The banquet was held in the hall after dusk.
I was surprised to find that it had one, despite being a fortress, but given its location, its lengthy history, and its constant additions, it wasn’t much different from a small-scale city.
A trade center must be equipped, at minimum, with an inn and a tavern. So with everything from general stores and bakeries to a barbershop, the fortress had practically all the same facilities as a mid-size trade quarter.
What was missing was a brothel. Ah yes, the military base. Literally the defender of the final frontier.
Those structures served the public, but if I had to say, the fortress itself, despite its military roots, bore a strong resemblance to a lord’s castle.
The baths were like that too. Enormous halls, s.p.a.cious restaurants — h.e.l.l, they even had a lounge.
Though it battled monsters on a regular basis, the fortress had no experience with large-scale engagements. As such, it seemed that the fortress evolved until it was military in name only.
I steeled my resolve and stepped inside the hall. In an instant, all eyes fell on us, and a commotion swept the room.
There were already a great number of people crammed inside. Or rather, it looked like we were the last to arrive. I felt the urge to curse whoever decided on this timing.
Unable to endure the stares, I involuntarily lowered my face, but a moment’s glance was enough to tell me that everyone inside was someone I’d seen before.
Long story short, it was the appreciation banquet, as Gary said.
There were only members of the Elite Guard as far as I could see, but there would probably be some of the fortress’s people mixed in. At the very least, its general, Gary, and his aide, Percival, were naturally in attendance.
My head bowed under all the attention, I proceeded inside the hall as slowly as possible.
I couldn’t even pick up the voices of Aira and Palmira, who should be following me. Maybe they found the atmosphere overwhelming, as any reasonable person would.
I was already on the brink of making a run for it by myself, but in this dress, short as it was, I was scared that my escape attempt would end in a magnificent headfirst slide.
Keeping as tight a rein on my emotions as possible, I advanced further inside the vast hall to find a row of familiar faces. Four of them: Leon, Leopard, Gary, and Percival. Must be the n.o.bles’ seating over there.
Even Leon and Leopard had switched out their usual plain uniforms for somewhat fancier clothing — probably the aristocracy’s formal dress. Well, we were in dresses ourselves, so maybe that was just how things were done.
Given the atmosphere, it seemed as if it wasn’t just four people waiting on us, but everyone there.
‘Oh, no need to wait, just start without us,’ I thought bitterly to myself, but helpless, truly helpless, I walked forward until I stood in front of Leon. As I had with Gary, I lightly picked up the hem of my dress and apologized for making them wait.
I repeated the process with Gary. I had absolutely no idea if that was the right order.
“We’ve kept you waiting.”
‘I offer you my deepest apologies for keeping you waiting’? Or, ‘the impoliteness of keeping you waiting’? I wrestled with the wording, but ultimately decided to keep it simple.
When I accidentally lifted my face, I saw four pairs of eyes staring back at me. They all seemed to be taken aback. Only Leon wore a slight half-smile.
What’s with this response? Did I do something weird? Or is it that? Are they disgusted with me for doing something that doesn’t suit me? Are they sneering at me?
I got a bit angry at the thought, but I decided to stay patient. Frankly, I couldn’t stop just because of a little frustration. Not now.
“…How beautiful. That was what I thought when I met you earlier, but now, I don’t even have the words to express my admiration…”
said Gary, sighing.
Whoa there, pops, since when were you this kind of character? Weren’t you more the loud and hearty type? The kind that literally roars with laughter? Oi, what’re you blushing for?
I looked at Percival, seated beside him. The moment our eyes met, he turned away.
Leopard had something like approval on his face, and when I finally looked at Leon, he gave me a wry smile, looking a bit rueful. Seems like someone’s having fun. That kinda p.i.s.ses me off.
“…With that, I thank you all for your hard work. As you all know, the banquet today is taking place because of the goodwill of this fortress’s commander, General Crossford. We’re still on the road home, but tonight, I want you all to make the most of his hospitality and build up your spirits for tomorrow!”
While I was grumbling inside, ‘Anything’ll do, just get started already!’, Leon made his announcement as if he’d read my mind.
“It is my good fortune that I am able to welcome you, ladies and gentlemen of the Second Division elite, pride of the Empire, to this fortress today! It may be presumptuous of me to say so, but I am grateful to be allowed to prepare this modest banquet for you. Everyone, I want you to enjoy yourself to the fullest! And then some more!”
After him, Gary enthusiastically announced the start to the festivities. It was my first time partic.i.p.ating in something like this, but I admired the speeches with an onlooker’s detachment. I could see why they were important, setting the tone. But at the same time, I thought it was kind of a ha.s.sle.
Having received the signal to start, soldiers were popping open bottles of alcohol, and everyone reached their hands out to the spectacular spread as they pleased. The entire hall fell into a disorganized muddle all at once, and for some reason, we felt like we’d been left behind.
Would it be bad if I joined in on the eating and drinking? I guess it would be, huh… When I glanced over at Leon, a waiter brought over a gla.s.s and offered it to me. It was filled with some kind of faint golden liquid.
I accepted it and give it a casual sniff. It had a refreshing fruitiness to it. Wine, is it…? I thought it was, but there was something different about it.
Dubious, I took a small sip.
“Mm, mm!”
The cold liquid bubbled across my tongue. I almost spat it out by reflex, but I clapped my mouth shut.
“Mm…”
No matter how long I held it in my mouth, the tingling wouldn’t fade, so I could only swallow it. I could feel it fizzing as it slid down my throat. Shutting my eyes, I endured the indescribable sensation.
“Haa…–”
I sighed.
But it wasn’t the relief that followed the end of an uncomfortable experience — it was surprise.
Sure, I wasn’t expecting the bubbliness, but the sweet fruitiness that filled my mouth leaves me incredibly pleased.
If I had to pick a single word, I’d go with ‘delicious’. One hundred percent.
“Wh… What might this be, if you’ll pardon my asking?”
I came this close to asking ‘What is this stuff’ before I hastily amended my wording.
Looking more closely at the remaining liquid, I noticed the small bubbles rising from the bottom of the gla.s.s. That must be the source of the fizziness, but as a clueless first-timer, I didn’t even know what this stuff was called. What I did know was that it was something like wine. Something with alcohol in it. That’s about it.
“Hahaha! Tickled your fancy, did it!? This is a type of wine that produces bubbles, known as ‘sparkling wine’! It’s alcohol made in my hometown down in southern Belenan, but I do have a few bottles stored at the fortress. Given the occasion, I had it brought out.”
I didn’t know if it was good or bad as far as booze went, but it had to be good stuff. Gary was so proud of it. Well, I could see why.
I looked over my shoulder at Aira and Palmira just as they drank from their own gla.s.ses of sparkling wine. Wait, they were probably waiting for me to drink it first, weren’t they? Like they were using me to test for poison.
“~~~~–!”
“!!!”
Both pairs of eyes went round with surprise.
Oh, it’s kinda fun, watching them. I see, this is what Leon and Gary were doing. I smiled, mocking myself.
Well, that didn’t change the fact that this mystery booze was d.a.m.n tasty. I knocked back what remained in my gla.s.s.
–
–
I should have known better. I’d learned about this body’s weakness to alcohol during my time at Leon’s estate.
Or was getting carried away and drinking too much on an empty stomach to blame?
Maybe, maybe, it’s both?
I didn’t know how much time had already pa.s.sed.
But seeing that the banquet was still going on, it might not have been long yet.
Anyway, I was seriously wasted. Couldn’t even stand without swaying.
And I was in a very, very good mood.
In one hand, I had a gla.s.s of sparkling wine. I took a small mouthful. Amazing how easy it is to drink, it tastes heavenly.
“Ehehehehehe — ”
Seeing Leon in front of me, looking a little concerned, I burst out laughing. No reason, I just wanted to. It was fun.
It was fun, so I took Leon’s hand and walked out to the main part of the hall.
“Miss Chris?”
Since I didn’t eat much, I was hungry. The soldiers were all busy drinking, so there was still food left.
It looks so good. Too good to waste. I gotta eat it.
Looking over my shoulder, I saw Leon following after me with a wry smile. ‘Course he is. I’m pulling on his hand, after all.
But I don’t mean to be pushy. It’s just nice hanging out with Leon. He’s a good guy, Leon.
“I’m staaarviiing… ahahaha.”
Pushing my way past surprised soldiers, my eyes fell on a meatloaf sitting on the table. It looked rich and so, so delicious.
“I wanna eat that. Hold on.”
I pushed the gla.s.s in my hand onto Leon and approached the meatloaf. Meat. Yeah, it’s meat. I thought so. It looks mouthwatering.
I purred and looked around for a fork or something.
Nothing.
But I found something good. It was a small piece of bread. A moment later I thought of a great idea, and with a big smile, I took it and broke it in two.
Then I stuck a slice of meatloaf between the pieces. Like this, I raised it to my mouth.
“Mmm, dewiffuff.”
I was right. As I chewed, the richness of the meat and the umami of the bread filled my mouth. This is happiness.
Swallowing, I was about to take another bite when I made eye contact with a dumbfounded Leon.
Yeah, I’ll let Leon have a taste of my amazing invention too.
“Leon, this is really good, try it.”
And right then, I take my bitten meatloaf-bread combo and put it up to Leon’s mouth.
With the food right in his face, his expression grew terribly perplexed.
What? You made me drink some weird stuff earlier, I can’t return the favor?
What a rude guy.
“C’mon, try it. It’s super good.”
“V–Very well.”
Leon reached his hand out for the bread.
Why is this guy such a pain in the a.s.s? Can’t he just eat it like it is?
Grabbing Leon’s outstretched hand, I then shoved the bread into his mouth.
“Mm!”
“…What a pain.”
His brow furrowed, Leon gave in with a smile of surrender and bit into the bread I stuck in his face.
A commotion went up around us. I hadn’t noticed, but at some point, we’d become the center of attention. ‘What’s with you guys?’ I shot them a look, then returned my gaze to Leon.
“It’s good, right?”
“Uh, yes. It certainly is… I was surprised. It’s my first time eating this way.”
“Ahahahaha — ”
There was something hilarious about Leon saying something like that so seriously, and I burst into laughter again. I polished off the remaining half of the sandwich. Mm, that hits the spot. Everyone oughta give it a try.
My mood getting even better, I stole my gla.s.s back from Leon’s hand and downed the whole thing at once.
“Hoo~. Oh, it’s all gone…”
I ran out of sparkling wine, so I reached out for a nearby bottle.
Leon’s hand came from behind me and gently restrained mine.
“Miss Chris, haven’t you had too much already?”
I turned my head to look at him. His expression had grown concerned again.
He’s been awfully troubled today, huh? Well, I’m the one messing with him though.
“Ehehehehe~”
I looped my hands around Leon’s neck above my head. For some reason, I was getting the urge to make troubled Leon even more so.
I could feel the temperature of the back of his neck through my wrists. Settling in comfortably, I exerted just a little strength to pull his face toward mine. Man, does he look fl.u.s.tered now.
Some sort of shiver ran through me. The part of me that knew I couldn’t do this set off warning bells in my head.
But it was exactly because of that awareness that I was excited to cross that line.
“Leeeooon~”
My heart was racing. This feeling is not good.
The gears in my head are turning furiously. I can’t think straight. My consciousness is a mess, I know that.
My vision is growing hazy. I can’t even get a good look at Leon’s face now.
Ah, this is bad. My consciousness is scattering in the wind.
And yet.
The sensation against my hands. The temperature. The peace of mind that comes from his presence beside me.
I knew it all. And I obediently let go of my consciousness.