Chapter 18: Hangover

The two followed Fang out the door into the magic section, looking for Mii. It didn’t take long before they found her, a pleased expression on her face as she waved and shouted, “Fang!”

In fear that Mii might be bullied, Fang told her to forget that she was a maid and just call him by his name. Smiling, Fang pointed to his side. “Mii, let me introduce you. This is my roommate, Blue.”

Because his roommate’s personality was a bit unusual, Fang had been hesitant to introduce him to Mii until they were better friends. Thus, this was their first meeting.

What a beautiful sorceress!

Blue was surprised; magic users were rare and highly sought after. How could Fang, from a small, unknown city like Victoria City, know someone like this? Additionally, they seemed very happy together.

He couldn’t help but notice that Fang and Mii had a close relationship—Mii’s actions clearly showed that she trusted Fang completely and depended on him. Even though Blue was quite handsome himself, Mii’s eyes didn’t wander at all from Fang’s. When Fang looked at her, she instantly recognized him, and they seemed to enter their own little world.

If nothing else, this girl named Mii should be Fang’s girlfriend.

The only notable qualities Fang had were his instant parry and rapid energy absorption. Blue couldn’t understand how he had managed to attract such a talented magic user as a girlfriend.

Blue couldn’t help but add another mystery to Fang’s list.

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Minuet City was a place with a thousand years of history, where nostalgic buildings contrasted with newer, sturdier constructs. Walking through the city, stalls were open, and the aromas of both expensive and common, hearty food wafted through the streets. Soft music played smoothly by bards, lighting up the lanterns hanging on the sides, while laughter and conversation echoed from the restaurants and cafés.

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The renaissance style present throughout the city captured Fang’s and Mii’s eyes as they walked slowly.

On the other hand, Blue and Durin didn’t seem excited at all. Beautiful scenery was less attractive compared to a pot of liquor. After enduring the smells of barbecue and strong spirits, Durin finally dragged the rest of the group into a bar.

In big cities, dwarves weren’t uncommon. They usually combined their two main delights in life: blacksmithing by day and brewing and drinking by night. Of all the places, Durin chose one with a dwarven sign—after all, he felt camaraderie with his own race.

Sitting down on a wooden stool, Durin loudly ordered, “Owner, give us ten pounds of barbecue and ten jugs of dwarven rum!”

Ten jugs of dwarven rum?

Fang almost jumped. He had planned to accompany Durin for a small drink or two, but the dwarf had ordered ten jugs, and not just any alcohol. Durin had ordered dwarven rum, a drink rumored to be made with materials from fierce monsters to give it that extra impact.

Many people were known to get drunk off a single cup.

Hesitating, Fang quietly protested, “Durin, I don’t think we can drink so much.”

“Rest assured, Fang, all this will be under my tab!” Durin laughed. “You said you didn’t get to visit any dwarven taverns while you were in Victoria City, so you definitely haven’t tried dwarven rum. This is the best liquor in the world. Try it, and you’ll be instantly addicted!”

“Well said, dwarven rum is the best spirit in the world!” Another dwarf agreed, coming around the counter with equally hearty laughter. “A dwarf that likes dwarven rum is a true, good dwarf. I’ll give you two extra jugs free of charge!”

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Fang closed his open mouth and swallowed what he was going to say. These dwarves were proud of their alcohol, and he didn’t want to cause a scene by arguing with them.

As twelve jugs quickly arrived and piled up, Fang couldn’t help but let out a groan.

On top of that, the usual cups for drinking were absent; instead, several large bowls took their place. With the dwarven love for alcohol, drinking from cups would be too slow. The most defining characteristic of a dwarven bar was their bowls for drinking.

Durin poured the jug of dwarven rum until three bowls were filled, near to the brim. “Mii, well, she’s a girl, but Blue and Fang—you can drink with me and toast our worries away!”

Blue picked up a bowl and downed it in a single gulp. “Okay!”

Fang and Durin froze in shock. After a second or two, Durin gave Blue a thumbs up. “Nice, Blue!”

To follow up, Durin also picked up a bowl and drank it to the last drop. “Fang, now it’s your turn. You can’t leave without a drink!”

If Blue hadn’t drunk, Fang could have refused, he thought. But since both had already had a drink, he could only go with the flow, picking up the last bowl and drinking it.

Spice scorched through his throat—it felt like drinking fire. After all, dwarven rum was highly potent. He almost wanted to throw up as his face turned a fiery red.

“Rest assured, Mii, there’s nothing wrong with Fang. He can still drink much more of this fine rum,” Blue added while picking up another bowl.

Fang nearly fainted. He hadn’t expected Blue to drink so much. Durin cheered Blue on, pleased that he shared his love for drinking.

Under the urging of his friends, the second bowl of rum emptied into Fang’s stomach. With dazed eyes, he didn’t see a sly flash of color run through Blue’s eyes. By the third drink, Fang was dead drunk. Laughter rang out through the tavern, and a blur of colors seemed to dance before his eyes. The world spun, and everything—the tiny people standing, the dim lights, the wooden accents around the place—seemed so funny. Dizzy, Fang tried to stand upright, remembering the elder who boasted he could drink through a treasury without any problem. That portly old fellow had been extremely proud of his ability to out-drink anyone in the world and had forcefully tried to pass his passion to Fang. Unfortunately, Fang had no interest at all, but ignoring his complaints as usual, Fang was fed information on how to successfully speed up his alcohol metabolism from inside his body, allowing him to enjoy as much alcohol as he liked.

Recalling this, he focused his energy on his liver. Soon enough, his head cleared up, and his body didn’t feel so hot anymore. He exhaled heavy, wet breaths.

Since the problem with alcohol had been resolved, Fang had no reservations and picked up a fourth bowl of dwarven rum.

Blue closely examined Fang, wondering what antics he would get up to drunk, but only fell into confusion.

Huh? Why does Fang suddenly look so fine after that third bowl? He looked quite drunk a minute ago, and now he’s suddenly fine?

Seeing Fang and Blue readily picking up the bowls of rum, Durin shouted, “You both are great drinking buddies. Come on, let’s continue!”

A fifth, sixth, and seventh bowl of rum went down Fang’s throat like water, and Fang sighed in relief. Although his energy capacity was quite low, the method of internalizing and hastening the breakdown of alcohol was extremely efficient compared to the traditional technique of completely burning alcohol.

Blue looked again in puzzlement. He knew the rum wasn’t weak at all and that it was impossible to have a body resistant to both the poisonous laxative he had given earlier and alcohol. There had never been a case in history of someone with that kind of body, not even among the dwarves who were naturally tolerant to alcohol.

He wasn’t afraid, though. Blue was confident he could out-drink Fang. And so, the two continued to refill their bowls over and over, emptying the twelve jugs of dwarven rum in a single hour. Excited to see that they were able to hold their alcohol so well, Durin immediately ordered another ten jugs, which the owner added an extra three to.

Once in a while, during breaks in the talking and drinking, Fang would visit the washroom a couple of times, rinsing himself from all the water and gas from the alcohol, and return looking entirely fine.

Guests inside the tavern couldn’t help but turn their attention toward Durin’s table; empty jugs were strewn over the place with large hunks of charred meat as the three figures called for more jugs.

Even the dwarves couldn’t hide their surprise. Not even they would dare to drink so recklessly!

Who were these people?