Release That Succubus



The man had been pouring in wine into his system without a break and he had yet to go the bathroom to relieve himself. Zach could only wonder about the size of that man's stomach. 

Even Andy and Bruce had to excuse themselves at least once during the session, but the man looked extremely comfortable as if this much wasn't enough to faze him.

Zach wasn't a heavy drinker to begin with. The large amount of wine only brought him more trouble. His system was unable to take it and he ended up drunk; dead drunk to the point that he didn't remember anything the moment he woke up with a nasty headache and grogginess that could confuse the most sober person.

He tried to recall what had happened the last night at the end of the meal but all he could remember was him drinking toast after toast due to that military commander with a beer belly who refused to listen to him. In addition to that, he remembered puking his guts out; not once but on several occasions and in several different locations.

Based on that, he could establish that he had puked his way home after the drinking session. But no matter how much he nudged his mental faculties he was unable to recall the most important event. He was unable to remember anything about his discussion with the military leader about Luke's release.

Since he was in his room, he had probably been carried here by someone; maybe Bruce or Andy. Both of them seemed to have quite the capacity for drinking as well. He must have been the first to kick the bucket.

Zach opened his eyes after a lot of effort and grunting as he tried to overcome the hangover from last night. The moment he did, he noticed Diana dozing off next to him in an unladylike manner. Her mouth was open, and her saliva was flowing out of her open mouth. She had to be quite tired to sleep in such a state.

The creaking of the bed when he tried to get up roused the sleeping Diana as well who hurriedly wiped her mouth with her sleeves and acted as if she had nothing to be embarrassed about. She believed that Zach must not have noticed her shameful condition based on how hungover he was.

"What are you doing?" asked Diana a little groggily but her eyes were clear of any sleep. Unlike Zach, she was not hungover, and that little bit of sleep had refreshed her already.

"Just getting myself a glass of water. My throat feels like it is filled with sand and my mouth is burning and this headache just wouldn't go away." grunted Zach as he tried to squeeze his head between his hands in order to reduce the pain.

"Just lie down. You are still hungover from last night. You shouldn't get out of bed so soon. You might end up hurting yourself."

"All right. Can you please get me one then?"

"Wait a minute." Diana hurried over to the round glass table towards the foot of the bed and poured a glass of water from the crystalline jug that was full to the brim.

She handed over the glass to Zach and watched him drink it to the bottom before asking, "Do you want some more?" 

"Yes please."

Diana poured him another one to quench his thirst. Moreover, those dealing with hangovers needed to drink more water to appease their stomach.

"Do you know what happened with that Colonel last night after I passed out?" 

Zach believed that Diana would have come to know about it from her brother. Even if he had no intention of telling her, knowing Diana, she would have pestered him until he did. 

As expected, Diana began to narrate the events that followed his passing out on the night before.

"After you passed out from all that drinking, the Colonel agreed to our request in return for a favor in the future whenever he would be in the need for one. All your drinking brought out some benefit at least. My brother told me that you were a lightweight. How come you can't even drink when you are so outstanding in everything else?"

The last question was rhetorical in nature and there was no right answer to it anyway. Therefore, Zach ignored her ramblings and focused on the core idea of her revelation. It seemed that they had succeeded somehow. Must have been the work of Bruce and Andy.

"I must thank them later for their efforts." thought Zach in his head or at least he tried to, but the soul tingling headache kept him from thinking anything else.

Even though Zach tried to jolt his brain awake, he couldn't recall the conversation where Ronaldo specifically agreed to release Luke. Zach believed that if he were there to witness such a conversation, he might have some recollection of such an important event.

But he couldn't blame anyone else for it. He had brought it on himself by drinking so much. Maybe he had forgotten about the conversation as well like he had about so many other things. The headache itself was like a fence keeping him from accessing certain parts of his brain.

"I don't think I remember anything like that. I should at least have some recollection of it if the negotiations had succeeded." muttered Zach to himself but Diana overheard his confusion and answered his queries.

"Don't worry, it's not that you have forgotten. It's that he never said it out loud."

"What do you mean by he never said it out loud? Then how do you know that he agreed to help Luke even though he didn't say a single thing? Did we just assume that he agreed to our proposal?" 

Zach was puzzled. He could not for the life of him understand the unwritten rules of this world. Even though he had tried to meld in as much as he could, he found himself stumped at the smallest of problems that were akin to common sense in the eyes of the general populace.

"Well, you might not have understood the underlying conversation given how much you abhor politics and your lack of knowledge in the field. There is an unspoken rule that all those asking for unlawful favors have to adhere to even if they are sure of never getting caught."

"What's that?" Zach was intrigued thinking that he had stumbled upon another of those things he didn't understand due to the differences in the culture of both the worlds.

"There are so many ways of the information being leaked due to the possibilities of magic. There are countless sensory mages, not to mention magical artifacts straight out of antiquity that are even more of a threat to the reputation of the higher ups. As a result of several mistakes, they have come to adopt an interaction mechanism where they don't leave any proof that can be used to incriminate them later on. The Colonel was probably used to such clandestine arrangements and used the same method to conclude the deal with us without saying anything. In fact, this is not very rare here. Most of the political favors are granted in such a manner."

Diana smiled smugly as she took in the image of the befuddled Zach. She almost never had the opportunity to see him in such a state. Usually, he was such a know it all or beyond common sense where his knowledge seemed to be beyond the bounds of the world, just like the gadgets he made. They not only didn't use any magic but were also strong enough to take on strong mages by themselves. Even the weakest of soldiers in their family were capable of fighting on equal grounds with mages with Zach's help.

Diana gazed at his face a little longer before she noticed the odd look in his eyes. He seemed to be appraising her as if trying to ascertain what was different about her. There was no way for Diana to be very much different from him in terms of general understanding of the political world. She had spent a lot of time out of her family due to the troubles at home and Bruce had always tried his best to keep her out of that world. 

Therefore, her knowledge in the field wasn't much higher than his own. So, Zach couldn't help but contemplate how she knew so much.

Diana blushed profusely but didn't avoid making eye contact with him as if unafraid of his penetrating gaze. 

She returned the stare but hers was the gaze of the goat suffering from Stockholm syndrome after being nabbed by the lion as its dinner.

Seeing that look, Zach didn't bother asking. He had already figured out the answer to that question at least.

"I don't understand. Even if he wanted to convey his acceptance, he could have probably nodded to show it. Instead, he pulled off the whole fiasco about the drinking party and made me suffer through this excruciating hangover just so he could make a point?"

No matter how he thought about it, the whole deal seemed very brainlessly construed to him. In his opinion, even a common teenager could have come up with a better idea.

Diana shook her head to indicate that he still didn't understand.

"In fact, the whole meal was a test. No matter what your current position is, it is a fact that you are new to the circle and your credibility hasn't been established in this circle."