Episode 342: Friends and Booze

And so, the military council ended amidst tension and strain.
The participants dispersed, and with the exception of a few nobles, left the Royal Palace.

“It’s been a while, Clover.”

“We just met at the party the other day. It hasn’t been that long… Lübesse.”

At a certain tavern in the Royal Capital.
Rest, having finished the military council, was sitting at a table with a comrade-in-arms.
A round table… much smaller than the Round Table used in the military council, was occupied by Rest and another man. The young Sword Saint—Wilhelm Lübesse.

In truth, Lübesse had also been present at the military council. He was sitting next to Rest.
He, too, was to participate in the foreign tribes subjugation as part of the advance party. As they were already acquainted, they had ended up coming to the tavern together after the military council, without either of them suggesting it.
By the way… only Rest and Lübesse were in the private room of the tavern.
His adoptive father, Marquis Rosemary, had been summoned by His Majesty the King to another room after the military council, and had left the castle ahead of them.

“So, you’re being dispatched just as you’re about to start managing your territory? Being a noble is quite busy.”

“Indeed…”

Rest wholeheartedly agreed with Lübesse’s words.
He poured sake into his glass, toasted, and then took a sip.

“Yeah, this is good. Totally.”

Although he was underage in Japan, there was no age restriction on drinking in this country.
The fruit liqueur didn’t have a very high alcohol content, and it was easy to drink with a pleasant taste.

(There’s a huge difference compared to that distilled liquor… well, I’m sure that stuff is much more high-class…)

He recalled the sake he had drunk with Celestine before.
Compared to distilled liquor with a high alcohol content, brewed liquor made by fermenting fruit was much easier to drink.
It seemed that Rest didn’t have a very strong constitution when it came to alcohol. After seeing Celestine’s heavy drinking, he thought so all the more.

(Especially that… I never want to drink spirits again. I wish I could use magic to strengthen my liver.)

“Honestly, I don’t need any more achievements… I have enough status, territory, and a fiancée.”

Rest emptied about half of his glass and sighed.
Thanks to his achievements in the Sabnock Subjugation and the end of the Civil War, Rest had already been given more than enough rewards.
He was planning to live a leisurely life developing his territory with his fiancée from now on, but then he was ordered to go to war.

“Well, it can’t be helped. Fighting is a warrior’s duty. We can’t turn a blind eye when our homeland is threatened by foreign enemies.”

Saying this, Lübesse sipped his sake little by little.

“It’s just that the time has come to repay the favors bestowed upon us by the Royal Family. We should just do what we have to do.”

“…You’re so resolute, I envy you.”

Rest sighed.
The reason he couldn’t be as detached as Lübesse was probably because Rest had a lovely fiancée.
After the party the other day, he had been able to deepen his bond with Viola and Primula even further.
And yet, he was being dispatched, leaving his fiancée behind. It was only natural that he would want to complain.

(I’m going to get married when this war is over… no, isn’t that a death flag?)

“Lübesse, don’t you have a lover or a fiancée?”

“Ngh…!”

Lübesse spat out a little sake.

“What’s with the sudden question…?”

“No, it’s just. You’re a Viscount, right? I thought you might have issues with succession.”

“…If the time comes, I can just adopt an heir from my relatives.”

Lübesse wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket and said curtly.

The young Sword Saint, Wilhelm Lübesse, a master of swordsmanship.
One of this man’s few weaknesses was ‘women’.

“Is the ‘Sword Saint Who Dislikes Women’ still the same as ever…? Weren’t you recommended to go on matchmaking dates?”

“…I was, by my parents and uncle, a few times. But it’s not something I’m interested in.”

“Heeh, I think it’s not so bad, though. Marriage, I mean.”

“…A man with multiple fiancées is saying something different. You charmer.”

Lübesse clicked his tongue loudly, as if looking down on him.
And then, he sipped the sake in his glass little by little again.

“In the first place, women are unnecessary on the path of the sword. To master a path means to give up other paths. Only by abandoning everything and devoting oneself can one stand at the summit.”

“Haa, I see?”

“Constant dripping wears away the stone, and even a moment of time should not be taken lightly… A person’s life is too long to spend doing nothing, and too short to master something. If one intends to master an art in a limited amount of time, one must sometimes cut away unnecessary things.”

“Yeah, yeah, and then?”

“Therefore, the reason why I am abstaining from women is all because I have dedicated my life to the sword. It is definitely not… definitely not because I am afraid of women! Yes, if I were to ask that woman if she wasn’t ashamed of shaking her uselessly large breasts, my sword would become a mountain!”

“…………”

“If that is the case, I will risk my mind and body for the sake of National Peace, and devote myself as if entrusting myself to the flow of the river, and if I climb many mountains, a fortune will come out…”

“Hey… are you perhaps, drunk?”

Lübesse’s speech gradually became slurred, and his conversation became strange.
Rest picked up the sake bottle and stared at it intently… but they were drinking the same sake. It was a fruit liqueur that wasn’t even that strong.

“Could it be that you’re weaker to alcohol than I am? I didn’t see any sign of that at the party the other day…?”

Come to think of it… he didn’t remember seeing Lübesse drinking sake.
He had been handed a cocktail as a welcome drink, but had he even taken a sip of that?
Perhaps he refrains from drinking sake when there are a lot of people around.

“In other words! We must cut off all the foreign tribes for the sake of the nation! Yes, everything is to repay our debt to His Majesty the King!”

“Aah… I get it, I get it. That’s right. Lübesse is right.”

“That’s right! I’m not saying anything wrong!”

An unexpected event.
Rest, witnessing a side of his comrade-in-arms that he didn’t know, was at a loss as to what to do.

“A heavy drinker like Celestine is troubling, but… this is troubling in its own way.”

After giving a mysterious speech for about thirty minutes, Lübesse fell asleep as if his batteries had run out.
Rest ended up carrying Lübesse to the inn, and realized that the terror of sake had nothing to do with the alcohol content.