Chapter of Bottled Love: Bottom of the Bottle

After around an hour, we wrapped up our small talk with Lefa. She still had some things to do and we didn’t want to bother her for too long. We did promise to meet again, of course. Lefa had decided to return home as well since the Academy put the classes on hold for the time being. And after that, she wanted to visit us at the fort. It’d be nice if that would work out.

Once we left the Academy, Karen and I made our way through the town, following the directions Korwen had given us. With that said, the day was still young, so we were just leisurely walking at our own relaxed pace.

“Look, Yumi, a ship!”

“Ohhh… I wonder where it is going.”

A small ship was moving slowly through the river. It didn’t have sails and was just gently pulled along the river’s current. Occasionally, the people on it would use oars to adjust the direction it was facing, but that was all they were doing. Laughter and banter were echoing over to us.

“Mhm… I don’t know. But I don’t think they’d go far with that small ship.”

“With that speed, they probably wouldn’t even reach the end of town by evening… But maybe they’re transporting something downstream that they can’t transport easily?”

“Or they just want to relax on the river.”

“Or that.”

Relaxing on the river… That sounded like a nice idea.

“Hey, Yumi.”

“Nn?”

“Have you ever been on a ship before?”

“A ship? Nn… I think so, yes.”

There were some vague… impressions of being on a ship left in my memory. Nothing concrete, only vague thoughts like ‘It’s swaying.’ or “The sea is vast.” and things like that. It wasn’t really clear to me but I probably had been on one before.

“Is it true that some people get ill on a ship?”

“You mean seasickness? That’s true. Some people start feeling sick when the ship sways.”

“Huh… So it was true.”

“Nn.”

As we continued walking, Karen watched the small ship making its way down the river as well. It wasn’t really any slower or faster than us, so we could watch them as we walked.

“Sis, you’ve never been on one?”

“No, I haven’t.”

That explained her interest.

“Want to ride one?”

“... I don’t know. I’m a little worried that I will get sick.”

“Ahh… Nn… Seasickness makes you feel bad but it’s not like catching a disease or anything. It’ll go away when you get down from the ship.”

Or when it stops swaying maybe.

Although it wasn’t going to kill you or leave any long-lasting troubles, it probably wasn’t a pleasant experience.

“It’ll go away when you leave the ship?”

“Nn, pretty much.”

“... Are ships cursed?”

“... How did you come to that conclusion?”

That’d be a little too scary to be real.

“I mean, you say they feel ill only when they are on the ship… That means something has to be on the ship that makes people feel ill?”

Karen looked at me, with such a serious expression. I couldn’t help but chuckle a little seeing that together with the kind of adorable misunderstanding she was making.

“Yumi...”

“Sorry, sorry. I’ll explain it, I’ll explain it.”

Better resolve that quickly.

“... I see where you are coming from but that’s not the reason people feel ill. If I recall correctly, it has to do with our bodies and the fact that the ship is moving and swaying. This swaying movement creates a, well, dissonance with our senses. And this dissonance causes us to feel ill, I think.”

“Huh… But wouldn’t that happen with other vehicles as well, then?”

“It does, for some people.”

“... I never heard of people getting ill in a carriage or a wagon, though.”

“It’s rarer. Probably.”

But it was true that it was a little odd that we hadn’t seen anyone who had gotten motion sick yet. The Dragon Knights were a large group, so I would have expected at least a few to get sick… Maybe it wasn’t as common as it had been in my world? There were differences, after all. Like, nobody in my old world would believe me if I told them that Korwen was already an old geezer.

“Or maybe it doesn’t exist here,” I added, after concluding my thoughts.

“Here? Here… Ah, you mean…”

“Nn. My knowledge is based on that, after all.”

“That’s true…”

“Ria would probably know.”

“Like always.”

Well, not always, but more often than not, yes.

“Ah, look Yumi. They’re moving.”

“Seems they’ve arrived at their destination?”

The men on the boat had begun rowing, directing it towards a small pier. Once it had settled next to the pier, a man jumped off and tied a rope to the pier to anchor the boat.

“Guess they’re done with their trip.”

“Nn. And so are we.”

“Huh?”

As luck would have it, the small boat had the same destination as us. Above the pier stood a tall building. Wide glass windows, uncommon for this area, were lined up along the wall facing the river, and above them was a large wooden board with an image drawn on it. A woman wearing a wide-brimmed hat, showing her back to the viewer to face the horizon and the rising sun.

“‘The Witch’s Dawn.’ Honestly, I don’t know what to think of that name...”

The owners of this pub probably had little to no relation to the witch. Still, to choose that kind of name…

“The tale of the witch is famous, after all… I think there are many places named after her.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes. They even exist in the empire.”

Even that empire… She really was known all over the place.

“You know, I still never heard that story about her.”

“Now that you mention it, I wanted to tell you about it, didn’t I?”

“You did.”

“I completely forgot…”

“That happens.”

We had been quite busy with so much else, that it was only natural to forget a few things here and there. We were just people as well.

“Then, how about I’ll tell you about it tonight… No, how about the day after tomorrow?”

“... Why the day after tomorrow?”

“Well… We’re here to enjoy the day, right? And tomorrow we’ll be busy with packing.”

“... And we won’t have much else to do during the actual trip either.”

“Exactly.”

That was a good idea. We’d have plenty of time then.

“That is assuming we’ll actually leave the day after tomorrow…”

“We probably will. The captain did announce it to everyone already. And the only thing we actually have to do is cleaning up the campsite.”

Supplies had been replenished as early as possible already. There weren’t any things left to do for the mercenaries either. Everything was dealt with. Probably?

“Wait, Sis… The roper corpse...”

“... Didn’t he take that along with the mana crystal earlier?”

“Did he?”

“I don’t know.”

Well… I hadn’t seen it, at least. Earlier, that is.

“ Mh… But Mr Captain brought along the mana crystal, so it would make sense, right? And then he probably sold them.”

“That might be the case.”

Then, only that weird fortress crystal was left with us. And we couldn’t even use that one, currently.

“Yumi, should we go in?”

“... Nn, let’s do that.”

No point in standing in front of our destination all the time. Karen and I made our way to the entrance of the tavern.

“Excuse me, little ladies. You cannot enter here.”

Only to be stopped by a mean-looking, muscle-bound man.

“This isn’t a place for children to play.”

“...”

Excuse me, mister. Me aside, Karen isn’t looking that young, you know? Probably…

Before I could actually voice out my thoughts, Karen produced the small letter that Korwen had written for us and handed it to the doorman slash bouncer.

“Eh? A letter?”

The man stared at the letter in question for a few seconds. In particular at the seal on it. After that, his glance went towards us, then back to the letter and once more to us.

“Apologies, if you could wait for a short moment.”

“That’s okay.”

After Karen replied to the man, he immediately went inside the building, together with the letter.

“Do you think this will really work, Yumi?”

“I don’t know, either. But he didn’t tell us to leave. So he might actually have recognised it?”

“Mm…”

Not like we could change the result in any way.

A minute later, the doorman returned.

“I deeply apologise for the wait. You are welcome at our humble establishment. Please, come in.”

It actually worked, wow. And he was even holding the door open for us. We thanked the doorman and went inside. A light-flooded room greeted us, followed by loud banter.

“Huh… So this is the place.”

A wide room with dozens of long tables. A small bar where several men were seated, making merry. The smell of beer and something else entered my nose. Most of the customers seemed to be middle-aged men, dressed in expensive clothes but there were also a few women here and there. Although, it seemed they were mostly accompanying the men, probably their husbands. As such, we garnered a little bit of attention when we entered. Only for a few momentary glances, though.

“So… What now…” I mumbled, more to myself than to Karen.

“Finding a place to sit at. Hey, Yumi, how about there?”

Karen pointed at a small corner table, near the windows. The view outside was nice so it did seem like a good choice.

“Nn. Looks good to me.”

And with that, we made our way… to the bar counter?

“Sis, what about the table?”

“Mm? But we need food and drinks?”

“Well, we do…”

Prompted by Karen’s visible confusion, I decided to look around the room, only… to find that this place had no waiters. Only this bar counter was at the end of a room with a sole man standing there and serving the customers. Once he spotted us, he slightly bowed his head and greeted us.

“Welcome, ladies. What can I do for you?”

“We’d like something to drink and to eat.”

“Very well. Then…”

Karen and the bartender began to talk about our drinks and food. For drinks, the options were mostly alcoholic, something Karen wasn’t too happy with. The only non-alcoholic option seemed to be a specific hot beverage. Food-wise, there wasn’t much variety either. Simple dishes were offered, nothing exceptionally outstanding.

After ordering with the bartender, we made our way to the table we had decided upon and sat down.

“Haaa… Now we have to wait, huh…”

“We do. But Yumi, are you sure about this?”

“Nn? About what?”

“Well… You like alcohol, don’t you?”

“I do. But there’s no point if I’m just drinking on my own. And I’m curious about that drink.”

“If you say so…”

Alcohol was best with good company. Of course, Karen was the best company I could ever get, but I didn’t want to drink myself into a stupor when we just wanted to enjoy a nice evening together.

“But really, I’m a little surprised…” I said.

“By what?”

“Everything…”

I glanced over to the bartender… who was now preparing our meals. The kitchen wasn’t in some other room. It was right behind the bar. You could actually stand there and watch him cook. In fact, except for the doorman, he seemed to be the only employee present at all. No waiters or other staff.

“At… my old place, many eateries had waiters who would come, take your order and then bring everything to your table.”

“... Really?”

“Nn.”

“That sounds… pointless.”

“Pointless, huh…”

Such cruel words.

“It’s just how things were… But it’s not like I mind this all that much. Doesn’t really make much of a difference. Plus, it’s kind of nice to be able to watch him cook our food.”

“Mm…”

With that said, I wasn’t intent on watching him cook for who knew how long.

“But that difference aside, I would have thought it’d be a lot more… rowdy and loud.”

“I thought that, too, to be honest… It’s a little unexpected.”

“Guess we really have to thank the captain…”

Unless something bad happened in regards to the food or the drinks, of course. And so far, my impression had been good enough that I wasn’t expecting such a problem. And if there were, Korwen wouldn’t recommend this.

“Oh? Yumi.”

“Nn?”

Karen nudged me in the side, gesturing towards the bar. The bartender had left his spot and was carrying two pots—one the size of a kettle and the other a little smaller—and two cups to our table.

“Ladies, your drinks. Are you aware of how to drink Forest Ale?”

Forest ale? Wasn’t this non-alcoholic?

“Ale? I thought this wasn’t alcohol,” asked Karen.

“Ahh, excuse the misunderstanding, lady. This drink will not make you feel drunk, so do not worry.”

“That’s still quite the odd name…”

“Ahaha, I agree with that. Is it safe to assume this is your first time, then?”

“I guess so.”

The bartender laughed subdued while putting down the pot and placing the ups in front of us. Then, he placed a smaller cup on the table next to the put.

“The large one is the forest ale. You can fill your cups with this tap. The small one contains the herb to spice it with. You are free to mix it as you like. For newcomers, I recommend two pinches on half a cup. Enjoy.”

And with that, he left. Curious, I gazed into the pot, now that my attention was free.

“So this is…”

A reddish liquid was steaming inside the pot. It reminded me distinctively of tea, just judging from the appearance. The spices in the other pot, however, were… a garish green mass of ground powder. It didn’t smell all that pleasant either. It stung in my nose. Honestly, it didn’t look very good.

“Yumi… Is this stuff safe?”

“... Good question.”

Maybe some other customers were drinking it, too? Ah, there were…

“Sis, look, others are drinking it as well.”

“... You’re right.”

A group of men a little away from us had a similar pot on their table, each of the men enjoying the mysterious drink. They seemed to be in a pretty good mood as well. Judging solely from that group, it didn’t seem to be dangerous or unpleasant…

“Okay… Let’s try this, Sis.”

“Haa…”

I filled the cup with the tea-like liquid and then cautiously pinched some of the spices between my fingers. The spice was floating on top of the tea-like liquid, making it look pretty… weird. Lifting the cup, I gazed at the liquid. And now I noticed that… the smell had changed a little. The unpleasant, stinging smell was gone and replaced by a more pleasant one. The smell of roasted herbs.

“Oh well… Here goes nothing.”

Forcing myself, I brought the cup to my lips, downing the liquid.

“Nngh?!”

“Yumi? Is everything okay?”

“... Sis.”

I put down the cup and stared at it.

“It’s good.”

“... Really?”

“Nn. But it’s spicy. Really spicy.”

My tongue was on fire. If I didn’t know better, I would have even claimed that it was literally on fire.

“My tongue hurts.”

“...”

“But it tastes nice.”

It was a weird flavour, reminding me a little of coffee. But also tea… If someone mixed tea, coffee and then threw some hot spices into it, maybe this would be the result.

Probably not. That thought sounds horrible.

Nonetheless, it was quite interesting. And without a doubt, good.

While I was lost in thought about how to describe this within my mind, Karen had also filled her cup and was sipping on it.

“You were right. It’s good.”

“Told you so.”

“And now my tongue burns.”

“Told you so…”

Thankfully, it wasn’t too spicy. I definitely had tasted spicier things before. And as long as it was at this level, it was quite delicious.

---

Karen and I enjoyed a good amount of time simply sipping on the ‘Forest Ale’, which honestly had nothing to do with ale and probably nothing with a forest, either. At some point in time, our food was done, so after Karen fetched it, we enjoyed a leisurely meal. It was good but compared to the day before, it wasn’t anything outrageously special. Although, that was probably an unfair comparison.

Once we finished eating, we spent our time leisurely drinking and talking.

“This was good… The food was good. The drinks are good. Mm...”

“It was, yes.”

Outside the window, the sun was slowly getting closer to the horizon. We probably shouldn’t stay all that much longer, lest we wouldn’t get home. Still, we should still have enough time to stay relaxed for now.

“Oh, another boat.”

“You’re right.”

Another boat was slowly making its way down the river. But similar to the previous one, it stopped at the pier belonging to this tavern. We still had no idea what their purpose was.

Maybe you can take a small trip with those? Nah, probably not…

A small day trip with Karen on a boat… would sound nice for a date. Alas, that was probably not an option. Probably.

“Mm… The pot is empty. Yumi, should we get another?”

“You took quite a liking to that drink, didn’t you?”

“... I don’t know. It’s weirdly addictive.”

Much to my surprise, Karen had drunk a lot more of this stuff than I had. She had really taken a liking to it, hadn’t she? Downing one cup after another.

“So, should we?”

“Well… I guess one more won’t hurt. But we shouldn’t stay for too long. We don’t want the gates to close on us.”

“... Spending the night outside doesn’t sound good.”

“Nn.”

Admittedly, the nights in that small hut back in the slums weren’t much better either.

“Then, I’ll… Oh.”

“Nn?”

Karen was about to stand up and bring the pot to the bartender, only to find him standing next to us with a new one prepared.

“I happened to overhear you. I heard that another one was desired?”

“... Ah, yes.”

Working fast, wasn’t he?

The bartender replaced the old pot with the new one with practised movements.

“Uhm, Mr Bartender. Where does this Forest ale come from?”

“Oh, you are interested?”

“Yes.”

“It’s a beverage from beyond the Wooden Sea in the west. It was brought in many years ago by immigrants and merchants who happened to chance upon it.”

Beyond the Wooden Sea? Wouldn’t that make this a real rarity, then?

Oh please, don’t be outrageously expensive.

Maybe we should have inquired about the price beforehand… Now I was worried. Really worried.

“Then… It’s imported?”

“Oh no, cease the thought. It’d be impossible to sustain the costs of import. We are growing the ingredients ourselves. As to what they are, those are a secret.”

“Too bad.”

Hearing that, the bartender laughed.

“I am happy that you enjoy it so much. The ladies can come by whenever they wish to taste it again.”

“... We’ll remember it when we get the chance again.”

“It would be an honour to serve the ladies again in the future.”

Unfortunately, we likely wouldn’t get the chance again anytime soon.

“Then, please enjoy your time.”

The bartender returned to his post, attending to the next customer.

“Hehe…”

“Sis...”

The moment I returned my attention, I was already seeing Karen filling her cup with the liquid again, all smiles.

“What?”

“Nothing…”

It was probably good that she found something she was enjoying so much.

“This stuff is way too addictive, Yumi.”

“Enjoy it while we still can.”

“Mm… It’s a shame this isn’t more widespread. I never knew something like this existed.”

“Neither did I. But there are probably many things we don’t know exist.”

This likely wouldn’t be that last one.

“Hey, Yumi.”

“Nn?”

“Do you think there are other things like this out there?”

“I don’t know? Probably, yes.”

“Mm…”

Chances were pretty good for that.

“... I think I can understand Mr Captain a little. If things like this Forest Ale are out there, I’d like to know, too.”

“You’ve really taken a liking to it.”

“Uhh…”

Hopefully, she could actually part with it later. Although, I had the subtle premonition that the moment we had to pay, the parting would miraculously become a lot easier for her.

“Yumi, why are you grinning?”

“Nn? Nothing, just thought of something amusing.”

“... Weird Yumi.”

“Always a pleasure.”

“I wasn’t praising you.”

Too bad. I’d rather get praised.

“But exploring, huh… The captain’s mostly interested in the Beyond but there are also clearly things past the Wooden Sea.”

“Unfortunately, they are in the opposite directions.”

“Nn. And traversing that forest with the mercenaries would probably be nigh impossible.”

After helping Korwen out, I had come to see the logistical needs a little clearer. And just the thought of traversing a forest like that gave me a shudder. Wagons and other vehicles wouldn’t be able to get through that. Hundreds of people walking on foot through there. What else could that be but a nightmare? We relied so much on the supplies we brought along, after all.

“Speaking of which… Sis, if we really travel that far, we’ll probably have to go by ship, won’t we?”

“The Beyond is past the sea, so that sounds logical.”

“... Let’s hope nobody gets seasick.”

They’d have a horrible time, otherwise.

“... It will be fine, right? Yumi?”

“Probably. If you get sick, I’ll take care of you, Sis.”

“...”

Karen suddenly froze for some reason, not reacting in any way.

“Sis?”

“... Sorry. I was torn whether I should get seasick or not, right now.”

“... That’s not something you can really decide on your own. And I think it’s better if you don’t. If you want I can take care of you even if you aren’t sick.”

“That sounds very tempting.”

If she really wanted to…

“But I think that will have to wait until later.”

“I can spoil you as much as you want tonight.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

So was I. So was I.

“Hehehe.”

Karen was still giggling happily as she drank the Forest Ale.

“Yumi. Thank you.”

“Nn? What for?”

“For inviting me out. For being with me. Everything.”

She grabbed my hand and squeezed it, all the while with a bright smile on her face.

“Somehow, I just feel really happy right now.”

“That’s great.”

If she was happy, then it had been a good decision to come here today.

“Yesterday was nice as well… but, you know, I think I prefer it if it’s just the two of us.”

“Don’t let that king hear that.”

“He’ll have to live with it.”

“Poor guy.”

Not like he actually would hear it, though. Even though Lefa said that this place was frequented by him as well, we had spotted no sign of him among the customers. In fact, there had been no familiar faces among them at all. Which probably was a good thing for us.

“Ahh, it’s already nearly empty again…” I noted after refilling my cup.

“Already?!”

With shock written on her face, Karen peeked into the nearly empty pot. Maybe if she hadn’t drunk so much of it, it would have lasted longer. Well, the pot wasn’t exactly that large, so it didn’t last long with two people.

“Yumi, how about another?”

“Sis, we need to get back soon.”

“Uhhh…”

“We can’t.”

“Haaa… I understand.”

Karen filled the remainder of the pot into the cup, put some of the spices into it, and gulped it down. No wonder it had disappeared in a flash…

“Too bad. It’s already over.”

“Nn. Time flies, doesn’t it?”

“It does. Even though we didn’t even really do much.”

We had simply sat here, drunk the Forest Ale, ate some food and talked about whatever came to our minds. It wasn’t anything special. In fact, it had been quite ordinary. But it was our ordinary. And honestly, I very much enjoyed this leisurely time where we could simply relax and didn’t have to worry about anything. Even if nothing else happened.

“But it was fun. If we come to the capital again, we should visit once more.”

“Definitely.”

“Then, shall we?”

“Nn.”

After a last glance enjoying the view on the river, the two of us made our way to pay and then leave, to go back home.

It was a little short but it was fun.

Thinking like that, I watched Karen speaking with the bartender.

“Then, that will be thirty-seven silver coins.”

“Excuse me?”

“Thirty-seven silver coins please.”

“... Here.”

“Thank you very much. We’re looking forward to your return.”

“... Sure.”

A little stiff, Karen turned around and walked towards the exit. Once we were outside, she stopped, taking a deep breath.

“Thirty-seven?! What the hell?!”

As expected, the price would make the parting a lot easier.