Chapter 144 : Chapter 144
Chapter 144: Influence of Alcohol (2)
“──Gueeeeeeck.”
Ibi, head down, poured a rainbow onto the floor.
After that thorough bout of vomiting, Lily, who was next to her, began to rub Ibi’s back as she leaned against the wall.
“Are you alright, Ibi?”
“No, I feel like I’m going to die…”
Seeing Ibi clutch her mouth again with a sudden retch right after answering her question, Toric chuckled faintly and said.
“It is always best to drink according to one's own capacity.”
In other words, 'You're a lightweight, so don't be cocky.'
Of course, Toric didn't actually mean it that way, merely offering a word of advice as the ‘adult’ of the party.
But Ibi, who obviously took it as the former, seemed momentarily provoked, but almost immediately nearly vomited again, so she could only manage to mumble a retort.
“…How the hell did you drink so much of that and look fine? Is it because you're a Dwarf?”
“Well, I haven’t been drinking it for the first time.”
Toric, answering Ibi's question, certainly looked very relaxed.
Ibi eventually clicked her tongue and turned her head, as if admitting her defeat (though one side hadn't been trying to compete in the first place), and her eyes met mine.
Seeing me snickering, her mood worsened, and she frowned instantly.
“…What the hell are you grinning at?”
Her tone was subtly more prickly than usual.
Of course, she might be like this because she was suffering from a hangover right now, but.
“Nothing, just.”
Considering the behavior Ibi showed last night, it was clear she wasn't acting this way solely because of the hangover.
“Last night was fun, wasn't it? The drink was delicious for a change.”
People usually put up more defenses when they have something to hide.
As this thought made me smile even more, Ibi flinched, took a step back, and began to look wary.
“…What is it? What are you scheming now?”
“You don't need to do that anymore, Ibi. I know exactly what you're thinking anyway.”
“What the hell are you talking about, you bastard?”
“I got to hear all your true feelings, thanks to the alcohol, didn't I?”
“……What?”
However, Ibi’s expression, upon hearing my words, changed from one of distaste to.
“What bullshit are you talking about?”
A look of utter confusion, as if she genuinely had no idea what I was referring to.
I flinched too, thinking, ‘Huh?’
“…Did you, by any chance, not remember? Last night?”
“How could I? After drinking that stuff.”
Ibi immediately covered her mouth again, stifling a sudden urge to retch after answering.
Her complexion definitely didn't look like an act.
And considering what she actually did yesterday… it wouldn't be strange if she drank enough to lose her memory.
She did an enormous number of things that she absolutely would never do if she still had her reason.
…That's why I needed to record it on video.
If I had secured the evidence, she wouldn't be able to deny it.
“…Are you actually a lightweight too?”
“What are you talking about, you bastard.”
Feeling regretful that teasing her was pointless if she genuinely couldn't remember anything, I complained a little, and as expected, Ibi immediately reacted defensively.
“What are you talking about, you coward who only took a single sip and quit.”
But.
“…You remember very well that I only took a single sip of the Kaper's Wine?”
“Th—”
At my puzzled question, Ibi was momentarily speechless.
“That’s, that’s because it was before I got drunk!”
Of course, she quickly yelled back that it was obvious.
“How do you know if I drank more after that? Did you just stare at me the whole time?”
“Th-that's more bullsh… How could a coward like you drink more than that?!”
…Aha.
A smile involuntarily crept back onto my face.
She remembers everything.
“It's a shame you don't remember any of it. You were so cute yesterday.”
“──?!”
At my words, Ibi, who had been trying to play innocent until the end, was startled and agitated.
“W-w-wha-what bullshi—”
──Honestly, I was genuinely startled at first too, back then.
I wondered if she was trying to kiss me, suddenly bringing her face close as if to cover my mouth.
She came close enough to make me have such an embarrassing misconception, and frankly, the composition made it easy to think that way.
In the first place, Ibi’s intention was precisely to make me misunderstand.
But no matter how much she was intoxicated by alcohol or the atmosphere, Ibi was still Ibi in the end.
“Just kidding, you bastard.”
When I unconsciously froze up at her approaching form, she flicked me on the nose and then giggled.
“Did you think I couldn’t tease you back?”
She said she was just returning the favor because I kept teasing her all the time.
“You're too cheeky, always teasing me and thinking I can’t counterattack.”
Then, struggling to keep her head up, she buried it deeply on my shoulder.
“Bastard… Were you excited?”
Next, she slowly slid down and put her ear to my chest, and.
“Haha.”
Hearing my heart still pounding from the unexpected attack.
“Your heart’s racing.”
She giggled with a satisfied smile, like a child who had successfully played a trick.
It was a triumphant smile that might have caused me to misunderstand again, had I not known that her cheeks were already flushed scarlet from the alcohol.
“…Then were all those things you said about liking me just a joke?”
“That’s… obviously…”
Ibi's voice trailed off, and in the end, no answer came.
Instead, she leaned into me, releasing all the tension in her body as if she had truly melted, her cheek resting on my chest.
“Kuuuuul……”
She had fallen asleep.
I smiled faintly at the sight and tried to lift Ibi to carry her… but unfortunately, I didn't have the ‘Strength’ for that, so I ended up leading her to the basement, with her arm draped over my shoulder for support.
When I finally managed to safely get her onto the bed after nearly letting her slip numerous times and tried to back away.
“Where are you going…”
Ibi suddenly grabbed my wrist and pulled.
“Let’s have one more drink…”
“You’ve already had plenty, one drink.”
It was clearly drunken rambling, and since she had almost no strength, I could easily slip out of her grip.
“Just sleep now. Don’t drink more and complain about dying tomorrow.”
With a dual meaning, of course.
The hangover aside, if she recalled her words and actions from today, she might genuinely wish to die.
But if she were to drink more?
Or if I let her?
That would practically be aiding and abetting.
I might get arrested.
“Are you going to abandon me too…?”
“…!”
But even though it was just drunken talk, I couldn't simply ignore those words, and I involuntarily paused.
In the end, instead of leaving the room, I went back to where Ibi was lying on the bed, bent my knees, and squatted down.
“Of course not.”
I said, meeting her eyes as she looked at me with a gaze that was less suspicious and more worried.
“I'll drink with you whenever you want. Tomorrow or the day after. Within reasonable limits, of course.”
I wore a gentle smile to reassure her.
“Just sleep now. I’m not going anywhere.”
“…Really?”
“Yes, really.”
Only after receiving my firm affirmation did Ibi seem to finally relax, closing her eyes and falling into a deep sleep.
“If you lie… I’ll stab you too…”
She mumbled, and the person who had personally witnessed her ruthlessly stabbing the one who had abandoned her couldn't just take it as a simple warning.
“I know.”
I chuckled at that and got up, then made sure to gently roll her onto her side and cover her with a blanket in case she vomited in her sleep, before finally leaving the room.
Honestly, I had to admit it.
Although it was thanks to the alcohol, I never imagined Ibi would counterattack like that.
I was properly beaten.
But now she wakes up, realizes she's embarrassed, and wants to pretend it never happened?
Not a chance.
Was I just going to let her off the hook?
“You actually said you like it, didn't you? My singing voice.”
“…!”
I am a person who returns what is given.
“Wow I mean, I knew you were peeking at me whenever I sang, pretending not to be interested, but I never dreamed you'd personally ask me to sing one song because you love it so much.”
“…!?”
Ibi visibly flinched, and I continued even more nonchalantly.
“You also said my face is totally your type? You should have told me sooner. It's not like it'll wear out; I would have let you admire this beautiful face anytime you wanted.”
“Stop, stop talking nonsense!! I would never say something like that── Oop!”
Ibi, unable to bear my completely factual statements, tried to physically cover my mouth, but the worsening hangover from her intense movement forced her to cover her own mouth first.
It seems the Mouth of Truth cannot be covered, after all.
As a Bard, I continued speaking, intending to spread the word about Ibi's behavior yesterday to the world.
“When you finally confessed your true feelings—that the reason you always acted cold was because you like me so, so much but were too embarrassed because of your personality to say it, and that you didn't want me to dislike you—I was so moved I almost shed tears of emotion.”
“──?! I, I never said anything like that, you idiot!? Where are you fabricating this, you crazy bastard──”
“Hmm? You said ‘anything like that’?”
“──Ah.”
“If you're so sure you never said anything like that, then are you admitting that all the other things I said weren't fabricated?”
I struggled to hold back the smile that kept trying to creep onto my lips, adding as nonchalantly as possible.
“That’s strange? Didn't you say you didn't remember anything?”
“……Kuh!”
Ibi, having fallen completely into the trap, finally could not offer any further rebuttal and simply trembled in place.
Ibi's face was flushed even redder than it had been last night when she was completely drunk.
I was slightly worried that she might actually explode.
Then.
Phooong!
She actually exploded.
A smoke bomb.
Perhaps having crossed her embarrassment threshold, instead of slapping my cheek or choking me as usual.
“……Eh?”
She activated 'Swift Escape,' as if she absolutely could not bear to be in this place any longer.
“What?”
But I only accepted that fact after standing dumbfounded in the thick smoke for a long time.
When the smoke finally cleared, Ibi, who had been trembling just moments ago, was nowhere to be found.
She just vanished, suddenly.
As if turning her back on an utterly undeniable mortifying memory.
“……Did she run away?”
She disappeared from our sight.
Our party, now five people with Ibi vanishing in the blink of an eye, looked at each other without a word.
“S-Sister?”
“Sister…?”
Who’s going to be our party’s rogue now?