Chapter 39 : The Bar

Three days after meeting Emma’s friends, Aldric was sitting on the metro when a notification appeared on his phone. He finished the paragraph of the book he was reading before taking the device out of his pocket. He checked the screen and saw that a new message had appeared in the group chat Emma had added him to after their visit to the café.

Chloé had created the group on the evening of their first meeting. She had named it “The Almost Normal People,” a choice Aldric had initially interpreted as a description before Emma explained that it was a joke. Since then, a few messages had been exchanged. Julien had sent a photograph of a castle along with a question about its defenses, Maxime had corrected two historical details in the conversation that followed, and Sarah had asked the two men whether they intended to turn the group into a permanent seminar on medieval fortifications.

Chloé: Drinks Friday night?

Julien: Yes.

Maxime confirmed that he would be there, then Sarah sent a thumbs-up.

Aldric was about to reply when another message appeared.

Chloé: Is Aldric coming too?

Emma: Ask him directly, he’s in the group 😂

Chloé: Oh, right…

Chloé: Aldric, are you coming too?

Aldric: Yes.

Julien: He answered like he was confirming a military assignment again.

Aldric frowned. He started typing a reply, hesitated, then deleted it. He had learned that some of Julien’s remarks did not require any justification. When he met Emma the following evening, however, she showed him the conversation with a smile.

“Chloé invited you.”

“I noticed.”

“Are you happy about it?”

“Yes. The first time we met, I was there because you invited me. This time, Chloé wants me to be there independently of you.”

Emma turned her head toward him.

They met the others outside a bar on a lively side street. The weather was mild enough that the terrace was almost completely full. Several groups were talking around small tables, servers moved between the chairs, and music drifted out from inside the bar.

Chloé was already there with Sarah. Julien arrived a few minutes later, followed by Maxime, who apologized for being late even though he was only three minutes past the agreed time.

“See?” Emma said to Aldric. “There are people almost as punctual as you.”

Maxime looked at Aldric.

“Almost?”

“He arrived eleven minutes early,” Emma explained.

“I concede defeat,” Maxime said.

They found a table at the edge of the terrace. Chloé sat down first and hung her bag over the back of her chair while Julien picked up a menu.

Aldric, however, remained standing, his gaze moving from the tables to the customers before sweeping over the interior of the bar. Emma, who had just sat down, looked up at him.

“What is it?”

Aldric finally took his seat.

A server arrived, and everyone ordered a drink. Emma chose a glass of white wine, Sarah ordered a cocktail, Maxime a beer, Chloé a lemonade, and Julien a draft beer. When the server turned to Aldric, he looked over the menu. By now, he recognized most of the categories, although some of the drink lists still seemed unnecessarily long to him.

“Sparkling water.”

Julien looked up.

“No… You come to a bar and order sparkling water? That’s illegal…”

Maxime sighed.

“It is absolutely not illegal.”

Julien looked at the server.

“Bring him a beer.”

Aldric frowned.

“I did not ask for a beer.”

Emma smiled.

“Let him choose.”

Julien raised his hands.

“Fine. But before the end of the night, he’s trying a beer.”

“So, sparkling water?” the server asked.

Aldric nodded.

When the server walked away, Aldric turned his attention back to the people around them. At the table behind Sarah, three men were loudly discussing a football match. Farther away, two women were sharing a plate of food while talking. Near the entrance, a man sat alone with a beer, watching people pass by. At another table, a couple did not seem to have exchanged a single word since they arrived. Both were looking at their phones.

Aldric then looked at his own companions. Chloé was telling them about a coworker who had mixed up two dates on her schedule. Sarah listened with a smile. Julien had already started examining the drinks at the neighboring table, while Maxime was reading the menu.

“What is it?” Emma asked.

“I am thinking.”

Julien put down his menu.

“Here we go.”

“What are you analyzing?” Chloé asked.

“What is the purpose of this establishment?”

Chloé burst out laughing. Julien leaned back in his chair. Sarah covered her mouth with one hand. Even Maxime smiled.

“Is the question strange?”

“A little…” Emma said.

“Yet every establishment has a function. A restaurant is for eating. A store allows you to purchase goods. A cinema allows you to watch a film. A gym allows you to exercise.”

“I’m with you so far,” Julien said.

Aldric gestured toward the bar.

“Here, most people appear to simply be sitting.”

Chloé laughed again.

This story has been stolen from NovelPhoenix. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“That’s kind of the point.”

“But to what end?”

“There isn’t really one.”

“None?”

“You come here to have a drink, talk, see friends, spend time together.”

“That can be done at someone’s home.”

“Technically, yes,” Maxime said.

“Then why pay more to do it here?”

Julien turned toward Maxime.

“Professor, I’ll let you handle this one.”

“Because it’s a neutral social space. No one has to host at their home, no one has to cook, no one has to clean up after everyone leaves, and the environment is designed for people to meet and spend time together.”

“That is more logical…”

“Maxime really just justified the existence of bars like he was writing an essay,” Chloé said.

“He asked a question.”

“You could’ve just said, ‘Because it’s fun.’”

Aldric looked at Chloé.

“That answer would have been less precise.”

“But much shorter.”

The server arrived with the drinks and set them down in front of them. Aldric picked up his bottle of sparkling water while Julien was already raising his glass.

“To our first night out with the knight.”

“Is there a particular event we are celebrating?”

“No…”

“Then why…”

“We’re just making a toast.”

“Without a victory?”

“Without a victory.”

They all raised their glasses.

A few minutes later, as the conversation resumed, Aldric looked around again.

“So there are no victory conditions?”

“Making it home?” Julien suggested.

Chloé burst out laughing, and Sarah shook her head.

“For some people, that’s already an achievement.”

“Why would getting home be difficult?” Aldric asked.

Emma looked at Julien.

“Now you get to explain.”

Julien took a sip of his beer.

“Later.”

After almost twenty minutes, Sarah noticed that Aldric was watching the neighboring table.

“Why do you keep watching people?”

Aldric turned toward her.

“Their behavior is interesting.”

“That sounds like something an undercover alien would say,” Julien said.

“I am not an alien.”

“Technically,” Emma cut in, “you are from another world.”

“You’re playing along now too?” Julien asked.

Emma took a sip of wine.

“Maybe.”

Julien shook his head.

“You two are impossible.”

Sarah looked at Aldric.

“What have you noticed?”

Aldric gestured toward the table where the three men were sitting.

“They have been discussing the same sporting event since we arrived, yet they do not seem to agree on what happened.”

Maxime glanced in their direction.

“That’s pretty normal.”

“But the event has already occurred. There should therefore be an objectively correct version of what happened.”

“Welcome to football discussions.”

Aldric then indicated the man sitting alone.

“That man has been here longer than we have. He has not spoken to anyone.”

“Maybe he likes being alone while surrounded by people,” Sarah said.

Aldric frowned.

“Why not stay at home?”

“Because being alone at home and being alone here aren’t necessarily the same thing. Is that one confusing you?”

“A little.”

“You’ll get used to it.”

Aldric then looked at the couple sitting a few tables away.

“They have barely spoken to each other.”

Emma followed his gaze.

“Aldric…”

“They arrived together. Yet they have each been looking at their phones for at least fifteen minutes.”

Chloé burst out laughing.

“Are you timing couples now?”

“No. I simply noticed the time when they stopped talking.”

Sarah smiled.

“Which is much more normal.”

Aldric ignored the remark.

“Why come together to a place intended for conversation if the goal is then not to talk?”

“Habit, maybe,” Maxime said.

“Or they’re tired,” Emma added.

Sarah shrugged.

“Or maybe they simply don’t have anything they need to say to each other right now.”

Aldric looked at the couple again.

“Does that not make them uncomfortable?”

Sarah shook her head.

“Not necessarily. When you know someone well, you don’t always need to fill the silence.”

He thought about the evenings he had spent with Emma, when several minutes could pass without either of them feeling the need to speak.

“I understand.”

A few minutes later, Aldric watched a woman join a group that was already seated. Almost everyone stood up to greet her.

“They know each other well.”

Chloé sighed.

“Aldric.”

“Yes?”

“You can also just drink your drink.”

He looked at his bottle. He had barely touched it.

“That is true.”

He took a sip, and Chloé smiled.

“Perfect. You’re making progress.”

“In what skill?”

“Drinking normally at a bar.”

“I do not think that qualifies as a skill.”

Emma smiled.

“With you, it might.”

Chloé told them a story about something that had happened at the hospital. Sarah talked about a patient who had spent several minutes trying to explain why he had “absolutely no problems” before proceeding to describe a long list of problems. Maxime mentioned a particularly unruly class he had taught that week, and Julien told them how a software update had caused an outage at his company.

This time, no one was questioning Aldric about his past. He was no longer the center of attention. Strangely, he liked that. He could simply listen to the others talk about their day. When Julien explained that one of his coworkers had restarted a server in the middle of the day without warning anyone, Aldric asked:

“What were the consequences?”

“Two hundred people unable to work for twenty minutes.”

“Was he punished?”

“No. He was the boss…”

“Some of this world’s hierarchical structures are more similar to those of mine than I had thought.”

Julien looked at Aldric’s nearly empty bottle of water.

“All right… It’s time…”

He pushed his glass toward the center of the table.

“You really didn’t forget,” Emma sighed.

“Of course not.”

Aldric looked at the beer.

“You want me to taste it.”

“Yes. You’re in a bar…”

“I have consumed beer before.”

“Really? In your world?”

“Yes…”

Julien turned toward Maxime.

“That’s it. We’re about to learn how taverns work in his lore.”

“I have already explained that…”

Emma placed a hand on his forearm.

“Give up.”

“Very well…”

Julien handed him his glass.

“Try it.”

Aldric took it and first examined the beer’s color before checking its aroma. Chloé was already starting to laugh.

“Why do I feel like he’s checking it for poison?”

“A preliminary inspection is reasonable.”

“It’s beer, Aldric…”

He took a small sip before setting the glass back on the table. Everyone waited for his reaction, but Aldric said nothing, until Julien finally leaned toward him.

“Well?”

“Acceptable.”

“Acceptable?… That’s it?…”

“Would you like a more detailed analysis?”

“Obviously.”

“It is fairly light. The bitterness is noticeable but does not linger, and the flavor lacks some depth. However, the dwarves made better beer.”

Julien, who had just taken another sip, nearly choked. Chloé burst out laughing, Emma quickly set down her glass before she spilled it, and Sarah closed her eyes as she laughed, while even Maxime leaned forward, unable to keep a straight face.

“Of course there were dwarves!” Julien exclaimed.

“Why does that surprise you?”

Julien wiped his eyes.

“It doesn’t even surprise me anymore. That’s the worst part.”

“Their existence was perfectly normal.”

Maxime caught his breath.

“In your world…”

Julien then placed both hands on the table.

“Okay. Important question. Did dwarves really have big beards?”

“Some did.”

“Did they live underground?”

“Primarily in mountain cities. Some were partially underground.”

Julien immediately turned toward Maxime with a triumphant expression.

“See?”

Maxime shook his head.

“What exactly am I supposed to see?”

“He has an answer for everything.”

“That’s exactly what worries me.”

“Why?” Aldric asked.

“Never mind…”

Julien, however, was clearly not finished with his interrogation.

“And were they all blacksmiths?”

“No.”

“Warriors?”

“No.”

“Miners?”

“No.”

“Then what did they do?”

“The same things as other peoples. They had farmers, merchants, craftsmen, soldiers, administrators…”

Julien immediately raised a hand to stop him.

“Wait. Dwarven administrators?”

“Yes.”

“I want an entire series about them.”

Emma burst out laughing as Aldric took another small sip of beer before handing the glass back to Julien.

“Their beer was still better.”

“I’m taking that personally,” Julien replied.

“You did not make it.”

“That’s true…”

Daylight gradually faded as the terrace lights came on one by one. Some customers left while new groups arrived to take the empty tables. Chloé told them about the time she had booked a train ticket for the wrong date, and Aldric asked how she could have failed to check it. She replied that she had been tired, prompting Aldric to point out that fatigue seemed to account for an impressive number of modern mistakes.

When Sarah asked him about the worst decision he had ever made while exhausted, Aldric told them that he had once agreed to pursue an enemy army for two days before realizing they were trying to lure him away from his supply lines.

“And then what?” Julien asked.

“I turned back.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes.”

“Nobody died?”

“No.”

Julien almost looked disappointed.

“Would you have preferred a different outcome?”

“No. But your stories usually have more dragons.”

“There were no dragons in that region.”

Maxime burst out laughing.

Later, Chloé asked everyone which country they would like to visit. Aldric replied that he still knew too little of France to decide which other country he wanted to discover. Sarah suggested Italy, Maxime made a case for Greece, and Julien proposed Japan, then spent five minutes explaining why before Chloé reminded him that he had never actually been there.

When the server announced that the terrace would be closing soon, Chloé checked the time and her eyes widened.

“Already?”

Sarah took out her phone to check as well.

“We’ve been here for almost four hours.”

They paid for their drinks before leaving the terrace. Chloé and Sarah took the metro in a different direction, while Julien and Maxime continued together toward a nearby station. Before leaving, Julien turned back toward Aldric.

“Next time, I’m making you try a genuinely good beer.”

“That seems reasonable.”

“I’m going to take that as a challenge.”

Maxime raised a hand as he walked away.

“Good night.”

“Good night.”

Aldric and Emma then continued down the street alone. The temperature had dropped, but the restaurants were still open, and several groups passed them while talking. Emma eventually turned her head slightly toward him.

“So, did you like it?”

“It was pleasant. Emma, will we come back?”

“Yes. I think we will.”

“Good.”