Once both were gone, it just became apparent how quiet it had become. Slowly, every contestant returned to their seat, and the abundance of silence quickly faded once Apsi and his band started to play.

  The melody was a bit rough, but quickly, everything went back to normal as all the other contestants started to drink again. Well, everyone except Kenneth.

  He was a bit worried about Kila and Fenik, but that worry quickly got pushed to the side by the more overwhelming worry of not winning.

  And thus, he once more gulped down his mug of floor juice.

  On the bright side, however, the fight had eliminated two more contestants, and the shock of it happening did sober Kenneth a bit up.

  He wasn’t sure if the same was true for the others or how long there would go before he was back to normal, but that only meant he had to act now.

  Round after round, Kenneth drank his cup dry with no hesitation as he kept himself going, continuously reminding him what was on the line.

  One by one, each contestant dropped out. Many were those Kenneth hadn’t even gotten to know the name of.

  However, surprisingly, Aloko dropped out before the next round had even begun. Obviously drunk, he had fallen back into his chair and spilled his drink all over himself.

  Pilu being the kind person she was, chose to eliminate herself the same round as Aloko by laughing her ass off at the sight of him in a stupor until she fell off her chair.

  It was round something. Kenneth wasn’t sure, and trying to think of anything other than drinking and winning caused him to have a headache.

  Yet he was feeling a second wind after the last round now that there was only himself and yellow-fire-fox left in the contest.

  “How can something so short drink so much!” An Aki shouted from somewhere in the crowd.

  “You are telling me I lost all I had to bet, hoping the black healer would drop out after round three!” Another Aki in the crowd shouted.

  “HEY BLACK HEALER!” Yet another shouted from the crowd. “Get passed a few more rounds! No one has bet too high on you, and if no one guesses right, I get my coins back! Hey, do you hear me?! Drink more!”

  “What fun, cheers from the crowd! I truly ought to pout,” Kenneth said sarcastically as he realized he had reached this level of drunkenness.

  “Did you speak abomination!” Jubo yelled, clearly intoxicated, as he poured the drink down his throat the second it was placed on the table.

  “Ohh, I only remarked how a golden child ought to pout as he loses and gets bruises,” Kenneth drunkenly replied as he followed Jubo's lead and finished his cup the moment it was dropped.

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  “You…! I should… I should…” Jubo said angrily, balance and clear thinking obviously hindered by the amount of floor juice he’d consumed.

  “I know what you should and ought to do, and that’s go away and throw up into a loo,” Kenneth said mockingly, stealing what little momentum Jubo had had.

  Suddenly, the crowd erupted in laughter not only at what Kenneth had said but at how Jubo seemed at a loss for words.

  “LEARN YOUR PLACE!” Jubo screamed, his voice cracking into a high pitch as he slammed his claws onto the table.

  The crowd went silent. Sure, everyone was drunk, and they had made the mistake of laughing, but they quickly remembered that Jubo, the arrogant prick that he was, was still a royal and belonged to a rather powerful family at that.

  However, the only one who didn’t know all that or even cared was Kenneth.

  “A powerful voice such as yours is something to behold; it’s shining just as brightly as your tattered gold,” Kenneth laughed as he drank from his cup.

  For a moment, everything stopped. The music. The chatter. The drinking. No one even breathed. The only sound there was was Kenneth gulping down his drink and Jubo gritting his teeth in anger as he scratched at the table.

  However, as moments passed slowly, a few Aki in the crowd started to cough. Then there were giggles, with some even wrapping their hands around their snouts to contain it all, tears running out from their eyes.

  Suddenly, everyone erupted in an explosion of laughter, and the great hall was filled to the brim. No one could hold themselves back, even if Jubo was a royal.

  Of course, this only added more and more fuel to the mounting fire that was Jubo’s own internal inferno, the logs that burned beneath pure and utter humiliation. A feeling he had never felt before.

  With no warning, Jubo jumped to his feet, grabbed his mug, and threw it at Kenneth, hitting him right in the head.

  The floor juice hit a moment later, covering Kenneth in the sweet and alcoholic liquid.

  “A bath for me and one that is free so kind of ye,” Kenneth said, unfaced, and the crowd’s laughter skyrocketed, a few falling to the ground.

  Jubo just started to walk. He seemed calm as if all the laughter didn’t exist to him. But his eyes. His eyes told another story.

  They were burning red with death, especially once he reached his destination and Kenneth looked up.

  Before any words could be uttered, Jubo, with his finely sharpened claws, slashed at Kenneth.

  However, once again, the plague doctor outfit so generously gifted to him by a cruel bitch protected him.

  Barely anyone seemed to notice what Jubo had even attempted, as many were still dying and rolling on the floor from laughter, and Kenneth had only one response.

  He opened his mouth and “BUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRPPPP!!!” Kenneth burped the wretched mixture of floor juice and stomach acid, reaching Jubo’s nose.

  He staggered back; his nostrils assaulted as his humiliation and rage only kept mounting.

  However, instead of just going fully feral on Kenneth, Jubo left, his pride having suffered the most harmful blow in his entire life.

  “YOU WON! You are the last at the table!” Jinki yelled, wrapping one arm around Kenneth and shaking him in celebration.

  Kenneth turned his head as he processed all Jinki had said, and once he did, in surprise, he said, “I did, oh my dear, everyone ought to cheer.”

  While Kenneth was celebrating his victory with Jinki, drunk and happy Jubo, also drunk yet miserable, stomped his feet on the ground as he looked at a nearby bucket.

  Growling with his internal inferno overflowing, Jubo pierced the bucket with his claws as he brought it up to his mouth.

  He bit into it, tearing it to pieces until all that remained was a pile of splinters. However, that did little to soothe his inferno.

  “How amusing,” Wilf laughed as she walked out of the shadows, revealing a smug grin on her face. “I have to admit I’ve never seen a royal act so feral before.”

  Jubo just looked at the woman. He wanted to kill the black healer, but he had tried and knew he couldn’t succeed, but killing her, the woman who was mocking him, just might make him feel better.