Karubene, who was depressed after noticing that his horn had been broken.
Since then, Karubene had been withdrawn.
“It’s just a horn, it’s not even that big,” Nina said.
“Hey, Nina. A Satyr’s horns are their pride, I think.”
“You think so? You don’t know either, do you? How long are you going to stay cooped up?”
When Nina started banging on the door, I managed to calm her down. But the problem was that Karubene was holed up in the bathroom. He couldn’t even go to the toilet.
What should I do? That’s it! How about taking him to the wine fountain he said he wanted to go to before? He’s sure to forget his sadness and be revived. I told Sharin about the plan.
“Well, that’s the best idea. By the way, where is this wine fountain?”
That’s the problem. Just because the White Horn cult is around doesn’t mean there aren’t assassins lurking. There are bound to be enemy spies.
“Hey Karubene, I know you’re sad, but can we forget about it for now and search for the wine fountain?”
“That’s right. Nobody’s looking at you. Don’t worry.”
I don’t know about Sharin’s way of comforting him. After a little while, Karubene came out, looking listless.
“Finally! I wanted to take a shower,” Nina exclaimed.
“Piyo too!”
Everyone rushed in one after another. Meanwhile, Karubene looked drained of energy.
“A-are you okay?”
“…I’m dead.”
He was so worried that he covered his head completely with a hood when he went outside. Or rather, wasn’t that Lauren’s cloak? She’ll be angry if you take it without permission.
“By the way, where is this fountain you’re talking about?”
In response to Sharin’s question, Karubene took out a flyer. It had a map on it, but I didn’t understand it because I wasn’t familiar with the area. I asked someone nearby who was drinking coffee.
“Ah, that. Go straight down this road and turn right. It’s famous, so you know, right?”
It seemed to be a specialty of this town. When I went there as instructed, I could clearly see the fountain from the shop window. And the water flowing there was red.
“It looks kind of creepy.”
“Are you going to drink that?”
Unlike us, who weren’t keen on it, Karubene was glued to the window.
“Amazing, it’s truly heaven. I can’t believe something like this actually exists.”
It was already night, the sun had set. Perhaps because of that, the shop was bustling with customers and was very noisy. We ordered the 90-minute all-you-can-drink course for the time being.
“S-such a racket.”
Even my voice couldn’t get through. Sharin looked uncomfortable. She doesn’t like noisy places. It’s probably because her hearing is better than mine.
“Here, you can go drink.”
“What?! Really? No complaints later, okay?”
Why was she so dejected earlier? Now she’s energetic. Come to think of it, she hit her head hard, is it really okay to let her drink alcohol?
Karubene dipped his cup into the wine fountain and drank it down in one gulp. Next to him, new wine was being poured.
“Yo, sis, you’re a good drinker.”
Oh, he’s already being bothered by someone before I can even catch my breath. I hope it’s just some drunkard.
“What do you want?”
“Nah, nothing in particular. Just saw you there and said hello. Hahaha, cheers to the blood of the gods tonight.”
The men were already flushed and laughing. Then they started singing loudly.
“A glass of wine, Dad drank it. Two glasses of wine, Mom drank it.”
They drank glass after glass. And they would have pointless laughs.
“Sis, what’s wrong? Did something bad happen?”
“You should drink alcohol for fun, heh-heh.”
Karubene, without even looking at the drunks, just kept pouring alcohol down. I thought he had returned to normal, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Then a woman came and sat next to him.
“What’s wrong, heartbreak?”
“No, it’s not that. …It’s this.”
When she took off her hood, the izakaya fell silent for a moment.
“You get it now. Leave me alone.”
“Whoa, sis, what happened? Your horn, did you lose it?”
The drunkard burst into laughter, but seeing Karubene’s cold expression, he became quiet again.
“Did you have an accident?”
“No, I was fighting with some Basilisks. A rock hit me and it broke. Do you know about Basilisks?”
“A-ah, aren’t they Naga with poison? Why were you fighting with them? Who are you?”
To the woman’s question, Karubene only replied that he was a traveler.
“The ones over there are my companions.”
All eyes turned and pierced me. I gave a slight bow.
“What’s your name?”
“Calbenessa, but I’m called Karubene.”
“Oh, Karubene. One-horned Karubene! That’s great. And you can live without horns.”
“That’s right,” said a young man with glasses, emerging from the crowd of drunks. His horns were unnaturally short. Smaller than a woman’s.
“What about your horns?”
“I cut them off. Because long horns are just a nuisance, right? I can’t even wear a hat.”
The others chuckled at the young man’s joke, seeing Karubene’s astonishment.
“They don’t understand the pride of the Satyr race.”
“They say the more foolish they are, the more they want to grow them. Horns don’t always grow beautifully. Bent horns can cause headaches and stiff shoulders. And if you accidentally hook them on someone, it’s dangerous.”
I had always thought it was about pride. But come to think of it, life wouldn’t be significantly different without them. And as he said, you might accidentally hurt someone. I feel something similar to Harpies, who can’t fly.
