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Once I left the hidden room, I erased my traces and went outside the dorm. Then I headed into an alley while avoiding people and teleported to Raum. The ability to ignore the distance between the cities was one of the best parts of the Teleport spell.

This time, I managed to reach Maxwell without getting attacked on the spot like the last time. I was invited to the living room as usual, and then he left his seat to brew tea. After some wait, Maxwell returned holding a tray with a tea set, looking dejected.

“Looks like the attacks ended on this side too, huh?”
“You say that right away huh. The previous time was a special case.”

I was very used to this by now, but wasn’t the thing he was carrying the tea set with a magic power appraisal board?

“If you treat that thing so roughly, Cortina will get angry at you, you know?”
“Oh, worry not, I have spares. And I can make one too if I wish to.”
“Being able to make magic items as you please is already out of common sense.”
“You should be used to that already.”

I guess he had a point. I shouldn’t be the one to say that, given that God Hastur and God of Destruction Yuuri were giving me magic items one after another.

I snorted back in dissatisfaction, and then placed the small bottles that I brought from the hidden room. I also lined up the documents I took from the register next to them.

“Did you bring me brandy or something?”
“I’m a minor, you know? It’s the full version of the drug in question.”
“Hmm?”

This time it was Maxwell’s turn to snort as he gazed at the documents and picked them up. He then also took the bottle in hand and shook it lightly to confirm the contents.

“Also, it seems I’m parasitized by the Fungus spores, so please purify me.”
“What about your Purification magic item?”
“I had no time to bring it with me. Plus I got hit with such an amount that it wouldn’t have worked.”
“Alright, wait a little.”

Maxwell returned the bottle to the table and cast the Purify spell. His movements seemed a little sluggish to me, but probably because I was already used to his instant casting.

He still managed to finish it far faster than an ordinary magician and activated the spell. The magic circle drawn in the air crumbled like powder and surrounded my body. The faint heavy feeling I’d been feeling since I left that small room disappeared and I felt refreshed.

“Looks like it’s gone.”
“Since you got parasitized, I take it you found the source of the drug?”
“Yeah, it was held in a hidden room in the dorms. I cut up the Adventurer’s corpse so they shouldn’t be able to reuse it.”
“They used an Adventurer’s corpse? What an inhuman act.”

Next, Maxwell moved on to appraising the small bottles.

With so much at hand, we should be able to find out the poisonous dosage of it that we couldn’t previously. As expected, the results told us that one bottle would leave some dependence. In other words, in short, it was three dosages.

“Just three, huh?”
“In addition, drinking two bottles’ worth of it in one go would most likely monsterify you instantly.”
“From what Den told me, the guy apparently turned into a monster with just one bottle.”
“Maybe it was more concentrated since it was going to be used in battle. Since it dulls pain, it is perfect for creating mad warriors.”
“Wouldn’t it be disastrous to be used in a war?”

A single bottle could create a warrior that felt no pain.

The ingredients and Fungus spores were simply hard to obtain. You could easily solve that too if you used the cultivation method these guys used. The rest of the ingredients were commonplace ones used in potions, so there was enough stock of them. If you distributed it to the soldiers and made them use it, you could turn the tide of war in one go.

“No, that would prove to be difficult.”
“Why? Any lord would desperately want warriors who wouldn’t feel pain and would fight until death, right?”
“It is simply impossible. More than being a fighter, following the commands is what is desired in warriors. Not even Cortina could control warriors stimulated with a drug.”
“Oh, so that’s how it is?”

Well, I had no experience on the battlefields, so I guess I wasn’t very familiar with such things. If Maxwell was saying it was impossible, it most likely was.

“However, it would be simple to create monsters inside the city.”
“Yeah, we already experienced that.”

I stood up and tried to leave the room.

“What, you are going already?”
“Yeah. Now that I’m sure that Cain is guilty, I’m worried for Letina and Finia. Since I’ve dealt with the Fungus, he should’ve realized my intrusion too.”
“Then wait for a little while. Take this with you too.”

Maxwell stood up and took out a different bottle from the cupboard in the corner.

I also remembered that bottle. It was a detoxifying potion that I’ve used very often during my adventures and assassinations. Moreover, it was a high-grade potion that could purify even high-level poisons.

“You should be able to purify Fungus spores with this. Take it.”
“Ah, I forgot about that method. Thanks.”

I had a few of those too, but they were in the hideout where Den lived. I didn’t have them on me.

“This will help. Well then, I’ll be off now. I’m worried about Finia and Den.”
“Alright. You should show your face here more often too instead of focusing on Cortina, you know?”
“Stop messing around. It’s cringy.”
“Hahaha. But I do wish you would come more often. Then again, I have to come over too soon.”
“Hmm? Oh, that. Well, it concerns nobles, after all. But I mean, I could just assassinate him once things have come to light…”
“The opponent is the duke’s house. Plus they have many connections. Even if you assassinate the people concerned, other nobles could take their place. Having said that, we cannot leave them be either. Not even the royal house will overlook a matter of this level.”
“Is that so?”
“Moreover, I have to lay some groundwork too.”
“Well, I doubt you will make a mistake with that, so I leave that to you, old man.”

I didn’t have any intention of willingly sticking my neck in noble quarrels. I didn’t know what Maxwell was up to, but it was better not to delve too deep. Thinking so, I left Maxwell’s mansion behind.

Author’s Note:

Jerky drew Nicole! It’s super cute so take a look!
https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=72303194