FFF-Tier System, SSS-Rank Wife-Chapter 56: Four cups of ale too far

The late-afternoon slash early-nights at the town’s Inn were something else entirely.

A crowd of people so big, it made me feel like every man and his spouse hurried up to the tavern the moment the ringing of the bell announced the closing of the gates.

And judging from how everyone didn’t seem to pay any mind to the event they were all participating in, one thing couldn’t be more clear – an afternoon like the one I was observing right now wasn’t an outlier but the local norm.

Adventurers, still draped in their leather armors and robes, sat at the same table as merchants, craftsmen and hired hands, all enjoying the same food, ale and conversation equally.

’I wonder if the town’s mayor is here too, casually stacking empty cups after a hard day of sorting paperwork,’ I thought, scanning the place whenever I would bring my head up from above my plate.

Sure, the food wasn’t all that great, with only a whisper of a taste or flavor to it. It had nothing on the delicious ale this place served!

And yet, rather than taking one gulp after the other and stopping only to take a breath in between the gulps, I actually focused more on the food.

’It is as they say,’ I thought while dipping my second piece of flatbread into the stew that, by now, I’d pretty much brought closer to my side, almost ready to just dip my face into it and start drinking like a starved dog.

’Hunger is the best condiment.’

It’s been three days of nothing but somehow hidden hunger. For some reason, my body stopped giving me the signals that it was now time to eat.

Was it adrenaline? Constant threat of near-instant death?

But there were times when, especially since I joined Selia’s side, I no longer had to fear death at every step.

Was it because I constantly had something to think about? Or maybe it was really the influence of my deceased system?

I shook my head.

Whatever was the reason, now that Saintess reminded me of food, it felt as if all that hunger from the three days over struck me all at once, forcing me to wolf down the food as if the rest of the world didn’t matter in the slightest.

It was only after I’d pretty much cleaned out two bowls of stew, a box of flatbreads and then topped it all up with a full cup of the Inn’s light ale that I’d finally felt a distant sense of satisfaction, my hunger finally abating.

And the moment I raised my eyes, I noticed something interesting.

Selia didn’t appear to be all that interested in the food at all. She took a bite here and there, but otherwise focused mostly on her drinks.

And by the time I regained my senses, she already had three of them emptied out by her side, with her full, red lips greedily latching to the rim of the fourth mug!

"Hey..." seeing the number of the empty cups, adding up their considerable size and then Selia’s thin frame, I couldn’t help but get worried. "Are you okay?"

Turning my eyes from the empty mugs to the girl, I’d realized that my question was already too late.

Judging by the mellow look on Selia’s face and the abyss in her eyes, three of the four cups too late.

"Leo!" Saintess cried out with a happy smile on her face... Only to raise her cup up in a semi-toast before bringing it down and taking a glance at its bottom by lifting the whole thing up and gulping down all the ale that she had still left in the mug.

"HAAAH!" she breathed out a fruity sigh while slamming the mug down on the table, her lips twisting in a satisfied grin.

"Burp!"

I closed my eyes and took a breath.

’That’s... unexpected?’

Wasn’t someone of her level supposed to be at least a little bit more resistant to the alcohol? Or, shouldn’t she have some sort of a detox spell that could cleanse the alcohol out of her bloodstream?

And as if that wasn’t enough for me to worry about, even through all the noise within the dining hall, I could feel some people already keeping their eyes on us.

It wasn’t a precise feeling... But the very moment I opened up my eyes and looked around, I could see occupants of at least three different tables suddenly turn their eyes away, almost caught red-handed on staring.

"To think that the Saintess would get herself so wasted..." Before I could turn back, my ears caught a whisper.

And between the increasing attention Selia was bringing to our table and her hand already shooting up to order yet another mug...

’But how could she get so wasted?!’

Looking at the empty mugs on the table, I felt something revolting deep down at the bottom of my soul, at the level of genetics I inherited all the way from my tribal ancestors.

To get drunk with just a few mugs of such a thin beer?

Just the thought of that was enough to get my Slavic blood to boil, even though I wasn’t all that much of an avid drinker myself!

Still, regardless of how in all hells could Selia get herself so drunk so easily, it was now time for me to pay my dues and, after all the help she offered me, give her a helping hand myself.

"Okay," I slapped my hands down on my thighs before wiping my mouth with the edge of my sleeve and standing up. "I think that’s enough," I called out as I moved across the table’s side and stood over the happily drunk girl, "It’s time to call it a night and go sleep."

Wasting no time while sensing an increasing pressure from all the stares from the nearby patrons, I slid my hand across Selia’s back before grabbing hold of her waist while using my other hand to throw her right arm over my shoulder.

’Heavy-ho!’

I chanted in my mind as I pushed hard against the ground with my legs... Only to lift Selia with just a fraction of the effort I expected.

’Did manipulating my fate somehow increase my strength? Or maybe it has something to do with gaining new abilities?’ I thought, trying to distract myself from the ever-increasing attention.

Sure, Selia was the one to initiate the scene by getting herself so drunk, but now I wasn’t making it any easier for the heat to die down.

Which is why, I wasted no time in dragging her away from the dining hall, all the while trying to ignore her amused attempts at pretending to be flying or singing some weird songs from the very bottom of her lungs.

And surprisingly enough, no one stood in my path, trying to take the opportunity and settle their score with the Saintess while she had her guard at its lowest.

No, instead, seeing how drunk she acted, people ultimately offered just a polite smile before shaking their heads and then looking away, turning their attention back to whatever they were doing themselves.

Just like that, by some miracle, I’d managed to reach the stairs. And as I looked up, I couldn’t help but gulp my saliva down my throat.

’This is going to be a tough one,’ I thought before taking a deep breath and then starting the climb.

Once again, my expectations made the problem appear far worse than it was in reality.

With just how light Selia was, I’d managed to bring her all the way up to our shared room with hardly any difficulty... Almost as if she was only pretending to be drunk while actively trying to help me out with the task of moving her around!

Sadly, that simply couldn’t be the case.

While not much of a drinker myself, I saw a fair share of my friends getting themselves wasted over and over again, back when the thrill of getting a beer without a national ID added the flavor to the booze.

And with just a single look at her, I could tell that she wasn’t just pretending.

Selia was bona fide drunk out of her mind!

Even now, while I was trying to drag her over to the bed, she was leaning hard on me while pretending to be some sort of a songstress, singing some sort of a ballad to the sky.

Thankfully, the path from the doors of our room to the bed was short. And it was only once I’d finally managed to sit her down on the bed’s edge that I’d realized one thing.

In the process of dragging her up to the room... Didn’t I waste quite the few opportunities for escalating the quests for my system?

Or, to put it into simpler and more accurate words, didn’t I just get to pretty much hug her side while tightly pressing my hand into the side of her waist?

’Shit...’

Sensing the direction my thoughts were taking, I could only stifle a curse before looking away, more than ready to just forget about it all and go to sleep.

’Task completed,’ I thought, pushing those dirty thoughts aside as I confirmed the room’s box was properly locked and secured and then using some cloth to wipe the sweat and grime off my face.

Only to then hear the rustle of an article of clothing dropping down to the room’s floor.

A foreboding noise, one I’d barely heard over the ambient sounds of all the people making merry on the floor below.

Yet, between all the thoughts and realizations I just had and my desperation to forget about them, it was a sound I wouldn’t mistake for anything else!