"Fufu~"
A soft feminine laugh, like that of someone slightly drunk, suddenly echoed through Kuro's mind via the telepathic link.
Although he had never heard it before, Kuro immediately understood that the voice belonged to one of the Servants bound to him.
He could have activated Sha Naqba Imuru and discovered the owner of the voice in an instant.
But as usual, Kuro chose not to.
After all, he sensed not even the slightest trace of ill intent from the person behind that laughter.
"Ara~"
The voice came again, this time carrying a tone that seemed to have a smile on its owner's lips.
"It seems you forgot to take my attendance."
Kuro frowned.
"…May I know who you are?"
"Assassin, Shuten-Douji."
The answer came without the slightest hesitation.
"Hmm… Master? Aruji-sama? Goshujin-sama? Oyakata-sama? Danna-han…?"
As though choosing her favorite drink from a long shelf, the woman listed one title after another that she could use to address him.
"There are many ways to call you. But I think I prefer the last one."
A brief pause.
Another sweet yet slightly dangerous laugh echoed through the connection.
"Thank you for summoning someone like me, Danna-han."
Kuro remained silent for a moment before letting out a small laugh.
"Alright, Shuten. I look forward to working with you."
His tone was casual, without awkwardness or excessive caution.
"I'm in your care."
"Ufufu~"
Shuten's laughter sounded much more satisfied than before.
"What a sweet thing to say, Danna-han."
"By the way, I didn't actually forget to take your attendance."
"Oh?"
"I just thought there were nine Servants summoned."
Kuro scratched his cheek.
"Apparently, there are ten. Besides, when I checked earlier, you didn't answer either."
"Ahh, my apologies for that," Shuten said cheerfully. "I was busy."
"Busy?"
"Yes," Shuten replied. "Right now, I'm in a place filled with alcohol from various countries and various eras."
Kuro blinked.
For some reason, simply from the way Shuten described it, the place sounded more like paradise than a storage facility.
"There's some rather delicious sake. The red wine is nothing special. But there's a golden-colored drink made from wheat… its taste is quite interesting."
"Hmm?"
"And there's also one made from sugarcane. A little sweet, but not bad."
A brief pause.
"I'm sampling a little bit of everything."
Kuro raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Oh?"
The corner of his lips lifted as well.
"So you're at a bar?"
"Bar…"
Shuten repeated the word slowly, as though savoring its name before swallowing it.
"So a place like this is called a bar."
A small laugh came from the other end of the telepathic connection.
"A rather nice name."
Her voice then softened again.
"In that case, Danna-han. Is there any drink you want?"
"Hmm?"
"I can bring it with me when we meet later."
A brief pause.
"And if possible…" Her tone became slightly warmer. "Let's have a drink together."
Kuro chuckled softly.
"That's not a bad idea."
He rested his chin on one hand, wearing a slightly smug expression.
"But I think I have a more interesting collection of drinks."
"A collection?"
Shuten's curious tone immediately became apparent.
"I have a few that are more than a hundred years old."
"Oh?"
"And that's only a small portion of them."
The corner of Kuro's lips lifted slightly.
"Or… would you like to try a cocktail?"
"Cocktail?"
"Or a mocktail."
For the first time since their conversation began, Shuten fell silent for several seconds.
"…Cocktail? Mocktail?" she asked, genuine curiosity filling her voice. "Are they types of foreign alcohol I've never heard of?"
Kuro chuckled softly.
"Half right."
"Hmm?"
"A cocktail is an alcoholic drink made by combining various ingredients. Sometimes several types of alcohol, sometimes mixed with fruit, spices, syrups, or other ingredients to create a particular flavor."
"Oh?"
Shuten immediately sounded more interested.
"So it's not simply another type of sake?"
"No. You could say it's closer to the art of mixing drinks."
"Fufu~ Interesting."
Shuten sounded genuinely pleased.
"And what about a mocktail?"
"A mocktail is basically made according to the same concept."
Kuro casually leaned his back against the rooftop floor.
"Except it contains no alcohol at all."
A pause.
A brief silence fell between them.
"No alcohol?"
Shuten's voice sounded as though she were trying to understand a concept completely foreign to her.
"Yes."
"Hmm…"
The sound of a glass being gently tapped could be heard.
"So someone makes a cocktail… and then removes the alcohol?"
Kuro laughed.
"More or less."
"That sounds strange."
"It is."
Kuro admitted it without hesitation.
"But they still taste good. Many people drink them not because they want to get drunk, but because they enjoy the taste and aroma."
"Fufu~"
Shuten's laughter echoed again.
"In that case, I want to try one."
"Good."
A small smile appeared on Kuro's face.
"When we meet, I'll make one for you."
After all, he had plenty of things he wanted to introduce to the oni girl.
Everything from various modern cocktails and mocktails to aged wine and even rare sake he had collected over the years.
"Then I'll look forward to it, Danna-han."
Shuten sounded satisfied before ending the telepathic connection.
"Um… Master… are you busy?"
Astolfo's voice suddenly entered Kuro's mind through the telepathic link.
Before answering, Kuro sat back up from his relaxed position.
"No," he finally replied. "I'm not busy. What's wrong, Astolfo?"
"I'm stuck and I can't get myself free. Could you come over here for a moment, Master?"
Kuro fell silent.
With a slight focus of his mind, he invested ten grams of gold into the system and exchanged it for access to information regarding the Heroic Spirit who had just contacted him.
Various pieces of data immediately flowed into his mind.
Astolfo.
An adventurer who had once traveled around the world, collecting various Mystic Codes, riding legendary creatures, and leaving behind stories that sounded almost impossible.
At the same time, however, he was also famous for his remarkable ability to get himself into problems that should never have happened in the first place.
Despite possessing extraordinarily high Luck, Astolfo somehow still had an incredible talent for finding trouble in his own unique way.
"Looks like that's basically the complete package of his legend," Kuro murmured. "Extremely lucky, yet somehow incredibly talented at causing trouble."
"Um… Master?"
Astolfo's voice came through the telepathic connection again.
A faint smile appeared on Kuro's face as he stood.
"Yeah. Wait a moment. I'm coming."
A brief pause.
"And now I'm rather curious to see what kind of trouble you managed to find only a few minutes after arriving."
"…"
There was a brief silence through the telepathic connection.
"Master, your priorities are strange."
Kuro chuckled softly.
Without saying much else, he raised his right hand while releasing the seal on Sha Naqba Imuru to track Astolfo's location.
Information immediately flowed into his mind.
"Ah."
So that's where he was.
As he walked, Kuro made a circular motion with his finger.
Crk… crk…
Sparks of orange light appeared in the air, forming a circle that gradually expanded until it transformed into a portal characteristic of a Sling Ring user.
Once the portal fully opened, the scene on the other side immediately came into view.
Gigantic stone segments floated through the air, interlocking with one another to form a structure that could not be explained by the laws of normal gravity.
Buildings folded and rotated in complex geometric patterns, creating the distinctive landscape of the Mirror Dimension.
And right in the middle of it all, Kuro froze for a moment when he saw someone hanging upside down, his arms and legs caught and his entire body tangled up.
He had pink hair and a slender body covered in armor and a white cloak, making Kuro almost mistake him for a woman at first glance.
But no.
He was a man named Astolfo.
And somehow, only a few minutes after being summoned, Astolfo had already managed to get himself tangled up in a collection of cables hanging between the floating stone structures.
Kuro stared at him for several seconds.
Then the corner of his lips lifted.
"…I'm starting to understand why your legends say you have a habit of getting yourself into trouble that shouldn't have happened in the first place."
"Master!" Astolfo immediately exclaimed. "I can explain!"
"That's usually what someone says right before giving an explanation that makes the situation sound even worse."
"Eh?!"
Kuro slowly shook his head, suppressing his laughter.
"Alright. Just stay still for a moment."
Without saying much else, he raised his right hand.
All of his fingers curled inward, leaving only his index finger, which slowly moved clockwise.
Instantly, the space around them shifted.
The gigantic floating stone segments began moving away from one another.
The buildings that had previously been stacked and folded together also shifted positions, as though the entire Mirror Dimension were rearranging itself.
The cables wrapped around Astolfo's body immediately loosened.
"Oh!"
Astolfo blinked.
"Ohhh!"
Then gravity took over.
"OH, WAIT—"
Thud!
His head became the first thing to hit the stone platform below.
"Oww…"
Astolfo immediately curled up while clutching his head.
Kuro finally couldn't hold back his laughter. A soft chuckle escaped him, but it was clearly audible.
"I've only known you for a few minutes," he said as he approached, "but somehow, I already feel like this isn't the first time something like this has happened."
"That's slander…" Astolfo muttered weakly.
"You were hanging upside down by a bunch of cables."
"That's an unnecessary detail."
"That's literally the only detail that matters."
Astolfo opened his mouth to argue, then closed it again.
Because it was rather difficult to defend himself in a situation like this.
Still wearing a faint smile, Kuro knelt in front of Astolfo.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out an instant cold compress before handing it over.
"Here."
Astolfo accepted the compress.
"…Master."
"Yes?"
"You laughed before helping me."
"You're alright, aren't you?"
"That's not an answer."
"Then, yes."
Kuro smiled slightly.
"I did laugh before helping you."
"Master, you're mean!"
"And I still came to help you."
"…"
Astolfo looked at the compress in his hands.
Then he looked at Kuro.
"…Master is kind."
"You change your opinion awfully quickly."
"I know."
Kuro simply shook his head, holding back another laugh.
Somehow, he had a feeling his days were going to become much livelier from now on.
____
Author's note:
How was it? Did you like it, guys? 😏
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