Adopting Disaster

Reed's office.

Dolores sat stiffly on the sofa, and Reed poured her some tea from the opposite side.

"Did you hear everything?"

Caught off guard by the unexpected question, Dolores was a bit flustered.

"Uh... Rosaria wanted to surprise me, so she brought it, I just left it thinking it was something else... I had no idea that it was a Sound of Music item. I only noticed after some of the song played, and by the time I came to my senses..."

You appeared.

But it was so frustrating to say it until the end that she shut her mouth.

"Would you have stopped Rosaria if you knew it was someone else's project?"

"The song was so good... and all the other tower owners had heard it, I wanted to listen too."

It seemed Dolores had also heard that rumor.

Reed told her the truth.

"The other tower owners have never heard it. It's all false rumors."

"I see..."

As it turned out that even her excuse was a lie, Dolores's cheeks turned bright red.

Reed did not scold her.

It was a time when it was about 80% complete and needed external evaluation.

Feeling that it was a good opportunity, he asked her.

"So, how was it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm talking about the song of the elves and the song of the druids. I hope the results turned out the way I wanted."

Dolores seemed to hesitate for a moment, then began to talk about her impressions.

"It was very beautiful...."

"Is that all?"

"Well, and I could see how the elves sing, I couldn't understand the language, but I could feel their emotions in it..."

Dolores began to recite her impressions.

However, she was quite stiff, as if presenting in front of a professor.

After listening to Dolores's 10-minute review, Reed could tell that the recording had turned out as he had intended.

"I see."

"Is that okay?"

That was enough.

He was pleased as it was heading in the direction Reed wanted.

'It feels like I can pull out something more.'

Dolores was a woman like a textbook of orderly and righteous living with a lawful good alignment.

The fact that she touched another tower owner's project without permission must have been weighing heavily on her.

The situation was good.

In this atmosphere, it might be possible to have an open conversation.

They could naturally talk about the past, and through that conversation, they could find out what Reed's past self was like.

Thinking that it was time, Reed took out an object that he had stored away using magic.

A red liquid was contained in a transparent glass bottle.

Yggdrasil Wine.

It was a precious item, a liquor brewed directly by the elves of Yggdrasil’s realm, so precious that if one could get it, the price would be worth their calling.

Rosaria had received a few gifts in gratitude for helping Yggdrasil grow.

One of those gifts was Yggdrasil Wine.

Being of noble descent, Dolores would certainly want to try the elf's liquor.

He wanted to have a sincere conversation naturally, accompanied by alcohol.

"The elves gave me a bottle of liquor as a thank-you gift. Would you like a glass?"

Reed showed her two glasses.

Contrary to expectation, Dolores shook her head with an even sterner face.

"I don't enjoy alcohol that much."

"I'm not saying you have to drink a lot. Just try it."

"This is difficult, Tower Master of Silence. Don't you know?"

She asked if he knew, but Reed had no idea.

However, sensing the mood, he quickly apologized when he felt he shouldn't continue to insist.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

Reed put down his glass, losing his appetite with a bitter expression.

That act became a guilt for Dolores, and in the end, she contradicted what she had said.

"…I'll just have a drink."

"Are you sure?"

"I suppose…"

She spoke hesitantly, but Reed didn't notice.

Because she said she doesn't enjoy alcohol, he filled a crystal glass with Wine, about half as much as his, and handed it to her.

Dolores, who held the glass with both hands, looked down at the bright red Wine. Then she muttered something.

"You can do it. You can do it..."

"Let's drink."

"Ah, yes."

Reed and Dolores took a sip at the same time.

Reed, who was taking his first sip, was almost choked by surprise.

'Why is this so strong?'

He thought the Yggdrasil Winemade from fruit, would have a low alcohol content, like wine.

But drinking it, his throat burned as if he was drinking a potent distilled liquor.

"The alcohol is quite strong."

"...."

"Tower Master of the Wallin Tower?"

Dolores, who had emptied her glass, did not answer and remained silent, putting her glass down.

A moment later, the room began to get colder.

It was Dolores emanating the cold.

"Are you okay?"

"Ah......"

"Ah?"

"Ah, it's hitting me hard."

"Cough!"

She barely managed to suppress a choke.

Dolores wiped her lips with the back of her hand.

"Why is it so strong? I thought my throat was burning."

"....."

"Why? You look surprised as if you're seeing a ghost."

As Reed stared at her, Dolores frowned.

"No, what you're saying is really......"

"Should I call you like a friend? Or should I talk to you like a child? But why is that surprising? Didn't you give me this? You wanted to see me drunk."

Listening to her slowly loosening words, he seemed to understand why she had hesitated about the drink.

'She can't handle alcohol.'

She gets drunk instantly, even with just one glass.

On top of that, it was clear that her drinking habits were not good.

As the alcohol took effect, her polite manner of speaking completely relaxed.

Her speech was even more clear-cut, but there was a distinct sense of incongruity typical of a drunk person.

What's more frightening is that only 30 seconds have passed.

It means she's not fully intoxicated yet.

'This is a disaster.'

"Even though my family has been known to have a weak tolerance for alcohol for generations... Did oppa want to see me drunk when you encouraged me to drink sneakily?"

"...Oppa?"

When Reed pointed out the term, Dolores looked up at him.

Her mature expression was nowhere to be seen, and a large child smiled broadly.

"You call your Oppa 'Oppa', what else would you call him?"

The honest conversation Reed was hoping for had begun.

However, its form had become strange.