191. Pajama Party
191. Pajama Party
"...I-is this really okay to drink?"
The tail on the cat pajamas trembled—flick, flick. The ears perched on top of her head stood straight up, just like Stella's wide-open eyes.
"Won't my lady be the only one who gets in trouble?"
Eurasia's tail hid itself between her legs, and her ears drooped down so low they nearly covered her face.
And Pina, nestled in Eurasia's arms, hugged both the pajama tail and her own tail.
"As long as we keep our mouths shut, it's fine."
Giggling—heh heh—I pulled four glasses from my chest and spun them out to the right.
"Mom doesn't enjoy drinking anyway, and Dad wouldn't even dare think about drinking, so it's fine."
Until five years ago, Dad used to gulp—swallow, swallow—at the sight of this bottle, but lately he seemed to have completely forgotten this liquor even existed.
So there's no problem. Probably.
"Uh... uh..."
Eurasia, who'd had the glass practically shoved into her hands, nodded dazedly.
"...Th-then... Stella. Please cast a soundproofing spell."
"Wh-what, you too, Eurasia?!"
"Since it's come to this... there's no helping it. A-and? I'll be an adult soon? So it's... f-fine. Yeah. It's fine..."
Eurasia's tail began to sway gently.
Stella, who'd been narrowing her eyes at Eurasia, shot me a glare.
"Corrupting Eurasia with bad stuff. You really are..."
"So what, you're saying you won't drink?"
"...That's... that's not it, but..."
"Then shut up and cast the soundproofing spell."
"Tch..."
Still looking uncertain, Stella rose from her spot, pressed her palm against the door, and closed her eyes.
[I have never once in my life tasted alcohol.]
"Then you can try it this time. Alcohol's something you're supposed to learn from an adult. Learn from me while you're at it."
Pina blinked a few times.
[Is Eliarnes an adult?]
"Of course. I'm a very fine adult."
[Ooh... I want to become a very fine adult like Eliarnes too!]
"Good thinking."
"What? Absolutely not. Pina, if you turn into a ruffian like Eliarnes, you'll be in trouble with me."
"Hii...?"
At some point, the soundproofing spell... huh.
Stella, who'd layered the soundproofing spell five times over, nice and thick, sat back down with an expression that was half anticipation, half worry.
For all her talk, she was looking forward to it.
Suppressing a snicker—heh heh—I popped the bottle open with a satisfying motion. A cheerful pop! and the aroma of the liquor, enough to draw out an involuntary sigh of admiration, greeted me at once.
"Whoa... this is no ordinary booze."
I'm someone who's tried all kinds of alcohol in my Past Life.
The dragons' liquor that even the Emperor couldn't taste once in a lifetime, the beer dwarves love, the flower-scented distilled spirits brewed by elves, garbage no different from disinfectant that people drank just to get drunk, and the poisoned wine that the brokenhearted drank to erase the fear of suicide—and so on.
I, we, had drunk so much that you could say we'd tried every alcohol in the world.
And even I was surprised.
As expected of a bottle Dad had secretly bought behind Mom's back, stashed away, and then gotten caught for—the smell was incredible.
I can't even begin to guess how expensive this stuff is.
Could Dad have special-ordered and aged this himself?
Just as I was sticking my nose into the bottle's mouth and sniffing—sniff sniff—Stella poked me in the side.
"What's this, Eliarnes? Why do you look so used to this? Have you drunk before? No... this isn't the vibe of someone who's only tried it once or twice."
"You can just tell from the smell."
"Don't lie. You've drunk before, haven't you!"
"Well, it's not like I haven't."
I'd had some after reincarnating, too.
I'd pestered and begged Sara into letting me drink, and I'd also snuck into the dining hall and stolen some.
"Ahaha..."
"Hii...!!"
Eurasia, who'd snuck into the dining hall with me and stolen drinks, laughed bitterly.
Pina, sitting beside her, clapped—clap clap—with eyes full of admiration for me, while Stella narrowed her eyes.
"...I thought only your personality was like that, but your conduct's that of a delinquent too, huh?"
"Eurasia. Stella says we're delinquents rotten to the bone."
"Wh-what...? Wh-wh-wh... what did you say? Eurasia? When did I ever say that to you! I only said it to her! And did I say you were delinquents rotten to the bone? I never said that!"
"Eurasia drank with me too, you know? So doesn't that make Eurasia a delinquent rotten to the bone just the same?"
"N-no, that's not it. Eurasia... Eurasia, well... she must have had no choice because of you!"
"She got it down for me because I couldn't reach. And she even personally recommended it, saying this one tasted better, and picked it out for me."
"Ah, my lady...! That was supposed to be a secret!"
Pina's clapping grew louder at the sight of Eurasia's reddening face. Stella swallowed a scream with a hollow expression.
"...E-Eurasia did? Personally? Really...?"
"Ehehe..."
"Good heavens..."
"Anyway, I'm drinking all of this today, so if you're scared, go sleep over there."
"I haven't learned a sobriety spell yet... don't you have a scroll or something?"
"Why would you need that? You drink to get drunk. So, you're not drinking?"
As I jiggled the bottle—clink clink—Stella, who'd been chewing her lip, thrust out a clear glass with a snap!
"I-I'll drink."
"Hii...!"
Following her lead, Pina shuffled over timidly and held out a glass clutched in both hands.
Eurasia smiled awkwardly at the two girls. I looked at her and held out the bottle.
"Hurry up. It's not like this is your first or second time."
"Ugh... I've been corrupted by my lady."
Even so, with a face full of anticipation, Eurasia came right over.
And so, starting with Eurasia, I poured—glug glug glug—for Pina and Stella as well.
The clear brown liquid swirled pleasantly in the transparent glasses. I filled them exactly one-third full.
"First glass is a one-shot."
"...This whole thing?"
"Yeah."
"Do we have to?"
"You're young so you might not know, but it's a time-honored tradition passed down for 400 years."
Gulp. Stella swallowed and glanced at Eurasia, and Eurasia reluctantly nodded back at her.
"S-so we drink it all at once, right?"
"That's right. Pina, you have to drink it all at once too."
"Hii!"
Finally, I filled my own glass a little over half full and held it out in front.
"Cheers."
"Ch-cheers..."
"Hii hii hii!"
"Cheeers..."
Clink—the four glasses met, then all at once tilted toward their owners' lips.
And so, three gulps—gulp—were heard.
"Uegh... urghhh...!!"
"Hieeegh... hegh... hek..."
"Hah...!"
Stella, her face twisted into a grimace, started dry-heaving, while Pina let out a sound like air leaking from a balloon, trembling all over and squeezing her legs together.
And Eurasia, beside them, opened her eyes wide, as if this was completely different from anything she'd drunk before.
I laughed—heh heh—at the sight.
"How is it? Drinkable?"
"It... smells like flowers..."
"Flowers...? Urgh... wh-why would anyone drink something this awful?! It feels like someone punched me in the throat... urp... hnn..."
"Hii... hic... hik... hik..."
"Taste isn't everything when it comes to alcohol, you brat. It's the loneliness and sweetness of life dissolved in here, huh? The memories of youth. That sort of thing."
"Good grief... what's with that weird old-person talk... It's worse than the alcohol..."
"Hic... hik, hiik... urp...!"
Now drooling, Stella glared at me, trembling all over.
Pina, apparently finding the smell of alcohol rising up with each hiccup unbearable, clamped both hands over her mouth.
"D-don't just laugh—drink yours too! Why, urgh... hnn, why are you just watching!"
With a look that said, "Just you wait!", Stella narrowed her eyes. I snickered—heh heh—and emptied my glass in one go.
As expected, the taste was excellent.
"Wh-what the. You... you're fine?"
"I'm not a lightweight like you."
"Tch...!"
Grinding her teeth—crunch—Stella held out her glass.
"Pour me another."
"You want more?"
"Isn't it obvious? You said we're finishing all of it today."
"Aren't you just putting on a brave front? You're going to regret this."
"Ha, why would I regret it? Sure... I've never drunk before, but there's no way I'd ever make a drunken scene. Just pour it already."
Beside Stella, who was pouting, Eurasia also came over and quietly held out her glass.
Well, it'll be fine.
As long as we don't leave this room, it won't be a problem, and if things get out of hand, I can just stop them.
I set the bottle, as big as my torso, down in front of me and smiled slightly.
"From now on, pour for yourselves. And eat some of the fruit I brought over there."
*****
"Never drinking with these brats again."
Clicking my tongue, I popped a slice of peach into my mouth and chewed—nom nom.
"Waaaaah! Mommyyy!! I miss my mommyyy!!"
"Hii... hic! Hik... urp... hic!"
"Waaaaaah! Mommyyyyy!"
"Hic, hik... sob..."
Stella, completely drunk after exactly three glasses, was hugging a pillow and wringing out tears and snot, while Pina, who'd drunk a whopping six glasses, was hugging an empty bottle and rubbing her cheek against it...
Still, we did empty the bottle.
Eurasia and I drank eighty percent of it, but... we managed to finish it all.
Thanks to that, I'm feeling a bit tipsy myself right now.
It's a good thing I'd been using Mana to bleed off the intoxication little by little as I drank—if I'd drunk recklessly like Stella or Pina, I'd have gotten drunk long ago.
Like me, Eurasia also seems to have been regulating her intoxication while drinking, because she's fairly sober.
Aside from her eyes being slightly unfocused, her cheeks rosy, and her breathing a little giddy... no, is she actually sober?
"What's this? You're drunk too, Eurasia?"
"Mmm...? Nooo...? I'm... with my lady... h-how, hic, how could I get druuunk?"
"No, you're drunk."
"Hehe..."
Smiling softly, Eurasia reached out and gently wrapped her hand around mine.
"My ladyyy."
"Hm?"
Then, Eurasia suddenly—whoosh!—leaned in close to me and smiled, her eyes crinkling up.
"Wanna go get ice cream?"
"Why ice cream all of a sudden?"
"Just... go outside for a walk... and eat ice cream too... no? Do you not like me, my lady? Was I the only one who, hic! liked my lady?"
"Well, well. Why are you being so clingy?"
"No? Hugging like this... you don't like it?"
I let out a small sigh as I pushed away Eurasia, who was increasingly leaning her body onto mine.
"You keep pretending to be drunk while trying to grope my butt. Keep it up and you'll get in trouble."
"Ah... caught me... hehe."
And then, eventually.
"In that case! Since I've already been caught! Hup!"
Eurasia flopped onto me as if tackling me and hugged my body tight—squeeze.
"Sniff... haah... my lady's scent..."
Thump thump thump. I could feel a fierce heartbeat. Eurasia's body, already running hot, had grown even hotter from the alcohol, and every time her pajama tail swayed, her scent wafted over me—flutter, flutter.
"Eurasia."
"Yeees?"
"Is something worrying you?"
"...Why do you ask?"
"Just. You look like it."
"Mmm..."
Her clothes had ridden up, and Eurasia rubbed her cheek against the sliver of exposed white stomach. It was beyond warm—it was hot.
Thump thump thump, her heartbeat grew even fiercer. The arms wrapped around my waist tightened along with it.
Then, after a moment.
"My lady."
Slowly—Eurasia lifted her head and looked at me.
"I really do want to go get ice cream. Will you come?"
She tilted her head. Her disheveled hair slipped down, fully revealing her blue eyes. Her eyes were red-rimmed. Her lips were pressed firmly shut.
It didn't last long.
The corners of her lips curled up, and her eyes curved into a smile.
"I'll sneak some from the kitchen again this time. Then... we take it and eat by the flower bed, like old times. How about it?"
I stared at Eurasia for a long while, then smiled softly.
"I'll have chocolate."
"Then I'll have a refreshing sherbet?"
"Sounds good. We can trade bites like we used to."
"Ehehe. That's right, like we used to do all the time."
Eurasia was smiling brightly, but the ears and tail on her pajamas drooped listlessly.