Episode 244.2
(EP-244.2) Son-in-law? #4
244 – Live-in son-in-law? #4
I also felt much more comfortable at a place like this. There was no need to stand on ceremony and relax; assuming no one picked a fight.
“Hello.”
At that mont, a burly man with a grim face approached . For a second, I thought he was an ogre, but despite his intimidating, scarred, one-eyed face, he was human.
Was he looking for trouble?
Just as I was thinking that, the man smiled and said.
“Long ti no see, Noonim. Have you been having fun? Here to sell so goods?”
“No, I’m a custor today. Give the usual.”
“Hehe, leave it to .”
So, he’s the owner.
He served grilled pork trotters and an iced drink. It slled like green grapes, with a very slight but bitter alcohol scent.
“That guy has always made a killer highball. Give it a try.”
“Sorry, but I don’t drink.”
“Really? That’s a sha. It’s delicious.”
“I get drunk just from the sll.”
“From the sll?”
There’s a certain rhythm to conversations, especially at a drinking table where the flow of conversation is quite important.
However, whenever I ntion that I don’t drink, it often disrupts this rhythm.
Decent people usually respond with, “Ah, that’s okay,” and move on. But with Stella, I was a bit nervous she might insist on drinking.
Surprisingly, she accepted it without any fuss.
“I knew soone like that. Couldn’t handle alcohol at all. The funny guy would get drunk just from the sll—.”
Stella’s expression seed to drift into a mont of reminisce.
* * *
The food was simply delicious. Honestly, at dipped in sauce is good no matter how you eat it.
“It’s tasty.”
“If it wasn’t good, I wouldn’t have brought you here.”
We had a casual chat as we ate. Surprisingly, it flowed quite naturally.
“So the hypothesis that dinosaurs had feathers is gradually being dismissed. Now, what’s capturing the scholars’ attention are bioluminescent dinosaurs.”
“I see.”
As I listened to her talk about dinosaurs, I was surprised that the conversation was actually interesting.
Perhaps it was because Stella Bellhawk was still a ‘professor,’ or because she was a long-lived elf with a wealth of random knowledge. The range of our conversation was broad.
It had been a while since I experienced such effortless dialogue, making it easy for to bring up any topic.
It’s more ordinary than I expected.
I wonder if this is how it feels when an ordinary man and woman et and have a conversation. Putting aside the noble families and arranged marriages, Stella was a good conversationalist.
“Theo-kun, I’ll have another drink.”
“But you’ve already had four glasses. You’ll be too drunk if you have more.”
“Four glasses already? ?”
“Yes.”
Stella’s amber eyes were slightly dazed. As I ntioned, she had been drinking continuously and was already quite tipsy.
Looking at the empty glasses in front of her, Stella laughed softly.
“It seems so. When did I drink so much? It’s been a while since soone listened to this well. I guess I drank without realizing it. Even ten glasses of this wasn’t a problem back then.”
How many years ago was it?
“Ah, I hate this. When I get drunk, I end up talking about the past. Like, ‘Back in my day…’ and stuff. Kids these days don’t like that.”
“It will be different for each person, but most probably don’t.”
“Yeah, I guess so. Still, there used to be a lot of fun and exciting things. This place was smaller back then, a ti when the only custors are and my seniors….”
Stella’s eyes sparkled like starlight. Unlike her usual dull and hazy eyes, the drunk Stella looked rather intelligent.
I’d heard that alcohol reveals a person’s nature.
Maybe the keen intellect Stella had when she was competing with her brother, Opal, was now surfacing like water from a seemingly dry well.
I asked tentatively.
“By seniors—do you an from the adventure club during your school days?”
“Yeah. It was fun. Reinhardt, and even Alistair, who’s no longer with us—they were all young and full of ambition. Everyone had dreams. We all had dreams.”
After that, Stella started recounting their adventures—discovering various spells and ancient ruins—without even asking.
“We once discovered a giant tree growing under a cave. Its height and thickness were beyond imagination…!”
Her stories sounded fantastical, lacking a sense of reality. Whether they were exaggerated or not, the idea of freely adventuring was hopeful, even enviable.
However, such reminiscing about the past usually ends with a vague sentint like, “Those were the days.”
Compared to her glittering past, Stella’s present was relatively lackluster. Her gaze looked lost as she idly twirled her ice-filled glass.
“Did the adventures end because Isaiah Gaspel went missing?”
I listened to her long lant all the way to ask one question. Upon hearing the na I ntioned, Stella’s half-closed eyelids lightly said.
“Yeah. He was quite unruly. Then he suddenly disappeared….”
“But I heard that Professor Stella went into the Witch Forest with him.”
“……”
Her hand, which was turning the ice-filled glass, suddenly stopped.
“Where did you hear that?”
“I have a reliable source. From your reaction, it seems true. Professor Stella, could you elaborate on that story?”
“So stories are hidden for a reason. Unfortunately, Theo-kun, I have no obligation to tell you that story.”
“What if I have the qualification to hear it?”
I am the most qualified.
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