Chapter 65: Two Schemes (6)

“Yeeesss⎯⎯it is definitely⎯⎯His Hiiighnesss Dantalian⎯⎯.”

Barbatos fell into deep thought. Why? Why did he come to visit me at this point?

She made various deductions; however, she preferred following her simple intuition over complicated logic when making decisions. After concluding that there must definitely be an interesting reason for Dantalian’s visit, she spoke.

“Tell him to come in right away! No, I’ll go pick him up myself.”

“Aaas⎯⎯Your Highness commaaaaands⎯⎯.”

The nearly transparent ghost responded while dragging the ends of his words. The ghost disappeared into the ground. Normally, she would have let out a sigh about how her subordinate would wander through the ground instead of the perfectly built corridors, but Barbatos bit her finger impatiently.

‘Maybe, just maybe……did he perhaps noticed what I did?’

A tingle went down Barbatos’ spine. There’s no way. Even though she knew that there’s no way he could have noticed, the mere thought of him figuring this out filled her with excitement. Her heart pounded. A faint heat lingered in her breath. Of course, it was too soon to make any conclusions. It’s only natural for someone to become as disappointed as they were hopeful. You have to know how to resign yourself appropriately as well.

Nevertheless.

‘In the very slim chance he does know, I’ll be very satisfied, kid.’

The corners of Barbatos’ mouth lifted up. Her red tongue moistened her lips.

Shortly after, Dantalian entered through the main gate wearing a black mantle. Thanks to the teleportation device that was made for guests in Barbatos’ Demon Lord Castle, he was able to arrive quickly. Once Dantalian saw her, he waved his hand leisurely. His attitude made it seem like he was meeting an old friend.

“Long time no see, Barbatos.”

For a very brief moment, she was at a loss for words. You could say she was caught off guard.

She didn’t expect him to act so candidly. It was true that Dantalian and Barbatos had decided to drop formalities, but they were still Rank 8 and Rank 71. If you were to compare them to the human’s hierarchal society, they were like an empress and a carpet knight. Who would actually drop formalities simply because they were told to?

How long has it been since she was last greeted like this?

A thick smile appeared on her lips.

“You rude bastard, did you smear your courtesy over some barley bread and eat it? If you’re going to visit a lady’s house, then you should at the very least prepare a smoke pipe beforehand.”

“Oh dear, how rude of me. But can you look over this? I was so excited at the thought of seeing a beautiful maiden that I forgot about formalities. Referentially, beauty is something that is destined to make all sorts of pretense and formalities pointless in a matter of seconds.”

“Kakaka.”

She disliked flattery, but she was fond of these kinds of joking flattery. Jokes are like the seasoning of the tiresome world known as life. Even if life is disgustingly crumbly, if you pour a little seasoning over it, it’ll become a bit more palatable.

“You have quite a pleasant silver tongue. I’ll acknowledge your gift that was able to crush that Paimon bitch’s face. Nonetheless, I’m on a different tier than that bitch.”

“Oh? What do you mean by that?”

“I’m not that much of a pushover that I would overlook your rude behavior simply because of your sly tongue. Show my body which supposedly possesses genuine beauty according to you the sincerity it deserves.”

I figured you’d come out like this, Dantalian commented as he pulled something out from his pocket. It was a bottle of alcohol. Barbatos’ eyes opened widely. There was a brand on the bottle which she had seen only once before a long time ago. Barbatos’ words began to stutter unbefittingly.

“D-Don’t tell me. Is it that?”

Dantalian grinned widely.

“Hot Water Hell, renowned throughout the Demon world for their high-class wine. And among those fine bottles of wine, this is the wine among wines that’s only made once a year in the Lava Earl’s territory, from the year 505 of the Baler continental calendar. Coincidentally, this year makes it exactly a thousand years old.”

“No way!”

Barbatos cried out.

“That’s the high-quality wine that even old man Baal struggles to get his hands on!”

“Ehem. I pulled some strings.”

“Insane, this is insane! Is this genuine!? This isn’t genuine, is it!?”

She couldn’t hold back any longer. Her butt had already risen halfway off of her throne. She considered herself as the greatest lover of alcohol among the Demon Lords and the other Demon Lords also acknowledged this fact. That bottle of wine was like the Holy Grail to her. Barbatos completely tossed courtesy and dignity aside as she hopped down hastily.

“Let me see that!”

“Of course. Here.”

Dantalian tossed the bottle. He tossed it high in the air like a ball. Barbatos was struck with dismay by his high handedness. How could he throw the most high-quality wine in the world in front of a wine lover!? Even if you started juggling a couple of masterpieces of the century in front of an artist, that would still be considered more well-mannered than this. She screamed.

“Gyaaaaa! You crazy fucker!”

Barbatos unconsciously used magic in order to grab the bottle of wine from the air. A three-layer black magic spell was cast in an instant without any incantation. <Invisible Grasp>, <Breath of Mercy>, and <Ghost Steps>, these spells were all high tier spells that were at least Five Circles.

Barbatos stepped on the floor and jumped more than 10 meters. She made a magical mist appear out of nowhere and made it lower the speed of the bottle. She then grabbed the bottle with Invisible Grasp. If a human mage were to witness the spells that just unfolded in succession, then their jaws would be stuck on the floor and they would be in shock for multiple reasons. For starters, the fact that she had activated not 2, but 3 spells at the same time. Second, she cast three spells with no incantations and in an instant. Finally, the fact that she had used these great spells simply to grab a bottle of wine.

Barbatos had absolutely no interest in the views of human mages. She was solely focused on the rich Year 505 Baler Wine that was in the air. The magic she had trained and trained again for the past 2,000 years was, at this moment, being used on this 45cm bottle of wine. Was this the fruit of her labor? The wine bottle landed right in Barbatos’ hands. She landed safely on the ground.

“Yeaaaaaaaaah!”

Barbatos lifted the bottle with both her hands. She cried out like a basketball player who had just successfully pulled off a rebound in a decisive moment. She was definitely the king of the floor right now.

“Did you see that!? Fuck! This is the fucking majesty of Rank 8 Barbatos!”

“……I’m not really sure, but I feel like I witnessed something amazing just now.”

“Dantalian, you son of a bitch! You have no right to take even a sip of this alcohol!”

Barbatos’s head turned quickly and she glared at Dantalian. Even though she was glaring with the outer appearance of, at most, a thirteen-year-old girl, the powerful aura she exuded was unquestionable.

“My word! I can’t believe it! A wine that has aged for a thousand years! This masterpiece that was completed after going through many generations of being constantly enchanted every 15 days with the most special magic in the world while in a distillery, a special spell that was made specifically to preserve alcohol! How could you throw this treasure that isn’t sold to the public and is only gifted to those whom the archduke of Hot Water Hell discerns to be beautiful and the noblest! How could you toss it like some mutt!? You’re worse than dirt in a crow’s claw!”

“Mm. I know with certainty now that you are a diehard alcoholic.”

“An alcohol connoisseur, not an alcoholic, you idiot!”

Barbatos stroked the bottle of wine with a trembling hand. She could feel a pleasant coldness against her palm.

‘Whoa.’

She could immediately tell since she was a great black mage. The bottle wasn’t a normal bottle either. It undoubtedly had the highest quality, semipermanent temperature preservation, and shock resistance magic imbued on it as well. Her doubt of whether this was genuine or not changed into a hope about this actually being the real deal.

“Y-You……if this isn’t genuine, then as punishment for deceiving me, I’ll…….”

“I’ll let you have the first sip.”

“Gulp.”

Barbatos unconsciously gulped.

“But the first sip……t-tastes the best?”

“That’s why I’m letting you have it.”

Dantalian grinned.

“Are we not friends?”

“You……are a son of a bitch, but you’re a good son of a bitch.”

“That sounds like you’re swearing at me, but I’ll take it as a compliment out of courtesy.”

Barbatos was moved.

However, that only lasted for a moment as well. The thought of being able to have the first sip of a Year 505 Baler Wine caused her to scramble.

“T-This isn’t the time for this! Wine glass! Where’d I leave my wine glass!?”

She swung her arm around. As she did so, all sorts of miscellaneous junk started to fly in through the front door. The items that had been left in a storage room were being summoned here by Barbatos’ summoning magic. The vast Demon Lord room was filled with junk. It wasn’t for a while longer before Barbatos found her crystal wine glass.

She gulped her saliva down.

“……H-Here I go?”

“Yeah. Go already, please.”

Dantalian had grown tired of the alcoholic’s antics as he answered with a sigh. Normally, Barbatos would have refuted that rude behavior, but there’s no way she would have the leisure to think about something like that. In truth, she wasn’t saying ‘Here I go’ to Dantalian. She was saying that to herself.

“O-Okay. Year 505 Baler Wine……reveal to me the scent of your sensual flesh.”

“I feel like it isn’t the wine that’s sensual, but your brain…….”

“Shut up!”

Barbatos started reciting a spell. It was a spell to pull the cork out of the wine bottle without any tools. No matter how good the corkscrew you have is, it would still occasionally drop pieces of the cork into the wine while being removed. Cork residue had a tendency to subtly lower the taste of the alcohol. In order to prevent this unfortunate accident, Barbatos developed a <cork removal spell> 1103 years ago. Barbatos was confident that out of everything she had achieved throughout her life, this was the greatest achievement she had ever accomplished. Even though this was only a Two Circle spell and it could only be used to remove corks from bottles, she was still certain.

Barbatos who had used spells at and above the rank of Five Circle without any incantation and in three layers just a second ago was currently reciting the cork removal spell, which was only a Two Circle spell, carefully, slowly, and with the utmost concentration. As she continued to recite the incantation, the cork slowly rose upward. Slowly, ever so slowly it rose before finally, the cork shot out with a ‘pop!’.

The wine that had aged a thousand years filled Barbatos’ nose.

“…….”

She was touched. Her mind had flown five hundred meters into the air. She was certain. This, this was the real deal. Without any doubt, this was a genuine <Hot Water Hell, Lava Territory’s Year 505 Baler Wine>. An overwhelming fra⎯⎯not only was it profound and blissful, but it was distinct and deep⎯⎯grance.

Barbatos had yet to drink the alcohol, but she already felt tipsy.

“D-Does heaven really exist?”

“I’m glad that the smell alone is able to elate you. You should try some now.”

“Try it……? This……?”

She trembled.

“Dantalian……you don’t understand the value of this……h-how could I drink this? You shouldn’t drink treasures, you know……?”

“You like alcohol, don’t you? The best alcohol in the world is right here. You still don’t want to drink it?

He was right.

Barbatos despaired.

“Kuuh! What sort of contradiction is this……! Because I love alcohol more than anyone else, I want this Baler Wine! However, since I love alcohol more than anyone……because of this, I must refrain from drinking this Baler even more! A paradox! An irrationality! Anguish! Is this life!?”

“Go a little further and you’ll end up finding the truth of the universe through this single bottle of wine. Hey, hand the bottle back to me. I’ll pour you a glass.”

“O-Okay.”

Barbatos handed the bottle over obediently. It didn’t feel like she would be able to pour the alcohol with her own two hands. With her right hand that was shaking uncontrollably, she held her wine cup out. However, she couldn’t help but start shouting once she saw the way Dantalin held the wine bottle.

“Hey! Brat! What’s with that pose!?”

Dantalian blinked while holding the bottle with two hands.

“What?”

“Your bottle-holding posture is wrong, your posture! You have to use one hand, not two!”

“Like this?”

“No, you fuck! Don’t grab it tightly with your palm, but hold it up lightly from the bottom!”

“……Like this?”

Barbatos started to rage.

“Shit! I told you to not hold it with your palm! By using only your thumb, index finger, and middle finger⎯⎯.”

“Just drink the damn thing, you alcohol addict.”

Dantalian stared at the girl with an annoyed look. This girl was hopeless.

***

TL note: Thanks for reading the chapter. I’m sorry for the long wait. Like I said before, my finals are happening this and next week. I’ve been incredibly busy trying to finish all my final assignments and exams, so I’ve barely had time to translate. I’ll still be busy till like the end of next week, so please be patient.

I’ll see you guys in the next release.