Chapter 81: Close to God

Facing everyone’s suspicion, the owner put on an awkward yet polite smile.

“Captain Brian, you really love to joke. This wine was definitely stomped by Lilith herself, I swear to the heavens!”

But clearly, everyone who had now awakened from the toxic effects of the hallucinogenic mushrooms absolutely could not believe a word he said.

Brian picked up the glass in his hand and held it out to the owner.

“In that case, why don’t you drink it yourself.”

The owner’s face instantly turned deathly pale.

“T-That’s not right!”

By now, the owner was completely panicked, stumbling backward again and again.

“This wine was stomped out by Lilith’s very own feet, it’s incredibly precious… How could I possibly bring myself to drink it?”

But as he was trying to defend himself, Letia had already lifted the curtain to the kitchen.

There, two Minotaur demons were standing in a big tub filled with Grapes.

Their thick leg hair was covered in crushed Grape skins, and… Grape juice was slowly dripping down.

Everyone fell silent, remembering the many glasses of Old Cask Fermentation Tavern’s wine they’d drunk.

Their stomachs instantly churned in disgust.

Mason, who had come all the way from the imperial capital, vomitted right on the spot.

What happened next was more than a little brutal and violent.

Red and Letia didn’t even have to lift a finger.

As soon as the crowd saw this scene, they charged into the kitchen and issued one-on-one challenges to the two Minotaur demons and the owner.

It was just three people against a few dozen on this side.

At first, the Minotaurs tried to resist, protesting loudly, “What’s wrong with Grapes stomped by little heifers?!”

But in the end, amidst the rising chorus of miserable screams, they could only shout things like, “Maybe it wasn’t a Succubus stomping them, but at least we washed our feet!”

“Washing once a month still counts as washing, doesn’t it?!”

The furious crowd nearly beat the three Minotaurs to death, but after all, this was Nightbright Town, and moreover, it was Succubus Territory—causing deaths would be a bad idea.

So they left the Minotaurs barely alive, but the Old Cask Fermentation Tavern was finished for good.

After all this, Mason, Red, and Letia became somewhat familiar with each other.

Even though he had drunk something he definitely shouldn’t have, Mason hadn’t forgotten his purpose in coming here.

That was to recruit Red—this goal had never changed.

The potential Red showed in creation magic was vital to the Solar Moon Empire.

But judging from the intelligence acquired through special channels and the brief time together just now, Mason knew very well.

Money?

Power?

These worldly things would never catch the eye of such an unconventional creation mage.

Then… where was the breakthrough?

Mason’s gaze subconsciously swept over the messy center stage, where traces of Lilith’s footprints still remained in the tub, along with… a pair of pure white stockings, left behind and forgotten by the angry crowd.

Recalling the scene he had just witnessed, Mason calmly took out his notebook and silently wrote down three words:

“Foot Fetish.”

But after thinking about it, something seemed off, so he crossed out the three words and wrote “White Stockings Enthusiast” instead, nodding with satisfaction.

“Aiya, what a shame, Red, you didn’t fall for it.”

A regretful sigh sounded in his ear.

The group turned to see Letia approaching, holding a bottle of red wine.

“Want some?”

“No, no, we’re good…”

All four of them waved their hands frantically.

Remembering what they had just drunk, the thought of red wine now left a shadow in their hearts.

“Letia…”

Red rubbed his vaguely aching forehead, his voice tinged with exhaustion and helplessness.

“If you noticed something was off from the beginning, why didn’t you say anything sooner?”

Letia responded by gently pressing her slender index finger to her lips, tilting her head, feigning a look of pure innocence and a hint of thoughtfulness:

“Mmm…”

she drew out her words, her face full of innocence, “when I came in… you were all having such a great time drinking. Tsk tsk, if I had suddenly jumped out and said, ‘What you’re drinking is actually Minotaur’s foot-wash!’ in that situation…”

Letia spread her hands, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly:

“Wouldn’t that have been even worse? Right?”

Her smile grew even brighter, a pure, gleeful joy at watching chaos unfold.

“Besides, as the old saying goes—ignorance truly is bliss.”

“I’d rather do without that kind of bliss.”

Red glanced at Letia’s unrepentant face, the corner of his mouth twitching.

“But I do have a question,” Tos asked as he clutched his still-aching stomach, forcing out his words.

“Letia, how… did you end up in a place like this too?”

Letia pulled out several membership cards from her pocket, waving them around as if showing off.

“I come to Succubus Street… isn’t that completely normal?”

“Uh… makes sense.”

Seeing the cards in Letia’s hand, Tos’s eyes filled with jealousy.

To this day, he hadn’t gotten even one.

“With the wine gone, why don’t we just head back?”

Red didn’t want to stay here any longer.

Sure, the little white-stocking Succubus was cute, but somehow something felt off.

Especially knowing what the wine really was…

Forget it, just thinking about it ruined the mood.

As Red was saying this, Mason, who had been silent, finally spoke.

“My friends, we clearly haven’t had enough fun yet. Why don’t we visit a few more Succubus shops? My treat.”

Money was nothing to Mason—what he really wanted was to figure out Red’s preferences.

“But before we go, I’m a bit curious. What type does everyone like…?”

At this, Mason glanced at Letia.

“Miss Letia, I trust you don’t mind this kind of topic?”

Before Letia could answer, Tos chimed in first.

“No need, Mason. You don’t have to treat Letia as a woman.”

“Hey!”

Letia’s mouth twitched.

Sure, her personality was a bit rough, not exactly lady-like, but did he really have to say it like that?

Just as she was about to speak up, Red added helpfully.

“Or you could just not treat her as a person at all.”

“???”

Letia nearly kicked Red in the face on the spot.

But thinking that not only would he not repent, he might even enjoy it, she could only barely suppress the urge…

“Ha!”

Sorry, she couldn’t hold back after all.

No one stepped forward to stop her as Letia’s flying kick sent Red sprawling to the ground—instead, everyone stayed behind to watch the fun.

After her kick, Letia stormed off angrily.

As for Red, lying on the ground, he shakily raised his hand, then slowly pointed ahead.

“Not wearing white stockings… Terrible score…”

Mason, staring at Red on the ground, wordlessly took out his notebook and wrote:

“In terms of talent, he’s truly close to the gods, but in other ways, he’s rather far from being human.”