Chapter 112

"This... looks suspicious no matter how you look at it, doesn't it?"

On one wall of the last room Setsuna had entered, traces resembling pure white powder formed a rectangle. It was unmistakably a door.

"Yes. Excellent work."

Woojin gently stroked Setsuna's head, then began examining the wall. Naturally, a hidden door wouldn't have a visible handle.

"There must be a mechanism somewhere..."

CLICK.

Just then, a section of the wall he was examining began to move. Startled, Woojin turned to find Setsuna turning a lever concealed inside the opposite wall. She smiled and flashed a V sign, and he nodded.

'I'd have had a hard time finding this without Setsuna.'

Her combat skills were impressive enough, but once again Woojin realized just how useful her various support skills were.

"Let's see..."

He poked his head through the open doorway and found stairs leading underground.

"Let's find out what they've been up to."

Then a smell wafted up the stairs from below.

"Malfran."

"It's malfran leaves!!"

They spoke in unison.

"This... is enormous."

Once underground, Woojin was left speechless by the sight before him. He had never imagined such an immense space beneath a door hidden in the wall of a small room. Countless malfran plants grew in a cavern that looked to cover well over a thousand square meters.

"It looks like they expanded the space with alchemy. Look here."

Setsuna pointed to a mana stone embedded in the floor.

"Even with alchemy, there's no way the royal court wouldn't have noticed them creating a space this big..."

As he had suspected, it now seemed even more likely that the alchemists and Esten's royal court were working together.

'But manufacturing hallucinogens alone won't be decisive evidence.'

What mattered was finding evidence of the monster they had been creating.

'Given how much effort they've put into this place, they wouldn't have used it just to grow leaves.'

After making his way through the malfran field, which grew as thick as a forest, Woojin found another staircase leading down one more level.

"Good."

CLANK. CLANK.

At the bottom of the stairs, a solid iron door blocked his path.

"Hup!"

Woojin drew his sword and brought it down, slicing diagonally through the iron door.

CRACK!!

"... Hm?"

Beyond the iron door stood several cages, the sort used to confine animals.

"Master, this..."

The cages were clean, but when Setsuna used her skill, countless marks resembling bloodstains appeared inside them.

"This much blood... Did they use this as a slaughterhouse?"

"Who knows? These are the people who chopped up human corpses to feed a monster. There's no telling whether they captured and killed animals or people."

"Ugh..."

Setsuna shuddered as though she didn't even want to imagine it.

Beyond the cages, they opened the next door and found what appeared to be a room for manufacturing hallucinogens.

'They really must have fled in a hurry.'

They had cleaned up outside to keep anyone from finding the entrance, but the underground rooms were a mess, almost as though they had been in use until moments ago. The contents of a glass tube filled with malfran leaves were still bubbling, and books lay scattered everywhere, evidence of their hasty departure.

"Looks like they made the hallucinogen for taming monsters here..."

"Something's not quite right."

Setsuna tilted her head as she examined the workroom.

"What is it?"

She began scanning the books on the desk.

[Using Analysis.]

▶ Allows a deeper understanding of the contents.

▶ Occasionally reveals hidden content.

She turned the pages faster and faster, soon becoming absorbed in the books the alchemists had left behind.

[Using Speed Reading.]

▶ Allows rapid understanding of the contents.

"Phew!"

Having read the dozens of books stacked on the desk in no time, she closed the last one and released the breath she had been holding. She shut her eyes in thought, as if digesting their contents, then opened them wide and looked at Woojin.

"This... wasn't intended for taming monsters."

"What do you mean?"

"Malfran leaves are normally known to have no effect on humans."

"Right."

"But if you refine the leaves using the method written here... they work on humans too."

"... What? Then they were researching hallucinogens here to use on people?"

"It's entirely possible."

Woojin frowned at her words and bit his lip.

'I've heard that some players use hallucinogens, since virtual reality still doesn't have firm restrictions on that sort of thing...'

But the hallucinogen made from malfran leaves had a somewhat different use. Rather than simply inducing pleasurable visions, its very purpose was to tame monsters.

"If... they successfully modify it, could they control people too?"

"They might be able to."

A hallucinogen used to control people.

"Would you like to try making some?"

"Me?"

"Yes. There's no recipe, but I think we can make it based on the research they left behind. Could you help me?"

Woojin nodded.

Setsuna collected some liquid from the glass tube in which the leaves were bubbling, then went upstairs and brought back several fruits and roots.

THUMP! THUMP.

She busied herself crushing the fruit and cutting the roots, then finally placed the ingredients on the alchemical circle engraved into the desk.

[Alchemy in progress.]

As the notification appeared, the circle began to glow.

"Master, now!"

At her signal, Woojin placed his hand on the circle.

[Trait: Alchemical Blessing activated.]

▶ The contractor can craft alchemical products with effects 20% stronger than normal.

The light flowing from Setsuna's hands connected to Woojin, and the circle shone even more brilliantly.

[Alchemical crafting complete.]

[Malfran Juice completed.]

Name: Malfran Juice

Grade: C

Description: Juice made from modified malfran leaves. Extremely sweet and so addictive that a single taste can leave the drinker unable to quit.

▶ Prolonged consumption induces hallucinations.

▶ Also effective on humans.

▶ People experiencing hallucinations move and speak more slowly.

▶ Primarily respond to clear, distinct sounds.

[Effects increased by 15%.]

▶ Learning the Alchemy skill will allow better effects.

Woojin stared at the blue liquid that had formed on the circle.

"It really is a hallucinogen that works on humans."

At that moment, a thought suddenly struck him.

'The king and ministers I saw at court...'

They had seemed strangely out of it. Thinking back, they had looked much like typical drug users.

'Don't tell me... even the king is addicted?'

Until now, the issue had simply been people voluntarily taking hallucinogens to get high. That was why it had largely been dismissed as a problem among players.

'But NPCs are using those hallucinogens?'

No. Something wasn't right.

What if the NPCs weren't using them voluntarily, but being exploited?

'Someone capable of coming up with an idea like this... The alchemists behind all this might be players.'

[Evil Tale] was a world with a class hierarchy. A world where kings held supreme power.

'If someone could control the king...'

It would be no different from making the entire country theirs without waging a war.

'Then... is their goal to swallow up the Kingdom of Esten?'

Woojin shook his head.

'In that case, there was no need to invade the Kingdom of Tekan. They could have quietly ruled the Kingdom of Esten from behind the scenes.'

Which meant they had a reason to provoke a conflict...

'They want Tekan and Esten to fight each other and bring about their own destruction.'

There was only one power that wanted both gone: the Antarian Federation's remaining kingdom, the Kingdom of Dalus.

"Hmm..."

Having organized his thoughts that far, Woojin paused to catch his breath and looked around.

"It seems reasonably plausible... but there's one thing bothering me."

"What is it, Master?"

"It's too hasty, if they put this plan into action because they wanted a war with Tekan. In their place, I'd have controlled the soldiers and had them attack instead."

Or, if they needed corpses to create a monster, he would have obtained them in the Kingdom of Esten.

'It feels like they were pressed for time. And...'

Their sudden flight was another of the many things that didn't make sense.

'Did their plan fail?'

That seemed likely.

'Then... there must be another force that interfered with them.'

"If this isn't just a dispute between kingdoms, but involves players..."

TAP.

Woojin set down the vial and spoke in a low voice.

"I'll have to solve it the player way."

"What are you going to do?"

Woojin grinned at Setsuna's question.

[Peron, is there a black market in the Kingdom of Esten too?]

Woojin sent a Message.

[Oh, yes!! There is. Are you in the Kingdom of Esten right now?!]

[Yeah, things just worked out that way... I'd like to use the black market. How do I go about it?]

[You want to list something anonymously, right?]

[That's right.]

[I'll send someone over. He'll help you sell it.]

Pleased with his efficient response, Woojin nodded even though Peron couldn't see him, then replied.

[How's your work going?]

[Yes, it's almost finished!!]

Woojin was looking forward to seeing what he would bring back.

"Setsuna, can we make a few more of these hallucinogens?"

"Yes. Since you don't have the Alchemy skill, we can't make them in bulk... but one or two should be possible."

"Good. Then let's make a few more and head back. I'm going to list these on the black market."

Woojin's plan was simple. If a hallucinogen more effective than the alchemists' own product appeared on the black market, there would probably be several bidders, but the alchemists would certainly be among them.

'And I'll make a few more doses to find out which ones they are.'

[Alchemical crafting complete.]

[Malfran Juice completed.]

...

With Setsuna's help, they finished a total of four doses of the hallucinogen. Woojin tucked them into his pouch.

"There's one more thing I need to check while we wait for them to take the bait."

"What's that?"

Woojin reread part of the hallucinogen's description.

▶ People experiencing hallucinations move and speak more slowly.

▶ Primarily respond to clear, distinct sounds.

"In that palace full of people out of their minds, there was exactly one man who enunciated every word clearly."

The steward, Hansen.