99. Drinking with Aman and Getting to Know the Man

The strategy was decided, and they would need to bring the idea to Julius Northengard. But for now, they needed to drink.  This time, Ethan dragged Aman to one of the three taverns in Northengard.

"Come, drink with me. Since you are my hero party leader, I need to get to know you better." Ethan said.

Aman, the naturally good and honest man, bought the lie. "Alright, alright."

The tavern was rowdy, as it usually was most nights. Filled with soldiers, merchants and civilians, life in these fantasy worlds was not kind to the non-player characters. They worked hard, was paid a pittance, and thankfully, the beers and wines of the tavern were affordable as hell. "Come, give me and my man here the best shit you have." Ethan said, as he placed one of his silver coins on the bar counter.

The innkeeper was a big, fat man. Ethan liked that. He stared at Ethan and Aman, and said. "Never seen you two around. Travelers?"

"This man is the goddamned hero." Ethan said. "Now are you serving us or not?"

The coin vanished. "I sure am, just need to get verification." The innkeeper smiled, and two large mugs of beer slammed right in front of them. They came from barrels.

"You make your own stuff?" Ethan asked.

"Sure do." The innkeeper said.

He took a sip and Aman did the same. Aman clearly was not much of a drinker, since he tried to hold back a choke. The innkeeper quickly gave him a tip.

"Young man, drink slowly. It ain't a competition."

Aman nodded. "Yeah."

Ethan liked beers, though as Edmund's clone, he was naturally more of a Natarian Firebrand kind of man. "Now, my good hero, tell me. Where did you grow up?"

Aman blinked. "Uh, I grew up in a village. The same village as Hannah. It goes by a few names, but I usually call our home just the village. I think most of the merchants call it Redstone, because of the red stones on our ancient walls."

"Ah." Ethan nodded. This part roughly matched up to the details in the games. "So you are childhood friends with Hannah?"

"Yeah. You can say that."

"Then she's not getting chosen as your wife, isn't it?" Ethan poked, but he quickly realized a few of the heroines were so surprised by Ethan's invitation for drinks, that they were hiding around the tavern. Wynn was likely using some magic to eavesdrop on them as well.

"What- what do you mean?" That made Aman blush.

"You two came from the same village. You've fought an entire war together. When it all ends, are you going to pick her as the hero's wife?"

Aman turned really red. "Oh. I- I don't know. I really don't know."

Ethan took a big gulp from the mug, and slung his hand around Aman. "Alright, come, drink. I'm not going to force you to answer if you don't want to."

The hero took a sip, and another. And another. He looked a little flushed, but as the hero, his poison resistance should be fairly high.

"Look, Aman. I know you don't like me here. I'm here as a threat to you, isn't it? All these pretty girls, all to yourself."

Aman shook his head. "No! Nothing like that. I don't mind it at all, actually. I just, it was just a split of a moment reaction."

"Really?" Ethan rubbed his chin, as he wondered whether that was the goddesses' blessing manifesting as some kind of heroic instinct. "Alright, then let me be blunt. Can I have the girls that you don't want?" Ethan feigned being a little drunk. "Are any of them open for me yet?"

Aman blushed. "Hey!"

"Oooh. Come on, there's like, let's see." Ethan pretended to count in front of the hero. "Hannah, Kiara, Raven, Wynn, Sofia, Bianca, Nysta, and yeah. That's seven of them isn't it? Did you hide any goddesses elsewhere?"

The hero shook his head. "Uh... It doesn't feel right to say that. I like all of them."

"Even those you just met like Sofia and Bianca?" Ethan pushed. "Come on, is greed and lust part of the hero's attributes too?"

Aman turned really red, and Ethan knew why. In the game, Aman didn't want to choose, and the hero was a stand-in for this whole setup of players' desire for the girls. The hero, therefore, must have a path with all the girls, unless that was removed by some action in game. So, right now, Aman wants to keep his options open-ended. "I just didn't really think of these things. Not yet. I'd like to kill all the demon lords before I decide."

"Can the girls all wait that long?" Ethan pushed. "You're just stringing them along, making them fight for you with just a hope."

Aman shrunk, and he took a sip of his beer. It looked almost empty. Ethan quickly finished his beer. "Barkeep, another two mugs please."

"Coming right up!" He tossed a silver coin over and two more beers landed right in front of them.

"I don't know." Aman said.

In the game, some of the relationship options are lost throughout the game. This was if the hero made certain choices, or didn't trigger certain events. Not all girls could wait until the end, though if he remembered correctly, Hannah, Wynn and Raven's storylines were available even at the end. "Some of them will wait for you. Some won't. You have to decide who you want to keep." Ethan said. He hoped to push the hero into a decision, because one 'couple' was a lot easier to deal with. The rest of the spurned heroines would be a lot more open to his advances.

Aman asked. "Are there any of them that you like?"

Ethan laughed and lied. "I think they are all really cute, but don't worry. I won't do anything."

"I don't believe that." Aman said.

"Oh?" Ethan looked into the hero's eyes.

"That felt like a lie." Aman repeated.

Ethan laughed. The hero had some kind of lie detection ability. "Well, maybe I do like some of them. It's not every day you encounter beauties of their level."

Aman blinked.

"You're a lucky man."

"I am." Aman said. "I wake up every morning and thank the goddesses for their blessings."

"Have you met them?" Ethan asked. Details were a little hazy, but he recalled in the game that the hero had outworld experiences with the goddesses.

"Yes." Aman said. "They came to me in a dream, and when they appointed me, they even sent avatars to my village. That was how word got out."

"Interesting. Who did you meet?"

Aman seemed to be thinking. "There were ten of them. They were all really pretty."

"Oh. What did they wear?"

"They wore these white robes that were like silk, and they were so loose that I thought I saw parts of their body." Aman blushed like a red tomato.

Ethan suddenly wondered whether Aman may be pining after the goddesses instead. "They sound gorgeous. Do you like them?"

Aman blushed. "They're goddesses."

"Man, I feel bad for the girls now." Ethan laughed. "They can't compete with actual goddesses!"

"Uh." Aman was like a boy who got caught with his hand in the candy jar. "I don't mean it like that. But I mean, the girls, they just have to be what they want to be. I'll still like them."

The clone raised his mug. "I like that statement. Here, drink."

Their two mugs clinked together, and this time they both took a decently big gulp. Aman was opening up.

"Okay, okay. Are your parents alright?"

"Yeah."

"Do you have siblings?"

"I do. I have a younger sibling."

"How are they taking it? That their brother or son is a hero?"

"They are proud."

Ethan nodded. "They know Hannah's parents, right?"

"Yeah."

"Was there some kind of deal to be married to each other, you know, that's how things are done in villages, right?" Ethan knew that in villages, it was fairly common for parents to pre-arrange marriages.

Aman flushed. "I think so. I don't think it applies anymore, though."

"Have you never tried anything with her when you were younger? Maybe a kiss or something?"

Aman turned really beet red. "I don't remember. Maybe there was a kiss somewhere in the past."

"Ooooh!" Ethan nodded. This was useful. "So you did give her your first kiss."

"We were kids!" Aman countered.

"Are you saying it doesn't count? I bet she'll feel hurt if she heard that."

Aman, thankfully, stopped digging a hole. He just looked at his mug of beer, and drank it some more. Ethan only grinned.

"Oh, and you touched Wynn's breasts. Was it soft?"

Aman began to realize Ethan was just asking about girls stuff. "Is this drinking session going to be all about the girls?"

"Our party members are filled with girls." Ethan countered. "Now, if you want to practice swordfighting with me, then we can talk about something else. Alright, alright! Some other day. Now, Aman. I want to know something important."

"Yes?" Aman said.

"Will you kill a friend?"

"No."

"Even if she is evil?"

That made the hero hesitate. "She?"

"Let's assume that one day, one of the heroines turn evil. Turns into a demon. Would you kill her?"

"Not if I can avoid it. I'll try to turn her back, first."

Ethan nodded. "Good."

[ AN : Alright that's it for this batch of edits. I'll be back when I'm back. I'm finishing up one of my main sfw fics soon (in a year or so). If I only have one fic left to manage I'd have more time for other stuff ]