Volume 7
Interlude 2
A Warning
About Parties, Part 2
While everyone, including Nozomu, was frozen solid, Somia hopped down from her seat opposite him, trotted over to his side, and jumped onto his lap.
"Whoa! Somia-chan!?"
"Ehehehe~~"
Leaning her back
against Nozomu's body, Somia's face bloomed with a happy smile. The little
princess seemed quite pleased, snuggling the back of her head against Nozomu's
chest.
Nozomu, on the other
hand, was confused, not knowing what to do in this sudden situation.
"S-Somia-chan,
that's a bit much for a joke..."
"It's not a
joke~~. I get a lot of marriage proposals, just like my big sister, but if I
had to say, I'd want to marry someone like you, Nozomu-san~."
At that moment, a
crack ran through the frozen air. An insect that had been gathering around a
lamp fell to the floor with a plop.
A dangerously sharp
atmosphere, like being stabbed with needles, made Nozomu tremble in fear as the
black-haired girl patted his shoulder.
When Nozomu timidly
peeked to his side, he saw the older sister, who wouldn't hesitate to go to
hell for her younger sister's sake, glaring at him with the eyes of a demoness.
"Nozomu, could we
have a word out back..."
Just as her burning,
near-critical sisterly love was about to explode...
"Oh. Of course, I
think it would be best if you and my big sister got together, Nozomu-san."
"Funyaa!?"
She was extinguished
in an instant by her innocent younger sister.
"I think you and
my big sister are a really good match, Nozomu-san~.
I'm really glad to
have my big sister~, but I wanted a big brother too!
I was thinking, if you
and my big sister get married, that would make you my brother-in-law,
right~?"
"Hey! Somia, what
are you talking about!?"
The older sister, flustered
by her younger sister's remark. However, her voice sounded somewhat happy.
"Oh, of course. If
you want to marry me instead of my big sister, that's fine too~."
"...No~zo~mu~~"
However, the
extinguished flame was reignited by the hand of the younger princess. Having
been put out once, its intensity grew at a rapid pace.
On the other hand, in
the seat on the other side of Nozomu, the elven girl was emitting an aura of
absolute zero.
"...I wonder if
Nozomu-kun prefers young girls? I've heard there are people in the world with
such a fetish."
"That's not it!
You know about Lisa, who I was dating! I'm normal!"
"Nozomu! As her
older sister, I can't permit you to marry Somia! Somia is still a child!"
"Oh, Big Sister,
that's not fair~. I'm a grown-up now~. I've already had my first kiss~."
"That was just a
kiss on the cheek! Besides, I've had..."
Irisdina trailed off
at that point.
She remembered how she
had been unable to control her emotions and had impulsively stolen a kiss from
Nozomu's lips while he was bedridden.
"Eh? Iris, did
you say something?"
"Ugh..."
Irisdina, ashamed of
herself for having ambushed him in his sleep, no matter how overwhelmed she had
been.
As Nozomu was looking
suspiciously at the suddenly dejected Irisdina, the angel on his lap once again
cheerfully made an outrageous proposal.
"Then,
Nozomu-sa~n. Let's have our vow-kiss right here, right now~~."
"I told you
no!"
"In that case, I,
who have a contract with him, have a better claim..."
"Th-That was an
unavoidable emergency!"
Somia, clinging
tightly to him on his lap, and Irisdina, raising her voice with a beet-red
face. Furthermore, Shina was muttering something in a voice so low it was
inaudible.
Faced with the members
who had begun to go wild in a strange direction, Nozomu could only run around
in confusion.
Due to the extreme
confusion, Nozomu's vision also began to spin.
A faint haze fell over
his thoughts, and his body began to sway.
"H-Huh? What's
wrong?"
A sense of wrongness
in his own body. While somehow managing to support his swaying body, he looked
at Irisdina and the others, and they too were in a strange state.
"Fuanyaaa~~~.
Everything is spinning in front of my eyes~~."
"Nn... What is
this? My head feels fuzzy..."
"Iris? Shina?
Somia-chan? H-Huh? What is this?"
The moment he
hurriedly caught the swaying Somia on his lap, Nozomu's foot kicked something.
Nozomu placed Somia,
who had been sitting on his knee, back in her seat and picked up the something
that was rolling on the floor with a clattering sound.
"An empty liquor
bottle? Why is something like this under the table..."
"...Geh."
An empty bottle,
placed as if to be hidden under the table. As Nozomu was looking at the bottle
he had picked up, he saw the figure of Feo furtively getting up from his seat
in the corner of his vision.
"Hmm? Feo, where
do you think you're going?"
"N-No, just to
relieve myself..."
As Nozomu was tilting
his head at the somehow flustered Feo, Ena, who had been nursing Del in the
back of the shop, appeared.
"Phew, Dad has
finally calmed down..."
"Good work,
Ena-chan. How's Del-san?"
"He's fine. Mom
is with him, and Dad's color has gotten much better."
A smile appeared on
Ena's face, which was beaded with sweat.
At that moment, her
gaze fell on the empty bottle in Nozomu's hand.
"Huh? Nozomu-san,
what's that empty bottle?"
"Well, it was on
the floor..."
Ena, who had taken the
empty bottle from Nozomu, was carefully reading the label on the bottle.
From Feo's forehead,
who was standing beside the two, a large amount of sweat was pouring down.
"That's strange.
We don't serve this kind of liquor at this shop, you know?"
Hearing Ena's words,
Nozomu's eyes sharpened.
"And it's quite a
strong liquor, isn't it? This is the kind of liquor that would make any heavy
drinker pass out with just one bottle."
Incidentally, the
brand of the liquor was "Dragonslayer." A name that seemed to be
aimed at a certain someone.
"...Feo. You know
something, don't you?"
Nozomu's sharp gaze
pierced Feo.
"Wh-What could
you be talking about?"
"..."
Feo averted his gaze
in another direction. As if sensing something, Ena's gaze also sharpened.
"Wh-What's with
that suspicious look..."
"...Ena-chan.
Hold Feo down for a bit."
"Understood."
Ena grabbed Feo's arm
and held him down, and Nozomu began to rummage through Feo's pockets.
"Wh-What are you
doing! H-Hey, that's perverted! Not there!"
Ignoring Feo, who was
saying things that were bad for public morals, he continued the body search.
Then, a large number
of liquor bottles came out from under his clothes.
"Ale, distilled
spirits, wine... and ugh! Even Eastern rice wine..."
"Where the hell
were you hiding all this!"
About 10 liquor
bottles were lined up on the table. How in the world had he hidden them?
And the stoppers of
the liquor bottles had just been opened, and the contents were clearly reduced.
It was clear that he had used them at this party.
"W-well. A
free-for-all is basic for a party, right? Well, I thought a little bit would
liven things up, so I put a little bit in everyone's cups..."
"But considering
that, the only one that's empty is this strongest liquor."
Nozomu looked around
and checked the state of his comrades.
Mimuru, hugging the
fainted Tom and nuzzling his cheek while purring. Mars and Tima, staring at
each other with beet-red faces. And Irisdina and the others, muttering
something in a slurred tone.
Everyone's face was
slightly flushed, and they were clearly showing a state far removed from their
usual selves.
Nozomu himself had
also been feeling a strange sense of euphoria in his head for a while.
It was clearly a
symptom of being drunk.
"..."
There was no doubt
that the man in front of him had done something.
Faced with the
murderous gazes from Nozomu and Ena, Feo finally gave in.
This man had
apparently been mixing liquor into everyone's juice from the beginning.
The reason he had used
carbonated water to mix the juice was also to mask the bitterness of the liquor
with its stimulus.
He had also had the
sharp-sensed Mimuru try it before the banquet and confirmed that there was no
problem.
Come to think of it,
Mimuru's spirits had been unusually high from the beginning of the party. It
seemed that was also caused by this cocktail disguised as juice.
"...I just
couldn't help myself!"
At Feo, who had given
up and was giving a thumbs-up, the two decided that there was no room for
extenuating circumstances.
This man had also
caused a commotion in this shop before, so one could say he had it coming.
"Take him
away."
"Roger."
Nozomu and Ena secured
both arms of the defendant and forcibly made him stand up from his chair and
walk. Their destination was this shop's kitchen.
Feo, who had sensed
the danger to his person from the two's dangerous atmosphere, raised his voice.
"Hey, wait!
Listen to me! I thought I was doing a good thing..."
"We have the
right to remain silent. This is the right to silence any and all of the
defendant's statements..."
"No! That's not
right!"
Feo's claim, a.k.a.
excuse, was lightly brushed aside by Nozomu.
At the clamoring Feo's
voice, Somia let out a listless voice.
"Hmm~.
Nozomu-san, is something wrong~?"
"No, the kitchen
just hasn't been cleaned up yet because Del-san collapsed, but Feo is
apparently going to help. You can go to sleep, Somia-chan."
"Mmm~.
Understood~. Good night~."
Perhaps at her limit,
Somia flopped onto the table and began to snore.
After taking Feo to
the kitchen, Nozomu whispered in Ena's ear and made Feo sit in a nearby chair.
He then took out a thick thread from his pocket and wrapped Feo up with it.
Feo desperately
resisted and struggled violently, but for some reason, the thread showed no
signs of breaking.
"Nozomu, why
isn't this thread breaking?"
"That's because
I'm pouring ki into it~. If I make a little mistake, you might get sliced up
like ham... hic."
"Hey! What kind
of dangerous thing are you starting! You're completely drunk, aren't you!"
"Maybe... If I
mess up the amount of ki, sorry~."
"Then untie this
thread! I'd rather not become sliced ham!"
"Fox ham, huh~.
Hmm, it looks stringy..."
At this point, Nozomu
was also quite drunk. The conversation was not making any sense at all.
While Feo was
lamenting his current situation, a situation that would push him further into
the abyss was waiting for him.
"Nozomu-san. I've
brought them."
The "certain
things" that had been placed on the kitchen table were placed one after
another in front of Feo.
"This is, don't
tell me..."
"The prototypes
of the stew pie Mimuru made. I'm asking you to dispose of these
still-piping-hot stew pies. It'd be scary if we just throw them away..."
Nozomu stated his
unvarnished true feelings and cut a random prototype with a spoon.
The still-piping-hot
steam that it gave off was something that would whet one's appetite just by
smelling it. However, for the current Feo, it was nothing but something that
fanned his fear.
"That's right. If
we throw it away and a rat eats it, and it turns into a situation like 'A large
number of small animal corpses in the commercial district!', it would affect
the shop's business."
"Rat poison?!
There's no way I can eat something like that!"
Coming from Ena, who
had been nursing the collapsed Del until just before, her words had a strange
persuasiveness.
"Oh, and even if
you say you don't want it, I'll force-feed it to you."
"You say you're
'asking' me, but my will has nothing to do with it, does it!"
"It's okay. There
are some decent prototypes too. ...Depending on your luck, though."
"That's a hope
that's infinitely close to zero, isn't it?"
"...W-Well, for
now, let's have you die~."
"Hey, stop!
Mmph!"
Nozomu, while
maintaining the ki flowing through the thread, skillfully pried open Feo's
mouth with his left hand and forcibly shoved the cut-out, piping-hot stew pie
into it.
As a matter of course,
Feo began to struggle desperately.
But the thread, with
an exquisite amount of ki flowing through it, did not budge an inch and only
dug into Feo's skin.
"Fuguu!"
"Hey, stop
struggling~."
At the pain of the
thread digging into his body, Feo became quiet for a moment. In that opening,
Nozomu shoved more stew pie into Feo's mouth.
Surprisingly, Nozomu's
thread only dug into Feo's skin, and there was no blood.
Perhaps because he was
drunk, Nozomu was even able to perform a bolder control of his ki than usual.
"Hafu, hafu,
hafu..."
The stew pie seemed
quite hot, but there was no sign of the eating Feo fainting like Del. It seemed
the prototype that Nozomu had just fed him was a decent one.
"Well then,
next..."
The moment he found
out it was a decent item, Nozomu stabbed his spoon into another prototype.
Feo's face was once
again dyed with fear.
At that expression,
Nozomu, in his mind that was hazy from the alcohol, was feeling a strange sense
of elation.
The corners of his
mouth naturally curled up. That smile was very similar to Shino's when she was
training him.
(Ah, this feels kind
of good...)
Within Nozomu, an
unnecessary side inherited from his master was beginning to awaken.
And a few dozen
seconds later, a scream that seemed to be from another world echoed from within
the kitchen.
***
A few hours after the party
had started, Nozomu woke up on the kitchen floor.
When he somehow
managed to get his stiff body up from having slept on the hard floor, Nozomu
was hit by a tremendous headache.
"Ugh. My head
hurts..."
At the same time, his
stomach felt strangely heavy. He also felt a pain in his throat.
He drank water
directly from the kitchen's water jug and repeated this several times.
Eventually, his mood
gradually eased, and he was finally able to remember why he was here.
"That's right. I
think I was having a party with everyone..."
His comrades were
supposed to have been celebrating his discharge from the hospital. However, for
some reason, he had no memory of the time during the party. It wasn't that it
was hazy like it was covered in mist, but it was completely gone.
What had happened? As
Nozomu was tilting his head and turning around, he let out a cry of
astonishment at the sight that jumped into his view.
"What is
this!"
There was a fox-tailed
young man, tied to a chair and passed out with the whites of his eyes showing.
He was muttering gibberish and occasionally had a faint smile on his face.
At his feet, an empty
dish and fine crumbs of pie crust were scattered.
"Hey Feo! Are you
okay!"
"Uu...
auu~~"
There was no reaction
to Nozomu's call. The thread wrapped around his body like a rope, and the marks
of being tied up were painful to see.
"How cruel, who
would do such a thing..."
For some reason,
Nozomu felt as if someone had whispered in his head that he of all people
shouldn't say that.
For the time being, he
untied the thread wrapped around Feo and laid him on the kitchen floor.
After that, Nozomu
returned to the main room... and was once again dumbfounded.
"What is
this..."
Chaos. There were no
other words to describe the tragic scene that spread before him.
"Mimuru... you're
so cute..."
"Ah, Tom. The
time has finally come for us to become one..."
An interspecies couple
that seemed on the verge of an adult development. The fact that their usual
offense and defense were reversed made it so that Nozomu couldn't understand
what had happened at all.
"U-Um,"
"Hey."
"Au..."
"Uh..."
On the other hand, the
pure couple (unfinished) were repeatedly calling out to each other at the exact
same time, stuttering, and then blushing.
Unlike the
interspecies couple from before, they were so innocent that it felt almost
naive.
And Irisdina and Shina
were talking to each other.
"Somia... I think
it's still too early for you to be thinking about romance. No, I'm not saying
that Nozomu is a bad person! I think it can't be helped that marriage proposals
come as a duty of the nobility... But still, it's too early! I think marriage
is out of the question!"
"Big Sister,
don't you think the elders are cruel! To proceed with a marriage proposal
without asking me a single word... It's true that I haven't cared much about
love and romance until now, but..."
Iris, who for some
reason recognized Shina as her younger sister. And Shina, who was talking to
Iris as if she were her deceased older sister. Naturally, their conversation
was not matching up at all.
No, the composition of
an older sister who couldn't let go of her younger sister and a younger sister
who couldn't completely let go of her older sister might be correct...
Incidentally, Somia was
for some reason not there. At this time, she had been put to sleep in a
separate room by a considerate Ena.
"How did it come
to this..."
There was no one to
answer Nozomu's lament at the incomprehensible current situation.
For the time being, he
drank the juice that was nearby and, steeling himself, stepped into the chaotic
shop. Incidentally, the juice that Nozomu drank at this time was Feo's special
handmade cocktail.
The first to be
stopped were the interspecies couple, who were enveloped in an atmosphere that
seemed on the verge of public indecency within the shop.
He strode over and
raised his fist high.
(I guess I should just
knock them out with one punch?)
Due to the influence
of the alcoholic beverage, the restraints on Nozomu's thoughts had been removed
again.
The next moment,
Nozomu's blow, aimed at a vital point, mercilessly struck the necks of the
interspecies couple.
After this, the party
ended with everyone suffering from amnesia.
Everyone tilted their
heads, not remembering the contents of the party at all, but when they tried to
ask Ena, they were glared at with such a ferocious expression that everyone
sensed the danger to their person and dispersed.
It seems that for a
few days after that, Mars had to walk on eggshells around the extremely grumpy
Ena.
Incidentally, Feo was
also made to work for free at the Ox-Head Pavilion for a week.
Since he had no memory
of the party at all, he didn't seem to understand why he was being made to work
for free, but in the face of Ena's murderous glare, he surrendered without a
complaint.
For a while, he and
Mars were worked like slaves by Ena.
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