Chapter 247 - Gnometree (1)

Alchemists. People capable of turning magic crystals into matter.

Even in Raphdonia, so few people practiced this profession that they were considered resources of the utmost importance. That went without saying in Noark, where conditions were far worse.

"Good morning, Miss Marlin!"

"Running an errand for the alchemist? That looks heavy. Let me carry it for you."

That was why everyone in the city treated Marlin kindly. She was the apprentice of their one and only alchemist. Once she inherited all his knowledge someday, she would have to take responsibility for this city.

'Grandpa doesn't seem as strong as he used to be, either...'

Honestly, she would be lying if she said the position didn't weigh on her. But there was no one else to do it. All she could do was take her responsibility seriously and keep her spirits up.

Besides, it wasn't as though the position came with nothing but obligations.

"Grandpa!"

"I told you to call me Master."

"All right, Master! So, what about the things I asked for? Are they here?"

"Indeed they are. Right here. There were quite a few, so find yours yourself."

The alchemist tossed her a two-way subspace, and Marlin caught it and checked its contents. Everything she had ordered was inside.

"Make sure you tell them I said thank you!"

"I will."

Whistling, Marlin transferred the goods into her own bag.

This was blatant preferential treatment. Without her position as the alchemist's apprentice, she could never have used a strategic resource like a two-way subspace for personal purposes. Nor would the infiltrators sent up to the city have done her favors in the first place.

"Wow, Grandpa! Try one of these. This shop makes amazing cookies!"

"I told you to call me Master. Ah, these cookies are delicious."

"What's that, though? It looks like an elixir, but it couldn't be..."

"Haha, you have a good eye."

"Huh? It's really an e-elixir?"

Marlin, who had been idly munching on cookies, sprang to her feet.

An elixir? Of course she was shocked. The ingredients were so expensive and the process so difficult that even her master had made only five bottles in his entire life.

'He said two bottles had already been used...'

Only three elixirs remained in Noark, and one of them was now in her master's hand. Why on earth?

Seeing her eyes sparkle with curiosity, her master smiled and explained.

"You should know, since you'll be coming along to learn. Today, we will give an elixir to Ligar Vagos the Dragonslayer, then attempt to restore his memories depending on how well he recovers."

"Ligar Vagos? That man...?"

Marlin frowned despite herself.

"Why? Don't you like him?"

"... He just looks scary."

"Don't judge people by their appearance. That's because of his injuries, isn't it? They say he was quite handsome before he was burned. Though, quite apart from that, I'm not particularly fond of him myself."

"R-right? It's not just me, is it?"

"Heh, you always hear only what you want to hear."

"Well, it's not just his looks for me, either. He's so unfriendly. And the way he speaks to you without any respect, Grandpa..."

"Oh, you."

An awkward silence followed for a moment, after which Marlin heard the details from her master.

The reason the dragonkin was getting such a precious elixir was quite simple.

Well, on the surface, at least.

"Apparently, the Corpse Collector recently lost a substantial portion of his fighting strength, and they need to make up for it."

"Is that man really so strong? You said the curse weakened him."

"Even so, his Draconic Tongue is special. He can't use it whenever he pleases, but... They expect that taking the elixir will put him in good enough condition to use it another time or two."

The commander of Orculus had personally requested an elixir from the lord, and the lord had granted his approval.

It was a one-sided demand, but there was little choice. They were partly responsible for the dragonkin's condition. They had attempted to treat him, only for his health to deteriorate further for some reason.

"Tsk, I still don't understand what happened. There was absolutely no reason for that to happen."

"If you ask me, it's all an act! An act! They're trying to pin the blame on us and establish the upper hand!"

"... I don't think it was an act, but I understand what you're getting at. The lord cannot keep letting them push him around forever."

Orculus was like a poisoned chalice. Especially in how they made it impossible to let go, even knowing the harm they caused.

"Well, we're ready now. Let's be off."

Marlin followed her master to the room where the dragonkin lay.

"Grrrhhh..."

Lying in bed, he couldn't even speak properly. His limbs were rigid, and all he could move were his eyes.

"I understand your hearing is unaffected, so I'll do the talking. I have good news for you. The lord has bestowed an elixir upon you."

"Grrhh..."

"Then let's begin."

There wasn't much to the treatment itself. After all, this was no ordinary medicine—it was an elixir. The entire procedure consisted of carefully feeding it to him without spilling any.

"..."

About ten minutes after taking it, the dragonkin could sit up and speak on his own.

However...

"Damn it, what the hell did you people do to me last time?"

Those were his first words.

"What kind of bullshit did you pull to leave me like that after treating me?!"

Marlin wanted to say something, but barely held herself back by recalling what her master had told her before they came.

"Heh, that's why I've brought you an elixir, isn't it? I hope you'll be generous enough to forgive us."

"Ha, if you weren't an alchemist..."

"Well, you seem more or less recovered now, so let's move on."

"Move on?"

"To what we meant to do last time. We couldn't because you suddenly collapsed, but shouldn't we recover your lost memories now?"

"There won't be any problems with it, will there...?"

"It may fail, but it won't cause any physical harm."

"... I'll trust you."

The dragonkin nodded, acting as though he were their master. Marlin found it deeply unpleasant, but she couldn't speak up when her master was letting it pass.

"Drink this. It's a potion called 'Lethe's Curse.' Ah, it may hurt a little, but your body can easily withstand it now, so don't worry too much."

The dragonkin accepted the potion with a dubious look and gulped it down.

"... Bitter."

"The pain will start soon. Lie down here."

He obediently followed the instructions and lay back down on the bed.

How much time passed?

"...!"

After groaning and breaking out in a cold sweat, the dragonkin opened his eyes again.

"How is it? Have your memories returned?"

"... I don't know. I feel like I might remember."

"It may take time."

"It's a very strange feeling. Things from my childhood are coming back so vividly."

"That's the sort of potion it is."

"Anyway, have you got anything sweet? I'd like something to get this taste out of my mouth..."

At the dragonkin's request, her master looked at Marlin, meaning she should hand over anything she had.

"... I'll go get something."

Marlin hurried back to the room and fetched the cookies she had left behind. But when she returned, her master was gone.

"If you're looking for your master, the lord summoned him, so he stepped out. Where's the food?"

"Here..."

Marlin handed over the few remaining cookies. She didn't want to, but what choice did she have?

'Lady Amelia gave me these...'

The dragonkin was so greedy that one wasn't enough; he stuffed several into his mouth and munched away.

Some more time passed.

"Urgh... My head!"

Suddenly, the dragonkin clutched his forehead, as though the forgotten memories of that day were returning.

"Y-yes...! I-it was him...!"

Staring into empty space, the dragonkin let out a cry of profound delight.

But his joy did not last long.

"G-gah!"

He coughed violently, his face contorted in pain. Clearly, this wasn't a case of something getting stuck in his throat.

His burn-mottled skin had begun swelling to an alarming degree.

'G-Grandpa never said there were side effects like this!'

Confronted with a situation she hadn't been warned about, Marlin's mind went blank.

And then—

"You!"

The dragonkin suddenly reached for Marlin, his hand full of unmistakable hostility. Having spent her whole life studying nothing but alchemy, she couldn't even react.

But...

"Ghk!"

His hand never touched her. As he sprang upright, he lost his balance and fell off the bed.

"Gah!"

Saliva streamed from his gaping mouth. Unless she was mistaken, there seemed to be blood mixed in, too.

What on earth was happening?

"You... What did you p-put in the cookies...?"

"W-what? They're just ordinary cookies..."

Marlin answered in confusion, and at that moment the dragonkin collapsed completely onto the floor.

"... D-damned bitch."

Even then, he kept looking up, the veins in his neck bulging. Of course, that didn't last long, either.

His head soon slumped limply down.

"D-dragon blood... doesn't mix with cinnamon..."

It was a cinnamon allergy.

* * *

「The activation conditions for Star's Blessing have been fulfilled.」

* * *

The third vine vanished.

I didn't know why. If I had to guess, he'd probably been tirelessly hatching yet another evil scheme and gotten struck by divine punishment or something. This was a sacred relic imbued with a god's power, after all.

Anyway, the reason wasn't what mattered.

'Damn it.'

That Dragonslayer bastard could come after me at any time now. In other words, I had even more to watch out for.

'The second vine only snapped last month.'

How had it come to this? I couldn't help sighing. After all, I couldn't yet say I was adequately prepared.

'If it's just him, I think I could find a way to fuck him up...'

The problem was that there was no guarantee he'd come alone to take revenge. What if he showed up with the Clown? Or even without him, what if he brought a whole army of underlings?

'And it looks like that barrier will be breached soon, too.'

The royal family had even obtained a means to shatter Noark's barrier. Once people could travel between the surface and the underground, I could end up meeting the Dragonslayer right here in the city rather than in the Labyrinth.

Of course, even that wasn't my most immediate concern.

'Why did it have to happen here...?'

I sighed silently and glanced around.

"Bjorn, don't tell me that's...! Nyah!"

Misha, who knew what this vine ring meant, was simply horrified.

The knights, on the other hand?

"...?"

They just seemed baffled by the bizarre occurrence.

The paladin, however, was different.

"... That's a sacred relic of our order. And a form I've never seen before, at that."

Sven Parav.

The eyes of the deputy commander of Leatlas's Second Paladin Order narrowed. As a religious man, he had recognized it as a sacred relic.

"Could the oracle we received last time have been..."

"Enough."

"Ah... My apologies."

When I cut him off, the paladin realized his mistake and clamped his mouth shut. But it was already too late.

"Then the person that oracle concerned was..."

"... Confidentiality is fundamental to bodyguard duty, so please don't worry."

Don't worry, my ass. Confidential or not, they'd spill everything to their superiors.

'... Ha, this is so damn annoying.'

Three knights and one deputy commander. Only four people had learned the secret, but it was obvious that number would keep growing.

How long would it take to reach the chieftain's ears?

'... They won't actually kick me out of the tribe, will they?'

Well, I couldn't be sure about that. But it was definitely going to cause trouble.

The chieftain hadn't seemed pleased about me becoming a noble, either. Convincing him with the excuse that it was for the tribe's sake had been a chore in itself.

'... I've still got a long way to go before I reach the ninth stage of my engravings.'

It was frustrating. Especially because there was nothing I could do about it right now. Even if I asked them to keep it secret, they'd only agree while I was standing in front of them.

"I'll be going, then."

So I left the Grand Temple without saying much else. What could I do about something that had already happened?

'I'll just have to take over the tribe as soon as possible.'

If I became chieftain and changed the tribe's traditions, that would solve everything.

And with that in mind...

"Misha, head home without me."

I had something to do.

"Hmm? Nyah?"

"I'm going to stop by the sanctuary for a bit."

Strike while the iron was hot, as they said. I parted ways with Misha and headed straight for the sanctuary.

The knights accompanied me only as far as the sanctuary entrance. They didn't come inside, since the barbarians still upheld their tradition of barring other races from entry.

"We'll wait here, then."

"I'll be out around evening. Rest somewhere nearby."

"Yes, sir."

I stepped through the open gate into a forest landscape rarely seen in the city.

Was it something left over in this warrior's body? For some reason, this place felt more like home than Lee Hansoo's room, which I visited whenever the community opened.

'The air really is nice here.'

Walking along a weed-choked path that was nowhere near paved, I soon reached the sanctuary's residential area. Huts stood haphazardly, built without any particular standard.

"Bjorn, son of Jandel, is a warrior blessed by the ancestral god, and he is invincible!"

"He's a god and he's invincible!"

"Now, I'm going to tell you how Bjorn defeated the world's most wicked evil spirit, the Corpse Collector! Listen attentively!"

"A-attentively? What does that mean?"

"It means open your earholes and listen!"

In a nearby clearing, I spotted young warriors getting an early start on their education.

And their instructor was...

'Aynar.'

She was a little different here than she was outside. Her shoulders, which never seemed to straighten in front of Misha, were thrown wide, and her face brimmed with confidence.

She was also wearing no fewer than four backpacks. After all, the number of backpacks you owned had become a symbol of success among barbarians. She probably wanted to show off in front of her juniors.

She must have liked the role, since coming to the sanctuary every morning had become her daily routine lately.

'... Let's hurry past.'

I considered stopping to greet Aynar, but decided against it. Somehow, I felt it would drain every last bit of my energy. I'd come to the sanctuary for another reason today.

I had to save my strength.

SWISH!

I soon arrived at the chieftain's home, flung the tent flap wide open, and stepped inside.

One of the perks of being a barbarian: no need to knock.

"Oh, I see you've fully recovered?"

"I have."

"What brings you here?"

As befitted the man at the pinnacle of the barbarian tribe, the chieftain got straight to the point without wasting words.

I liked how refreshingly direct things always were here. It meant I didn't have to hold back, either.

"I have something to say."

"Say it."

In this barbarian society, honesty was a virtue.