Greed and Despond (Ban x Sin!Reader)

19

Once we got to the festival, we investigated the area a little bit. There was an absurd amount of people, so carrying around the six barrels of ale I had brought proved difficult. Ban took two and King and Meli each took one to help out.

We asked around, seeing if a collection of pedestrians and various merchants knew where we could find, what I'm still assuming to be, Diane's sacred treasure. After we asked about twenty people, an old drunk guy told us the fighting festival was where the 'weapon nobody could use' was. It was being used as a reward for winning the festival.

We travelled up to the large boulder where the festival was being held, and, sure enough, Gideon, Diane's sacred treasure, was embedded in the side of the boulder.

Now to current time, I had just finished setting up my 'booth.' The six barrels were stacked up in a pyramid, each one having a nozzle for the ale. There was a small table (that I totally didn't steal) set up in front of the pyramid, as well as two ale cups. One for me, the other for whoever my competitor was.

The deal was, whoever couldn't stand up straight after the amount of ale the both of us have drank lost. It was a pretty standard drinking competition rule. You fill your cup up to the top, drink it, last one standing normal wins.

"STEP RIGHT UP!" I boomed from the back of the festival, catching the eyes of several men in the crowd. "TEN SILVER COINS IS THE BET THAT YOU CAN'T BEAT ME IN A DRINKING COMPETITION!"

I grinned, having my outstretched thumb in the direction of my chest. "BEAT ME AND YOU GET DOUBLE, BUT LOSE AND I GET YOUR MONEY AND THE NEXT COMPETITOR MAY WIN IT!"

Several older men chuckled to themselves and began making their way over. I smirked as the first man approached, pulling out the promised ten silver coins and setting them on the table.

"So, sweetheart," he grinned, "You think you can beat an experienced drinker like me?"

"Depends," I smirked. "You got the coins?"

He tossed ten silver coins on the table in the same place I tossed mine. I grabbed the ale cup in front of me, and he grabbed his. I turned to the small crowd that had gathered around my area.

"Anyone want to be our ref?"

A woman stepped forward, dressed in a nice crimson dress with a face caked in makeup. She winked at me, mouthing 'you better win' and smiled.

"Fill your cups and I'll tell you when to start drinking," she grinned, her annoyingly high pitched voice ringing through our ears. We filled out cups to the brim and she yelled, "Start!"

I gulped down the first one without a problem, just as he did. As I filled my second glass, I glanced at the fighting ring, where the priliminary rounds had begun. People were flying out of the ring, going every which way. I smiled to myself, seeing Ban and Meli standing next to each other as they knocked people out of the ring. I snorted lightly, seeing King floating in between them, looking extremely uncomfortable.

I downed the second glass without a hitch, yet he was starting to look a bit tipsy. He must not be used to the high alcohol content of Bernia Ale. Experienced drinker, eh?

By the fourth glass he was out and I had twenty silver coins. The next man stepped up, a fatass with an overgrown ginger beard. His eyes were a piercing green and he stared at me dangerously. He tossed his ten coins on the table and we began drinking, our referee, who's name was Synthia, I learned, signaling our start.

He lost as well, only around eight cups in. I was used to drinking a lot. Not only did I spend 99% of my time in bars before meeting up with the Sins again, but one of our main celebrations was drinking. We normally were twenty pints in at this point, and that's around when I'd start to feel somewhat tipsy.