An alchemist was a being who could transmute mana stones into materials. There were not many who practiced this trade, not even in Rafdonia, which is why they were considered the most important resources. As for Noark, where the situation was much worse, needless to say.
«Good morning, Miss Marlene!»
«Are you on an errand for the alchemist? That seems heavy. I'll take it for you».
It was for this reason that everyone in town was kind to Marlene. She was the alchemist's only apprentice. After inheriting all her knowledge one day, she would be in charge of this city from then on.
Grandpa is not the same as always these days...
To be honest, it would be a lie to say that this position was not a burden, but there was no one else to really take charge. So the only option was to take responsibility and move on. It wasn't just a position of duty, either.
«Grandpa!»
«I told you to call me Master.»
«Very good, Master! And what about things? Is here?»
«Yeah. There is plenty, so you can look and grab what you need».
The alchemist threw a bidirectional subspace at her and Marlene picked it up to confirm the contents inside. It contained the things she had asked for.
«Please say thank you for me!»
«I will».
Marlene whistled and put the items in her personal bag. It was an obvious privilege. Without the position of apprentice alchemist, it would have been impossible to use the strategic device of bidirectional subspace for one's own benefit. Not to mention that the infiltrators outside the city would not have heard his request in the first place.
«Wow, grandpa! Try a little of this. They make some delicious cookies».
«I told you to call me Master. But the cookies are delicious».
«But what is that? On the outside it looks like an elixir, but I'm sure it can't be...»
«Haha, you saw it well».
«Huhhh? Is it really an elixir?» Marlene was chewing on the cookies without much thought when she was startled, and rightly so. With the ingredients so expensive and the production process so difficult, even his master had only made five bottles of elixir in his entire life.
Besides, I had already used two...
Now there were only three elixirs left in Noark. One of those bottles was in the hands of his master. For what reason?
When Marlene's eyes lit up with curiosity, her teacher smiled and explained the situation. «You should know it for the future, so I'll tell you. Today I am going to feed the elixir to the dragon slayer Regal Vagos and try to restore the memory depending on the degree of recovery.»
«To Regal Vagos...?». Marlene frowned unknowingly.
«Why, don't you like it?».
«...It's scary».
«Don't judge people by their appearance. It is because of an injury. I heard he was pretty handsome before the burn. But I don't like it for another reason.»
«True? It's not just me, is it?»
«Haha, you always choose what you want to hear.»
«That's because it's not just his appearance to me, either. That man is so bad. The way he talks to you without manners, too...»
«What a kid».
There was a moment of awkward silence, after which Marlene heard the details from her teacher. The reason why the precious elixir was given to that dragon man was very simple, at least in appearance.
«The Body Collector's power has been greatly reduced recently, so it apparently needs to be supplemented».
«Is that man that strong? I heard he was weakened by a curse».
«Still, his Dragon Speech is special. It's not that I can use it however I want... But they hope that I can use it once or twice after taking this elixir».
The chief of Orcules made the request directly to the lord of the castle and he granted it. It was a unilateral request, but there was no choice, because he was partly responsible for what had happened to that dragon man. Although they tried to treat him, for some reason, Vagos' health deteriorated further.
«Tsk, it's a mystery. I'm sure nothing could have caused that».
«The way I see it, it's all a performance! To blame us in some way and scare us!»
«...I don't think it's acting, but I know what you mean. The lord of the castle must not be influenced by them forever». The oracles were like a poisoned chalice, especially because it was impossible to get rid of them even knowing that they were harmful. «Now, the preparations are complete so let's go».
Marlene then followed her master to the dragon man's room.
«Gruhhhhh...» Lying in bed, he was unable to speak properly. The only thing he could do with his stiff limbs was move his eyes.
«Since you have no hearing problems, I will speak for myself. It will be good for you. The lord of the castle has granted you an elixir».
«Guhh...»
«Then let's start right away.»
The treatment process was not important at all, and rightly so, because the elixir was not just any object. The only procedure was to feed the elixir carefully so as not to spill it. After about ten minutes, the dragon man was able to lift his own body and speak.
«Damn, what the hell have you done to me before?». That was the first sentence he said. «What the hell have you done to me to put me in that state?».
Marlene wanted to reply something, but she remembered her teacher's previous words and stood still.
«Haha, that's why we brought the elixir. I hope you can understand it with a generous heart».
«Ha... if you weren't the alchemist...»
«Now, seeing that you look better, let's move on to the next thing».
«The next thing?»
«What you were going to say then. You fainted so suddenly that you couldn't finish your words. Now you should recover your lost memories».
«That won't be a problem, will it...?»
«You may fail, but it won't hurt your body or anything like that».
«...I will trust you.» The dragon man nodded as if he were the superior. Marlene disliked that, but she couldn't say anything while her master was still.
«Eat. It's a secret medicine called Lethe's Curse. Oh, and it may hurt a little, but you should be able to handle it pretty well in your current state, so don't worry».
The dragon man accepted the medicine with incredulous eyes, but swallowed it in one gulp. «...It's bitter».
«The pain will come soon, so lie down here».
The dragon man obediently followed the instructions and lay back down on the bed. After a long time passed like this, Vagos, who was suffering and sweating profusely, opened his eyes again.
«How are you? Have you recovered your memories?»
«...I don't know. I think so».
«It may take a while».
«It's a very strange feeling. I can vividly remember things that happened when I was young.»
«It's that kind of drug.»
«Before that, do you have anything sweet? I want something to chew...»
At the dragon man's request, the alchemist looked at Marlene. He meant giving her something if she had it.
«...I'll bring it». Marlene hurried back to her room and grabbed the cookies she had left earlier. However, when he returned, his master was not there.
«Your master was called by the Lord. So, the snack?»
«Here...» Marlene handed over the few remaining cookies. She didn't want to, but what could she do?
That's from Miss Amelia...
The dragon man was greedy and did not stop with a cookie. He chewed several at once. After spending a long time like this, he suddenly grabbed his forehead as if the forgotten memories of that day had come to mind. «Ugh... my head! Y-yes...! It's that bastard...!»
Soon, the dragon man cheered deeply as he looked into the air, but that moment of happiness did not last long.
T-Cough!
He began to cough loudly with a distressed expression. Obviously, it wasn't because he had something stuck in his throat. Before he knew it, the dragon man's skin swelled strangely.
Grandpa never mentioned this side effect!
Not being informed of this situation, Marlene's head went completely blank.
«You!» Suddenly, the man stretched out his hand towards Marlene in a movement with obvious hostility. As someone who only learned alchemy throughout her life, Marlene couldn't even react to the movement. «Krr!» However, his hand never touched his body. The man tried to jump up, but lost his balance and fell out of bed.
Asphyxiation.
Saliva continued to drip from his widened mouth. If he wasn't mistaken, there also seemed to be blood. If so, how had it happened?
«You... what did you put... on the cookie...?»
«That? It's a normal cookie...». Marlene responded perplexed.
The man collapsed completely to the ground. «...Damn bitch». Even in the midst of that, the dragon man struggled to look up. Of course, this didn't last long either.
Plop.
Vagos dropped his head weakly. «Dragon blood is... incompatible with cinnamon...»
He was allergic to cinnamon.
***
[The activation conditions for the Blessing of the Stars have been met].
The third vine was gone. I did not know why. If I had to guess, the guy must have been tirelessly hatching another evil plan before being punished for it, because it was a sacred relic imbued with divine power. Anyway, reason was not something to worry about.
Damn.
Now, the dragon slayer could come after me at any moment. It meant there were more things to be aware of in the future.
The second vine broke last month.
How could this happen? A sigh came out automatically, and rightly so, because I couldn't say I was fully prepared yet.
I think I can screw it up alone...
The problem was that there were no guarantees that he would come to get revenge alone. What if he came with Clown? If not, what if he was accompanied by numerous subordinates?
It looks like the barrier will open soon too.
The palace had even found a way to break down the Noark barrier. If the journey between underground and surface became possible, it would also be possible to meet the dragon hunter in the city. Of course, even this wasn't something to worry about right now.
Why here...?
I let out a silent sigh and looked around.
«Bjorn, is that it...?» Knowing what the vine ring meant, Missha was horrified. The gentleman, on the other hand, was just wondering what kind of strange situation this was.
But the paladin was different. «...It is a sacred relic of our temple. And one I've never seen before». Sven Parav, the deputy commander of the Second Order of Paladins of Reatlas, narrowed his eyes. As a religious man, he had recognized that it was a sacred relic. «Could it be the oracle that came down last time?»
«For.»
«Ah... sorry.» When I cut off his words, the paladin realized his mistake and kept his mouth shut, but it was too late. «So the theme of that oracle is...».
«Confidentiality is essential for escort operations, so you don't have to worry».
Don't worry. They may say he's classified, but they'll go rat him out to his superiors anyway. Ha, so annoying.
Three knights and a deputy commander: Although only four people knew the secret, it was an obvious fact that the number would gradually increase in the future. How long would it take to reach the boss's ears?
...He won't really kick me out of the tribe, will he?
Well, until then I didn't know, but it was clear that discomfort would arise. The chief even seemed disgusted by my new title. Convincing him that it was for the good of the tribe was another odyssey.
It's going to take me a long time to get to phase 9 of the imprint...
It was suffocating, especially since I couldn't do anything right now. Even if I asked them to keep it a secret, they would only say yes to my face.
«Then I will continue on my way.» So I left the temple without saying anything. What could he do when it had already happened?
I have no choice but to take charge of the tribe as soon as possible.
All of this could be resolved if I became the chief and changed the traditions of the tribe. And in that sense... I had work to do.
«Missha, you can go home now.»
«Hmm?»
«I'm going to pass through the holy land for a while.»
They say you have to hit while the iron is hot. I immediately separated from Missha and headed to the holy land. The gentlemen accompanied me only to the entrance and did not enter. It was because the barbarians still retained the tradition of prohibiting entry to other races.
«Then we'll wait here».
«I'll go out at sunset, so rest somewhere nearby.»
«Yes, my lord.»
When I entered through the open doors of the castle, a wooded terrain appeared that was difficult to see in the city. Was this a remnant of the warrior's body? For some reason, this place smelled more like home than Hansu Lee's room.
The air here is definitely nice.
Walking along a weedy rather than paved road, I soon reached the residential section of the sacred land. There were huts built without any rules.
«Bjorn, son of Yandel is an invincible warrior blessed by the ancestor gods!»
«God and invincible!»
«Now, I'll tell you the story of Bjorn killing the world's most evil Corpse Collector, so pay attention!»
«Attention? What does that mean?
«It means open your ears and listen!»
In a nearby clearing, young warriors could be seen receiving training. The instructor was... Ainar.
Ainar was different at home and away. His shoulders, which never opened in front of Missha, opened wide and his expression brimmed with confidence. He was carrying four backpacks. That was because the number of backpacks was a symbol of success for the barbarians. He must have wanted to show off in front of his teammates. I assumed he really liked that position because his daily life consisted of going to the holy land every morning.
...Let's move quickly.
I debated going to say hello to Ainar, but I stopped because I felt like he was going to suck all my energy. The reason why I came to the holy land today was another. I needed to conserve my strength.
Whip.
When I arrived at the chief's house, I whipped the store open and entered. That was one of the advantages of being a barbarian. You didn't have to knock on the door.
«Oh, are you better?»
«Yeah.»
«What business have you come to?» Like a man at the pinnacle of the barbarian race, the boss got straight to the point. I liked that this place was always easy. It gave me nothing to fear.
«I have something to say.»
«Speak.»
In a barbaric society, honesty was considered a virtue. «I have come to succeed the position of boss.» I spoke bluntly.
«Happen...» The chief took an ax placed against the corner of the store and said: «Don't use difficult words, fight with me».