The Response to my Drunken Proposal was Surprisingly Good

Chapter 7-9: Third Princess, Solana (1-3)

✦ Chapter 7 – Third Princess, Solana (1) ✦

"Sure, I'll take one."

In the end, the first words that escaped Barton's mouth were those. It would probably be prudent to naturally sink into the atmosphere and gauge it first.

Soon, Ezekiel handed over a sunweed cigarette, which Barton rolled around in his fingers for quite a while with a look of novelty.

"I didn't think so but this really is a genuine sunweed cigarette. Definitely the real thing."

Barton didn't readily ask for the sunweed just to savor it. He was merely curious if the one Ezekiel was casually smoking was authentic.

Ezekiel exhaled a puff of smoke while looking at Barton, "I have no reason to bother with fakes, do I?"

"Sunweed is the highest grade drug — how did you manage to bring them all the way here? I'm curious about your smuggling methods."

"Well... I just brazenly smoked them on my way here."

"Hah, right. You wouldn't easily divulge trade secrets."

Is he specialized in concealing things?

In any case, it was clear the man across from him was being cautious of Barton to a certain degree; then his outwardly nonchalant demeanor must just be an act as well.

Meanwhile, Ezekiel asked Barton something rather unexpected, "Say, do you know how to cook at all?"

Suddenly changing the subject? Seems rather weak compared to expectations.

"Why do you ask?"

"There are ingredients and cooking utensils on the second floor. Use them if you get hungry."

"Is this your house?"

"It was pretty much like that for me once upon a time."

Compared to him, the man had only arrived a mere half-day earlier — the ludicrously feeble claim of seniority that nearly made him laugh outright.

'No, come to think of it, a sunweed addict couldn't be normal.'

Vivid hallucinations were one of the most common symptoms experienced by sunweed smokers. It meant their ramblings were often incoherent nonsense. Inferring from that, everything now made sense. The man's excessive casualness, his seeming disconnect from rationality.

Ezekiel then gestured with his chin toward the ceiling.

"It's the rule of the Palace of Penance, check it out."

"Rules?"

Barton's gaze followed to the ceiling.

『Announcement to the Palace of Penance』

One, a total of three will be lodging at the Palace of Penance today.

Two, reduce the number to two by tomorrow.

Three, if the above conditions are not met, the Palace of Penance will be destroyed.

"Hmm, quite an interesting set of rules," Muttering so, Barton looked around.

A sunweed addict, and a tense woman wound up tight...a simple but concise conclusion presented itself. The strongest one here was undoubtedly Barton himself.

'I expected formidable opponents, but this isn't bad either!'

There was certainly amusement to be had in tormenting the weak. Perhaps this was the feeling a chef had placing ingredients on the cutting board. He was already giddy imagining how he would harass and defile the hapless pair.