Chapter 114
To get straight to the point, Private Feelings were indeed involved.
That was why he had been nagging me during Cocktail Mixing, saying things like, "Is that all the strength you have!"
However, as Tony belatedly explained, the order for the Ramos Gin Fizz itself wasn't given just to intentionally torture me.
"It's true. It's really like a tradition of our bar. Everyone goes through it once. If you ask Sey or the boss, you'll get the same Answer."
"So you're saying there was absolutely no grudge involved in selecting this Practice Cocktail?"
"...Of course, I can't say there was none at all. It was originally something we could have done a bit later, but I was feeling a little petty, so I made you do it the moment I saw your face today."
"Then you did order it to torture me!"
"It was just killing two birds with one stone, giving you some training and getting a little revenge... Uh, hey. Wait. I just saw you Activate something on that suit. Don't come any closer. I'll tell the boss and Sey."
At Tony's threat, I stopped the hand I was about to shoot forward like an arrow using Kinetic Drive.
I was going to just grab him by the collar and shake him wildly like a cocktail.
As expected of a former net diver, he was ridiculously quick to catch on.
Maybe it was because he had suffered it once before.
[Combat Mode Deactivation.]
As soon as I turned off the suit's combat functions, Tony grumbled with a sigh.
"Anyway, bringing in something so ridiculous from who knows where... How on earth did you get that suit? It's not the kind of thing you'd see in the Lower Level."
True to his extensive knowledge of Technology, Tony seemed to have Recognized the suit's true value.
Certainly, it wasn't the sort of item a bottom-feeding unidentified person like me would Possess.
Excluding the Microchip in My Head, which utilized Over-Technology whose value was hard to guess, the most expensive of all my Assets was none other than this top-tier nano-material suit.
Even so, I couldn't exactly tell him straight out that I had humored the Megacorp Isiho Chairman's gastronomy hobby and received it as a gift in return...
"Ahaha."
When I just laughed awkwardly, having no way to explain it, Tony shook his head and said,
"Forget it. If it's hard to explain, don't. It's not like we're playing Truth or Dare right now... More important."
He said, pushing the Ramos Gin Fizz on the Bar Table toward me.
"You have to drink it. If you keep leaving it like this, the foam will Collapse and the taste will be ruined."
Aha, it seemed I was making and drinking it myself again this time.
You have to drink the cocktail you made yourself to know what went well, what was lacking, and what to improve next time in order to develop.
The difference from usual was that, while I would normally make two glasses of a cocktail from the start so Tony and I could each drink one and take turns sharing our thoughts, it was impossible this time.
Because making two glasses of Ramos Gin Fizz was an act of madness!
"Come to think of it, shouldn't you make a glass for me too? It seems a bit weird that I ordered it but can't actually drink it."
"Just kill me instead."
Exchanging jokes with Tony, I first brought my nose close to the top of the foam and smelled the aroma.
It was refreshing. It felt more like smelling yogurt than alcohol.
Perhaps because of the Blossom Water, I felt like I could faintly smell a floral scent as well.
I brought my lips close and took a bite of the foam.
As the firm foam landed on my tongue, it melted softly, giving off a savory yet addictive taste.
This wasn't common, but it was quite delicious just from the foam Alone.
Now it was time to taste it properly.
When I put the Stainless Steel Straw in my mouth and sucked, a bizarre taste that was sweet, sour, rich, and smooth, yet fizzy with carbonation, wrapped around my tongue.
"Oh... this is fascinating."
"Right? It's exhausting, but it produces a taste that makes the effort worthwhile."
"But the taste is the same even if you use a machine."
"...Ahem."
Tony just cleared his throat, unable to deny it. Still, it was true that it was delicious.
It felt like drinking a well-made yogurt or cultured milk. It also felt like drinking a Milkis Drink.
It was unique in that the refreshing Citrus scent typical of a Cold beverage was present, while at the same time, it had a creamy texture you would expect from a warm drink.
It definitely had a decent alcohol content, but the alcohol scent was so faint it didn't feel like a cocktail, and yet the distinct taste of gin was still present at the Finish.
It was a cocktail overflowing with personality in many ways.
After a few sips, I felt a bit full, making me understand why it was called a Breakfast Substitute Alcohol.
"Hey, let me drink some too."
While I was enthusiastically sharing my impressions, Tony suddenly reached out and snatched the glass away.
I stared blankly at him removing my straw, inserting a new one for his share, and slurping it down, as he casually tossed out a remark.
"What. You weren't going to drink anymore anyway. You're weak to alcohol. Just taste it, just taste it. You'll get drunk if you drink more. You might be Fine now, but the intoxication will hit you all at once. You know that too, right?"
That was... true.
I had no choice but to agree.
Because my weakness to alcohol was an all too public fact.
I had to be especially careful with cocktails.
Since there were so many lady-killer type cocktails that had high alcohol content but tasted sweet with almost no alcohol flavor, causing me to gulp them down and suddenly get drunk, I could end up completely wasted while sipping away under the excuse of practicing.
Even though I didn't really have bad drinking habits, I couldn't exactly work my shift while drunk.
"That's why I'm drinking it instead. This is great. I didn't eat breakfast anyway."
Tony said that, while annoyingly getting foam around his mouth.
I didn't know whether to be happy watching him inhale the cocktail while praising how well I made it, or to be sad that my drink was stolen.
"So, what's the anecdote about this Ramos Fizz?"
Tony threw a surprise question at me as I stared blankly.
He was asking about the cocktail's anecdote, knowledge that a proper Bartender ought to know.
I opened my mouth lightly.
"As you know, it's a cocktail that takes about twelve minutes to make one glass, and because of that, Henry Ramos, who created this cocktail, hired people called the Shaker Boys and had them take turns Shaking it for thirty seconds each."
"And the number of Shaker Boys?"
"It varied, but at its peak, there were thirty-five. There's a story that even with thirty-five people Shaking it, they couldn't keep up with the speed of the orders."
Having shaken such a cocktail Alone for over ten minutes, I knew there was no way my arms would be intact. It was bound to be exhausting.
When I finished speaking with a grumble, Tony nodded.
It seemed that it was an explanation with no particular flaws to pick at, even to him.
That was it.
Silence continued for a while.
There was still some time left until Opening Preparation.
Normally, I would have made another cocktail.
But because the one I had just finished mixing was the Ramos Gin Fizz, both the time and the condition of my forearms were completely uncertain.
The result was the current situation.
Tony was silently drinking the cocktail, and I... fiddled with the front tables with numb hands in an inexplicably Awkward atmosphere.
Thinking things like, now that I look at it, with the Remodeling they changed the inside of the bar. There are a lot of buttons and machines I haven't seen before.
Tsk.
Tony and I weren't originally this Awkward with each other, but Ever since the last company Dinner, I have felt a strange sense of distance.
Having finished saying everything related to cocktails and the bar, Tony and I had nothing left to talk about.
They say people get closer by sharing secrets, but it has become the exact opposite for us.
Whether it was because I knew he was a former net diver and someone highly likely to have a Criminal Record, or because of the mistake I made last time.
Either way, it felt like things would remain uncomfortable if left like this.
I had originally planned to apologize during Break Time, but should I just bring up what happened back then right now?
With that thought, I opened my mouth, but Tony was also looking this way, about to say something.
"Um, last time..."
"Come to think of it, I have..."
Ah, fuck.
Our words overlapped, making the atmosphere several times more Awkward.
If it was just quietly still until a moment ago, now we were clearly hesitating around each other.
"You go first..."
"No, you first..."
God damn it.
No matter how PC the Cyberpunk World was, this wasn't it.
It wasn't like a sudden Romantic Atmosphere was brewing, and I absolutely hated squabbling over who should speak first.
"No. I'm the junior, and you're the senior, Tony, so you speak first. I won't Accept any objections."
"Uh, right. If you say so."
When I cut him off firmly to eliminate any potential BL Vibe, Tony opened his mouth in bewilderment.
"Come to think of it, I have something to ask you."
"Me?"
What is it?
I have no idea.
It wasn't that I didn't know because there was nothing to ask me about, but rather that I didn't know because there were too many things to ask about.
"Is it perhaps related to the last company Dinner...?"
"No, not that."
If it wasn't related to the things we talked about at the company Dinner, I was even more clueless.
Seeing my puzzled expression, Tony pulled something out from his pocket.
"Is this yours, by any chance?"
"Huh?"
The object resting on his palm was a small metal stick.
Because of its familiar appearance, an exclamation slipped out of me before I knew it.
"Uh... yes, I think so. Where did you find it?"
The Forgotten Spoils.
What Tony had pulled out was the Memory Stick that had been stored inside the Man Hunter's prosthetic arm.