Ban thought as he carefully examined the snake tribe reflected in his eyes.
‘……Even so, they should be worshipping Orma-nim, not me.’
Because the ‘miracle’ Ban performed was ultimately done with Orma’s permission. With an indifferent face, he recalled his fanatical faith and glanced toward where Orma was.
Orma, standing one step back from the others, had his arms crossed and wore a strange smile. His lips were clearly curved upward, but his eyes were also lifted, and seeing his eyebrows twitching and fierce eyes flashing, it seemed his god was dissatisfied about something.
Could he think the level of swordsmanship I displayed before the god was low? Ban frowned slightly with worry. Or maybe he thinks the snake tribe are disrespecting him by bowing to me instead of Orma…….
But regrettably, Orma held a completely different dissatisfaction than Ban expected. For example, a dissatisfaction of the kind like ‘He’s charming them again……’ but anyway, Ban hurriedly spat out the holy water he’d been holding in the brazier with remaining embers of sacred fire, thinking he needed to soothe Orma.
As soon as the holy water touched it, the fire that had been burning fearlessly was immediately extinguished and disappeared without a trace. After carefully confirming it was completely extinguished, Ban hurriedly ran to Orma.
……Huh, but the ground seems to be shaking a bit. Did an earthquake happen?
“……What’s wrong, Ban? Why are you like this? Are you dizzy?”
Aha, seeing not only the ground but also Orma was shaking, it didn’t seem like an earthquake had occurred. Ban staggered but still stubbornly walked toward Orma. Flustered by that sight, Orma walked forward as if coming to meet him first, but Ban’s vision continued to spin round and round.
It was hard to come to his senses and giggles kept leaking out. Uh, what…… I feel kind of good right now! I feel like I could fly through the sky!
“Ban?”
Orma hurriedly embraced Ban, who was standing precariously as if he’d lose his balance at any moment. His god’s handsome face filled Ban’s vision as he looked at him as if dumbfounded.
Wow, he’s handsome. As expected…… whose god is he…… very, very handsome……!
“Are you okay? Why are you suddenly like this, huh?”
“O…… rma-niim……”
Ban’s words dragged on and his pronunciation slurred. Ban, who had felt so stiff with his upright posture and whose only expression was occasionally smiling faintly, had completely changed.
His pretty eyes looking at Orma were flushed reddish, and his foolish beaming smile was so sweet it was pretty enough that he wouldn’t want to show it to anyone. Fuck, who is this for to see now……
Orma looked around and hurriedly hid him in his embrace so no one could see Ban’s face. Then Ban rubbed his face against his god’s broad chest while muttering.
“I thiiink…… I’m a biiit…… druuunk……”
……Yes, it seems so. Orma closed his eyes tightly while holding Ban, who was grinning and clutching his clothes.
* * *
If there’s a good point about alcohol brewed by a god, it’s probably that there’s no hangover. I don’t particularly have expertise in things like the taste or aroma of alcohol, so setting that part aside. And…… I don’t know, isn’t that all the good points? Does it make sense to get drunk just from holding it in your mouth for a bit without even swallowing?
After coming to his senses, Ban groaned while pulling the blanket covering him up to the top of his head instead of opening his eyes and assessing the situation.
……He wanted to die from embarrassment. Should I die? Ah, come to think of it, even if he died, he would resurrect anyway. For the first time, Ban empathized with Orma’s feelings of envying death.
“Are you up?”
Orma, who noticed Ban’s movement, asked like a ghost. Ban hesitated for a long time before answering vaguely.
“……Yes.”
When a small, shrinking voice came from inside the blanket, Orma stopped trying to scold him sternly and let out a small laugh. Then he carefully pulled back the blanket.
Even though the alcohol should have worn off, Ban’s face was flushed red, and he couldn’t even make eye contact with Orma and didn’t know what to do. Tsk, he must have been quite ashamed.
“What happened?”
“I held Banan’s ocean wine mixed with water in my mouth. They said doing that would have the effect of holy water……”
But alcohol is alcohol. Since the wine brewed by Banan could make you drunk immediately with just one sip, it was understandable that Ban, who had held it in his mouth for a long time, got drunk instantly. While Orma let out a small sigh, Ban, who belatedly rolled his eyes to examine the space where he’d been lying, carefully spoke.
“But…… where is this?”
“Still the Black Wildwood. The snake tribe elder saw your condition and recommended we rest in an empty house.”
“Ahh……”
No wonder the room was pitch dark. It seemed they’d woven black grass and plastered it on the walls, and the furniture and accessories were no exception. After confirming that even the bed he’d been lying on was the same, Ban carefully sat up. In the entirely black space, only a faint flame providing light for the room crackled and burned on a candlestick made of black grass.
“That’s fine, it’ll be getting dark soon anyway, so let’s spend the night here today.”
It seemed he hadn’t slept as long as expected. Ban slowly nodded and then bowed his head deeply again, fiddling with the edge of the blanket.
He absolutely couldn’t look at Orma’s face with a clear mind. He felt like he’d die of embarrassment. No, he wanted to die. He just wanted to die…… He vividly remembered his disgraceful behavior up until he fell asleep as if fainting.
……Fuck, I’d rather have blacked out.
What was so good that he kept grinning foolishly and clinging to Orma? Orma kept letting out empty laughs as if dumbfounded but managed to humor him well. He even embraced him so that disgraceful sight wouldn’t be shown to anyone.
And he kept talking to him to try to come to his senses. That voice sounded quite desperate.
“Ban, what are you doing here like this? Then what about me, huh? Please try to come to your senses before I gouge out all their eyes…… Fuck, he’s laughing again. Ah, no, I didn’t curse…… Don’t cling cutely and come to your senses……”
Was his drunken behavior that flustering? Orma didn’t know what to do and said strange, rambling things to Ban. Then when Ban, who was overcome with sleepiness, finally became quiet and closed his eyes, Orma muttered that this was rather better and lifted him up entirely.
That was all Ban remembered. Probably after this, the snake tribe elder guided Orma to a place to rest.
“……What’s your alcohol tolerance?”
“I don’t really know……”
“You don’t know?”
“I’ve never drunk enough to get drunk.”
Of course, he knew his alcohol tolerance well from his past life, but in the first place, the current Ban and his past life self had completely different bodies. So his alcohol tolerance must be different too. Since he was taken in by Serka’s temple as a child and raised as a Holy Knight belonging to the church, he’d only put ceremonial wine in his mouth during occasional ritual prayers, and had never drunk enough to get drunk.
Even after meeting Orma, he’d only lightly had one or two drinks as a palate cleanser at the inns they stayed at during their travels, so Ban didn’t know his alcohol tolerance. At Ban’s quiet answer, Orma let out a faint sigh and lightly ran his hand through his hair before saying,
“Let’s not drink alcohol from now on.”
“……Yes, I’m sorry.”
“No, only drink in front of me. Only drink when you’re with me, understand?”
You want me to show you that disgrace of clinging to you while grinning again? Ban desperately held back wanting to shake his head quickly and obediently answered that he understood. Of course, in his mind, he vowed alone to never touch alcohol again.
“Whew…… Anyway, it’s about dinner time, so go eat. The snake tribe was busily preparing some dishes.”
Fortunately, Orma changed the subject and let Ban, who had been groaning wanting to hide in a mouse hole, breathe again.
Ban, who had been bowing his head deeply and couldn’t make eye contact at all anyway, bowed once more to convey his gratitude to Orma before jumping up and fleeing in a hurry. He had no thought of being hungry at all, but if he’d continued staying in one space with Orma, he might have chosen to die one more time from embarrassment.
As he frantically left where they’d been staying, the surrounding scenery finally came into his eyes.
The black grass that had come up to Ban’s waist showed a neatly trimmed appearance cut in half, and the air that had heated up to the point where it was difficult to breathe had calmly subsided so there was no discomfort in breathing. A cool breeze blew peacefully, enough that you couldn’t tell this place had once been a hellish scene, and the faces of the snake tribe conversing in the distance were full of bright smiles.
……Fortunately, even though he was drunk, it seemed he’d finished what he needed to do well.
Relieved, Ban belatedly checked the system window. Since he’d cleared the quest, he would have received a reward, and he needed to check if there were any changes accordingly. However, as Ban carefully read the contents of the quest window, he couldn’t hide his bewilderment and blinked his eyes busily.
[Quest Success!
Hidden Quest: Find Jaena and evangelize to new believers to save them.
Find Jaena (1/1)
Make new believers (58/10)
Save them
Reward: Faith +15, Faith Gauge +7, Special Title [Knight of the Black Wildwood]
……Currently calculating rewards based on quest performance. Please wait a moment.]
