Author's note: I decided to split up the chapter. It was a monster, mostly because I went a little overboard on what happened later. I am still not really happy with the result, so chapter 25 will come later. Let's just say it's some... anicipated(?) content.

Also, I have whipped up a simple cover for the novel. Let me know what you think, either using the poll or in the comments below.

Chapter 24: A Night Out

“Basically, there are strange occurrences in the mines, which frighten the workers and reduce productivity. Don’t get me wrong, the whole area around Steinnes has seen mining for centuries. Cave-ins and occasional monster infestations are nothing new. Sometimes workers dig into an unmapped and long abandoned mine-shaft.

This time it is all a bit stranger than usual though. There are sounds vibrating over hundreds of meters of shafts, seemingly out of nowhere and coming from changing directions. At first it was a rare occurrence, but as of late it has become a nearly constant situation. Naturally, the miners refuse to dig straight into the area the sounds seem to be coming from. God knows what it is, that’s lurking deep within the mountain.

So far, only the iron mine in the mountain is effected, but as we are pulling mostly lead out of the copper mines these days, the lord has not been happy lately.”

As long as Paul could find out what it was that caused the disturbances, the lord would send a detachment to tackle the culprit. The mayor arranged for a representative of the mining office to come to the inn tomorrow, who would guide Paul and Kana to the affected areas and give a more detailed report.

After leaving the administration building, the two went to the market square to grab something to eat. Prices were cheap and Paul let Kana stuff herself with a huge amount of fried chicken. He had to watch out though, because Kana was sometimes biting through the bones, which started splintering. He learned that it was best not to give a dog chicken bones, which apparently also applied to girls faintly related to wolves.

Looking around, Paul was searching for something interesting to do. The village was rather small and the only thing noteworthy was the brimming mining and ore smelting industry. He wanted to learn more about ores and mining techniques, but that could wait until tomorrow when he would actually get a chance to visit the mines.

Reading through the notes on the [Menu] would occupy him for some time, but he had nothing to do for Kana, who was right now sitting next to him on the bench, rubbing her full belly while sporting a blissful smile and enjoying the last rays of sunlight.

He was looking over towards the liveliest place on the marketplace, the local tavern. It was a pretty large building for such a small town, two stories high and occupying half of the northern area of the market place, with at least a dozen tables on the outside.

Groups of dirty looking men and some women were flocking towards it, and most of the tables outside were already occupied. It was probably the time when the miners came back to the village after a hard day of work.

“Hey Kana, want to grab a beer or mead or whatever they are serving here?” Paul asked while still observing the tavern.

“Ohhh, that sounds fun, Master!” Kana’s response was very energetic, considering her relaxed posture just a second before. When Paul looked over to her, she had moved over to him and was looking back at Paul with sparkling eyes. Thinking about it, she was a servant her whole life. If she ever got out into town, she was probably on guard duty or something, so chances were that she had rarely or never the opportunity to drink.

“Have you ever had alcohol before? I mean, I am not sure if servants even drink that often.”

Kana was slightly blushing. “Well… there were some occasions when servants were allowed to drink, but I was always banned because I had broken something or messed up. So, I never had the chance.” She said so while pouting. “But I have not broken anything that belongs to Master, so it should be fine now, right?” Her expression lightened up again.

Well, if he ignored the sword blow to his face, as well as the blades she had dulled and scratched, or the cuts and bruises she inflicted on herself just by doing easy tasks, she was basically correct. Not that Paul was such a petty person who would ban her from having fun in the first place.

“OK, it’s decided then. Let’s head over to the tavern. I’m in charge of the intake though, I don’t want you to overdo it.” He remembered his first drinking bout. It was a terrible, terrible near-death experience.

They went inside the tavern and sat down at a table near the door. The inside of the tavern was still rather empty, only a quarter of the seats were occupied. A young waitress came to their table to take their order. Turns out the local specialty was wine made from grapes grown on the slopes of the hill. A pint of wine cost 3 small copper coins, a pint of mead cost 5 copper and there were also some small dishes served as snacks. They also had some high volume liquor, but Paul wanted to start with something easy. He ordered two pints of mead and a plate of skewered pork and vegetables.

The beverage was served in ceramic mugs. Kana curiously stared into the mug, but there wasn’t much to be seen, as Paul imitated her movements. She took a whiff, the beverage had a sweet fragrance to it. She then took a big gulp and swallowed.

“Bleh, it tastes awful.” She said so while clenching her eyes and making a sour face.

“I guess it is an acquired taste. Drinking is not so much about the taste, more about the effect it has on you. Drink a little more and you will notice. Oy, don’t overdo it!”

Kana was busy gulping down the content of the whole mug.

“Pfua… if you drink fast, it’s not so bad...” Kana said while placing the, now empty, mug back on the table with a loud thump. Seeing Kana finishing her mug overly quickly, Paul drank half of his as well. He couldn’t lose to his servant after all. Downing it in one go was still too much, it packed quite a bit of punch.

“Want another one? Don’t drink it all up immediately though, it takes a while before you fell the alcohol take effect. Here, have some skewers first.”

The pork was fatty and dripping with oil, with big slices of onion and something like bell pepper in between the pieces of meat. They looked pretty delicious. Paul took one for himself and started eating.

“I don’t think I can eat right now… Master, I’m starting to feel all tingly.” Kana’s cheeks were already starting to redden.

“You should not have drunk all of it at once, but one mug is not that much. So don’t worry. Just take it slow for the next one. You also ate a lot, so there should not be any problem. Eating while drinking makes the buzz a little more pleasant, so try to eat one of the skewers, they are pretty good.”

Kana picked up one of the skewers with her right hand, removed the meat at the tip with the left hand and put it in her mouth. She then pointed the skewer at Paul. “Master has to eat the vegetables, I don’t have any room for those.”

“Don’t act drunk already. OK, I will eat the vegetables, give me the skewer.” Paul pulled the skewer from the food, dropping the pork and vegetables onto the plate. He then did the same to the other ones and put the pointy metal skewers to the side. Having Kana handle those was always a bit risky, if she got drunk it could become outright dangerous to both of them.

He then finished his own mug of mead and ordered two new ones from the waitress.

After some, Kana was sitting with across Paul with a red face.

“Drinking is soooo fun, I’m feeling all light and tingly. Master, let me have one more drink.” Paul let her have one, but decided that this would be the last for today. He wanted to be careful, he had no idea about her limit. He also ordered another batch of skewers.

Over time, Kana’s cheeks became gradually redder and her speech more and more slurred.

“Mashter, it’s hot here…” She said so halfway during the second mug of mead.

“It’s true that it is warm in here, but we are right next to the door, it’s not that bad. And if you start undressing here, I will seriously hit you.” Paul wouldn’t be surprised if Kana was a “drunk stripper”. In fact, he would be more surprised if she wasn’t.

Kana bent over and rested her face on the table to demonstrate how unbearable it was for her. When Paul checked her status, she had full health and stamina, but also an [intoxicated] debuff. He himself had an [intoxicated (minor)] debuff, as well as most other people in the tavern. There were some other with the regular debuff like Kana, but everyone was seemingly fine.

“Pleass Mashta, I melt…. Jusht the pants. Or shirt… one is ok....” Kana said, not bothering to lift up her head.

“You can unbutton the lower half of your shirt, but nothing else. You sure won’t melt from this much. You’re not a snowman”

Kana lifted up her head, looking at Paul with blurry eyes. “Wooaa, shnowmen are shure scary” Paul had no idea what she was talking about, but as this was a fantasy world, everything seemed possible.

He reached out and patted her on the head. She started smiling with closed eyes.

“Mashuta, I’m dizzy...”

“OK, let’s go outside. Finish the meat, I’ve already eaten all the vegetables. You can leave the remaining drink behind.”

Kana shovelled all the meat into her mouth, then gulped it down with the remaining mead in her mug. Paul frowned slightly. Sure, that much shouldn’t hurt though. Paul paid the bill and went around the table to pick up Kana.

He helped Kana stand up. At first she seemed good, but that image faltered as soon as she took a wobbly step forward. “The ground is all mushy…” Paul supported Kana and they left the tavern.

“Mashuta, I need to pee…” They weren’t even half-way across the market square when Kana said so.

“You should have gone at the tavern then. We will be at the inn in a few minutes, just hold it in until then.”

“Nnnn, I can’t.” Kana said with a pained voice, clenching her legs together. “Itsh coming out…”

“Idiot… come.” Paul pulled Kana by the arm and behind one of the now deserted food stalls. They were just a hundred meters away from the tavern, but due to the lack of lighting and the loud laughter from the tavern guests, they were practically invisible.

“Pull down your pants then. Here, I’ll help.” Paul pulled Kana’s pants down to her knees, with her just helping a little bit. Kana then squatted down and looked like she wanted to immediately relieve herself.

“Hey, if you do it like that, you could have just peed into your pants while walking.” Her crotch was hovering directly over her pulled down pants. If she peed like that, she would just get it all over her clothes. “Push your butt out more. Here, hold my hand, so you don’t fall over.”

Kana complied, a moment later Paul heard liquid hitting the ground and saw a dark spot slowly spreading underneath his companion’s butt. It formed a small stream, running underneath the deserted food stall. Paul was silently praying that no one was watching them.

He couldn’t remember giving her so much to drink, it took her forever to finish. At least she wasn’t joking when she said she couldn’t hold it in.

Finally the stream turned into a little trickle and died down. Paul helped Kana stand up, but she made no move to pull up her pants again. Paul first pulled up her underpants, then her leather pants.

“Let’s leave here, I don’t want to have to explain this to anyone.”

“Hnnn…” Kana held onto Pauls shoulder and they moved off towards the main road. Just a couple steps onto the road, Kana grabbed Paul’s arm and stopped walking. “Master, wait…”

“Come, it’s not far. A few minutes and we can rest in the comfortable bed” Paul was a bit annoyed by now. The village was so small, and yet they moved at snail speed towards the inn.

Kana help up her right hand, signalling Paul to wait. Her expression looked serious, different from before. Although it was dark, Paul sensed a change in Kana’s behaviour. She was clearly tensing up.

He checked his minimap, but there were no enemies in sight.

When he was about to ask her about the problem, it happened.

“Uahh… *cough*” Kana threw up in the middle of the road.

“Oh, really now? Come on” Paul grabbed Kana’s arm and quickly pulled her into a side street. Leaning against the wall of a house, she threw up everything she had in her stomach.

“I’m…. sorry….Mas-“ *cough* Kana was apologizing in between vomiting attacks. Paul just silently stood next to her and rubbed her head, but making sure not to get caught in the back-splash.

Ten minutes later Kana was still gagging occasionally, but nothing came out anymore. Paul pulled her further down the alley and sat her onto a conveniently placed crate, where she slumped down, head between her legs.

“Leave me behind… I will just die here” Kana had given up.

“You won’t die from a few mugs of alcohol. Although I have to say, your tolerance is really bad.” Paul was rubbing her back. “Come, get on my back, I will carry you.” Paul pulled Kana up. Seeing that she had vomit on the front of her shirt, he changed his plan though. “No, I will just carry you like a princess.”

Paul picked up the drunk, vomit-covered princess who had a bit of pee on the back of her pants and carried her towards the inn. His 15 points in strength surely helped, the task wasn’t half as hard as he had imagined. It cost him quite a bit of stamina, but they reached the inn in a couple of minutes. Before he could bring her inside the inn, he had to clean her up though.

He carried Kana into the backyard and sat her down onto the floor.

“I’m feeling terrible…” The girl went from kneeling into a face on the floor, butt in the air position. The tip of her bushy tail was nearly touching the back of her head.

“Just be patient for a second, you will feel better soon.” Paul picked up a bucket and filled it with water from a large barrel next to the inn. “Turn around”

“Hnnn…” Kana just fell to the side. Luckily, the ground behind the inn was paved with stone tiles.

*splash* Half of the content of the bucket hit Kana straight into the face. Paul emptied the remaining water over her chest. Kana thrashed around on the floor, suddenly full of energy again.

“Pffff… Master, don’t….” *cough* Paul just went to refill the bucket. After another “shower”, Kana was sitting up again, dripping wet. “Moa…. Master is a meanie…” She was pouting. Paul checked her status. Throwing up the remaining alcohol and being showered in cold water had brought her [intoxicated] debuff down to (minor), and she was speaking properly again.

“Sorry for that, but I couldn’t really bring you into the inn like that. I will get some dry clothes for you.”

Paul went inside and brought Kana’s spare shirt and underpants. He also brought a towel.