroma flooded the air.
Undine shuddered at the ecstatic, tingling stimulation.
[Q-quick…!]
The spirit was already sucking on the cork like a lollipop.
Faced with her friend's maniacal refusal to waste even a drop, Leone tilted the bottle with a dubious look.
Thick, honey-like golden whiskey filled the glass.
"You're drinking like that? Isn't the glass too big for you?"
[Don't be ridiculous! The smaller I am, the more booze I get!]
"Fine… do what you want."
Leone sliced off a piece from the roast, which was auto-rotating over the fire.
The juices dripped from the perfectly cooked meat—it looked delicious.
Given the boar's freakish size, it was packed with mana, so the taste would be exceptional.
"Good food, good booze, and good company."
Drunk on the atmosphere, Leone's head bobbed lightly.
The deepening red of the evening sky tinged her hair, making it shimmer like rose gold.
"Shall we toast?"
The elf held out her glass, and the spirit clinked hers against it eagerly.
[Cheers!!]
"Enoch, cheers?"
At the elf's invitation, the boy offered his glass of apple juice.
"Cheers."
"Cheers!"
The clear chime of glass rang out as everyone tilted their glasses.
[Ooh, oooh…!]
Undine made bizarre noises the moment the liquor touched her lips.
Her eyes rolled back, her body shook—no matter how you looked at it, she didn't seem normal.
[D-delish…!!]
Sherry richness, deep vanilla, nose-punching alcohol…!
Followed by an explosion of complex, delicate flavors…!
Ignoring her friend's incoherent babble, Leone gave a simple verdict.
"Hm, not bad."
The proof was high, but the flavor made it go down smooth.
With her mana suppressed, a pleasant buzz hit her. Pairing it with the cool breeze and a bite of roast was pure bliss.
"Haaah…."
"Leone."
"…Huh?"
At Enoch's call, she looked up to see him holding out his empty glass.
He seemed bummed about being the only one stuck with apple juice.
"Want to try some?"
He nodded eagerly.
Well, a little couldn't hurt.
Leone smiled faintly and poured whiskey into Enoch's glass…
[Hold it…! Are you insane!?]
"Whoa, you scared me…. What's with the freakout?"
[Pouring that into a glass that had apple juice…!? Get a fresh one now!]
With no choice amid the spirit's hysterics, she fetched a new glass and poured.
Enoch stared at the whiskey in wonder.
"Enoch, this stuff's strong, so no gulping. Just wet your tongue a bit at a time."
"Okay."
Following her advice, Enoch tilted the glass cautiously.
The dense golden liquid entered his mouth.
And then,
"……!?!?"
Enoch jumped straight up.
It felt like his tongue was on fire.
[Puhaha…! Serves you right! You have no idea how precious this is!]
Flowing Dragon's Breath was a whopping 240-proof lunatic of a drink.
A magically distilled nightmare for superhumans only.
Ordinary ultra-high-concentration alcohol couldn't even be produced.
You'd be better off drinking fuel from an alcohol lamp—a few times safer, even.
Naturally, a normal person would drop dead.
"Water! Drink some water!"
Only after gulping down the water Leone brought did Enoch calm.
Leone giggled at his wide-eyed shock.
"Guess it was too strong for your first go. Want this instead, Enoch?"
Sometime she'd pulled out a bottle of wine.
Nothing legendary like Flowing Dragon's Breath—just a light, sweet one for casual sipping.
At 12 proof, it was over 20 times weaker, plain and simple.
"…No, I'll have this."
But Enoch shook his head.
He wanted what Leone was having.
"It's strong, though…."
"I'm fine."
As if to say not to worry, Enoch took a big swig of the whiskey.
*Gulp.*
From lips to tongue, gums, throat, all the way down to his stomach.
A fiery pain seared every inch of the path, making him acutely aware of it all.
"Ugh…?"
Soon the world started spinning.
Sky whirling, ground whirling, Leone whirling.
Even the blue fly buzzed in circles.
[Jeez, what an idiot.]
"Enoch, you okay? Enoch?"
The voices hummed and vibrated.
Words went in one ear and out the other.
Bewildered by the phenomenon, he hurled a bolt at the blue fly.
"Aaah…! My lettuce…!"
But the lightning spun wildly and struck somewhere else.
Naughty fly.
He flicked his fingers, drawing magic.
Blue. Purple. Gold. Green.
The colors wove into a wild boar.
The roast floated in a glass, rolling over hills, while Leone plucked clouds and stuffed them into the fly's mouth.
"Enoch…!"
That was the last of his memory.
*
[…Don't let that kid drink ever again.]
"Yeah…. Planning to…."
Leone cleaned up the disaster of a yard.
Enoch slept soundly, his face flushed beet red.
[At least he didn't puke. Imagine if Flowing Dragon's Breath made him breathe fire for real. Bleh.]
"He's just a kid. We should worry."
[Hmph. Heh heh.]
Undine cackled while downing whiskey from a glass as big as she was.
With a sigh, Leone snatched the bottle beside her.
"You too—that's your last. Confiscated."
[Give it back! Gifting then taking is bullshit…!]
"I never gifted it. We'll drink together when Enoch's older."
[Tyranny!]
"So? What're you gonna do about it?"
[You evil elf!]
Ignoring her, Leone laid Enoch on her lap.
The moon shone bright in the darkened sky.
Under it, she savored her drink and barbecue slowly…
[Old lady!]
"…Hand that over too."
Undine bolted away, tail between her legs.
*
The next day, Enoch rose from bed with a blank face.
"No hangover, huh? Lucky."
[Of course not! Flowing Dragon's Breath is famous for zero hangovers…!]
Ignoring the fly's chatter, Enoch stretched long.
No memory of last night.
It was unexpected and a bit disorienting, but nothing bad seemed to have happened, so relief.
[Yesterday was chaos. Remember plowing up Leone's veggie patch?]
"……!"
He whipped around to check Leone—her expression looked a tad sad.
"…It's fine, Enoch. We can grow more veggies."
"S-sorry…."
"No, really, it's okay."
*Sniff sniff.* Leone playfully wiped fake tears.
She didn't seem mad, so Enoch relaxed a bit.
Smiling brightly, she ruffled his hair.
"No hangover doesn't mean you're not tired, so how about a light forest stroll this morning?"
"Yeah, sounds good."
"Then since we're at it, let's go a bit deeper. This forest is huge."
Enoch nodded readily.
They'd met a house-sized boar not far in—what freaky things lurked farther?
He was curious.
*
Three years flew by.
Enoch still hadn't seen the forest's deepest parts.
No joke—it was bigger than some countries.
Unheard-of monsters abounded too.
"Yaaawn…."
Now much taller, Enoch sprawled atop a massive tree, yawning lazily.
Every living thing around quaked in terror, bowing their heads.
Enoch ignored it as par for the course.
—Enoch—!
But at the elf's voice,
"Yeah…!"
The shallow forest's tyrant bolted off like a neighborhood dog.
Only then did the creatures exhale in relief.
The tyrant wouldn't return for a while.