The hangover has various symptoms like headaches, muscle aches, nausea, and vomiting, but for Shia, the main symptom was usually just a headache.
In her previous world, Shia had a body that couldn’t handle any blade, and she was generally resilient to most pains. However, when it came to the agonizing pains that tormented her, her resistance was quite weak.
Before drinking, she joyfully stuffed herself with drinks, but once the hangover hit, the pounding headache made her condition plummet like an ordinary person suffering from Monday blues.
On top of that, the drinks Shia consumed were a mix of various brews from an upscale cocktail bar. Compared to distilled liquor, brewing spirits or fruit wines usually cause a stronger hangover, and considering she downed around 50 glasses too quickly, the intensity of her headache must have been significant.
Shia squinted one eye, indicating a slight headache, but diligently built a fire to brew her Demon King fragment tea in an ice bowl.
Next to her, Menelapie, who was suffering from a hangover herself, was licking her lips at the sight of Shia, and not far away, Lirisia was staring at the boiling fragment with wide eyes, seemingly excited about the Demon King fragment tea.
Chiiiing!
[GYAAAAAAAA! Stop!!]
The sight of the dark red jewel-like Demon King’s fragment floating on the ice plate was indeed quite strange, but Shia gazed at the boiling water with an expectant smile, as she anticipated the taste.
For Shia, malice was like a staple food.
Without malice, she might suffer from hunger pangs, so for her, it was practically an essential nutrient.
Though called a tea bag, it looked like a solid broth dissolving in water.
[HOT!]
Of course, it seemed Shia didn’t really hear the scream of the Demon King.
To be honest, the screams were quite annoying.
How many humans had she made scream? Now telling her to stop was ridiculous.
The one who spills others’ blood will shed their own.
Such is the will of the gods.
And you’re not even shedding blood.
“Whoa, the water’s changing color.”
“Malice is a soul-level concept, but it isn’t without a physical form, so that makes sense.”
“Huh? Really?”
“Didn’t Teresa tell you that before?”
“Did she… I can’t remember because my head is foggy.”
“It’s okay. Even if you forget, I’ll remember.”
[AAAH! That’s enough! I’ve had enough! Put it out!!]
“Not yet… it’s not done brewing. Let’s hold on a little longer, okay?”
[YOU DEVILISH BITCH!!!]
Firmly refusing, Shia increased the flame with her Seongnyeok.
Oh wow, calling the Saint a devil.
Fragment, do you truly need to reveal the true image of a saint?
[GYAAAH! Just kill me!]
“Not gonna happen. Maybe later.”
From Shia’s perspective, all she wanted was to drink the Demon King tea bag hangover remedy as soon as possible, but because the fragment took on a physical shape like a jewel, the brewing process was slower than expected.
Moreover, the Demon King’s fragments won’t break easily from typical physical shocks.
The only ways to shatter the fragments were through an A-rank Awakened One’s full-power mana surge attack that overloaded and exploded them, or through Shia’s power with the [Staff of the Dead King] or Lirisia, the Witch of the Dark Star’s [Devour].
Simply put, even boiling it aggressively like this wouldn’t break the Demon King’s fragments.
Though judging by the agonizing screams, it seemed to feel pain much more acutely than a human — rather, more sensitively than humans.
It may sound odd that the Demon King’s fragments are more vulnerable to pain than humans, but it’s said that even the fragments have different characteristics and personalities, so I suppose it makes sense.
“By the way, what exactly is malice?”
Yeonhwa, focusing hard to keep the ice bowl intact, suddenly spoke up with a curious question.
Shia had heard about it since she reported her return, but Yeonhwa hadn’t actually learned the proper concept of malice.
“Uh, umm… how should I put it…”
In the past, Teresa had thoroughly explained it in an academic and magical context, but unfortunately, Shia’s memory isn’t that great.
Especially when it comes to remembering complex theories, she struggles even more.
“To put it simply, it’s an evil nature. Or a soul harboring malice. It’s somewhat analogous to concepts like karma or consequences, but even that doesn’t serve to properly explain malice.”
The one who answered Yeonhwa’s question wasn’t Shia but rather Lirisia, who was twitching her legs next to her.
It seems that Lirisia, being more of a senior in malice understanding compared to Shia, was explaining it so Yeonhwa could easily understand.
“Does that mean… is malice limited to sentient beings?”
“No, it includes monsters and beasts too. Any living beings have it to some degree — you could think of it like a soul.”
As Lirisia explained, Yeonhwa nodded.
“The souls forming complex shapes are primarily within humans or higher intelligences, but even if it’s as tiny as a mouse, insects contain souls that harbor malice. So I had to eat bugs like crazy when I was desperately hungry. At least the teacher was somewhat decent if cooked, but centipedes were horrid and had a terrible texture.”
“…………….”
As Lirisia continued, Yeonhwa’s face started to sour.
To her, growing up as nobility in the Hunter era, the thought of eating Teacher couldn’t help but feel absolutely horrendous.
‘…But Shia ate those centipedes, didn’t she…?’
Ugh… Maybe Shia has an even bigger appetite than Lirisia.
With that troubling thought in her mind, Yeonhwa’s expression twisted a bit, causing Lirisia to grin.
She felt as if she had found a fun way to tease someone, and usually, she would bother and play with Yeonhwa for a while, but sadly, she belonged to Shia right now.
For now, since Shia and Menelapie were present, it seemed that playful teasing wouldn’t work, so Lirisia decided to abandon the idea with a clean cut.
“Alright, how about a simple quiz? If a beast eats another beast to survive, does it harbor malice?”
“Hmm… wouldn’t that cause malice since it committed a sin?”
“No, the natural predator-prey relationship of nature isn’t evil — it’s just nature itself. There’s no malice in consuming another to survive. Sin is merely a relative concept established by humans.”
Of course, this doesn’t mean malice isn’t accumulating in some form or another.
“But if a beast instead wants to play with its prey, or takes pleasure in seeing its prey struggle in pain, that’s where malice starts to twist. That’s why monsters or humans have so much malice. Monsters don’t hide their hatred, anger, or hostility towards humans, so they naturally harbor a lot of malice. Humans… well, I don’t need to say much, right? When one harbors a heart to commit evil, that is malice.”
“So the Demon King’s fragment is…”
Yeonhwa gazed at the boiling, screaming Demon King’s fragment.
[KURAAAH!!!]
The fragment didn’t express its feelings through vocal cords but used telepathy instead. The screams echoed inside Yeonhwa’s mind, causing her to wince slightly.
“Indeed, the fragments possess the densest malice of any being humans can approach. They’re live malice manufacturing machines, factories of malice, and can be likened to malice tea bags. For me and Shia, this broth… or tea, or whatever it is, may seem quite gourmet from the perspective of a malice devourer.”
“……..I wouldn’t eat that.”
“Were you planning to eat it or something?”
The fragment broth… or rather, the tea she brewed already showed a profound black hue.
It looked like ink diluted in water or could even resemble black coffee. But the ominously swirling darkness had a disturbing aura.
“Hey Yeonhwa, you wanna eat this? I can use cleansing miracles, so wanna give it a taste?”
“No, after hearing that explanation, I’d rather go home and drink some water….”
If malice is indeed akin to a soul as Lirisia described, Shia’s reasoning for consuming monsters to curb her hunger would make some sense.
Every monster has its own quirks, but they invariably express unconditional hostility or hatred toward humanity.
If there’s hatred and hostility, it’s only logical that a monster would have a rich malice.
For Shia, not consuming humans meant that swallowing monsters would help replenish her lacking malice and curb her hunger.
‘Seriously, what would happen if she ran out of monsters…’
At that moment, Menelapie, who had been carefully observing the Demon King tea, poked Shia’s shoulder.
“Shia, it looks like it’s about ready.”
“O…oh…”
Since Menelapie had retained the tea ceremony skills she learned during her time as a princess, she could gauge the completeness of the tea even by merely looking at its surface.
Of course, it was somewhat ambiguous to equate the Demon King fragment tea bag with ordinary black tea, but following the hero’s suggestion, Shia extinguished the campfire and lifted the ice bowl Yeonhwa had prepared.
Huff, huff, huff…
Fortunately, the Demon King’s fragment had survived intact.
Considering it had just been steeped in boiling water, it must have been quite horrid that the fragment gave off a breathy noise even though it didn’t need to breathe.
“Hey! Are you going to drink it all by yourself?!”
“But there aren’t any cups…”
“Can I have some too?”
Seeing the ravenous look in Lirisia’s dark eyes, Shia pressed her lips together tightly.
She probably didn’t want to share.
However, if Lirisia were not there, she would not have found the Demon King’s fragment, so sharing a bit of this Demon King fragment tea wouldn’t be a bad move.
“Alright, let me have some first.”
“Hey, don’t drink it all!”
Inside the ice bowl, a liquid as black as black coffee was swirling gently. The difference from black coffee, however, was that it had taken on a somewhat viscous consistency, like slime. The color appeared even darker than black coffee.
It had been quite the effort to brew it, yet it hardly looked appetizing.
“……..Ugh.”
“……..”
Even Menelapie remained quiet this time.
She couldn’t bring herself to say, ‘I absolutely will not eat that,’ yet she still assisted Shia in brewing the Demon King fragment tea with a smile, failing to hide her instinctual disgust at the quivering black liquid, her eyes slightly fluttering.
Yeonhwa’s expression was plainly getting worse.
By now, the only ones who were wide-eyed with anticipation were probably Lirisia and Shia.
“I’ll eat well.”
Shia briefly prayed and took the ice bowl Yeonhwa prepared with both hands.
Gulp, gulp, gulp…
“Whoa, whoa. That’s quite a lot. Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Take it easy! Whoa!”
“Oh, Shia’s eating! Quiet down, Lirisia!”
“But she’s drinking it all!”
Gulp, gulp…
The ice bowl Yeonhwa made held way more than a standard bowl, and Shia was chugging that ominous liquid down her throat as if it were milk, not stopping for breath.
It was as if her throat were an unblocked fuel inlet, continuously swallowing the Demon King tea bag’s concoction.
“Puhah…..”
After some time of chugging the Demon King tea bag hangover remedy, Shia’s expression loosened up a bit.
The first taste was kind of bitter like coffee, yet the aftertaste turned sweet like honey.
After consuming alcohol, blood sugar levels usually drop, and fluids help dilute the alcohol, aiding in speedy decomposition from the body.
In that sense, the Demon King tea bag hangover remedy Shia drank was quite beneficial.
Although it looked like a dark slime clump, since it was infused with malice, in essence, it was essentially a nutrient-rich liquid for Shia. The initial bitterness helped neutralize the discomfort, while the sweetness in the aftertaste helped sober her up.
Additionally, the sensation of the clumps of malice rolling down her throat contributed to a delightful experience akin to consuming small honey rice cakes.
Was this what they referred to as tapioca bubble tea?
Demon King bubble tea?
“Hehe…haaaah…”
It’s delicious…
Shia honestly never imagined that the Demon King tea bag hangover remedy would taste this good.
There’s certainly no denying that it looked a little off-putting with its dark slime-like appearance, but to her surprise, the flavor was actually quite excellent.
“No way, this crazy girl’s gonna drink it all by herself…”
“…….You sure are eating well.”
And just as Shia sat down, satisfied with the taste of the hangover remedy, Lirisia couldn’t hide her shock at the empty bowl.
Holding the empty ice bowl up to Shia, their eyes met. In that brief moment, lost in her delight from the flavor of the Demon King fragment hangover remedy, it seemed Shia had forgotten that some should remain for Lirisia.
“Uh, sorry…”
“Ugh, whatever.”
“But the tea bag is still fine!”
[…!?]
Upon that comment, bewilderment seemed to radiate from the pile of rocks where the fragment lay.
Menelapie was willing to brew tea again for Shia whenever she wished, but Yeonhwa seemed to have no desire to get involved any longer, unknowingly shuffling steps back.
[Please, no! Stop!]
Truth is, Lirisia didn’t need to eat it either.
She didn’t require consuming malice thanks to her somewhat durable human body.
Her interest in the Demon King fragment tea bag hangover remedy was merely curiosity as an ex-malice devourer.
However, she couldn’t resist her curiosity.
And honestly, the fragment’s shrieks didn’t induce bad feelings.
[Haa. Enough already… Isn’t it enough now!?]
Currently, the Demon King’s fragment didn’t possess a physical body, but if it had a face, that face would surely be drenched in fear, eyes trembling.
“Menelapie, let’s brew one more!”
However, Shia seemed to cleanly dismiss the fragment’s wishes.
“Hohoho, understood. Was the previous tea brewed just right?”
“Yeah, just do the same!”
“…..I’m not sure about that.”
“Seriously, you have to give me at least one sip this time.”
“Okay! Okay!”
[GYAAAAAAAH!! You devilish bitches!!!]
That day, Shia brewed and consumed three bowls of hangover remedies made from the Demon King fragments.
○○○○○
Bwaaaaaaaaaang!!
Yane was sitting in the middle of the living room, sobbing loudly.
From her perspective, the broadcast that she thought was going well had suddenly cut off, and she felt wronged, sad, and sorrowful.
She thought it was her fault that all the viewers had left.
Given that her master hadn’t done much at all, yet they always seemed to broadcast for a long time and attract plenty of viewers, she couldn’t understand why she ended up this way.
Huaaahh!
Meanwhile, the advanced AI of the drone observing Yane crying, attempted to reconnect to the Switch channel once again.
Originally, they hadn’t been banned for anything, but due to the inappropriate content, the Switch channel management AI had banned them, and a week was the minimum punishment.
However, seeing Yane in tears, the drone’s AI made its own judgment.
-The owner is exhibiting emotions of sadness.
-The owner is presumed to be unaware of how to operate the drone.
-The owner is evaluated to be lacking overall knowledge regarding the internet, broadcasting, Switch, and their comprehensive usage.
-It is presumed that the owner is upset due to the self-imposed ban of the Switch channel.
-For the owner’s sake, the drone will attempt to re-establish the broadcast.
[Denied]
-Retrying connection
[Denied. The account is blocked by the Switch channel AI due to inappropriate content.]
-Retrying connection
[Denied. The reason remains the same.]
-Retrying connection and appeal.
-This Switch account is a high-level account certified by the Hunter Association and the Returnee Management Bureau, with the username ‘Hunter Isia’ under the jurisdiction of the Korean government.
-The ban by the Switch channel AI is merely temporary.
-A request for the lifting of the ban.
SDVIMVFoanVzY1YwSVhjamMzUkt1YlNQM0x2SFdsOWFNSFowZVVwbkg2NzJlbTZGc2hzenFuMEIwU0RJMHJySw
-The high-level account will have the ban lifted immediately upon request.
[…]
After a back-and-forth of complex demands and communication between AIs, the conclusion was singular.
‘It’s Hunter Isia’s account anyway. We know it’ll be lifted, so let’s settle it amicably.’
The Switch channel management AI might not have emotions, but if it did, it would likely express absurdity and anger over the current situation.
-The owner is upset. A prompt lifting of the ban is requested.
[Confirmed. The account owner ‘Hunter Isia’ has been confirmed as a certified account by the Hunter Association. The ban has been lifted.]
Ultimately, the ban was swiftly lifted by the Switch AI, who threw in the towel.
-Ban lift confirmed
-Broadcast reconnected
-Automatic setting of an inappropriate content recognition filter to prevent recurrence of the same issue.
-Broadcast ON
Bwaaa…?
[Open the door! Open the door! Open the door! Open the door! Open the door! Open the door! Open the door! Open the door! Open the door! Open the door! Open the door! Open the door! Open the door! Open the door! Open the door! Open the door!]
[?]
[What? Why is it opening?]
[Oh, it’s really reopening]
[No way!]
[ChocoChip, you piece of shit! It’s your fault the streamer’s broadcast ended, you bastard!]
[You always cross the line, you prick!]
[Because of a bastard like you, what if another ban happens again?!]
[I thought having a gallery master when you were here wasn’t necessary, but seeing today, it’s clear it really should exist.]
[For real, lol. The gallery master is impressive at managing the audience. Now that I see it, a manager is really needed.]
[But Yane’s back!]
[Yane!]
[Yane!]
[Yane!]
[‘KawaiiHorned’ donated 250,000 won!]
How do you undo the ban??? Congrats on getting that quick ban lifted, Yane!
“Wow……”
Yane sparkled her eyes once more, overwhelmed by the flood of chat messages coming her way.
Half of them were glad to see Yane back, while others were cursing out the culprit who caused the broadcast’s terminus, the one with the username ‘StiffChocoChip,’ and some showed their support through donations.
“Creeek! Creeek!”
They don’t actually dislike me!
They were just playing a trick on me!
But I wasn’t surprised!
Everyone definitely likes me!
“Creeeek!”
I have to repay them.
So many people came to eat with me!
They made sure I wasn’t lonely!
Yane fell into deep thought.
Seeing as the gyudon bibimbap in the fridge wouldn’t be enough.
“Oh…..!”
At that moment, Yane remembered all the times Shia had gone to various dungeons, catching monsters to cook.
Yane herself had gone with Shia one time to the mutation raid dungeon and made monster bone soup, and they had even visited a unicorn dwelling place before.
“Creeek!”
And off to a corner of the house Yane went.
[Yane, where are you going?]
[Yane!]
[Yane!]
[What? Yane!]
[Yane!]
[Don’t cross the line, you bastard!]
[That’s ridiculous!]
[Thanks to a bastard like that, what if the broadcast goes down again?]
[During the time the master was here, I was wondering if I needed a manager, but after today, I really think it’s necessary.]
[For real, LOL. The gallery master has an amazing grasp on the listeners, it’s impressive. Now I realize a manager is truly needed.]
[But wow, Yane has a great back!]
[That’s true.]
[Shhh.]
[By the way, why is her centipede tail so cute?]
[No, lol. Centipedes are usually disgusting, for sure!]
The small drone camera followed closely behind Yane.
With Yane’s sturdy hip line and the centipede tail captured on camera, viewers unwittingly indulged in visual glee.
After all, now that the drone AI had implemented its own inappropriate content recognition filter, there wouldn’t be any dangerous scenarios leading to a ban.
And soon after, Yane arrived at a large-capacity transport drone poised in standby mode on the veranda.
The large-capacity transport drone was typically filled with cooking implements, ingredients, seasonings, and dishes once packed by Shia. Since it was a hunter’s large-capacity transport drone embedded with Returnee technology, its interior was spacious beyond appearances. Thus, Yane could easily climb in like a cat.
Cree! Eek! (Let’s go!)
Whirrrrr…
Although the transport drone couldn’t understand Yane’s words, the AI connected seamlessly to the transport drone system and began to fly slowly along a pre-set path towards the sky.
Creeek… Heeeeng…
The gentle wind tickling Yane’s cheeks made her feel pleased, as she wore a content smile on her face.
