Chapter 82
"Mmm..."
My head hurts.
That was the very first thought that occurred to me upon waking.
It felt as though my brain weren't anchored in place and rolled around whenever I moved even a little.
Along with that, I could feel my nauseated stomach and the inside of my mouth, parched as a desert.
A textbook hangover.
"Ueegh..."
The problem was that Bellias had hardly ever touched alcohol, so she had never experienced a hangover either.
Unable even to think of using mana to drive away her hangover, she could only writhe and groan in bed.
How much time passed like that? As her head throbbed dully, she heard Abel's voice along with the sound of something being set down beside her.
"Good grief. No matter how easy Kahlúa Milk is to drink, it's still strong, so you shouldn't have drunk so much. Here, drink some cold water and at least come to your senses."
"Ueegh..."
Her hand poked out from beneath the covers, waved around in the air for a moment, then grabbed the cup placed beside her head and began drinking the cold water inside it.
Gulp. Gulp.
Was this what an oasis in a parched desert felt like?
As the cool water poured into her mouth, parched from the hangover, she felt as though she had come back to life.
The sensation of freshness in her mouth pouring down into her esophagus and stomach was truly both exhilarating and refreshing.
It felt as though energy were being supplied to her entire body.
'Ah...'
So this was how delicious water could be.
Thinking that, Bellias slowly opened her eyes and stared at Abel, who was looking at her.
"You're awake?"
...Abel?
Her head was still a little foggy.
But after drinking the cold water, her mind began to clear little by little and quickly started to grasp the current situation.
Her clothes were... unchanged.
If so, it seemed nothing strange had happened.
The clothes around her chest felt oddly disheveled, but it wasn't anything serious.
'Hmm...'
Her mind quickly began replaying the past.
She had definitely tried her first cocktail while watching Abel drink one over dinner, hadn't she?
One glass, two glasses, three glasses. As that continued...
"Ah."
Aaaah.
Aaaaaah!!!!
Right. Then, while blankly staring at Abel!
“!!!"
'Hehehe. How about a tight hug?'
"Eek!"
'Heheh. Why are you running away? Come on, over here.'
No.
'Looks like these ridiculously large breasts come in handy at times like this.'
No!
This isn't me!
'Hehe. How is it? Soft, right? I feel kind of good hugging Abel too...'
"Aaaaaaaaah!!!"
Flap. Flap.
Go away! Disappear!
This, this isn't me! Disappear, quickly!
But cruelly, even at the moment her mind was addled by alcohol, it still boasted the outstanding performance of remembering every detail with perfect accuracy.
Leaving aside the fact that this performance made Bellias feel as though she were dying of shame in real time.
"Aah..."
She remembered everything.
Her disgrace, and every action she had taken toward Abel that could reasonably be called molestation.
Tremble. Tremble.
Under the weight of that truth, Bellias's body slowly began to tremble.
"Kyaa..."
"Hmm?"
"Kyaaaaaa----!!!"
Finally facing her own disgrace, Bellias let out a scream for the first time in her life.
"Quite a set of lungs..."
Watching her, Abel muttered quietly.
***
People always make mistakes.
I make mistakes too, so I didn't particularly like berating others for theirs.
Of course, I would criticize them if the severity of the matter exceeded what that person could handle.
In that sense, Bellias's mistake this time was honestly nothing serious from my perspective.
‘Hehehe… How is it?’
It wasn't that her embrace had felt good or anything.
Really.
‘…’
In any case, she was akin to a newbie who had tried a cocktail for the first time and was experiencing drinking culture itself for the first time.
Someone like that continuing to drink without knowing their own tolerance?
It was entirely possible.
If she'd never drunk up to her limit, how could she know her tolerance?
I knew her abilities well, so I might even bear more responsibility for assuming she'd know how to use mana to flush out a hangover or drunkenness.
So...
"I am truly sorry."
"No, I told you, it's fine."
That was all I could say in response to her apology.
What was that posture called again? Ah, right. Dogeza.
With a sigh at her dogeza posture, in which she politely knelt on both knees and bent her body all the way forward, I opened my mouth.
"I told you from the beginning, didn't I? I said it was mostly my fault for not stopping you."
"But even so, the fact that I... mo... molested you remains unchanged..."
At her words, I involuntarily leaned forward and stared for a moment at her prominently displayed, voluptuous breasts.
However, that gaze lasted only a moment. I soon turned my eyes to hers and spoke.
"No, that's not it. The root of the problem was that you drank alcohol, right?"
"But..."
"I was the one who made the cocktails, and I was also the one who kept making them for a beginner without gauging your tolerance."
So...
"Let's just call it mutual fault and leave it at that. How about it?"
"But… ugh... you're really all right with that?"
"Yes."
At my firm reassurance, Bellias rose from her knees and stared quietly at me.
"Um, may I ask you for one favor?"
"What is it?"
"The hangover..."
"Hmm?"
"Could you teach me how to use mana to get rid of it...?"
Her voice trembled like a goat's bleat as she said that.
"All right."
A little while later.
After teaching Bellias how to use mana to relieve a hangover, I looked out the window.
The sun had already been high in the sky for quite some time.
Perhaps because it was her first time getting completely drunk, she had slept far longer than I expected... No, since she had passed out from alcohol, that was probably the more accurate expression.
"Sss... Hoo..."
I turned my head and watched her sitting comfortably on the bed, quietly exhaling the alcohol from her body through her mouth.
Today's performance was out of the question.
It had already been quite a while since the time we had decided on for the performance had passed.
There was a way to go out and perform anyway.
"Should we rest...?"
Yes, let's rest.
Honestly, continuing to perform movements meant solely to fool people's eyes every day for a week had left me a little tired.
Having made that decision, I began putting my disguise back on, which I had removed before entering this room.
After confirming in the mirror that I had transformed into a man in his early-to-mid thirties, I spoke to Bellias, who was still driving away her hangover.
"Let's take today off. I'll go out and tell everyone we're taking the day off."
"Hoo... Ah! Yes... Once again, I'm sor...."
"Enough."
She was trying to put herself down again.
"The matter's already settled, hasn't it? Mutual fault. I could go out and perform by myself right now, to begin with."
But I didn't go out, did I?
"I wanted to see the city too, since we'd been performing every day for a week."
As I said that, I filled a cup with cold water, set it on the table near her, and continued.
"If anything, I'm grateful that you gave me a reasonable excuse."
"Ah..."
"Then I'll say it one more time. I'm going out and will be back. Is there anything you want to eat or need? If so, I'll buy it for you."
Bellias stared blankly at me, then rose from her seat and approached the door where I stood, speaking with a warm smile.
Her expression was exactly like the one she had worn while acting as my wife on the way here.
"No, I'm fine."
Like a newlywed bride, or a happily married wife, she brushed the dust from my clothes with her hand and straightened my collar.
There was no dust, and my collar was as stiff as could be.
How should I put it? I couldn't bring myself to tell her that.
'What devastating power.'
The gentle wife act I received while I was in my original form rather than disguised...
Its impact was far greater than I had imagined.
Tap. Tap.
"Have a safe trip."
"Huh? Y-yeah..."
I'll be back.
The door swung open.
.
.
The streets of Marita, after I stepped outside.
I wandered around blankly, greeting people who recognized me and giving a rough explanation to those who asked why we hadn't performed today.
I simply told them that my wife's condition wasn't very good, so we had been unable to perform, and apologized.
"Ah, I see."
The people who heard me nodded as though they understood.
What? When they asked why we hadn't performed, their expressions had seemed subtly disgruntled, but they accepted such a lame excuse?
"Heh heh heh. You said you were married, right? Goodness, we were being too self-centered. But, you see..."
As the middle-aged man chuckled amiably, he cautiously leaned toward me and whispered.
"Could you tell me the secret?"
The secret?
"My wife awakened mana too, you see. Because of that, our nighttime activities have been a little..."
Nighttime activities?
"Pardon?"
"Do you have a routine for maintaining your health? If so, please tell me."
My head went blank for a moment, but I thought about it.
But how would I appear in other people's eyes?
They could sense mana from the woman, but they could neither sense nor see it from the man.
Either a powerhouse capable of completely deceiving the sight of others
or simply an ordinary magician who hadn't awakened mana.
If one asked which of the two seemed more credible, it would be the latter.
In other words, there was a strong chance they assumed the wife had awakened mana while the husband had not.
But we were known as a married couple, and the wife was in poor condition?
For the sake of our story, I'd given them a rough version of our background: that we had been born and raised in the same village, become artists, and come to this city at the wife's request once our skills were good enough not to shame the city.
But the wife is in poor health?
"Ah..."
The pieces began falling into place.
In other words, from their perspective, I was a husband who had driven his mana-awakened wife to exhaustion through nighttime activities?!
Whoosh.
I turned my head and looked around. The eyes of the men looking at me held an inexplicable reverence.
When I looked toward the women, they were gazing enviously at the wife who wasn't here.
"Oh..."
Good heavens.
A little later, after barely getting past the middle-aged man's question, I managed to escape the crowd of fans, tour the city, and return to the lodging around evening.
And that evening.
"Um, Abel..."
Honestly, I thought Bellias wouldn't touch alcohol again.
"Could you make me a cocktail?"
"Uh... are you sure that's okay?"
"Yes. I'll control myself this time."
But I hadn't expected this.
A pleasant miscalculation.
"All right. Sit down. What kind of cocktail would you like?"
A new drinking companion was always welcome, after all.
***
The outskirts of Marita.
Someone was watching the lodging where Abel and Bellias were staying in the distance.
"Wow..."
A card prepared in case of an unexpected development during this operation,
Karon, a member of [Dark Shadow].
"It looks like the boss and Lord Abel have gotten closer!"
Though, of course, I can't see it!
Don't you agree?
Mysterious assailant?
"Guhk!"