Chapter 248: So, Is "Truth After Drinking" Actually True?
"U-u-u-unbelievable! Contestant Luke Ashburn actually didn't even draw his sword, and defeated Contestant Momotani using only his fists!"
"And it was a one-hit kill!"
Seeing Luke resolve the battle so cleanly, the student in charge of hosting immediately shouted loudly.
"Oh~ We just received the latest news, the freshmen ranked second and third, Contestant Stella Vermillion and Contestant Kurogane Shizuku, have also achieved victory!"
"Terrifying! This year's freshmen are simply too strong!"
"Our school might just finally seize the championship throne of the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival this year!"
...
The first matches of Luke and the others all ended in victory without exception.
Even Ikki, who fell into a bitter struggle in the original work, ended the battle uninjured.
His opponent was the same as in the original work, but he himself was completely different from the original work.
After sparring with Luke during their time together, under the baptism of that immense pressure and the fighting intent and aura exuded by Luke after entering a battle state, Ikki would no longer be nervous over such a small scene.
Shedding his nervousness, he directly finished off his opponent with a single slash the moment the match started, completing his first victory exceptionally easily.
To celebrate all the members in their small group getting their first victories, Luke and the others decided to hold a small celebration party.
Taking into consideration that a certain two people might turn the celebration party into a competitive eating contest, they set the time of the party to after dinner.
Under Shizuku's suggestion and Arisuin's recommendation, the group ultimately decided to go to a bar for this celebration party.
"...I'm a little nervous."
Shizuku stood in front of their destination, a commercial building, her tone very stiff.
Having the exact same reaction as her were Stella and Ikki.
"W-wasn't it you, Shizuku, who proposed the suggestion, 'We are already adults, I want to go somewhere with good alcohol'?"
"Why are you still nervous..."
Stella beside her was also very nervous, but this didn't prevent her from retorting against her brother-obsessed friend, the one who came up with the idea.
Whether it was Stella or Shizuku, coming from extraordinary backgrounds, they had never come into contact with this kind of establishment.
On this point, Ikki, who had always been completely absorbed in training, was the same.
"A proposal is just a proposal, I haven't been to this kind of place before so of course I would be nervous."
Facing Stella's retort, Shizuku also countered without hesitation.
"And didn't you agree as well? Please do not shift all the responsibility onto me."
The two girls thus used this method of retorting against each other to alleviate the nervousness in their hearts.
Luke looked at the nervous girls, then looked at Ikki who was constantly looking around and was also somewhat nervous, and then said in a gloating tone:
"Hehe, just who were the people who immediately passed a unanimous decision to come to a bar the moment they heard I wasn't very good at drinking?"
"It's too late to regret it now."
Just now, when they were discussing where to go for the celebration party, the moment Shizuku proposed going to a bar, Luke immediately stated that he basically didn't drink alcohol.
However, before he could state his reason, Stella and the other three, upon misunderstanding that Luke 'wasn't good at drinking', enthusiastically and forcibly passed the proposal with a unanimous vote.
All along, the feeling Luke gave them was that he was far too omnipotent.
Now that they had finally discovered something resembling a weakness, even Ikki and Arisuin cast a vote of agreement without any hesitation.
Not to mention, the phrase 'truth after drinking' was something even people who didn't drink alcohol had heard of.
Compared to Stella, whose almost all information could be looked up on the internet, the story behind Luke, a relatively mysterious exchange student, made them feel even more curious.
Especially earlier when they were at the shopping center, after everyone learned of his 'tragic background', this curiosity became even more stronger.
But no matter what, it was someone else's sad affair, so asking directly was something even Arisuin found a bit hard to bring up.
But it would be different after drinking alcohol; maybe Luke would just spill it out himself.
"Ugh..."
Being mocked by him, Stella glared at the boy with some indignation.
"You've never drunk alcohol before either?!"
"Why aren't you nervous... You must be pretending not to be nervous, actually you're just like us, right!"
"That is completely just the result of your own imaginations, right."
Luke smiled at Stella and then said.
"My exact words were 'basically don't drink'."
"I never said anything like 'not good at drinking' or 'never drank before'."
"Eh?!" x4
"What are you acting surprised about...?"
Luke glanced at Arisuin, who was joining in the fuss with Stella and the other two.
It was possible that Stella and the others misunderstood, but Arisuin alone could not possibly have.
He was just joining in on the jeering, that was all.
"Ara, I've been exposed~" Arisuin, whose cover was blown by Luke, chuckled softly, and then explained to Stella and the others.
"You guys don't need to be so nervous, I wouldn't take you to a host club anyway, so rest assured~"
The group thus chatted as they headed to the top floor of this commercial building.
The lighting inside the bar was slightly dim, and the establishment was lined with tables, chairs, and furniture in warm tones.
Soft and gentle jazz music echoed melodiously in every corner of the shop.
The decor style of the entire bar gave off an almost old-fashioned Western retro vibe, but it had to be said that this quiet and elegant atmosphere made people feel very comfortable.
Whether it was for people like Stella, Shizuku, and Ikki who had never been to a bar, or for someone like Luke who rarely went to bars, this place could be considered a very suitable choice.
Although Luke had been to bars, and had even been to several taverns in the dungeon world, it was truly his first time coming to a quiet-style bar like this.
It could be said that Arisuin had put a lot of thought into choosing this place.
The moment the group stepped over the dark blue velvet carpet and walked into the shop, a waiter immediately walked over.
"Mr. Arisuin, welcome."
"Mm, good evening. I would like a seat by the window, preferably close to the bar. Are there any empty seats available?"
"Yes, there are. I will take you there right away."
The waiter first nodded to indicate he had noted down Arisuin's request, and then turned to look at Luke and the others.
"It should be these guests' first time visiting our establishment, right?"
"Excuse me, may I ask if you have brought any identification documents that can prove your age?"
The waiter's attitude was very polite. The main reason he asked this was to avoid the issue of underage drinking.
And Luke and the others had no intention of causing trouble, directly taking out their Hagun Academy student handbooks and handing them over.
As mentioned before, the student handbook could be used to prove identity, and because of the special regulations for Blazers, Luke and the others were now already considered adults.
"So you are Mr. Arisuin's classmates. Alright, there are no problems."
"Please follow me."
After confirming that Luke and the others were already considered adults, the waiter bowed slightly, turned around, and led the group to a seat by the window.