Wine and Poison Chapter 10 - A Strange Cohabitation

Giving a name to someone, human or god, constitutes one of the most primordial acts of recognition, and in that sense, Thyrsus had imprinted himself on the old woman before he did.

 

“What are you going to do?”

 

“Study it. As expected, it’s a venomous snake. I don’t know what kind, but judging by the way it stings at the slightest touch of skin, it’s a pretty potent venom, and yet it’s mild. It’s rare, and I got lucky this morning. I’m hoping some of the antidotes I have on hand will be a match. I’ll work on identifying them this afternoon…”

 

Scylla chattered excitedly, but stopped when she caught Dionysus’ gaze, which was fixed on her.

 

“Did I say something wrong?”

 

“No.”

 

“Then why do you look at me like that?”

 

“I was just trying to think of what I should do, because a pupil shouldn’t interfere with a master’s work, you know.”

 

“Oh, right…”

 

Again, Scylla fell silent awkwardly.

 

“I’ll eat first and prepare the detoxifying herbs.”

 

“…”

 

“Before you do that, grab something to eat. I thought you might be hungry, so I made something simple for you today.”

 

“I don’t need this.”

 

The old woman glanced at the table.

 

“This is not what I want from you.”

 

“I know, Master. But even you, Teacher, can’t eat poison instead of potatoes, can you? You should do your work with a full stomach. I’m hungry, so I prepared mine while I was at it. It doesn’t take much, so please sit down.”

 

With that, the old woman slowly approached the table.

 

It wasn’t until two days later that they finally ate together, face to face.

 

At that moment, everyone at the table was friends. It was a common saying among wanderers and travelers. 

 

Wandering the world as loners, it’s the only time they get to open up and enjoy themselves, even if only for a short time.

 

But now there was silence at the table.

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

Dionysus stabbed a potato with his fork and glanced across the table. 

 

The old woman was silently bringing food from her plate to her mouth. 

 

The way she brought the food to her mouth with a frown, she looked more like an abstinent hermit than a person enjoying the pleasures of food. 

 

Moreover, the speed with which she emptied her plate meant that they would not have another conversation.

 

Dionysus chose the most innocuous of the information he knew about her as his topic of conversation.

 

“Why did you become interested in poisonous herbs rather than medicinal ones, Master?”

 

“Because they’re useful.”

 

“If it’s useful…”

 

“I thought it was my knowledge of poisons you wanted to know, not some other useless thing.“

 

The nonchalant yet sharp jab was not only meant to put the man at ease, but also to convey that she was perfectly fine with cutting ties with him. 

 

Dionysus could have bet even Thyrsus that the old woman would not have a single friend, Thyrsus, who shared his thoughts, was so heartbroken that he dug up a quill and buried his head in it.

 

“I see.”

 

Not for the first time in his life, the old woman tried to focus back on chewing her food, combative as she popped a piece of dried meat into her mouth.

 

“But I would also like to know about you, Master.”

 

Flinch—!

 

The golden eyes, dark and sharp as a fierce beast, moved silently to stare at Dionysus.

 

“Why?”

 

“Because I’ve become interested in you, Master, and not just in your knowledge of poisons.”

 

“Why…”

 

“Because I think I could learn a lot from you.”

 

Dionysus raised the corner of his mouth.

 

“Judging by your long tongue, I’m guessing you’ve been a swindler in the city.”

 

The stiff old woman gulped down the food in her mouth.

 

“I can’t taste anything.”

 

Wiping her mouth with her sleeve, the old woman stood up and walked into the room. 

 

Dionysus smirked as he watched her enter, carrying the basket containing Thyrsus.

 

His gaze shifted to the table. The bowl was nearly empty, despite her sour assessment. The old woman might mask the flavors, but she wasn’t the kind of human to waste food.

 

Dionysus stuck his fork into the food he had barely touched as he watched the old woman. He picked up a few raspberries to avoid arousing her suspicions.

 

He brought the food to his mouth. Chewing on the dried meat, he scrunched it up in his face.

 

‘…This isn’t good.’

 

It was tasteless and hard to chew. It must have been left out to eat, because it was among the ingredients in the kitchen.

 

‘Thank goodness the old woman’s teeth weren’t broken.’ 

 

Dionysus shook his head as he imagined the old woman breaking her teeth while eating.

 

🫧

 

The next day, Scylla’s eyes opened a little faster than usual. 

 

She sniffed, her eyes widened at the savory odor that wafted into her nostrils. 

 

Every bone in her body ached, from her shoulders to her knees to her elbows. 

 

‘This was the trouble with getting old, dear.’

 

I pounded my shoulder with my fist and stomped out to the kitchen, the smell that had tickled my nose intensifying. 

 

My stomach churned as the smell of food entered my empty stomach. 

 

Involuntarily, I clutched my stomach. Enthralled, I strode to the table.

 

“You’re up early, Master.”

 

“Uhh…” Scylla was dumbfounded. 

 

This young man, a self-proclaimed apprentice, was as quick-witted as a rattler, and she tried not to react to his remarks.

 

Even as she clicked her tongue, her gaze remained fixed on the table. 

 

The food was glorious. The grill marks on the fish had been baked in olive oil, and the smell of olives wafted up and whetted her appetite. 

 

The crisp cabbage was laid out modestly with roasted onions, garlic, and green olives, and next to it was a whole plump squid with vegetables to go with it. 

 

As in the simple mountain life, the food was few and far between, but every single one of them caught her eye.

 

She had abandoned all worldly desires when she began this life, but the sight of the bountiful table made her feel nostalgic for the good life she once had. 

 

Along with an intense hunger.

 

‘Where did he get all these ingredients?’

 

Everything looked fresh as far as the eye could see. 

 

‘Squid in the mountains?’ 

 

Scylla’s mouth gaped open. Fish may have been caught in a lake, but squid were a product of the sea, and the sea was a half-day’s walk from Mount Cithaeron. 

 

For a woman whose daily routine was to eat only what she needed whenever she could find it and dry the leftovers so they would not spoil. 

 

The sight of a bountiful, fresh table in front of her was ten times more surprising than the sight of a young man bursting through her herb garden and pressing down to take on a disciple.

 

“Please eat, Master.”

 

“…”

 

“I know you’ve just woken up and don’t have an appetite, but you ate poorly yesterday.”

 

My stomach was screaming for food as soon as I smelled it.

 

“Here, have a glass of water first.”

 

A glass of water slipped effortlessly into her hand. She gulped it down, and then she was fully awake. 

 

Her five senses awakened, and her hunger grew stronger and stronger.

 

She thought she had abandoned worldly desires, but now she found it hard to resist her curiosity.

 

‘I wonder what that tastes like…’

 

As she hesitated, her self-proclaimed apprentice pulled at her. 

 

Unlike other times, Scylla coldly refused and sat down at the table. In an instant, she had a fork and spoon in her hand.

 

Glancing at the man, she saw that he was scooping fish into his bowl as if he didn’t care whether she ate it or not. 

 

His nonchalance reassured her. She quickly tore off a piece of the olive-oil-roasted fish that had been bothering her nose since earlier and shoved it into her mouth.

 

The wrinkles around her eyes, always hard and set like dry cobblestones, stretched.

 

🫧

 

Dionysus woke up four hours earlier than the old woman today. The breezy air and forest spirits had told him where to find food. 

 

A short walk west from the hut led to a deserted lake, clear and clean, with fish larger than a man’s palm swimming peacefully in it. 

 

A nymph in the lake guided the fish to his hand, and they were caught in his gill net of their own accord.

 

On the way back, he was lucky enough to meet a sack merchant traveling from town to town.

 

He reached into his pockets and bought squid and other ingredients. 

 

The old woman didn’t need the gold and silver, but the merchant did.

 

Now that the ingredients were ready, it was time to prepare and cook. 

 

He didn’t have to lift a finger, as his worshipers didn’t hesitate to give him both body and soul, but they weren’t always at his side. 

 

Sometimes he cooked to entertain himself. He was quite a skilled cook. But this time he had to be careful. 

 

There weren’t enough ingredients, and there weren’t many opportunities.

 

He’d never cooked to seduce someone before, but he’d never done it with such care.

 

Pretending not to notice, I watched the old woman as she cut the flesh off the fish and brought it to her mouth. 

 

The sight of her wrinkled face rippled through Dionysus’s mind like the surface of a lake tossed with stones.

 

“Hmm…”

 

After a short sigh, the old woman’s wrinkled hands became busy.

 

The corners of Dionysus’s mouth subtly lifted.

 

After that, Dionysus prepared each meal with great care. His initial thoughts of mere food had long since taken a back seat. 

 

As he watched the old woman’s mouth open and close, Dionysus knew he had succeeded. 

 

A strange satisfaction flashed through him, like a successful year’s grape harvest. Suddenly, he scowled.

 

‘…Why am I so pleased with this?’

 

Although I spent more time with the old woman, I didn’t feel like anything had changed.

 

“Does the food fit your palate?”

 

The old woman’s hand stopped as she brought the salty, marinated fish to her mouth. She glanced at Dionysus. 

 

It was as if she had forgotten he was there. 

 

Dionysus felt a twinge of doubt, wondering if he had done anything worth the effort.

 

“Well done.”

 

Dionysus blinked as he picked at his share of fish. When he looked up, the old woman had already turned and walked away, her bowl empty.

 

“Hah…”

 

He let out a wry laugh.

 

In these remote mountains, where there was no need for luxury, food was more precious than any gold or silver treasure. 

 

The more delicious food he put into her stomach, the more toxic the old woman’s mood became. 

 

Dionysus wondered if her temper had turned sour because she had been eating nothing but bland food all this time.

 

The old woman was devouring the meat pie he had made. 

 

Dionysus forgot to move his fork and admired the sight. It reminded him of the time he had tamed a dog with a good bone with meat on it.

 

As she slid the meat pie into her stomach like a blind cat, Dionysus handed her a goblet of milk, appropriately enough. 

 

Milk was one of the hardest things to come by in the mountains.

 

Dionysus had walked around Mount Cithaeron while the old woman slept, he thought it was a walk, but his eyes were on the lookout for something she could eat, and found a mountain goat with a calf. 

 

There was just enough for the old woman to drink, as the calf had to be fed.

 

The old woman gulped down the milk. When she set the glass down, white liquid coated the corners of her mouth. 

 

Dionysus was about to wipe the corner of her mouth, but stopped himself before he could.

 

‘…What a stupid thing to do.’

 

Inwardly, he squinted, ‘Had he gotten too used to this game that he was beginning to doubt?’