“Nn… Ngh… Uhhh…”

When I opened my eyes, a familiar wooden ceiling came into view. I could feel the light shining through the small gaps in the windows, warming up the room. Something silver was in the corner of my eyes, moving ever so slightly.

“Nm… The… wagon? Ngh?! Ouch!”

I looked around, trying to get my bearing but was immediately stopped by an intense pounding in my head—a very familiar, albeit unwelcome feeling.

What is going on… My head hurts… Uhh…

Just what the hell happened to me? This pain… was definitely from a hangover. I knew this far too well. But I couldn’t remember drinking anything.

What did… I do yesterday? 

I was with Karen, Lily and Rina. We had dinner, messed and played around. We had a fun evening. That was fine. But how did that lead to me having a hangover?

I can’t… remember…

After we played… what did we do then? Karen wasn’t fond of drinks. I wasn’t quite sure about Lily but I hadn’t ever seen her drinking anything either. As for Rina, there probably wasn’t much of a need to mention her. Karen wasn’t going to let her drink anything.

But then… Why am I… Uhhh… My head…

Why was I experiencing a hangover anyway? My body lacked a whole lot of stuff, didn’t it? Then, why did I have to suffer through this of all things?

“Mm… Yumi? You’re awake?”
“Nn…”

From the corner of my vision, I saw the pink bundle of hair move, slowly raising and revealing Karen’s face. She was smiling wryly.

“You want something to drink?”
“Nn…”
“Wait a moment.”

Karen got up and disappeared from my view. While I was lying down, unable to so much as move due to the incessant pounding, I could hear her walking here and there, pouring some water into a mug.

“Here you go. Can you sit up?”
“Ugh..”

I slowly shook my head.

“Okay. Then, can you turn just a little bit?”

I tried doing as I was told and turned my head to the side a little. A second later I could feel the cup on my lips and water pouring in, wetting my parched throat.

“Want more?”

After a short while, the water ceased to come and Karen asked me whether I wanted more water. I shook my head again. Water wasn’t going to save me now. I already felt a little better, though. I hadn’t even realised that I was so thirsty.

“Okay. Then, lie down a little more. I’ll be right by your side.”
“Nn…”

I closed my eyes and let myself sink into the bed. I still had no idea why I was feeling this bad in the first place, but Karen didn’t look surprised at all. That meant she knew I would wake up with a hangover. Or, in other words… I had gotten wasted at some point yesterday.

Ugh… This is the worst…

Just what happened yesterday? We had a lot of fun and I was looking forward to it today. After all, this would be my first time in an Aldreighan town. And yet, here I was, on the bed with a hangover. The worst. The absolute worst.

And to top it all off, I couldn’t even remember anything at all. I remembered dinner and shortly after just fine. But somewhere after that things got… blurry.

If I can’t remember it… don’t tell me I blacked out drinking… Oh great…

Hopefully, I didn’t do anything dumb while I was wasted…

Please, past me, if you did anything stupid I’m going to make you regret it. Even if the one actually regretting it would be future me!

Just as I was cursing my past self, a hand touched my forehead. The hand was cool and comfortable.

“Mm… You don’t seem to have a fever at least.”

Well, that’s great news, if nothing else.

“You should sleep a little if you can. You’ll feel better after a small nap.”

Karen’s hand gently stroked my head. She was careful, so it didn’t really worsen the pounding in my head. In fact, it was calming me. I could feel my body relax, knowing that the person dearest to me was by my side. The knowledge that I could simply let go and leave myself in her care… was incredibly comforting.

“Nn… I’ll try…”
“Okay. I’ll stay here by your side. So if you need anything, just tell me.”
“Nn…”
“Good.”

She switched from stroking my head to holding my hand in hers, gently stroking the back of my hand instead. Despite the pain in my head, I couldn’t help but smile as I relaxed. I wasn’t expecting to fall asleep with these headaches but… with Karen by my side, I just might be able to sleep a little.

And as if to prove that point, sleep took me just a short while later.

---

“Nn…”

The next time I opened my eyes, I was once again greeted by the wooden ceiling. My head was still hurting, though. Not even remotely as bad as before, though. Alas, the shaking ground wasn’t making it better at all.

Are we… moving?

If the bed was shaking, that could only mean the wagon was in motion. We had set out while I had been asleep.

Did I sleep that long… What time is it?

I looked around a little, only remembering after a short moment that things like an alarm clock didn’t exist here. However, I spotted a familiar figure sitting at the desk, holding a small magical tool and doing her daily magic practice. Just as I was about to call out to her, she peeked over her shoulder at me. Her eyes widened a little when she saw me awake, but she quickly broke out into a smile.

“Yumi, you’re awake? How are you feeling?”
“Like someone bashed my head in…”
“That’s…”

Yeah, it sounded bad. And that’s exactly how I was feeling.

“Want something to drink? Oh, and I also have your breakfast here.”
“Nn… Thanks, Sis.”
“You’re welcome.”

With a smile, Karen brought me a mug with water again. Thankfully, I felt better this time, so I could sit up with her help and drink something.

Ahhh… Just drinking and I already feel a little better…

I had heard that it was important to rehydrate when you had a hangover. And while it didn’t solve the problem at its core, it definitely helped in alleviating the pain.

“Here’s your breakfast. Can you eat on your own or…”
“Nn… I think I can.”

Karen handed me a wooden plate with bread, a few fruits and dried meat. I took a bite and yeah, it seemed like I could at least manage to eat breakfast. I didn’t need to bother Karen with feeding me. Then again, maybe that wouldn’t have been so bad… Did I seriously miss the chance to have Karen feed me?

“Yumi? Is everything okay?”
“Nn, I’m fine. I can eat.”
“That’s good…”

I slowly ate my breakfast, careful not to make any sudden movements that could worsen my headaches. It took me a while, but I managed to finish it all.

“Thank you, Sis.”
“Mm.”

Karen cleaned up the plate and everything, before sitting down on the edge of the bed, looking at me with worry in her eyes.

“Still feeling bad?”
“Nn… That won’t change so fast… I think…”
“Mm… Do you… need something to drink?”
“I just had something, Sis.”
“No, I mean, err… I was told that alcohol helps against hangovers.”
“...”

Who the hell told her that?

“Please don’t… or I’ll wake up tomorrow with an even worse hangover.”
“Okay. I won’t, then.”
“Nn…”

But that pretty much confirmed it. This was a hangover. Not like I was doubting it at this point anymore.

“This is the worst…”
“You should lie down again for a little.”
“Nn…”

Karen gently pushed me back into bed. The soft shaking beneath me was still a little uncomfortable, but after having filled my stomach a little it wasn’t quite as bad anymore. All in all, maybe I should count myself lucky that my hangover symptoms weren’t much worse than some headaches and a dry throat, coupled with a bit of dizziness.

“How long did I sleep?”
“A short while. It’ll be noon, soon.”
“I see…”

No wonder we were already on the road again then. No way they’d stop just for one or two people having a hangover.

“Do you need anything, Yumi?”
“No… I think I’m fine…”

As fine as I could be, given the circumstances.

“I see.”

She didn’t say anything else. Once again, she took my hand, holding it. Just feeling her grasping my hand was so reassuring. I closed my eyes and simply let myself relax as best as I could. Although it seemed like I wouldn’t fall asleep again anytime soon.

After some time of us simply letting time pass like this, I opened my eyes again and looked over at Karen. There was still something I had to know…

“Hey, Sis. Just… Just what happened yesterday?”
“Yumi, you don’t remember?”

Karen stared at me in surprise, clearly not having expected that. I nodded meekly.

“Nn… I probably… drank too much… and passed out… right?”
“That’s… not quite wrong…

But it wasn’t right either? Just what happened? Seriously, what?

“How much do you remember?”
“I remember that we… had dinner… You chased Lily and… tickled her… then we sat together… played around… I think someone got us some cards or something… After that, though… it gets a little blurry…”
“I see…”

Concern was once more in her eyes.

“After we played together, Mr Greyward came by and invited us to join everyone else. They were drinking and, well… You know how they are.”
“Nn…”

They loved to make merry whenever they had the chance. Maybe that was simply in the mercenaries’ nature.

“At some point, some offered us something to drink, saying it wasn’t particularly strong alcohol. There wasn’t a real reason to say no so…”
“So I drunk it… but it was stronger than he said?”
“I think so.”

Well, great… Wasn’t this the second time someone had tricked me into drinking strong alcohol?

“I hope I didn’t do anything dumb while I was drunk…”
“Err… You didn’t have the chance to.”
“What?”
“You passed out shortly after.”
“...”

Uhh, what? I passed out shortly after? No matter how strong the alcohol, it shouldn’t make me pass out so quickly.

“I don’t know why, either… Everyone else seemed to be fine.”
“I… see?”

That was… weird…

“We asked Mr Wendl to take a look but he couldn’t find anything wrong with the drink nor with you. He said you would be up in no time with some rest and that it simply looked to him like you had a few drinks too many.”
“But… I only drank that one mug?”
“Yes. Even Lily could stomach more…”

What the… This was weird… I knew I couldn’t really drink a whole lot anymore but… a single mug? It hadn’t even been that bad when Korwen tricked me with that one drink that didn’t taste like alcohol at all.

That meant… did my alcohol tolerance change? Would I become unable to enjoy a few drinks in the future?

“Ugh… No good… My head hurts…”

The more I thought about it, the more my head hurt, making it impossible to really think about the matter.

“You should rest for now. I’m sure you’ll feel better in a while.”
“Nn…”

That was probably a good idea… There was no point in getting distressed about it right now. It would only make me feel even more miserable.

“Hey, Sis…”
“Yes?”
“You said… Lily drank… too?”
“Ah… Ahhh…”

Karen averted her eyes awkwardly.

“She did… Err… I think it’s better if I tell you about that later…”
“... Nn. Got it.”
“For now, rest some more, okay?”
“Nn…”

Who was I to decline that? Not like I really had any other options… I could only hope that this hangover would end soon… After all, I was really looking forward to visiting Melfin… If this hangover would deny me that enjoyment, I was going to be sulky for days on end.

Seriously, just go away, dumb hangover.

---

It had been a few hours since I woke up the second time. I hadn’t been able to get another wink of sleep but at least I managed to rest decently well. By now, my hangover was mostly gone already, apart from some very minor headaches. They were nothing I couldn’t deal with, though. As long as I wasn’t going to run around like a madman, I should be fine.

My prayers have been heard. I’m up before we arrived!

Standing in our room, I raised my arms in triumph. I had beaten the hangover.

“Oh, that’s good, Yumi. Hold still.”
“...”

Seconds later, still in my triumph pose, the shirt that I had worn in bed was stripped away from me. I enjoyed sleeping naked in bed with Karen but maybe she thought it’d be better if I wore something today. I hadn’t really put a conscious thought to it until now, though. Karen sure was attentive at times like these.

Then again, maybe she simply enjoyed stripping me. She was grinning right now, at least.

“Sis, do you enjoy stripping me that much?”
“Huh? Err… I mean, I don’t dislike it?”
“I see…”

As long as she enjoyed it.

“Okay, keep your arms like that, Yumi.”
“Nn.”

After she stripped me,  she also put my clothes on me. It was a little scary how I didn’t even feel any resistance anymore to this.

“Sis, you’re really good at this.”
“Hehe, I’m glad to hear that. If you feel uncomfortable anywhere, tell me.”
“Nn. Right now, everything is fine.”

Since we would soon arrive at Melfin, I’d have to wear my full gear today. The armour dress and everything that came along with it. It was a bit of a hassle to put on compared to all my other clothes but it wasn’t too bad. And Karen was surprisingly good at this. I barely felt any discomfort after she finished. I moved my arms, then my legs but it was all good.

“All good?”
“All good. Thanks, Sis. Want me to help you with yours, too?”
”I’ll be fine.”
“Ehh? You’re unfair.”

She was allowed to help me but I wasn’t allowed to help her? Not fair!

“Then, do you know how to put these gauntlets on?”
“... You’ll manage, Sis”
“I will.”

Okay, she had a little more than those gauntlets that had several binders on it and where I had no idea where you had to fasten what… but, well, it was probably better I didn’t interfere too much.

“But next time I’ll help you, too.”
“Sure, I’m looking forward to it. Hehehe.”

She giggled, amused by my declaration. Guess I had to study up on how Karen’s armour worked…

“Okay, I’m ready as well. You’re good, Yumi?”
“Nn, still good.”
“Great. Then we only need to wait until we stop.”
“Nn.”

Since we were inside the wagon, we couldn’t take a look outside and see how much farther it was. According to what Karen had told me earlier, it wouldn’t be long anymore, though. Just then, I heard an unfamiliar voice shouting.

“Miss Karen! Town’s coming into view!”
“You heard that, Yumi?”
“Nn, let’s take a look!”
“Sure but…”

How were we going to do that? Also, whose voice was that? That wasn’t Lily nor Rina.

“We… could peek through the door.”
“... There’s no other way, is there?”
“I’ll hold you.”
“I appreciate it.”

Last thing I needed was to get blown out of the wagon by the wind. Not like that would happen. It wouldn’t… right?

Disregarding my momentary worries, we opened the door, peering outside. The wagons were blocking the view for a moment but it wasn’t long until it came into view.

“Woah! Is that Melfin?”
“It should be.”

My first impression of it was… it was dark. If the towns and cities in Lafria were bright with their red bricks, then this town was considerable dark. I couldn’t see it clearly from this distance but the town’s wall seemed to be built from grey or black bricks. Maybe both, even. It was dark, at least. Not quite black, more a greyish… blackish… something.

“It seems pretty… err… sombre…” I commented.
“You mean gloomy.”
“... I was trying to be polite.”
“It’s fine. I think so, too.”

Well, yeah, it was gloomy. I’d be hard-pressed to say it wasn’t. But that was only its appearance…

“Nn… We can’t see much else yet. It might be better once we’re inside the town.”
“Yumi, I don’t think that’s something you should hope for…”
“...”

So much to that hope… Dashed as quickly as it had come.

“Anyway… It looks like we’ll be there soon.”’
“That’s right.”
“Nn, I’m looking forward to it a little.”

My first time in an Aldreighan town. I only knew Lafria and the empire until now so this would be a fresh experience.

“Yumi, let’s get back inside for now.”
“Sure.”

We had gotten what we wanted, a first look at the town of Melfin. It was darker than I expected but at least it wasn’t more rubble than intact buildings. The words of the border guards had me worried a little bit but at least the first look didn’t reveal any serious damage to the town.

“Nn… Oh right, Sis.”
“Yes?”
“... Whose voice was that earlier?”
“Voice? Oh, the one just now?”
“Nn. It’s the one who drives the wagon.”

The one driving? It wasn’t Lily?

“Ah, you mentioned Lily had been drinking, too… Don’t tell me…

“Mr Greyward goaded her into trying some… Rina is caring for her.”
“...”

What to say… That was a little unexpected to hear.

“At least I’m not the only one this time.”
“Yumi, that’s hardly something to be happy about.”
“Sorry…”

But, like, how to say it… Shared pain was only half the pain… or something like that? It made me feel a little better knowing someone else suffered with me.

“Oh, the wagon is slowing down.”
“Nn, looks like it.”

It was time, huh…

“Miss Karen, we’ve arrived.”
“We’re coming! Yumi, let’s go.”
“Nn.”

We checked one last time that our gear was sitting right and then left the wagon. I stepped to the side of the road, taking in the full view of the town… or rather its walls.

“So this is Melfin? The walls really are black.”
“I think you’ll see those just about anywhere in Aldreigh…”
“That so.”

Those towns had to be quite gloomy, too.

“Well then, Miss Karen, I’ll take care of the waroxen here.”
“Yes. Thank you very much for driving it.”
“No problem. Glad to be of help!”

The mercenary, an older man, laughed as he slapped the waroxen on its back. The beast bellowed in disapproval, swinging its rump to the side and nearly knocking the man over.

“Ouch! Sheesh, you’re a feisty one, aren’t ya? Come, let’s get you something to eat before you run me over and turn me into feed!”

With those words, he led both waroxen away, towards the other waroxen that were already grazing nearby.

“We should look for Mr Greyward. He told us to come to see him when we arrive.”
“Oh, he did?”
“Yes.”
“Nn…”

Then we should look for him… Oh, it wasn’t Greyward but I found Rina. I waved to her and she quickly spotted me, running over.

“Lil’ Sis! You’re feeling better?!”
“Nn, I do— Woah? Slow there!”

Rina immediately hugged me and patted me all over, making sure I really was all right. I didn’t mind it but I was still reeling a little from my headaches.

“Mmm… Are you really fine?”
“Nn, I am. Sorry for worrying.”

A little reluctant, she let go of me.

“How is Lily?”
“She’s still not well… Crying how her head hurts.”
“Ahahaha…”

Very relatable. Very relatable, indeed.

“Lil’ Sis, is there anything I can do to help her?”
“Well… I don’t think so… Give her something to drink and let her rest. No shaking and no loud noises if she has headaches. Other than that… You could ask Wendl to cure her but I feel like she’d resent that.”
“He can cure it?! But why would she resent that?”
“Err, according to Wanda, it’s like the whole hangover concentrated into a short moment and then made several times worse… I think that’s what she said.”

That scene of Ria curing people of their drunken state was burnt into my mind. I definitely didn’t want to share that fate. In a way, I was lucky I got away this time.

Ah, but would that magic even work on me? I still don’t even know how I can get a hangover but what if that magic won’t work on me anyway?

Alas, that wasn’t anything I wanted to try out. Ever.

“I see… Lily wouldn’t like that, would she?”
“Nn, I don’t think she would. Just let her rest.”
“Mm… But how long until she gets better?”
“Well… That depends on the person… Maybe in a few hours. Maybe in half an hour.”

There really wasn’t a good way to estimate that. Hangovers were weird anyway. Some suffered them for half an eternity… and then you had some people that didn’t even know how bad a hangover could be, despite them pouring alcohol into their stomachs like a broken faucet. The world was cruel and unfair.

“Is that so…”
“Nn. Sorry I can’t help you.”
“Uh-uh, you helped me a lot, Lil’ Sis. I’m going to take care of Lily until she feels better.”
“Nn. Do that.”

We watched Rina trotting away and disappearing into an unfamiliar wagon, probably Lily’s.

“I hope she feels better soon.”
“Ahh. It would be great.”

Then again, it was probably a valuable lesson for Lily. She’d definitely be more careful with alcohol in the future. At least, I hoped she would.

“Now then, where’s Greyward…”
“He’s over there.”
“Oh, that was fast.”

We walked over to Greyward, who was currently taking in the view of the town, similar to what we had done earlier.

“”Mr Greyward.””
“Mh? Ah, our favourite two girls have arrived. How’s it feeling?”
“Okay, for the most part.”
“Glad to hear that. We were really worried when you suddenly conked out like that.”
“I heard. Not that I remember it.”

It was seriously weird for me. I was sure I had hangovers before even in my old world. But a complete blackout? That was definitely a new experience for me. And a rather unexpected one, too.

“You don’t even remember it?”
“Nn. I remember having dinner and a short while after that. Anything beyond that is blurry at best.”
“That’s… quite something. Never seen someone get a blackout that quickly before. You should be careful with alcohol in the future.”
“Seems that I will have to be.”

If this was going to happen in the future as well, I would definitely have to steer clear of alcohol. That would be… unfortunate. But in the end, there was nothing I could do about it. I’d rather not have to deal with this every time I sipped on some alcohol.

“What kind of drink was it anyway?”
“It was just a slightly strong ale but with a few fruits added to it.  Nothing particular special, to be honest.”
“I see…”

If it was just some regular ale my outlook wasn’t looking good.

“Oh well… Such is life.”
“Getting philosophical?”
“A little.”
“You should try the Aldreighan capital. I heard there are a bunch of weirdos there going on about philosophy all day.”
“No thank you.”

Greyward chuckled when he saw my reaction.

“So, what are we going to do now, Mr Greyward?”
“Changing the topic, aren’t we?”

Yes. And that’s not something a good man should point out.

“Well, so be it. We’re going to see where we can set up camp. We got to park somewhere and let the waroxen graze. Larfas and even Auria have dedicated areas outside town for that purpose but it seems Melfin doesn’t have that. There really must be little traffic on this road.”
“Nn… I don’t think that’s something we can really help with…”
“That’s fine. Your job will come afterwards, after all.”

Our job, huh… That reminded me.

“Is this about the registering thing you mentioned at the border?”
“That it is. Ah, right, do you have the identification plates you got from Ruben? Mana passes they’re called.”
“Ahhh…”

We were supposed to look for them…

“Yes, we do. But only Yumi and Rina have one.”
“Oh, only them? Mh, well, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Did Karen look for them while I was out? Probably.

“Well, we’ll just see what happens. If they make a fuss, I’ll deal with it.”
“Haaa… is that okay?”
“Sure is. At least, you will only have to do it once in Aldreigh and not in every town you visit again”
“You don’t?”

I would have thought we’d need to do it every time…

“The barrier tool in Aldreigh is far more… well, sophisticated, you could say. They all connect with each other and once someone is registered, it’ll be registered in every town. In Lafria, you’d have to do it in every major town.”
“That sounds pretty amazing.”

Too amazing, even. This wasn’t quite what I had expected from this place.

“Ha, if that already astonishes you, you’ll be in for a treat. Aldreigh as a whole is a completely different world compared to any other country.”
“Oh? Don’t get my expectations too high.”
“They can’t be high enough for this place, trust me.”

Now, that sounded like it would be very unlikely. Yet, he seemed really confident about those words.

“My expectations keep rising. They’re reaching the sky soon. They’ll be sky-high.”
“Ahahaha! Don’t let the sky be their limit, Yumi!”
”I’ll try my best not to limit them.”

Greyward laughed, utterly amused. Meanwhile, Karen stood next to us with an incredulous look. I pretended not to see that.

It took a while until Greyward calmed down.

“Haa… Really… It seems they found a spot to let the waroxen graze.”
“Oh, they did?”
“Yeah. After we get them and the wagons there, we’ll see about getting into town. I’m curious about what happened here and we need you registered. It would be great if Lily would come along but…”

He looked towards her wagon, scratching the back of his head.

“Maybe I overdid it a little yesterday. Oh well, too late to worry about it now. I just need you two and Rina for now. We’ll see after that. Maybe Lily will be fine by then anyway.”
“Nn…”

Maybe… or maybe not. Hard to say without seeing her. Knowing her, she’d want to be around, though. No need to let her get lonely.

“I’ll call for you two when we’re going into town so you’re free to do what you want until then. Feel free to rest up some more. You’re still looking a little pale, Yumi.”
“... Do I?”

I glanced toward Karen. She nodded softly.

“A little, yes.”
“I see… I mean, I guess that’s not too surprising…”

It wasn’t like I had fully recovered yet, after all.

“Then, we’ll take you up on that offer, Mr Greyward.”
“Sure thing. Make sure you’re back to full.”
“Nn, will do.”

We parted with Greyward right after, looking for a place to rest.

“We could visit Lily.”
“Are you sure? What if she still feels bad, Yumi?”
“Well, then we’ll leave. But I’m sure she’d be happy if we came.”

After all, I had been happy when Karen held my hand, or when Rina ran over and worried whether I was fine.

“We can just take a quick look if she’s still not well.”
“Mmm… I guess that’s fine with me.”
“Nn. Then, let’s go.”

Time to check up on Lily, another poor hangover victim.