Chapter 557

Hersh, who downed something that should be called a lump of alcohol rather than liquor, rolled her eyes back and collapsed, proving that even for a black person, the whites of the eyes are still white when flipped.

Ferne, unable to hold herself up due to drunkenness, fell over as if dragged by Hersh, burying her head in Hersh’s chest and falling asleep right there. The strong smell of alcohol wafted out between her drowsy breaths.

“Haah…”

I pressed my temples and shook my head vigorously.

Quitting drinking was a good idea. When I was living drowned in alcohol, I didn’t realize it, but seeing the state of an alcoholic up close, it was beyond just ugly.

“Uh… what should we do, Ha-shal-leur?”

“What do you mean, what should we do? Just lay them down somewhere.”

I sighed and answered Milia, who was looking at me with trembling eyes, then approached the two passed-out elves.

“Ugh, the smell is really…”

Since both seemed like they had bathed in hard liquor, just breathing near them felt like it could get you drunk.

I held my breath, pulled Hersh out from under Ferne, and instructed the group to clean up.

“Damien, open the windows. Milia, call the maids. Rana, check on Hersh… If you can heal that kid’s arm, do it. If not, just bandage it.”

“Got it.”

“Okay!”

“I’ll give it a try!”

Damien headed to the windows on the wall, Milia went outside the reception room, and Rana approached me.

I laid Hersh on the sofa where Ferne had been lying, exhaled the breath I was holding, and stepped back.

Rana calmly examined Ferne’s wrist, which was lying on the floor, then shook her head and only bandaged it.

Apparently, even high-ranking fairy guardians can’t be healed by human miracles.

If even the gods practice racial discrimination, it’s no wonder the religious people in this world naturally become racists.

Well… beastmen and fairies are still worth fighting, though.

“How’s Ferne?”

“It doesn’t seem like Shaulite’s miracle can heal her. But she seems to be recovering slowly on her own, so as long as we stop the bleeding, she should be fine.”

Thanks to the Blessing of the World Tree, I guess. She doesn’t have the extreme regenerative abilities of beastmen, but her recovery speed is still much faster than a human without any blessings.

“Then it should be fine. What about Hersh?”

“She just passed out from the alcohol. She’ll be fine after a good sleep.”

Hersh, being half-fairy, seems to handle alcohol absorption like that without any issues.

—

Soon after, the maids Milia called came and skillfully cleaned up the two messed-up fairies.

After sending Damien away, they stripped the fairies’ clothes, wiped off the alcohol, and changed them into new clothes. It was such a natural process, as if Ferne had done this more than once or twice.

“Count, should we take these two to the same bedroom?”

The same bedroom?

Ah, their skin colors are polar opposites, but since they’re both fairies, they must think they’re close. If you don’t know much about half-fairies, you might mistake it that way.

“No, that’s not necessary. Hersh… I mean, this black fairy, just leave her on the sofa. Ferne, wrap her in a blanket and stuff her in a corner.”

“Uh… yes, we’ll do as you command.”

The maids looked like they weren’t sure if this was okay, but honestly, this was already being generous. I had considered hanging them from the ceiling like mobiles at first.

But if Ferne’s stomach flipped while hanging, she might spin around like a sprinkler and vomit everywhere.

If the reception room ended up like that, I wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to make fairy-pickled liquor.

—

“Then, Damien and I will go rest now. Ha-shal-leur, you should rest well too.”

After the cleanup of Hersh and Ferne was done, Milia naturally tried to head to their newlywed room with Damien.

Going to rest… can you really call it resting? For Damien at least, it seems far from rest.

“Ah, wait a second, Milia.”

“Huh? What’s up?”

I lightly grabbed Milia’s shoulder, who was already starting to show excitement, and brought my face close to her ear. I planned to advise her not to forget the importance of contraception, even if they were going to have fun.

I didn’t think it was right to interfere in friends’ private matters, but with Rotholandus even giving warnings, I couldn’t just let our key combat power slip away while they were peeking into the Realm of Heroes.

So, at the very least, I had to phrase it in a way Milia could understand. What should I say…?

“Hey Milia, it’s great that your married life is going well… but… I don’t want to give orders to erase a friend’s child, you know? Do you understand what I mean?”

“…What?”

Milia looked at me like I was spouting nonsense.

Uh… did I phrase it too indirectly? I thought it was obvious enough to understand immediately.

“If a key combatant needed for future battles can’t participate due to pregnancy or child-rearing issues, it’s only natural to eliminate the ’cause,’ right? But I don’t want to do that to a friend. So—”

“What do you mean it’s natural!? Does Ka`har even go that far?”

Huh…? Isn’t it natural?

Milia retorted in an unusually intense tone, but to me, it was as natural as it gets.

It’s not Ka`har’s common sense, but in the Republic of Korea, if a key combatant on the battlefield gets pregnant, it’s standard procedure to issue an abortion prescription immediately.

[What kind of crazy talk is that? Even Ka`har doesn’t do that.]

Huh… was it not common sense after all?

Was I the one in the wrong…?

Both Milia and Hersela reacted like they were looking at a lunatic, so I momentarily wondered if I was the one who was wrong.

Could it be that in this world, abortion prescriptions to prevent non-combat losses aren’t common sense? Even in such a harsh world?

“Uh… but there’s no other way, right? You can’t just quit being a knight because you got pregnant…”

“Haaaah…”

After hearing my explanation, Milia let go of Damien’s arm, held her head, and let out a deep sigh.

“What kind of kobold nonsense is that… So, are all female knights supposed to live and die single? That can’t be, Ha-shal-leur…”

“Uh…”

…Was it really that nonsensical to the point of being called kobold talk?

I couldn’t find the words to respond to the cultural gap between them and me, so I just fidgeted with my fingers.

“Anyway… Ha-shal-leur, I get what you’re trying to say. I’ll be careful. So, let’s end this conversation here.”

“Uh, okay…”

An unusually decisive conclusion. As I nodded blankly, Milia finally smiled and dragged Damien upstairs.

She didn’t seem angry, but her steps clearly indicated she didn’t want to discuss this topic any further.

‘…Hey, was what I said really that strange?’

I asked Hersela if I had said something wrong. Even though Hersela, being Ka`har, was also an unconventional person, there was no one else to ask.

[That was some of the most ridiculous nonsense I’ve ever heard.]

The criticism was merciless.

[What kind of insane country would kill a child if a warrior got pregnant, unless they were on the brink of destruction?]

‘…That’s my hometown.’

It wasn’t exactly a collapsing country, and it wasn’t just our country’s common sense. Other nations had similar procedures.

[Wow… you grew up in a place that’s insanely crazy. No wonder you turned out like this lunatic.]

I’m older than you. Even just counting my age on Earth.

And besides, do you even have the right to call me a lunatic?

‘You call it crazy… but what about Ka`har? If a crucial paladin gets pregnant and can’t fight, do you just leave them be?’

[There’s no such thing as a ‘crucial paladin.’ If we’re short on combat power, the warriors just fight harder. And if that’s still not enough, we use the slaves we’ve plundered as cannon fodder.]

…The way of thinking is completely different.

Their attitude was, “What’s the problem if we use slaves?” Typical of a people for whom plunder is a way of life.

Clearly, the ones who are insane aren’t me, but these guys.

—

Even after returning to a place of rest after a long journey, instead of feeling at ease, I felt several times more exhausted. But since there was still one more person I had to meet, I couldn’t just go home to the academy and lie down.

…Maybe it would be better to just rest here today and return to the academy after tomorrow’s political meeting.

I don’t know what Ophelia is up to, but it’s clear that meeting her will only add to my fatigue. Is this what they call a sense of foresight?

“Rana, Nigel. I’ll be staying here tonight, so let the maids know. You two should change and rest well too. I’m going to meet Ophelia.”

“Okay! I’ll wait in the room!”

“Understood. I’ll inform Sir Leonor.”

Ah, right, Leonor was here too.

She went to the Rose Hall to inspect her knight order, but if the inspection ends early, she’ll naturally head to the academy’s professor residence.

And there, she’ll eat alone and sleep alone in an empty house.

That might be fun in its own way… but I should still let her know. Leaving a woman who’s lost her entire family alone for fun feels a bit too much, even for a joke.

“Tell her to rest well at the Rose Hall. She must have a lot to catch up on with her subordinates.”

“Yes. I’ll relay that.”

Nigel nodded and sent servants to deliver the message. Rana also followed Nigel out to be guided to my room by the maids.

With that, only me and the two drunken fairies were left in the reception room. Ja-han, after running into me earlier, decided he needed to train harder and locked himself in the training grounds.

Since reaching the Realm of Paladins, simple physical training doesn’t mean much… I’ll have to pay more attention to Ja-han from now on.

He can accumulate feats and naturally be accepted by the Empire’s people by participating in subjugating monsters or bandits.

Anyway, now it’s time to meet Ophelia…

I took out a cigarette from my pocket, lit it, and tried to soothe the fatigue that was already hitting me hard.

The cold wind flowing through the wide-open window scattered the white smoke chaotically.

“Ugh… it’s so cold…”

Ferne, drunk and asleep, frowned and tightly hugged the blanket wrapped around her, unable to withstand the early spring chill.

She looked like a bug wrapped in a cocoon.

“Sigh…”

If we weren’t familiar, I would’ve thrown her out.

I blew cigarette smoke towards Ferne’s face, closed the reception room window, picked her up, and laid her on the sofa across from Hersh.

I had considered just tossing her out several times because the smell of alcohol hit me every time she exhaled.