Chapter 25
“So, will you help me with something?”
“Something? What is it?”
“Could you run a merchant guild in my place?”
“A guild?”
This time, thankfully, the opponent wasn’t heavily affected by the drug, but if the drug had taken full effect, I would’ve been dead before I could even lift a finger.
To take revenge on Regan, who had become the Pope, and to stop whoever was replicating the evil dragon’s experiments, I needed to grow stronger.
If I trained steadily like this, I’d be as strong as before in about fifty years—but that would be far too late.
I needed to grow stronger quickly.
To do that, I had to seek out more spirits and increase my power.
If I want to gather information from all over, it would be best to operate under the guise of a merchant guild.
“Yes. As you can see, I’m young. If I run a guild myself, people will get suspicious. That’s why I’d like you to do it in my place.”
“Alright.”
Looney nodded without hesitation.
“I told you, I’ll help you with anything. Believe it or not, I used to be a promising talent in the Lacra Merchant Guild.”
The Lacra Merchant Guild was the most prestigious in the continent—getting into it alone was extremely difficult.
“If you’re planning to set up a guild, what kind of goods are you going to handle? Or do you just need a name on paper? If that’s the case, we can just file taxes and—”
I was only planning to use her as a figurehead…
Looks like I’ve found a better asset than I expected.
Crack.
The sound of a marble shattering rang out.
“What the—? Who died?”
Temir, a young man with long red hair, turned his head toward the shelf of marbles.
Just then, a man collapsed on the floor grabbed the hem of his pants.
“S… save… sa… ve…”
The man’s face melted as a mouthful of perfectly healthy teeth clattered onto the floor.
Seeing this, Temir pressed a hand to his forehead.
“Ah! Damn it! Another failure!”
“S… save…”
The man clung to him with garbled speech, and Temir let out a bemused chuckle.
“Mister, saying it like that makes me sound like the bad guy.”
“S… save… me…”
Temir crouched down to meet the man’s gaze.
Then, speaking like a teacher to a small child, he said softly,
“Mister, I clearly gave you the chance to get stronger. You’re the one who failed. So why are you begging me to save you? Shouldn’t you be thanking me instead?”
He propped his chin on one hand and rambled on.
“Honestly, I’m the one who’s upset right now. Seeing that marble shatter means one of my few successful test subjects is dead, and you failed too. Sigh… What’s the difference between the evil dragon’s drug and mine, anyway? Hm? What do you think the problem is—oh. Dead already.”
Clicking his tongue at the melted corpse, he grabbed a broom and dustpan from beside the desk and began sweeping up what remained of the man.
“Ugh… first, my experiment fails, then one of my successful creations dies, and now I have to clean up. What a rotten day. I better not buy a lottery ticket today. Anyway… who exactly died?”
When he finished cleaning, Temir went over to a glass cabinet in the corner of the room.
Inside were dozens of marbles used to control the successful demonized subjects.
“Let’s see… this one… oh, is it that guy?”
Dumb, greedy, and a shameless womanizer.
When Temir had struck up a conversation in a tavern, the idiot had followed him thinking he was a woman.
“I sent him to scout out Duke Clasta, and he couldn’t even handle such a simple task. Tch. I never liked him to begin with. Still, he was one of my rare successful test subjects, so I was rather fond of him. Ah! Wait! He can’t die here!”
That morning, his master had given him an order:
‘When Duke Clasta leaves the village, use that man to kill thirty villagers.’
“Ugh… what do I do? If Master finds out he’s dead, he’s going to be angry. And when he’s angry, I’m sad and miserable… sigh. If I report it late, he’ll just blow up even more, so I’d better tell him right away.”
Temir used a communication stone to contact his master.
Moments later, the stone lit up, revealing a face known to every person on the continent—
The hero who had slain the evil dragon.
Pope Regan.
“Master!”
[What is it? I told you not to bother me unless it’s important.]
“Well, you see… remember that guy we were going to use to kill thirty villagers? I sent him on a scouting mission, but he died.”
After Temir spoke, silence hung in the air.
As he gave an awkward laugh, a low voice rumbled from the other side of the stone.
[…Is that funny to you?]
The tone was cold, displeased.
[You really have the nerve to say that with such a straight face.]
“Uh… then what should I do?”
[Reflect on it.]
“How?”
[Slap yourself. Don’t stop until I tell you to.]
When Temir hesitated and rolled his eyes, Regan’s voice hardened.
[Do I have to come all the way over there just to slap you myself?]
“A-ah, no! I’ll do it.”
Temir raised his hand and slapped his own cheek.
Smack.
[That’s not enough. Harder.]
Smack!
A loud crack echoed, and a red handprint bloomed across his face, but Regan merely stared at him with a bored expression.
It meant again.
Smack! Smack!
Temir kept slapping himself until his once-smooth face was swollen and tears streamed down his cheeks.
[Stop.]
Seemingly satisfied with the punishment, Regan’s voice softened a little.
[See? If you’d made the drug properly, this wouldn’t have happened. How many years have you been failing to make it right?]
“How is that my fault? The evil dragon’s research notes are just too hard!”
Temir had created his drug using the evil dragon’s research notes Regan had given him.
The problem was, the notes were written in a cipher that used the evil dragon’s own magic.
Temir had managed to make a drug by guessing at the contents from the partial translation Regan had provided, but for some reason, people who took it often melted or exploded.
[I even gave you a translation.]
“That was only five pages! And it’s not just a matter of translating—his cipher has to be read through with magic in a special way. Do you know how hard that is?”
Sensing his chance, Temir let out loud, exaggerated sobs.
“I’m really struggling here! Can’t you at least find someone who’s already decoded the notes?”
[No.]
“Why not?!”
[I killed them.]
With that, Temir had nothing left to say.
You can’t exactly dig up a dead person to help you.
[More importantly, if that guy’s dead, what happened to the one we were sending to the capital?]
“Oh, him?”
Picturing the spider-like, beautiful test subject, Temir’s face lit up in delight.
“I’ve been taking very good care of him. He’ll be perfect for setting the stage for your big performance, Master.”
Looney was even more capable than I’d thought.
Oh, you just want to gather information? Then it’s better to hire people locally. And it’s easier to operate if you take over a business that’s been around for a while. I’ll go to the city office tomorrow and handle it.
Apparently, she’d graduated top of her class from the Empire’s most prestigious university and had been scouted into the Lacra Guild.
She’d made a name for herself by pulling off several successful ventures within the guild and becoming famous for her rapid promotions.
When I worried she might be overdoing it on the first day, Looney gave an embarrassed smile.
No, it’s actually fun to be thinking about work again. I quit my job and stayed at home all because of that bastard.
Such talent needed to be put to work quickly.
But first, I need to make the medicine to cure Looney.
On the carriage ride to my capital residence, my head was full of thoughts about how to make it.
Everything else was easy enough to obtain—except for one thing: the Charran Flower.
It grew mostly on the mid-slopes of high mountains where humans could barely live, bloomed only once every five years, and for a very short time. It was so rare that money alone couldn’t buy it.
Still, the capital gathers goods from all over. If I look hard enough, I might find it. If not, I’ll just climb a mountain myself.
If I timed it right for when the flower bloomed, I was sure I could find at least one.
After arriving in the capital and getting ready to go out, Mary came trotting up.
“Miss, are you going out?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I’ll come with you!”
It was my first outing since arriving at the capital residence, so Mary seemed eager.
The capital must have changed a lot in thirty years—better to go with Mary than alone.
“Sure.”
While we waited for the carriage in the foyer, Duke Clasta happened to pass by.
“Heading out?”
“Yes. I wanted to look around the capital and see if there’s anything worth buying.”
He paused for a moment, then asked casually,
“Then shall I come with you?”
“No, thanks. I’ll go with Mary.”
If I went with him, I’d be too conscious of his presence to freely look around.
Apparently, he hadn’t expected me to refuse. His expression stiffened.
Then, forcing a nonchalant smile, he said,
“Ah, alright. Have a good time.”
If it was just idle talk, he didn’t show it—he passed by and went into his room.
Once inside, Duke Clasta leaned against the wall, stunned by Ariel’s rejection.
She… refused me?
And who was he?
Alteira Clasta.
Duke of Clasta, one of the Empire’s top fighters, and the most handsome man in the Empire.
I thought she’d obviously say yes.
Many feared him, but many more adored him.
He’d turned down countless people begging to spend time with him, but he’d never been refused before—
Especially not by that little brat!
She actually looked… annoyed with me.
The image of her calm, crimson gaze hit him harder than expected.
He collapsed onto the sofa, unable to compose himself.
Then suddenly he shot up, muttering,
“No, wait. What’s wrong with her finding me annoying? It’s not a big deal.”
Forcing himself to calm down, he lay back on the sofa again.
Then he suddenly sprang up once more—
