Chapter 28 : No drinks allowed

“It’s fine, ahem, I’m fine.”
Celine shook her head, declining.
Lena saw right through her psychology.
Ah, it’s that.
Curious, but reluctant because it feels like incurring debt, and even though the other person says it’s fine, I feel bothered, so I’d rather refuse.
People who strictly maintained interpersonal distance often acted like this.
Lena respected all attitudes toward life.
If the other person wanted to act that way, she wouldn’t try to forcefully persuade them.
Who am I to try and control others?
However, this case was slightly different.

“Don’t refuse, just try one sip.”

“No, I’ve only been receiving things so far. I can’t incur any more debt…”

“I’m telling you, it’s really delicious. Just one sip. Huh?”

There were types of people who, finding something delicious, would make a huge fuss and try to make others eat it.
Lena was like that.
For such a person, the other party’s refusal was unacceptable.
Hey! This is killer! Try it!
The underlying psychology was based on goodwill, making it malicious in that firmly refusing would make the refuser seem cold-hearted.

“Th-then, really just one sip.”
As Lena stuck close and repeatedly urged her, Celine finally raised the white flag.
Operation success.
These types are weak to being pushed.
Lena watched with sparkling eyes as Celine accepted the glass.
The liquid shimmered, reflecting the campfire light.

“This…?”
Celine sniffed it, then her expression hardened, and she put the glass down.
Aw, she’s not drinking it.
Lena couldn’t hide her disappointment.
Though called a drink, its true identity was fresh monster blood.
Considering some people found even blood pudding (Seonji) unappetizing, something completely raw was naturally a matter of acquired taste.
Lena herself still found the initial fishy smell difficult.
She only got addicted because of the savory, sparkling taste that followed immediately after.
Celine, who clearly looked like she grew up sheltered, wouldn’t have eaten something like this.
While Lena did want to share something delicious, her primary motivation was mischievousness.
But it got blocked here.

“Can’t handle it after smelling it? Fair enough, it is kind of bad. If you don’t think you can drink it, just give it to me.”

“Ah, wait…!”
Lena snatched the glass and gulped it down heartily.
Kkhh, she’s not drinking this good stuff.
Lena felt unsatisfied and considered getting another glass, but Celine asked in a stiff voice.

“Just asking, but is that ‘drink’ monster blood?”

“Huh? Yeah, how did you know? Have you drunk it before?”
At Lena’s calm affirmation, Celine’s jaw dropped.
Her eyes widened as much as physically possible.
They looked ready to pop out if someone tapped the back of her head.

“If you drink that…!”

“Ah ah, stop. I know exactly what you’re going to say, Big Sis. It’s fishy, bitter, and tastes bad, right? That’s all because you grew up smoothly without hardship.”
Lena spouted nonsense with a smile.

“Have you ever had to scavenge leftovers from an animal’s kill because there was nothing to eat the next day? Have you ever cut plant vines and drunk the sap collected inside because you couldn’t find a water source? After living through such hardships, this just tastes like a savory drink to me.”

Celine immediately retorted.
“This isn’t a matter of taste…”

“Oh, I didn’t grow up that sheltered either! I might lack skill, but do I lack pride?”

“That’s not it…”
Celine felt frustrated.
Monster blood, what, a drink?
It was appalling.

“That’s poison!”
Finally, after she shouted, Lena’s nonsense stopped abruptly.
Lena blinked her eyes.

“Poison? This?”

“Yes.”
Monster blood is poisonous.
This was common sense.
And Lena hadn’t learned common sense.

“But I’ve been drinking it just fine?”
Lena had been using monster blood as a drink for years.
If this were truly a potent poison, shouldn’t she have died long ago?
To Lena, Celine’s words could only sound like a joke.

“Are you saying this because what I said earlier bothered you? Hey, I was just kidding. Don’t worry about it.”
She just wouldn’t take it seriously.
Celine bit her lip.
This is poison.
It’s poison, so why is Lena fine?
She was starting to wonder if, just as Lena said, she herself was just sheltered and well-fed, unable to adapt to rough food.

“Just because you can’t drink an Americano doesn’t mean you’re not mature. Everyone has things that don’t suit their taste.”
Instead, Lena was comforting her.
She seemed to think Celine was genuinely offended.

Celine wracked her brain and came up with the most plausible hypothesis.
It’s said that medicine and poison are separated by a fine line.
Depending on how it’s used, it could be medicine or poison.
Monster blood could arguably fall into this category.
This is because the poison contained in a monster’s vital blood is mostly not the creature’s inherent toxin, but rather concentrated Mana that has deteriorated.
If one knew how to manage it, it was no different from drinking an elixir like water.
But that was easier said than done.
If anyone could do it, monsters would’ve already been reduced to livestock for blood supply.
Perhaps only Lena could do it.
It’s said that even among the same animals, diets differ depending on the environment.
Noble families with many enemies were said to feed their offspring small amounts of poison from infancy to build tolerance.
Since Lena grew up in the Great Forest from a young age, perhaps she unconsciously learned the technique of handling Mana?
Hadn’t her severely injured body recovered in just one day?
It wasn’t an entirely baseless guess.

“…”
Upon inspection, Lena’s body showed no abnormalities.
However, just because she had been fine until now didn’t guarantee she would be fine in the future.
As a person of common sense, and with concern, Celine firmly corrected Lena’s behavior.

“From now on, drinking that ‘drink’ is forbidden.”

“?”
What does that mean?
Drink only water with meals? Carbonated drinks are unhealthy?
Having tried to play a prank, Lena suddenly found herself being lectured like a teenager and asked with her eyes.

“This isn’t something you should be drinking…”
Celine started to explain, then hesitated.
What if she asks back like before, saying she’s perfectly fine, so what’s the problem?
She was indeed trying to stop Lena, who had been fine so far, out of concern for a one-in-a-million chance.
Pondering, Celine found the answer in Lena’s sulky expression and youthful appearance.

“It’s because you’re not old enough.”

“Uh, this isn’t alcohol though?”
Lena was surprised.
Does a medieval fantasy world have laws against underage drinking?
It’s possible.
Even within the same medieval fantasy genre, details differed.
Among the works Lena remembered, there was even a setting with a modern-style water and sewage system.
It was part of the “magic solves everything” trope.
Should I reveal my real age now?
Although I may look young, if you add my past life’s age, I’m middle-aged.
Would that work?
It seems more likely I’d be treated as crazy.

“It’s unrelated to that.”
Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be because of the law.
Lena, who had been making snake wine, felt relieved.

“Then why?”

“It’s… Anyway, you just can’t.”
Lena’s eyes narrowed.
What do you mean, anyway?
Isn’t the “not old enough” thing a total lie?
And indeed, it was a lie.
Of course, she had no real answer.
Celine furtively averted her gaze.
She’s really bad at lying.
Lena’s eyes gleamed, having found a weakness to exploit.

“Okay.”

“…Huh? Really?”

“Yeah.”
However, Lena didn’t deliberately push back.

“Yes, good thinking. Until now, your circumstances were dire, so you might’ve drunk things like this, but once we reach the village, there will be many more delicious things.”

“I suppose so?”

“Of course.”
She must have been really bothered.
That was Lena’s judgment.
For someone bad at lying to push this hard, it said it all.
What if teasing someone who’s already provoked leads to a fight?
Lena possessed the normal level of social awareness to gauge how far a joke could go.
I should be careful when I prank her next time.

“For the record, offering it to other people is also forbidden.”

“Why? There might be someone with similar tastes to mine.”

“I told you it’s poison. People die if they drink this.”
Then what am I, if not human?
But Celine’s expression was too serious to quibble over semantics.

“In the wild, you might’ve eaten anything to survive, but the city is different. You can avoid eating things you shouldn’t. You won’t starve because of it.”
Lena roughly understood the meaning.
Even if calling it poison was an exaggeration, it seemed to be a generally perceived disgusting food.
That’s why Celine was urging her so strongly.
Potatoes are considered a staple crop now, but in the past, they were treated poorly as the devil’s plant.
Isn’t this a similar case?
As a civilized person, Lena knew how to respect other cultures.
If told not to do something, she wouldn’t.
Besides, she just had to not drink it in front of her.
They say even the king gets cursed behind his back; as long as she wasn’t caught, it was fine.
I’ll just drink this good stuff all by myself.
That was what Lena thought as she pinky-promised.

The crackling sound of the campfire echoed softly.
While the world was pitch black, only the party’s campsite was bright.
Though it was long past bedtime, Celine remained awake alone.
It was because she was on night watch.
Animals fear fire.
Monsters didn’t fear fire quite as much.
A campfire burning brightly alone in the darkness was like a sign advertising “prey here.”
Therefore, standing guard was essential.
Although Lena, the actual resident of the Great Forest, said it wasn’t necessary.
This time, even Celine agreed with that assertion.
The party included a monster named Badugi.
Most monsters would likely be suppressed by his aura and wouldn’t dare approach.
Nevertheless, Celine volunteered for the night watch.
There were complex reasons for this.

Was it consideration, wanting not to worry Lena by revealing signs of pain if she fell soundly asleep while still recovering?
No.

Was it because her sleeping habits were bad, potentially disturbing Lena if they slept together, so she waited for Lena to fall asleep soundly before sleeping later?
Only half right.
Celine’s sleeping habits were indeed terrible for sharing a bed.
However, she wasn’t being particularly careful or restrained about it either.

The correct answer was:
“…If I’m not doing anything else, I should at least do this.”
It was a struggle to prove her own usefulness!
Guiding the way? Lena did it.
Building the campsite? Lena did it.
Preparing meals? Lena did it.
She had simply received Lena’s help in every aspect of life in the Great Forest so far.
In Celine’s own view, she was nothing but a freeloader.
Lena might say being a conversation partner was enough.
But Celine wasn’t smooth enough to just let it slide so easily.
Of course, she hadn’t intentionally acted like a freeloader.
There just hadn’t been any opportunity to contribute.
Celine was a knight.
Knights speak with their swords.
If monsters had appeared, she could’ve defeated them and earned her keep.
The problem was that the journey was too peaceful.
The journey was so peaceful it was hard to believe they were inside the Great Forest.
They hadn’t even found a trace of monsters.
So, what could she do?
Stand guard, at least.
She was a classic example of someone who felt guilty without anyone blaming her and thus made herself suffer unnecessarily.