Chapter 43: Libation
[Edited by Arthur300000]
[Vandalized again by Branya]
[ArchmageNaoki come to rescue]
[Then Branya had to make a few final adjustments. I hope it does not cause too many grammatical errors...]
“Mistress, we have arrived at the destination.” Skynet notified me. Man, I slept like a log for the entire back trip. I stretched and noticed that my mom was still holding my hand. Oh, right, maybe because the drain I got from both my mom and Skynet made me a bit listless. My Magicka is still full, but my regeneration rate is working hard to keep up with the burden.
I also felt that I had the strangest dream during the trip. I think it involved a lot of cheese and cabbages, but for some reason, I can’t quite remember. It's like the memory keeps slipping away like sand flowing through an open hand whenever I try to remember it. I could feel that something is missing, but no matter what I couldn't remember that dream.
“Kuro, are you alright? Has something happened?” My mom notices my distress.
“It's nothing mom.” I shook my head and smile.
[Skynet, do you know what I dreamed about during the trip?] I asked Skynet because she's always connected to me with Nerve Link™ in the computation orb.
[Sorry mistress, your thoughts and dreams reside in the brain region where the Nerve Link system can’t get any meaningful readings. All I know is that you were dreaming from the reading from the REM response.] It’s frustrating, but there is nothing I can do about it.
*Growl* … I’m hungry but why does my stomach have to sound so loud? I look around, and while both of my siblings try their best to hold their chuckles, my dad appears to be apologetic. He said that because most of us were sleeping, he thought it'd be a good idea to drive to the Arasen in one go.
*Ahem* “Let's get something to eat then.” My mom suggests, to which I nod.
I look at the time, and it’s 3 PM. Currently, the sun shines brightly, and the sky is crystal clear. It felt like the foggy morning that I saw from my bedroom seems like a lie. The scenery of Arasen is the same as I remember. A colorful spring town bustling with energetic people.
I watch the strangely colorful birds flying by as I walk while considering which word should I use to call my next meal. Is it dunch or linner? However, when we arrived at the restaurant, there is a big sign in front of it said: “Closed until 5 PM”... Damn it!
“The dinners open at this moment is either the hotel or the fast food stalls.” Skynet suggests while everyone is discussing on which restaurant to go to next.
[How do you know that?] I asked her.
[I took the liberty to search the relevant information from the internet.] Oh, the internet! Yippee! I'm finally back in civilization. I don’t mind the bandwidth though because my mobile package is one with unlimited everything.
“Alright then, do you want to have something light before we have a big meal at the hotel?” My dad asked me. I looked left and right and spotted a hot dog stall in the midst of bustling plaza. I point at it and pull my mom over there.
The hot dog stall is just a cart with a hot dog seller. The shopkeeper is a girl in her teens lying nonchalantly on the foldable bench and listen to the music through her fluffy headphone while pedestrians are walking by. Maybe it’s not the prime time of her shop, so she takes a rest? As we approach the cart, she stretches and yawns then slowly gets up. I try to find the menu around the stall, but all I see is a sign said one hot dog for five bronze coins.
“What would you like little miss?” The shopkeeper smiled and bent her knees. She was eye level with me, but it was way too close. I could smell the perfume and mint bubble gum from her clearly.
“Uhm, hot dog?” I know I sound stupid, but I have no idea how to order a hot dog. I've never ordered one from a street cart in my two lives. All I ever did was buy a pack of sausage and bread from the convenience store because it’s cheaper that way.
“What kind of sausage do you want?” Unmoving and staring at me unblinking with steel gray eyes, it’s kind of uncomfortable, so I hid behind my mom.
“Uhmm, one with cheese inside?” I tried this kind of sausage once in my past life, and I liked it. Unfortunately, it was too expensive to have every day.
“Alright, what toppings do you want?” Finally, she moved to open up the top of the cart and release dense steam into the air in the process. I tiptoe to look what is inside and see several kinds of sausages piling up. Its interior also seems to be bigger than the cart. Maybe the cart is also a magic device.
“Uhm, what toppings do you have?” I asked as she picks up a big fat brown sausage from the cart. I was tempted to say 'everything', but I changed my mind. Being in a fantasy world I might get something screaming and wiggling if I did that.
“We have sauerkraut, mushroom, onion, blood grass, mustard, and ketchup.” Oh, it’s more ordinary than I thought. But let's just ignore the blood grass.
“I want mushroom, onion, and mustard please.”
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Coming right up.” Miss shopkeeper skillfully prepared my hotdog while whistling a strange tune.
After a few seconds, I got my first hot dog. It’s a lot tastier than what I made myself. Maybe it’s because I’m famished, but the sausage is very cheesy, juicy, and big. Although I don’t know what kind of meat it's made of, not knowing is probably better. Everyone in my family also orders one, my dad paying for everyone. Even Mr. Bobo, the flying pig also got a sausage. I hope it isn’t cannibalism, though.
For some reason, I enjoy looking at my mom and my sister eating hotdogs. They are very erotic. As I consume about half of my hotdog, our eyes met, and we laugh happily. I don’t know if we thought of the same thing or not but it was a happy time.
The people in the bustling plaza passed by like the flow of a colorful river. I want to order the second hotdog, not because of that I'm still hungry. It's more like I'm enjoying it and don't want this moment to come to an end. However, the recently empty stall is already filled with a long queue of customers.
“Alright, let’s walk to the hotel.” My dad said after my mom used her napkin to clean up my face.
We walk over the stone bridge and turning right along the canal. Then we visit the car rental office on the way. It is quite small, but it’s full of papers and car keys. While my dad is talking with the staff, I take a look at one of their catalogs. There are so many types of cars here, and they even have the flyable ones. The flyable car rental cost isn’t that high. It’s only five gold coins a day. Wait, isn’t it 50 panties a day? … My values seem to be distorted after I had paid an enormous sum.
From the car rental office, we walk a bit further then take a turn to the big road made of stone pavement. Upon closer inspection of the pavement, the natural patterns on the stones are connected intricately between each stone into an unusual pattern. I believe the builder took special care in constructing them. For some reason, I felt serene when I looked at the patterns.
“And here we are.” I felt there is a proudness in dad’s voice, so I looked up and noticed that we were already in the zone full of old and luxurious buildings. I don’t know what the other buildings are, but right now we are at the bottom of a grand staircase leading to a big glass door, or is it a wall? Around the hotel are several stone sculptures. They depict several kinds of fantasy animal; chimera, pegasus, and a nine-tailed fox for example. The one I like the most looks like a naked slime woman. I learned later that she's called a water nymph. I hope one day my adventures would lead me to an encounter with this beautiful creature.
My siblings also seem to be awed by the spectacle, and my mom's smile is brilliant. So only my mom and dad knows about the plan of going to this hotel, I concluded. Did they change the hotel reservation yesterday? I hope they aren't accumulating a new debt after I just cleared them.
“I won a single night ticket from the department store lucky draw. It's nontransferable and non-resellable, so I thought it was a good idea to use it. I want to surprise you guys but who would have thought that Kuro surprised us first.” My dad looks at me while he smiles and I smile back. Well, this is also my first time staying in this kind of hotel. I hope the bed is bouncy like what I saw in the movies.
As I began to climb the stairs, I saw a huge chandelier through the window. How many panties per night to stay in such hotel I wonder. I ask Skynet to look it up.
[This hotel is called Grand Arasen. It’s the most luxurious hotel in the area. They charge roughly 690 to 5,700 credits per night, including tax and service charge.] How lucky can my dad be!? It’s even more expensive than the rent for a flying car! I looked at Mr. Bobo standing proudly on my brother’s shoulder. I hope that they allow pets.
“Hello, my name is Kathy. During your stay, you can contact me for anything you might need.” A gorgeous slender blond hair girl approaches us as we reach the top of the stairs. She gave my dad three sets of strange card sized devices. On the devices ‘Velvori’ is engraved on it. Maybe it’s a room key? It felt kind of strange to be recognized immediately by unknown people.
As we step on the hotel's thick and soft carpet, I noticed that the Magicka drain from my mom stopped. Wow, I thought I'd need to hold my mom’s hand during the entire stay.
“We already energized the air in the hotel premise, so Ms. Velvori can enjoy her stay freely." Kathy said while opening a big door for us. At the front door, there was four staff waiting. All of them wore red formal attire and bow to us.
I look around while my dad signs some documents. The clothes of most of the guests loitering in the lobby were extraordinary and flamboyant. And the couch over there looks just perfect. I imagine how wonderful it would be if I could lie on that couch, watching TV and eating potato chips. While I still dreaming what to do with each luxurious furniture around the lobby, a neat looking girl comes pushing a shiny trolley toward us.
“What refreshment would you like miss?” The smart looking girl bends down to my eye level and asks politely. Ohhhh, is this the legendary welcome drink?
“Uhm, what do you have?” I want to know all possible choice because I don’t want to regret choosing simple soft drink while there are still luxurious things I never tried before hidden on the menu.
“Anything” She answered while smiling professionally. Did she mean I can order any drinks in the world? Well, that might be too much, I doubt there would be something like an elixir of life. Even though if it is there, I doubt I would drink it. I’m not that desperate to try something with unknown effect.
“A medium dry martini, lemon peel. Shaken, not stirred.” I chose to order it after a long deliberation. I always want to know how it tastes like. It must taste great because a certain spy in the movie keeps ordering it.
“Kuro, you are not at the age to drink alcohol yet.” Mom! I look at her, but she seems adamant. Even though I never tried alcohol once because it’s expensive I’m already 30. And I already tried Skooma! Well, my Skyrim character did it, but my point is I should be fine.
“Why don’t we let her try? It’s a special occasion anyways.” My dad comes to the rescue. Then he turns to me and says seriously. “However, I have to warn you. It is not going to taste good.” I know dad, but I'm already an adult.
After hotel staff got permission from my parents, she prepares my first alcoholic drink with expertise. Almost one minute later I got the martini. It's a white cold liquid in a cocktail glass. There is also a beautiful spiral of lemon on top.
The scent of the martini is hard to describe. It’s cold, but the alcoholic stench is quite strong. I also caught a slight scent of lemon and a faint smell of an evergreen forest. Here goes nothing!
I take a gulp.
It horrendous, how can people drink something like this! The taste and stench of alcohol assault my taste bud and nostrils. I think I’m going to vomit if this thing resides in my mount for a second longer, but I don’t want to swallow it. Luckily, my brother shoved the fishing bucket in front of me just in time... My acute sense backfired on me spectacularly.
My mom's face is full of “I told you so.” written on it, and my sister is trying hard to make a straight face. My dad took the rest of the martini from my hand while the hotel staff gave me an orange juice instead. While other high-class people around us go on with their business, I spotted a few of them noticed what just happen and snicker while hiding their face.
“I'll never drink alcohol again.” I confessed after chugging the orange juice. My tongue is still stinging. My mom smiled and patted my head kindly... Maybe I should try espresso instead.