"I see," James said before heaving a sigh. "You have been through a lot while I was gone."
The old man filled William's cup with some cheap wine that he had bought from a convenience store before returning to Hestia from his expedition.
William took a sip and found that the "wine" that James had given him wasn't really wine, but grape juice.
"Men need to be sober when they are talking about important matters," James said as he poured himself a cup of the grape juice he'd bought. "We can get drunk as much as we want when the occasion calls for it, but today is not that day. Besides, I didn't bring enough cash with me to buy the wine I like. Apparently, Earth doesn't accept gold coins. So, I bought the next best thing, which is grape juice."
The old man chuckled before taking a sip from his mug. After that, he took some roasted salted peanuts and tossed them inside his mouth.
