Chapter 210: The Kukkoro Male Knight and Drinking Together 1

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In the end, the second round of negotiations continued until evening. Our respective positions remained parallel lines, and there was almost nothing that could be called progress. At best, the formal decision to exchange liaison officers was the only tangible outcome. Well, it was only natural for a meeting without prior groundwork to drag on, and in the first place, my primary objective was to buy time. For now, the situation had not strayed too far from the rails I had laid down.

“Blondin-dono, I have heard that you are quite fond of drink. I have brought some liquor that is a specialty of Elfenia. Would you care to join me for a cup? Of course, just the two of us.”

After the negotiations ended, Lady Dalaiya slid over toward me and said that while showing me a ceramic bottle. Seeing a young-looking girl holding a liquor bottle was a bit startling, but well, she was a thousand-years-plus, a perfectly legal loli. Of course she drank alcohol.

“Ah, that would be wonderful. I’ll gladly accept.”

I nodded immediately. I was naturally interested in elven liquor, and the idea of one-on-one drinking was appealing as well. There were surely things we could only talk about without subordinates watching.

Since it was already dinnertime, we decided to drink while eating. I guided Lady Dalaiya to a small reception room inside the lord’s mansion and took a seat on the sofa myself. Thanks to the servants, the table was already set with the bare minimum of snacks and glasses.

“When it comes to elven liquor, could the ingredient perhaps be elf potatoes?”

“Of course. Elf potatoes and the elven diet are inseparable at this point.”

Saying that, Lady Dalaiya poured a clear liquid into my glass. Judging from it, this seemed to be a distilled spirit rather than a brewed one. When I brought my nose closer, just as expected, it carried the aroma of potato shochu. Wow, that brought back memories. In my previous life, I drank this almost every day.

“If potatoes are the ingredient… Wouldn’t this liquor be quite precious?”

Food shortages were ongoing. Potatoes were an important calorie source for elves, so wasting them on alcohol production wouldn’t be something they could do lightly.

“Indeed… The reality is that we lack both ingredients and places to produce it. Before Mount Rana erupted, there were distilleries all across Elfenia, but… Now not a single one remains. What we use now are simple, handmade stills…”

Lady Dalaiya spoke with a sigh mixed into her words. That really was unfortunate. If stable production were possible, I would gladly import it. But given the situation, that seemed unlikely. In any case, it wouldn’t be acceptable to accept such precious liquor without offering anything in return. I called over a server and had them bring a bottle of liquor.

“South Halbel-produced brandy, Extra Old, extended aging grade. It’s one of my favorites. Please accept it.”

“Brandy, you say… That would be a grape distillate, yes? How delightful.”

Smiling broadly, Lady Dalaiya accepted the bottle and handed me the elf potato shochu in return. An exchange, then.

“Since we have it, I shall partake of this.”

“Please, go ahead.”

I uncorked the brandy and poured her a glass. By Galea noble etiquette, serving drinks in such situations was the role of attendants. Still, having the other party pour for me while leaving everything on my side to servants would have been far too rude.

“Then, a toast.”

“Cheers.”

We clinked our glasses and I brought the potato shochu to my lips. Ah, that lingering potato aroma in the nose, that gentle sweetness! This was unmistakably potato shochu. Memories of my former homeland surfaced, and I almost felt like crying.

“Pweh.”

As I was savoring the moment, Lady Dalaiya let out a strange sound. When I looked over, her face was bright red, tears welling at the corners of her eyes. …Was the alcohol too strong!? I hurriedly offered her a water-filled glass as a chaser, which she drained in an instant.

“Hoeeh, that surprised me. Is such strong liquor popular in the Kingdom of Galea?”

Wiping her tears, Lady Dalaiya took a deep breath. The brandy I had given her was undiluted, straight-from-the-cask cask strength, with an alcohol content between fifty and sixty percent. Thinking about it, it wasn’t something an unaccustomed person should drink straight.

The elf potato shochu was also a distilled spirit, but judging by the mouthfeel, its alcohol content was about the same as—or slightly lower than—the shochu from my previous life. Perhaps this level suited elves better.

“I-I’m sorry. I had no intention of trying to trouble you or anything like that…”

“I know, I know. Just from the aroma, I can tell this is an exceptionally fine liquor. It’s simply that my palate is too childish. …Well, in reality, I’m not a child at all but an old hag!”

Laughing lightly, Lady Dalaiya joked like that. I finally let out a sigh of relief. Negotiations falling apart over trivial misunderstandings was all too common. Whether or not I would comply with the elves’ demands aside, I fully intended for negotiations themselves to continue. It would be bad if things ended here.

“Still, drinking it straight is a bit much for me. Would you mind if I diluted it slightly?”

As she said that while flicking out her red tongue, Lady Dalaiya had an unexpected allure that didn’t match her apparent age. Suppressing a gulp, I gave it some thought.

“Well then…”

Despite it already being autumn on the calendar, tonight was unbearably hot as always. In times like this, a refreshing way of drinking would be best. Now that I’d thought of it, I also felt a bit hot. I instinctively undid a shirt button to loosen my collar. For a moment, Lady Dalaiya’s gaze flicked toward my chest. It was probably an unconscious, reflexive action. She quickly looked away in embarrassment.

“On a night like this, a highball would be good.”

I was used to this sort of gaze. Not minding it, I had the server bring soda water, ice, and glass tumblers. I filled a tumbler generously with ice and chilled it well, poured in about one and a half finger-widths of brandy, stirred it briskly with a muddler, and topped it with soda water.

Highballs were usually made with whisky, but brandy highballs—also called French highballs—were quite good as well. The refreshing fruit aroma was one of brandy’s strengths, after all. It paired surprisingly well with soda water.

“Oh? That’s quite the luxurious way of drinking.”

Seeing the offered glass, Lady Dalaiya exclaimed in admiration. While soda water itself wasn’t too rare since carbonated springs existed near the city of Carrera, ice and glassware were extremely precious. Being able to enjoy ice in summer was practically a privilege of the upper class.

If only this fantasy world let us just conjure ice freely with magic. Unfortunately, temperature-lowering magic consumed enormous amounts of mana, and more than anything, magically produced ice was cloudy and unattractive. In the end, if you wanted clear ice, you had no choice but to store ice made in winter in icehouses.

“I don’t do this very often myself, but it’s quite good. Go on, please.”

“Then I’ll take you up on your offer.”

Holding the large tumbler with both hands, Lady Dalaiya brought it to her lips. Given her appearance, it felt like I was letting a child drink alcohol. In reality, she had lived dozens of times longer than I had, but still…

“Oh! Ohhh! This is nice. Perhaps thanks to the carbonation, the grape aroma passes right through the nose. Hmm, I like this.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Smiling, I took a swig of the elf potato shochu myself. It really was a nostalgic flavor. Before I knew it, I was drinking steadily. As if drawn along, Lady Dalaiya nibbled on dried beans and quickly finished her highball, even asking for a refill. She could really hold her liquor.

By the time the server brought dinner, both of us were fairly drunk. As the drinks flowed, so did the conversation. Her talk was witty and engaging. It was hard to believe she was the elder of those barbarian elves.

“Come to think of it…”

Some time after finishing dinner, Lady Dalaiya began speaking again, her cheeks faintly flushed. She had already downed five highballs, yet showed no sign of losing herself. Contrary to her childlike appearance, her alcohol tolerance seemed quite high.

“About today’s meeting… You must have thought us elves to be a rather barbaric race, no?”

“That’s…”

That was a difficult question to answer. I rolled the ceramic cup of potato shochu around in my hand and let out a small groan.

“You don’t need to dodge the question. To be honest, I also think they’re barbaric…”

“Huh…?”

That sudden confession left me at a loss.

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