I Want To Die One Day Before You - Chapter 64
“Ah, I really want a drink.”
Iruel muttered as he lay on his side, propping his chin up.
“Just for one day, I want to live a reckless life drenched in alcohol… I used to drink booze like water, and now suddenly having to drink water like water is driving me crazy.”
“In these times when demons could attack any moment, you’re seriously thinking about alcohol?”
Other squad members chided Iruel.
“Why not? Wasn’t the prince soaking in alcohol just yesterday? Why can’t I drink?”
Iruel grumbled, casting a sidelong glance at the squad members.
“What? The prince drank again yesterday?”
“Yeah, I was so fed up that I secretly stole a bottle rolling around last night. Want to see?”
Iruel rummaged through his belongings and then triumphantly pulled out an empty bottle.
The squad members’ jaws dropped as if they’d lost their hinges.
“Man, why did you steal that!”
“It’s already empty, what’s the harm? Hey, you guys, smell this. It’s absolutely amazing.”
Iruel offered the mouth of the bottle to his squad mates.
After a moment’s hesitation, the squad members sniffed the scent emanating from the bottle. A chorus of admiration followed.
“It must be really high-quality alcohol. It has a somewhat bitter aroma, but it’s extraordinary.”
“Turn the bottle upside down. Let’s taste even the last few drops.”
“Yeah, let’s wet our lips with some alcohol.”
Several squad members lunged toward the bottle simultaneously. Watching them, Iruel shook his head in disbelief.
“Stop it. I’ve been licking it all day hoping for a drop left, but nothing came out.”
“What, you’ve been licking this? Ah, that’s disgusting!”
Startled, the squad members screamed and threw the bottle away. Other squad members watching the scene burst into laughter.
“Meanwhile, our battalion commander, the prince, is always guzzling alcohol, and there’s no sign of demons… Why is it so unsettling?”
Lying back down with the bottle as his pillow, Iruel mumbled.
His words reignited the simmering dissatisfaction among the squad members once again.
“What kind of battalion commander drinks alcohol? When are we ever going to get home at this rate?”
“And we still don’t even know where the demons are. What’s going on?”
“Do they even intend to fight the demons at all?”
Once voiced, the complaints seemed to have no end. The twenty squad members began to regurgitate their long-standing grievances. Soon, the tent became uncontrollably noisy.
“What’s the matter?”
Someone pulled open the tent flap from outside.
“L, Lieutenant Rufus!”
At Lieutenant Rufus’s arrival, the squad members quickly scrambled to their feet.
“The noise is audible from outside. What’s all the commotion about?”
“Ah, it’s nothing, sir.”
“Is that so? Then why are you lying down, Iruel?”
Rufus glanced over at Iruel, who was lying alone on the ground.
“It, it’s just because my back hurts, haha! I have a chronic condition!”
Iruel, frozen in an awkward pose, greeted Rufus with a smile. He began to slowly back away while hiding the bottle behind him.
“Wait a moment.”
Rufus strode toward Iruel.
“What’s that behind your back?”
“Me? What do you mean? I don’t quite understand what you’re implying, Lieutenant—”
“Get up.”
“Oh, such a harsh command for a poor invalid with a sore back.”
Iruel struggled to hide the bottle desperately. But hiding it from Rufus, who was now right in front of him, was impossible.
“Have you been drinking?”
Rufus’s expression hardened upon seeing the bottle.
“What are you thinking? Drinking alcohol in the unit!”
“Lieutenant, we didn’t drink it!”
The squad members quickly tried to clarify.
“What? Then where did this bottle come from?”
“Iruel picked it up after the prince discarded it. We haven’t taken a single sip.”
“Why would you have something His Highness drank?”
At that question, the squad members glanced at each other and then slowly turned their heads towards Iruel.
Staggering to his feet, Iruel scratched the back of his head.
“I picked it up.”
“Picked it up?”
“Damn it, exactly that! I just wanted to smell the alcohol, so I picked up a bottle the prince discarded after drinking! I’m terribly sorry!”
