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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Rudrick’s head ached as if it would split open.
It was the aftermath of the hangover.
In fact, even though he had only slept for about an hour after drinking, there was no way the alcohol could have been completely detoxified.
To put it bluntly, Rudrick was still drunk.
And from the perspective of the inebriated Rudrick, not only was his head already hurting with ringing sounds, but the scene he saw as soon as he woke up from his deep sleep due to the noise was the three of them looking like they were about to fight to the death.
Moreover, neither the others nor Rudrick himself had known his alcohol tolerance accurately until now.
Rudrick’s reaction when he got drunk was to fall asleep obediently, but if he were to wake up from his sleep before the alcohol wore off, like now…
“…Hey, are you guys fighting again?”
Phew.
Rudrick sighed, brushed his hair back, and opened his mouth.
“…?”
“…Huh?”
The three of them, who had stopped their movements at the low voice, almost simultaneously doubted their ears.
It wasn’t something they expected Rudrick to say.
But as if confirming that they had heard correctly, Rudrick continued with a deep sigh.
“Haah… When will you all grow up? Grown adults fighting every time you meet? Aren’t you tired of it?”
“Th-that’s not it…”
“…Hey, Arwen. Are you going to manifest that magic as it is? Are you planning to blow up a building in the middle of the capital? This is completely terrorism. What are the police doing? Not arresting her.”
“I-I was worried that something bad might have happened to you…”
Although Arwen couldn’t fully understand the meaning of Rudrick’s words, it was clear that he was rebuking her.
Arwen’s voice, who had been trying to argue, gradually became smaller, and her head kept lowering as if it would bore into the ground.
Eileen and Sylphia, who had been almost instinctively backing away while watching that scene.
However, Rudrick’s sharp gaze didn’t miss that subtle movement.
“Eileen.”
“Are you talking to me…?”
“Yeah, you’re the same too. Stop fighting, please.”
“……”
She could read the emotion behind the words telling her to stop fighting.
Because of that, Eileen simply shut her mouth.
Even Sylphia, the last one remaining, was no exception.
“Sylphia. What about you, are you any different?”
“…Are you referring to me?”
“How is it that you guys fight every time you see each other’s faces? You fight when you meet, saying it’s nice to see each other, and then you start growling again whenever you try to do something. If you’re going to be like that, just fight till you die.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“What are you sorry for? Do you want to die by my hands before you fight till you die?”
A new side of the drunk Rudrick that couldn’t be inferred at all from his usual demeanor.
With those words, Rudrick covered his face with his hands and washed his face.
It wasn’t simply that he had blurted out his inner thoughts because he was drunk.
There’s a saying that a drunk man’s words are his true thoughts, but right now, even Rudrick himself didn’t know what he was saying, as his head hurt so much.
After washing his face for a long time, Rudrick finally leaned back on the bed and gestured.
“…Kitty, come here.”
“…Are you talking to me?”
“Yes.”
“……”
Arwen, who had pointed her finger at herself, hesitated.
She understood that Rudrick was drunk and not in his right mind, but she wasn’t sure whether she should go to him or not when he called her.
After experiencing a momentary inner conflict, Arwen canceled the magic she had been about to activate and transformed into a cat, climbing onto Rudrick’s lap.
Eileen and Sylphia gave envious looks even in this situation, but Arwen paid no heed and carefully climbed up, only to be grabbed by Rudrick as soon as she did.
Meow?!
A short, startled cat’s meow rang out, and Rudrick hugged Arwen for a long time without letting go.
A series of actions that only a truly drunk person could show, with thoughts and patterns that were completely unpredictable.
Seeing that, Eileen’s eyes widened, and she covered her mouth with her hand.
“…Oh my.”
Sylphia, who was equally surprised, muttered.
But at the same time, Sylphia’s mind started to spin rapidly.
Sylphia could also perform transformation magic perfectly, even better than Arwen.
And right now, Rudrick was perceiving Arwen in front of him as simply a cat.
After going through a series of thoughts, the conclusion she reached was simple.
The opportunity was right now.
As if she couldn’t lose, a puppy with an impressive red bridge jumped onto Rudrick’s lap.
It was undoubtedly Sylphia.
“…A puppy?”
Rudrick muttered with hazy eyes.
Even though he had seen the process of Sylphia transforming right in front of him, his mind, unable to think normally, couldn’t comprehend the current situation.
Cats are cute.
Puppies are cute too.
So there was double the cuteness in front of his eyes.
After going through an extremely simple thought process, Rudrick gently stroked Sylphia’s head, and Sylphia grinned as if everything had gone according to plan.
And Eileen, who had been watching that scene, clenched her fists tightly.
“Why only me…?”
Among the three of them, she was the only one who couldn’t use magic.
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It was a chaotic atmosphere, as if a storm had swept through.
Rudrick, who had been stroking and nuzzling Arwen and Sylphia, who were disguised as a cat and a puppy, had fallen asleep again at some point, his head drooping.
Sylphia, who had been smacking her lips as if slightly disappointed, transformed back into her human form and muttered.
“…He fell asleep already.”
“I know, right?”
Arwen chimed in, also dispelling her transformation magic.
When Rudrick got drunk and used rough language and even spoke casually, which he normally didn’t do, they were terrified, but the crisis soon turned into an opportunity.
Thanks to that, Arwen and Sylphia had a happy time, but Eileen was left out of the situation simply because she couldn’t use magic to transform into an animal.
“…Do you have no pride?”
Eileen didn’t bother to hide her deeply displeased face.
Of course, while she said that out loud, if she could have used transformation magic, she would have been the quickest to use it.
Eileen, who had vowed to herself that she would personally hire a mage to learn transformation magic as soon as she returned to the North, clicked her tongue.
“We can’t keep Rudrick here like this, so let’s go back to the Imperial Palace for now.”
“I agree with that.”
Arwen nodded her head.
Although the inn’s facilities weren’t too bad, it would be more convenient in many ways if they let Rudrick sleep in his original room in the Imperial Palace rather than leaving him here to continue sleeping.
“Then I’ll move him with magic.”
Sylphia quickly seized that opportunity.
“With magic?”
“Were you planning to carry him back? Oh, surely you weren’t trying to satisfy your own desires in such a way, were you?”
“…You’re not really one to talk. But for now, I agree.”
“Ahem.”
Sylphia cleared her throat at Eileen’s counterattack.
She had indeed transformed into a puppy and rushed onto Rudrick’s lap to satisfy her own desires, but no matter what anyone said, she didn’t regret that choice.
It was just a bit embarrassing that she had acted as if she had been possessed by something when she belatedly came to her senses.
First, Sylphia made a light hand gesture to levitate Rudrick.
And with another hand gesture, Rudrick’s figure disappeared into thin air as if being sucked in.
It was a highly advanced teleportation magic, but it wasn’t a difficult spell for Sylphia, who was a dragon.
Although it was a bit late, the misunderstanding had been resolved, and the situation had been wrapped up in a somewhat vague manner.
In the room where only the three of them remained, Eileen opened her mouth.
“…So how did you find this place?”
“Rudrick hadn’t returned even after the time he was supposed to.”
Arwen calmly replied.
The backstory of the incident was as follows.
Even after the time for dinner had passed, Rudrick hadn’t returned.
Although Eileen had accompanied him and Rudrick himself was a high-level mage, so nothing bad could have happened, the fact that Eileen had been with him was the problem.
Arwen and Sylphia, who had considered all the worst possibilities they could imagine, had reached a dramatic agreement to set aside their long-standing grudges and cooperate this time.
They had immediately cast a detection magic on the entire capital of the empire, which was an absurd act, and had finally found the location of Sylphia and Rudrick.
Coincidentally, that location had been a tavern that also served as an inn.
As soon as they had confirmed the location, they had rushed over and witnessed the scene from earlier, which was the general outline of the incident.
Eileen, who had listened to Arwen’s explanation, held her forehead and then grumbled as if she was displeased.
“…How exactly do you regard me?”
“For now, why don’t you button up that shirt? I don’t have a fetish for women’s lingerie.”
“……”
At Sylphia’s remark, Eileen buttoned up her half-unbuttoned shirt and made an excuse.
“…This was because I had laid Rudrick down and was going to return to my room to wash up first.”
“I’m sure you were.”
“No matter what I say, it only sounds like an excuse.”
Eileen lamented after buttoning her shirt, but the night was getting deeper.
She felt resentful towards Rudrick, who must have been teleported to his room in the Imperial Palace by now and had fallen into a deep sleep again, but what had happened was already done and in the past.
And it was the same for Sylphia and Arwen.
They could only pray that Rudrick wouldn’t remember what had happened today.
Without a word, the three of them left the room.
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Hahahaha they are so thirsty