Found You at Last

"Shaya, what's wrong with Alicia?

It's already past ten. Why is she still under the covers and not waking up?

No matter how much I call her, she won't wake up. Could it be that her illness from before hasn't healed yet?"

Arthur stood at Shaya's doorway and spoke worriedly. Ever since the headmaster of the orphanage, the person closest to him, had died, he had become deeply afraid of death and was always worried about Alicia's health.

Shaya was sitting at the workbench, fiddling with something. There were several bottles of liquor he had bought from the Imperial Capital—some imported rum, as well as cane sugar and other ingredients.

"She's fine." Shaya worked with his hands as he spoke. "Have you ever heard a saying?"

"What?" Arthur asked.

"You can never wake someone who's pretending to sleep," Shaya teased.

"You mean Alicia is pretending to sleep?" Arthur asked doubtfully. "Why would she pretend?"

"People always have times when they want to sleep a little longer, don't they?" Shaya said.

Arthur nodded. "Then when will she get up?"

"When she makes peace with the person she was last night."

Shaya murmured softly. As he spoke, he had already finished making what he wanted to mix. He picked up the drink before him and took a small sip, then nodded in satisfaction.

With a wave of his hand, all the tools and liquor on the table vanished without a trace.

"Make peace?" Arthur was even more confused. "Did she do something last night?"

But Shaya had already passed him and headed downstairs, leaving his endless questions unanswered.

Sunny was running up the stairs. For the lion cub, the steps seemed rather tall, and climbing them looked a little difficult.

Seeing Shaya come down, it gazed at him eagerly, hoping he would carry it upstairs, but Shaya ignored it completely.

He picked up the coat hanging beside the stairway and called out to Alicia behind the curtain at the bottom of the stairs.

"I'm heading out for a while."

"Rustle—"

The curtain was pulled open. Alicia, behind it, had wrapped herself tightly in the blanket, revealing only her eyes. Her sapphire-like gaze carried a tranquil, composed elegance.

This was the first time Shaya had carefully observed her eyes.

"How much do you remember about last night?"

Shaya looked at her with apparent "confusion." "Didn't we go to the banquet together last night?"

"I mean..." Alicia bit her lip. "How much do you remember of what I said last night?"

Shaya frowned slightly and put on an expression as though he were trying hard to remember.

"It was so noisy then that I didn't hear very clearly. Did you say something important?

Why don't you tell me again?"

"No, no!" Alicia hurriedly said. "It wasn't important. Not important at all!"

Shaya smiled meaningfully. "Is that so?"

He turned around. "Then I'll be going."

When the front door clicked shut, Alicia confirmed that Shaya had left and pulled the curtain closed again.

She curled up all her limbs and buried her entire face in the blanket. Her ears were burning red.

"What exactly... did I do...?"

Cassifa, sitting atop the stove, had witnessed everything. It looked at the door, then at the curtain to one side, tilting its eyes in confusion.

Humans really were difficult to understand.

Shaya left through the gates of Eagle's Horn Port. Last night, he had learned the old man's identity—or rather, the identity the old man held in this small town.

He begged along the eastern coast. To the townspeople, he was a drunkard who spent every day drunk, using every coin he begged for to buy alcohol.

He spent most days lying in the same place, basking in the sun, so Shaya found him before long.

He was lying in the corner beside a wall, resting with his eyes closed. He still reeked of alcohol, his cheeks slightly flushed, looking pleasantly drunk.

"I think there are some things we see differently," Shaya said.

The old man slowly opened his eyes, crossed his arms over his chest, and looked at him with interest.

"You were right. Life truly has no inherent meaning," Shaya said.

"Human history may stretch back hundreds of thousands of years, but the countless stars in the sky have existed for billions. To the universe, humanity is nothing more than insignificant dust.

One day, we will be forgotten by people, forgotten by this world."

After a pause, he continued.

"But under such a reality, every day people live becomes all the more precious.

Or rather, living itself is the meaning of life.

It is because life is finite that people seek the meaning of living. The pursuit itself is part of that meaning.

I understand what you mean: praise life, accept its unpredictability, and face all sorrow with abandon.

But I think the beauty of life is far more than indulgence, and the joy of drinking should be more than simply getting drunk."

Shaya raised a hand, and a glass appeared in it. Liquid poured into the glass by itself, and he handed it to the old man.

The old man accepted the glass and took a small sip. It was cool, refreshing, sweet with a touch of sourness, giving off a crystalline clarity. His eyes brightened slightly as he looked at the drink in his hand.

"What is this?"

"A mixed drink. I call it a cocktail," Shaya said.

The liquor had all been ordinary alcohol bought from the Imperial Capital, naturally incomparable to wine brewed by the god of wine. But the beauty of innovation and imagination behind it was something they shared.

The old man seemed very interested in the drink. He took another sip and said, "There's the flavor of light rum. The mint makes it refreshing, while the lime collides brilliantly with the alcohol.

There's also a flavor I've never tasted before. Tiny bubbles burst in the mouth—it's an inspired touch. Very interesting."

"That's soda water." Shaya raised his brows. "My secret recipe."

"Interesting. Too interesting."

The old man stared intensely at the glass. "Different liquors, mixed with other things, can create such fascinating flavors.

You invented a new kind of drink.

Bringing together alcohol from different places to create an entirely new and interesting experience... what a vibrant, free-spirited drink."

He lifted his head and looked at Shaya.

"You don't only know how to make this one cocktail, do you?"

"I know many recipes. This is only one of them. I call it a Mojito," Shaya said. "And it isn't even the best-tasting one."

When the major you studied was hard to find work with, you were always forced to learn a few other skills. Bartending was one of them.

"I think I understand what you mean now."

The old man drained the remaining drink in the glass in one gulp.

"This drink brings me a kind of joy beyond drunkenness, like the changing seasons, like the unfathomable heart of a young girl."

The old man looked at him quietly, wisdom gleaming in his bright eyes. "Can you teach me? And that water you mentioned interests me as well. It feels as if little spirits are dancing in my mouth."

Shaya considered it for a moment. "I want to open a bar and sell this kind of drink, but I'm still short a bartender."

"You want to hire me?"

The old man slowly curled his lips into a self-mocking smile.

"Hire a beggar who only knows how to drink?"

Shaya gave a faint smile, his gaze shifting. "I think if I hire you, my bar should at least avoid losing money.

And you seem to have plenty of time, don't you?

I can teach you every recipe I know and provide you with an unlimited supply of soda water."

The old man nodded and murmured softly.

"That truly is an offer one cannot refuse."

After a pause, he said, "I can agree, but I still have some things to do. However, I'll return before your shop opens.

By the way, you haven't found a supplier for the liquor you plan to sell yet, have you?"

"Not yet," Shaya said.

"Then there's no need to. Wait for me to return, and I'll take you somewhere good," he said.

Shaya smiled. "I look forward to your arrival, Mr. Dionysus."

"I stopped using that name long ago," the old man said. "Now, I'm merely a wanderer struggling to survive in this era. You can call me Semler. That is where I came from."

As he spoke, he struggled to rise from the ground and walked toward the end of the alley. He limped slightly, as though one of his legs was lame.

No one would have believed that such a disabled beggar had once been a powerful god.

In him, Shaya saw the end of an era.

He had not originally planned to invite this man to be his bartender. Even the idea of opening a bar had only just occurred to him.

The reason he had mixed a cocktail for this being to taste was partly because of yesterday's festival of Dionysus. He had also recently discovered a natural soda spring and had felt like trying it out.

Compared to letting Alicia and Arthur drink it, it was naturally better to give it to someone who understood alcohol.

Of course, his main purpose had been to make a friend.

After all, another friend meant another path. In this unfamiliar world, there was no harm in making a few powerful friends.

When he had said, "I'm still short a bartender," he actually had more to say. He had meant that once he found a suitable person, this man could join in and learn while Shaya taught the bartender.

But before he could finish, the god of wine had taken over the conversation. Naturally, Shaya had to go along with it.

He truly had not expected it to work.

For an existence at his level, worldly things should have long become insignificant. He pursued something purer, and Shaya's cocktail happened to touch upon that point.

Shaya was not worried that he would leave halfway through. After all, there were no cocktails in this era. As a drink proven by the market, it was only a matter of time before it became popular, and it would not take long to recoup the costs.

Besides, he had never intended to make money from it in the first place.

Watching the old man's back disappear completely from sight, Shaya smiled and headed back toward his castle along the way he had come.

He passed through several alleys and crossed the street. Then, suddenly, he stopped.

He slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, then raised his head and looked toward the roof of a nearby building.

There, a woman wearing an enormous hat was watching him, slowly curling her lips into a smile.

"Little Shaya, I've finally found you."