Chapter 20: Water of Life (96% alcohol)
[The second drawing round begins.]
[Which stick do you choose? 1. Closest to you; 2. Farthest from you; 3. In the middle.]
Eikou chose number 2.
[Unfortunately, you still did not draw the Queen stick.]
[Your number is 4.]
Damn it, missed again!
Now everything depended on Gawain!
"The one who's Queen is me."
Morgan raised the Queen stick for the second time.
"??" Eikou was a bit speechless but forced a smile. "Please give your command, Queen."
Morgan leisurely took the stick, calmly glanced around at her children, then slowly said:
"I can sense that my presence is making this party a little tense… As a mother who loves her children, I don't want the atmosphere between you all to become too stiff. So this time, I'll raise the difficulty of the game a bit to make things more fun."
Raise the difficulty…
Eikou gripped the number 4 stick in his hand tightly, a bad feeling welling up in his chest.
In his mind, he screamed: Morgan-sama, please don't give any crazy orders… your kids might get traumatized…
No, wait, if you "accidentally" traumatize your own kids, that's your business — just don't drag me into it!
Please don't call on me… I'll give you 5 QP, alright?
Morgan didn't even glance at Eikou. She simply and indifferently said:
"Number 4, take it all off — except for your underwear."
What the fuck! It's me again?!
Raise the difficulty, my ass — this is going from plankton straight to Gyarados! Do you even understand what a reasonable level of intimacy in a social game is supposed to be?!
And why is it me again?! Are you seriously just Luck B?! With this level of precision, you should be Luck EX!
But… the Queen's command is absolute. Eikou had no choice but to grit his teeth and accept his fate.
He took off his clothes, face heavy with shame, and sat back down in just his underwear.
Morgan gently gathered his clothes and neatly folded them in her lap.
Though her face still wore the stern expression of a parent, her tone was clearly much more cheerful:
"Eikou-san, thank you for the gift… I'll keep it safe."
What do you mean by that?! Are you saying you're not giving my clothes back after the game?!
No, seriously — something is very wrong here.
How could Morgan keep drawing the Queen stick and calling on him specifically over and over?
If we're talking about Luck stats, it should be Eikou and Gawain who are more likely to get the Queen stick.
Unless… she's cheating?
Eikou figured he needed to test this in the next round, to confirm Morgan's tricks for sure.
[Another round of drawing begins.]
[Which stick do you choose? 1. Closest to you; 2. Farthest from you; 3. In the middle.]
Eikou chose number 1.
Using his high Agility stat, he quickly snatched the closest stick.
[Unfortunately, you still did not draw the Queen stick.]
[Your number is 2.]
Just as expected.
He immediately turned to look at Morgan.
He saw the Queen of the Fairies glance at the stick in his hand, then once again raised a Queen-marked stick with the dominating presence of a ruler: "Queen is me."
Just as predicted — it was her again.
"In the name of the Queen, I command number 2—"
The Queen's cold voice rang out.
Eikou didn't even need to look — the one being called again was him.
At this point, he was certain Morgan was cheating.
Her method was most likely due to her unique skill Fairy Eyes — with just a glance, she could identify which stick was the Queen stick, and simultaneously see what number everyone else had drawn.
Earlier, he had deliberately drawn his stick quickly, forcing Morgan to glance at it before issuing her command, ensuring she saw which number he had.
…He had been too careless, forgetting these people were all Servants with special abilities — cheating for them was as easy as breathing.
But now that he understood how Morgan was cheating, countering it wouldn't be hard.
As long as he endured this round… in the next one, vengeance will be mine!
"Number 2, drink a glass of Spirytus for me."
(Note: Spirytus is also known as the "Water of Life," with an alcohol content of up to 96%! If you've seen Grand Blue, you should be very familiar with this stuff, haha.)
"???"
Eikou froze in place:
"Will… I even be alive for the next round?"
The hotel staff soon brought over a full glass of Spirytus.
"..."
He didn't know if it was an illusion, but Eikou could swear he saw the alcohol visibly evaporating before his eyes…
"Morgan-san, is this… really drinkable?"
Her blue eyes suddenly sharpened:
"The Queen's order must—"
"BE ABSOLUTELY OBEYED!!"
Everyone shouted in unison like thunder.
...Alright, alright! With things said this far—I'll drink it!!
Images of legendary war gods who had once "chugged Spirytus like water" flashed through Eikou's mind—and now… it was his turn to carry on that legacy.
"Bottoms up!!"
He raised the glass high, giving himself no escape, and downed it all in one go!
[You have just drunk a glass of Spirytus. The extremely high alcohol content is violently assaulting your body and willpower.]
[Endurance check in progress.]
Rolling dice…
[Check result: A — higher than your Endurance stat — check failed!]
[Skill "Lion of Cigarettes" activated — forcibly maintaining consciousness, check overridden.]
[You successfully downed the glass of Spirytus! Even though it felt like a bullet shot through your brain and your vision was spinning, you did not collapse.]
Thud!
He slammed the empty glass down on the table, his whole body feeling like it was floating in the void.
Thankfully, he had previously acquired Mordred's skill, allowing him to stay temporarily conscious — he hadn't passed out just yet.
"Eikou-san, are you alright?"
Morgan immediately supported his slightly swaying body. The distance between them quickly vanished, and her ample chest pressed against his bare upper body. Her voice rang out, gentle and enchantingly sweet:
"If you're feeling tired, you can drop out of the game. I've already prepared a hotel room just for you."
"..."
Eikou cursed inwardly:
So that was the real goal — to get me drunk… You truly are worthy of the title Fairy Queen.
"No need for now. I can still keep going. But I'll need a glass of water first."
"No problem."
Morgan immediately asked the staff to bring over a glass of water.
Eikou picked up the glass and took a sip… then froze.
After a brief pause, he quietly set the glass back on the table.
His eyes shifted from the glass to the relaxed smile on Morgan's face.
"…Thanks. Actually, I've always wanted to try this meme…"
He said.
"Mordred, let me borrow your lighter for a sec."
"What for?"
Mordred asked, but still handed him her lighter.
Eikou brought the lighter close to the "glass of water" before him — click — the flame touched the surface.
Flames burst into life across the surface of the water.
Everyone stared in silence at the burning glass.
"…Morgan-san, why is the water on fire?"
"Must be… alcohol in it."
The Fairy Queen's voice remained as calm and majestic as ever.
"Isn't it kind of weird for water to contain alcohol?!"
"My apologies. Perhaps the staff confused 'water' with 'vodka'. Would you like me to order another glass?"
"…Just make sure it's the kind of water that doesn't ignite, please."
[You drank a non-alcoholic glass of water. Your body feels like it's beginning to stabilize.]
[The next round of the Queen Game begins.]
[You've already seen through Morgan's method of cheating, so the drawing round no longer holds any meaning for you.]
[The only thing you want to draw now… is the stick in Morgan's hand!]
[Agility B, activated!]
Just as Morgan reached out to grab the stick she had her eye on—
Eikou struck simultaneously, snatching that very stick right before she could.
Morgan's beautiful blue eyes widened in clear surprise.
"Didn't see that coming, did you, Morgan-san? Luck always turns eventually… or should I say, you're no longer the Queen."
Eikou winked at her, signaling that the time for counterattack had arrived!
"'Queen,'" he raised the stick in his hand, "is me."