Report
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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Chapter 321
"How about this? To me, it seems like a similar feeling."
｢…….｣
At my question, the armored griffon wolf, Mother of the Sky, narrowed her eyes. Her amber-colored pupils were fixed on the screen of the device.
PS-111, who was standing next to her, also bent down to look at the pad. The red camera lenses replacing her eyes were constantly contracting and expanding.
I wasn’t the only one in this mansion right now. After receiving information from Roberts about the Coldblood slaves, I had called the others.
"After comparing the growth prediction simulation of the target with the characteristics described by 'Middle Baby,' the results show an 78% match."
｢…Wait a second. Saying it like that makes it even more confusing.｣
As you can see, Mother of the Sky and PS-111 were reviewing the slaves I had selected. Number 26 and Adhai had gone off to explore the mansion.
｢It looks a bit different, but I think it’s right.｣
"Really?"
｢It’s been a while since I last saw it. If anything, it hasn’t changed as much as I expected.｣
Mother of the Sky, who had been silently looking at the screen for a moment, nodded slightly.
‘Thank goodness.’
The search for the 22nd-ranked Coldblood, which had started from the Street of Light, was now almost over.
About two months ago, Alcardi had sold a Coldblood, presumed to be the 22nd-ranked, to Roberts, a slave dealer at the Fortress of Water.
Then Roberts had rented the purchased slave to a luxury hotel.
By convention, cults don’t view Coldbloods in a positive light. They are treated as either heretics or criminals, making them unsuitable for working as employees at a high-end hotel.
When I asked a demon about it, they explained that the hotel had deliberately requested the Coldblood slave for entertaining guests from other races. Despite being a Coldblood, the slave wasn’t bad-looking and was quite obedient to the guests, so the reviews were fairly good.
‘From just hearing the story, it almost sounds like a player.’
It was indeed unusual for a Coldblood to be working at a cult’s luxury hotel. However, it was hard to say if this was definitive proof that they were a player.
Moreover, the 22nd-ranked individual was being pursued by the ruling faction’s hunters. Even if they were hiding, it didn’t make sense for them to show up in a place frequented by the elite of various factions.
‘Or maybe they’ve teamed up with another player?’
Before coming here, I had thought that might be the case. However, seeing it firsthand made things unclear.
If they had allied with a faction that wasn’t the ruling one, why would they choose to be a slave?
Just because the cults are more "humane" than Megacorp or Star Union doesn’t mean they treat their slaves kindly. If they did, they wouldn’t even use the term "slave". Unless they were promised a very high reward, it wouldn't be easy for a player to become a slave.
It’s hard to say they were forced into slavery, either. Roberts had said that this person was regarded as a good slave. Mental domination or parasite-like methods can physically control someone, but they can’t make them work well.
‘Still, I need to see their face in person.’
Since I wasn’t even sure if they were really the 22nd-ranked, it didn’t make much sense to keep pondering over it.
｢But meeting them in person should clear things up.｣
Mother of the Sky seemed to share a similar opinion and added her thoughts. I nodded in agreement.
｢Big One.｣
Just then, Adhai called out to me.
The large dog-like creature, who had been excitedly roaming around the new house, trotted over to me. I could see its long, thick tail wrapped around a barrel.
｢This｣ ｢Eat.｣
[ZZ (Huh?)]
It lowered the barrel beside me and tapped my leg with its tail. The sweet scent coming from the barrel and its body was unmistakable.
‘Is it alcohol?’
While dealing with Roberts’ slaves, I had seen a pile of large barrels that looked like they might contain something similar. When one of the slaves came out holding a wine bottle, I thought it might be a wine cellar, and it seemed I was right.
｢Isn’t that alcohol?｣
"Looks like it."
｢It’s delicious.｣ ｢Together.｣ ｢Eat.｣
Alcohol. I hadn’t drunk any since coming to this world.
In fact, I never enjoyed alcohol in the real world either. To be precise, it wasn’t that I didn’t like it, but I simply couldn’t enjoy it.
Whenever I drank, the burn scars on my face and body would turn bright red. What would happen was that I would look like a zombie, with skin stretched over my body like a patched-up appearance. Because of this, I couldn’t even imagine drinking with others, let alone by myself.
｢You say it’s delicious, now I’m curious.｣
Unlike my complicated feelings, Mother of the Sky seemed quite interested.
“Do you like alcohol?”
｢Not to the point that I’d say I like it. I just haven’t had much of an opportunity to drink, either here or there.｣
“Alcoholic beverages are quite intriguing.”
I had already confirmed the whereabouts of the slave presumed to be the 22nd-ranked. All that was left was to wait for the right opportunity to meet them. Since I had finished everything I needed to do today, it seemed fine to relax here for now.
‘Should I try it?’
Both Mother of the Sky and PS-111 were curious about the alcohol, so I felt a little tempted myself.
I bent down and grabbed the small barrel with my arm near my chest. Using the tusks on both sides of my mouth, I punctured a hole in the barrel. With a sloshing sound, a caramel-colored liquid shot out.
The alcohol, with its sweet aroma matching its color, flowed into my mouth. The initial sharpness faded quickly, and a rich, syrup-like flavor, reminiscent of caramelized sugar, spread through my mouth and throat.
｢This｣｢Tastes good, doesn’t it?｣
“Yeah?”
｢I｣｢I found the nest｣｢Search｣｢Found it｣｢Success｣
“Good job.”
Adhai, who had flared out her wings slightly, raised her long neck and puffed out her chest proudly. Even though she was acting confident, the taste of the drink was indeed worthy of it. It was the first time since the Hellside Hornet cocoon that I had tasted something so delicious.
‘Maybe it’s because both are aged drinks?’
In terms of flavor, the cocoon drink was deeper, but this one felt more like a well-made product. The sweetness was the base, but it had a variety of flavors that blended together without being overwhelming.
｢I want to taste it too, but there’s no cup. Where did you get this from?｣
｢Over there｣｢Another nest｣
“Just drink it.”
｢Hey, there should be a cup though.｣
｢There’s a cup here!｣
｢Thanks… huh?｣
Mother of the Sky, who had been handed a glass by the pink tentacles, froze for a moment.
‘Number 26?’
｢Give one to Big Baby’s friend too!｣
Before I knew it, Number 26 had come over and handed me a plate. It was so natural that I didn’t realize at first.
[ZZZ ZZ ZZZZ ZZZZZ (Did you bring this to drink along with it?)]
｢Yep. They say food for humans needs to be put in a ‘cup’ to eat! Isn’t that interesting?｣
Number 26 was holding a variety of items with its tentacles, such as a wine bottle, a jar, and a decorative vase. Among the items was the psychic training kit I had given to one of the creatures when I first arrived at the mansion.
‘Did it learn from that already?’
While Adhai was savoring the alcohol, it seemed like Number 26 had checked the training kit. True to its intelligence, it must have quickly absorbed the knowledge and put it into action.
‘Serving alcohol in a plate.’
｢It’s like the fox and the crane.｣
“Don’t say unnecessary things; you’ll make the kid feel bad.”
｢It’s just a joke.｣
I set down the barrel and patted Number 26. The creature seemed delighted to be praised, its body glowing with joy.
[ZZ ZZ ZZZZ (Should we pour it into the cup and drink together?)]
｢Sure! That sounds fun.｣
I filled the flower vase Number 26 had brought with alcohol. The creature then inserted its tentacle into the vase like a straw and began sucking it up.
｢Delicious!｣
｢Me too.｣ ｢I want some too.｣
As the two of them with tentacles enjoyed the alcohol, Mother of the Sky also brought her glass, now full, to her beak.
｢It’s not bad. It feels similar to whiskey, but the sweetness and aroma are stronger.｣
“Yeah. It seems like the alcohol content is lower too.”
｢I think this is just right.｣
｢Ugly friend｣｢How’s the taste?｣｢Do you like it?”
｢If you hadn’t said that, it would’ve been even better.｣
｢It’s delicious!｣
While the three of us were exchanging drinks, I also poured some for PS-111.
“PS-111, have some too.”
“Thank you.”
PS-111, holding a bottle with its hook-like claws, extended its tongue, which was a blend of organic tissue and machinery, to lick the liquid inside. The taste seemed to be quite impressive, as it made a slight tremble around its eyes.
“How is it?”
“According to my analysis, 75% of it is from Verzan 02 cactus, 11% from Gormos03 Heavenfruit, 10% from Amoria 09 Agave syrup, and 4% other ingredients. It’s an interesting taste.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
It nodded in agreement but suddenly tilted its head.
“I’m not sure if this is the right term, but… it feels strangely familiar.”
“Familiar?”
“As soon as I inhaled the liquid, a similar combination of ingredients appeared in my memory database. I’ve never input this data before.”
Despite having consumed various foods before, this was the first time PS-111 had reacted this way. It seemed quite unfamiliar to the creature to recall something it didn’t consciously remember.
‘Data that it never inputted before.’
PS-111 was a mutant screamer created by the collaboration of several high-ranking members of the Dominion faction. One of the key ingredients in its creation was a sentient brain, essentially the head of a living being.
I’d once seen a video of PS-111’s creation aboard a Star Union ship, from the Mechanical Council of Pyra Eleven. It showed the process of implanting a cloned cold-blooded brain into the screamer machine.
‘Could it be memories from the past?’
Currently, PS-111 had been remade into its present form after significant damage to its body, using the power of Number 26. Its damaged brain was reconstructed differently, leading to the loss of most of its previous memories.
‘But not all of them are gone.’
The feeling of familiarity PS-111 described might have been caused by it recalling memories from before it became a screamer, while drinking this alcohol.
“Maybe you drank this before you became a screamer?”
“Are you referring to me?”
“Yeah. If it’s a memory that ‘you’ don’t consciously recognize now, it would only make sense that it’s from the past.”
PS-111 did not respond, instead staring down blankly at the bottle. The caramel-colored liquid at the bottom of the bottle reflected in its red lenses.
After a brief silence, it slowly nodded.
“That’s a reasonable assumption. There is a 51% chance that this alcohol is related to my past.”
“Once this is over, let’s investigate the alcohol too.”
“Thank you.”
It was difficult to read PS-111’s facial expression due to its metallic skin. Its face remained as expressionless as usual, but perhaps because I understood the situation, it seemed more disturbed than usual.
“Do you want to drink more? Maybe more memories will come back as you drink.”
“Please.”
When I grabbed the barrel to pour more, it leaned its face toward the container. Like me, it extended its tongue to lick the flowing liquid from the barrel.
“It’s interesting that it tastes completely different from the main ingredients.”
PS-111 licked the alcohol from its cold lips and said that.
Just then, Number 26, having seen our actions, bounced over and inserted itself between us.
“Friend, you can’t drink like that. You have to put it in a cup to drink it.”
“I’m not a human, so it’s fine for me to drink like this.”
“No, you can’t drink like that if it’s human food.”
Our conversation ended with Number 26 interrupting.
Afterward, the drinking party at the Cult Mansion didn’t end until the cellar was completely emptied.
——————
HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
Join our Discord for release updates!
https://discord.com/invite/dbdMDhzWa2
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