At God’s Mercy (1)

(I’ve had enough of that bed. I think I’ll sleep here tonight.)

(Distant mumbling)…

Hm?

(Someone’s talking on the terrace…)

(Is that cica? Nanaki and Yodaka too… If it was a secret little meetup then I might’ve been tempted to join, but it doesn’t look like anything interesting is happening.)

The wine is coming together nicely. It should be ready by Kuguri’s birthday.

That’s good… Kugunii will definitely be happy.

Thank you, Yodaka-san.

(Oh, right. Come to think of it, mine’s coming up. I totally forgot)

So that’s how it is. They’re crafting a cute little plan, but…

Decorations, cheeeeeck! All the cake and food, cheeeeeck! All the prep for Kugurin’s BDay, peeerfecto! ★

Buuuut, the BDay star’s not here! Booooo~ What the heck?

…It seems like we’re the ones who’ve been surprised.

Kuguri wasn’t in our dorm or on the balcony. Did you have any luck, Chief?

No… I wanted to be sure, so I had Kinari-kun look around, but…

There are no biological signs of Kuguri within HAMA House.

Kugunii…

Let’s wait a bit longer. It would be bad if we ended up missing each other.

That sounds good. In the meantime, I’ll get us some drinks.

Ugh, just what is that asshole up to?

Are you suuure it’s okay for you to stay here, Kuguri-san?

Yodaka-san filled me in. They’re throwin’ you a birthday party today, right?

It seems so.

Unfortunately for cica and the others, I’d rather not have a big group celebrate like I’m some sort of child.

Ahaha, well that’s not unusual for you to say.

But don’t you think it’d be a waste? Yodaka-san went through the trouble of handpicking and preparing some wine for you, Kuguri-san.

It was some kinda rare tokaji wine¹… I think it was Szerelmi álmok? Something along those lines.

Hmm? Are you serious?

Yup. Well, I had some free time anyway, so this worked out well.

Ooh, is your glass empty? What are you gonna do next?

Let’s see…

…It seems like Kuguri isn’t coming after all. What should we do? Maybe we should split up and search for him?

That might work.

If I knew things were going to end up like this, I would have made every effort to prevent him from leaving yesterday. There was a fascinating story on the Akashic Records that even Kuguri might’ve found interesting.

(Sigh)… That sounds ridiculous. If you want to do something like that, do it alone.

Kugunii…!

Kuguri-san! When did you get here?!

Who knows. I just found myself having a drink here.

This is some good wine. It’s got a strong smell and it’s so smooth.

H-Huh?!

I wouldn’t expect anything less of fermented tokaji wine. The pleasure of giving into alcohol is irresistable… I could lose myself in it.

BWUH?! Why’s that sound so friggin’ R-rated…?!

Hey, asshole! Watch your fuckin’ mouth, will you?!

What? All I did was drink the wine and say what I thought about it.

Are you good? Mm, here. Some tissues.

(Pant pant)… If it wasn’t for this grape juice, I’d be a goner…

We can get the party started now, though…

Yes. We are behind the planned start time, but it should be alright to begin. Right, Master?

Yeah! Let’s start off with some birthday wishes. Kuguri-san…

Happy birthday!!!

Yeah, yeah. Many thanks.