~Chapter 32~
The regent unlocked many more shackles.
He transferred monopolistic imperial businesses like mining rights for coal and salt mines to auctions, exempted taxes on certain imported items, and arbitrarily established preferential trade systems.
To weaken the imperial authority, he intentionally nurtured the power of the nobility.
―You’ll be in debt, Your Majesty. Please, just spare our lives.
The young Emperor wanted to survive in the imperial palace by any means.
So he created and wore a mask.
A lecher with no interest in politics.
A fool obsessed only with alcohol, women, and vulgar trends.
Everyone clicked their tongues behind his back.
But thanks to that, he was safe, and he could keep safe his only remaining flesh and blood, his sister Logi.
―The Princess… due to her congenital illness, shouldn’t a court physician always be by her side? If, by any chance, she were to be left alone in a place where a court physician cannot reach… what terrible ordeal she might face…
Having lost his mother early and with the previous Emperor passing away.
The only family Rosiniol had left was Logi.
There were maternal and paternal relatives, but their interest was focused solely on maintaining imperial power, not the safety of the two siblings.
“Yes, you asked for my opinion, right? Hmm… my opinion, my opinion.”
Rosiniol pretended to ponder, slightly furrowing his brow.
“Well, placing the responsibility for this incident solely on the Temple… seems a bit excessive, doesn’t it?”
Rosiniol looked at Gregorius.
Right?
With a questioning expression.
A slight ripple of wrinkles was briefly visible at the corner of the mouth of the old, cunning fox.
Yes, that expression again.
The expression intoxicated with the acrid taste of victory.
It seemed he still couldn’t get enough of the thrill of freely manipulating the puppet of a powerless Emperor.
Rosiniol suppressed a bitter laugh inside.
“But Your Majesty…!”
The nobles naturally raised objections to his decision.
But Rosiniol knew.
That the answer for today’s meeting was already decided.
“I believe there is some fault on my part this time as well. Let’s take this incident as a lesson and focus on strengthening security so such an event never happens again. Increase the number of Imperial Royal Guards or… something like that. And the Temple, if you discover any suspicious individuals, have them arrested immediately.”
Today as well, the Emperor skillfully gave the correct answer.
Like the well-trained bastard of a Temple dog he was.
By now, this feeling of humiliation was familiar.
“We need to give each other some leeway, especially at a time like this.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Gregorius and the other Temple elders answered in unison.
“Then it’s settled? I shall excuse myself first then.”
*Clang.*
The empty wine glass was placed on the table as if it might shatter.
Rosiniol left the meeting room.
Amidst the murmurs of those left behind echoing into the corridor,
the smile that had been plastered on Rosiniol’s face until he exited the door had vanished without a trace.
*Crunch.*
The tightly clenched Emperor’s fist turned white.
* * *
“Grulk, grulrurur, grul? (What about the holy water contaminated by the patient’s blood?)”
“J-just, dis-pose of it.”
“Uuuh, uug? Uuuug? (Where should we move the isolated medical waste?)”
“To the re-fri-geration fa-cil-ity A, with f-frost magic.”
“Kururrulk? (We’re out of sutures.)”
“Go to the de-dicated storage ware-house sea-sealed by the Temple’s hu-human holy warriors last time. They’re in a yel-yellow cardboard box.”
The elite Bone Goblin, who had been tirelessly instructing his subordinates on various things, watched their retreating backs for a moment and let out a deep sigh.
He was mentally and physically exhausted.
So much so that if it weren’t for his undead attribute, he’d want to gulp down the holy water the Temple soldiers brought by the bucketful.
‘S-s-seriously, s-so f-fucking tired. Sh-shit.’
He lifted his head and looked up at the sky once.
The sky was pointlessly, annoyingly blue.
‘Sigh… Life.’
He was already busy to death with on-site work, and the three demons kept calling him to do all sorts of trivial tasks, making it even harder.
Of course, those three demons were the triplets: Jon, Hon, and Don.
If they had done their on-site supervision properly in the first place, he wouldn’t have been this busy!
And ever since he nearly faced true death the last time he mustered the courage to say something, he couldn’t even voice his complaints properly.
But the elite Bone Goblin persevered.
Because a shred of responsibility still remained within him.
‘L-let’s hurry back to the t-tent. I t-told them to br-bring hot cocoa…’
*Swish.*
Just as the elite Bone Goblin entered the tent.
“Hey, where have you been wandering around showing up only now?”
“Tsk tsk, getting lazy.”
“This is why we said we wouldn’t make another elite goblin a minion.”
“……”
A nasty guy next to a nasty guy.
And next to him, an even nastier guy.
“What are you staring blankly at?”
“Can’t you see we’re busy on site?”
“Last time I saw you, you were hiding and crying, weren’t you? You know what’ll happen if you get caught doing that again?”
“……”
‘Ah, I sh-should have j-just gone to h-hell.’
Meanwhile.
Ivyn had just arrived at the Oila Mountains.
‘According to the original story, it should be somewhere around here by now…’
The Oila Mountains she found were famous as a natural habitat for monsters.
How long did she wander through the mountains?
Upon reaching a remote, secluded deep ridge, Ivyn finally found the herbalist’s hut.
“Oh my, what brings such an esteemed person to these remote mountains?”
The gentle-looking herbalist showed an unexpectedly friendly attitude towards the outsider.
She calmly explained to the herbalist the situation of the epidemic in Cori Village and the symptoms of the patients.
“The situation is like this. Might there be any herbs that could help?”
However, the herbalist wore a troubled expression.
“There is one, but…”
“…?”
“But its size is so very tiny…”
The problem seemed to be that the monster responsible for sniffing out herbs, the scent hound, was far away during its breeding season.
“Ah, if that’s the problem, don’t worry!”
Ivyn’s expression said it was no big deal.
A few days later.
What she brought to the hut wasn’t a monster, but Hon Kinzello.
Dragged to the site almost by force, he followed her willingly without uttering a single complaint like ‘Why do I have to do this!’ or ‘I’m busy right now!’
On the contrary, he was childishly excited, bragging to Jon and Don that he was going on a date side-by-side with his youngest sister.
“That… i-isn’t a person?”
The herbalist, who apparently thought Ivyn would naturally bring a monster specialized in scent, couldn’t hide his confusion upon seeing Hon.
“Yes, that’s right. He’s my brother. Handsome, right? Um, could we have him try to catch the scent of that herb?”
Then, Hon, who had been standing like a screen behind Ivyn, suddenly stepped forward.
He seemed to feel it was time for an introduction.
“Let me formally introduce myself. I am Hon Kinzello, an explorer of chemical communication, an excellent code interpreter, and an olfactory genius. Trust me and give me a try, sir.”
“Uh… well, if you say so.”
“Hehe. Scent is the only sensory stimulus directly connected to the human brain, perceived faster than visual or auditory stimuli. Olfaction is more closely tied to human memory ability than other senses… Huh? Why are you both looking at me with those eyes?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
“Hmm, I was just looking because you’re cool.”
Ivyn evaded Hon’s gaze and mumbled.
She felt the herbalist was probably thinking the same thing as her inside.
*Swish.*
Before he could launch into a more elaborate explanation, Ivyn shoved the pile of herbs forward.
“Brother, here. Sniff it quickly.”
*Sniff sniff.*
Hon began analyzing the scent using his olfactory receptors.
A few seconds passed.
*Flash!*
Hon, who had tightly closed his eyes, opened them wide and dashed out the door as if drawn by something.
“This way.”
Hacking his way through the forest, he found ‘that herb’ within an hour.
“Goodness… i-it works… really…”
What Hon found was an herb named ‘True Wild Flower,’ a plant containing components that inhibit protein synthesis in bacteria and parasites, slowing their reproduction rate.
“That’s truly amazing… Brother Hon!”
“Hehe! This much is nothing.”
Hon broke into a pure, innocent smile at his sister’s praise.
It was a sight that would make the undead at the site, who were slaving away and calling the triplets the ‘Three-Headed Devils,’ scream in astonishment.
“Now, let’s return to the capital immediately!”
After returning, Ivyn shared the herb with the researchers, and they immediately plunged into research.
They made powdered medicine by mixing sun-dried herbs with starch, cut and brewed the roots, and tried various methods like using a press for compression or extracting essence with steam.
After repeated experiments with various methods.
“I-it’s effective!”
Finally, the powdered medicine was proven to be of great help in suppressing and treating the epidemic.
“Great! I can see the end!”
Ivyn quickly mass-produced the powdered medicine and delivered it to Cori Village.
“The contents of this bag are the powdered medicine. Clean the necrotic areas thoroughly with holy water, then sprinkle this powder on them.”
“The brown liquid in the glass vial is an antibiotic. Pour it into the patients’ mouths at the designated times.”
On-site, reactions started coming almost immediately.
The spread of the epidemic gradually slowed due to the medicine’s effects, and cured patients began to appear.
That news quickly spread to the capital.
“You’ve heard, right? That Cori Village… the news that the epidemic is starting to be contained?”
