“Damn it, this is boring when I keep losing! Let’s stop.”
Black Weasel tossed the dice aside and glanced over. Wolf and the Red Eagle Prince hunched their shoulders at the same time, as if by agreement. Black Weasel lifted the cup to the mouth and stared at them for a moment—then suddenly winked one eye in a grotesque way.
“Who are those women? Pretty! My type!”
“This bastard’s completely drunk.”
“Silver, did you bring them? Hey, ladies! Pretty as wildflowers!”
“Where’d you drop your eyeballs? Do those look like women to you?”
“They’re women! They’re wearing skirts!”
“That’s not a skirt, you idiot. It’s a blanket.”
The blond barbarians pointed this way with red faces, shouting noisily. Wolf and the Red Eagle Prince exchanged troubled glances.
What are they saying. Sounds like they’re talking about us… It can’t be a compliment.
After yelling with Silver for a while, Black Weasel suddenly slapped the floor with one hand.
“Hey, the woman on the left! Sing! A song!”
“The Ice-Armored Beast says the prince should sing.”
Silver belched loudly and translated. Wolf’s mouth fell open in shock.
“What are you talking about…? This man is the prince of Stol and the future consort of the royal family of Lebanon! He is destined to become the husband of the next king of Lebanon, and you’re asking him to pour drinks and sing?”
Wolf’s voice rose in outrage. The Red Eagle Prince hurriedly waved a hand toward Wolf.
Wolf shook the head firmly.
“Your Highness, don’t stop me. These men are merely hired by White Deer. You have the right to refuse serving them drinks.”
“Wolf, accept reality. Our lives are in their hands. Especially yours… Didn’t I warn you about that?”
Wolf hesitated at the Red Eagle Prince’s pleading.
“Then we’ll take the second-best option. I’ll sing instead of Your Highness. Don’t worry. That man won’t even remember who sang once he sobers up.”
“Who the hell do you think you’re calling a fool!”
Black Weasel suddenly shouted in Atanian.
“I remember everything even after I sober up! The one on the left is Red Eagle! The one on the right is Wolf! And right now I’m not wearing any underwear!”
What?!
Wolf flinched as the man suddenly called their names perfectly—and even volunteered information nobody wanted to know.
Was that man pretending to be stupid on purpose?
Like a seasoned contract killer, Black Weasel had been thinking several moves ahead all along. And here Wolf had been—recklessly looking down on the man just because he seemed drunk during a crisis.
Which, unfortunately, had been a perfectly correct judgment.
“The woman on the left! You’re more my type! Hurry up and sing!”
“…See? He’s not in his right mind. It’ll be fine even if I sing.”
Wolf braced for it and started to stand.
Silver suddenly lifted the head.
“I’m in my right mind! Prince, get up! Let’s hear the future husband of Lebanon’s king sing!”
This can’t be happening!
“Woman! Song!”
“Prince! Song!”
The contract killer and the assistant both urged at once.
With nowhere to escape, the Red Eagle Prince finally stood.
“She dances like a graceful butterfly…”
“Hahaha! Now that’s good liquor!”
“Nice! Nice!”
Black Weasel and Silver clapped along with the song.
Wolf stared blankly at the drinking party.
Something’s wrong.
Those two were perfectly cold-headed when we arrived. How could they turn into completely different people in just a few hours?
Silver shot Wolf a sideways glance and lifted the cup.
“You there, attendant. Come here. Have a drink too.”
“No, I’m fine.”
With pursuers possibly arriving at any moment, at least one person needed to stay sober.
Silver’s face turned even redder.
“What do you mean ‘fine’?”
“I really am fin— no, I’m fine…”
“Bullshit! You think our Stol liquor’s too strong for your delicate ears?”
Now even Silver’s Atanian was slurring.
“Drink it already!”
“Drink, woman!”
Black Weasel barked as well.
Wolf had no choice but to accept the cup.
It was almost as wide as a soup bowl.
If all that liquor hit an empty stomach…
“Down it in one go! One go!”
Silver slapped the floor loudly.
Wolf prayed desperately for survival, squeezed the eyes shut, and drank.
By the time the cup was barely emptied, the world was spinning.
“Snacks! We’re out of snacks! Silver! Snacks!”
“Attendant. Ice-Armored Beast wants something to chew on. Those barrels—take one from the one sitting by itself. Go fish.”
Silver said it while gulping liquor.
The words were a mess, but somehow the meaning landed perfectly.
Feeling like drifting through a dream, Wolf staggered away like a baby bear.
A single wooden barrel sat a short distance away from the pile of liquor casks.
Wolf lifted the lid and looked inside.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
The heart pounded like a heavy drum.
Wolf froze with the lid still raised.
Through the violently shaking vision, the snack came into focus.
That… somehow…
Looks like something I’ve seen a lot near the sewer by the village market…
Stop. Stop! Don’t think about it!
Wolf shut the thought down completely.
Eyes deliberately unfocused, Wolf grabbed three or four of the things from the barrel and walked back, muttering internally.
It’s rabbit. It must be rabbit…
“Perfect! Nothing beats dried round rats!”
Black Weasel crunched loudly on the thing that looked suspiciously like a mouse.
Wolf stared at the ground with the hollow eyes of a gambler who had lost everything.
No way… It was too round to be a rat…
Maybe it was a hedgehog with the spikes removed…
“Princess, you too! Down it! Down it!”
“Woman! You drink too! Haha! Good!”
Now it was the Red Eagle Prince’s turn.
As the prince gulped the liquor, the guards cheered and pumped their fists.
“Ugh… dizzy…”
The Red Eagle Prince mumbled with a tangled tongue and collapsed.
Wolf flopped down as well, gasping.
Black Weasel and Silver looked like dozens of people.
Consciousness began to blur.
It was like a thin veil had settled over Wolf’s face.
Through the murky vision, Silver suddenly jumped to the feet.
“Why did you kill my mother!”
Silver clenched both fists and shouted.
Black Weasel poured liquor into the cup and glanced up.
“This bastard’s starting again.”
“Why did you kill her!”
“Because someone paid me. Why? How many times do I have to say it?”
“Who hired you!”
“No idea. I said I don’t know, damn it!”
“You know the broker! The broker who passed the job to you!”
“Can’t tell you that. Professional ethics.”
Stop talking. Stop…
Wolf’s eyes closed.
Just before consciousness snapped away, one last thought surfaced.
Can the prince and I… make it back to Atania alive?
* * *
Wolf.
Wolf. Wake up.
Someone was calling from very far away.
Wolf. Wolf!
“Wolf!”
The Red Eagle Prince shook Wolf.
Wolf opened the eyes groggily and pushed up the upper body.
“Wolf! You’re alive!”
The Red Eagle Prince grabbed Wolf in a tight hug and sobbed.
Wolf looked around with half-open eyes.
Black Weasel and Silver were nowhere in sight.
And then…
Memory slowly returned.
The drunken nonsense from the stupid guards. The brutal amount of liquor forced down on an empty stomach.
In the next moment, Wolf’s eyes flew open.
The Red Eagle Prince’s face and clothes were soaked in blood.
“Your Highness! Are you alright? Don’t tell me the pursuers—!”
“No, Wolf. This is from butchering meat.”
“…What?”
“A baby goat and a rabbit. Drained the blood and salted it. You wouldn’t wake up no matter how much we tried, so I helped Silver instead. It wasn’t as disgusting as I thought. Actually kind of fun. Maybe I finally found my calling.”
Wolf was speechless.
The Red Eagle Prince sighed in relief.
“I thought you were going to die from acute alcohol poisoning. I was terrified. I’m really glad you woke up. Here.”
The Red Eagle Prince held out a tray of roasted meat.
“Rabbit meat Silver and I prepared. Eat.”
“Thank you. Your Highness has already eaten? What about those lunatics?”
Wolf stuffed meat into the mouth and asked.
The Red Eagle Prince nodded.
“There was only jerky, barley porridge, and dried fruit besides this, but it wasn’t bad. Those two are practicing gladiator combat deeper inside the cave. Anyway, Wolf, you…”
The Red Eagle Prince stopped speaking and glanced toward the cave door.
The voice that followed dropped so low it was barely audible.