As I took a swig of liquor and deeply inhaled from my cigarette, the harsh alcohol and nicotine seemed to melt my mind into a gooey haze.
The pleasant languor spreading through my limp limbs, the larger-than-usual pounding of my heart, the warmly heated body, and the foggy mind all made me forget reality, leaving only a happy buzz behind.
Somehow, from the jumbled mess of my drunken consciousness, an unknown tune bubbled up.
"Phew..."
"Alzen. Are you alright? You're drinking enough to worry me a little."
"Mmm... I'm fiiiine, Mother."
"..."
Through my hazy vision, I could see Pitra holding her head.
I laughed uproariously and habitually reached for the communication artifact.
"Faaather~ Is everything going smooothly?"
-...Drink less, Alzen.
"Aww... As long as the work gets dooone, it's fiiiine~"
-Call the next coordinates.
"Mmmnya... Sooo... which warehouse wasss it...?"
-...We just destroyed the fifth weapons depot.
"Ah~ Aaaah... Yeeaah~ You're so faaast. Heh heh... The cooontinent's top Sword Maaaster..."
Bam!
At that moment, a bang on the table rang out, and a red glass bottle was thrust before my eyes.
"I can't watch this anymore, Alzen. Drink this potion."
"...Mom, I'm trying to get druuunk here... If I drink thaaat..."
"Haa..."
"Mmph!?"
A sweet-tasting liquid gushed from the forcibly shoved bottle's neck into my mouth.
"Ack...!"
I tried with all my might to shake off her arm, but surprisingly, she was stronger than me.
No, this wasn't just raw strength—it was body reinforcement using mana.
"..."
Still, wasn't this a bit much?
Damn this body.
Was it even possible for a healthy adult man with fully functioning limbs to be overpowered by his own mother?
Gulp, gulp!
Feeling my rationality sharpen and my consciousness clear up vividly, I scowled deeply.
"Hoo... I will remember this."
"Oh my, how scary."
The potion's effect was ridiculously potent, curse it all.
It snatched away the languid, dreamy pleasure that had dominated my head and body in an instant, and now it was overflowing my entire body with vitality.
"Tch..."
I clicked my tongue and instinctively grabbed the liquor bottle.
"No. Stop drinking."
Snatching it away swiftly was, once again, Starnassila Pitra.
"Give it back. I need the alcohol. I won't drink enough to get wasted this time..."
"I have no idea what you mean by needing alcohol. This is just for momentary pleasure or sorrow. Not for drinking it all the time like you do."
"...That's exactly why I need it. Give it back."
An awkwardness washed over me.
It was like the bewilderment when a stranger approached too familiarly.
"Why do you keep saying that? Where would you even need to drink? You'll think more clearly sober, so no more today. Stop drinking."
Crack. A fissure formed in the rationality I'd been desperately maintaining.
Unfamiliar place, unfamiliar people, unfamiliar environment. And an unfamiliar body.
Suddenly dragged here, I still hadn't gotten used to any of it—and had no intention of doing so.
Bearing the isolation of being detached alone and the heavy pressure of living someone else's life was impossible while sober.
Respectable protagonists of possession stories.
How on earth did they overcome such horrific sensations and situations?
Some even stayed in that world after possession, settling down with heroines... Did they know the children they had would be from the possessed body?
Self-NTR, or self-cuckolding, basically.
If they aged and died like that, no trace of the possessor would remain anywhere.
A noble spirit of sacrifice?
Or just pretending not to know?
Unfortunately, I couldn't do that.
The unfamiliar environment, the other's body and life I'd unwillingly mounted, the game ending goal forced upon me—they all rang through my mind as despair, lethargy, and madness.
Ah! What sin did I commit to deserve this!
Do I really have to endure this horrific punishment that even death can't end?
I'm going insane from the injustice and frustration.
"...Mother. Please. Give me the alcohol. I absolutely need it."
I pleaded earnestly, desperately.
I conveyed with my expression and actions that I couldn't go on without it, that I couldn't do anything sober.
Flinch!
Conflict flickered across her face as she met my gaze.
True to her soft spot for family, her resolve was weakening. If so, just a little more prodding...
"Ahem! No. I'll let you drink tomorrow, so today..."
Before she could finish, my patience snapped and scraped the bottom.
"Hand it over right nooow!! You fucking bitch!!"
When I came to, my body had kicked off the floor and was mid-air, lunging at her.
Her eyes wide, body rigid.
Though an excellent mage, she hadn't expected this reaction and was completely off-guard.
That was enough.
The alcohol. If I could just snatch the bottle she held, nothing else mattered.
Thud!
"Guhk!?"
At that instant, a blow from the side shook my vision.
"Hahk! Guhek...!?"
My blinking vision was now staring at the ceiling.
I was curled up like a shrimp, instinctively clutching my side.
"Alzen...?"
Panting at the call in my ear, I lifted my head to see Ternien extending her fist with a stunned expression, Vivian on the bed with wide eyes covering her mouth, and Pitra wearing an incredibly complex look.
Resignation, regret, pity, sorrow... Her expression was a tangled mix hard to describe.
"Euk, kuhk..."
I couldn't breathe properly.
A thick, awl-like pain spread heavily from my side, making my whole body tremble.
Even amid that, furious rage boiled in a corner of my mind.
"Ternien... Ngh, you damn bitch... Are you trying to kill me...?"
"S-Sorry, Lord Alzen. But... that's one thing, and charging at Lady Pitra and spouting nonsense is wrong."
"Huff, huff... So u-upright... A true kniiiight."
One corner of my mouth twisted up.
Ternien let out a small cough to express her discomfort at my words and averted her gaze.
"Haa... Yes. Sorry, Mother, for the rude words. It was a mistake."
"...Yes. I see."
Clink.
The liquor bottle was placed by my bedside.
But she didn't let go of the neck.
"Alzen. Why do you need alcohol so badly?"
"To forget reality."
"..."
Her face grew even more troubled.
Ternien listening nearby and the other guard knights as well.
"Hm? Ah."
Only then did I realize my words could be misinterpreted.
It was natural.
Words spat by Kang Han-gil wouldn't reach them anyway.
No matter how much I wailed or cursed, to their eyes and ears, it was only Starnassila Alzen they saw and heard.
From their perspective, it must look like the duke's third son, despondent over reality, turning to alcohol out of inferiority and self-loathing.
"Phew..."
Suddenly finding my own state ridiculous, I smirked crookedly and gripped the bottle.
"Haa... Fine. Drink it. Drink yourself to death, even."
I nodded with a smile at her complaint laced with faint resentment, regret, worry, and concern.
"Yes. I wish."
Smack!
I got whacked on the back.
It stung like hell.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
-...Is it over?
After the situation calmed somewhat, Urtega's low voice came from the communication artifact.
Ah, right—we were mid-communication.
"Hoo... Yes. It's dooone. No issues."
Gulp!
-...I see. Then call the next coordinates.
"Coordinates...? Ahh, the weapons depot... No more depots. You can stop destroying them."
-What do you mean?
"Only the ones near the ducal castle are left now. Have the knights fetch them all—it'll be a huge help. Perfect timing with the undead swarming and the city emptied."
-...So my job is done?
"No no. What are you saying, Father? You need to keep drawing Cambello's attention. You think he'll leave the remaining depots alone? He's probably pissed off big time by now."
Gulp! Suck, phew~
Downing the liquor and exhaling cigarette smoke cooled my heated body and eased the throbbing pain.
"Haa... So, Father, you need to do some sword work elsewhere for a bit. Somewhere Cambello can't ignore."
-...Call the coordinates.
Even though I'd deliberately hidden the location, he urged for the position regardless.
"Heh heh. Got it."
After giving Urtega the coordinates, I immediately activated the other communication artifact.
"You listening, you worms?"
-Yes! We are!
-Do you have orders for us, sir!
Hearing the knights' loyal responses, I chuckled.
Did they know?
That a human a million light-years removed from the duke's family was giving them orders.
"From now on, combine into groups of three units and head to the coordinates I specify."
-Understood! What shall we do there?
"Sweep up anything useful."
-...Pardon?
I sighed at the puzzled demand for explanation.
Was there no artifact that transmitted thoughts perfectly?
Not in the game or settings, but now that the game was reality, maybe...
I'll have to shake down the mage corps later.
Gulp gulp!
Enduring the annoyance, I finished the brief explanation, and the knights' exclamations rang in my ears, so I turned off the artifact for a bit.
"Hoo..."
Bang! Boom!
"It's finally complete, you bastard!"
At that moment, a red-haired woman burst through the door, proudly thrusting a pillar-shaped glowing object she cradled in her arms, grinning triumphantly.
Starnassila Weller, the duke's family second daughter.
"Oho. You really completed it, Sister?"
"Yeah! This is the Mana Frequency Blocker! Still room for improvement, but I confirmed with my own eyes that it definitely blocks dark mana! This thing's a gem!"
Her sparkling eyes gazing at her creation evoked pure childlike wonder.
"Impressive. As expected of you, Sister."
"...That's it?"
"...What?"
I tilted my head at her disappointed look, and she sighed deeply.
"Whatever. On second thought, I didn't need to come to you. Keep chugging your booze. I'm off to install this."
"Go ahead."
I waved her off.
With the Mana Frequency Blocker installed, the ducal castle would be even safer from dark magic and undead.
"Now, what's left is..."
I sipped my liquor and slowly turned my mind.
A sly smile crept in as the situation edged closer to victory bit by bit.
But to avoid complacency, I forcibly heightened my tension.
High demons always flipped the script right at times like this.
"No, even so, this is a bit too much."
And sure enough, Cambello brought an unexpected major variable.
"Where is this Sword Master?"
A sudden, indistinct, hazy figure appeared.
The ghost-like entity drifted smoothly, then casually swung its sword, splitting the castle wall wide open.
"...Are we screwed?"
Sighing at the terrifying power visible even from the window, my head began to heat up at the unexpected second high demon's emergence.