Chapter 24: Side Story Victory Banquet

24: [Side Story] Victory Banquet

On the evening after the battle.

There opened a banquet in Crossroad.

It was called a banquet, but to put it bluntly, it was just a pile of food and alcohol dumped in the central square of the city to eat from.

“Now, then. To celebrate our victory against those terrifying armored monsters…”

I chanted a brief toast as I raised my glass.

“Cheers!”

The soldiers all at once raised their glasses and shouted along.

“Cheers-!”

“Cheeeers-!”

“Eat and drink as much as you want! It’s all on me for the day!”

“Yay~!”

“Hooray to our lord!”

The banquet began. The soldiers started talking to each other as they ate meat and drank alcohol.

Only a few hours ago, death was right in front of our noses.

In order to overcome that extreme stress, you’d need meat and alcohol.

Barbecues sizzled next to a large fire in the central square, and soldiers sang in celebration of victory.

I squatted in the corner of the square and watched the scene from afar.

“Are you okay, Your Highness?”

Lucas approached me and asked as he was worried.

“You haven’t eaten anything the whole day. You should get something to eat.”

“...Right.”

I answered, but I didn't feel like putting any food in my mouth. I turned the glass of wine in my hand.

The wine in the glass reflected the bonfire and glowed red.

Lucas, who was sitting next to me, smiled softly.

“You don’t seem like a commander who has just won a battle, Your Highness.”

“......”

“We successfully defended against a thousand Living Armors without any major damage. I think it’s okay for you to be a little bit happier.”

“Right, no major damage done.”

I slowly brought the glass to my mouth.

“Cough?!”

“Your Highness?! Are you okay?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah. I’m fine. It’s just that this beverage tasted different than I thought…”

I looked down at the glass with astonishment.

What the, I thought this was just beer! This thing has to be at least over 20% alcohol.

‘It only makes sense, I guess. Since I’m in a different world.’

I put down my glass and tried to finish what I was saying.

“There was no major damage, but precious lives were lost.”

It was futile to argue about the size of damage done the moment someone’s life was lost. Because all lives were precious, and they all were equal.

Of course, I already knew that I couldn’t save everyone. In this harsh game, that’d be considered arrogance.

However, one hero unit I could not save today, even one ordinary soldier, could’ve played a decisive role in protecting this city in the future.

Their lives were the seeds of the possibility that each of them could achieve something.

But they’re gone now.

“If I had been a little more careful… They wouldn't have died.”

I replayed today’s battle in my mind.

I could’ve done better. I could’ve been less sloppy.

It was different from the tutorial stage. There was clearly room for improvement. It was even more painful to know that for myself.

“I believe… Your Highness did a great enough job, and there’s no need to blame yourself. However, my remarks won’t be enough to chase your regrets away.”

Lucas said softly.

“However, Your Highness. We are currently at a victory banquet.”

When I turned around, the blonde and blue-eyed main character was smiling.

“If Your Highness is down like this, then the soldiers' morale won’t be raised.”

“......”

“Please smile, at least for now. Be happy with us. That too is a task of the commander.”

Smiling was a task of the commander.

I found that correct and funny at the same time, so as I was about to let out a small laugh—

“You couldn’t be more correeeeect!”

Aider jumped out from behind in a fuss. What the hell?!

“It is important to mourn the lost, but mourning alone cannot sustain morale. There has to be some time to celebrate and rejoice!”

Aider was dressed as a cook, holding a tray of dishes in his hand. What are you up to now?

“It’s not healthy to eat only meaat. So I brought some veggies tooo.”

“I mean, I haven’t even touched the meat yet…”

As I muttered, Aider handed me a tray of grilled vegetables.

“Congratulations on clearing Stage 1, m’lord.”

Aider’s gray eyes winked at me behind his thick glasses.

“It was a difficult stage, but you did very weeell.”

“......”

“Continue doing a great job like this, pleeaase.”

A little embarrassed by the game director's encouragement, I grabbed the roasted corn from the tray and put it in my mouth.

But as soon as I bit into it,

“Our Imperial Highness is eating veggies-!”

Aider suddenly shouted out loud.

“Our Highness is only eating veggies because there’s no meat leeeeeft!”

“Wh-what? What are you talking about?”

In a brief second, the soldiers instantly gathered around me like clouds.

“Our apologies, Your Highness! We should’ve been keener in taking care of you!”

“How dare we make our Prince, Ash, who has a reputation for only eating meat eat vegetables!”

I had such a reputation? Ash, this bastard! Just what kind of life has this guy been living?

“You imbeciles! Bring some meat for His Highness! And bring all the alcohol too!”

“Your Highness! Please try this meat I roasted!”

“You idiot! His Highness is from the Imperial family! He only eats raw meat!”

“Woah! The Everblack Imperial family sure is something else!”

“Stop talking nonsense, you fools! I eat them just as you do!”

The soldiers offered meat to me. I couldn't stand it anymore and yelled,

“I’ll get my own meat, leave me alone!”

However, the soldiers did not leave me alone. They started eating and drinking around me.

“Pour’em!”

“Drink’em!”

“We’re gonna die tonight!”

The soldiers poured alcohol into each other's mouths.

They were trying to figure out when they could pour me a drink with their ferocious eyes flashing. You sly bastards.

I trembled as I chewed the meat that had piled up like a mountain before me.

How did this happen?! I was going to replay the battle quietly and thoughtfully in the corner!

* * *

* * *

“Yer Hiiighness.”

“Eek? What is it now?!”

I looked to the side and saw Lily, whose face was as red as her hair, speaking with her tongue twisted next to me.

When did you get this drunk?

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“Please, let me… Let me retire, Yer Hiiighness…”

“Yeah, that’s not happening. You’re gonna have to work more for me.”

You’re lucky to have a high-paying and secured job in a recession like this! You should be thankful!

“Sob, sob. I want to hand in a resignation letter…”

As Lily started sobbing, the other alchemists took her by her wheelchair and disappeared into the distance. Hope she gets a goodnight's sleep.

“Hehehe, Your Highness.”

“Oh god, you startled me! Who is it now?!”

This time, I heard the voice of someone with a twisted tongue from the other side. I turned to see who it was, and it was Demian.

“This water’s a little bitter, ehehe… Hiccup.”

“Uh, that’s not water…”

Who the hell made this kid drink, huh?

The culprit was sitting right beside him. Jupiter grinned, with a completely sober face.

This granny was pouring a mysterious drink into Demian’s cup.

“Hey, Jupiter! What are you doing to a kid?!”

“A kid, you say? That won’t do. He’s a proper mercenary now.”

Jupiter slowly sucked in the cigar and smirked with her only eye.

“He needs to learn how to drink and how to smoke. He needs to learn how to waste his money. He’s like my grandson, so I’ll make sure to teach him a lot of things.”

“Why would you teach that to your grandson, you’re such a bad adult!”

Then my shoulders became heavy. Demian, completely drunk, put his forehead on my shoulder.

“Ehehe, Your Highness… Hiccup.”

“You dare to put your hand, no, forehead on the body of the imperial family?! You’ve become much more courageous it seems, Demian.”

It is unimaginable from the point of view of a commoner like Demian to do something like this, but the power of alcohol sure was amazing. Well, I'm not the kind of person who would punish someone for something like this anyway.

As I was about to tell him to go get some sleep, Demian slowly let out a mutter.

“...When I’m alone, I keep thinking about the face of my dead friend.”

“......”

“I constantly remember the scene from that day. The feeling of guilt for being the only one who survived keeps weighing down on me.”

I shut my mouth and listened to Demian. Demian mumbled in an indistinct voice.

“But strangely enough, when I’m near Your Highness… It puts my mind at ease.”

That’s not because I’m some special person. It’s because of my passive skill.

It’s just the effect of [Indomitable Commander] that prevents mental status abnormalities.

However, I couldn’t tell him that.

“So… I want to be by Your Highness’s side…”

Demian started to fall asleep.

I glanced at this poor child, who was sleeping with his forehead on my shoulder, breathing quietly.

“Now that I think about it, I noticed that my magic got stronger while I was following your orders.”

Jupiter, looking at me, tilted her head.

“Could it be because of your excellent orders?”

It was not because my orders were excellent, it was because of my trait and the party synergy effect.

A total of 25% damage buff was in effect during the battle.

But I couldn’t tell her that so I just chuckled.

“It is all thanks to His Highness’s wonderful personality and natural-born talent as a leader.”

I heard a voice from my back this time. When I turned around to see, Lucas was sitting there.

“When I’m with Your Highness, my thoughts become clearer, and my body becomes lighter and faster. If this isn’t proof of Your Highness’s personality and talent, I don’t know what else it could be.”

How can you flatter me with such a straight voice?

As I thought, this was unlike him, the person I thought was the embodiment of hard work and sincerity. I noticed a bunch of empty glasses beside him. It seemed that he had been drinking a lot too.

I couldn't help but laugh, seeing Lucas like this for the first time, I rolled up the corners of my mouth and gave a chin gesture to him.

“Is that why you’re always sticking by my side too, Lucas?”

Lucas, who was drinking a glass of beer, raised an eyebrow.

“Maybe?”

What do you mean, ‘maybe’? That didn’t sound like an answer that would come from a sincere knight like himself.

As I was going to ask more questions, other soldiers gathered around me. The soldiers exchanged toasts and drank up their glasses.

“For our lost friends!”

“For us, who have survived!”

“And for His Highness-!”

Everyone took turns drinking, and then everyone's eyes turned to me.

I got frightened and looked around.

“Huh, what? What are you looking at?”

“Your Highness. Your cup is full.”

“Oh, uh. This is ‘cause I’m not in the right condition…”

I tried to sneak by without drinking because I didn’t enjoy drinking back on Earth either.

The soldiers fell to the floor, pretending to weep in unison.

“Our apologies, Your Highness! We should’ve been paying more attention!”

“How dare we make our Prince Ash, who has a reputation for drinking seven days a week, not drink his alcohol!”

Okay, what kind of reputation is that? The previous one too! This damned nasty prince, what kind of life has he been living?!

“We deserve to die for that! Please kill us!”

“Stop overreacting, get back on your feet!”

“Then please drink up.”

“Huh? Why would I…”

“Drink up! Drink up! Drink up!”

The soldiers around them began to shout in unison.

Drink up! Drink up! Drink up!

“For fuck’s sake.”

In this atmosphere, I couldn’t just refuse to drink.

I had no choice. In the end, I ended up drinking the glass in one go.

The alcoholic liquid ran down from the esophagus to the stomach.

“Guh! Alright! Are you satisfied?”

I wiped the corners of my mouth roughly and turned the glass upside down over my head.

The soldiers cheered and seemed very happy. You bastards…

“How dare you make me, the commander and the lord of this castle, drink up? Now you have to pay for it! Hey! Fill up your cups, every single one of you!”

At my command, the soldiers were happy to bring in an entire barrel of alcohol.

I exclaimed as I refilled everyone's glasses.

“Alright, tonight, we drink til’ we die!”

We ate, drank, sang, and chatted as the moon swung across the night sky.

The night of victory was deepening.

* * *

“Guh, I’m sooo drunk…”

The banquet ended near dawn.

I finally got back to my room in the mansion, washed up, and sat on the bed, grabbing my dizzy forehead.

The alcoholic beverages of this world showed no mercy toward me. Even though I only drank beer, the alcohol level was different from the beer I drank on Earth.

I wanted to collapse and fall asleep right away, but I lifted my heavy eyelids and opened the system window.

‘I must open these before I go to bed.’

The reward boxes came in as stage clear rewards.

Two R-rank boxes, and three N-rank boxes.

It’s time to check what’s inside these boxes!

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