Wreath of Lilies, Cauldron of Poison

Chapter 89

The Drinking Game

Once the signal was given, Yuuji took his first gulp with a smug smile.

This one’s in the bag. They don’t know that my Poison Resistance is at full mastery. I can drink the same amount of Alcohol that could kill a person and still be fine.

On the other side, Connie drank her ale silently. The ale was acceptable, but she missed the sharp warmth of rice wine down her throat.

After the first hour had passed, Yuuji saw that Nick was starting to slur his words, but Connie was still drinking without even going red. A bit of worry began to seep in his mind, so Yuuji started sending signals by urging her to give up and telling her that he was looking forward to having her in his party. And yet she was unresponsive.

The girl drank silently, her eyes looking at him straight as if enamored by him.

She did not expect him to call out a Contract with the Hunter’s Guild as a witness. He was escalating the game so that his enemy could not back out. Quite a move.

What was in Connie’s mind, however, was how he could manage to drink so much ale without getting drunk. Her eyes were pointed at him because of this and a few thoughts came into her mind. She drank as she pondered, keeping pace with Hero of Vorzenny.

4 hours had passed. Seine and Leida had fallen out of the competition within the first 2 hours and were now sleeping on the table. Nick was the next to be defeated, puking out his guts outside the Guild half an hour later. Only Akula managed to continue drinking along with Connie and Yuuji. But soon, her red face grew redder and she went silent before finally nodding off and collapsing on the ground.

“The Centaur lost! Now it’s just Lady Steelheart and the Esteemed Hero of Vorzenny!

After having been involved with the high stress of recent meetings with the Alliance Leaders and the Maiden of Water, Akira was currently enjoying a day out with Hannah and Eleanora.

The recently recovered Hannah was now even more in love with Akira, who treated her well even at her lowest. And Eleanora was quite happy to be able to walk around with her friends. It was a nice change from her initial days of staying indoors.

While they were enjoying their chat, Eleanora spotted a crowd of people gathering at the Guild. Even at its busiest, it was not normal to have so many people trying to climb over each other to sneak a peek into the Guild.

“What’s happening at the Guild?” Eleanora commented.

“Do you want to have a look?”

“Sure. We have time,” Hannah said.

The three approached the Guild and Akira tapped on one of the onlookers.

“What’s happening inside?”

“Oh, Sir Hero! The Hero of Vorzenny and his party is having a drinking game with the Lady of Steelheart House!! It’s amazing! It’s already been more than 3 hours now and the Lady and the Hero are still going!”

“Huh?!” Akira exclaimed. “I’m going in.”

Hannah shrugged at the strange attachment he had with the vile girl and said. “Go in then, I’m staying outside with Eleanora.”

He quickly made his way inside through the throng of people through superior strength, leaving the girls outside.

“A drinking game, is it?” Hannah folded her arms with a knowing smile. “What’s the rule?”

“The basic, no butts off the seats,” the man that they talked with answered without looking away from the game.

“Oh, that’s harsh. That’s really harsh.”

“W-what do you mean?” Eleanora asked.

“You know that most of my fellow Knights are men, right? They often play this after an event. I’ve seen them play this.”

“You did?”

Hannah reddened. “Just once or twice,” she continued her comments seriously. “This game is actually a layered one. The game is very simple, but there is more than one way to win. An endurance drinking game is a game of control, pace, and experience.”

Once Akira made his way inside, he saw the scene of collapsed bodies and a mountain of empty kegs beside 2 people. Both were staring at each other seriously. Gauging. Thinking. Drinking.

But what turned up in his mind was this question.

“What the hell is that dress?! And that hair!!”

Behind his table, Yuuji scrunched up his brows, uncomprehending of the supposedly charmed girl drinking before him.

Why is she not surrendering?! She should’ve been charmed!! He cried out in his mind. We’ve been staring at each other for hours!!

“…Is what he’s thinking now,” Connie mouthed as he watched him struggling to keep his eyes on hers.

On the other side, Connie kept her pace, slow, and steady. Patiently waiting for the breaking point. He might be resistant to alcohol like, but is he resistant to basic human needs?

And then she felt the tremor on the wooden floor.

Aaand there it is.

She could see it on the tightened grip on the mug, and that constipated look in his face. She could imagine the cramping under his kidneys. The stiffening of his diaphragm as he tried to stem the flow of liquid in his bladder. He needed to do the most basic needs of all humans after ingesting a large amount of liquid.

The discharge of said liquid.

In short, he needed to piss.

In her case, Connie was used to circulating her waste, so she only had to defecate or urinate a few times a month. Something she could do even at her current stage. By the looks of it, he could not do the same thing.

Yuuji glared at his opponent as the pain started to overwhelm his reason. He started beating on his thigh to distract himself from the maddening pain as he was forced to keep on drinking.

Another mug was placed in front of him, the frothy liquid now seemed more hateful than the woman he was aiming for. The moment I have you I am going to destroy your waist!!

Right now, he had to choose between temporary pain or winning everything. He focused on that and that alone. I can do this. Just a few more and I will win. I will win!!

He finished his mug and was about to take the next one when suddenly Connie called out. “This is taking too long!! Bring me the whole keg!! And for the Hero too!!”

The whole guild blew up in a round of cheer as 2 Hunters excitedly grabbed 2 whole kegs as large as man’s torso and placed them in front of Connie’s and Yuuji’s respective tables.

“DRINK! DRINK!! DRINK!!!” The crowd chanted. The people knew about the Steelheart’s lone daughter’s rumors and pitied her for it, and nothing more. But seeing her skill at drinking, how could they not respect her?

Without standing up from her seat, Connie put both her hands on either side of the keg and bit on the cork securing the hole where the ale would be poured out of. She then pulled it out with a quick movement of her powerful jaw and spat it aside.

She then heroically put her legs apart for stability and started pouring the ale down her gullet. The bitter liquid passed through her throat and into her stomach, causing the crowd to cheer even louder.

That was the final straw.

Unable to hold the torrent in his bladder, he had to choose prize or pride. He chose pride. He ran out of the Guild bow-legged and to the nearest alley. He pissed everything out and returned to see her target looking at him with an empty keg on the table. One arm propped on the table with her chin resting on it.

“You lost. Sir Hero,” Cornelia said with a smile.

“You! I wanted to save you. And this is what you did?” he shouted angrily. “Didn’t you hear?! If you just lost, you would have been saved from that vile man!”

“Save me? Why do I need saving?” Connie asked. “He was just drunk. People do really stupid things when they are drunk, isn’t that right everyone?”

This question was answered with murmurs and nods of agreement from the gallery.

Connie slapped the passed-out Nick and he stirred lightly before letting out a small burp. “And we were in a party together. Isn’t that right, Akira?”

All eyes then turned to see a young man with short black hair and black eyes. He looked a bit unhappy about being suddenly involved in whatever scheme that the villainous girl was cooking up for the Hero of Vorzenny.

“She’s…right,” he answered. “That man was indeed in a party with Lady Cornelia.”

Murmurs of understanding and complaints about Nick’s rowdiness abounded.

“You were the one challenging him, after all. So, it isn’t like we want it to reach this point,” Connie shrugged helplessly.

“Hmph!!” Seeing that his plan had failed miserably, Yuuji scowled and glared at the girls accompanying him. He wanted to leave while he had some amount of respect left. He barked and order. “Let’s go!!”

“Wait!” Connie called out.

Yuuji turned, a smidgen of a smile appeared on his face. Is this it?

“You haven’t given us our prize for this bet,” Connie smiled brightly as he watched his expression quickly turned from a happy one to one of disappointment. “Don’t you remember? The loser will hand over a member of his party to the winner. And you lost.”

“It’s just a game!” Yuuji exclaimed sourly. “It doesn’t mean a thing!”

“Oh?” Connie still kept her smile on, but for some reason that smile sent a chill across the back of anyone who saw it. Akira remembered that smile. It was the smile that would become the start of a fight that he would like to forget.

Martell, who saw that things were going as planned decided to peek in through the window, standing on the tip of his toes.

“Sir Hero,” she said with a friendly smile. “You intruded on a private talk between party members and one-sidedly challenged a man to a fight. And when we tried to make it just a friendly game of no lasting repercussion, you involved the Hunter’s Guild as a witness.”

The recount of all that had happened made the Hunters and the onlookers craned their heads closer.

“You made a bet with the party of Lady Cornelia Asterium Steelheart of House Steelheart. A prominent house of Calendian Nobility. And you lost. And then you refused to acknowledge the loss. Smearing the name of both me, and the Hunter’s Guild as a witness of our contract.”

“You are looking down on us, Sir Kurosaki Yuuji!” Connie slammed her hands on the table, waking up Nick who had fallen asleep on top of it.

“Whoa, what did I miss? Did we win?”

The young girl continued as she walked towards him with a damning face, lacking any awkwardness she showed beforehand. “You are looking down on both Calendia and the Hunter’s Guild!! Just because you are one of the Heroes, does not mean that you are above the law!!”

At this, the crowd clapped their hands and nodded. Some of them were staring daggers at Kurosaki Yuuji. By refusing to follow an established agreement, he was not just offending the Guild, but also offending their countrymen. Were they supposed to just take it when another country tried to make off with what they were owed? NO!

Hannah and Eleanora who had managed to enter the Guild after hearing Akira’s voice frowned at this disrespect of their country.

“Are you disrespecting a Calendian Duke House, Sir Hero of Vorzenny? I might not like that villainous creature called Cornelia, but she is still of Noble Blood. If you have a dispute you need to -”

“Shut your trap, woman!” Yuuji lashed out and intended to Charm her in retaliation.

Suddenly a mug of ale was spilled onto Hannah’s leg.

“Whoops, sorry. The ale is still doing its round in me. Eleanora, can you help her?” Connie said, holding a mug of ale from a nearby table on one hand. As she went past, Connie whispered. “Don’t look in his eyes. Just walk away.”

Sensing the seriousness of the girl, Eleanora nodded silently and took Hannah, who was still complaining about her shoes, outside.

Angry at hearing the Hero of Vorzenny cursing his beloved, Akira’s feeling about Kurosaki Yuuji immediately went south.

“…You might be able to downplay the bet, Kurosaki. But the Hunter’s Guild Contract is something that works internationally. It’s an organization separate from the Country. and once you violate it, you will be blacklisted,” Akira exclaimed calmly, as he was trying to stay neutral in this. But there was a clear hint of anger in it.

“Hurgul’s Feet, Mistress is turning this little bet into possible conflict between 2 countries,” The mischievous little monster grinned in excitement. “And the Hero is chiming in too? What a show!”

“B-blacklisted?!” This sudden revelation shocked him. If he lost his place as a Hunter, he would lose track of the ‘scenario’, and he would lose everything.

“Dammit! Shit! Fuck!!” the man lost all composure and resorted to cursing, causing the crows to murmur and jeer softly. Comparing him to Akira, who was calm and steady and supportive of their countryman’s face.

Seine and Leida took either side of his hands in worry.

“Please. Please don’t abandon me!” Seine begged, eyes wide and teary. On the other side, Leida took his hand in hers and grasped it tightly between his bosom, begging him not to choose her.

The man looked at the two holding her hand, then at the Centaur looking at her absent of thought. “Can I…at least choose who will leave my party?”

“…” Connie seemingly gave this a thought. “Alright, I am giving you the chance to choose. The one that you will abandon! The one that you will give as a prize,” she said loudly.

“Then, Akula.” There was almost no thought given into it. As if it had been decided long ago. “You will join her.”

The moment she heard this a ripple of self-control seemed to appear behind Akula’s glazed eyes.

“Then, we’ll take the Centaur. Please and thank you!” Connie said brightly with both hands behind her back, reminiscent of the old Cornelia. She watched the Hero stomp away in anger while waving as a mocking gesture before turning to see to Akula.

The Centaur was holding her head and called out Yuuji’s name as if struggling with herself. Muscles bulging as she trashed around, kicking and laughing and crying at the same time.

The crowd was surprised by this abnormal behavior and quickly ran out, afraid of being crushed by the Centaur’s powerful kick. They had seen her in action a few days before and none of them wanted to be the victim of her strength.

Nick tried to stand before her with a shield at ready. “Stand back! It’s dangerous!!”

The girl brushed the warning off and shouted. “Akula Altanghazar!! Daughter of the First Warrior Jayug Ganbaatar!!”

“If you still have pride as a Tonsulde of Altankheer, then show me that pride!!”

“I am…Hero…Yuuji I…no…I…Tonsulde…He…ro!!” Akula dug her fingers into her forearms and scratched so deep it went into her flesh. She was fighting the Charm with her willpower. The willpower that had been slowly ground down by Kurosaki Yuuji’s Charm, leaving her as a puppet of love.

Martell, who had been hiding outside came in and levitated the heavy furnitures to try and pin her down. But she was too strong.

The Charm was extremely powerful, and her own willpower was losing out. But her pride as a Tonsulde. That was something ingrained in her. It was not hers alone, but also her father's. Her ancestors'. Her clan's. And it is by this pride that she started to push back.

Finally, in the middle of broken furnitures and kegs and scared Receptionists, Akula collapsed. Connie caught her torso in her arms as she fell to the side.

“I am…a Tonsulde…” she said, gazing at Connie’s clear blue eyes. They were beautiful. Like the sky on a summer day.

“Yes…yes you are…” the blonde-haired girl replied with a smile before the Centaur passed out, exhausted.

After sensing that whatever madness that was happening had finished, Akira walked to Connie’s side and said.

“We…we need to have a talk.”

Connie laughed and said. “And we will. After we take care of this friend of mine.”