A New Addiction

-----Kaede's POV

This is unbelievable. I can't contain my excitement as I continue to drink my third glass of wine. This world's alcohol must be different than back in our old world. I remember when I was little, roughly around 13 years old, I had a sneaky taste of my mother's wine. I still remember that strong, awful taste as I didn't even try to swallow it. But now, this wine tastes more like pineapple juice than anything. In fact I don't even taste that "alcoholic" taste.

Server: "Here you go ladies."

Yui/Olivia: "Thank you."

The server brought 2 more glasses of wine as I watch both Yui and Olivia hold their glasses, before putting it up to their noses. Curious, I choose to not fill my glass another time until I see their reaction.

Kaede: "What's it smell like?"

Yui: "Pretty strong."

Olivia: "Yeah. It's kind of off putting."

Well, I guess there is a benefit of not being able to smell things properly. But when I went to smell it, all I smelled was the faint scent of citrus.

Kaede: "How about the taste?"

They look at each other for a moment before both taking a sip at the same time.

Yui: "!!!"

Yui was the first to react as she brought the glass away from her mouth in a hurried fashion. I didn't even need to ask whether she liked it or not as her face was contorted like what she just tasted came straight out of a sewer. A few seconds after Yui, Olivia brought her glass away, but not as desperate as Yui.

Olivia: "Didn't like it?"

Yui: "It's revolting, no. You?"

Olivia: "It's not for me either, but it wasn't that bad. The after taste is a little pleasant."

Yui: "Yeah, I couldn't even taste any of the 'fruitiness' you were talking about Kaede."

Kaede: "None at all?"

Yui: "No. Just that disgusting, sharp alcohol taste."

She begins to slide over her glass to me.

Yui: "You can have it."

Olivia: "I'll finish mine, but there's no way I can drink it like you, Kaede."

Kaede: "More for me then!~"

Mell: "C-can I have a taste?"

Kaede: "Hmm?"

My first thought was no, but maybe it's okay? Sure I was 13 at the time when I first tried wine. I suppose I could let her take a small sip.

Kaede: "Sure."

Yui: "Kaede!?"

Kaede: "It's fine~ Only a small sip, okay?"

Mell: "Okay!"

I let her grab Yui's glass as I watch carefully to make sure she doesn't overdo it. I watch carefully for the moment the wine touches her lips, before tilting the glass away from her. Almost immediately, she has a visceral reaction, with her head recoiling back as if she just got sucker punched in the nose.

Kaede: "Hehe."

It was the same reaction as me when I was young. I guess she is my daughter.

Mell: "How can you like this?!"

Kaede: "Well! More for me~"

I take the glass from her hands and begin drinking the rest.

I'm aware that this is alcohol, but if I can't taste that alcoholic taste that Yui mentioned, then does that mean alcohol doesn't affect me? Just to be safe, I'll take a break from drinking and see what happens. Although, it's quite tempting as this is the most delicious thing I've had, besides blood. It trumps any food or drink that anyone has made for me.

After some time passes, our food finally arrives at our table. Mell almost immediately grabbed a fork and stabbed it into a piece of chicken.

Sever: "This one is the non-spicy one."

Olivia: "Thank you."

Server: "In total, that'll be 32 silver."

Yui: "I'll pay."

I was about to dig into my bag until Yui had already pulled out the money. Well I guess I paid for the wine, so I guess she can pay for the food.

Sever: "Thank you very much. Please enjoy."

With that, he leaves us as I begin to pour myself another glass. I know I told myself just before to slow down, but I just can't help it. I want to taste the flavorful explosions in my mouth again.

Yui: "You make it look so delicious..."

Kaede: "That's cause it is!"

I start to drink more of the wine while everyone else continued to eat.

Man: "You can sure hold your alcohol, miss."

Out of nowhere, someone from a table behind me leans over to talk to me. Normally I'd be irritated, but I'm in such a good mood right now.

Kaede: "Mhmm! It's delicious!"

Man: "I'm not a fan of it myself. The after taste is too strong."

My eyes wander to the drink he has in his hands as I immediately begin to think what other alcohol would taste like. My mind is still blown away by the wine, but I'm curious if it's just wine, or if its the same with any alcohol.

Kaede: "What's that you got there?"

Man: "Oh, this is just beer. Everyone usually orders this."

Kaede: "I haven't tried it yet."

Man: "You want a taste?"

Kaede: "Sure!"

He passes his glass of beer. The biggest difference that I can tell is that it's see-through and is foamy on the top.

Yui: "Kaede?"

Kaede: "I'm experimenting."

Yui: "But you can't just-"

Man: "It's okay. It's a pleasure to treat a lady to a drink."

Yui: "..."

Kaede: "Just one sip?"

Yui: "Fine. Just one though."

Kaede: "Yay!~"

I waste no time and take a small sip of the beer. The foaminess is quite off putting, but the taste isn't that bad. But it's a lot more bland than I thought which felt quite disappointing. Maybe the intensity of the taste correlates to how strong the alcohol is? I hand the beer back to the man.

Kaede: "Is this stronger or weaker than the wine I have?"

Man: "Oh, a lot weaker than your wine."

So then that could be a possibility. Now I kind of want to try out stronger alcohol to confirm this theory of mine.

Man: "What's your name?"

Kaede: "Kaede."

Man: "Travis."

Kaede: "Thank you for letting me taste your beer, Travis."

Travis: "My pleasure."

"What a friendly guy" I think to myself. I move my gaze back our table as I immediately saw Yui staring at me while taking bites of her burger. Mell seems to be devouring her chicken, but what I'm most proud is that she ate all of her salad already.

Eventually, we finish up with our food as we begin to exit the bar. The bottle of wine I bought was nearly empty so I asked one of the staff for another bottle to take home with us. I stored the bottles in my bag for now while holding onto Mell's hand while we walk.

Yui: "You know that guy was hitting on you back there."

Kaede: "Who, Travis?"

Yui: "Yeah."

Kaede: "I only just had a bit of his beer. I don't think it was anything."

Olivia: "Mmm~ I think I agree with Yui. He was a bit invasive, leaning back into our table like that. Plus he was eyeing you up before we even sat down."

Yui: "See!~"

Kaede: "Sorry. I guess I was too excited to realize."

Yui: "Yeah, you looked like kid in a candy store. Honestly, it was fun to watch."

Olivia: "How was the beer though?"

Kaede: "Pretty bland. I'm thinking that the stronger the alcohol, the more I can taste."

Yui: "Well, it's a good thing we got out when we did. You might've drank the entire bar."

Kaede: "Hehe. Nah~ I'm still learning about this, so I wanna take things slow."

Yui: "You feel drunk at all?"

Kaede: "Not at all."

I've never been drunk, so I wouldn't really know how it feels. But right now all I feel is an unbelievable amount of happiness at finally finding something I like that isn't blood. I can still taste the fruity, sweet after taste as we walk back to the guild.

Yui: "I wonder if Sicily and Lillian are back?"

Olivia: "It's getting close to the evening so I'd hope they are."

Upon getting back inside the guild, the place was packed with adventurers, more so than I have seen in a long time.

Sicily: "Ah! Kaede!~ Woah! New outfit! I love it!"

Kaede: "Yeah, I'm a fan of it myself. Was a bit pricy though.

Sicily: "How much?"

Kaede: "Like 12 gold or something? Anyway, what's going on?"

Lillian: "Seems like the caravans are getting ready to go back to Inasdale tomorrow."

Fuck, really? Does that mean we have to go back this soon? I just discovered something amazing and now it'll be cut short?

Sicily: "Will you guys be going back as well?"

Yui: "I mean, I guess? But I was hoping we could stay here a bit longer."

Olivia: "We've been here for a while, my lady. You can't throw away your studies."

Yui: "You're right..."

It makes me happy that Yui wants to stay out here longer, but the academy is also important. I know personally, I don't want to leave Mell all alone here again, especially after how much we've bonded. It'll only break both our hearts...

I start to hear the caravans begin to park up outside the guild during our discussion, like it's marking the end of our little journey.

Mell: "...I don't want you to go."

Seems as though Mell also thought that as she wraps her arms around my waist. I cradle her head in my arms, combing her hair through my fingers.

Kaede: "I don't wanna go either."

Mell: "Then stay!"

Kaede: "I have to."

I could feel her body begin to tremble in my arms as I do my best to comfort her.

Lillian: "Well... I guess we could move up to Maemont? We're registered adventurers now thanks to Fleur, so we could move out."

Sicily: "Right! Then we can see each other more often!"

I appreciate Lillian and Sicily's gesture. They hate being around the city, and even though Maemont is basically a small city, they'd go that far to please Mell.

Kaede: "How about it? Does that sound good, Mell?"

Mell: "..."

Kaede: "I'd only be just around the-"

Suddenly, the door to the guild swung open behind us, stopping me mid sentence.