Reminiscence of the Unfinished Wine - Chapter 8
🍷 September seasonal permanent event; banner characters Shylock, Murr, Bradley; 2022/09/11 - 2022/09/19 JST 🍷
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I was sure that Bacchus, too, understood what Shylock was saying. Bacchus's voice and expression only continued to brighten as he sold his wine.
Bacchus: Thank you! See you soon!
After some time, the crowd began to settle down. An elderly guest with thick glasses walked up to the shop.
Guest: I heard that Bacchus himself is here… Oh, you must be him.
Shylock: Unfortunately, I am not. Bacchus is this gentleman over here.
Surprised at Mr. Bacchus's youthful appearance, the guest's eyes widened behind the lenses of their glasses.
Nero: Hah, I'd be surprised too. That guy is actually way older than me.
Guest: Wow… Even long before my grandfather was born, Bacchus was making wine here!
Faust: He was probably making wine before your great-great-great-grandfather was born.
Bacchus: Well, can I get something for you?
Guest: No, I just wanted to offer you my gratitude.
Bacchus: Gratitude?
Guest: My family has been enjoying Bacchus wine for generations. I have looked forward to it year after year.
Guest: It's a shame that there is no new wine this year, but I look forward to tasting the next one. Hopefully, I'll be sharing it with my children and great-grandchildren.
Guest: Your wine is one of the greatest pleasures of my lifetime. Thank you for continuing your work for so long.
As he spoke, the guest reached out for a handshake.
Mr. Bacchus gratefully grasped the guest's wrinkled hand, squeezing it like a lifeline.
Bacchus: …Thank you so much.
With that, the harvest festival came to an end.
And, naturally, the results of the wine-selling competition were tabulated…
Bradley: 60, 61…
Shylock: 59, 60…
The empty wine crates were counted, and compared with the sales records from the day. Together, they formed a final count of each booth's sales.
Shylock: …How satisfying. We sold exactly 400 bottles.
Rutile & Arthur: … …
Faust & Nero: … …
Bradley: …398.
Bacchus: …We won!!
Rutile & Arthur & Akira: Hooray!!
The sales at both booths had been steady, and it was an intense competition. However, in the end, it seemed there was a surge in sales, allowing Shylock to pull ahead by a slim margin.
The wizards on Shylock's team each let out sounds of joy and relief.
Faust: Whew…
Nero: Man, that had me on the edge of my seat.
Akira: Shylock, congratulations!
Shylock: Thank you. But I really owe this victory to Bacchus, for providing his marvelous wines.
Shylock: And above all else, I offer my greatest thanks to you all for your cooperation. Even Sir Oz performed his role as salesperson most elegantly.
Arthur: Lord Oz. Your customer service was definitely wonderful!
Oz: …
Akira: (That was definitely a unique sight… Oz taking payment kind of felt more like a shakedown…)
Shylock: And you two? You have no complaints about this, I trust?
Bradley: Hah. If it can't beat out Bacchus's wine, there's no point in even havin' the field. I'll hand it over.
Bradley: But the profits from this li'l game are still all mine.
Nero: Yer pretty shrewd, even though ya lost.
Bradley: Cost a' labor, naturally.
Murr: I've gotten enough data from my research on Calamity Wine. I'm washing my hands of the fields!
Murr: And besides, it was super fun to see Shylock get all serious about winning!
Murr: How about it, Shylock? Didja have fun, too?
Shylock: Hmm. I think I'll leave that to your imagination.
Akira: (Well, it seems like he enjoyed himself…)
The tension from earlier had completely melted away. In its place, a feeling of relief and pleasant fatigue washed over us.
Looking like a weight was lifted off his shoulders, Mr. Bacchus walked up to Shylock.
Bacchus: …Shylock. You saved me today. I can't thank you enough.
Bacchus: But… did you really have to go that far? Even though you wanted to win, you didn't have to give up such a valuable wine collection for a game…
Shylock: Because to me, it was a very serious competition. I gave it everything I had. That's all there is to it.
Shylock: And I knew you would have a change of heart, because I know you.
Shylock: Truly, thank you for your help today.
Bacchus: Shylock…
Shylock: Now that we have braved the storm, let us celebrate the newfound sunshine.
Shylock produced a bottle of wine, twisting the cork out with a well-trained hand.
Bacchus: Hey, that's Bennett wine…
Shylock: Indeed - the very wine that you protected. If you don't mind, I would like to share a drink with you.
Bacchus: …
Bacchus chewed at his lip, glancing hesitantly between Shylock and the offered glass of wine.
The deep red wine swirling in the glass matched the color of Shylock's eyes. Bennett's legacy, the history of its rise and fall, was crafted into this drink.
Bacchus: …Of course I'll drink it. Thank you.
Mr. Bacchus accepted the glass of wine. Expertly, he turned the glass in his hand, appreciated the aroma, and then took a sip.
Then, after he swallowed quietly, a sob escaped his drawn lips. His face crumpled, and he started to cry.
Bacchus: …Uu…. It's delicious…
Bacchus: It's the most delicious, and the most frustrating…! This is the impeccable flavor that haunts me, that I want to surpass more than anything…!
He groaned to himself, tears streaking down his cheeks. His voice wavered, nearly breaking from the pain and passion contained within his words.
Words of love, seeping out like blood from a beaten heart.
Shylock looked at him softly, his dark eyelashes lowering.
Shylock: …It's good to hear you say that.
Murr: Hey, Brad - from the moment you drank the Calamity wine that first time, you must have known it was a losing fight, right?
Murr: If you're a true connoisseur, I doubt you would have put so much faith into an inadequate wine. You could probably taste that the wine wouldn't hold up.
Bradley: There's no foolin' ya, huh?
Bradley: Yeah, it was no real Bacchus wine. 'S a shame there's no real batch this year, I've got a real hankerin' now.
Bradley: But at least we made that poor bastard quit his snivelin'. His cowardly face was so infuriating, I wanted to slap that look right off'a him.
Murr: I see! Even though you lost, you're still taking it as a victory!
Murr: Well, I for one loved the Calamity Wine! Especially the name!
The day after the harvest festival competition. We once again visited Bacchus's vineyards.
Rutile: The vineyards have safely been returned to M. Bacchus's care. They're his again, but…
Nero: There's still the issue of the mutant crops.
Bacchus: I tried destroying the Calamity vines and replacing them with my own crops several times, but they came back in full force each time. If this keeps up, I won't be able to make my own wine.
Bacchus: Since you all went to such lengths to get my field back, I'm hesitant to beg for another favor, but…
Bacchus: I would like to make a formal request of you, Sage's Wizards. Please, do something to fix my fields.
Arthur: Of course. In order to truly return the fields to your control, I'll give it my all.
Faust: In order to purge the Calamity's influence, we'll need to ascertain the extent of the abnormalities. Before we can do anything, we'll have to do some research, and look at…
Murr: Ooh! I did my research! I was super careful, and looked over every last leaf of the vineyard!
Bradley: This guy, seriously. He was fully skippin' meals to investigate it.
Shylock: Well then, Murr. Did your investigations yield any insight?
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Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 - Chapter 10
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Hello! My name is Aria! Am 24 years old >:3
I also recently found out that I'm a system! So far I have 6 headmates so I can put their names on my intro post too! There's:
Alerik (I mainly refer to them as Aly). He uses any pronouns! He's also been with me the longest! Ever since I was little apparently :o
Vita. They/It pronouns for it!
Elegy (Elle is her nickname we sometimes use!). She/They/It pronouns for her!
Galahad (Gonna give em the Gala nickname!). He/They pronouns!
Albireo (My nickname for em is Swan! Vita's nickname for em is Almond though!). They use any pronouns :3
Luca. He/him pronouns!
Cerulean (Giving her the nickname Cers!) It uses any pronouns!
Any pronouns okay for me! I don't mind really! I use she/her for myself :3
Am writer! Aria0fGold in ao3 too! And I'm also a beginner artist :D My brain rotates between the many interests that I have so! I'll list out the ones I talk bout the most but for now have the:
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List of My OMORI AUs
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And to the list of my interests that you'll see me talking about a lot in here!
Mahoutsukai no Yakusoku (mahoyaku/mhyk) / Promise of Wizard - My favourite characters in it are Cain Knightley (<-the one that got me into it) and Owen! (<- love him by extension of being a Cain fan). I especially love their caiowe ship too!
In Stars and Time - New interest! Yippee!!! Got into isat and will never get out. I love this game so much. It is everything to me.
OMORI - The hyperfixation that prompted this blog creation. Although I'm not hyperfixated on it anymore, it still holds a special place in my heart.
Persona 5, and by extension, Magic Kaito - Now... They're two different medias... But well you see-- I am a Joker (from p5) and Kaito (from magic kaito) shipper, the captain of it, if you will. So most of the time I talk bout p5 I also end up talking bout magic kaito (mainly just Kaito though).
My OCs!!! - I love my OCs a lot and I talk bout them a lot and I think about them a lot and I--
I also talk about my other interests too from time to time but those ↑ are the ones you'll see me talking about the most! Along with some random things from me cuz I can be quite talkative!
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Here's a list of some of the tags I use the most!
aria rants - for when I talk about nearly anything!
aria rbs - for when I reblog things! (aria srb for self-reblogs)
arianswer - for when I answer asks!
ariart - for my art! :D
ariawrites - for my writing! >:3 (this is also accompanied by the media tag of what I wrote about)
ariau - for my AUs! So far have used it for my OMORI AUs though.
ariaoc - for my OCs!!! (this is also accompanied by ariaoc: [oc name here])
ariaplays: [name of game here] - for the rare occurrences of me liveblogging some of my reactions to a game! (I've used it for aitsf and isat in which case the tag becomes, ariaplays: aitsf and ariaplays: isat)
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And lastly! A little more stuff about me!
I LOVE CAIN KNIGHTLEY! I LOVE OWEN! I LOVE CAIOWE!!!
Ahem, anyway... I!... I.......! I don't know what to put here actually... I like! Pink. Have you noticed that? I like! Mili. Their songs are always soooo good at beaming the exact emotion it conveys straight to your brain. I like! Many things... Well... I said I was talkative but I didn't quite say that my thoughts are coherent... I tend to keysmash a lot! It's the best way I can convey whatever thought and emotion I have about anything.
Anyway, anyway! Feel free to send me asks :D It can be about anything really! And feel free to tag me! Or send dms! I like interacting with people but I tend to be a bit awkward with it... Am shy! And anxious! But if you're a mutual then well... I'm a little less shy and anxious! More comfy! I love my mutuals <3
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Hello my leedle omega I am here for ze match ups. I think it’ll be interesting considering I know close to nothing about mhyk 🧐 gimme someone to zoom in on
How to describe oneself uhmmmm okay I’m like. Super relaxed and down to earth, and also somewhat shy?? I’m also really paranoid and anxious about literally everything, and I’m easily overwhelmed flex emoji anyway I’m super short (if that means anything), I’m super physically affectionate with my friends, and I’m often regarded as “the mature one” flex emoji eggplant emoji anyway I lauvyou I hope you get to like one million one day teehee
i match you with . . . nero turner !
i think your relaxed personality would immediately click nero's personality. common traits between you both will make it easier to relate to each other in times that the both of you do get to indulge each other in conversations.
your down-to-earth nature is something that nero will appreciate; and as long as wizards like him will outlive eons, he will continue to enjoy every minute he spends with you.
as a chef, he takes pride in serving only the best — and by that, he remembers everyone's favorites. including yours. in times of struggle, and in moments where you don't feel okay, why don't you stop by the kitchen? he'll whip up your favorite to cheer you up.
"so what d'ya want for lunch today?" said nero, who seemed to have slipped in right at your side after your small little talk with the twins about later's assignment.
"oh, does the souls of the wicked and the hearts of evil count as lunch?"
"ha-ha, very funny. the usual? i can make your favorite."
i think most of your meetings would definitely be in the dining area; in which everyone else leaves and the both of you are left to converse and help each other clean up or eat leftovers, whichever of the two.
the rest of the east country could immediately tell about his little crush on you. although he denies it, nero still tries to stop shino from telling you himself.
nero prepares little snacks for you from time to time and personally delivers it to your room in the manor — it's just leftovers, he claims, but his smile that comes up on his face when you open the door says otherwise.
the lingering smiles and the laughter that roamed inside your room was a telltale sign of his heart opening up, little by little, until the moon would pull the words from his mouth — or at least, the next mealtime.
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