"Cheers!" Agatha said as she raised her cup."Cheers—!" the Witches boomed in reply. Dozens of cups were raised into the air as they clinked with each other. Among them were Taquila Witches, who had lost their sense of taste, as well as the higher-ups of the Union who had turned into carriers. It was especially so for the latter two. As humans who had experienced the previous Battle of Divine Will and through it, immense despair and helplessness, they finally felt the great weight on their chests lifted. They could engage in laughter with everyone else, laughing even more happily than the rest.
Not all sacrifices would have returns, nor was all persistence met with brightness. It was precisely because of this that centuries of sacrifice and persistence which were not for naught that moved people even more.
"Hey…" Nana curiously sized up Pasha and company. "Can you really taste anything by drinking it like this?"
The G.o.d"s Punishment Witches had only lost their sense of taste, but Pasha, Alethea, and Celine"s drinking far exceeded everyone"s imaginations. They would curl up their tentacles, pour the alcohol over their heads like they were showering.
"Of course. Although we do not have mouths, but we can use the short tentacles on the surface of our bodies to distinguish flavors and absorb the moisture. Furthermore, our senses are stronger than the typical person." Pasha smiled in reply. "In addition, a carrier"s sense of taste is different from a human"s, so we can taste flavors we have never experienced before."
"Wow… What"s the taste like? I"m so curious!" Lightning"s eyes lit up as she said.
"According to the Quest Society"s research, humans are unable to understand things they have never come into contact with. Even if she tells you, it would be hard for you to imagine it." The Ice Witch refilled her cup. "If you wish to exceed that limitation, the only way is to transform into a carrier."
"Agatha, are you thinking of…" Celine said peculiarly.
"Yes, once this is all over, I"m thinking of doing a Soul Transfer before rebuilding the Quest Society." Agatha nodded without any misgivings. "A Witch"s lifespan doesn"t exceed a hundred years. If I become a carrier, I can continue my research in perpetuity." With that said, she smiled at Lightning. "Towards people like you who are filled with curiosity, you are most suitable for the Quest Society. How about it? Are you interested in joining us?"
"But we won"t be able to fly by becoming carriers, right?" Lightning thought for a moment. "I haven"t even finished exploring the world. Perhaps, I"ll consider it the day I can no longer fly."
"Phew… What are you saying? You sound as though the Battle of Divine Will has ended." Lorgar downed a large mug of alcohol before letting out a breath. "We just managed to defeat the demons. There are even stronger enemies on the other side of the continent! No one can guarantee that the war will end the moment we arrive in the Bottomless Land. That"s why, we can only drink and celebrate as much as we can today!" As she spoke, she reached out to the alcohol barrel beside her. "Eh? It seems empty… Where"s the refill?"
"Everyone, drink slower. The alcohol Evelyn had to make today is just too much." Molly commanded her magic servants to take away the empty alcohol barrels. "After all, everyone on the floating island is celebrating tonight. She won"t be able to provide for all of this even if she uses all her strength in the conversion."
Be it Chaos Drink or alcohol, as objects of pleasure, it was naturally impossible that valuable manpower was wasted carrying them up the floating island before they set off. As such, the simplest solution was to bring along Evelyn. As long as there was water, she could produce alcohol ceaselessly. However, when everyone was celebrating over the victory, the stockpile they had was somewhat inadequate.
"Pfft" Sitting at the seat of honor, Anna suddenly burst out laughing.
"What"s wrong?" Everyone turned their gaze towards her.
"No… Nothing. I just thought of an interesting matter." Anna shook her head. "Roland used to say that he doesn"t know why the simulation of civilization evolution would treat alcohol as something that important. Even if one might be lacking in food and clothing, as long as there"s some alcohol, the level of bliss and satisfaction would rise. Instead, people make trouble when there"s adequate food and clothing. It"s completely incomprehensible. From the looks of it, it"s not without reason."
"Ahh… Here we go again. Brother"s strange words." Tilly rolled her yes.
Everyone immediately broke out into laughter.
"By the way, is His Majesty still not busy with his work? Shouldn"t it be fine to abandon his work for a moment during such times?" Wendy asked.
Roland had only appeared at the beginning of the night celebrations, returning to his office after he gave a short opening speech. According to him, the demons would likely soon come to them; therefore, he had to handle the things on hand, so as to have confidence in the plans that followed. Only after finis.h.i.+ng all of that could he celebrate with everyone.
"I"ll go hurry him." Anna stood up.
"We"ll leave it to you then," Wendy said with a smile.
The underground cave where the Witches were celebrating wasn"t too far from Roland. After pa.s.sing through a narrow pa.s.sageway, she arrived in an office area beneath the command center. In fact, Roland wasn"t the only person busy. The staircase between the General Staff and the command center was constantly filled with the patter of footsteps. Clearly, they knew that the subsequent journey to the Bottomless Land was critical to the rest of the project.
Of course, she came to Roland not solely to allow him to relax. Nightingale was by his side and the end of the war marked the beginning of their agreement.
With this in mind, Anna knocked on the door.
"Come on in. The door isn"t locked." Nightingale was the one who answered her.
Seeing that it was Anna, she appeared somewhat surprised. Even her expression turned unnatural. "Uh, why are you here…"
"Obviously, it"s for the agreement."
"N-now? Wait… I"m not prepared yet…"
In a rare instance, Anna revealed a sly smile. "Just kidding. I"m here under everyone"s request to bring him over to have a drink."
"So that"s how it is…" Nightingale heaved a sigh of relief, but she also had a despondent feeling.
"However, the agreement is part of it. We can also talk about it." Anna looked at Roland, who was slumped onto the desk, asleep. "Is he in the Dream World?"
Nightingale took quite a while to realize that Anna was being deliberate. Helpless, she said, "Yes. He said that he needs to check on the research progress of the Design Bureau of Graycastle"s new project. He also needs to discuss the follow-up matters with that senior lord demon. He wouldn"t take long. If you wish to wake him up, just nudge him. According to him, these sort of matters can be interrupted at anytime. After all, time doesn"t change."
Anna nodded as she extended her hand to nudge Roland.
The latter did not respond at all.
"Strange. That"s how we woke him up in the past. Is he too tired from the preparations over the past few days?" Nightingale pressed down on Roland"s shoulders and shook him, but failed to wake him up.
When she attempted to wake him up with more strength by raising his body up, he fell backwards without any response, leaning against the back of the chair. His hands slid down without any strength, reaching down to his waist, as though he had lost all consciousness.
The two instantly had a drastic change in expression!