The Necromancer Commands Slaves, Not Undeads

16 – Spirit of Freud (2)

Dorothy entered the inn’s hall with a refreshed expression. Drops of water fell from her wet hair onto her collarbone, disappearing into her barely exposed chest.

Bathing had been impossible while hanging around with merchants and mercenaries, so both Dorothy and I were quite dirty.

Looking at Dorothy, wiping her hair with a towel, all traces of her grimy appearance were gone. I smiled, remembering the first time I met her.

Seeing her platinum blonde hair, I was struck by the idea that Dorothy was beautiful.

No, that’s not it…

When I stared blankly at Dorothy, she opened her mouth, looking me right in the eye with her clear and sapphire blue eyes.

“Aren’t you going to take a bath?”

“Ah, I guess I should now.”

A voice waking me from my blank stare, I hurriedly stood up from my chair.

I bathed in the tub using fresh bath water prepared by the innkeeper.

I can’t remember the last time I bathed in warm water… I felt as if all my fatigue had washed away along with the dirty water.

I finished bathing with a happy expression. When I came out into the inn’s hall with a refreshed look, Dorothy was looking at the old man’s translation with a curious expression.

I gently took the old man’s translation from Dorothy.

“Huh…”

“No can do. It’s a creepy and dangerous story, not a book for Dorothy to read.”

I put the translation in my bag. At that, Dorothy lowered her head with a crushed expression.

“I’m sorry, Master.”

“I’m not mad. We have more important things left to do than get angry.”

“Packing up?”

“Correct.”

Dorothy smiled slightly and nodded her head.

We went up to our assigned room. The room was about the size of a studio, compared to my previous life.

All our luggage was stuffed in bags. Once Dorothy finished packing, she dived on the soft bed sheet.

“It’s so soft, Master. Try lying here.”

Dorothy rolled around on the bed, her expression one of happiness. I smirked at Dorothy.

I explained one more thing to Dorothy.

“Currently, the inn is fully booked, so they can only give us one room.”

“So?”

“So, until a room is vacant, we’ll probably have to share this one room. Is that okay with you, Dorothy?”

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

Dorothy only lifted her upper body from the bed and nodded.

“The clothes are fluffy and I like the bed.”

After bathing, we were wearing white cotton t-shirts and cotton trousers prepared by the innkeeper. We had paid for the clothes we were wearing to be washed and they were washed accordingly.

“And why?”

Dorothy looked at me with an expression of curiosity.

“I like sleeping with Master.”

“hahahaha…”

I suddenly turned my head. Scratching my cheek, I slowly told Dorothy:

“Save that phrase for your future lover.”

I stroked Dorothy’s head as she sat on the bed. At that, Dorothy gently pulled my shirt. Due to that slight tug, I slowly turned to face Dorothy.

In my field of vision, a small face of Dorothy, blinking her anxious blue eyes.”It was dim.

“I like you, master… do you dislike me?”

What Dorothy was speaking of now was a liking and disliking as fellow human beings. It probably did not have romantic implications.

I stared at Dorothy’s blue eyes, which were half-hidden like a precious gemstone.

When I first saw those eyes, they seemed deep and dark, but now they were utterly clear and full of bright vitality.

While looking at such eyes, a satisfying sentiment and a sense of relief that she regains her lively atmosphere brewed in my chest.

Though it’s not like I’ve done anything grandiose like saving the world or people like a splendid adult, I felt proud and boastful of myself for having protected the smile of the girl in front of me.

Until she can look at the world with wide eyes and live on her own.

I must protect this girl’s smile. I put a hand on Dorothy’s shoulder.

“I like you too, Dorothy. But what I just talked about is not simply about likes and dislikes, but it is about a more poignant and intense emotion.”

“…What does that mean?”

“Let’s see… to put it more clearly than earlier, I was talking about what you should give to your beloved one when you find one.”

Dorothy continued to stay silent. Then she looked at me with curious eyes.

“What’s love?”

I slowly opened my mouth to that question.

“I don’t know well either since I haven’t experienced it while living. They often say it’s when you feel someone as precious as yourself.”

“Then, am I in love with the master?”

Oh, this is making me dizzy…

I scratched my cheek while responding.

“I can’t read Dorothy’s true feelings, so I wouldn’t know whether that’s love or not.”

“That’s hard.”

“Me too. I’m kind of blunt in these things… Aha-ha.”

I slowly stood up from my seat. I spoke to her with a smile.

“Then let’s go downstairs. By now, Mr. Black Wolf might be waiting.”

Dorothy nodded her head. We left the room and went down to the inn’s hall.

Upon doing so, we saw the Black Wolf and mercenaries walking through the hall’s door.

“Are you here?”

“This timing’s perfect. Set up nine beers on three tables!”

Black Wolf sat down at a seat with a bigger smile than usual. Then the mercenaries also sat in groups of three, and Dorothy and I took a seat at Black Wolf’s empty table.

The mercenaries weren’t in the armors they usually wore but in their casual clothes.

Some mercenaries had a knife on their waist, but the majority, including the Black Wolf, weren’t armed.

The innkeeper filled up wooden cups with beer and placed them on the table.

Dorothy brought a wooden cup close to her nose and sniffed and then cringed at the beer’s aroma, which she was smelling for the first time.

I am someone who enjoyed alcohol in my previous life. I might have not known the alcohol tolerance of this body, but I gestured to make a toast.

“Is the kid allowed to drink?”

“Don’t overdo it, magician. If you want, I can get you milk or juice too.”

Black Wolf and his mercenaries were teasing me while they were getting drunk.

I chatted with them while casually smiling.

“Just think of crawling home on all fours later.”

“Oh, are you daring to challenge this Black Wolf’s tolerance?”

“Why are you pretending to be tough when everyone knows that you wet your pants lying on the street after drinking last time?”

“Shut up, cheers!”

The robust voices of the mercenaries rang out as Freoi Leiht rejoiced about everyone returning safely without a single causality.

It was a little early to drink, but for rough men working as mercenaries, this was common practice.

Regardless, the party had begun.

***

11 PM. Casually, I finished the last drop of beer in my glass. I put the beer cup on the table and wiped my mouth.

“Hooh~”

Among the people left in the inn, I was probably the only one with a sober point of view…”Only I remained with Lavo.

The mercenaries who had been drinking together before had all been knocked out. The table was filled with living corpses, much like a battlefield after a war.

The Black Wolf mumbled a drunken state, with a red-hot face sprawled on the table, emitting a strong smell of alcohol from his mouth.

“Why does that kid… drink so well…?”

“The beer tastes bland.”

They say people in the Middle Ages drank alcohol instead of water- guess that’s why. Or maybe I just don’t get drunk easily?

I eat the remaining meat on the table in a dim state with a fork.

“That’s not beer, is it horse urine…?”

One of the sprawled mercenaries managed to murmur to me.

“I’ve tried beer that tastes like elephant urine.”

The mercenaries kept pace well by claiming to educate me, and I willingly drank it all without avoiding the confrontation.

As a result, the mercenary group won the dishonor of being defeated by a 13-year-old kid in a drinking game and collapsed in humiliation.

“I’m dizzy…”

And Dorothy couldn’t avoid the drunken state either. In Korea, it was common for newly-turned 20-year-old college students to get drunk and make a fuss, drinking alcohol without knowing their own drinking capacity.

Like such college students, Dorothy got drunk because she didn’t know her own drinking capacity, so this was bound to happen.

Because of the liquor, Dorothy’s face turned red as a red radish. She was staring at the beer glass with half-closed eyes.

“Dorothy, do you want a lift?”

The remaining mercenaries probably think the tavern owner will clean up.

Dorothy’s head moved. Her hollow eyes stared straight at me. I spoke to Dorothy again while looking at her.

“Dorothy, do you want a lift?”

Dorothy slowly nodded. There’s a good way in such times. I approached her and caressed Dorothy’s softly cheeks with both hands.

“Dorothy, let’s go to bed.”

At this, Dorothy nodded her head and started rubbing her face against my stomach gently like a child. She mumbled.

“I’m dizzy…”

I was puzzled by her behavior for a moment. I breathed out a sigh and smirked.

I helped Dorothy stand up. I lifted her up, who seemed about to collapse.

“Yes, I’ll give you a ride.”

Then I went up to my room with Dorothy on my back.