Monster no Goshujin-sama - Volume 11 - Chapter SS

Extra Story: The Drinking Party and a Simple Promise

This happened around the time our daily lives started calming down in Shiran and Kei’s hometown of Kehdo.

“Oh? Takahiro, what’s all this?” Shiran asked after coming back from work.

Her blue eye was fixated on several bottles set aside right by the living-room entrance. They hadn’t been there when she’d left the house earlier today.

“Aah, Leah left them there,” I said.

“She did?”

Since Kehdo had been nearly annihilated, residents of the neighboring Rapha had come by a little while ago. They were mainly helping with the reconstruction effort, and Leah, the wife of Rapha’s chief, was the one directing them.

“Remember? We got a portion of the supplies the other day,” I explained. “Leah brought over some ingredients for us. Some liquor was mixed in among them.”

“Aah. So it’s alcohol.”

“Looks like they sent some luxury goods out of consideration for Philip’s visit, so Leah had some of it sent our way too.”

“Is that so?”

Shiran nodded in understanding and picked up one of the bottles. She swirled around the liquid inside, then turned my way.

“What will you do with this?” she asked.

“Huh? Well, I was thinking of handing them out to the villagers.”

I was still a minor, so I obviously didn’t have a drinking habit. Some among the villagers surely enjoyed a drink, so it was better to offer it to them. However, an unexpected objection arose.

“That won’t do!” Gerbera exclaimed, suddenly bursting into the living room. She’d apparently heard our conversation.

“Huh? You drink alcohol?” I asked.

That was unexpected. Considering Gerbera’s age, it wouldn’t be all that strange if she had a taste for liquor, but she’d never given any hints of it before. I looked at her curiously, and Gerbera puffed out her bountiful chest with pride.

“No! I’ve never had any!”

“So you haven’t.”

“Actually, I have no idea what alcohol even is!”

“Not even at the starting line, huh?”

Well, alcohol was a human concoction. No matter how long a life she’d lived, it was natural for a monster to know nothing about it.

“So why do you want to keep it?” I asked.

“I remembered something after hearing the word ‘alcohol,’” she answered, giggling as she put her hand to her chest. “Kaneki once taught me something amusing regarding this stuff.”

“Mikihiko? I’ve already got a bad feeling about this.”

“Takahiro, you really do get rather merciless whenever Kaneki is involved,” Shiran commented.

That was just due to our long friendship. What’s more, I was convinced my premonition was right.

“So? I’ll at least hear you out. What did he say?”

“Hmmm. Would you believe it? It turns out that drinking this alcohol stuff lets you get all hee hee haw haw with the opposite sex!”

“Sorry... Can you repeat that?”

“Hee hee! Haw haw!”

So I hadn’t misheard her. Now that my bad premonition was proved right, my head hurt.

“I want to get all hee hee haw haw with you, My Lord! I want you to pamper me! And I want to pamper you!”

“I do get what you’re saying...”

The way she put it was a little nonsensical, but in short, she wanted to get a good mood going between us using alcohol. I sighed. I would’ve preferred it if she’d worded it better.

“So? What will you do, Takahiro?” Shiran asked with a giggle. She looked as if she was having fun. She probably already knew my answer.

“Well...if you want to have some, then I don’t have any reason to object.”

It was a request from my cute lover, so I wanted to grant it if possible. Besides, it made me happy to be desired...setting aside whether there would be any hee heeing or haw hawing going on.

Gerbera’s face burst into an expression of pure joy.

“Ooh! You’re so understanding, My Lord!”

“Whatever makes you happy. Oh, but is it legal for me to drink at my age in this country?” I asked, only realizing this halfway through our conversation.

Shiran nodded. “Not a problem. There were some among the saviors at Fort Tilia who drank as well.”

“So I guess it’s fine. Let’s go call Lily and the others too.”

“Very well. Leave that to me,” Gerbera said, nodding, then flew out of the living room.

“She’s really excited,” Shiran said with a strained smile. “When Gerbera is in such high spirits, it makes me a little anxious.”

“Don’t say it. I was thinking the same thing.”

Gerbera was the type to mess up somehow when she was so enthusiastic like that, but I hated to call it off for no real reason when she looked so delighted. Therefore, though somewhat anxious about how things were going to turn out, we prepared for our drinking party.

◆ ◆ ◆

We opened the bottle of liquor after dinner was over, but not many people were drinking. We obviously couldn’t let the children like Lobivia, Kei, or Ayame have any. Rose was a puppet and couldn’t physically drink, whereas Shiran was undead and couldn’t get drunk. After the children went to bed, we handed out cups to those who could enjoy a drink.

“Hee hee. This is my first time having any kind of alcohol. I think I like it.”

Lily twirled her cup of liquor about as she jiggled her body happily. We were relaxing at home, so her lower half was back to that of a slime. As for me, after having the slightly drunk Lily tug on my arm a bunch, I found myself seated on her slime half like a sofa before I even knew it.

Maybe the alcohol made her a little more assertive than usual. Her free arm was wrapped around mine, and she leaned coquettishly against me. Her slender body felt supple, as though she were missing parts inside her, and she was a little warmer than usual.

“Looks like you’ve got a taste for it, Lily,” I said.

“Yup. How ’bout you, Master?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t get it yet.”

I didn’t feel all that different from normal. I was a little hot, and I could feel blood rushing to my head, but that was about it.

“Well, I’ve been taking it slow like Shiran suggested, so maybe it’ll just take time,” I added.

I’d only had about a quarter of a cup so far. I didn’t know my own tolerance for alcohol, so I abided by Shiran’s advice to drink slowly.

Incidentally, during her time in the Alliance Knights, Shiran had had several opportunities to drink while socializing. Knights posted in the Woodlands frequently risked death, so many among them would de-stress by drinking. Shiran didn’t dislike having a drink either.

I glanced at Shiran across the table and met her eye.

“Is something the matter?” she asked, cocking her head.

“Not really...”

“Aah, does my not drinking perhaps bother you?”

Shiran’s cup didn’t have liquor in it. She was participating only to have a good time.

“There’s no need to concern yourself over it,” she continued. “I won’t drink, but I’m enjoying myself. Besides, I’ve had a pleasant feeling for a short while now somehow.”

“Like getting drunk on the atmosphere?” I asked.

“Rather, it seems I’m being influenced by you, Takahiro.”

“By me?”

“A large portion of my being depends on you, so I suppose that’s why. Hee hee. Two people can get drunk for the price of one. That’s quite the bargain.”

Judging by her joking manner, she did seem a little merrier than usual. Her smile was even a little erotic. Her undead complexion remained as pale as always, but she really did appear to be feeling good.

“That’s how it is, so please enjoy and don’t worry about me. Unfortunately, though, some don’t seem to be enjoying themselves.”

Shiran smiled sadly and looked to the side, where a crestfallen white spider sulked in the corner of the room.

“Mrgh. To think it would end up like this...”

Gerbera had been the one to suggest we have a drink, and here she was full of disappointment. Not a single drop of liquor was left in the bottle she held. All of its contents had vanished into her stomach, but her practically transparent white skin didn’t have the slightest tinge of red to it.

“I never thought I wouldn’t be able to get drunk...”

Using mana to reinforce one’s body could ward off the effects of alcohol, but it was still possible to get drunk if one wanted to. One simply had to get rid of that extra resistance granted by mana, but it didn’t matter if the natural resistance was there to begin with. Gerbera had a large body and was made different from the rest of us.

The reason why it was working for Lily was because she was skillfully mimicking a human. In other words, she was using skill to get drunk. Maybe Gerbera could get intoxicated with an entire cask of the stuff, but we hadn’t been given that much.

“Maybe it’ll work better with coffee instead of alcohol,” Lily said, smiling in amusement at Gerbera’s state. “They say spiders get drunk off caffeine.”

“R-Really?!” Gerbera exclaimed. “Where can I get this ‘coffee’ you speak of?!”

“I wonder? Do they even have it in this world?”

“Mrrrrgh.”

“Actually, it’ll be pretty bad if we find any.”

“Why?!”

“In your case, it’d be dangerous for your sense of reason to go out the window. What’ll you do if you squeeze our master without holding back and he goes all crickety crack?”

“Hey, Lily? I’m sure you chose the cute sound effects out of consideration, but that’s still scary.”

Lily did have a point, though. It sounded entirely possible. I felt a sudden chill and took a drink. Maybe this was the reason I’d felt anxious before this all started. I was glad nothing in particular had happened. Really, really glad.

Right as that thought went through my mind, something happened. They said incidents tended to occur when one relaxed, so perhaps this was an example of that.

“Oh, I might’ve screwed up,” Lily muttered.

Before I could understand what she meant...

“Maaajimaaa!”

A human figure sprouted out of the slime I was sitting on right next to me. Arms wrapped around my neck as I froze in shock. Lily was embracing my right arm, while my left hand held my cup, so I couldn’t do anything.

“M-Mizushima?!”

“Hey, hey, Majima! You surprised? Did I get you? Ha ha! You know what? I can come out at the same time as Lilz now! Shocking, right?!”

Mizushima made her appearance in astoundingly high spirits. Her face, which was very similar to Lily’s and covering my entire field of vision, was dyed bright red. She was piss drunk. But that was strange. She hadn’t had a drop of liquor. This was the first time she’d even come out today. In that case...

“Don’t tell me the alcohol Lily had passed around to you?”

“The plan to surprise Majima is a huuuuuge success! Ah ha ha ha ha ha!”

Mizushima, full of energy, tightened her hold around my neck. I nearly spilled some of my drink from all the shaking. The moment I shifted my focus to my cup, something smooth pressed against my cheek. It was hot and soft. Maybe because I was, in fact, a little drunk, I couldn’t keep up with what was going on. I heard Lily say “Wow” in a carefree manner, followed by, “Jeez, Miho, that’s very bold of you.” What did she mean by bold? And what was this sensation?

“Ah ha ha ha! It’s, like, all tingly! And that tickles!”

“M-Mizushima! Your clothes!”

The drunken Mizushima was cradling my head in her chest. The problem was that this was happening right after she’d formed her body, so naturally, she was stark naked. I felt blood rushing to my head for an entirely different reason from the alcohol now.

Mizushima’s breasts were more modest than Lily’s, but they had more than enough womanly softness to them—not that I ever imagined that I’d find out like this.

Lily stared in wonder with her hand to her mouth, then let out a sigh. “There was that time she mounted you in bed too. Miho ends up in this kinda situation pretty often, huh?”

“Is now really the time for that?!” I hollered.

For the time being, I had to do something about this. I drank what was left in my cup to free up my hand and got Lily to let go of my other arm. With both hands free, I managed to peel Mizushima off me.

“Aahn. Majima, you meanie...”

“Don’t make weird noises. Come on, cover—”

“Aah! Mizushima-senpai! You can’t!”

Just as I stood up to put some distance between us, a reproachful voice came from my side. I looked over, wondering what was going on, and saw Katou right there. I thought she’d help stop Mizushima for me, but something about Katou was strange. It was odd how tightly she was clinging to Rose, and her face was bright red.

“Don’t tell me... You too?” I asked.

“Unfaaair! I wanna...with Majima-senpai...too. Hm? Me too? Me...too? So I just hafta strip?”

Her articulation was off, and her behavior was suspect. She’d gotten rather drunk in the short time I hadn’t been watching.

“Wh-What do we do, Master? Mana is even cuter than usual!” Rose exclaimed.

Rose was extremely flustered, which was rare for her. She was acting weird as well, but not because she was intoxicated. She just had no idea what to do about how much her usually calm best friend had changed.

Katou stood up from Rose’s side and, in the next instant, staggered. She looked like she would fall over, so I supported her on the spur of the moment.

“Wooow. Senpaiii,” she said, sounding awfully happy. “You’re sooo close. Hee hee. Hee hee hee.”

This was bad. She was totally smashed.

“Liquor sure is tasty, huh? I was just taking li’l sips, but I’m feeling soooo good now. I really like it.”

“So that’s why...”

Katou’s cup, which had apparently been refilled, was half-empty. Holding it preciously against her chest, she then tried to lift it up to her lips again.

“Hey, you’ve had enough.”

I stopped her in a panic, and Katou blinked in surprise. Her usually serene eyes were now in a drowsy haze.

“Huh? Okay. Got it,” she said, her smile askew. “You’ll drink it then? Hee hee. Goooo ahead.”

“How did you come to that conclusion?”

“You’re not gonna? Then I will.”

“Wait. No. Don’t. Fine. I’ll have it.”

“Yup, then ’eeeere you go.”

I took the cup from her. She was liable to start drinking from it again if I took my eyes off her, so I downed its contents in one gulp and set it down on the table. It was a lot stronger than whatever I was having. Her first cup had been diluted with water at Shiran’s recommendation, but after getting drunk, Katou had probably forgotten to dilute the second cup.

The thought of an indirect kiss briefly passed through my mind, but I didn’t have the time to worry about that. Katou was still staggering. If I stopped supporting her, she would likely collapse. As for the drunkard in question, she was using her now-free hand to touch my chest.

“Senpaiii, your chest is sooo firm. Tee hee. I touched it. You’re so nice and buuurly. I like it burly. Hee hee. Tee hee hee. Like, Senpai. Looove.”

I knew she was talking about muscles, but her saying it like that straight to my face made my heart thump just a little. Her passionate eyes were bad for my composure.

“I touched yours, soooo wanna touch mine back?” she asked.

“No,” I replied quickly.

“It’s fine if it’s you. How unnnnfortunate. Guess I’ll strip.”

“You’re not making any sense!”

Katou didn’t hesitate at all and grabbed her shirt. I quickly held her hand down before she could finish taking it off. That was close. I ended up seeing everything from her belly button up to her underwear.

“What’re you doin’?” she asked, giving me a cute look of protest. “I can’t strip like this?”

“You’re a shockingly terrible drunk, you know?”

“It’s more like everything she normally suppresses is pouring out thanks to the alcohol,” Lily muttered, not that I had any time to pay attention to her.

“Rose, lend me a hand.”

Fortunately, when Rose hugged her firmly from behind, Katou calmed down. As for Mizushima, Lily pushed her back down into her slime half, forcing her back to “her room.” It was a surreal spectacle.

“We managed, somehow or other...”

I plopped back into my seat. With all the panicking and moving around, I felt my body getting hotter. I was a little dizzy. I sighed, then noticed a tearful gaze pointed my way.

“Gerbera?”

“E-Everyone is getting all hee hee haw haw with you! I wanted to do that!” she yelled, trembling and looking mortified. “I want to flirt too!”

Mizushima and Katou being drunk had been a headache-inducing turmoil for me, but it was evidently something Gerbera envied. She drew closer with teary eyes.

“You don’t need to cry about it,” I said.

“But, My Lord...”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it.”

I gave her head a good pat, and Gerbera sniffled. She was so cute and lovable. Dizzyingly so, in fact. Gerbera had said she wanted to flirt—a cute request from my lover.

Well, guess I’ve got no choice. I put my hand to Gerbera’s cheek and pulled her face to mine. I then pressed my lips against hers.

“Huh? Master?”

I heard Lily’s dumbfounded voice. I wondered why she’d reacted like that, but I quickly decided I didn’t want to bother thinking about it and concluded that it was fine.

Gerbera froze. She still couldn’t suppress her strength, so when it came to doing things like lovers, she needed to restrain herself with her own threads. Apparently, that wasn’t necessary today.

As such, it was fine to keep going. It was perfectly fine. I was sure it was. It definitely was. I kept my lips against hers and reached for her beautiful chest just as usual. I pushed up her weighty breast, its attractive shape changing between my fingers. That sensation was so comforting, and my fingers began moving all on their own, but then Gerbera suddenly leaped back.

“M-M-M-M-My Lord?! Wh-Wha?!”

“What’s wrong, Gerbera? Isn’t this what you wanted?”

“It is! But I didn’t think you would actually do it! Hm? Now that I think of it, there’s no need to refuse?”

“Gerbera! Time and place! Think of the time and place!” Lily yelled. “I can’t have you losing control and getting caught up in the flow too!”

Lily was completely panicking. It was rare to see her like this when it came to these things. She was usually composed. Today was just full of rare sights.

“Master, you’re totally drunk. I know you’re not used to it, but you were pacing yourself. How did this happen?”

Lily grimaced, then came to a sudden realization.

“Aaah! You didn’t pace yourself at all! You chugged like crazy when Miho teased you! And you had Katou’s drink too!”

“What’re you saying, Lily? That was nothing. I’m not drunk.”

I had, in fact, knocked back a couple extra drinks due to the series of emergencies, but I wasn’t drunk. I calmly assessed my own state and concluded I only felt a little good. Also, my head was spinning, and sitting here doing nothing made me wobble unsteadily, but that was it. It was nothing.

“Yup. I’m absolutely not drunk.”

“That’s what all drunks say!”

“No. Takahiro isn’t drunk,” Shiran said in protest, swaying up from her seat.

“Shiran?! This isn’t the time for jokes!” Lily exclaimed.

“By the way, Takahiro. I’d also like to flirt. Should I strip?”

“How can you say that while acting all serious?! Oh, right, you’re drunk because he is!”

Lily stopped Shiran from stripping. Gerbera writhed about with her arms over her breasts. Rose looked thrilled as she hugged the bright-red Katou from behind. I looked at all of them and smiled.

And so the noisy night went on.

Having stopped Shiran from stripping, Lily complained that she was tired, looking at me to pamper her. With my head still in the clouds, I nodded and cuddled her in my arms, when in an unusual turn, Shiran joined in. She held out her head to me, and I petted her. Watching this and still holding down her pounding chest, Gerbera screamed, “I got a late start!” Meanwhile, Katou, delighted at being in Rose’s arms, hummed a tune.

◆ ◆ ◆

The next day, I woke up in bed muttering to myself.

“I really went and did it now...”

I’d gotten quite drunk last night, but my memories appeared to be perfectly intact. Honestly, I would’ve preferred to forget, but life wasn’t that convenient. The only saving grace was that I hadn’t done anything weird except for that one thing with Gerbera. I just flirted a little bit. Well, not a little. A lot. Like, a whole lot. I totally screwed up.

“Are you awake, Master?” Rose said. She’d come to wake me up. “Good morning. Can you get out of bed? If you’re still tired, nobody will mind if you continue resting.”

“I’m fine. I’ll get up.”

“Okay, then.”

I got out of bed. The alcohol’s influence was pretty much gone, but because of that, I couldn’t look Rose in the eyes.

“I brought you water. Would you like some?” she asked.

“Yeah, thanks.”

I was always groggy in the mornings, even if I hadn’t been drinking. After gulping down some water, my mind became more clear. I looked up at Rose, who was standing by my bedside with perfect posture.

“How’s everyone else?” I asked.

“Mana is pale with a hangover, so she’s curled up in bed. Shiran doesn’t need sleep, so once the alcohol was out of her system, she returned to work. Lily is currently taking care of Miho.”

“What about cleaning up?”

“There’s no need for concern. I finished cleaning already. Also, forgive me, but I prepared breakfast this morning, so please don’t expect much. Kei helped out, so it should be all right.”

“I see.”

Rose had handled pretty much everything.

“Sorry, Rose,” I said, scratching my head.

“What for?”

“Now that I think of it, you were the only one who didn’t get to enjoy a drink last night. And yet...”

“Aah. That?” Rose nodded in understanding. “It was my first experience spending time like that in the land we’ve settled down in. It was quite the commotion, but everyone had fun. I wouldn’t exchange it for anything in the world.”

“Rose...”

“Time spent like that is of great benefit. It reminded me what it is I want to protect. I’ll never forget it, no matter what happens in the future. We have a reason to continue struggling, after all.”

Our position in this world was unstable, and nobody knew what the future had in store. However, no matter what happened, we would hold fast to the very end. The foundation of that vow was right here for us to experience.

Rose looked so beautiful as she said that. I found myself totally charmed by her.

“If there is another opportunity to do so, let’s have a party like that again,” she said with a brilliant smile.

“Yeah. You’re right. We’ll have another one, one day.”

We spoke of the future. It was a simple promise, but it would definitely grant us the strength to stand against the perils we were sure to face in the not-too-distant future.