One didn't need to speak a single word around a man like Dustin. He could pluck every secret you harbored straight from your micro-expressions, the twitch of your brow, or the subtle shifts in your gaze.
But Elliot knew there was no point in panicking. The Pope was destined to uncover the existence of the Reincarnators eventually anyway.
The only reason that bastard Potimas had found out first was because his "daughter" was their old homeroom teacher, Ms. Oka. Dustin, on the other hand, was piecing the puzzle together through sheer deductive reasoning, tracking the Elves' bizarre kidnapping operations, and observing the three Reincarnators he had already acquired, including the Saint of the Word of God religion.
The only thing that made Elliot sweat was the immediate proximity. Does he know about me and Shiraori?
"Forgive my rudeness," Dustin suddenly said, his tone shifting completely.
Having confirmed what he needed to know from their explosive reaction, the old fox neatly folded the topic away. He gestured gracefully to the spread on the table.
"Please, let us not let the food go cold. The cuisine here is quite exceptional, but the fruit wine is the true masterpiece. The vintage is superb."
Looking at the rich, crimson liquid swirling in her glass, Kumoko decided she was done caring about the geopolitical landscape.
Whatever! she thought. Alcohol is the best medicine! It drowns every sorrows! I'll worry about tomorrow's problems tomorrow.
No matter how many schemes this frail old man cooked up, she could literally swat him into orbit if she had to. So what if he knew they were from another world?
Determined to check out of reality for a bit, Kumoko brought the glass to her lips and took a deep, greedy gulp. A wave of absolute bliss washed over her.
Technically, in her past life as a Japanese high schooler, she was strictly underage. But who cared about the laws of Earth in another world? Wow, it's so sweet! Is this really what alcohol tastes like? It was like a rich, velvety fruit juice, but the warm, fuzzy, floating sensation that followed was intoxicating.
Beside her, Sophia reached out with her tiny hands, grabbed her own glass, and took a small sip.
Three seconds later, the vampire baby face-planted onto the table, out cold.
"Excellent vintage!" Kumoko praised, her cheeks flushing with a pleasant buzz. "How on earth do they make this? What's the recipe?"
If she could learn to brew this herself, she'd have an infinite supply of premium booze.
"Hahaha..." Dustin let out a genuine, booming laugh.
The alcohol seemed to strip away the heavy mantle of the Pope, smoothing out the wrinkles on his forehead and making him look years younger.
"It is the pride of this village. They meticulously select the youngest, most beautiful maidens, gather the freshest, sun-ripened grapes, and have the girls pour all their love into thoroughly stomping the fruit..."
Kumoko froze.
Her face drained of all color, turning the ashen shade of a corpse.
"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" she whispered.
"They gather the freshest grapes…"
"No, the other part."
"The maidens pour their love into stomping the grapes."
Pfft!
Kumoko's soul practically left her body.
Wait. Hold on. This wine... this rich, velvety liquid I just chugged... was crushed by feet?!
Her internal monologue shrieked in absolute horror. Oh my god! The foot sweat! The dead skin cells! It's all been perfectly blended and concentrated into this one glass!
A wave of profound regret crashed over her.
Beside her, Elliot and Merazophis, who had both been in the middle of raising their own glasses, froze.
Without exchanging a single word, the two men made eye contact, slowly lowered their drinks, and pushed them to the far edge of the table.
...
Once the comedic horror of the wine had passed, Dustin's demeanor sobered. It was time to discuss the System.
It was a devastating secret known only to the heavyweights of this world. Because the planet's MA Energy was fundamentally depleted, the world was entirely governed and sustained by the System. It maintained the basic order of reality, keeping the planet on life support.
But the System was failing. Anomalies were multiplying by the day.
And the biggest cancer accelerating that failure was Potimas.
"That man does not care if humanity, or any other race, turns to ash," Dustin explained, his voice heavy with ancient fatigue. "He continues to illegally siphon the world's remaining MA Energy to build his massive machinations. But his true ambition goes far beyond that. He intends to use the MA Energy to deify himself."
Potimas didn't just want to be a lower-tier god like Güliedistodiez. He was aiming for the absolute summit, a supreme deity akin to Sariel.
"And that," Dustin continued, looking Elliot in the eye, "is why the Goddess Religion must be eradicated. I am preparing to sacrifice them. Their souls will replenish a fraction of the System's energy loop, buying us the time and power needed for the final war against the Elves. For this world to survive, Potimas must die."
Merazophis sat quietly, nursing the unconscious Sophia as he listened.
A chilling sense of insignificance washed over him. He was sitting at a table with literal titans who were casually discussing the sacrifice of entire religions and the impending collapse of the planet. He was just a butler trying to keep a little girl safe. Yet, he knew Dustin was right.
If the MA Energy ran dry, neither he nor his young mistress would survive the apocalypse.
Dustin had laid all his cards on the table for a reason. He looked at Elliot, the Arachne, and the sleeping dragon.
They were young, chaotic, and terrifyingly powerful. In time, they would be the ultimate vanguard against Potimas.
The Pope was an old man with one foot in the grave, shouldering the crushing weight of humanity's survival.
He had burned his bridges long ago. He was willing to walk barefoot through hell, committing any sin necessary, if it meant carving out a future for the human race.
And the only way to lighten that burden was to gather as many monsters to his side as possible.
Before long, Dustin politely excused himself, leaving the group to process the geopolitical bombshells he had dropped.
Silence hung heavy in the room. The reality was grim: Humans, Elves, Demons, when the dust settled, only one faction could survive.
Merazophis let out a long breath, overwhelmed. From a minor lord's servant to a piece on the board for the fate of the world... He didn't even know where to begin processing it.
Sophia was still dead to the world, snoring softly.
Emilia sat perfectly composed, her resolve unshaken. If her masters chose to declare war on the very world itself, she would draw her blade without hesitation.
And Kumoko?
Kumoko was slumped face-first on the table, tears streaming down her cheeks, trapped in her own personal hell.
Why...? she sobbed internally. Why did I drink the foot juice...? WHYYYYYY?!
….
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