First of All, I’m Drinking - Chapter 32

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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 32

While squirming around trying to break through the guards, the words left by that mysterious maid came to mind.

‘She said I just needed to confirm whether Cael was in this tower or not, right?’

If I did just that, she’d handle the rest herself.

I didn’t know what kind of person that woman was, but at least she didn’t seem like someone who would harm Cael.

We’d spent years together in the Imperial Capital, after all.

Seria decided to trust her instincts.

“Ugh! Cael’s up there, isn’t he? I know everything!”

Flinch.

The guards stiffened like boards.

Their pupils dilated in surprise as their mouths gradually fell open.

“How did you… know that…”

Got it.

With that reaction, it was one hundred percent certain.

Cael was indeed up in this tower.

Seria had fulfilled her mission.

“That’s it, sister! They say Cael is up in this tower!”

When Seria shouted at the top of her lungs, the guards panicked and tried to grab her.

But Seria dodged around like a little mouse and cried out.

“Please! I confirmed it just like you asked! Now please save Cael! Please…”

Whoooosh—

Suddenly, the sound of flames blazing brushed past her ears.

It wasn’t just Seria who heard it—the guards also looked around, following the source of the sound.

Then.

This time, a voice reached only Seria’s ears.

—Good work, little princess. Leave the rest to us.

It wasn’t Merry’s voice.

It seemed to be a man, but with an androgynous and sly high-pitched tone.

CRASH—!

Suddenly, a thunderous roar struck the tower.

* * *

“Ugh, I need to pee.”

I’d been trapped in this prison for several hours.

During that time, I couldn’t eat or use the bathroom.

“Hey there, Sir Knight.”

“…”

“You should let me use the bathroom. What if I just go right here? Then it’ll smell bad for you too, right? That won’t be good.”

“…”

“You’ve got eyes but no ear holes, I see. Don’t just stare at me like that—say something.”

The Imperial Guard knights watching me on behalf of the Count.

No matter what I said, they pretended not to hear.

Rude bastards.

“Fine then. I’ll just piss on you guys?”

I slowly began untying my pants.

“Who knows? Maybe my urine has demonic energy in it too. Then you’d really be screwed, can you handle…”

Just as I said that.

One of the knights silently handed me a chamber pot.

“…”

If you had this, you could have given it to me earlier.

After finishing my business in the chamber pot, I gradually started feeling hungry.

“I’m hungry…”

“…”

“Hey, Sir Knight. Go downstairs and get me some food.”

“…”

“Are your ears blocked? I said get me some food. You guys need to extract information from me, right? If I starve to death like this, that precious red-head of yours will be delighted, won’t he?”

Red-head was my term for the Count.

“For reference, I eat everything without being picky. Among them, I especially like mushroom soup. The mushroom soup I had as a child was really delicious…”

Just as I was getting tired of chattering away by myself.

I heard the sound of someone arguing downstairs.

Listening carefully, the voice sounded familiar somehow.

‘Seria?’

Why is Seria here?

With an uneasy feeling, I enhanced my hearing with demonic energy.

These handcuffs they put on as so-called sealing devices couldn’t block my demonic energy, as expected.

‘That’s it, sister! They say Cael is up in this tower!’

‘Please! I confirmed it just like you asked! Now please save Cael! Please…’

I had no idea why she was here, but from what I heard, she seemed to already know I was here.

Why would she do something so dangerous?

“Who on earth told her to…”

That’s when it happened.

CRASH—!

Suddenly, a thunderous roar struck the wall.

The prison wall shattered into pieces, revealing the black night sky.

Broken rock fragments scattered through the air as swaying shadows blocked the moonlight.

On top of the destroyed stone wall.

A giant figure in a black robe stood with his feet planted.

“…!!”

Snap—!

The giant broke the sealing device on my hands and instantly hoisted me up.

He tucked me under his arm and looked back at the guard.

The guard stared at the giant with eyes full of shock, as if he couldn’t understand what was happening.

A languid baritone flowed from the giant’s mouth.

“Hello.”

The guard’s pupils trembled.

“The moonlight tonight is truly beautiful…”

“Diago! Stop talking nonsense and hurry up and get out of there!!”

A shout came from outside the window.

It was a high-pitched voice, sly for a man.

Meaning there wasn’t just one attacker.

Whiiiiiiiing—!

At that moment, the tower’s security magic circle activated and a loud siren began blaring.

“Tsk.”

The giant clicked his tongue, turned around, and leaped out the window.

“Kise! Cast Haste on us!”

“Yes, yes!”

Along with the high-pitched reply, I felt the flow of magical power.

The other attacker seemed to be a mage.

But surprisingly, those two weren’t the end of it.

The total number was three, including the baritone giant and the high-pitched mage.

The remaining one had enough confidence to show their face without wearing a hood.

I couldn’t help but be shocked when I confirmed the identity of the attacker.

A slender jawline and distinctive dull blonde hair.

Since she was running away, I could only see her from behind, but I was certain.

She was Merry, the dedicated attendant to Mac and Kal.

‘Why is that girl here?’

Five years ago.

Right after I had awakened my aura and rumors were spreading everywhere calling me a prodigy.

While having tea with the children, Merry had once asked me for a favor.

-Could you spare me a moment? Just briefly. There’s something I’d like to discuss with you.

At the time, I thought it was nothing important and didn’t listen because I found it bothersome.

But it seems she was hiding something.

Look at her now.

Her running speed was at a level that couldn’t be explained for a mere maid.

‘What the hell are these guys doing?’

The giant in the black robe was carrying me tucked under his arm while running at an insane speed.

Intruders who had suddenly infiltrated the Imperial Capital.

Since I didn’t sense any hostility directed at me, I stayed still for now.

Perhaps these people could become a variable that might break through the current situation.

From what I could see, they seemed to be trying to kidnap me for some reason, but I wouldn’t mind going along with them until we escaped the Imperial Capital.

Even if I didn’t know their identities.

Either way, I was also in a position where I needed to leave this Imperial Capital.

“Hey there, Your Highness!”

The giant carrying me spoke up.

Unexpectedly, he used respectful language.

“Even if it’s uncomfortable, please bear with it a little longer! Once we reach the Warp Point, we can go straight to our destination safely!”

“More importantly, Merry! Is this really the right child? Are you certain?”

The second voice came from above in the sky.

A beautiful voice for a man.

The only mage in this group.

While the other two were running at high speed on the ground, he alone was performing acrobatics in the sky, drawing spirals.

“I’m certain.”

Merry answered coldly.

The same expressionless face she had when serving tea to Ilmbo Mac.

Seeing that her behavior was identical even after revealing her identity, her lack of expression changes must be her original personality.

Wooooooooong-!

The violent swirling flow of magical power.

It was close.

Right behind us.

‘With this level of magical power…’

Massive magical power reminiscent of Mount Tai.

Among the humans I’d seen, there was only one person with this much magical power.

Gregory van Ifrit.

The continent’s strongest flame mage and humanity’s only 9th Circle Battle Mage had personally taken action.

[That’s far enough, intruders.]

A voice resonating with magical power.

The giant who had been running while carrying me clicked his tongue.

“Damn, already here? Was it teleport!”

“Aaaah, Merry! You do something to stop him! This kind of thing is your specialty!”

“…Shut up. If we’re both mages, why don’t you try being useful for once?”

“Are you crazy? How do you expect me to stop that monster!”

The mage was making a fuss.

Seeing him babble nonsense about tonight’s moonlight to the guards, I thought the giant was the biggest lunatic in this group.

But the mage was definitely worse, if not at least equal.

‘I don’t see the Guard Captain.’

Zeroph Gamilan.

A Sword Master who was the Imperial House’s greatest military power excluding the Duke.

Well, the moment the Duke personally took action, his participation became meaningless anyway.

There was an insurmountable gap between a 7-star swordsman and a 9th Circle Battle Mage.

Hwaaaaaaaarrrr-!

Duke Ifrit loaded a large-scale destructive magic.

A wide-range bombardment covering this entire area.

But the magic’s aim wasn’t directed at me.

It was an attack precisely targeting only the giant holding me, Merry, and the mage in the sky.

“Aaaaah! It’s coming!”

Paaaaaaaaang-!

With a roar that shook heaven and earth, Duke Ifrit’s signature flame baptism poured down in all directions.

Most of it was an attack aimed at the mage.

As the Duke was also a mage himself, he knew.

Judging by how they had secretly infiltrated by breaking through the Imperial Capital’s security magic circle, there was a Warp Point installed nearby.

And the fact that the Warp Point couldn’t be activated if the mage was killed.

“Uh, uaaaah! Damn Baal!!”

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The mage twisted his body this way and that in mid-air, dodging Duke Ifrit’s bombardment.

Those movements were at a level that could be called artistry.

Kwaaaaang!

The bombardment that the mage dodged collided with the ground, shaking the earth’s axis violently as if an earthquake had occurred.

“Merry! I’m dying! I’m really dying! I’m gonna die!”

“…Tch, useless bastard.”

Merry drew a sword hidden between her robes at her waist.

A silver-white blade with a jet-black handle.

It was a cross-shaped longsword with an impressive elongated crossguard.

Gooooooo-!

Blue aura overlaid the blade.

Merry narrowed her eyes and glared at the Duke’s bombardment.

As if trying to count the number.

As if trying to grasp the trajectory.

The air around Merry, who had released her aura, vibrated subtly.

A sight that seemed to far transcend the limits of the human species.

Then even her blue pupils began to shine with the same light as her aura.

Saaaaaaak-!

The sword energy emitted from her blade drew a crescent-shaped arc and collided with the flame baptism’s bombardment.

Kwaddddddddd!

Merry swung her sword as if dancing.

With each swing of her sword, dozens of bombardments were annihilated.

The bombardments that had densely painted the sky red were soon reduced to a number that could be counted on one hand.

Beyond simply overlaying aura on the blade, she had reached a level where she could shoot sword energy in all directions.

At minimum, a Sword Master.

She was a skilled fighter on par with the Emperor or the Guard Captain.

‘How has she been hiding such skill?’

The eyes of those who have transcended a certain level can see through the level achieved by others.

Even the Emperor and the Imperial Guard Captain, who are clearly inferior to Merry at first glance, might be deceived somehow.

A 9th Circle mage.

It’s impossible to escape the sight of the Count, who is equivalent to a Grand Master in terms of swordsmanship.

Even I hadn’t noticed Merry’s level of skill.

Could she have been wearing some artifact that conceals her power?

[Those little rats are quite something.]

Eventually, Duke Ifrit spoke up after confirming that his flame baptism had been blocked.

“Damn it… what else is coming now?”

“Give us a break, old man. You’re annoyingly thorough.”

The intruders brazenly criticized Duke Ifrit.

I’m not sure if he heard their voices, but I can glimpse signs of conflict from the Count.

[…]

He seems unable to make a decision easily.

It means that even for him, the power of the magic he’s about to unleash is burdensome.

Second only to one, above ten thousand others.

Even the Count, who holds absolute power within the Empire except for the Emperor, has to worry about the aftermath to such an extent.

[I have no choice.]

Whooooom—!

A black magic circle rises above Duke Ifrit’s head.

A magic circle so enormously large that the Count, who is quite tall, appears as a mere dot.

It was a super-massive magic circle that even surpassed the size of Taeyang Palace where the Emperor resides.

[Hell Fire.]

The Count’s lips parted.

Hell Fire.

It’s magic I’ve heard of before.

One of the highest-tier annihilation spells that brings flames from another world into the present realm.

This time, I was included within the range of the magic.

If that spell completes its activation normally, this entire area will become a wasteland.

[Everyone…]

I could feel intense killing intent from the Count as he raised the corners of his eyes.

[Turn to ash.]

With those words, something begins to emerge from the black magic circle.

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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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