Chapter 34: Harvest (1)

Henry’s eyebrows twitched at Iselan’s roar. Makgus had a strong reputation, but Zelna’s whisky was just as famous.

‘This is truly getting tiresome.’

Getting drunk was the least of Henry’s problems. He could deal with it easily by circulating his mana, and he intended to take the opportunity to get a good rest the next day. The problem was the sheer amount of liquor.

“Today, we’re drinking by the bowl! You can keep up, right?”

‘This is getting worse and worse.’

On a happy day like this, it was not possible to refuse a drink from a superior. Henry sighed and raised his bowl.

“Yes, of course.”

Anticipating a long night ahead, Henry feigned a smile. Suddenly…

- Master.

A voice echoed in Henry’s head.

‘Mm?’

It was Klever.

‘I told you not to reveal yourself without my permission.’

Henry had used this form of communication with his subordinates in his previous life, so this didn’t feel out of the ordinary. Magic similar to telepathy worked this way as well.

- I didn’t reveal myself! Communicating discreetly like this with you is easy for me.

Now that they had entered into a master-servant relationship, this kind of ‘internal dialogue’ wasn’t difficult. However, Henry was certain that Klever wasn’t doing this simply to show off his communication skills.

‘What’s the matter?’

- Are you in trouble right now?

‘What makes you think so?’

- I felt it. Master was feeling uncomfortable, and those feelings were conveyed to me. That’s why I humbly ask.

‘It’s none of your concern.’

- If Master wishes, I can drink that liquor for you instead.

‘What?’

- If I use my ability, Chest, it is possible for me to drink that liquor on your behalf, Master.

‘Chest, huh. It must be that subspace ability.’

It was a sudden suggestion, but a pretty good one. However, Henry still had to pour the liquor down his throat after each toast, so he could not figure out how exactly Klever could help him drink it.

- Master may just drink it normally. I will activate Chest in Master’s esophagus and absorb the liquor instead.

‘Activate it in my esophagus?’

- Yes! Something like that will be pretty easy for me.

It was the first time Henry had heard of such a method, but it sounded like a realistic proposition. However, Henry didn’t fully trust Klever yet. Although it was his subordinate now, bound by a contract, it had yet to be fully subjugated in spirit.

‘How can I trust you?’

- I’ll prove it to you this time. And Master is much more powerful than I am… I won’t be able to lay a finger on you, and you can punish me as you see fit.”

‘Is it because of the platinum?’

Unlike their first encounter, Klever had grown quite docile. Henry then remembered that the platinum had purified its mana. If its mana had indeed been purified by the platinum, its rough personality may have converted to a more docile one in the process.

‘Then I’ll believe you just this once.’

Betrayal was unlikely, since they were already bound by contract. As long as the master-servant relationship was maintained, Klever would not be able to harm Henry. Having made his decision, Henry raised another toast to Iselan, who was already waiting with a filled bowl.

“A toast.”

“

Kehehe

, let’s drink till we knock ourselves out!”

Clang!

The two men’s bowls full of whisky flowed down their throats.

Gulp, gulp.

As he swallowed, Henry realized that no matter how much liquor he drank, he couldn’t feel it flowing into his stomach.

‘Good.’

Klever’s plan had turned out to be useful. Henry was now no longer afraid of drinking with Iselan.

* * *

Freed from his worries, Henry drank with Iselan deep into the night. They had gone drink for drink, and Zelna’s whisky proved its reputation, putting Iselan to sleep.

“Zzzz….” Iselan snored thunderously.

“It’s over.”

Henry lifted up Iselan and carried him to his bed. He informed the soldiers, then leisurely returned to his own residence. Upon his return, he changed into a set of comfortable clothes and prepared himself a cup of hot tea.

‘Was I expecting too much from Aura?’

Henry had actually expected more from Klever. After all, it had captured a top-notch Sword Expert. It was only natural for Henry to expect great things from it. Surprisingly, however, Klever was weak. Anyone in Henry’s shoes would have been disappointed. Moreover, Henry had failed to locate his treasure, which had been the original purpose of the mission, so it was hard to say that the outcome had been satisfactory.

After taking a sip of his tea, Henry stroked his platinum ring.

𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

“Klever.”

- Yes, Master.

Klever immediately showed itself, as if it had been waiting.

“Hm.”

Klever was still in a cloud-like state. The only difference was that it had changed from its dusty, black appearance to a white, mist-like one.

Seeing this, Henry said, “I wish you could change your appearance a bit more.”

- Understood.

Henry didn’t have any particular issues with Klever’s physical appearance, but he thought it was better to converse with something that looked like a physical being. After a while, Klever’s appearance changed to that of a little cat. It was now an odd-eyed cat with pure white fur. One if its eyes were blue, and the other eye was yellow.

“With regards to earlier, you did well.”

- Thank you, Master.

Normally, the priority was to closely examine every single ability of the beings one subjugated. However, Henry had not had the time to do so until now. Due to their shared bond, Klever instantly recognized Henry’s intentions and began displaying its abilities. This act was certainly commendable.

“I called for you so I can get to know you better. Now, come closer.”

It was easy to identify the abilities of a subjugated servant. All one had to do was put one’s hand on the servant’s head and channel one’s energy. Henry placed his hand on Klever’s, who had climbed onto his lap. Henry sent his channeled energy into Klever.

Swoo.

As soon as he did this, Klever’s abilities began to reveal themselves.

‘Chest and Hypnotism, of course, but the last ability wasn’t Parasitism, but rather Mind Aggression, huh?’

Klever was a talented Mimik indeed, having three different abilities. In particular, Chest and Mind Aggression were skills that not even high-level wizards could use as they liked. Henry felt that he had done a good job in subduing Klever.

“That’s enough.”

- Thank you.

When Henry removed his hand, Klever jumped down to the ground and waited for the next command.

‘Smart.’

Henry had never encountered such a clever demonic beast before. Well, with its demon energy removed, it was a bit inaccurate to think of Klever as a demonic beast. Having confirmed its abilities, Henry began asking other questions that he was curious about.

“I heard that you were preparing for your evolution?”

- Yes, given a little more time, I could have become a full-fledged Demon.

“Is that why you captured Carter?”

- Yes, I had prepared the perfect body to use as a vessel the moment my evolution was complete.

“You must be disappointed, right?”

- No, I’m not.

Klever pretended not to be, but it was clear that it felt resentful. If it had succeeded in evolving into a Demon, it wouldn’t have been captured like this.

“If I remember correctly, you reacted to a certain scent. What scent was it?”

- It was Dhdl.

“Dhdl?”

- That’s what it's called in the Demon Realm because we couldn’t find out what it was called in the human tongue.

.

“Dhdl means…”

Henry translated ‘Dhdl’ in his mind. The moment he did, he furrowed his eyebrows.

“Cucumbers?”

- I’ve yet to fully understand the human tongue. So even if you tell me, I don’t know what a ‘cucumber’ is.

“...Wait here.”

‘If my interpretation is correct, this is all too ridiculous.’

Henry immediately got up and headed to his company’s kitchen. He rummaged through the storeroom and returned to his residence with a single cucumber.

“This is a cucumber.”

- T-this is…!

The moment Henry took out the cucumber, Klever’s pupils dilated. In an instant, its entire body turned bright red.

- Huff, puff, huff, huff!

Seeing how Klever reacted, Henry sensed that his interpretation was correct.

‘So its weakness is a cucumber.’

Henry had thought it was going to be something spectacular. However, the all-too-addictive ‘Dhdl’ turned out to be nothing more than a simple cucumber. Henry couldn’t hide his disappointment. While Henry stewed in frustration, Klever’s gaze was fixated on the cucumber in his hand. It was as if its eyes were completely enchanted. Henry let out a short sigh and threw the cucumber at it.

“You can have it.”

- T-thank you!

Klever’s body began to turn pink.

‘Seeing how crazy it's acting, it looks like the cucumber is not its weakness, but a stimulant.’

Henry quietly observed Klever for a while. Klever hugged the cucumber and rolled around with it, licking its skin and smelling it to its heart’s content. Finally, it broke the cucumber down into smaller pieces and began to savor its moist flesh.

A long time passed.

“Klever.”

- Y-yes, nyaa! Master!

Klever had eaten the entire cucumber. However, it still retained some of the afterglow, as its fur was still a reddish shade.

“So you attacked Holtervelt because of the deodorant, but why did you attack Carter? He doesn’t even use any deodorant.”

- I-I was just curious, nyaa. All I knew was that he had been chasing me for a long time, meow…

The fact that Carter had been tracking it for a long time had angered it. This answered all of Henry’s questions. Just as Henry was about to dismiss Klever, he decided to ask one last question.

“Klever.”

- Nya~ Master?

“Have you ever seen a mushroom that looks like this?”

Henry showed Klever the exact same drawing of a Kin Mushroom that he had shown his platoon members. Since his treasure was located in the 6th district, he felt that Klever, a 6th district Demonic Beast, might know about it.

- This is…

Klever looked at the picture for a long time with its hazy eyes. Soon, it burst out laughing.

- Isn’t this a Kin Mushroom, nyaa?

“That’s right. Have you seen this before?

- Of course…

“Then do you know where it is?”

- Of course I do, nyaa!

Henry smirked at Klever’s confident reply.

* * *

“Mass Solitude.”

Thud!

In the middle of the night, when everyone was still asleep, Henry headed out with minimal armaments, his holy sword by his waist.

“Klever, you’re certain about the location?”

- Yes. Trust me, Master.

This was Henry’s best opportunity yet to find his treasure. “Make hay while the sun shines”, as some said.

Based on Klever’s testimony, Henry waited for the moon to rise. Only when the entire company had fallen into a deep sleep was Henry finally able to head out on his secret expedition to the Demonic Beast Forest.