Chapter 267

Yulia’s family had reserved half of the sleeper train from Munich to Dessau, the capital of Anhalt.

The problem was here. When we boarded the carriage, it was 7 o’clock, but the train Yulia had reserved departed at 10 o’clock and arrived at 6 o’clock.

“Why did you board the carriage so early?”

I let out a hollow breath while looking at the purple sky where the sun hadn’t fully set yet. Now Elias and Narce were all inside this too.

“Hm? We’re sightseeing Munich first.”

Leo only then smiled and said that when I asked.

If that’s the case, there was no need to depart right away. Was it perhaps Elias’s arbitrary decision?

I felt absurd again and inhaled while leaning my head back against the backrest with a thud.

“No, why today of all days do you not tell me in advance only to me? Isn’t this something you could tell me?”

“Hahahaha! Luka’s sulking~”

“Does this look like sulking?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m going crazy….”

I just closed my eyes like that and tried to sleep. However, such an attempt didn’t last long.

Whether Narce threw it or it jumped like a rabbit on its own, Pai fell onto my clothes.

I touched Pai and looked outside. Perhaps thinking it would be too conspicuous, the carriage we boarded had no royal insignia. Therefore, there were no people particularly conscious of us. Just like that, we were crossing through Munich’s city center.

‘Wandering around like this is rare after a long time.’

A new human taking a train? I thought it was ridiculous, but if travel is done with a snap of the fingers… from an old human perspective, it might be convenient, but for new humans who’ve moved that way their whole lives, it might not feel like playing.

Even for me, riding a carriage through Munich right now felt new.

Elias kept trying to communicate with gestures to the pie in my hand. I couldn’t just let it go seeing the pie’s ears completely squished, so I decided to divert Elias’s attention.

“Eli, by the way, about what you mentioned in that letter back then?”

“I took care of it all while you were sleeping~”

I nodded. Previously, Elias had talked about returning the paupers chased to the outskirts of the capital to where they used to live. Canceling fines for appearances below average was also included in his goals.

This time, since I could meet friends before Pentalon, I didn’t wait until after Pentalon like before and took out all the money from the bankbook right then and handed it to Elias. It seemed like that meant he’d handled everything with it.

“The city hall doesn’t have authority to reduce fines. So fortunately, that side was resolved easily.”

“By the way, how did you persuade them?”

“I just said it’s illegal, so if they don’t withdraw everything, I’ll sue. Textbook, right.”

“I don’t think you said just that….”

Leo, who had been listening to our conversation, furrowed his brows as if distrustful.

I thought the same. Elias shook his head and clapped his hands.

“Anyway, with Pentalon opening over and many tourists gone, they probably thought there was no need to drag it out dirtily anymore. They said they’ll cancel the red lines!”

Just hearing it, it seemed like it ended ridiculously easily through an extremely hopeful process. But as you can see from the issue alone, it wasn’t ordinary. Elias had a tendency both in novels and here to talk about complicated and tiring things as if they were nothing. He himself didn’t feel much fatigue, and he didn’t like showing it. That’s why when he first saw me yesterday, instead of asking if I was okay like the other friends, he joked first—because of that personality.

“The poorhouse you’re building? Negotiating with surrounding residents must have been hard.”

“It was pretty tough~ Even offering double the money, the only landowner who agreed to contract with me was the cemetery owner. Kids, anyone want to drink?”

As expected, he doesn’t try to talk long. Elias shook the hip flask filled with whiskey. Leo glared at him and stopped him.

“Drink after getting off. Don’t spread alcohol smell here like you’re going to vomit.”

Fortunately, Elias listened to Leo well.

Before 8 o’clock, we got off the carriage and bought street food in Munich.

“Here, this is Luka’s!”

Elias handed me a sausage and loudly unscrewed the hip flask lid with one hand. He repeated eating a sausage and drinking alcohol alternately. I let out a hollow laugh and asked.

“Did we come here to do this? There’s 3 hours left?”

“Yeah.”

“Then what do we do?”

Narce asked.

There’s nothing particular to do, but it feels like we have to do something productive even in this moment.

Anyway, since this was Bavaria, Leo had to keep the robe hood deeply pulled down and slightly hunch his body. Of course, it didn’t seem particularly hard as if it was daily life, and rather, he looked happy to be with us.

Elias, who had inhaled three skewers of sausages in 5 minutes, patted Leo’s back and said.

“What useless effort. Even covering your face, your height is so tall it’s conspicuous. You don’t think you’re really fooling anyone, right? Your people all know it’s you but pretend not to.”

“…….”

“Really kind. Well, since Your Highness the Crown Prince is trying so desperately….”

Leo’s mouth visible under the robe hardened. Elias dodged Leo’s fist and bounced away. Taking this chance, I asked something I’d been curious about usually.

“How tall are you?”

At my question, Leo said in a slightly curt voice quietly.

“Won’t tell.”

“You can’t ask him height~ He even takes medicine to not grow taller.”

Elias, who had run far away, whispered while hiding behind me.

To that extent? That thought flashed, but I recalled he was Wittelsbach and understood.

Even his ‘old human’ direct ancestors exceeded 190cm.

As far as I remember, the average height for 21st-century German men was about 180cm. Since it’s among the taller in the world, 190cm might not seem that unusual in this country. But considering the era, it’s extremely unusual.

That tall gene seems completely fixed in the post-magic era. While Hohenzollerns over 30 were around 185cm to 190cm, Wittelsbachs were taller.

The king was also on the tall side; considering the eye level difference with me was over half a span, he seemed close to 2m. I don’t know if the king suppressed growth, but since he’s a new human, the risk is definitely high, so if Leo doesn’t suppress growth, he might really exceed 2m someday. I don’t want to be 2m either, but most people probably don’t.

‘Especially with Leo’s personality….’

If it weren’t for his personality that loves averages and standards, it would be different. Still, few would want to grow to 2m.

“Cheer up.”

“If you’re going to say that, take the height and say it.”

He really hates it.

Yeah, I know how tiring it is to get attention for unwanted elements. I patted his back and followed Elias’s path.

It wasn’t a very good choice. Throughout following him, I had to block Elias’s crazy antics.

‘I thought how to spend 3 hours.’

No need to worry.

He chugged two glasses of beer at Löwenbräu restaurant and headed to Hofbräu. There, he drank beer, tore into meat, and suddenly charged toward St. Peter’s Church. I wasted 30 minutes grabbing Elias who was about to knock on the church door. I threw him on the square ground and lay down next to him too, saying.

“Are you joking?”

“Huhahahaha….”

“Time to laugh? How did you think of going up St. Peter’s Church observation deck at this hour? Joking? They’re having mass inside.”

“Drinking and going up there is proper. Legs hurt, but the Munich view from there in a tipsy state is really pretty. Last time I chugged a mug of Löwenbräu and dragged Leo there, it was the best.”

What’s your nationality?

More than that, going to church drunk? My vision blacks out. And this guy’s Protestant, right?

“Mind your manners…. This is a Catholic church.”

“The biggest priest allowed it before! If I promise not to drink inside and not show I’m drunk, it’s okay. And I have common sense too! I always say I’m not drunk!”

What’s okay? I get he’s generous, but that priest is no easy person either. Maybe a clerical version of Elias.

I decided to give up on my brain. Instead, I needed to ask about humans who could be expected to have some common sense outside of magic.

“But Leo went along with that? What does that mean.”

“I dragged him. Before that, I fed him a whiskey bottle in an hour, so he couldn’t think straight. That was probably Leo’s first whiskey.”

“Good job….”

Must be from Second Academy days.

Only possible back then. Leo wouldn’t go along after getting burned once.

I sat next to Elias, conscious of Bavarian citizens passing the square glancing at us. Whether I did or not, Elias placed both hands on his heart, lay like a dead person, and muttered.

“Löwenbräu is always the best alcohol in my heart….”

“You just came back from Hofbräu and now praising Löwenbräu?”

“As long as the brewery president doesn’t hear.”

Worried someone might see, I pulled his robe hood over his face. While pondering how to get this guy up, a familiar voice came.

“Before, you said Bordeaux wine was the best.”

It was Leo’s voice. When I looked up, the carriage we came in and Leo were visible. Elias slightly lifted the hood, confirmed his face, and closed his eyes again.

“That was the ranking by my past self.”

“Why lie down again? Get up, you drunkard. We have to go to the central station.”

“Drunkard? I’m not drunk!”

Though acting like this, he might really not be drunk. Elias lives like this every day even without drinking.

I didn’t need to effort to wake him. Elias sprang up on his own and clapped.

“Ah! When we go to Anhalt, we have to drink Gose! Is there a famous Gose Schänke?”

Gose is salty beer, and Gose Schänke is a tavern that only sells Gose.

Seems he’s saying that because there was a Gose maniac among Anhalt’s past rulers.

“I’m not sure either. To find a famous one, don’t we have to go to Leipzig instead of Anhalt?”

“What?!”

“But there’s a lot of Gose. There’s even a brewery at home, so drink as much as you want.”

“Wow, lucky. Alright~”

Elias said that and pulled my hand to shoulder against mine.

Seeing him do this ceremony, it’s clear this guy’s following to drink.

Then, Elias pouted and looked at the street with the church.

“Ah~ If we’d come at dawn, I could have shown Luka a good sight…. Let’s come together next time.”

I smiled wordlessly.

Since I’d already been in the 21st century, I knew. Munich from there is cool.

Still, it would feel different going with friends here.

“Yeah.”

As soon as I answered, Leo firmly refused.

“No, next time we’re going to Neuschwanstein Castle.”

“What? You didn’t tell me! I want to go too!”

Elias fully stood up and shouted.

It’s not just you; he didn’t tell me either. My schedule I don’t know is packed full.

Already fed up before departure, I left them and boarded the carriage first. Narce was already there. He was feeding Pai sliced baguette. He saw me and the following Leo and Elias, laughed, and said.

“Now let’s go, kids. They said the others arrived at the central station.”

*  *  *

“Lukas!”

Upon arriving at the central station, Ulrike, standing on the platform, dropped her luggage bag on the ground and ran toward me.

“Are you okay?!”

“I’m okay. I woke up fine. I did an interview in the Bavarian Kingdom Newspaper; did you see?”

“Yeah. Seeing your face put my mind a bit at ease. But your medal… wow, cool.”

Fortunately, the conversation topic jumped to the medal. While Ulrike admired my medal, Heike approached hesitantly and just blinked.

“Hi, Heike.”

“Hi.”

No way the intimacy reset while apart…. For me it’s about 2 weeks, but for him it was only three days.

Just in case, I opened the favorability window, but fortunately the value was the same. Heike paused a bit and said.

“Glad you’re healthy.”

“Thanks. Thanks to you all worrying, I could return healthy.”

I smiled and tried to ease Heike’s tension. Heike smiled at my words, but Elias, watching from behind, whispered lowly.

“Luka knows how to say things like that…. He doesn’t say to me; it’s weird? Ah… not this?”

“…….”

What to do….

Right then, the train arrival alert sounded. The station attendant raised his hand. As he cast reverse soundproofing magic, the train entered the platform at terrifying speed.

Deudeudeuk—….

Even with soundproofing magic, the vibration came to the ground.

Soon the train stopped, and the attendant signaled with various hand signs to communicate with the one at the far end. It didn’t take long to board.

We’d reserved the dining car and sleeping car, but since we’d already substituted with sausages for dinner, we had no thought to eat more. First, we divided into the first-class compartment cars.

I entered the compartment farthest from the door and said.

“Kids. From now on, don’t look for me.”

“Huh?! I brought a 7-player board game!”

“Let’s do it in Anhalt. Sorry.”

Kwang—!

I closed the sliding glass door.

Through the door crack, Ulrike’s flustered voice came. Really sorry, but I couldn’t respond more….

Is it normal to tire before starting? It’s all because of Elias.

For now, I threw my luggage somewhere and sat on the chair. The hip flask Elias stuffed in my pocket was helpful at times like this. I woke my mind a bit with whiskey and opened the book I’d brought.

Kung—

[Ugh!]

[Hey, wake up!]

“…….”

Judging by the sound of someone falling in the next compartment, if I’d gone there, I’d definitely have to deal with commotion again.

Almost lying down and leisurely reading the book, I felt the train slowly departing. Tomorrow dawn, we’d arrive in Dessau.

“…….”

Returning to Anhalt again.

Anhalt while returning in this state. My mood was extremely peculiar.

What would be different from the January visit this time. It could be the start of getting swept into a bigger political whirlpool, or one step toward stability. Anyway, whether I want or not, time flows and public opinion changes.

Knock knock— Kkiiik—

I had no time to continue thoughts further.

Leo opened my room door and entered with a fed-up face.

—————–

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