Chapter 44: The Jolly Duck
Stroph was a little surprised by such an ordinary request, he thought Violet would ask for something else like clothes or weapons or some kind of equipment, but it turned out to be much easier than he had thought.
He easily agreed and they headed to the biggest bar in the town, but on the way Stroph started to doubt about the girl's request, "Violet, haven't you ever tried alcohol?" At his words, Violet flinched and said uncertainly: "Yes...this will be the first time ever."
Stroph only smiled in response and said loudly: "Well, then rest assured that I'll make sure you get a taste of the best there is at the bar!" In addition, he wanted to drink himself too, to relax and try some good quality alcohol.
Upon hearing Stroph's words, Violet blushed slightly and said nothing more.
About ten minutes later, they reached a large building with a huge signboard that showed a yellow toy duck with a long hunting rifle. Under the duck, in big letters, it said "Jolly Duck".
"AHAHA, I already love this place!" Stroph liked the funny and unusual signboard so much.
They walked leisurely inside and went straight to the bar, Stroph didn't really know what to try for someone who had never had a drink before, so he decided to start with a mild and delicious creamy liqueur.
He ordered some very expensive whiskey for himself. The barman quickly served Violet's liquor, and then poured whiskey for Stroph.
The barman did not react in any way to Stroph ordering the most expensive whiskey in their bar, which surprised Stroph a little.
"Well, are you ready? If you want more, you can choose whatever you want." After these words, he immediately drank his whiskey before ordering a double.
Although Violet wanted to taste the alcohol, she was a little nervous the first time, but when she saw Stroph calmly draining his glass, she worked up the courage and drank her liquor with a volley.
Stroph was watching at Violet carefully, he wondered how she would react and whether she would like the alcohol at all.
Violet calmly drank it all, then she said: "It feels weird, like I drank a tasty cocktail, but at the same time it doesn't taste good."
Stroph thought her reaction was too ordinary, so he decided to mock her a little.
He ordered a double whiskey after which he said: "Try it, it's what I just drank, maybe you'll like it and you`ll discover a whole new world." With these words, he ordered another double whiskey for himself and prepared to drink with Violet.
The girl did not refuse the offer and decided to try it, moreover, to Stroph`s surprise, she drank all the whiskey at once.
He looked at her reaction and drained his glass without saying anything.
"Master, I want more." Hearing her words, Stroph did not know what to say, but at that moment he noticed a very interesting cocktail on the table of one of the visitors and he decided right away to order both for himself and Violet.
But, for some reason, he didn't find anything on the menu that resembled this cocktail. He asked the barman, "Do you have any cocktails that aren't on the menu? I'd like to order one." Stroph was actually interested in the purple cocktail with the strange floating eye inside.
The barman looked at him and with a slight smile on his face, replied, "There are, they are just too expensive for ordinary customers, but from your choice of whiskey I can assume that you are not poor, if you want I can show you an exclusive menu".
Stroph answered nothing and only nodded slightly indicating his agreement. All the while, Violet was sitting quietly, just waiting until she could try something else.
The barman showed the menu, transferring the necessary data to Stroph's bracelet.
Stroph was surprised by this confidentiality, but he didn't show it, he immediately started looking through all the cocktails. What struck him was that each cocktail had its own 3D model that you could examine and there were detailed descriptions of all the ingredients, their quantity and even where they came from.
But the price was unbelievable, the most expensive whiskey he had ordered was five hundred sempets for a single shot. The very cocktail that had caught his eye, called the" Bloody Birth" cost as much as fifteen thousand sempets!
At this point, he could easily afford a truckload of these, but anyway the price was enormous.
Stroph decided to order two "Bloody Birth" and see how good a cocktail that cost as much as one-seventh of his house was. He was also interested in the ingredients that made up this drink. The eye turned out not to be an eye, but the egg of some monster, and the bloody liquid was, the juice of some rare fruit called "Crimson Stars".
The barman made two "Bloody Birth" rather quickly, after which Violet and Stroph proceeded to tasting them. But, the barman left them and explained that they had to break an egg right into the cocktail before drinking it. Stroph and Violet did as they were told.
To their surprise, the yolk of the egg was not yellow at all, but the color of chocolate.
As soon as the contents fell into Stroph's mouth, he immediately felt an intense heat, which was quickly replaced by a gentle and pleasant aftertaste. The egg, on the other hand, was sweet but light.
All in all Stroph was pleased with the "Bloody Birth", well, everything except the price.
But as soon as he finished it he felt full of energy, and there was no trace of fatigue, as if he had just woken up and there had been no battle with the Flesh Hunter.
After this relaxing effect, he finally understood why these cocktails are so secret and expensive. Stroph began to look through the menu further and saw, at the very end of the menu, an incredibly expensive cocktail, it cost as much as one hundred thousand sempets!
Such price made his fingers tremble and his eyes almost fall out of their orbits, he had never imagined that one cocktail could cost as much as an entire house!
And the remarkable fact was that the name of the cocktail did not reflect its high price - "Poor Traveler".
Stroph didn't particularly want to spend such incredible money on a cocktail, but he was just too curious as to why it cost so much.
The "Poor Traveler" was completely black and the ingredient list included only the names for a variety of berries, though the quantity as well as the price was staggering, the cocktail consisted of as many as 33 kinds of berries.
Stroph was about to order this particular cocktail, but the barman stopped him, "Excuse me, but we have a separate room for drinks of such level, please, follow me."
Stroph and Violet nodded and followed him to a special room that was on the underground floor.
In the center of the room there was a small mahogany table, at which the barman seated Stroph and Violet. After that, he quickly handed them their glasses, then walked over to a large ice box and pulled out a black bottle.
Stroph understood immediately that it was "Poor Traveler".
A few seconds later, there were two filled glasses in front of them, waiting to be drained. Violet and Stroph quickly drank the entire contents and nearly fainted from the unreal taste.
"Master, all my phantasy is not enough to imagine such an incredible taste." Violet was in sheer amazement, it was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted before. The taste was pungent, multifaceted, refreshing and delicate at the same time.
Stroph was also pleased with the taste, but he didn't care at the moment because as soon as he tasted the "Poor Traveler", a notice popped up in front of him.
[Received the title of rare level - "Cocktail connoisseur".]