Mix

"Come on Roger, we have a ton more booths to head to."

"Yes, milady."

A young woman was walking excitedly through the crowd of a culture festival in full swing. Chatter filled the hallways and people could be seen carrying various foodstuff and prizes from the many arcades set up. There was a ball pit, mini restaurants, bumper cars, even a haunted house which was receiving mixed reception from people. It was in the middle of all this chaos that the young woman spotted a small entrance, half of it draped in black cloth and set so far down a hall, so far away from the rest of the festivities that there was not a soul around. There was no advertisement of such an attraction and no decorations hung around to even indicate it was part of the festival.

"Interesting." The woman mused.

"Milady?" Roger caught up with her and followed her line of sight to the obviously suspicious entryway down the hall.

"You aren't actually thinking of going there r-"

Before Roger could finish his sentence the lady was striding confidently down the hall, sending her knight in a panic as he followed her up to the doorway.

"Hello?" The girl parted the curtains and poked her head in.

Roko looked up at the people at the doorway and sighed, "Welcome."

"Is this a bar?" The princess walked into black room, lit with ambient light and lacking any real tables or chairs aside from an impressively fancy bar set against the wall.

"You could say that." Roko said as he continued cleaning a glass tumbler, "You're my first customer actually."

"Interesting." The princess smiled as she walked up to the bar, her knight following close behind her, "You're that boy from another world too right?"

"If you know that then you must be one of the princesses of this school." Roko replied, "Though your knight really gives that away."

"As charming as the rumors say." The princess said as she sat down in front of the bar, "Then are you the bartender or is that suit just a costume?"

"Who's to say it's not both?" Roko looked down at the tasteful suit that he was dressed up in, "At any rate, would you like to make an order?"

"What kind of drinks do you offer here?"

"Whatever I can make." Roko shrugged, "I've been practicing mixing a few drinks for like a week. I should be able to make some of the basic drinks."

"For a week? You aren't actually trained for this?"

"The headmaster just pulled me into her room one day and told me I had to make my own attraction for the festival." Roko scowled, "As the only one working here, I couldn't really get that fancy. This bar was basically the only thing I came up with."

"Really?" The princess raised an eyebrow, "Then I think I will try to order something."

"Everything is non-alcoholic unless you got an ID." Roko said.

"That's fine."

"Alright. What do you want?"

"Give me a Diamonds Are Forever martini."

"That's like $20,000, do you even have that much mon-"

The princess just smiled.

"Right." Roko sighed, "Goddamn rich folks. I'll get it ready."

"Oh my, you can actually make it?!" The princess looked surprised.

"Zadkiel made me organizer for the festival literally yesterday so all this preparation is her doing." Roko scowled, "I feel like that was on purpose."

"Still, to be able to make a drink like that in only a week is no small feat."

"Leave me alone." Roko said as he put down a glass and a lime to prepare the drink.

"Where's the band playing Diamonds Are Forever for me?" The princess smiled.

Roko rolled his eyes and reached under the counter to find a vinyl disk, heading over to an actual gramophone in the corner of the bar and set up the disk. He returned to the glass as the sounds of Diamonds Are Forever filled the empty bar. After a short while, Roko dropped a small diamond into the drink and slid the completed martini to the princess. The princess took the drink in her hand and took a sip.

"Mmmmm..." The princess hummed contently.

"How is it?" Roko asked.

"Pretty good." The princess replied as she took another sip, "I've never had the original so I can't say I know how accurate this is to the real thing."

"Well that makes two of us." Roko sighed.

"Make me an Ono Champagne Cocktail."

"Are you just going to order the most expensive drinks on the menu?"

"I came here for a good time." The princess smiled, "Money is no object."

"...Would your knight like something?" Roko glanced at the armored man.

"I-"

"Roger will have a Ritz-Paris Sidecar."

"Of course." Roko sighed again.

A few drinks later, the princess finished her Platinum Passion with a satisfied sigh, "My my, you are quite the bartender."

"I'm not sure how much skill went into those drinks but thanks." Roko said, "Any further orders?"

"Mmm, no. I better stop before I get any tipsy."

"There was no alcohol in any of those drinks."

"You've impressed me." The princess said as she got up, "I'll be sure to give word of an impressive bar in the corner of the castle."

"Please don't, I don't really want more customers."

"Oh? What a shame." The princess smirked, "A bartender of your skill would be wasted with no customers to serve."

"I'm fine with that."

"Oh my. If I didn't know you any better, I'd think you were lazy."

"I don't even know your name, lady."

Oh? My apologies." The girl curtsied, "My name is Belle. I'm the princess of the Valence Kingdom. This is my knight Roger."

"Thanks for the drink." Roger bowed slightly, "It was very good."

"Of course, I know of you." Belle smiled, "Very scarily impressive stories of you. I wonder how much of them are true."

"I don't know what people are saying of me so I can't tell you." Roko said as he began cleaning the glasses.

"Well, perhaps one day I'll find out for myself." Belle said as she headed for the exit, "I look forward to that day."

"Feel free to come back." Roko said, "I don't want much eyes on this hole in the wall but if you've already found it, there's nothing I can do about it."

Belle just giggled as she left.

Now that there was nobody left in the bar, Roko took his time cleaning the used glasses. From this one customer, he probably made more money than anybody else in the festival, including the haunted house that was getting boosted by ad revenue. Probably more money than he ever made with his old data analyst job back in his old world. Maybe he should just start a bar when he gets back to his old world. Even without all the fancy aged wines Zadkiel somehow has, he might be able to make a decent wage. If he limited it to nightly visitors, that would cut down on the amount of work he had to do and with the proper atmosphere he could mostly avoid violent customers. Then again, he didn't really feel like he was cut out for the job and he wasn't actually certified for the job. Roko sighed as he put down the last glass he had to wash. And immediately, the drapes on his doorway burst open and an enthusiastic familiar voice rang out,

"I HEARD YOU OPENED A BAR!"

"Hello Helena." Roko said as the princess stood proudly in the entrance way, "Come on in."

"I didn't know you were doing something for the festival too!" Helena grinned as she took a seat, "You should have told me!"

"I was busy with a lot of things." Roko replied, "What would you like?"

"Ooo...this is tough..." Helena thought over her order deeply, "You got any recommendations, Roland?!"

"You're asking me?" Roland scoffed as he hesitantly entered the bar, "Just get a beer."

"All drinks are virgin, barring proof of legal age." Roko sighed.

"Makes sense." Helena nodded.

"Wait, all drinks are what?" Roland said.

"Virgin. No alcohol." Helena explained.

"He. Hehe." Roland looked at Roko with a smug face.

"What?" Roko frowned.

"Virgin. You're a virgin."

Roko and Helena just stared as Roland stood there with an accusatory finger pointed at Roko.

"Yes, well what would you like?" Roko turned back to Helena.

"Hmmm..." Helena began thinking about what to order again when the song on the record player stopped and began playing Escape.

"Oh, I know this song." Helena smiled, "That cinches. A Pina Colada then."

"Finally, something normal." Roko muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Roko said as he pulled out some pineapple juice.

Helena hummed excitedly as Roko prepared her drink.

"Your pina colada." Roko passed her the drink.

Helena took the drink in hand and sipped it through her straw, "Mmm, top quality as always!"

"This is the first time I've made a drink for you." Roko said. "And the first time I'm running a bar."

"And the first time I've had a cocktail." Helena added, "Still good though."

"Well, that's good." Roko said as he washed his hands, "I haven't memorized every drink but quite a few. I can at least do the basics."

"I have never a cocktail before, alcohol or no." Helena nodded, "Hey, can you put like a little bit of alcohol in it?"

"No." Roko refused flatly.

"Just a little! Juuuuuuust enough that maybe I have a small buzz after a few drinks!"

"Not only would that be against the bar association that I am not affiliated with but as I have never had alcohol myself, I have no idea just how much alcohol I would have to add to do so."

"..."

"..."

"Just for one drink?" Helena insisted.

"Roland, talk some sense into your princess."

"Hehe. You stupid vir-"

"Alright, fine whatever." Roko snapped, "One drink with slight alcohol. What do you want?"

"Umm...umm...a margarita!"

A few drinks later, Helena was looking off into the distance with a light blush on her face, "So this is what it's like to be drunk."

"On the threshold of being drunk I hope." Roko sighed, "Can you still walk?"

"Oh yeah."

"In a straight line?"

"...Sure."

"What have I done?" Roko rubbed his eyes.

"Hey, don't worry I can take care of myself." Helena laughed, "You're just paranoid."

"So I've been told."

"Still, I've got to ask."

"Yeah?"

"I'm not trying to complain about missing the adventure since I was technically there but..." Helena took a sip of her bloody mary, "Back in Paramnesia Wildwood, when you came across the pillar with the fake book in it, why didn't you retreat and call us in for back-up? It would have been so much easier with everyone there."

"..." Roko picked up a glass and a cloth and began cleaning, "I'm not saying I actually considered this or even thought of it at the time. But it might have been in my mind at the time."

"What's that?"

"But you have to promise you can't tell Corissa."

"Rissy's involved? Were you trying to flirt with her or something?"

"No, but she did mention that she was upset with me leaving her out of my little adventure when I was in her city. Hearing everyone else's adventures and how they were involved..."

"I get it." Helena nodded, "She got jealous."

"In less words, yes." Roko sighed.

"And you figured you'd keep us out of it just to please her."

"Like I said, that thought never formed in my consciousness but I can't say I wasn't influenced."

"Got it, got it." Helena brought her drink to her lips again, "I can see why you don't want me to talk to her about it."

"But really, don't talk to her about it."

"Mmmmm...I might."

"Helena..."

"I'm not going to chew her out! I just feel a bit guilty now. I mean, I'd be sad too if you left me out of our little venture."

"I don't know why people care so much." Roko grumbled.

"We all care about different things." Helena smiled, "For example, the entire time you were fighting for your lives in that cave, you were trying to escape with the book intact weren't you?"

"Well yeah."

"And that's the problem. At some point, any normal person would have burned the book much sooner. But you kept trying to get the book out even at the cost of your own health."

"We needed it intact."

"Who needed it intact? It wasn't me. Nobody asked you to do it. Who's this we?"

Roko just scowled, though he wasn't quite able to come up with an answer.

"Alright." Helena grinned, "I'll cut you loose."

"Thank god."

"But gimmie a drink to go."

"To go?" Roko frowned, "Fine but it's not going to have any alcohol."

"Okay, okay." Helena said, "Let's see...what other drinks do I know?"

"How about a shirley temple?"

"Sure! Let's go with that!"

Roko constructed the drink in a few seconds and handed it over to Helena in a bottle with a straw.

"Righto! Let's go Roland."

Roland gave Roko one last condescending smirk before following Helena out the bar.

"By the way, aren't you a virgin too?" Helena asked as they left.

"Well, he doesn't know that!"

Once again alone, Roko promptly cleaned all the used glasses once more and stood in silence, polishing a glass as he waited for another customer to show up. Occasionally, the sounds of the festival outside would reach him as something really climatic happened but for all intents and purposes he was cut off from the festival and working all day on this holiday. Something Roko was pretty familiar with but after working so hard on making the festival come together, it did feel disappointing to be so disconnected from it all. Though in the end, the success of the festival would be due to the efforts of the students and not his by any amount. Just as the success of his bar was his own, so are the success of their individual events the students alone to savor. Though Roko supposed there were people to contribute and celebrate the success of any given event other than his own.

"A penny for your thoughts?"

Roko looked up as Momo walked into the room in full knight armor. She smiled at him as she put her helm down on the bar table and took a seat.

"Just got done with the jousting tournament when I caught wind of a nifty little bar owned by a cynical bartender. Which, to be fair, sounds like every bar ever made."

"Was it Helena?"

"It might have been a little bird named Helena." Momo chuckled.

"Who needs advertisements when you have that loudmouth?" Roko sighed.

"Well someone needs to tell people this place exists." Momo said, "But I'm sure she's still being quite selective in who she tells."

"After getting her drunk? I doubt it."

"You got her drunk?"

"At her request." Roko shrugged, "But I otherwise only sell non-alcoholic drinks to minors."

"Can I get an alcoholic drink?" Momo asked.

"I'm pretty sure you're a minor."

"Yeah but the drinking age in Momokami is 16."

"...Have you ever had alcohol before?" Roko asked.

"Nope but I can try!"

"..."

"...So? Do I pass?"

"...Sure whatever." Roko sighed, "What do you want?"

"How about a Long Island Iced Tea to start?"

"Sure." Roko said as he placed down the glass he was polishing and began to pull out the ingredients, "How was your event?"

"Oh we're about in the semi finals for the big tournament before we took a break for the jousting event. A lot of people signed up for the tournament at the start of the festival as well so we had to remake the brackets a bit before starting but all the matches have been really exciting and interesting. We managed to get a few simple benches put down to host some of them but then we had people crowding the edge of the ring trying to take pictures so we had to set up a second perimeter and make the benches taller so the onlookers can see past the photographers."

"Sounds like there was a ton of things we didn't manage to prepare in time."

"It's fine!" Momo grinned, "Even we never anticipated how popular this fighting ring would be. You should see the field. It looks positively immaculate! They set up a dozen arches along the path to the ring and put plants over it so it even looks cool!"

"That sounds like a sight to behold." Roko said as he finished the drink and slid it over to Momo.

"You should!" Momo said as she took the drink in her hands, "I'd love to have you in the tournament."

"I wouldn't last long, I'm afraid." Roko replied as he wiped his hands.

"You beat eldritch monsters on the daily. I'm sure you'd offer a good show."

"You say that but if you recontextualize it as me beating up a tree, that sounds much less impressive. Besides, isn't Varis in the tournament? I have no way of beating him or you."

"Oh, Varis isn't in the main tournament." Momo nodded, "We had him around for the preliminaries but he decimated his opponents so bad that we took him out for balance's sake. Still, the crowd loved him so we set up a betting ring where anybody can wager some money on if the challenger can beat Varis."

"Are we allowed to run a betting ring?"

"I didn't see a rule saying not to." Momo shrugged.

"Well, I guess I didn't either." Roko said, "And? Did anybody win against Varis?"

"Undefeated for like 7 rounds now." Momo chuckled, "But the bets are insane. He alone is pulling in some serious numbers. I'm pretty sure we made double what that haunted house is making just on Varis alone. Probably more than you too."

"You weren't here for my first customer who ordered a Diamonds Are Forever Martini."

Momo spat out her drink, "FOR REAL?!"

"I have the bill."

"Who was it?! Was it Helena?!"

"Some princess named Belle."

"Belle." Momo mused, "Nobody can really get a good read on that girl. Bit strange. Just a bit off putting. Some say she's creepy."

"Didn't seem like a bad person to me."

"Oh, I never said she wasn't." Momo said as she finished her drink, "She doesn't seem upset about her image though."

"I see."

"So...you can make a Diamonds Are Forever martini?" Momo asked.

"I can try." Roko frowned.

"Hmmm..." Momo thought it over deeply.

"Don't buy one if you can't afford it." Roko warned.

"I can afford it, it's just..." Momo continued to mull over her decision.

A long moment passed."

"...Can I get a Nicolashka?"

"Sure." Roko said as he prepared for the next drink, "Are you in your own tournament?"

"Sure am. Doing pretty well, if I do say so myself."

"Did you use spells?"

"This tournament is mostly magic free since most competitors don't know magic but sometimes we set up a magic match for those who do know them. But as for me, no I haven't used magic yet."

"So you didn't use amp?"

"Roko, you know I won't use it without your permission." Momo smiled.

"And therein lies the problem." Roko said as he slid Momo's drink to her.

"Oh, here we go again." Momo said with a grin on her face as she took her Nicolashka.

"You shouldn't rely on me to arbitrate your spell." Roko said, "I'm not always going to be there to tell you to use it, especially in situations where it will matter."

"I'm the one who gets to decide how to use my spell." Momo replied as she sipped her drink, "Nothing about our arrangement is absolute. I'm not an idiot. If there is no way out except to use the spell, I will. Really, you need to have more trust in me."

"It's not really a matter of trust as it is a matter of principle." Roko sighed.

"But I am totally not going to use it if you don't tell me otherwise." Momo winked.

"Then nothing about the situation is changed now is it?!"

"It'll be fine! I don't know what you're worried about."

"I'm not worried, I just don't think you should give someone control over you in such an essential manner!"

"What about this is essential?"

"It's essential in the same way that making you not use an arm is essential. It's a part of you that you otherwise have complete control and shouldn't relinquish to someone else." Roko sighed, "What's more amp is an extremely powerful spell that can level a forest. Giving me the power to when you use it also gives me power over how you use it."

"Right." Momo nodded, "I've always relied on you to tell me the best way to fight."

"But this is different!" Roko scowled, "You shouldn't give control over you to any extent to anybody else! It's just not right!"

"...I mean, I get the general idea in like a basic...baby's first philosophy sort of sense." Momo said as she picked up an ice cube and began swirling it around in her mouth, "But Roko. You're a tactician. I'm a soldier. Nothing about our arrangement is unnatural and unethical."

"Our positions and class doesn't matter." Roko replied, irritated, "This is not okay."

"You're really adamant about this." Momo raised an eyebrow, "But your answer isn't exactly convincing. I honestly expected better reasoning from you."

"There's not enough time to list all the little ways this could go wrong." Roko sighed, "And this is a fundamental lesson that's guarded by basic human rights and liberties. Unless you guys don't have that here."

"Of course we have it you silly." Momo laughed, "But like I said, my obedience is mine to give and retract as I please. That is something I am free to do by your own argument and it's never been an attack against freedom and liberty to follow someone else. We wouldn't have governments if that was the case."

"Just because people do it doesn't mean it's right."

"Just because it isn't ideal, doesn't mean we shouldn't do it." Momo countered, "Life isn't about optimization."

"Tch." Roko growled, "We're getting nowhere."

"Well, let's come at this from a different angle." Momo nodded, "Why are you so against this arrangement? Are you afraid of issuing an order that leads to someone's death? Do you not want to be responsible for any disasters I might cause using the power of...that spell? Do you not trust me?"

"It's not that I don't trust your skills or abilities, I just don't like telling people what to do."

"You?!" Momo cried, shocked, "You don't like giving orders? You who always seems to have a plan in an instant?"

"Just because I do it, doesn't mean I necessarily enjoy it." Roko scowled, "My mind just locks onto a problem when I see it and immediately starts trying to solve it. And since I can't usually solve the problem on my own, I begin planning with whoever's around at the time."

"Really?" Momo raised an eyebrow, "Even against the kinds of monsters we've seen now, you don't feel fear or hesitation?"

"The only thing I fear is being too scared to act and watching people die in front of me. In the face of that, I don't have time for fear."

"And hesitation?"

"I don't hesitate per say but I do also think of worst case scenarios." Roko explained, "That also includes when a sacrifice would provide an overwhelming benefit."

"Wow, should I have heard that?" Momo grinned.

"Don't worry about it, the only one I'll ever actually sacrifice is myself."

"Okay, I definitely shouldn't have heard that." Momo frowned, "Is that supposed to reassure me?"

"I don't see why it matters to you."

"How would this not matter to me?! If you die, who is going to tell me to use am-the spell?!"

"Find someone else." Roko frowned, "Or just do it yourself. You see, this is why you need to stop relying on me."

"No, I think this is reason to keep you alive."

"I can do that myself."

"You clearly cannot."

"I beg to differ." Roko scoffed, "At any rate, let's turn it around on you then. Why do you feel like it's necessary to pigeonholing yourself to my discretion?"

"It keeps us honest."

"Honest?" Roko said confused.

"Yep." Momo said as she sipped up the last of her drink, "We both want to avoid the worst case scenario; where I am just an obedient tool and you and I start recklessly abusing this power. This means second thinking your orders and making sure you don't try to trick us."

"You think I'd trick you?"

"For our own sake, yeah. I'm confident." Momo nodded, "You would definitely go off and die somewhere quietly where we'll never see you. Never even know you died. And that is worse than the worst case scenario."

"...So by tying it to someone like me, you set the precedent that the spell would be in the control of someone else so if I don't want you and your power to be abused, I have to stay alive?"

"Yep." Momo grinned, "See? Win-win!"

"..."

"Anyway. Enough of all this talk. Give me an Aunt Roberta and forget all this when I leave mkay?"

Roko stared at Momo silently for a moment. Then silently began creating her drink.