By Zephyria =======
「Ugh, it’s no fun when I keep losing! Let’s stop.」
Black Weasel, who had tossed the dice aside, glanced over toward them. Wolf and Red Eagle instinctively hunched their shoulders as if on cue. Black Weasel stared blankly while bringing a liquor cup to his lips, then suddenly gave a creepy wink with one eye.
「What’s with those women? Pretty! Just my type!」
「This bastard is completely wasted.」
「Silver, did you bring them? Hey, ladies! You’re as pretty as wildflowers!」
「Where the hell are your eyes? Do those look like women to you?」
「They are women! They’re wearing skirts!」
「Those aren’t skirts, they’re blankets, you idiot.」
The blond barbarians shouted noisily, pointing toward them with flushed red faces. Wolf and Red Eagle exchanged troubled glances. What are they talking about? It sounds like they’re talking about us… Surely they aren’t complimenting us on being pretty.
After chatting with Silver for a while, Black Weasel slapped the ground with one hand.
「Woman on the left! Sing! Sing!」
“The Ice Armor Warrior tells the Prince to sing.”
Silver translated with a loud burp. Wolf’s mouth dropped open in shock.
“What on earth…? This person is the Prince of Stohl and the prospective consort of the Levenon royal family! To demand liquor service from a precious person who will become the husband of the next King of Levenon!”
His voice rose in indignation. Red Eagle hurriedly waved a hand toward Wolf. Wolf shook his head resolutely.
“Prince, don’t stop me. These people are employed by the White Deer. You have the right to refuse to serve them.”
“Wolf, accept reality. Our lives are in their hands. Especially yours… Did you forget even though I warned you?”
Wolf hesitated for a moment at Red Eagle’s plea.
“Then let’s use a second-best option. I will sing instead of the Prince. Don’t worry. That uncle won’t even remember who sang once he sobers up.”
“Who does this brat take me for!”
Black Weasel suddenly shouted in the Atania language.
“I remember everything even after I sober up! Left is Red Eagle! Right is Wolf! Right now, I’m not wearing underwear!”
Ack?!
Wolf flinched as the man suddenly called their names accurately and added information he had no desire to know. Had that uncle been pretending to be stupid on purpose? Like a contract killer with years of experience, he was thinking several steps ahead. Wolf’s judgment—recklessly underestimating him just because he had drunk a bit in a crisis—was precisely wrong.
「Woman on the left! You’re more my type! Hurry up and sing!」
“…You see? He’s not in his right mind. It’ll be fine if I sing.”
Just as Wolf was about to stand up with determination, Silver snapped his head up.
“I’m in my right mind! Prince, stand up! Let’s hear the song of the next husband of Levenon’s King!”
How could this happen!
「Woman! Song!」
“Prince! Song!”
The contract killer and his assistant urged them in tandem. In a situation where he could neither move forward nor backward, Red Eagle eventually stood up.
“She dances like an elegant butterfly…”
「Hahaha! This makes the alcohol taste better!」
“Good! Great job!”
Black Weasel and Silver clapped along to the song. Wolf stared at the drinking party in utter despair. Something went wrong.
Those two were incredibly cold-headed when they arrived here. How could they change into completely different people in just a few hours, let alone a day?
Silver glanced sideways at Wolf and raised his cup.
“You, attendant! Come here. Have a drink too.”
“No, I’m fine.”
With the pursuers potentially raiding them at any moment, at least one person had to remain sober. Silver’s face grew even redder.
“What’s ‘fine’ about it?”
“I said I’m fine… I mean, I’m really fine…”
“Ssu-vel! Stohl rice is no-taste, I don’t even want to use it in my ears!”
Now even Silver’s Atania language was slurring.
“Just drink it, punk!”
「Drink up, woman!」
Black Weasel joined in, shouting harshly. Left with no choice, Wolf took the cup. It was as wide as a soup bowl. If this much alcohol went into an empty stomach…
“Down it in one go. In one go!”
Silver pounded the ground. After offering a desperate prayer to God for his survival, Wolf squeezed his eyes shut and gulped the liquor. By the time he barely managed to empty the cup, his vision was spinning.
「Snacks! We’re out of snacks! Silver! Snacks!」
“Attendant, Ice Armor Warrior’s snacks. Those barrels over there, just one lonely island. Fish from there.”
Silver spoke while drinking. It was mostly broken grammar, but strangely, the meaning sank in perfectly. Feeling as if he were wandering through a dreamland, Wolf crawled over clumsily like a bear cub.
A bit away from the pile of stacked liquor barrels, there was a single wooden tub. The moment he lifted the lid and looked inside.
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
His heart beat like a heavy drum. Wolf froze for a moment, lid still in hand. Through his shaking vision, the snacks came into blurry focus. Those… somehow… looked like things he’d seen a lot near the sewers of the village market…
Stop. Stop! I mustn’t think too deeply!
Wolf shut down his thoughts. He let his eyes lose focus, plucked three or four snacks from the wooden tub, and muttered to himself as he headed back. This is a rabbit. It must be a rabbit…
「The best! Dried round-rats are the best snacks!」
Black Weasel munched loudly on the thing that resembled a ‘rat’. Wolf looked down at the ground with hollow eyes, like a gambler who had lost his entire fortune. It couldn’t be… they were too round to be rats… It must be a hedgehog with the quills removed…
“Princess, you too! Down it! Down it!”
「Woman! You drink too! Haha! Well done!」
Next was Red Eagle’s turn. In front of the Prince who was gulping down the alcohol, the guards cheered and shook their fists.
“I… I’m dizzy…”
Red Eagle mumbled in a slurred voice and flopped over. Wolf also lay down limply, gasping for air. Black Weasel and Silver appeared as dozens of people.
His consciousness gradually faded. His vision blurred as if a thin veil had descended over his face. Through the murky sight, Silver suddenly stood up.
「Why did you kill my mom!」
Silver screamed, clenching both fists. Black Weasel glanced up at Silver while pouring alcohol into a cup.
「This bastard is starting again.」
「Why did you kill her!」
「I killed her because they paid me, why? How many times do I have to tell you?」
「Who was the one who hired you!」
「I don’t know. I said I don’t know, damn it!」
「You know the broker! Tell me the broker who gave you the job!」
「I can’t do that. There’s such a thing as professional ethics.」
Stop talking. Just stop…
Wolf’s eyes closed. A thought occurred to him just before his consciousness cut off. I wonder if that Prince fellow and I will ever make it back to Atania alive.
* * *
Wolf.
Wolf. Wake up.
Someone kept calling from far away. Wolf. Wolf!
“Wolf!”
Red Eagle shook Wolf. Wolf opened his eyes blearily and pushed himself up.
“Wolf! You’re alive!”
Red Eagle wailed, throwing his arms around Wolf in a tight hug. Wolf looked around with half-open eyes. Black Weasel and Silver were nowhere to be seen. And…
His memories slowly returned. The drunken antics of the dim-witted guards. The massive amount of alcohol forced into an empty stomach. In the next moment, Wolf’s eyes snapped wide open. Red Eagle’s face and clothes were covered in blood.
“Prince! Are you alright? Could the pursuers have…!”
“No, Wolf. This just got on me while prepping meat.”
“Pardon?”
“Baby goats and rabbits. I bled them and cured them in salt. No matter how much I woke you, you wouldn’t get up, so I helped Silver as a substitute. It wasn’t as gross as I thought, and it was actually fun. I think I’ve finally found my aptitude.”
Wolf was speechless. Red Eagle let out a sigh of relief.
“I was so anxious, thinking you’d died from acute alcohol poisoning. I’m so glad you’ve come to your senses. Here.”
Red Eagle held out a tray containing grilled meat.
“It’s rabbit meat that Silver and I prepped. Eat.”
“Excuse me. Did you eat, Prince? And those crazy bastards?”
Wolf asked while stuffing the meat into his mouth. Red Eagle nodded.
“Aside from this, there was only beef jerky, barley porridge, and dried fruit, but it was edible. Those two are practicing sword fighting inside the cave. Anyway, Wolf, you…”
Red Eagle closed his mouth and glanced back toward the cave entrance. His following words were so low they were barely audible.
15 – Hell Execution Order