TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 59
Liquor makes one’s judgment cloudy.
Sometimes it turns people into dogs.
Sometimes it makes them surrender to their desires and commit mistakes, and on the other hand, it gives them the courage to say things they normally wouldn’t.
Near the summit of the Hamel Mountain Range, which boasts a magnificent view.
I spread out a mat and sat down, looking at the Young Lady sitting in a cart.
“Huuuu… Huum~”
The Young Lady was smiling, seemingly in a good mood after a long time outdoors.
With a liquor bottle in one hand and chocolate in the other, the Young Lady was enjoying her leisure time, looking at Panting Gomtangi with interest.
“Ricardo.”
“Yes?”
“She’s going to die.”
-Haeheuk… Eeheuk…
Gomtangi, who had more legs than a person, was panting, and I thought she had terrible endurance, especially considering the upcoming winter and the prospect of pulling a sled.
I picked up the Young Lady in a Princess Carry and said.
“It’s because she’s underweight.”
“Oh… will she be delicious if she eats?”
The Young Lady asked with a sincere expression, and I remained silent.
There were various foods on the mat.
Fruits like apples or grapes.
Gimbap and warm soup, typical picnic fare, were also there, and despite my lack of cooking skills, the Young Lady looked at the lunchbox and said.
“…This is weird.”
The Young Lady poked at the gimbap with her chopsticks.
I checked if it had gone bad by smelling it, but all I could smell was the fragrance of sesame oil.
What was weird about it?
I ate one, and it tasted like normal gimbap, but the Young Lady’s expression wasn’t good.
The Young Lady poked at the gimbap again with her chopsticks and said.
“There are too many vegetables in this.”
The Young Lady complained about the vegetables in the gimbap, and I realized why she had a sullen expression.
The gimbap contained ingredients the Young Lady disliked – spinach, carrots, radish, and cucumber, and the meat was cut into tiny pieces.
It was a dish the meat-loving Young Lady would naturally dislike.
The Young Lady was removing the filling from the gimbap, throwing away the spinach, calling it the “Devil’s Plant,” and tossing the cucumber, saying it was the “World’s Disease.”
“Picky eating is bad.”
“If I eat, I’ll die.”
“You won’t die. Eating vegetables is good for your health, and being picky is what’s bad for you.”
The Young Lady glared at me with a sullen expression.
“Feed this to her.”
The Young Lady pointed at Gomtangi, who was resting under a tree, and I thought that if she kept eating like that, she’d become a pig instead of a puppy.
I shook my head and replied to the Young Lady.
“If you don’t eat that, you won’t get any liquor today.”
“That’s not fair!”
“It’s right here.”
I showed the Young Lady the liquor bottle, and she threw her chopsticks at me, clenching her fists.
I dodged the chopsticks and smiled slyly.
“It’s because you don’t eat vegetables that you’re slow.”
“Eeeek!”
The Young Lady didn’t want to eat vegetables but wanted to drink liquor.
She was at a crossroads.
I gave the Young Lady a chance, saying.
“Want to try?”
“Try?”
The Young Lady ate the lunchbox, tears in her eyes.
*
The sun was setting.
The Young Lady, who had dozed off in the cool breeze, was sleeping peacefully with her head on my lap.
As the gentle wind rustled her hair, the Young Lady frowned and said, “Ricardo, a fly is trying to eat me… catch it.”
I playfully covered the Young Lady’s face with her hair.
The Young Lady, with her hair over her face, waved her hands around, saying.
“Ahhhh… a swarm of flies is coming… Ahhh!”
The Young Lady woke up with a start, her eyes wide open.
She was staring at me, and when she saw my mischievous smile, she clenched her fists.
The Young Lady looked at me with a disappointed expression and said.
“Ricardo, you’ve destroyed my Dreamland.”
“I am the Demon King, after all.”
“Eeeek!”
The Young Lady was throwing grass at me.
Below the Hamel Mountain Range, the night view was starting to appear.
Although it wasn’t as impressive as the night view I saw in my previous life in Seoul, the stars in the sky and the lights from the town created a humble night view.
I placed the cold liquor bottle on the Young Lady’s cheek.
“Huuu!”
The Young Lady woke up with a start, looking around, seemingly startled.
I spoke to the Young Lady gently.
“Young Lady, aren’t you going to drink?”
“Liquor…”
The Young Lady, now awake and excited, looked at the liquor bottle.
I brought out a chair I had prepared and sat the Young Lady down, then showed her the brandy I had bought on the way.
“Hamel 12-Year Aged, an apple brandy.”
The Young Lady watched as I rotated the bottle, her eyes following it.
“I don’t know what it is, but it looks delicious!”
“I bought it at the marketplace for 1 gold.”
“Is it cheap?”
The Young Lady’s interest immediately waned.
“That’s a lie. I bought it for a high price. It’s Olivia’s first time drinking, so I couldn’t give her cheap liquor.”
“Hehe… I suppose so.”
“Yes.”
The Young Lady smiled shyly.
I put out the mat and lit a bonfire, creating a cozy atmosphere.
The Young Lady warmed her hands by the fire, and it seemed she enjoyed this peaceful ambiance, different from the grand chandeliers of high society.
I thought that I should come here often, maybe in the spring, skipping winter because it’s cold.
The Young Lady was looking forward to it.
The atmosphere was peaceful.
It was her first time drinking as an adult.
And I, a handsome man, was with her.
This wasn’t right.
The Young Lady, who was having a rare escapade, couldn’t hide her excited eyes.
Drinking was forbidden at the Academy, and she hadn’t been able to do it due to her injured legs.
I smiled, thinking my guess was correct, as the Young Lady clenched and unclenched her fists, looking like a Girl.
I stored the Young Lady’s smiling face in my memory.
The night sky below the Hamel Mountain Range was beautiful.
The Young Lady’s True Feelings were hard to read.
I looked at the Young Lady, who was looking at me with a sullen expression.
“But, Ricardo.”
The Young Lady looked around.
She was carefully looking around the surroundings, where only a chair and trees existed.
The Young Lady tilted her head and said to me.
“Is there no snack?”
“A snack?”
“Yes, isn’t it that when you drink, you need a snack? I learned that from a book.”
“Ah…”
With an awkward expression, I scratched the back of my head, and the Young Lady said to me with a sulky expression.
“It’s okay! There’s the gimbap left over from earlier!”
“Gomtangi ate it all.”
I showed her the empty lunchbox with a awkward smile.
The Young Lady looked at Gomtangi, who was lying on the ground, with angry eyes.
The Young Lady pointed at Gomtangi and said.
“What about that one?”
“Yes?”
“It looks delicious.”
Gomtangi still looked like an emergency food supply to the Young Lady.
I smiled slightly and took out a large side dish container from the rear seat of the handcart, showing it to the Young Lady.
The container was filled with red meat and sausage.
It was a treasure trove of snacks for the Young Lady.
In my previous life, I had wanted to go glamping, but I died young, so it was a dream I couldn’t achieve. Now, I was able to fulfill it, albeit a bit late.
I put a grill plate on the bonfire and looked at the Young Lady, who was looking at me with admiration for the first time.
“Ricardo, you’re cool…!”
I nodded in response to the obvious statement.
“Of course.”
“Oh…!”
The meat was slowly cooking.
We poured liquor into each other’s glasses.
The Young Lady, who was drinking for the first time, scrunched up her eyebrows and poured a small amount, asking if she should pour more, and I poured only half a glass, considering her tolerance.
The Young Lady looked at the half-full glass with a scrunched-up face.
“What’s this…?”
The Young Lady looked at me with a disappointed expression, as if I was being too cautious.
“Just try it for now. It might not suit your taste.”
“But…”
The Young Lady sighed and looked at the glass. She smelled the whiskey, which had a golden color, and scrunched up her face.
The Young Lady looked at me as if she had been given a spoiled drink.
“This smells weird. My nose is tingling… I think I’ll die if I drink it.”
“That’s how liquor usually is.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
I remembered when I first drank liquor, and the smell surprised me, so I could understand the Young Lady’s reaction.
The smell of strong alcohol and fruit was unique, and it seemed like something you shouldn’t drink.
I was curious about the expression the Young Lady would make when she drank liquor for the first time, an experience she would have only had in a science lab.
I carefully offered the glass to the hesitant Young Lady.
“Shall we?”
“Shall we?”
The Young Lady was holding the glass awkwardly.
The Young Lady didn’t know what “shall we” meant.
I carefully brought my glass to the Young Lady’s, and when they clinked, a clear sound rang out.
“This is called a toast.”
“A toast…? Why do people do this?”
“Well…”
I didn’t know either, but I made up a plausible-sounding reason for the curious Young Lady.
“Maybe it’s to ward off evil spirits.”
“You don’t know either?”
“Yes.”
The Young Lady laughed brightly, saying “Huh” and offering her glass again.
“Let’s do it again! Again!”
“Again?”
“We didn’t do it right!”
“Hehe…”
I smiled slightly and carefully offered my glass again.
The Young Lady smiled brightly and clinked glasses, saying with a bright smile.
“For world domination!”
“Puhaha! What’s that?”
“My dream.”
The Young Lady still had her ambition.
The Young Lady was very ambitious.
After drinking, the Young Lady scrunched up her face.
“Ewww, it’s disgusting!”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Ugh…! It’s so bad!”
The Young Lady’s reaction was funny.