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Chapter 314

The man, who appeared to be fairly advanced in age, was not alone.

All of them wore white-toned garments.

Their genders and ages varied, but what mattered was that the man shouting at me seemed to be the highest-ranking among them.

“Lord Veolas…”

“Hmph. So Lady Berner found my warning hard to believe, is that it?”

“No, that’s not—”

“If not that, then what? Are you trying to keep me in check with nonsense about a hydra? Truly, what a vicious young lady.”

Currently, the one governing the territory was not the Count and Countess of Berner, but Lilia.

It was puzzling to hear such verbal abuse directed at her.

“No, that’s not it!”

“If not, then what is it? Even if it’s minor, are you not exploiting the epidemic spreading among the people of your land?”

He pointed his finger at Lilia, showing he clearly had no regard for etiquette.

Cracking my knuckles, I prepared to move, but Lilia grabbed my arm.

“Please calm yourself. We mustn’t inconvenience our guest.”

She looked at him with a firmer expression than expected. Find the newest release on Nov3lFɪre.ɴet

“Lord Veolas, I think your words are highly problematic.”

“What words? The lady is failing to see reason, trying only to take political advantage—”

“To disrespect your host in front of a guest like this? Even if you are a marquis, this conduct is unacceptable.”

Veolas’s face twisted with hostility.

“Ha. Very well. Do as you wish. The more you resist, the tighter the noose will grow around your neck.”

With that, he slammed some documents down on the table before her.

“This is a formal request from the Royal Medical Department. Surely you won’t reject even this? Of course, I know that if the truth comes out you stand to lose, but I expect you’re old enough to stop acting so willfully.”

“…”

Lilia clenched her fist silently, then let out a short breath.

“Do as you please.”

She took out the lord’s seal and signed the documents.

Satisfied, Veolas smirked, then turned his gaze to me.

“I don’t know where you crawled out from, boy, but don’t forget—you could end up badly hurt if you stick your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

I smiled faintly at his words.

At the same time, Lilia shot up and clung to my arm.

“Ah… no! You mustn’t kill anyone here!!”

I was already holding a piece of metal ornament in my hand.

“Tsk.”

“Well, well. What an uncivilized fellow. A true man of culture knows how to talk.”

“You seem mistaken. Civilized men can be more barbaric than savages.”

“What?”

“Why is it that people don’t understand—they’ll get their skull split with an axe if they act rudely—until they experience it firsthand?”

“You… you cur!!”

Fury twisted his face, and one of his knights reached for his sword.

“In the end, strength decides everything. At least, Lord Veolas neither lacks rank nor martial power compared to you.”

His icy tone carried the confidence of a man who knew his strength.

Judging by his aura and the movement of energy within his body, he was a Sword Master.

No wonder he was so self-assured.

But Lilia cut in, breaking the standoff.

“Enough! I will not tolerate further chaos! Lord Veolas, I recognize the authority of the Royal Medical Department, but if you cross the line, I will have no choice but to expel you from this territory.”

“Hmph. Then the Berner family can deal with the consequences.”

Scoffing, he turned away.

Ignoring him, Lilia looked at me this time.

“Please, Lord Leon. I appreciate your kindness, but this is for the host to resolve. I ask for your understanding.”

“…Understood.”

After Prince Dorn’s incident, she had become tougher.

The world she once thought would be filled only with happiness had forced the pain of loss upon her, teaching her harshly that life was not so beautiful.

Veolas left without even asking about the hydra, clearly seeing no need to.

When the marquis was gone, Lilia let out a bitter sigh and then turned to me.

“Lord Leon… cough cough. What you said earlier—was it truly without falsehood?”

“Yes. I know it must be difficult to believe when I speak suddenly of ancient monsters and poison. You may think it was a foolish ploy…”

“No. I’ll believe you.”

Her eyes held mine firmly.

“The Berner family owes you a debt.”

The hydra I had faced had melted away after a contest of strength.

If it was dead, it could not be spreading poison. That left only one possibility.

Hydras act in pairs, male and female.

Which meant that besides the one I had slain, another must still exist—still alive, with a reason to act now.

And Lilia’s condition was proof of that.

Parcola poison loses its potency when a hydra dies. Yet what I sensed in her body was a venom so alive and forceful it was destroying life itself.

The first step was testing.

“Then may I draw some blood to confirm?”

“Blood?”

“Yes. You’re already poisoned, my lady. If we make even a small mistake while preparing the antidote, the result could be disastrous.”

She nodded.

“But… isn’t it said that hydra venom cannot be cured?”

“More precisely, it can’t be cured by normal means. I do have an extreme method, but… I’ll explain once it’s ready.”

“All right.”

Without hesitation, she drew a dagger to cut her hand.

“Wait. What age are we living in, that you’d draw blood like that?”

“Eh… isn’t this how it’s done?”

“Hold on.”

I searched my pocket dimension and produced a syringe and a vial sealed with a rubber stopper.

“This will sting a little.”

When I touched the needle to her vein, she squeezed her eyes shut and trembled.

For someone so afraid, it was strange she had thought to cut herself with a blade.

“Aaaarghhh!!”

“Kyah! Wh-what’s wrong?!”

My sudden outburst made her jump, but instead of answering, I quickly pulled the plunger, drew her blood, and withdrew the needle.

After applying a coagulant and bandage, I muttered to myself.

“Now that we have oil, I should start making these syringes out of plastic, not glass.”

“There. All done.”

“W-was that on purpose?”

“The human body tends to ignore small pain when it’s distracted by a big one.”

“Ah…”

She giggled.

“You’re so considerate… distracting me to spare me pain.”

“Since you trust me, I’ll be completely honest: the hydra seems to be hiding in the underground waterways of this land. Once we find it, I’ll slay it and save your people.”

“Why… why do you go so far?”

“In part, it’s a contract. But more clearly, if this isn’t resolved, half the empire could be destroyed. Better to rack up some goodwill with the imperial family while I’m at it.”

“It would have been nicer if you just said it was fate that brought us together…”

“You’re cheeky.”

I flicked her forehead with a smile.

Two years ago she had sobbed uncontrollably after the Berner incident, but time had healed her enough that she could joke now.

“When will you know the results?”

“Are you in such a hurry?”

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“You saw it earlier. Lord Veolas is the head of the Royal Medical Department. He’s deeply entangled in politics.”

She explained further.

When illness spread in the territory, Lilia had appealed to the royal court for aid.

The rate of transmission was far too fast for a mere flu.

The royal court was prepared to send support, but others opposed it.

The Berner family, they said, was exaggerating trivial illness to steal royal resources.

As a result, it was Veolas himself who was dispatched.

He had vowed to ensure the territory received no more aid once its problem was solved, and to make them pay dearly for their “false alarm.”

“Likely, when the hydra was mentioned, he thought we were inflating the danger for gain.”

“Has something like this happened before?”

“No. This is the first time.”

“And yet your enemies threw down a blocking card just to oppose you?”

“That’s politics. You throw down your card, then negotiate, give and take, until you get what you want.”

Disgusting.

Yet such games seemed to exist in every world.

If Veolas wanted to turn this city of thousands into his playground for politics, then he couldn’t expect respect in return.

Ignorance isn’t usually a crime.

But in this case, ignorance would be a sin.

If he crossed the line, then I would act.

For now, though, verifying the antidote was more urgent.

I asked Lilia to arrange blood samples from a hundred townsfolk.

Not long after, a familiar voice broke in.

“Lord Leon… cough cough. Traces were found in the great underground waterway.”

It was Meryl Dyne—the Moon’s Watch member I had first met here, long ago.

If she could slip past even the Berner family’s security so easily, her infiltration skills hadn’t dulled.

She showed me a blackened scale.

“A hydra’s scale.”

“Yes. I never thought there would be a second hydra.”

“But who says there are only two?”

“The scriptures say the hydra, descendant of Eden’s serpent, always came in pairs. But this one… something feels off.”

“It’s not a pair.”

The moment I saw the scale, I knew.

“What? What do you mean—”

“It’s a juvenile.”

The kraken had overexerted itself to lay eggs before dying.

Likewise, the hydra’s offspring had already hatched.

Suddenly everything made sense—the weaker poison, the hiding in waterways.

If both adults were dead, then only the young remained.

“A juvenile… you mean this scale is from a baby hydra?”

“Yes. Its essence can’t be used, but its blood has even stronger regeneration than an adult’s. Hm. Quite the windfall.”

“Windfall? You’re talking about people’s lives.”

“They’ll live. Why complain? Did you want them dead?”

My counter made her falter.

“T-that’s not it… but also, if you’re going to use informal speech, then do so consistently. Stop switching back and forth.”

“Well, we’re not exactly close, are we?”

“…Just don’t talk, then.”

“Anyway. Your blood, please.”

“B-blood?”

Looking bewildered, she extended her arm.

I deftly drew some blood into a vial, then added a drop of my venom-infused essence.

Fssshhhh!!

At once, the blood evaporated with a hiss.

“Ha. If I’d tried making an antidote like this, it would’ve killed dozens.”

“W-what the hell? Why is your blood like that?!”

“It carries venom that neutralizes other venoms.”

“Are you… really human?”

“What do you mean?”

“N-nothing.”

Better not to press her.

My venom could dissolve a hydra itself, but tuning it to attack only the hydra’s poison without harming the rest of the body was tricky.

“Keep searching for the hydra.”

“Please… make the antidote. I only came this deep because I believed you could. I don’t want to die.”

So she was already beyond the stage of exposure—she was poisoned.

“Well then, let’s discuss the price of your life.”

“W-what?!”

“I need certain catalysts for the antidote. You’ll fetch them.”

“Th-that’s all?”

“And one more thing.”

“What now?!”

“Nothing much. We can’t test the prototype antidote on civilians. You’ll be the test subject.”

I waved a vial of strange venom-laced liquid in front of her.

“I-I won’t die, right?”

“If you want to live, you’d better fetch those catalysts with your life on the line.”

“Unbelievable…”

“Well? Why are you still here?”

I handed her a list of materials.

The ones obtainable in daylight I had already asked Lilia to procure.

These, though, required contacts in the underworld.

“Th-this… damn it! I still have to search for the hydra too…!”

“Your comrades can handle that.”

Her trembling anger made me chuckle.

“Fine! But you’d better make that antidote!”

“Oh? The patient dares talk back?”

“You monster… what will you do once you find the hydra?”

“Find it? The scale of a baby hydra is priceless. The hunt won’t be a problem. Just call me when you locate it.”

She stormed off, fuming, but I caught her arm.

She turned, startled.

“W-what now?”

“Didn’t you hear me earlier? Drink this first.”

“…Stop treating me like a lab rat.”

“Ah, sorry. I’m used to experimenting on myself.”

Back then, I didn’t mind if I died, so I tried anything that came to hand.

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