First of All, I’m Drinking - Chapter 9

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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 9

“Welcome.”

Someone who had been waiting in front of the building bowed to me.

It was an elderly man wearing white priestly robes.

“I am a humble servant who serves Gabriel, called Anghel.”

“I am Cael de Argent.”

I also returned the courtesy.

His position, which I briefly confirmed, was quite high.

‘A cardinal, perhaps.’

A blue sash wrapped around the waistline of his priestly robes.

It meant that Anghel’s position was that of a cardinal.

A cardinal of the Order of Gabriel, which ranks first among the four Celestial Deities, holds authority that surpasses even the pope of most minor orders.

For reference, ordinary priests wear white.

Bishops wear red.

And the pope of each order, of which there is one per order, wears a golden sash.

“The other guests have all arrived. I shall escort you inside.”

It seems the kids have already arrived.

Following Anghel’s guidance, I stepped into the cathedral.

The attendants and knights followed behind me.

As soon as I entered, I saw a corridor laid with red carpet.

From the outside, it seemed to stretch as if it would pierce the sky, but once inside, the ceiling wasn’t that high.

The sanctuary where prayers are offered would be much more massive.

On the corridor walls, ornately decorated candlesticks hung in a row.

Though it was daytime and they could have been extinguished, red flames flickered on every candle without exception.

“The Grand Cathedral where the baptism ceremony takes place is this way.”

Anghel spoke as we walked along the carpet.

“I should mention in advance that a great many people have come to see Your Highness. Please don’t be too surprised.”

I felt puzzled and asked.

“Surprised? By seeing people?”

“Hehe, you’ll understand what I mean when you see for yourself.”

Just how many could there be.

The sound of our footsteps echoed through the corridor.

After walking a bit more, sliding doors with beautiful relief decorations came into view ahead.

“From here on, those behind you cannot enter.”

The footsteps of the knights and attendants stopped.

“The baptism ceremony begins the moment this door opens and you enter.”

Anghel’s following words were somewhat bewildering.

I just got here though?

“Well then, shall we enter.”

Anghel opened the door.

Blindingly bright light rushed through the gap in the door.

I walked forward into it.

[His Highness Prince Cael de Argent is entering!]

Waaaaaaaaaah!

A thunderous roar that pounded my eardrums.

Cutting through the light beating down on my corneas, I surveyed the surrounding scene.

The Grand Cathedral was circular in shape, like a colosseum.

On the central ceiling hung emblems symbolizing the four Celestial Deities in order.

From left to right: Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, Uriel.

Seeing the emblems made me feel sick as the faces of those damned bastards came to mind.

Below the emblems was placed an altar for baptism.

Next, what caught my eye was a forest of people filling my entire field of vision.

‘It’s really packed.’

1st floor, 2nd floor, 3rd floor, 4th floor…

Every single seat was completely filled with people.

They were all looking down at me, shouting cheers.

Waiting quietly for baptism under those gazes made me feel like a gladiator dragged into an arena.

“Cael!”

A familiar voice struck my ears amid the cheers.

“You’re just getting here now?”

“You’re the latest, you slow old geezer.”

Seria, Mac, and Kal were huddled together about forty steps away from the altar.

They were all dressed up with the help of attendants, looking quite the part.

Well, they were still little kids though.

“Your Highness should stand over there with them.”

It was Anghel’s voice.

I strode over and stood next to them.

“Did you sleep well?”

The little brat Kal greeted me warmly.

Even in this situation, he had snot stains on his philtrum.

“Just so-so.”

“Ugh, look at him trying to act cool.”

Seria suddenly pointed at me and frowned. How ridiculous.

“Why are you picking a fight?”

“Because it’s annoying to see you pretend you’re not nervous when it’s so obvious.”

“Am I you? I don’t get nervous.”

“Hmph! I’m not nervous either!”

Seria turned her head away sharply.

She started the fight first, so what’s with that reaction.

[Everyone please be quiet.]

A magically amplified voice echoed through the Grand Cathedral.

The murmuring noise stopped instantly.

[We will now begin the 52nd Argent Imperial Family baptism ceremony.]

Finally starting, is it. I’ve been waiting quite a while.

I scanned the audience seats.

The VIP section, separated from the other seats.

The figures sitting in luxuriously decorated chairs came into view.

‘The Emperor.’

Brunei de Argent, along with First Empress Sabina and Second Empress Fiore, with whom I’d had a recent dispute.

And.

‘…Mother.’

Ellia was looking down at me with a bright smile.

Her flushed cheeks suggested what kind of feelings she had attending this occasion.

Tens of thousands.

No, hundreds of thousands of people filled the surroundings without room to step.

But I had the illusion that only we two were looking at each other.

“Hmph! Commoner blood! Even those who aren’t direct descendants are mixed in. I pity the Celestial Deities who must bestow blessings on such creatures.”

I could tell who owned that rough way of speaking without looking.

Killian de Argent.

The Second Prince and pure-blooded direct imperial family member had also attended this occasion.

“Hey, why are you being so sharp? It’s a good day. Isn’t it?”

“Don’t act friendly with me, you vermin. Someday I’ll surpass you and become Emperor.”

Next to Killian sat a beautiful boy with blonde hair and blue eyes, sitting demurely.

A gentle, cheerful impression that contrasted with the cold handsome Killian.

“Haha, yes. It’s nice to see you working so hard.”

The beautiful boy’s eyes curved like crescents.

“Well, it’s impossible anyway though.”

Killian’s face turned bright red at the boy’s mockery.

His skill at getting under someone’s skin with that grinning face was truly first-rate.

Blonde and silver hair.

They looked like a good combination on the surface, but everyone in the Imperial Capital knew there was no relationship more incompatible than those two.

The most promising heir to the Imperial Throne at present.

First Prince Arthur de Argent.

Besides them, I saw several other unfamiliar faces.

They must be other royals I don’t know.

There were also humans wearing priestly robes.

Four people in total.

‘Priests who receive the same treatment as royalty.’

They all had golden sashes around their waists.

They must be the various bishops of the Celestial Order.

Step, step.

Someone began walking toward the altar.

An old man in white priestly robes.

Around his waist was a blue sash symbolizing his rank as cardinal.

The old man stood before the altar with dignified posture.

[Greetings, everyone.]

A resonating voice. He wasn’t speaking to the audience.

The protagonists of the baptism ceremony.

He was speaking to the four of us.

[I am a humble servant who serves Gabriel, called Anghel.]

Anghel bowed his head toward the four of us and smiled gently.

[I will be presiding over this baptism ceremony. Please treat me well.]

As a cardinal of Gabriel, who is counted among the First Rank Celestials, he was certainly qualified to conduct such a major event.

[First, please look at this.]

Anghel lifted up an object that had been placed on the altar.

A gray body.

Moss growing here and there.

If not for the complex patterns carved metaphysically in relief, it would have looked believable as a rock picked up during a mountain hike last night.

[The name of this is… well, quite long. Since it’s complicated to pronounce, I’ll just call it intuitively a ‘stone tablet’.]

Anghel boldly skipped the formalities.

[Gabriel. Michael. Raphael. Uriel. This is a ‘divine artifact’ created jointly by the Four Great Celestials.]

When the words ‘divine artifact’ were heard, people in the audience gasped.

Anghel’s speech continued.

[This divine artifact, used only in royal baptism ceremonies, was personally bestowed by the Celestials to the founding king Hereis de Argent when the Argent Empire was established 783 years ago. You who receive blessings through this stone tablet will…]

Suddenly, an ominous premonition ran down my spine.

[…be able to directly face the true form of the Celestials in the Heavenly Realm and receive their blessing. Through this, your potential in the fields where you have talent will deepen more than twice what it was before.]

‘Damn.’

I was screwed.

That was the only way I could express it.

‘Face their true form?’

Before coming here.

I had desperately struggled to conceal my demonic energy so the Celestials wouldn’t detect it.

But all my efforts would become meaningless the moment I stood before a god’s true form.

Gods fundamentally possess the divine eye that sees through everything.

‘Getting my demonic energy detected is basically guaranteed.’

They might even see through my soul and realize that my true identity is the reincarnation of the deceased Pluton.

If I had recovered all the power from my previous life, it might be different.

But escaping the divine eye of a true form in my current state was impossible.

Absolutely.

I absolutely had to avoid this.

But how?

[First, we will have the baptism of His Highness Prince Max de Argent!]

Waaaaaaah!

When Anghel called out Ilmbo Mac’s name, cheers echoed loud enough to bring down the Grand Cathedral.

Max walked forward with a stiff expression.

Cold sweat flowed from his forehead, and his gait was unnatural.

He clearly looked extremely nervous.

[Here, you just need to place your palm on this part.]

Anghel pointed to the indented part of the stone tablet.

There was a groove just the right size for a young child’s palm.

Max slowly nodded and placed his hand on the stone tablet.

Soon, white energy began flowing from the stone tablet.

The energy traveled through his hand, up his arm, and flowed into Max’s body.

“Huk!”

Max widened his eyes in panic.

[Please relax. It’s just the Celestials’ holy power, so there’s no need to worry.]

Those words seemed comforting as Max’s expression relaxed a little.

The holy power churned through every corner of Max’s body for quite a while.

And finally.

“Huk! Heoeoeoeoek!”

It gathered in both of Max’s eyes and shot white light forward.

It looked like a knight or mage gaining enlightenment and awakening.

That Max kid. What was he seeing right now?

“Heoek! Heoek! Ah, aueueu…”

The holy power that had shot from his eyes was reabsorbed into the stone tablet.

The four patterns carved into the stone tablet began taking turns shining with light.

Like spinning a roulette wheel.

The four patterns were naturally the crests symbolizing each Celestial.

Hwaaaaat!

The circulating light stopped.

Anghel checked the stone tablet.

The other areas had gone dark, with only Raphael’s crest shining brightly.

[The god who has bestowed blessing upon Prince Max is… Raphael!]

Waaaaaaah!

Cheers erupted again.

Max collapsed in place, dripping with cold sweat.

“Heoek, heoek!”

His condition looked far from normal, but Anghel remained calm.

[His Highness seems quite exhausted after facing the god’s true form. Then next… we shall receive His Highness Prince Carno de Argent!]

Cheers erupted once again.

The snotty-nosed kid Kal walked with big strides toward the Altar, as if taking turns with Mac.

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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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