<Chapter 58>
#6. Waves of Change (5)
“Hahaha! Like a true man! That’s how a man should be!”
A hearty laugh rang in Calix’s surprised ears. Frowning, Calix glared at Kamin Patel, who was presumed to be the root cause of this situation. Then he quickly rubbed Melty’s back.
“I told you not to drink so quickly. Are you alright?”
“…It tastes good.”
Melty, who had been staring blankly while firmly holding the empty glass with both hands, raised his head. Meeting those sparkling eyes, Calix could only respond with a “What?”
Calix had been certain that Melty wouldn’t enjoy alcohol, given how he usually went around with sweet things in his mouth. A large bottle appeared in front of Melty, who was sniffing the glass with his nose buried in it.
“Seems like it suits your taste, so you should drink more.”
“No, wait…”
“Yes!”
Calix was left speechless as Melty eagerly extended his glass forward to receive more alcohol, as if he had been waiting for it. Unaware that Calix was swallowing a sigh that seemed about to escape his mouth, Melty even clinked his glass against the one Kamin Patel was slightly shaking.
“Cheers!”
With an excited air, he clinked glasses and, just as before, emptied his glass clean without giving anyone a chance to stop him. Staring at the empty glass, Calix grabbed his glass with all his might as Melty was about to extend it forward again.
“Why?”
“It’s not ‘why.’ Is this really your first time drinking?”
Melty nodded at Calix’s question. Dissatisfaction rose in Kamin Patel’s eyes as he was unable to pour more alcohol due to Calix’s hand covering the rim of the glass.
“The kid is drinking well, so why are you stopping him?”
“Don’t teach strange things to a kid who’s drinking for the first time.”
“Huh? There’s no separate guardian here? He’s drinking so well himself.”
It was exasperating for Kamin Patel, who hadn’t forced him to drink and found it admirable that Melty was drinking so well following his lead. Melty, who was nodding up and down as if agreeing with Kamin Patel’s tongue-clicking expression of disbelief, muttered:
“That’s right.”
“Hey. Whose side are you on?”
Calix sharply turned his head to the side and frowned, questioning Melty’s soft mumbling. Melty’s eyes, which had cautiously looked up to gauge Calix’s reaction, slowly moved downward. Just as Calix was about to add another word to Melty’s dejected expression, as if he hadn’t said anything, Melty, who had been cautiously looking up again to check Calix’s mood, gently curved his eyes and showed a faint smile.
“You’re smiling like that because you have nothing to say.”
Calix said in a grumpy voice, his expression crumbling at Melty’s eye smile. He tried to maintain a strict tone, but his efforts had already been easily undone by Melty. Naturally, the strength in his hand that was holding the glass faded.
Sensing this was his chance, Melty quickly retrieved his glass and extended it toward Kamin Patel with a bright smile. Bursting into laughter, but for a different reason this time, at the small hamster who had easily brought down the merciless Padrian with just an eye smile, Kamin Patel filled his glass as desired.
“If you drink like that and can’t come to your senses later, what will you do?”
As the glass filled with a gurgling sound, vitality overflowed in Melty’s eyes. Unable to actively stop him when he showed such evident signs of enjoyment, Calix messed up his hair with a worried expression. At his words, Melty, who had already put one side of the glass in his mouth, rolled his eyes to look at him and mumbled.
“I’m perfectly in my senses…”
“Haha! It’s good to drink until your memory breaks off at least once! Isn’t that what the first drink is all about! It doesn’t make sense for an adult to not have raised a toast yet!”
“That’s right.”
Melty’s head nodded up and down enthusiastically at Kamin Patel’s words. Calix sincerely hoped this news would reach the Crosel family. More specifically, he would feel relieved if the news reached Melty’s family, who were surely protective of him, and someone would just snap off Kamin Patel’s neck.
“Well then, cheers.”
“Cheers~!”
Melty enthusiastically clinked his glass against Kamin Patel’s extended one and gulped down the drink. Gazing at the empty glass, Calix firmly held onto his glass as he was about to extend it forward again.
“Why?”
“It’s not ‘why.’ Is this really your first time drinking?”
Melty nodded at Calix’s question. Dissatisfaction rose in Kamin Patel’s eyes as he was unable to pour more alcohol due to Calix’s hand covering the mouth of the glass.
“The kid is drinking well, so why are you stopping him?”
“Don’t teach strange things to a kid who’s drinking for the first time.”
“Huh? There’s no separate guardian here? He’s drinking so well himself.”
It was exasperating for Kamin Patel, who hadn’t forced him to drink and found it admirable that Melty was drinking so well following his lead. Melty, who was nodding up and down as if agreeing with Kamin Patel’s tongue-clicking expression of disbelief, muttered:
“That’s right.”
“Hey. Whose side are you on?”
Calix sharply turned his head to the side and frowned, questioning Melty’s soft mumbling. Melty’s eyes, which had cautiously looked up to gauge Calix’s reaction, slowly moved downward. Just as Calix was about to add another word to the dejected expression, as if he hadn’t said anything, Melty cautiously looked up again to check Calix’s mood, then gently curved his eyes and showed a faint smile.
“You’re smiling like that because you have nothing to say.”
Calix said in a grumpy voice, his expression crumbling at Melty’s eye smile. He tried to maintain a strict tone, but his efforts had already been easily undone by Melty. Naturally, the strength in his hand holding the glass faded.
Sensing this was his chance, Melty quickly retrieved his glass and extended it toward Kamin Patel with a bright smile. Bursting into laughter, but for a different reason this time, at the small hamster who had easily brought down the merciless Padrian with just an eye smile, Kamin Patel filled his glass as desired.
“If you drink like that and can’t come to your senses later, what will you do?”
As the glass filled with a gurgling sound, vitality overflowed in Melty’s eyes. Unable to actively stop him when he showed such evident signs of enjoyment, Calix ruffled his hair with a worried expression. At his words, Melty, who had already put one side of the glass in his mouth, rolled his eyes to look at him and mumbled.
“I’m perfectly in my senses…”
“Hahaha! It’s good to drink until your memory breaks off at least once! Isn’t that what the first drink is all about! It doesn’t make sense for an adult to not have raised a toast yet!”
“That’s right.”
Melty’s head nodded up and down enthusiastically at Kamin Patel’s words. Calix sincerely hoped this news would reach the Crosel family. More specifically, he would feel relieved if the news reached Melty’s family, who were surely protective of him, and someone would just snap off Kamin Patel’s neck.
“Well then, cheers.”
“Cheers~!”
Melty enthusiastically clinked his glass against Kamin Patel’s extended one and drank it down in one go.
“Hey, hey. I said drink slowly.”
Calix regretted not blocking Melty from conversing with Kamin Patel when the drinking party first started here. He had developed some bad habits, and quite firmly at that.
‘Are hamster beastmen naturally good with alcohol?’
He had heard that bear beastmen and tiger beastmen enjoyed alcohol, but he had never heard of hamster beastmen being related to alcohol. There was no red flush on Melty’s face as he tilted the glass. If anything, his skin seemed to become more fair as more alcohol entered his system.
“Aren’t you worrying too much?”
Lila, who had been laughing at the sight of Calix anxiously hovering around Melty’s side, asked. At her question, Calix, unable to erase his displeased expression, continued to stare at Melty and said.
“Of course I’m worried when a kid drinking for the first time is gulping it down so mindlessly.”
“Young people sometimes drink like that.”
“That’s right. Calix-nim, I’ve heard you have a rather old-fashioned side.”
In any case, there wasn’t a single person among those gathered who would take his side. Calix, frowning sharply and glaring at Durasen and Lila, quickly grabbed some juice. Then he waited for the moment when Melty, after emptying his glass, would engage in conversation with Kamin Patel.
“Hmm… I’m just asking out of curiosity, but is there a way for a snake beastman to become a hamster beastman?”
“Mister, are you already drunk?”
Melty’s ears twitched as he expressed confusion at what those words meant. Looking at his ears, Kamin Patel scratched his chin with his hand. It was indeed a question that sounded like something a drunk person would ask. But it was understandable why such a thought might come to mind.
‘There’s no way Padrian would take care of someone who isn’t from their own family like this.’
From when they were drinking, he had worn a worried expression, and now he was filling Melty’s glass with orange juice so that Melty wouldn’t notice.
– Not yet, but one side is working hard on it.
He suddenly remembered what Lila McNeil had answered when he indirectly asked if the two were in a romantic relationship. At that time, he hadn’t quite understood what she meant, but seeing the dynamics at the drinking party, he could tell who was working on whom.
“Mister?”
“Ah, no. Never mind.”
Kamin Patel hurriedly clinked glasses at the sight of Calix behind Melty, his eyes flashing sharply. Melty, cheerfully making a ‘cheers!’ sound with his mouth, put his glass to his lips and gulped as he had been doing all along.
“…Huh?”
Melty’s head tilted as he licked the yellow traces of the drink remaining around his mouth with his tongue. This should definitely be alcohol, but it clearly tasted different. Puzzled but not fully grasping the situation, Melty blinked.
Although there was no change in his complexion, Calix keenly noticed his slightly dreamy eyes and took out a handkerchief from his bosom to wipe his mouth.
“Why that look?”
“Calix-ssi. The alcohol tastes like orange juice.”
“Really? I guess you must be craving orange juice.”
With a remarkable excuse, Calix quickly and swiftly filled his empty glass with orange juice. Melty, who had been blankly staring at the orange juice filling his glass, could only mutter a dazed “Huh…?”
Melty, who had been swindled by the snake beastman while his eyes were open, looked at his own glass with a puzzled expression. The yellow liquid, which had instantly filled the glass that had been empty just moments ago, was swaying.
“It’s filled.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Huh? But I drank it all?”
Melty blinked earnestly with a puzzled expression. Looking at his fluttering eyelashes, Calix could easily diagnose Melty’s condition. Though there was no change in his complexion and his voice hadn’t gotten louder, so he had seemed fine, it appeared he was already drunk.
Lowering his gaze to the bottom of the cup, Melty stubbornly checked the well-sealed bottom of the cup with his own eyes. And again, he wore a puzzled expression. He clearly hadn’t seen Calix filling his glass with juice.
“Hahaha! I was going to have a drinking contest, but a child is a child after all!”
Kamin Patel laughed heartily at Melty, who was still confused and unable to grasp the situation. Melty looked at him with an expression that said he didn’t understand what was going on.
“I’m not a child.”
Even in the midst of all this, he strongly insisted that he wasn’t a child. Kamin Patel couldn’t help but burst into laughter again at his sulky face. His children had grown up too early. Perhaps because of that, it had been too long, far too long, since he had seen the charm of such a cute child. No matter how hard he proclaimed himself an adult, his plump cheeks and tiny stature made him seem like a child.
Kamin Patel’s hand, which had reached out to touch his plump cheeks, was easily blocked by Calix. Calix, who had blocked between Melty’s cheeks and his hand without giving him a chance to approach, looked at him with a cold gaze. The silence brought about by Calix, whose eyes flashed as if to say ‘how dare you try to touch him,’ and the dumbfounded Kamin Patel was easily broken by Melty’s muttering.
“…It’s a hand.”
Melty, who blinked at the palm that suddenly appeared before his eyes, raised his hand that wasn’t holding the glass. Then he tickled the palm filling his vision with his index finger. Calix’s hand, which had flinched and trembled, shrank back. With his sight cleared again, Kamin Patel’s figure came into view.
“Hoho. I guess it’s time to end the drinking party.”
“I agree.”
Calix nodded vigorously at Durasen’s words. Melty, who had seemed fine, was now gradually becoming more affected by the alcohol. Calix carefully tried to take the glass clutched in his hand.
“It’s mine.”
“Who said otherwise? You’ve already finished it.”
“It’s still full.”
Calix was at a loss for words at the sight of Melty, who was putting strength into his hand and showing no intention of letting go. If he forcibly took it away, it seemed like the juice would spill. Watching the brief tussle between Calix and Melty, Kamin Patel extended the glass in his hand with a hearty laugh.
“Little one, then let’s have a cheers for the last glass.”
“Cheers!”
Melty, who smiled brightly at Kamin Patel’s words, retracted his protruding mouth. Then he vigorously clinked his glass against the one extended by Kamin Patel. And just as he had done when he first tilted his glass, he cleanly emptied it. The liquid, which was merely orange juice, disappeared instantly. Despite emptying juice rather than alcohol, Melty’s face was full of satisfaction.
“This drunkard.”
Lila suppressed her laughter at Calix’s muttering, which contained many implied meanings. Resting her chin in her hand and gazing at the bickering Calix and Melty, she spoke with a smile.
“Don’t be so harsh. It might be a good thing.”
“…I really don’t see what’s good about this.”
“Oh my. Since Calix-nim doesn’t enjoy drinking much, you might not know. Alcohol is actually a mysterious potion that makes people honest.”
Has the mysterious potion gone bad?
Frowning and barely listening to her words, Calix stroked Melty’s hair as he grinned, saying he had emptied his glass.
“Now that the drinking party is over, let’s go to the room.”
“There’s still some left!”
“No, there isn’t.”
“There is… Huh? Why isn’t it bubbling up?”
Melty tilted his head, staring blankly at the emptied glass. It had been bubbling up on its own just a moment ago, but the glass seemed to be broken now. Before Melty could shake the glass in his hand, Calix quickly snatched it from him.
“Hey, little one. There’s not just today, so let’s have another drink next time.”
“We’ll drink again next time?”
“Of course~! Hahaha!”
At Kamin Patel’s hearty laugh, Melty grinned and said that would be good. Calix frowned at the possibility that this situation could occur again. Then he soothed Melty well and took him into his arms.
“We’ll be taking our leave now.”
Leaving behind a greeting that was unclear whether it was respectful or rude, Calix quickly left the place. Kamin Patel, who watched him moving swiftly yet meticulously checking Melty’s condition, wore a slow smile at the corners of his mouth.
He had thought he was just a rude, cold, and unpleasant young man, but it seemed there was quite a human scent to Padrian as well. Behind Calix, who was walking quickly, Kamin Patel’s characteristic ‘hahaha’ laughter rang out.
