Chapter 218

From then on, everything went smoothly.

First, he fed a cocktail to Arisa, who seemed the easiest target, and then used that to get Daria to drink as well.

By this point, Kurt’s plan was halfway done.

Both Arisa and Daria, after drinking the cocktail, were amazed that it didn’t taste like alcohol at all. Their reactions lowered the psychological resistance of the others and piqued their curiosity.

Kurt then performed a little show, mixing the cocktail right in front of them to prove there was nothing suspicious about it, all while keeping their attention.

Finally, with Arisa and Daria both having drunk the cocktail, the mental barriers of the rest of the group crumbled.

In fact, they started to feel that if their party members were willingly drinking the cocktails, refusing might make them look strange.

Thus, they began to feel a reluctance to refuse.

And so, Arisa and Daria, having drunk the cocktails, watched as the remaining two—Liche and Aila—also fell into Kurt’s trap and started sipping the cocktails.

For Liche, who was knowledgeable and skilled in cooking, Kurt prepared a unique cocktail using tomato juice, lemon juice, some of the sauces prepared for the kebab, and a pinch of salt and pepper.

This cocktail, based on a Bloody Mary but improvised with available ingredients, was quite unusual. Normally, it would include celery salt, Tabasco, and Worcestershire sauce, making it seem almost like a prank to the uninitiated.

Yet, it was a genuinely tasty and unique cocktail, more akin to a cross between tomato juice and tomato soup with a hint of alcohol.

Liche, upon tasting it, was shocked but muttered, “To think alcohol could be cooked like this…” clearly impressed.

Aila, Daria’s companion, who looked like a stereotypical rigid knight but had a childlike palate, enjoyed a sweeter version of the cocktail, similar to a Bailey’s Milk, with extra sugar added.

Satisfied with the scene of the table turning into a drinking party, Kurt nodded contentedly.

“Ah, isn’t this the right way to enjoy a drinking party?”

Each of them sipped Kurt’s cocktails for different reasons—some because the alcohol was barely noticeable, others because it was sweet or tangy, and some to figure out the taste of his concoctions.

Slowly, they all began to get drunk, like clothes getting damp in a drizzle.

From a distance, Karina watched in horror, letting out a low, frightened moan.

“Ah… Ah…”

With each drink, the women became more disheveled, their hearts lighter, and they began to ask Kurt for more drinks without hesitation. Kurt, with a sinister and satisfied smile, mixed their cocktails without a hint of annoyance.

It was a spiral into drunkenness.

In a world where the concept of cocktails wasn’t mainstream, Kurt, using his knowledge from a past life to adapt modern cocktail recipes, was unstoppable.

Watching them enjoy his drinks and slowly get drunk, Kurt couldn’t help but smirk darkly.

“What have I done…”

Karina, witnessing all this, wondered if she should have stopped Kurt instead of urging him on.

Before they knew it, the meal had turned into a drinking party, and as is typical with such gatherings, the atmosphere began to loosen.

And then, the truths started to spill out.

Surprisingly, it was Daria who first broke the ice in the drunken atmosphere.

Unlike her usual composed and flawless demeanor, her face flushed red as she approached Arisa to vent.

“Do you think I like suspecting others and using violence?”

“Even so, how could you just resort to violence like that? Sob…”

“That’s just because I’m always with Witch!”

Daria, who was very weak to alcohol, was half-slurring her words as she got angry.

But Arisa, also emboldened by the alcohol, retorted with an angry face.

“Liche and I just happened to meet! And don’t call her Witch! Her name is Liche! So from now on, you should call her Liche too!”

But Arisa, perhaps due to the alcohol, was getting angry over a slightly off point.

“Liar! How could meeting Liche be a coincidence? That’s impossible!”

And Daria, accepting Arisa’s protest, started calling her Liche.

“It’s not a lie!”

“…So you’re saying it was purely a coincidence that you and Liche ended up in the same party?”

“Yes! I met Liche after coming out of the ruins! Right, Liche?”

Arisa, her face slightly flushed, dragged Liche, who was focused on the taste of the Bloody Mary, into the conversation.

Liche, slightly annoyed at being interrupted from savoring the cocktail, answered obediently.

“I came to Astram purely to meet a friend. Can I go back now?”

Liche, who had been quietly sipping her cocktail without showing any signs of being drunk, was actually completely intoxicated.

“…A friend? Does Witch have friends?”

Serena, who had been listening from afar, chimed in.

“Yes! I’m that friend of Clarice!”

“It’s Liche, not Clarice!”

Arisa, in the midst of it all, insisted on correcting the name.

Daria ignored Arisa’s nitpicking and asked Serena, “Really?”

“Yes! Karina and I met Clarice before the ruins were discovered! Karina can vouch for it!”

“So, just before all this happened, the ruins of the Ancient Empire were discovered, a Dark Elf coincidentally found the unexplored depths, and then coincidentally appeared in Astram and formed a party with Witch?”

“Yes!”

“That’s right!”

Arisa and Serena insisted it was all a coincidence, which from their perspective, it truly was.

But for others, especially Daria, who was trained as a Holy Kingdom’s special agent to suspect everything, such a flimsy excuse was unacceptable.

Yet…

“Such… Could it really all be a coincidence…”

This was Daria’s usual stance.

Thud.

Overwhelmed by the seemingly flawless logic of the two, Daria knelt down, shocked.

“Daria! Are you okay?”

“….”

Ignoring Aila, who rushed over unsteadily, Daria knelt and trembled.

“…Waaah! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

Then, like a child, she started crying.

Some people become particularly tearful when drunk, and Daria was one of them. She began to sob loudly.

Seeing Daria cry, Aila also started to tear up.

“Sob… I’m sorry too. I couldn’t protect you, and now you’re crying again. I’m inadequate…”

In the face of the sudden flood of tears from Daria’s group, Arisa and Serena, who had been hostile earlier, were now at a loss, unsure how to comfort them.

“Waaah! I’m really sorry! I almost hurt an innocent person!”

“I’m sorry too. Sob… Sob…”

“Ah, no… It’s not like anyone was seriously hurt…”

“So… What we wanted to say was…”

Arisa and Serena found themselves in the awkward position of trying to console the two.

Meanwhile, in one corner of the table, Albert, Louis, and Kirsh were happily drinking beer together.

“Actually, I wanted to live just doing volunteer work! But someone had to do the job…!”

“No! Daria, you’re doing the right thing!”

“But today, I almost hurt an innocent person! Sob… Sob…”

“Don’t cry!”

On the other side, Arisa was struggling to console the Holy Kingdom group.

“Kurt, pet my head.”

In another corner, Lakia, who had been sulking because Kurt only made cocktails for the other girls, was now drunk on Kurt’s cocktails and acting cute.

“Shh, it’s unfair. I, I also…”

Beside her, Karina, who had been watching the carnage caused by Kurt’s cocktails, was now completely drunk, swaying after tasting the tomato soup-flavored cocktail.

“Hey! You guys drink moderately! That’s all mine! Hey! You’re not really going to drink it all, are you? Right!?”

Serena, growing anxious as the barrels started to empty, shouted at them to stop drinking.

“Here. Another round of cocktails.”

Amidst all this, Kurt continued to happily mix and serve drinks.

And a little further away, Yuri, who had escaped Kurt’s clutches due to her young age, trembled in fear.

‘Hawawa… I will never touch alcohol again…’

Yuri learned a valuable lesson that day.

It was a complete mess.