Renato put the last slice of liver, roasted crisp and charred, into his mouth, then picked up the glass beside him and sipped the sweet, low-alcohol fruit wine.
As the wine slipped down his throat and washed away the lingering grease, Renato sighed in satisfaction.
He had acquired this bottle of sweet wine back when he had used his position as Constable to confiscate the Wolf Gang's assets.
It had been a casino called the Gilded Dice, if he remembered correctly. He had fenced most of the valuables through Kira.
The Thieves' Guild had refused to take the liquor at the time, so it had stayed with him, tucked into his Bag of Holding and carried from the surface into the Underdark.
Good thing I didn't sell it.
But Renato did not have many bottles left. The Old Dwarf had drunk all the strong liquor, all while complaining that human liquor had no kick and tasted like water.
I wonder how Balin is doing in Moradin's divine realm. Surely the Soulforger's realm has no shortage of good liquor...
As his thoughts wandered, the satisfaction on Renato's face unconsciously faded into stillness.
Klauthsura hovered in midair, focused on operating the various pieces of alchemical equipment.
Under the guidance of its psionics, the vessels worked in perfect order: flasks tilted, liquid dripped, and the readings on the thermometers remained constant...
The Mind Flayer could efficiently run the entire workshop alone, carrying out every step strictly to standard with almost no errors caused by the operator.
When it noticed the change in Renato's expression, Klauthsura immediately set down its equipment and landed steadily in front of him.
The Mind Flayer's needlelike pupils swept over Renato, and a glow of psionic energy passed across his body.
"Renato, are you feeling unwell?"
"I'm fine." Renato