First of All, I’m Drinking - Chapter 80

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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 80

 

Carno wasn’t the only familiar person there.

 

“Ragnor von Grantuan.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Ersea de Cantabile.”

 

“Yes!”

 

Ragnor and Ersea had also signed up for the Holy Kingdom’s history lecture.

 

Ersea from Class A, ranked 2nd among first-years.

 

Ragnor must have been interested in learning about his own country’s history being taught in a foreign land.

 

As for Ersea… we’re not that close, so I’m not sure.

 

I’m not particularly close with Ragnor either though.

 

“Asel.”

 

“Yes.”

 

When the professor called my name, Ersea glanced at me.

 

With a bright smile and twinkling eyes.

 

I waved back to acknowledge him.

 

“The Holy Kingdom of Esnia was founded by priests united in their faith toward Esnia, the deity of stars.”

 

The lecture began in earnest.

 

“First, let me explain about Esnia, the deity of stars.”

 

The professor’s voice dropped to a low tone.

 

“As you know, deities are divided into three categories: Celestial deities, Demon Lords, and neutral deities. Generally, neutral deities are weaker than Celestial deities or Demon Lords, but Esnia is an exception. Turn to page 17 of your textbook.”

 

The sound of rustling pages echoed through the lecture hall.

 

“This is ancient documentary material recording Esnia’s abilities. In fact, there are records of Esnia single-handedly driving away all the Demon Lords when they plotted evil schemes targeting the Intermediate Realm in the past. This was back when there were five Demon Lords, unlike now.”

 

This was the first time I’d heard this story.

 

Honestly, theological materials like this are often full of exaggeration and distortion, so I can’t take those words at face value.

 

But if it was recorded and passed down to this extent, it probably isn’t completely baseless.

 

‘If it was when there were five Demon Lords, that would be from Vergil to Aderzhen.’

 

The professor’s lecture continued.

 

“Theologians have always wondered about the source of Esnia’s mysterious power. After repeated analysis, they arrived at one hypothesis.”

 

The professor’s eyes gleamed sharply.

 

“The hypothesis that Esnia is the creator deity of this world.”

 

All current deities are those who acquired divinity later and ascended to the Pantheon.

 

From Vergil, the first seat in the Pantheon, to me, Pluton, the eighth seat.

 

The same goes for Celestial deities and neutral deities.

 

However, if what’s written in the textbook is true.

 

Esnia might be the only deity among all deities who possessed divine power innately from the beginning.

 

‘I don’t know.’

 

Despite possessing such immense power, why doesn’t he step forward to lead the relationships between deities?

 

When and for what reason was the Wall of the Void Wasteland created?

 

There was so much information I wanted to know.

 

“Most deities have agents. You should know well that divine agents are overwhelmingly stronger than ordinary priests. The agent of the deity of lightning even ranks 8th among the Top 10 Strongest of the Continent.”

 

I suddenly remembered Podrico Parmel, who had been the agent of the deity of swords.

 

His martial prowess in easily cutting down Zagan’s priests had been impressive.

 

“However, Esnia has no agent. The Pope of the Stellar Order has always been an elected position chosen from among the Cardinals. Scholars analyze that the reason is because no human exists who can handle Esnia’s divine authority.”

 

The lecture continued for about two more hours.

 

There was some new information I learned, and some information I already knew.

 

However, there wasn’t any information valuable enough to satisfyingly resolve my curiosity.

 

I hadn’t expected much to begin with, and this was still just the first lecture, so let me listen a bit more.

 

“Hello?”

 

When the lecture ended, Ersea came over and spoke to me.

 

“You’re from Class B, right? I think I saw you during the inter-class competition.”

 

“That’s right. I know you too.”

 

“Really?”

 

Ersea beamed with joy at the fact that I remembered him.

 

“I’m Ersea! Nice to meet you.”

 

“I’m Asel.”

 

We clasped hands and shook.

 

Ersea’s eyes sparkled brightly.

 

“But you’re really handsome. I’ve never seen anyone as handsome as you.”

 

“…What?”

 

“Want to have lunch together later? I’ll treat you! Let’s go together.”

 

This is bewildering.

 

“Well, I mean…”

 

What the hell!

 

Why is he acting like this! This is awkward!

 

“You’re always with women wherever you go.”

 

Ragnor walked over with his hands in his pockets.

 

“During the transfer exam too, you had two women on each arm. I’m envious of how popular you are.”

 

His mouth said he was envious, but his expression showed no such sign at all.

 

“If you’re going to be sarcastic, get lost. Don’t get on my nerves.”

 

“Whew, how scary.”

 

Ragnor whistled annoyingly and disappeared with quick steps.

 

Ersea looked up at me with wide eyes.

 

“Do you have a lot of women?”

 

“No.”

 

“But that guy just said you have a lot of women?”

 

“I said no.”

 

“Really none? You’re not lying, are you?”

 

I shouted in frustration.

 

“I said no! Why do I have to explain this to you in the first place!”

 

Ersea clutched his stomach and laughed.

 

“Hahaha!”

 

After laughing heartily for a while, he seemed to calm down and wiped tears with his finger.

 

“Of course I was joking. You’re really funny. Let’s be good friends from now on!”

 

Ersea grinned and tilted his head at an angle.

 

This cunning fellow really knows how to toy with people’s hearts.

 

“Sigh, fine. Let’s be friends.”

 

In a situation where I needed to expand my network as much as possible, there was no reason to refuse.

 

“Then you’ll come have lunch with me, right?”

 

Ersea put on an earnest expression and clasped his hands together.

 

It’s obvious he’s doing that on purpose to make me unable to refuse.

 

I glanced at the seat where Carno had been sitting.

 

While I was having a conversation with Ersea and Ragnor.

 

Carno had already left.

 

It seems I’ll have to postpone talking with that guy until next time.

 

“Hmm?”

 

I looked at Ersea, who was waiting for my answer with the corners of his lips cutely raised.

 

“…Do whatever you want.”

 

I don’t know anymore.

 

* * *

 

And so, I ended up having lunch with Ersea at the campus cafeteria.

 

“Mm! This is really delicious! You should try some too!”

 

Ersea stabbed a well-cooked steak with her fork and offered it to me.

 

Come to think of it, it had been ages since I’d eaten steak.

 

When I lived in the Imperial Capital, I ate it like drinking water, but after leaving, I’d barely managed to scrape by.

 

“Mmm.”

 

As I put the steak in my mouth, rich juices burst forth like a festival.

 

It was heavenly.

 

I couldn’t get my bearings from eating proper steak after so long.

 

“How is it? Delicious, right?”

 

Ersea smiled brightly and tapped her feet excitedly.

 

Would it be rude if I said her reaction felt like a puppy waiting for its owner’s praise?

 

“It’s delicious. Thank you.”

 

I also took a bite of the noodles that came as my portion.

 

It was the cheapest menu item in this cafeteria.

 

Since someone else was treating me, it felt awkward to choose expensive food.

 

“Don’t eat noodles, have something more delicious. I have plenty of money.”

 

“It’s fine. This is delicious enough.”

 

“Well, that’s a relief then.”

 

For a while, only the clinking of utensils and the sound of chewing continued.

 

I was the one who broke the silence.

 

“Ersea. I have something I’m curious about.”

 

“Yeah! Ask me anything.”

 

“What kind of person is Meirei? What’s her image like in Class A?”

 

Originally, I had intended to ask about Seria.

 

But that girl seemed to be getting along fine without me worrying about her.

 

So I shifted my question to Meirei instead.

 

Since Ersea was in the same Class A, I should be able to get a satisfactory answer.

 

“Meirei? Hmm…”

 

Ersea put her fork in her mouth and pondered before answering.

 

“She’s kind of… eccentric? I guess you could say.”

 

“Eccentric?”

 

“Yeah. She always goes around alone. She barely talks to classmates either. Whether she doesn’t feel lonely or enjoys loneliness… Anyway, she’s a friend I can’t understand.”

 

“She’s ranked 1st among first-years though. Her status should be pretty high.”

 

“Actually, because of that, everyone tried to act friendly at the beginning of the semester. They talked to her often too. But no matter what anyone said, her reactions were so cold that after that, the kids stopped approaching her.”

 

I hadn’t asked about her personality though.

 

“What was she doing before enrolling? Do you happen to know?”

 

“I don’t know. Probably nobody knows.”

 

Right.

 

Not mixing with classmates would mean she doesn’t reveal anything about herself either.

 

“Is this because of what happened during the class competition?”

 

Ersea clearly grasped the reason for my question.

 

“Don’t worry about it~ Like I said before, she’s quite the eccentric. It’s not the first or second time she’s pulled such strange behavior.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah yeah. But I still can’t figure out why she acted that way toward you during the class competition. Do you have any guesses?”

 

“No.”

 

I answered nonchalantly.

 

If I had known beforehand that Meirei’s perception was that sharp.

 

I wouldn’t have rashly forced the cancellation of my unique ability.

 

“Hiya.”

 

As I frowned, Ersea rested her chin on her hand with droopy eyes and stared at me.

 

“How can you look handsome even when frowning~”

 

This girl’s antics are becoming hard to bear.

 

I pulled my chair back and quietly stood up.

 

“Sorry, but there’s not much time left before the next lecture. I’ll head out first!”

 

There really wasn’t much time left.

 

Trying to attend three subjects in a row made break time tight.

 

Ersea looked disappointed but soon waved her hand at me.

 

“Take care!”

 

I also waved back at her.

 

Sigh.

 

Exhausting, so exhausting.

 

* * *

 

Finally, it was the Understanding Demon Lords lecture.

 

This time too, familiar faces were visible in the lecture hall.

 

“Huh? Hey, it’s been a while?”

 

The girl with blue ponytail hair approached.

 

“You don’t have your axe with you today.”

 

“Are you crazy? Why would I bring a weapon to a liberal arts class?”

 

Irin opened her eyes drowsily as if asking what nonsense I was spouting.

 

Then she casually plopped down in the seat next to me.

 

“Perfect. I was bored since I didn’t know anyone, so let’s sit together.”

 

“Why? You could just approach other people saying ‘I want to smash your head in!’ and become friends.”

 

Whoosh!

 

Irin’s face turned bright red.

 

“Shut up, you crazy bastard!”

 

Thud thud thud thud.

 

Irin hit my forearm repeatedly with her cat-like hands.

 

Maybe because she’s naturally strong, my arm was getting quite numb from the hits.

 

“If you know it’s embarrassing, why did you act that way toward me back then?”

 

“Shut up!”

 

Thud thud thud thud!

 

Irin’s punching got faster.

 

“Ah, okay! I’ll shut up, so stop hitting me.”

 

“Hmph.”

 

Irin sharply turned her head and snorted.

 

Somehow I felt like teasing her a bit more.

 

But I held back, worried she might really get upset if I went further.

 

“…”

 

I felt a gaze watching me from afar.

 

Meirei Estrada.

 

She looked at me coldly, then soon turned her head away.

 

She seemed to have a lot she wanted to say.

 

‘We’re not going to have another confrontation later, are we?’

 

I should prepare to run away as soon as the lecture ends, just in case.

 

Creak.

 

The lecture hall door opened.

 

“Hello everyone, nice to meet you.”

 

A female professor who appeared to be in her mid-40s stepped up to the podium.

 

“I am Raeseya Welton, in charge of this semester’s required liberal arts subject, Understanding Demon Lords.”

 

Raeseya Welton.

 

Fortunately, the suspect Garcia had marked was the professor in charge of this lecture.

 

I immediately activated my insight to scan her.

 

‘As expected.’

 

I twisted the corners of my mouth upward.

 

Around her chest area, there was the darkest and most massive cloud I had ever seen among humans.

 

Much larger and blacker than Garcia’s.

 

‘So it’s you.’

 

Baal’s agent.

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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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