Chapter 106
Chapter 106
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: The Moon's Kiss
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Because it was a banquet personally prepared by the Popes themselves, there was no way to describe it other than "enormous."
In a banquet hall large enough to swallow a whole single-story house and still have room left over, massive tables stood in rows, laden with hundreds—perhaps even thousands—of different dishes.
Even taking just one bite per type, it looked like your stomach would fill up long before you could sample them all. Counting the dishes on a single table was a daunting task in itself.
Even the knight commanders, who had experienced everything under the sun, stood frozen in place with their mouths hanging open at the sheer scale. It was baffling how they had managed to prepare a banquet of this magnitude in just a few days.
We stood completely overwhelmed by the outrageous scale until the Popes took my hand, insisting it was fine, and practically dragged us into the hall. Only then did we hesitantly start moving our feet.
Fortunately, the rigid atmosphere didn't last long.
As the alcohol began to flow, Claudia—who was the first to feel a slight warmth from the buzz—started roaming every corner of the banquet hall without a care.
Next to move were Lize and me, followed last by Erika and Iris. Iris trailed after Claudia with a sigh, while Erika nibbled on pastries with sparkling eyes.
After that, the mood felt pleasantly lively. Floretta clung to my side with a beaming smile. Luna settled nearby with her usual stoic expression.
With the Popes acting like that, the one burning with anxiety was Lize. Unable to bring herself to tell the Popes to back off, she suffered in silence. The grip on my arm tightened fiercely.
I couldn't outright shove the Popes away either, so I subtly hinted at wanting some distance, but Floretta and Luna paid no mind to my reaction and showed no intention of leaving my side.
Time continued to pass.
"Now, it seems about time to present that to our honored guests."
When complete darkness had settled outside the stained glass, Luna gathered us, saying there was something to give us. All the knight commanders were slightly tipsy.
Of course, Claudia excepted. She had clearly drunk the most among us, yet she looked the most sober of all. Not even a hint of a flush on her face.
"Shall we bring it?"
Luna lightly clapped her palms with a sharp smack. The nuns waiting by the wall prostrated deeply before the Pope, then scurried off together toward somewhere.
We watched the scene with baffled eyes. What could they be fetching that merited such formality?
The mystery was solved soon enough. Before long, twelve nuns approached carrying a massive oak barrel, taking extremely cautious steps. Claudia's eyes sparkled at the sight of the barrel.
She had been drinking up until moments ago, yet lit up at another barrel—honestly, it made me question whether she was even human when it came to alcohol tolerance.
"By any chance, do you know what's inside this?"
"Not really. Alcohol...?"
"You've hit the mark precisely. However, this is a little different from ordinary alcohol."
The nuns remained standing in place, still holding the barrel. Luna approached the valve at the bottom. She set a small glass cup in front of it and turned the valve clockwise.
A liquid that appeared to be half gold and half silver began pouring into the glass.
Since the glass was small, it filled quickly. Luna closed the valve and offered the glass she held to Floretta. Golden holy power enveloped its surface.
Trapped between the golden holy power and the transparent glass, the liquid—which gave off a holy yet strangely eerie vibe—quietly shimmered inside the glass, catching the chandelier light.
"This is the alcohol known in the Holy Kingdom as the 'Moon's Kiss.' What covers it may be called the 'Radiant Sun.'"
"'Moon's Kiss'... did you say?"
Round red eyes stared into the glass at the liquid. Erika seemed to know something about it.
"Yes. Have you heard of it before?"
"I only know that Your Holinesses make it personally, the production volume is so low that money can't even buy it, and that it's obtainable solely through faith, not coin."
"You've hit the mark precisely."
Luna nodded.
"Drinking this alcohol is permitted only to the Pope of the Sun, the Pope of the Moon, the Heresy Inquisitors, and the Heresy Interrogators. For any other being to touch it to their lips, the only way is to be personally chosen by us Popes on the day of the Holy Nativity—but even then, it's limited to just a few drops."
"And even those few drops can keep you drunk until the next day."
"You know quite a lot, honored guest."
At Luna's praise, Claudia patted Erika's shoulder with an impressed "oh" expression. Erika averted her gaze, claiming she'd only read about it in some book long ago.
I knew absolutely nothing about this alcohol. It was an item that had never appeared in the game. Moon's Kiss and Radiant Sun—utterly unfamiliar names.
All five of us, myself included, showed clear interest, but Claudia's reaction stood out the most. She seemed immensely curious after hearing how rare and potent it was.
"It requires repeating the process of concentrating pure divinity hundreds of times over at minimum, and we alone can handle such pure divinity, so the annual production falls short of three bottles of wine. We wish to share one glass each with our honored guests."
Luna brought another glass beneath the valve. She poured the liquid from inside the barrel into it, and golden holy power covered the top of the glass.
The process was repeated exactly according to our number. Four knight commanders and me. A total of five glasses gleamed on the golden tray.
Claudia grinned from ear to ear. She looked truly delighted. Lize and Erika's eyes also shone. Only Iris wore her usual impassive expression.
Luna beckoned one nun with a gesture. The summoned nun approached with a half-tearful face and lifted the tray with both hands. Envy was plain on the faces of the other nuns.
"But can you truly handle it?"
"......Pardon? What do you mean by that?"
Floretta, who had picked up one glass, continued with a chuckle.
"The Moon's Kiss is so vicious that a single drop can shatter a person's mind and strip away their reason. As for the liquid in this one glass...... surely no one but us Popes could endure it. That's what I asked—can you truly handle it?"
Green eyes slowly scanned us. It was a gaze that felt like it was testing us.
We looked at one another. Claudia's face said it was no problem at all, and the other knight commanders showed no particular fear either.
"It's fine, Your Holiness. I'm confident when it comes to alcohol."
"I'll ask once more, honored guest. Are you sincerely saying you can handle what's inside this?"
"Of course. Even if I can't, I'd have no regrets just for tasting this alcohol."
Floretta gave a benevolent smile toward the confident Claudia. She extended the small glass in her hand forward. Claudia took it and examined the liquid inside from every angle.
It was a glass no longer than my pinky finger and no thicker either.
But if this alcohol truly knocked people unconscious with just a few drops, then the moment it was drunk, there was no guaranteeing when—or if—the drinker would wake.
"I gratefully accept, Your Holiness."
Claudia expressed her thanks to Floretta and downed it in one gulp.
Claudia emptied the glass in an instant, touched her throat and chest with her hand as if confirming the path of her esophagus, then sharply whipped her head toward us.
"......Whoa, this stuff is seriously stron—"
And promptly toppled sideways.
Lize and Erika's shocked cries came from beside me. This was Claudia—the woman who could drink beer not by the glass but by the barrel without getting drunk, without even a blush.
And Claudia went down like that from one sip's worth?
"I did ask if you could truly handle it."
Fortunately, the battle nuns reacted swiftly and caught her body, so she didn't roll across the floor. A beat later, Claudia's face began turning a deep crimson.
One of the nuns retrieved the glass from her hand and placed it back on the tray. Luna's jade eyes and Floretta's green eyes turned toward us once more.
It was a look that said, What did we tell you?
"What will the rest of you do?"
Luna picked up the next glass. Floretta smiled brightly as she spoke.
"You may refuse if you like. They say the people of the Empire have weaker constitutions for alcohol than those of the Holy Kingdom. It's entirely understandable."
......
The moment hazy consciousness flickered back, I reflexively clutched my head. It throbbed like it might split open.
My memory cut off right after downing the alcohol that Floretta and Luna had emphasized was prepared "specially." I carefully retraced my recollections.
After hearing Floretta's words, the knight commanders had drunk the Moon's Kiss one by one as if to say "watch this," collapsing in the exact order they'd imbibed. And I had been last.
As the pounding headache hit, I unwittingly cradled my head and groaned. Something soft enveloped the back of my head. My ears were wrapped in squishy, plush softness too.
"Have you regained some awareness?"
The stiff voice from above pulled my fading mind back somewhat. I strained to lift my impossibly heavy eyelids. But no matter how hard I tried, they wouldn't budge.
Something warm gently covered my eyes. Judging by the shape, it seemed like fingers. Long, slender fingers pressed and massaged my eyelids.
The hand withdrew. When I opened my eyes again, a much clearer vision greeted me than before. I raised my head.
"I'm glad you've come to."
Luna was looking down at me from above my head.
"......Luna?"
"Yes, it's Luna. Honored guest. You slept longer than expected. It's a relief you've regained consciousness now."
"Longer than...? No, more importantly, what the hell is this situation...?"
I reflexively tried to sit up, but Luna's hand pressing down on my shoulder forced me back down. I felt the soft sensation again at the back of my head.
I was sitting on a large sofa. At the edge of my vision, pale, spherical shapes loomed faintly. That seemed to be the source of the persistent softness.
"Luna, what's...... behind my head right now......?"
I stopped mid-sentence, freezing in place. I'd realized what was cradling my head. Large hemispherical shapes, plush and soft, two of them attached, right at sitting head height.
My head was buried in the valley between Luna's breasts.
Luna stood behind the sofa's backrest, my head nestled in her cleavage, her breasts warmly enveloping me on both sides as she stared intently down at me.
Guessing whose scent had been tickling my nose this whole time wasn't hard.
"What the—"
"Shh. Please refrain from moving, honored guest. My little sister is still in the midst of serving you."
The moment I heard "service," my thoughts stalled for a second—then a sharp jolt of pleasure raced through my lower body. I directed my gaze downward.
"Mm...... Ung......"
A woman with long, lush golden hair had her face buried between my legs, diligently bobbing her head up and down.