Side Story : Beware of the Banquet, Part 2
Translator : PolterGlast
While everyone,
including Nozomu, was frozen in place, Somia jumped down from the seat across
from Nozomu, ran towards him, and jumped onto his lap.
"Uwa~! Somia-chan
!?"
"Ehehehe ~~"
Somia's face turned
into a happy smile as she leaned her back against Nozomu's body. The little
princess looked happy as she slipped and rubbed the back of her head against
Nozomu's chest.
Meanwhile, Nozomu was
confused, not knowing what to do with the sudden situation.
"So-, Somia-chan,
your joke isn't funny you know..."
"I'm not
joking~~. I have received many offers of marriage like my sister, but I dare
say I want to marry someone like Nozomu-san~."
At that moment, the
frozen air was cracked.
A black-haired girl
wearing a terrifying atmosphere tapped Nozomu on the shoulder.
Nozomu peeked
fearfully next to him and saw it was Somia's sister, who was willing to go to
hell for her sister. She glared at Nozomu with a gaze like a Yaksha.
"Nozomu, let's
have a little chat in the back of the store ..."
Irisdina's heart,
which was on fire and about to reach a critical point, was about to explode...
"Ah~, of course,
I think it would be best if Nozomu-san to be with Ane-sama."
"Funya~ !?"
However, her innocent
sister instantly defused the fire.
"I think
Nozomu-san and Ane-sama are quite compatible~. I'm really happy to have an
older sister, but~ I wanted an older brother too! I was just thinking, if
Nozomu-san and Ane-sama got married, that would mean Nozomu-san would be my
brother-in-law!"
"Wha! What are
you talking about, Somia !?"
Irisdina was flustered
by her sister's statement. However, her voice was somewhat happy.
"Ah~, of course.
If you want, you can marry me instead of Ane-sama~!
"... No ~ zo ~ mu
~~"
However, the
extinguished flames were ignited again by the sister's hand. Just as it had
once nearly subsided, its momentum quickly increased at once.
Meanwhile, on the
other side of the table across from Nozomu, an elf girl was releasing freezing
air.
"... I wonder if
Nozomu might be more interested in little girls? I've heard that there are
people out there with that kind of sexual inclination."
"No, I'm not! You
know that I was dating Lisa in the past, right!? I'm normal!"
"Nozomu! As her
sister, I can't allow you to marry Somia! Somia is still a child!"
"A-, Ane-sama,
that's not fair~. I am already an adult~. I've already kissed him~.”
"It was just a
kiss on the cheek! Besides, I'm also..."
Having said that much,
Irisdina was at a loss for words.
She recalled how she
had taken Nozomu's lips in the spur of the moment, unable to control her own
emotions toward the bedridden Nozomu.
"Eh? Iris, what
did you say?"
"U~ ..."
No matter how much she
had thought about it, Irisdina was ashamed of herself for having attacked him
in his sleep,
As Nozomu was
wondering at the suddenly dejected Irisdina, the angel sitting on his lap
happily made another outrageous suggestion.
"Then,
Nozomu-san~! Let's make our vows and kiss right here and now~~."
"Didn't I say no!?"
"If that's the
case, I've already made a contract with him..."
"T-that was an
unavoidable emergency!"
Somia snuggled in
Nozomu's lap while Irisdina's face turned red and her voice became hoarse. In
addition, Shīna was mumbling something in a voice too small to be heard.
Nozomu's eyes just
went back and forth in the face of these people who have started to run amok in
some strange direction.
The confusion was so
great that Nozomu's vision began to spin around in circles.
His thoughts became
hazy and his body began to feel dizzy.
"E-eh? What's
wrong?"
Nozomu felt discomfort
in his body. He managed to support his wobbling body, but when he tried to ask
his friends about it, he found out that they were also in a strange state.
"Fuh-nyaaa~~. My
eyes are spinning~~"
"Hmm ... somehow.
My head is dizzy ..."
"Iris? Shīna?
Somia-chan? E-eh? What's this?"
Just as he hurriedly
held Somia, who was dizzy in his lap, Nozomu's legs kicked something.
Nozomu returned Somia,
who had been sitting on his lap, to her seat and picked up something rolling on
the floor with a clattering sound.
"An empty sake
bottle? Why is this kind of thing under the table ..."
"……Geh"
An empty bottle was
hidden under the table. As Nozomu looked at the bottle he picked up, out of the
corner of his eye he saw Feo sneaking away from his seat.
"Hmm? Feo, where
are you going?"
"N-no, I just
remembered I need to run a few errands..."
As Nozomu nodded his
head at Feo, who seemed to be in some kind of a hurry, Ena, who had been
nursing Del, appeared from the back of the store.
"Phew, finally
dad has calmed down..."
"Good work,
Ena-chan. How is Dell?"
"He'll be fine.
Mom is with him, and dad's complexion has improved a lot."
A smile appeared on
Ena's face with sweat on her forehead.
At that moment, her
gaze fell on the empty bottle in Nozomu's hand.
"Eh? Nozomu-san,
is that an empty bottle?"
"Well, it was on
the floor ..."
Ena received the empty
bottle from Nozomu and looked over the label on the bottle.
Feo, standing beside
Nozomu, was dripping with sweat from his forehead.
"It's strange. We
don't serve this kind of sake in this restaurant."
Nozomu's eyes
sharpened at Ena's words.
"And it's quite
strong at that. It's so strong that even the best drinkers would get drunk off
a bottle of it."
By the way, the brand
name of the sake was "Dragon Slayer". The name was as if it was aimed
at someone.
"... Feo. You
know something, don't you?"
Nozomu's sharp gaze
pierced Feo.
"What are you
talking about?"
“…………”
Feo averted his gaze
in the other direction. Ena's gaze also sharpened, perhaps because she had
guessed something.
"W-what's with
that gaze?"
"... Ena-chan.
Please hold Feo down for a moment."
"I
understand"
Ena grabbed Feo's arm
and held him down, while Nozomu rummaged through Feo's pockets.
"W-What are you
doing! Wait~, pervert! Please not there!"
Ignoring Feo, who was
saying something not good, Nozomu continued with the physical examination.
Then a large number of
sake bottles came out from under his clothes.
"Ale, wine ...
Uwa! Even rice wine from the East ..."
"Where the hell
did you hide all this stuff?"
About 10 bottles of
sake were lined up on the table. How in the world did Feo hide them?
Moreover, the corks of
the sake bottles had just been opened and their contents were empty. It was
obvious that he had used them at this party.
No, no. It's the basic
rule to be rude at a party, isn't it? Well, I thought a little bit would be moderately uplifting, so I thought
I'd put a little bit in everyone's cup ......"
"I-iya~. Isn't it
normal to bring sake to parties? Well, I thought it would be nice to lighten
the mood a bit. So I put a little bit in everyone's cup ......"
"You say that,
then why is only this strongest sake empty?"
Nozomu looked around
to check on his friends.
Mimuru was hugging
Tom, who had fainted, and rubbing her cheek with a feline voice. Mars and Tima
were staring at each other with their faces bright red. And Irisdina, Shīna,
and Somia were muttering something in a slurred tone of voice.
All of them were
blushing slightly, and clearly out of their normal state of mind.
Nozomu himself had a
strange feeling of euphoria in his head.
It was clearly a
symptom of being drunk.
“…………”
There was no longer
any doubt that the man in front of him had done something.
Feo finally gave in
when he was greeted with murderous glares from Nozomu and Ena.
Feo seemed to have
mixed the sake with everyone's juice from the beginning.
The use of carbonated
water to mix the fruit juice was also intended to mask the bitterness of the
sake.
Before the party
began, he gave Mimuru, who had a keen sense of taste, a trial drink and
confirmed that there was no problem.
Thinking back,
Mimuru's tension was unusually high from the beginning of the party. So, it was
because of this cocktail disguised as juice.
"... Oops, I did
it !"
The two decided that
there was no room for consideration.
Feo had caused a
ruckus at this restaurant before, so it could be said that he got what he
deserved.
"Drag him
away"
"Alright"
Nozomu and Ena
strengthened their arms and force Feo to stand up from the chair and walk. The
destination was the kitchen of the restaurant.
Feo, sensing danger to
himself from their atmosphere, raised his voice.
"Wait a minute!
Listen to me! I did this with good intentions..."
"We have the
right to remain silent. This is our right to remain silent against any and all
statements made by the defendant ..."
"Noo! You've got
it all wrong!"
Feo's excuse was
lightly swept away by Nozomu.
Somia let out a sloppy
voice at the sound of Feo's noisy voice.
"Nn~. Is
something wrong, Nozomu-san?"
"No, I haven't
cleaned up the kitchen yet because Dell-san collapsed, and Feo is going to help
me. Somia-chan can go back to sleep."
"Nn~. I
understand~. Good night~."
Perhaps reaching her
limit, Somia plopped down on the table and began to fall asleep.
After taking Feo into
the kitchen, Nozomu gave an order to Ena and sat Feo on a nearby chair. He then
took a thick thread from his pocket and wrapped it around Feo.
Feo struggled
desperately, but for some reason, the thread didn't seem to break.
"Nozomu, why
can't I break the thread?"
"That's because
I'm pouring my Qi into it~. If I make a slight mistake, you might end up sliced
like ham ... Hiccups~."
"Wait~! What a
dangerous thing you're going to do! You're totally drunk!"
"That might be so
....... I'm sorry if I make a mistake~."
"Then untie me! I
don't want to be a sliced ham!"
"A fox ham~? ...
Hmm~, looks like you've got some nutrition ......"
At this point, Nozomu
was already quite drunk. He was completely unable to hold a proper
conversation.
While Feo was
lamenting his current situation, something was coming to push him further into
the abyss.
"Nozomu-san. I
brought it."
Something was placed
on the kitchen table in front of Feo one after another.
"No way ..."
"These are
prototype stew pies made by Mimuru. I need you to get rid of these stew pies
while it's still hot. I'm afraid of what will happen if I throw them away
carelessly..."
Nozomu used a spoon to
cut the prototype pies while stating his true intention.
It was still hot and
steamy, and just smelling the aroma was enough to whet one's appetite. However,
for Feo, it was only a fear-inducing thing.
"That's right. If
we throw them away, rats will eat them and there will be a lot of dead small
animals in the commercial district! If that were to happen, it would affect our
business."
"These could even
kill rats!? There's no way I could eat something like that!"
Ena's words, who had
nursed the fallen Del earlier, were strangely persuasive.
"Oh, even if you say you don't want it,
I'll force you to eat it."
"Please, I beg
you!"
"It's going to be
okay. There are some decent prototypes ... It depends on your luck tho
......."
"Isn't that
possibility close to zero?"
"... Well, just
eat this for the time being ~"
"Wait~, sto-!
Mmpph~!"
Nozomu dexterously
forced Feo's mouth open with his left hand while maintaining the Qi that had
flowed into the thread, and forced the hot stew pie that he had cut into Feo's
mouth.
Naturally, Feo began
to frantically flail about.
However, the threads,
which were being enveloped with just the right amount of Qi, did not budge and
dug into Feo's skin instead.
"Fuguu~!"
"Come on, don't
act violent~"
The pain of the
threads digging into his body caused Feo to become quiet for a moment. In the
meantime, Nozomu shoved another stew pie into Feo's mouth.
Surprisingly, the
threads only dug into Feo's skin, and no blood flowed.
Perhaps because he was
drunk, Nozomu was even able to control his Qi more boldly than usual.
"Huf, huf, huf
..."
The stew pie looked
pretty hot, but Feo, who ate it, didn't seem to pass out like Del. Apparently,
the prototype that Nozomu just fed him was a decent one.
"Then, the next
one ..."
The moment he realized
it was a decent one, Nozomu stuck his spoon into another prototype.
Feo's face was once again
tinged with fear.
The look on his face
gave Nozomu a strange sense of elation, even as his consciousness faded from
the sake he had consumed.
His mouth naturally
curved up. The smile on his face was similar to Shino's when she was training
Nozomu.
(Oh, what a good
feeling ......)
Another side of Nozomu
awakened within him.
And a few dozen
seconds later, an out-of-this-world scream was heard from inside the kitchen.
=============================
A few hours after the
banquet began, Nozomu woke up on the kitchen floor.
When he managed to
wake his body up, which was stiffened from sleeping on the hard floor, Nozomu
was struck by a tremendous headache.
"Ugh~... I have a
headache..."
At the same time, his
stomach hurt a lot. He also felt a pain in his throat.
He drank water
directly from the kitchen jug and repeated the process over and over again.
Eventually, he began
to feel a little better, and he finally began to remember why he was there.
"That's right.
I'm pretty sure I was having a party with everyone ..."
His friends celebrated
his discharge from the hospital. But for some reason, he couldn't remember the
time he spent partying. It's not hazy but it's not there at all.
He wondered what
happened. When Nozomu turned around, twisting his head, he was startled by the
sight that met his eyes.
"What is
this?"
There was a young man
of the Fox tribe, tied up on a chair, fainted with his white eyes turned white.
He was mumbling and muttering something, and occasionally smiled thinly.
At his feet were empty
bowls and small pieces of puff pastry scattered around.
"Oi, Feo! Are you
all right!"
"Uu ....
Auu~~"
He didn't respond to
Nozomu's call at all. Threads wrapped around his body and the marks that seemed
to have been tightened looked painful.
"Terrible, who
did this ..."
Nozomu felt as if
someone whispered in his head that he should not say that line.
At any rate, he untied
the threads wrapped around Feo and laid him down on the kitchen floor.
After that, Nozomu
went back into the store and ...... was startled once again.
"What is this
......"
Chaos. There was no
other word to describe the devastation spread out before his eyes.
"Mimuru ...
you're really cute ..."
"Ah, Tom. It's
finally time to become one ..."
An interracial couple
that was about to start developing into an adult couple. Nozomu had no idea
what was going on when the offense and defense were reversed from the usual.
"U-um"
"Aa"
"Auu"
"Uu"
On the other hand, the
innocent couple spoke to each other at exactly the same time, muffled, and
blushed.
Unlike the interracial
couple mentioned earlier, they seemed too pure and green.
Then Irisdina and
Shīna were talking to each other across from each other.
"Somia ....... I
don't think Somia is ready for a relationship or anything like that yet. No,
I'm not saying that Nozomu is a bad person! I think it's our duty as a nobleman
to have a marriage proposal come to us ...... But it's still too early for you!
I think marriage is out of the question!"
"Dear sister,
don't you think the elders are terrible! They proceeded with the marriage
proposal without asking me a single word ...... Well, I've never cared much for
colorful love or anything like that until now, but ......"
For some reason, Iris
recognized Shīna as her little sister. And Shīna talked to Iris as if she were
her dead sister. Naturally, their conversation wasn't meshing at all.
No, perhaps an older
sister who was not ready to be an older sister and a younger sister who was not
ready to be a younger sister were meeting up .....
By the way, Somia was
not there for some reason. At this time, Ena had taken care of her and put her
in a different room.
"How did this
happen……"
No one answered
Nozomu's words, lamenting the incomprehensible situation.
For the time being,
Nozomu drank the nearest juice and stepped toward the chaos. Incidentally, what
Nozomu drank this time was a special cocktail made by Feo.
At any rate, the only
thing he had to stop now was the interracial couple in the restaurant who were
in an atmosphere that almost led to indecent exposure.
Nozomu walked toward
them and raised his fist high in the air.
(For the time being, I
guess I could just knock them out with a single blow)
Under the influence of
the alcohol-infused beverage, Nozomu's train of thought was once again off the
hook.
The next instant,
Nozomu's blow, aimed at a vital spot, mercilessly struck the interracial couple
in the neck.
The party ended with
everyone having amnesia.
All of them wondered
at the fact that they could not remember anything about the party, but when
they tried to ask Ena, she glared at them in a terrible manner and they all
felt in danger and immediately left the party.
For the next several
days, it seemed that Ena was in a very bad mood.
By the way, Feo was
also forced to work for free for a week at Ushitotei.
Since he had no memory
of the party, he did not seem to understand why he was forced to work for free,
but in the face of Ena's murderous glare, he surrendered without complaint.
For a while, Feo and
Mars were used by Ena as if they were slaves.