Chapter 20 - Bell? (Patreon)

As soon as we entered the restaurant and sat down, Ais asked, "Do you know her?"

Hearing her question, I realized she was talking about Syr. I answered honestly.

"I know who she is, but I've never spoken to her before. You know her too, don't you? She works here, after all."

"I think I've seen her before, but I've never talked to her."

"Then you know her about as well as I do."

"She was looking at you strangely. Didn't you notice?" Ais said, looking toward the entrance of the restaurant.

A moment later, Syr walked in. I looked in the same direction, and our eyes met once again.

She smiled at me, and I smiled back.

"But why are you worried about something like that? Are you jealous?"

"Jealous? That's not it."

"I'm just joking. Don't take it so seriously."

Just then, a waitress approached us. I thought Syr was going to serve us, but that wasn't the case. The waitress took our order, and shortly afterward she returned with our drinks.

"Your food will be ready in no more than fifteen minutes." She gave us a gentle smile.

"Alright, thank you." I smiled back at her.

Her face turned slightly red.

As soon as she walked away, Ais asked, "You really like beer, don't you?" She took a sip of her juice.

"You like it too, don't you?"

"I don't think it tastes bad, but I get drunk easily, so I'd rather avoid it."

I searched my memories and found plenty of occasions where Ais had only a little to drink and still got drunk. Her alcohol tolerance was extremely low.

"I see. I remember that time you had to be carried home."

It was a funny memory. The only embarrassing memory of Ais that I had.

Ais stared at me for a few seconds before saying, "Forget about that."

"Hahaha." I laughed before draining my entire mug of beer in one go. "But seriously, this stuff is fucking good."

"You should control yourself a little."

"I have a really high tolerance. You know that very well."

Then I called the waitress over and ordered another large mug of beer.

Ais let out a sigh and said, "Don't say I didn't warn you."

####

After our food was served, I kept eating while drinking an absurd amount of beer. I drank without caring how much I was spending. I drank so much that I couldn't even finish most of the food I had ordered.

Before I realized it, my vision had become a little blurry, and my words were coming out slightly slurred.

But honestly, even though I was drunk, I was still very conscious. I had complete control over my body.

As soon as Ais finished eating, she stood up and said, "I told you not to overdo it. Let's go home."

She signaled to a waitress, who approached us. The one who came over was Syr Flova, smiling.

I looked at her, and our eyes met once again.

She was one of the very few women I'd met so far who could look directly into my eyes. Every other woman looked away almost immediately.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"The bill, please."

"Ais, I told you I was going to pay, didn't I?"

"Just forget it."

After receiving the bill, Ais paid for everything and asked, "Do you need help getting up?"

I smiled at her and said, "Don't underestimate me!"

I stood up and walked out of the restaurant without staggering, while people watched the two of us.

Once we were outside, beneath the silence of the night, I let out a sigh.

"Sorry. I drank too much. I'm going to wake up with a terrible headache tomorrow."

"I told you not to overdo it."

We slowly walked through streets that grew emptier and emptier.

Eventually, we approached Babel Tower.

I looked up and asked Ais, "Have you ever been to the top?"

"Why are you asking that all of a sudden?"

"I'm just curious."

"No, I've never been to the top."

"Why don't we go up there?" I looked at her with a smile.

Ais sighed.

"Why? Let's just go home. You need to rest. Your injuries still hurt, don't they?"

She kept walking.

Hm. I thought taking her up there might create a nice atmosphere, but it wasn't going to be that easy.

Shrugging, I followed after Ais.

'To be honest, I should focus on getting closer to a Goddess, not her.'

####

When I woke up the next day, I got out of bed with a pounding headache.

As soon as I reached the first floor, I ate something and then headed toward the Dungeon alone this time.

I had talked to Ais yesterday and told her I wouldn't be able to go to the Dungeon today.

They were probably exploring without me by now.

'They're probably annoyed.'

After training so much and going to the Dungeon almost every day, I suddenly told them I wasn't going.

'Well, I'm going now.'

As soon as I got close to Babel Tower, I looked around for someone I knew.

After searching for a while, I spotted someone interesting.

She was a girl much shorter than me. Her hair was white... or maybe silver? It definitely stood out.

'She reminds me of someone.'

After digging through my memories, the only people with that hair color who came to mind were Freya and Bell.

But it definitely wasn't Freya.

'In my memories, Bell doesn't exist in this world.'

Or at least not the Bell I know.

I slowly approached while people watched me.

The girl had her back turned to me and seemed to be eating something. There was a knife at her waist that looked expensive. But unlike the knife, her armor was very basic.

As I got close enough, my shadow fell over her, and she slowly turned toward me.

The moment she faced me, her eyes widened. Her mouth was still full of food.

"Those red eyes..."

"Hm?"

The girl quickly chewed her food while taking a few frightened steps backward.