First of All, I’m Drinking - Chapter 101

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 101

After finishing the audience, I returned to my room.

On the bowl placed on the desk, the five spirit pills I had just received as a reward gleamed with a lustrous shine.

I picked up one of them.

“Definitely above the level of magic spirit pills.”

A smile naturally formed on my face.

The density of concentrated mana that could be felt just by touching the skin.

How much could I grow if I fully absorbed this?

Gulp.

Without hesitation, I swallowed the spirit pill down my throat.

As it went down my esophagus, coldness and heat rushed through me simultaneously.

And the next moment.

Thump-!

Mana exploded and spread throughout my entire body.

“Kugh!”

Indeed, befitting a special spirit pill from the Beast-man Kingdom, a wild force swept through my entire body.

The mana writhed inside like a living beast.

I broke out in cold sweat as I controlled the energy.

To think it would be such a fierce and violent spirit pill.

I almost wondered if the Emperor had deliberately bestowed this spirit pill to torment me.

But the effect was certainly definite.

Whoooosh-

Finally, the last aftershock passed.

The mana flowing through my circuits was pulsating in a completely different pattern than before.

Heavy.

And I could feel the condensed depth.

Flash!

I manifested my aura.

Certainly, the density itself was different from before taking the spirit pill.

In such a short time, my realm had evolved one level further.

“6-star… not yet, I suppose.”

The very end of 5-star.

Just before overflowing, I was missing that last drop.

It seemed like I could quickly rise to 6-star with just a bit more enlightenment.

Clap clap clap clap!

Merry, Kise, and Diago, who had been watching, burst into applause.

“Congratulations, Your Majesty.”

“Your aura has become even more powerful.”

I exhaled breath that glowed blue, mixed with mana.

“It’s a bit disappointing… Should I eat one more?”

My gaze automatically went to the remaining four spirit pills.

No, it would be a waste to eat them here.

Spirit pills have their efficacy reduced by half when taken consecutively.

There was no guarantee I could obtain spirit medicines of this level again in the future, so I couldn’t waste them.

I stored the remaining spirit pills in subspace.

“Kehehehe…”

Kise looked at the gold coins piled high in the room and laughed with a fishy grin.

“We’re rich now! We’ll never be poor again for the rest of our lives!”

In fact, for them, these gold coins were more real than the spirit pills.

Merry and Diago were also trying not to show it, but I could see their lips twitching upward.

‘If I take that to school and bet on match predictions, it would be a jackpot.’

With more capital, the amount I could earn would also double.

Of course, if I invested all 10,000 gold coins, the student council wouldn’t be able to handle it, so I decided to take just a few coins.

“Hehe, hehehehe.”

Kise buried himself in the pile of gold coins and swam with a happy face.

Seeing him so pleased made me feel proud too.

* * *

That night.

I visited the Emperor’s bedchamber.

“Come in.”

In the room where dim moonlight was settling.

Emperor Samaho Renji was sitting on a bed as massive as his own body.

He pointed to a small chair prepared in front of the bed.

“Sit.”

As I sat in the chair, the Emperor brought up the topic first.

“How did you know about the Demon Subjugation Society?”

“Does it matter how I knew?”

“No, it’s not particularly important. What’s important is why you’re curious about them.”

“To subjugate them.”

The Emperor stared at me piercingly.

Beast eyes that seemed to be watching prey.

“…It doesn’t seem to be a lie.”

In that brief moment, the Emperor had discerned the truth of my words.

Even if not as much as my insight, lies don’t work against a beast-man’s instincts.

Though I hadn’t planned to lie anyway.

“I won’t ask why a human from another country wants to subjugate the Demon Subjugation Society.”

The Emperor leaned his body diagonally.

“They’re dangerous. They’re not the kind of guys a mere student can subjugate.”

“Are there many victims?”

“At first, it was just one or two people. But they gradually expanded their influence and their crimes became bolder.”

One day, beast-men suddenly started disappearing.

At first, they thought it was just humans from other countries sneaking into the Beast-man Kingdom to hunt slaves again.

However, when they were lucky enough to arrest a Demon Subjugation Society member who was kidnapping beast-men at the scene and interrogated him, the royal family recognized the seriousness of the situation.

“Those bastards used demonic power. They’re definitely related to the Demon Cult.”

Demonic power.

The strongest evidence of being a servant of the Demon Lords.

Only then did the royal family realize that they weren’t simple slave hunters.

It was also then that the true identity of the organization called the Demon Subjugation Society was revealed to the world.

“Do you know which Demon Lord’s demonic power it was?”

The characteristics of a deity’s demonic energy also appear in their priests’ demonic power.

Just like how Zagan’s priests wielded demonic power that burned like fire.

“It was Lucifer’s demonic power.”

The Emperor answered with a confident tone.

Lucifer.

According to information obtained from Zagan’s agent Ordo Pereira.

The sect of the second pantheon Lucifer was said to be based in the Southern Great Forest.

‘Since the Beast-man Kingdom is close to the south, it’s quite possible that Lucifer’s sect expanded their range of activity to extend their influence.’

Indeed, the Beast-man Kingdom is the southernmost among the countries belonging to the Western Alliance.

“Then is the Demon Subjugation Society actually Lucifer’s sect?”

If the Demon Subjugation Society was really another name for Lucifer’s sect.

What are they trying to use the kidnapped beastmen for?

“I think you’re only half right.”

The Emperor sat up and rested his chin on his hand.

“The captured Demon Subjugation Society member said that they are clearly a different group from the Lucifer Sect. There’s no possibility it’s a lie. It was an interrogation conducted after using magic to collapse his mind.”

“It would be correct to see them as either some of Lucifer’s priests belonging to the Demon Subjugation Society, or a new organization backed by the Lucifer Sect.”

“Right. That’s what’s frustrating. I can’t even get a clue as to why the Demon Subjugation Society is kidnapping beastmen.”

“Like other criminal organizations, isn’t it to sell them as slaves?”

The Emperor shook his head.

“The Beast-man Kingdom’s royal family does its best to track down missing persons. Even if we can’t get everyone, we’re bringing as many beastman slaves as possible back to our homeland. But I’ve never heard news of beastmen kidnapped by the Demon Subjugation Society being sold as slaves.”

“What about the possibility that they’re being traded through other channels that the Beast-man Kingdom’s royal family hasn’t discovered yet?”

“Of course I’m considering that too. But something… my intuition is telling me. It seems like there’s another reason here. So I’m trying to think from multiple angles.”

Intuition.

Beastmen generally possess far superior wild instincts compared to humans.

Moreover, the Emperor’s intuition was absolutely not something to ignore.

‘A reason to kidnap beastmen without selling them as slaves…’

The absolute majority of kidnapping crimes targeting beastmen are for selling them as illegal slaves.

If there’s another reason.

‘Human sacrifice?’

Among the Demon Lords, there are those who enjoy human sacrifice and those who don’t.

Lucifer was the former.

Along with Baal and Zagan, Lucifer was the Demon Lord who received the most human sacrifices.

‘But there’s no reason it specifically has to be beastmen. Sacrificing humans would be sufficient.’

Actually, when I was in the Demon Realm, I rarely saw scenes of Lucifer receiving beastmen as sacrifices.

Most were humans.

‘This is ruled out.’

The probability of human sacrifice was low.

The differences between beastmen and humans.

If I dig deeper focusing on the advantages unique to beastmen that distinguish them from humans, I might find the answer.

A thought quickly crossed my mind.

‘Nutrition…’

Beastmen’s bodies are overwhelmingly more nutritious than humans.

What if it’s not to offer as sacrifices to a deity, but to devour them personally?

“Your Majesty, this is just a hypothetical scenario…”

As I opened my mouth, the Emperor looked at me.

“Perhaps the true identity of the Demon Subjugation Society might be demons summoned to the Intermediate Realm.”

“Demons? What do you mean by that?”

“Generally, the Intermediate Realm and Demon Realm are separated by dimensional barriers, but if a Demon Lord’s priest performs a summoning ritual, they can summon beings from the Demon Realm in a limited way.”

Actually, I have memories of nearly being assassinated by Papuwa, a plant-type monster summoned by the Baal Sect.

Of course, summoning a low-level monster like Papuwa is on a completely different level from summoning demons or demon races.

It would require dozens of times more sacrificial offerings.

‘For an organization like the Lucifer Sect, gathering sacrificial offerings would be child’s play.’

Unlike the Demon Realm where nutrition can be supplemented through demonic energy, demons summoned to the Intermediate Realm crave blood.

The blood of humans rich in magical power.

Or the blood and flesh of beastmen that are even more nutritious.

“You’re saying they kidnap beastmen… to devour them!”

The air trembled with the Emperor’s fury.

The pressure became so intense it was difficult to even breathe.

“Ahem, sorry about that.”

The Emperor, having regained his composure, withdrew his aura.

“This is purely hypothetical. I’m just saying there’s this possibility.”

“I hope to god that’s not the case. The thought of missing beastmen being in demons’ bellies… it’s horrifying just to think about.”

It was clear that the Emperor held extremely negative views about the Demon Subjugation Society.

This would make investigating easier.

“Your Majesty, where was the location where you captured that Demon Subjugation Society member before?”

“Near Mantangkar.”

“I’ll go directly to that location and investigate the traces myself.”p>

The Emperor looked reluctant.

“I appreciate the offer, but… the royal family has already investigated several times and finished all interrogations. There won’t be anything to gain from going there again now.”

“Still, I’d like to go and check once.”

The Emperor sighed.

“Sigh, fine. I’m grateful just for your help.”

He opened a drawer and pulled out a map.

It was a complete map of the Beast-man Kingdom with all the Demon Subjugation Society’s appearance points recorded.

“Take this map with you. It should be quite helpful.”

I took the map with thanks.

* * *

The next morning.

The party arrived in Mantangkar through Kise’s warp magic.

“We’re back in this city again quickly.”

Diago swung his heavy spear around energetically.

He looked full of desire to fight immediately.

“The point marked on the map is a bit further this way.”

I pointed in one direction with my finger.

The trading city Mantangkar is one of the largest cities in the Beast-man Kingdom, excluding the capital Rantaskar.

Since it was quite far to walk, we caught a ride on a carriage.

When we arrived at the point recorded on the map, there was an alley that gave off a dark and eerie atmosphere even though it was bright daylight.

The Demon Subjugation Society had boldly carried out their kidnapping in the middle of the city.

Though they did get caught.

“Shall we take a look?”

I activated my Divine Eye and examined every corner of the alley.

The capture of the Demon Subjugation Society member here was quite some time ago from now.

However, the Divine Eye transmitted the information I wanted directly to my retina.

Thinking back to when I first awakened after reincarnation, when at most I could only distinguish truth from falsehood, this was tremendous progress.

As I grow, it seems the Divine Eye is gradually regaining its original abilities.

‘Found it.’

Finally, the evidence I wanted came into view.

It took quite a while to find because the amount was so small.

‘Traces of demonic energy.’

The Demon Subjugation Society member’s body had remnants of demonic energy on it.

Like how body odor transfers when living together, it meant they had lived with a being possessing demonic energy for a long time.

And it was very thick and dark demonic energy at that.

It’s a concentration that couldn’t come from low-level monsters like Papuwa.

Which means.

“So they really were demons?”

It was the moment when it was confirmed that the true identity of the Demon Subjugation Society’s upper ranks really were demons.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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