Chapter 160

                                    

                                          

"And you bas... manw... perve..." Drake was struggling, trying all her best to find some relatively decent insult that describes Hector, but the man was so sociable and non-offensive that she couldn't find one that fits. Giving up, she simply slammed her can of beer down on the table with a loud thud and just decided to air out her complaint. "Cheated us!"
"Hey, no need for such harsh words." Hector tried to dismiss Drake's words, though his somewhat languid manner showed that he was not really that serious about it, as he took out a cigarette. "I just thought it was a little joke, and you decided to rip my head off for it... Don't you think that that's a bit over the top of a reaction?"
Drake thought about it for a moment, then glanced at Archer, who was trying to keep a neutral expression. As if he hadn't been involved in all that was going on, hadn't followed Hector around Chaldea. Like he had only recently discovered the ability to blink and change his expression while maintaining his thoughtful, nonchalant facade, and decided to indulge in the novel feeling. As if he wasn't also the one responsible for chasing after Hector. "I don't know, I was drunk, and I was having fun. Everybody was mad and I was mad. Everybody ran after Hector, and so I did as well."
The bastard answered with a shrug, as Archer tried to keep a neutral expression on his face. But the glares of the others, which continued to silently drill the unperturbed Servant, still forced him to sigh, and, after setting aside another can of alcohol, sighed. "I too... I was just drunk, and I chased after Nero."
"I'm not surprised." Another voice, from a person not involved in the kerfuffle, marking him as the fourth Servant here, made Archer focus his attention on the man. Mozart, who preferred not the beer consumed by the other three, but the more sophisticated taste of wine in the glass, added in. "Nero was chased by many in her time."
"Umu!" Came the affirmation from Nero herself, causing Archer to sigh.
The small group of five Servants, whose members usually included Archer, Drake, Cu Chulainn, Hector, and Nero, had grown somewhat fond of each other during their time together. Well, or more accurately, the five Servants, in view of the not-so-enviable number of possible pastimes, have chosen to meet almost every day, spending time sitting and talking.
And if you've spent more than a week talking about yourself and each other, one way or another, it was bound to elicit a certain response from the various Servants about each other. And since killing each other would be very bad indeed, they decided to get along.
But, when Cu Chulainn broke the arrangement, having followed Ainz into Singularity, Nero, apparently already used to being around the four Servants all this time, found a replacement. Mozart, easily and quickly enough. The number of Servants preserved, thus keeping her company of interests. Coincidentally, also another person who preferred to drink wine, thus ceasing to make her stand out so much among the others.
Fortunately, Nero had not come up with some 'ingenious' idea, like inviting Kiyohime or Hassan to the drinking party. She would probably have curtailed any conversation from organically starting, preferring to instead talk incessantly about her 'Anchin', their Master. And Hassan, who could not drink for religious reasons, and to prevent any accidents from happening if she got drunk...
Mozart, generally speaking, fitted in surprisingly easily with the Servants, brightening up their leisure time with occasional stories from his own life and performing the extremely important function of interrupting Nero when she got drunk and decided to sing something. And so, instead of the Emperor's 'finest' performance, the group was gifted by the most beautiful of a cappella songs that even made Archer himself listen, and for Nero knocked all thought of her own 'creativity' out of her mind.