Chapter 216

So, Kurt quietly left his seat while Serena and Moora were talking, and after a while, he reappeared with various kinds of barrels in both hands.

“Huh? Mr. Kurt, what’s that…?”

“Could it be…?”

Mari and Karina looked puzzled at the familiar-looking barrels.

Under their gaze, Kurt smiled and answered.

“It’s a magical drink that brings out people’s true feelings.”

“…Isn’t that alcohol?”

Yes.

What Kurt brought were various kinds of alcohol that Serena usually kept stored.

From cheap, low-alcohol beer to fruit wines made with apples or grapes, honey wine made with honey, and even high-end whiskey—there was a wide variety of alcohol.

*Clatter*

Kurt placed the alcohol he brought, which belonged to Serena, on the table, and naturally, all eyes turned to him.

Everyone looked at Kurt with puzzled expressions but couldn’t bring themselves to ask him directly.

“Wow! Is this all alcohol? There’s so much!”

Except for one person.

Louis.

He finished the kebab in his hand and then, with an excited look, began to slowly examine the alcohol Kurt had placed down.

“Whoa! You’ve got every kind here! Did you collect all this, bro?”

“…What’s the meaning of suddenly bringing alcohol?”

At that moment, Daria interrupted Louis and approached.

“What do you mean? It’s just to make the meal more enjoyable.”

“…”

Daria looked at Kurt with a probing gaze, but the power dynamics were already too firmly established for her to resist, so she couldn’t say anything more.

“Well, don’t worry about it. You can’t have a meal without alcohol, right?”

“Oh! So we can drink all the alcohol here?”

“Others need to drink too, so drink in moderation.”

“Whoa! These barrels are huge!”

As Daria quietly stepped back, Louis approached Kurt again, looking excitedly at the alcohol to decide which one to try first.

“Hmm… Alcohol!”

And then Kirsh, showing interest.

“What? Does a Lizardman even know the taste of alcohol? Well, Kurt likes cooking, so it’s not that strange.”

“No. I don’t really get the taste like Kurt does, but I don’t mind the burning feeling when it goes down my throat or the tipsy feeling.”

“Hahaha! That’s a shame. Not knowing the taste of alcohol. But if you know the joy of getting drunk, that’s enough!”

“…Seriously. What’s so great about alcohol?”

Soon, Louis and Kirsh teamed up and began choosing their drinks, while Lakia looked at Kirsh with a pitying expression, shaking her head.

And so, the two of them, having chosen their drinks, began drinking with the kebabs Kurt made as a side dish.

Soon, as the alcohol started to take effect, Louis, in a cheerful voice, offered beer to Albert.

“Chief! Why don’t you have a drink too!”

“Ahem. No, I…”

“Come on, just one drink!”

“Ahem. Well, not that, but whiskey…”

“Got it!”

Soon, Albert, caught up in the drinking, pretended to be reserved but subtly pointed to the most expensive drink with his eyes.

“Hey! That’s the most expensive one! Give it to me too!”

“Ah, then I’ll have the apple wine…”

And with Serena, the original owner of the alcohol, and Mari, who joined in on the mood, the drinking party grew larger.

The atmosphere of drinking seemed to spread smoothly among the people, just like when they were eating kebabs.

However,

After Serena and Mari joined the drinking party, no one else seemed interested in drinking.

Even after more than 10 minutes passed, the others only ate kebabs and didn’t touch the alcohol, showing no signs of doing so.

It was clear that the meal would end before anyone else joined the drinking party.

Noticing this, Karina urgently whispered to Kurt.

“Uh, what do we do? People aren’t touching the alcohol!”

“Well, I expected that.”

But despite Karina’s panicked voice, Kurt, as if he already knew, calmly looked around the table.

“You… expected it?”

“Yes. Unlike eating, drinking alcohol has a higher psychological barrier. Plus, alcohol is a highly polarizing preference, unlike regular meals.”

Indeed, alcohol is one of those things that divides people into those who love it and those who hate it.

Even among Lizardmen, Kirsh enjoys alcohol purely for the burning sensation and the tipsy feeling, while Lakia looks at him with pity, wondering why he drinks it.

Not only that.

Among Kurt’s group, Serena, being a Dwarf, loves alcohol the most.

Mari, though not as much as Serena, knows how to enjoy alcohol when the opportunity arises.

Kurt only drinks beer with fried food occasionally, and only as a means to enhance the flavor of the meal.

And Karina, who hardly ever drinks, is at the bottom of the preference list.

In a table of over ten people, the probability that everyone loves alcohol is statistically very low.

Moreover, since alcohol preferences are highly personal, and even though the atmosphere had loosened up, it still wasn’t entirely comfortable.

Drinking alcohol implicitly means exposing one’s vulnerable, drunken side, so unless someone is very open or strong enough to drink without showing weakness, it’s hard to get them to drink.

Hearing Kurt’s explanation, Karina looked defeated and asked him what to do.

“W-what? Then what do we do now? If this continues, the meal will end without anyone drinking.”

“Don’t worry. There’s always a way.”

Kurt reassured the restless Karina and then stood up.

What he picked up was a low-grade distilled liquor, strong in alcohol content but with little to no flavor or aroma.

It was a cheap liquor that Serena kept stored for when she used magic—a liquor that existed solely to get drunk.

Kurt then approached Arisa with the low-grade liquor.

“Care for a drink?”

“Huh? Oh, no. I don’t really like alcohol…”

Arisa, naturally burdened by the question, refused.

Of course.

It was only natural to refuse when offered cheap, strong liquor that wasn’t even tasty, especially to someone who didn’t like alcohol.

It was such a careless choice that it seemed almost intended to be refused, so even Arisa’s refusal was expected.

“Mr. Kurt, why are you offering that kind of alcohol…?”

Karina anxiously looked at Kurt’s profile.

“Ah, I’m not trying to make you drink this. What I’m offering is a type of mixed drink called a cocktail.”

“…A cocktail?”

Arisa tilted her head at the unfamiliar name.

Even in this era, the concept of mixing alcohol with something else to change its flavor wasn’t entirely unknown, but it was limited to things like adding honey or fruit juice to alcohol.

In fact, even in Kurt’s previous life in the modern era, the concept of cocktails, where alcohol is mixed with other sweeteners, only became prominent in the mid-18th century.

Considering that the concept of cocktails emerged in the mid-18th century, it wasn’t until later that cocktail varieties became more specialized and diversified.

From that perspective, the concept of cocktails is relatively modern.

So, Arisa, intrigued by the unfamiliar concept, showed interest, and Kurt wasn’t about to let that slip.

“Yes. It’s more like a tasty drink that even people who don’t like alcohol can easily enjoy, rather than something that tastes like alcohol.”

Of course, it’s still alcohol, so you’ll get drunk if you drink it.

But Arisa, unaware of that, simply thought Kurt had come up with another strange and delicious dish, and slowly let her guard down, showing curiosity.

“It doesn’t taste like alcohol…?”

“Right. It’s so tasty that even people who dislike alcohol can enjoy it.”

“Hmm…”

*Gulp*

Arisa, seemingly deep in thought.

But her thoughtful expression was just a facade, as she had already refused Kurt’s offer earlier.

Her interest was already completely hooked by the idea of a cocktail, and she was dying to know what it tasted like.

In reality, it was all just Kurt laying the groundwork to get her to drink alcohol, but Arisa didn’t see through it.

In the end, she had already been conditioned by Kurt’s cooking to the point where her throat would reflexively move at the thought of his dishes.

So, after pretending to think for a moment, Arisa reluctantly accepted Kurt’s offer.

“Well, since you went through the trouble of offering…”

“Went through the trouble?”

“J-just one drink?”

“Sure. Good choice.”

With that, Kurt secretly smiled wickedly at the thought of feeding Arisa the Lady Killer Cocktail.

It was truly the image of a sinister chef who took pleasure in feeding his creations to others.