Loki's throat-tearing cheer went up, and dozens of oak tankards, long-stemmed glass goblets and oversized copper beer steins came crashing together above the wide courtyard lawn of the Twilight Manor!
Pale gold wine sprayed out over the rims and splashed across the emerald grass, giving off an aroma so rich and mellow it could knock a person flat where they stood.
The dozen-odd wagons Raul and the others had hauled back had long since been stripped bare.
Dozens of heavy oak casks stood lined up in one long snaking row along the edge of the courtyard flower beds.
Loki might be a scatterbrain most of the time, but every so often she knew exactly where to draw the line.
The lawn had been divided into two completely different zones.
The big outer ring was packed with the ordinary fruit wines and ales hauled up out of the Twilight Manor cellars.
That was set aside for the [Loki Familia] Second Corps and for the girls of the [Haimer Familia], ascended only recently, to drink their fill.
As for the huge, patched-together oak table standing in the very center of the courtyard.
What sat on that was nothing but top-shelf Divine Wine, wrung by main force out of the [Soma Familia] and the [Dionysus Familia].
Stuff like that would leave an ordinary low-level adventurer reeling for three days and three nights after a single sniff, even watered down.
The ones with the right to sit at that table and taste it were few.
Aside from the three deities, Haimer, Loki and Hestia.
There were only the monsters of the [Loki Familia] First Corps, and Tsubaki, who had heard there was good drink and dragged her own patron goddess along in a mad rush to mooch some.
And of course, from the Xenos side, Ray the siren and Ranye the spider-woman.
On the strength of monster bodies above Lv.5, with all the toughness that implied, the two had been granted special permission to sit at the far end of the table with small cups and take a modest taste.
"Gulp! Gulp! Hah—!"
Loki had one foot planted on the edge of a wooden chair and both hands wrapped around a beer stein the size of a human head, draining the purple-red Dionysus Divine Wine inside it in a single pull.
She wiped the wine off the corner of her mouth, and two red blotches bloomed across her cheeks.
"That is good stuff!!"
"That pretty boy Dionysus may look like a sissy most days, but his brewing? Turns out it's the real thing!"
"Ever since you stopped letting him be your exclusive brewing god, Haimer, I hardly ever get a drop of his work."
Loki laughed out loud, grabbed a piece of roast meat off the table and stuffed it into her mouth.
"It's just that whatever that tight-lipped Soma cooks up is too strong, goes straight to your head. This one slides down way easier!"
Across from her, Hephaestus held a slender crystal stem glass, her eyes at ease, swirling the Soma Divine Wine gently.
Hephaestus took a small sip and let out a long breath scented with wine.
"Still, laying out this many wine gods' most treasured reserves at once, down here in the Lower World, only happens by leaning on Haimer."
"Any other time, if I asked for a single bottle just to take the edge off, he wouldn't even open the door for me."
As she spoke, Hephaestus looked past her glass at Haimer, seated at the head of the table.
Haimer had a cup in his own hand, and a look of resignation on his face.
"That's simply how they are. They value these things above anything else."
"Though it's understandable. Divine Wine is like a child to them."
"True enough."
"Same as the weapons I forge. I treasure every one of them."
Hephaestus gave a soft snort, one corner of her mouth lifting.
The mood at the main table turned hot under the influence of the alcohol, and then slid a little out of control.
The first to start making noise were, naturally, the Amazon twins of the [Loki Familia].
"Captain~! One more cup~ just this one!"
Tione's healthy wheat-colored cheeks had flushed in great patches under the fierce work of the Divine Wine.
Her deep green eyes were full of hazy pink bubbles.
She held up a cup filled so full it was about to spill over and shoved it right at Finn's lips.
"Tione, you have already had far too much."
Finn sat in his chair, the boyish face that always wore a mild smile now nothing but resignation.
He put out one hand and, with a great deal of practice behind the motion, braced it against the base of the cup she was pushing at him.
As a hero who had set his mind on reviving the Pallum race, Finn held his own self-control to a brutally strict standard.
Even with Divine Wine he took no more than a taste each time, never letting alcohol numb the brain he took such pride in.
"Ahh, come on! Does the Captain think the wine I pour isn't good enough for him?!"
Seeing Finn refuse, Tione stopped being happy about anything at all.
An Amazon's temper ran hot to begin with, and the alcohol magnified it tenfold. The cup in her hand came down on the tabletop with a bang, and the wine splashed across the face of Bete, who had been busy with his meat.
"Oi! Are you blind, you crazy woman!"
Bete bared his sharp canines, ready to go off.
Then Tione turned her head, eyes bulging like brass bells, a faint savage red light leaking out of them.
"Shut it! I'm drinking with the Captain right now! Anybody who butts in, I'll pull out his bones and boil them for soup!"
Looking at the she-tiger who normally played the lady and had now dropped the act completely, Bete's mouth twitched twice. He swallowed the second half of his curse and slid two seats down the table with his plate.
"Captain! Fine, if you won't drink it, then I will!"
With that, Tione turned back around, and the moment she looked at Finn again she was that lovestruck creature all over.
She seized an unopened little cask straight off the table, yanked out the plug, tipped her head back and poured it down her throat.
"Gulp! Gulp!"
"Tione! Stop! That's the raw brew!"
Finn went pale and reached out to snatch it away.
Too late.
Half a cask of undiluted Divine Wine went down.
Tione tossed the empty cask onto the ground.
"Hic."
She let out a long wine-soaked belch and swayed twice where she stood.
Then.
She turned, and her eyes locked onto Finn.
That look.
It was exactly the look an Amazon warrior wore in the jungle when she had sighted the tastiest prey of all.
"Captain… today… there is nowhere you can run!"
Tione spread both arms wide like a lioness lunging for a kill and threw herself straight at Finn!
"This is bad!"
"Tione, calm down!"
Finn rose and backed away, trying to reason with her as he went.
"Not listening, not listening!!"
Drunk Tione was past all reason, swinging her arms as she gave chase.
Watching Tione go feral, a fierce regret welled up in Finn.
He should have just drunk that cup of Divine Wine!
And since he had no wish to hurt a drunk Tione, Finn spun on his heel without hesitation and sprinted for the row of oaks at the edge of the courtyard.
The farce at the main table did nothing to dampen anyone else's spirits.
Because.
An even stranger scene was playing out on the other side.
Ais sat perfectly upright in her chair, an empty glass cupped in both hands.
Her long, brilliant golden hair clung to her cheeks in disarray.
Her fair skin had gone red from her neck all the way up to her ears.
Clearly.
She had been caught too.
Someone had spiked the elf-brewed fruit wine with a little of Dionysus's Divine Wine.
Ais was thoroughly light-headed now.
Her eyes refused to focus on anything else.
And so.
All she could do.
Was stare, without blinking.
At Haimer, seated diagonally across from her.
Haimer lifted his cup and drank.
Ais's gaze followed his wrist.
Haimer set the cup down.
Ais's gaze settled on his throat.
There was not a trace of shyness in that stare.
It was pure drunken fixation, nothing more than looking.
Riveria, sitting beside Ais, took in the whole scene, pressed a hand to her forehead and let out a long sigh.
"Ais, stop staring. Put the cup down and drink some water."
Riveria reached over, meaning to take the empty glass out of Ais's hands.
But the normally obedient Ais hugged the glass of Divine Wine to herself with both hands and leaned aside, out of reach.
At that, Riveria's patience gave out. She abandoned the treatment, picked up the Divine Wine in front of her and drained it in one go.
While Ais was busy making a fool of herself staring at Haimer.
On the other side.
A loud clang rang out.
"Lord Haimer! Let's have one too!!"
Tiona shoved her way in beside Haimer with a big wooden cup in each hand.
Her wheat-colored face was flushed as well. She had clearly not been holding back either.
"The Captain ran off, my sister's gone drunk-crazy, so that leaves me!"
Tiona slammed one of the wooden cups down on the table in front of Haimer.
"Loki says that up in the Heavens you could toast all night and never get drunk. Well, today I, Tiona, refuse to believe it!"
"That's right! Get him! Pour it down his throat!"
By this point Loki's tongue had gone thick.
She sprawled across the far side of the table, and even after finishing Dionysus's Divine Wine she wanted more, half a bottle of Soma's Divine Wine clenched in her fist as she waved her arm around and egged them on.
"Haimer, you bastard… hic! Today we put him on the floor!"
Faced with this joint assault from two people with no sense of respect, Haimer unhurriedly picked up his freshly refilled cup.
"So you want to drink me under the table."
Haimer gave a resigned smile, emptied the cup in one swallow and set it upside down on the tabletop.
"With the tolerance you two have, I'm afraid you're a long way off."
"Don't you look down on us!"
Tiona, refusing to accept that, raised her cup and poured it straight down.
And then.
The next second.
"Nobody is allowed to pick on Haimer!"
A small figure came darting out from the side.
Hestia, of course.
She stood with both hands on her hips, big blue eyes fixed in a glare on Tiona and Loki.
"No more pouring wine into Haimer!"
Hestia proclaimed her territory at the top of her lungs.
Then.
As if to prove she could stand shoulder to shoulder with Haimer through anything, Hestia turned right around and snatched up the cup of Dionysus's Divine Wine that had just been refilled for him.
"Haimer, I'll drink it for you!"
"Hestia, you really shouldn't drink that."
Because the Divine Wine Dionysus brewed went further even than Soma's. It could put a deity flat on the ground without effort.
Haimer reached out to stop her.
Too late.
Hestia tipped her head back and swallowed two big gulps.
"Hah…!"
"This wine… it burns… and it's kind of… sweet…" Hestia smacked her lips.
She never finished the sentence.
Her whole cute doll face went scarlet in a heartbeat.
Her eyes lost focus and she wobbled twice on the spot.
"Haimer… I think… I'm seeing stars…"
With that, Hestia—
The next second.
Thump.
Her legs folded under her and she went straight down.
Luckily Haimer's hands were quick. He caught her around the waist and pulled her into his arms.
What he did not expect.
The next second.
Hestia used the momentum to settle into a comfortable position, face buried against Haimer's thigh.
Both arms wrapped around his waist, and a soft, even snore came out of her.
Asleep in seconds, just like that.
"Hahaha, this little runt… can't hold her drink better than a mouse, and still tries to act tough…"
Loki watched the whole thing and pointed at Hestia, mocking her without an ounce of mercy.
Two laughs in, her own head tipped sideways and she slumped across the table, motionless.
"You really shouldn't get greedy with Dionysus's wine."
Haimer shook his head, resigned.
Over in the ordinary drinks section.
The girls of the [Haimer Familia] stood there holding fruit juice and weak ale, watching the parade of demons at the main table with their mouths open.
"Kami-sama… he drank so much of that Divine Wine. Is he really going to be all right?"
Mary Kikakujou pinched the hem of her skirt, her azure eyes full of worry.
"Even Lady Loki has already drunk herself flat."
"She's right."
Rin Onigawara gripped her sword hilt, brows knotted tight.
"If Kami-sama gets drunk and someone takes the chance to ambush him…"
Kirukiru Amou licked her lips.
"If our god gets drunk, I wouldn't mind taking care of him personally."
"Don't you dare!"
The words were barely out before every girl there turned and glared at Amou Kirukiru with one voice.
The girls, sick with worry, were on the verge of going over to talk Haimer out of drinking any more, now that Tsubaki had her eye on him too.
That was when a tall figure came walking over with a glass in hand.
It was Hephaestus.
"All right, little ones, put away all that extra worry."
Hephaestus leaned against a tree trunk, swirling the glass in her hand as she looked over the anxious girls.
"There is no need to worry about that man."
"Lady Hephaestus?"
"Do you mean Lord Haimer won't get drunk?"
The girls set down their juice and asked, puzzled.
"Drunk?"
Hephaestus laughed softly and tilted her head back for a mouthful of wine.
"Up in the Heavens, that man carried the monstrous title of Thousand Cups Without Falling."
"Do you know why?"
The girls exchanged looks and shook their heads.
"Because a god is never defeated by another."
"Least of all within the domain that god himself governs."
"Wine, when you strip it down, is a tool for numbing the nerves through matter. And Haimer is the god who stands for opposition itself."
"In any contest, anything that tries to dissolve his reason will itself dissolve the instant it stands before him."
"The moment anything enters into any form of contest with him, he strikes first. Invincible Ground, for instance."
"So that is the reason the man himself once gave me for why he can toast all night and never get drunk."
With that, Hephaestus swirled the Divine Wine in her glass with some resignation, then turned her gaze toward the main table.
The girls listened.
At first that whole notion struck them as odd, all theory and no substance.
But then they looked back at the main table.
And saw.
Loki, sprawled flat on her back across a chair, snoring.
Tiona sitting on the ground hugging an empty cask, giggling at nothing.
And their own patron god, the only one still smiling, who looked their way and gave them a wave.
At that sight, the girls finally let themselves relax.
"Come on, everyone, cheers~"
____
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🔥 New history: DanMachi: Collecting Goddesses Right from the Start! — posted on The_Mikudayo