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Chapter 312

I had given Grivy a piggy bank with the idea that she’d get a reward whenever she did something good.

I don’t know what she plans to do once she fills it, but she must’ve heard somewhere that if she fills it to the brim, she can buy something with it.

Anyway, Grivy, who had been struggling with her sluggish piggy bank farming, said she’d go treasure hunting and ended up finding an oil field.

It’s a funny story.

“That’s strange. There’s no terrain around Cascadia where oil fields should be found.”

That was the biggest mystery.

Crude oil isn’t something that just comes out because you dig the ground.

And yet it was suddenly discovered.

At a glance, it did look like crude oil.

But to know for sure, I had to see it myself.

Guided by an excited Grivy bouncing ahead on her steps, I arrived at the destination.

I felt something strange.

“Wow… this is insane.”

In front of me, black crude oil was seeping out of the ground, forming a pool.

I instinctively pressed my hand to the ground and activated the Heart of the Machine God.

Like a massive radar wave, my scan spread across the land around us.

“Jackpot.”

I could confirm there was an enormous amount of crude oil buried underground.

In my past life, crude oil had been one of the world’s driving forces. Latest content published on NoveI-Fire.ɴet

Cars ran, planes flew, trains moved—thanks to fuel derived from it.

But in this world where mana exists, crude oil has a different use.

“Orichalcum was shocking enough, but now crude oil? Is this some rigged dungeon map or what?”

Honestly, I hadn’t expected this at all.

Depending on how it’s processed, crude oil can become a powerful mana catalyst.

The problem is, catalysts made from crude oil can’t be reproduced even with the Heart of the Machine God, so I had given up entirely on that line of processing.

But here it was.

And not just anywhere—right here, near the Duchy of Cascadia.

“I never thought we’d become an oil-producing country like this.”

When I turned, I saw Grivy’s eyes sparkling as she looked at me.

As if to say, If I did well, then I should be rewarded, right?

Fair enough.

If she did well, she should get a reward.

But Grivy probably doesn’t just want to fill her piggy bank.

She likely wants to buy something with it.

Of course, I had more than enough to buy her whatever she wanted.

But now wasn’t the time.

If she got used to hitting jackpots like this so early, what would happen later?

“You did well, Grivy. You deserve a reward.”

“Re… reward!”

“That’s right. Just wait a bit.”

I pulled out whatever my hand caught in my pocket.

It was a gleaming gold coin.

“Hmm… for something this impressive. How many should I give?”

“G… gold coin… umm…”

Gold coins.

They’re coins that guarantee a set value of sel so people don’t have to carry bulky regular currency.

Although since the exchange rate differs between countries, most people still prefer sel.

Grivy began pondering with a very serious look.

I just watched quietly.

How greedy would she be?

Finally, after some thought, Grivy squeezed her eyes shut and stretched out both hands.

“Gr… Grivy did well… so… te… ten…”

Just ten gold coins—worth only 100,000 sel.

After all that deliberation, she asked for ten?

Honestly, the discovery of crude oil was worth a reward hundreds of times greater.

“Here. Twenty.”

“Tw… twenty!!”

“But this isn’t proper payment, Grivy.”

“N… not?”

“That’s right. Instead, I’ll double your allowance.”

Grivy’s piggy bank is usually filled with money from her allowance, aside from errands.

So I simply doubled her allowance.

“What you found is an incredible treasure, Grivy. That’s why your allowance goes up twofold.”

“Wow… waah!! My piggy bank will fill up so fast!!”

Her eyes lit up as she cheered, and I felt a twinge of guilt.

It felt like I was swindling pocket money from a child.

Meanwhile, Sur and Serqet, who had betrayed Grivy earlier, looked glum.

Of course, if we extracted this immediately, it would just turn into ordinary crude oil.

My goal wasn’t to use it as fuel but to make mana-infused crude oil.

So I gathered mana and carved a massive magic circle into the ground.

As the circle began to activate, I started planning ahead.

Still, I wondered what Grivy wanted to buy by filling that piggy bank.

* * *

Melissa, who had witnessed my excitement earlier, seemed very curious about what Grivy had discovered.

“So. What is it?”

“Crude oil.”

“Crude oil?”

“Yeah. Simply put, it’s like an energy source so powerful we wouldn’t even need firewood anymore.”

“…Is that real?”

“It is. But I’m not planning to use it as fuel right now.”

“Why not!”

Melissa jumped to her feet.

“If it can replace fuel, the money we could save…”

“It’s a choice. Mana-infused crude oil can’t be used as ordinary fuel.”

“Th… then why not extract it first and then…”

“No. It’s one or the other. Either you install a massive magic circle on the natural deposit to make mana-infused crude oil, or you extract it and use it raw. If an oil well is found, you have to pick one path. You can’t have both.”

“…You already installed the magic circle?”

Melissa knew me well by now.

“Of course.”

“…Fine. So what can you do with it?”

“For now… mass-produce elixirs. And you know those special venoms we need to process with elixirs? Those will get much easier to refine.”

“Then let’s start right away.”

I was glad we were on the same page.

* * *

It had been a month since the Moon Watchers said they’d give me information about the cultists and Nyarlathotep.

But they still hadn’t given me anything solid.

Maybe because I melted the Hydra so absurdly fast, the contract got a bit twisted.

But that wasn’t the real issue.

If they wanted to play tricks like this, then I had no choice but to get rough.

I’d been polite in our dealings so far, but if they tried to cheat me?

Then I’d act like a thug.

“P… please don’t kill me!!”

I snatched up Meryl Dyne, a Moon Watcher loitering in the Cascadia territory, and dragged her into a deserted alley.

Her face turned pale.

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“Sure. I won’t kill you. But first, explain why I should spare you.”

Shhhk…

With no one watching, appearances didn’t matter.

And justification?

I had plenty.

I strode toward her as if ready to cut her down on the spot.

“Th… the duchy has changed beautifully, hasn’t it?”

“Right. Well said.”

“Y… you really mean it?”

“What meaning is there in what’s carved on a tombstone? I’d destroy it all anyway.”

“W… wait! That’s not it!”

She flinched in terror.

“The Hydra isn’t gone yet!”

At that, my sword stopped mid-swing.

“Eek!”

The blade halted right at her throat, and Meryl gasped.

“But I confirmed Hydra’s death.”

“Yes. That’s why we were compiling information to pass on to you. In fact, about two weeks ago, one of our agents went to deliver it to you—but he never came back.”

Her expression hardened.

“We dispatched investigators to the city he visited. And we found…”

The agent had died there.

The cause: poisoning, suspected to be from Hydra’s venom.

“Where was this?”

“The Berner territory…”

“Damn it.”

The Berner territory.

That was where Melissa’s friend Lilia Berner lived—and where the prince of the Pascalia Empire had caused trouble.

“What’s the situation there?”

“Dire. Not only the citizens of Berner but nearly everyone breathing there has been poisoned.”

“So the poison spread everywhere?”

“No. It seems to be the Parcora Venom—a type of Hydra’s poison that’s contagious.”

“Parcora Venom?”

“Yes. According to legends, it’s the venom exhaled by the green-headed Hydra…”

“Ah…”

So it was that poison.

“…Alright. You can go. Deliver the rest of the information later.”

Relieved, Meryl fled in a hurry.

I later told Melissa about it.

“What?! Berner?!”

Her reaction was expected.

Her friend’s territory had been contaminated with a contagious, monstrous venom—there was no way she’d take it lightly.

“So how bad is it?”

“Parcora Venom. One of Hydra’s poisons. It spreads like an infection, clinging to human bodies like a parasite and destroying them.”

“What? A poison does that, not a disease?”

“Hydra’s venoms work differently from normal poisons. Parcora Venom spreads slower than other Hydra poisons, but its range is nearly limitless.”

Poisons don’t normally spread like that.

Right now, Berner was practically a playground for a massive plague.

The problem was…

“Can it be cured?”

“You think Hydra’s venom can be cured?”

Hydra’s venom has no antidote.

By the standards of this continent, if Hydra’s venom spread, Berner would be quarantined, and anyone showing symptoms would be burned without leaving even ashes.

“No… why Berner…? Do you know how much Lillia suffered after that incident…? Gods are cruel… Didn’t you say it melted in your hands that day?”

“That’s what’s strange. I confirmed Hydra died. So where did this venom come from?”

I didn’t even consider that someone had stolen and spread it.

Hydra’s venom is not something any mere human could handle.

Could Hydra have survived and escaped its seal?

If it had rampaged like this, the Moon Watchers would’ve noticed.

No, the Hydra I melted in that resort city was definitely dead.

Whatever the case, a contract is a contract—I had to see it myself.

“So if there’s no evacuation and no antidote… the people there are just supposed to die?”

“They’d have to. Normally.”

“What the hell do you mean by that?”

She tilted her head, not understanding.

Then Luna, who had just laid Arsha carefully onto the bed, approached.

“Didn’t the Thief Dove mention it? Hydra has a venom that can even intoxicate poisons themselves.”

“There’s such a thing… ah.”

Melissa gasped softly, realization dawning.

Then she added.

“What can’t you do, seriously? At this rate, you’ll even make me into a Sword Master overnight.”

She cracked a joke, but I only smiled gently in response.

Melissa broke into a cold sweat.

“Wait… no way.”

“To perfect the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword you’re learning, all it takes is an elixir rush.”

And now, the Duchy of Cascadia had discovered mana-infused crude oil.

Melissa didn’t hold back.

“Wow, are you insane? You be the duke, then.”

I replied by flipping her the finger.

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