CH 21

After Indra and Sword left the guild, the guild master headed over to the reception, and passed Indra’s present to the receptionist who had been on the receiving end of Indra’s wariness.

“Look, it’s a present from Indra for you. She says she doesn’t hate you and she’s just been cautious of you.”

The receptionist had yet another crying fit after receiving the gift.

“Indraaaaa～～!　You’re too kind～～!”

“Stop crying. The adventurers are all backing away from you. Anyway, you’ll find there something with a taste similar to honey but cheaper in price, she said.”

Hearing that, the other reception women became frenzied, and quickly swarmed towards the one who received the gift.

“How nice～”

“Just a bit! Share a little bit with me!”

“Haven’t you girls had it nice!? You were able to smile together with cute Indra!”

When she stopped crying and suddenly scowled at them, the other receptionists looked at each other, shrugging their shoulders.

“But, we had to pay a lot of attention to not say anything problematic, you know?”

“Since we didn’t know what would hurt her feelings, we had to tread carefully, always smiling, as if tip-toeing around a wounded animal.”

Indra had received a reasonably decent VIP treatment.

“I’m curious as well, so please open it.” The guild master said.

Being urged by all her colleagues, the receptionist reluctantly opened her present, just to find a dark reddish-brown liquid inside the container.

“I suppose it’s no honey. It smells differently.”

“But, it’s a nice smell! …Somehow I feel like I know it, but then again not…?”

“What do you do with this?”

Everyone was talking across each other.

“She also gave me a stick, and said that you should thrust the tip of it into this, and wind the liquid around the tip. Afterwards, you can smear or apply it on something as you wish.”

“Eh? Would Indra really say something so vague?”

“How am I supposed to remember? Just passing on her verbal message is already more than enough for me.”

The receptionist accepted the stick, timidly soaked its tip into the liquid. When she lifted it back out, the liquid formed a thin, gooey line between the stick and container.

“Whaa! It’s stretching!”

“Hmm, it does look like it won’t work unless you wind it around the stick.”

The receptionist winded it around, and licked the tip.

“?!!!!” She covered her mouth in reflex.

“Eh? What? Is it bad?”

“What kind of taste does it have?”

“……Super sweet……The hell is this!? So dreamyyyyy!”

“”Give me a bit too!””

“Nope!”

Ignoring the adventurers, the receptionist women kicked up a fuss as they squealed and chatted.

“Alright, I’m definitely looking forward to the drink now as well.” The guild master murmured, stole back to his office, opened the bottle’s lid, and took a gulp.

“What the hell is thiiiiiiiiiiiis!?”, he screamed.

＊＊＊

“It’s completely unrelated to you what I do with my share of the brandy, isn’t it? In the first place, you didn’t plan to meet me for the next while, right? Assuming the alcohol and seasoning would be gone after I treated the people you wanted me to befriend in the meanwhile, you wouldn’t be able to get your hands on it again, even if you partied with me later on again, or am I wrong?”

Sword was completely at a loss.

“I told you I freaked out! I didn’t even think of such an important matter! …Hey, how much have you taken with you?”

Isn’t this guy an utter addict already?

“…I secured a barrel of each as your share, and gave them to you, don’t you remember?”

――The magic tool Sword gave me as part of the deal was a magic bag.

When I told him that I’d prepare alcohol for him exclusively if he could prepare two bags with high capacity since I wanted to have two more of them, he told me, “This is the only existin’ magic bag!”

Because he gave it to me, I prepared a special Sword version of the alcohol with carefully selected ingredients. I made him pay for the ingredients, though. But that was only logical since I didn’t possess any money.

He stuffed the barrels into the biggest and finest existing magic bag, and carried them around while they were maturing in the bag. By the way, even though Sword and I were both carrying around several barrels, it posed no problem since we had enough strength to not even feel the weight.

“Unless you prepare them now, I won’t be able to drink them in ‘nother three years!”

“At present I have no plans to brew. It’s impossible without a base. I told you that alcohol is alive, didn’t I? It won’t be any good if I can’t let it quietly rest in a dark and cool place.”

I have several years worth of alcohol for cooking, and I’ve also set aside some for giving them away as presents.

“I think the servants might still be continuing to brew wine, so go back to them in a year and have them share some with you.”

“I’m plannin’ to do just that, but I also like the strong booze with the gem-like, transparent color that seems to parch your throat. That one’s a bust without your magic, right?”

“I can’t do anything to change it, so give up on it. At any rate, if I had chosen to enjoy some merrymaking with the girls you had prepared for me, you wouldn’t have gotten your hands on any of it anyway.”

“Your so damn insistent! It was my fault, sorry! So please, give me some booze!”

What a good-for-nothing buffer.

＊

That very buffer took me to an inn.

“I could have also stayed at a high-class inn, but we’ll go with a typical inn for the sake of your education.”

That means it’s going to be a normal inn overflowing with fantasy. Kinda like a tattered youth hostel?

After being told my room, and opening the door…

*bang*

I slammed the door shut right away.