A large intelligence organization headquartered in Mahea, Nolhave. Chief Dersan’s office.
“What’s going on? Why did you return in a hurry?”
Dersan, who was half lying on the sofa and chewing a cookie, looked at the man and asked sarcastically.
The other closed the door and entered the room and sat down opposite Dersan with a sign of urgency.
“Brother, I think I’ve figured out something great.”
“...What? What kind of bullshit are you talking about suddenly?”
“I’m not joking, so get up and listen carefully. Do you know the unknown potion shop in the alley of 1st Avenue east of the city?”
Dersan frowned at what this guy said out of the blue and got up.
“Unnamed potion shop? I don’t know. Why?”
“Its owner is an old man named Pleon.
The man held out some sheets of paper on the desk.
Dersan picked it up and glanced over it.
His eyes slowly widened as he skimmed the contents with an annoyed face.
After rummaging through the paper for a while with his forehead furrowed, he asked softly with a serious expression on his face.
“…Is this real?”
“Then do you think I’m lying?”
This was what the man investigated.
A few months ago, a person named Horden, who runs a small inn, fell ill with an incurable disease.
That he was suddenly cured of a disease that could only be cured by paying a large sum to an excellent mage specializing in treatment was suspicious enough.
The man who found out about it while investigating other things, out of curiosity, investigated things lightly.
The person who stood out in the process was Pleon, the owner of an unknown shop.
The man who judged that it was Pleon who cured the inn owner’s illness, conducted an investigation into the other this time.
A person who settled in Mahea at least a year ago.
In fact, there was not much noticeable information related to him, and the investigation, which started out of curiosity and whim of a moment, could be stopped there.
It was pure coincidence that the man then came up with a vain idea.
Because the disappearance of Gulpiro, the great alchemist of Santea, who had made a lot of noise on the continent in recent years, was also about a year ago.
It was just an interlocking of times that could be a coincidence.
However, the man continued his investigation into Pleon, even though it was hopeless.
And, to his surprise, he found circumstances that added confidence to the absurd assumption.
The most definitive among them was the information about the appearance of Gulpiro.
Unlike Gulpiro, who had a green beard and hair, Pleon’s appearance was orange hair and beard, but during the investigation, it was revealed that it was dyed.
The man had dug up testimony from a few people who knew that Pleon’s beard and hair were green when he first came to the city.
Unless one was trying to avoid being seen by someone, why would an alchemist who was good enough to cure incurable diseases run such a small potion shop and even changed the color of his hair and beard?
So the man was almost convinced that the real identity of Pleon was Gulpiro, the great alchemist who had fled from Santea.
“...”
Dersan rubbed his chin and silently scanned the paper repeatedly.
After not responding for a long time, the man said, seemingly a bit frustrated.
“Even with circumstantial evidence, this is almost 100 percent, brother.”
“...Yes, that’s right.”
“Is there still something to worry about? Let’s report it to the Sixth Lord.”
Dersan frowned at the man’s words.
The two were vampires from the Leocell Mountains, like the Sixth Lord, the Tyrant.
When he went out into the world to slaughter and destroy his tribe, Dersan was one of the tribesmen who followed him.
At first, he could still raise the number one intelligence organization in the territory, relying on the halo of the Tyrant, but now, that was just the glory of the past.
It was because the Tyrant’s interest in them gradually waned, and annoying rival organizations appeared one by one, and even the officials of the territory were slowly poking at the organization while monitoring them.
“Are you the only one who knows of this information?”
In response to Dersan’s question, the man replied as if it was something obvious.
“Yeah, my subordinates did the investigations, but I put it all together…”
The man who was talking to him shut his mouth.
And looked at Dersan with a hardened face. There was suspicion in his eyes.
“Sleep...”
Hwaak!
Blood-colored flames rose in the air and covered the man’s body in an instant. And then it disappeared without leaving a trace. Including the man’s body.
Looking at the place where the man had just stood, Dersan clicked his tongue.
“You idiot, do you think the Sixth Lord still has any remaining interest in us?”
Even the few remaining tribes from his homeland were meaningless to him, someone who was gradually becoming a demon out of the box.
Even if it was in the past, there was nothing they could offer that the Tyrant would like. Dersan knew the other well.
Dersan, who casually killed his step-brother who had been with him for several decades, showed only a slight sign of pity, and immediately stood up.
A great alchemist from Santea who created an elixir.
The only way to be sure was to visit him in person.
The man said that the only person who knew about this was him, but there may be other members of the organization who noticed something during the investigation. So he had to hurry.
His eyes flashed with excitement and greed.
***
Late at night, Gulpiro, who was cleaning up the store, greeted a late customer.
Seeing Reef entering the store, he straightened his bent waist.
What’s going on at this hour?
She glanced around the cluttered interior of the store and opened her mouth.
“…Before you leave, please check my brother’s condition one more time. I’ll give you any amount of money you want.”
Gulpiro shook his head and sighed.
“Money is not the problem. How many times have I already told you? There will be no change even if I examined him again.”
Gulpiro was also well aware of Reef’s situation.
It’s hard to find people who didn’t know about her in this city of Mahea.
He was the one who made potions suitable for her younger brother in the first place and provided them until now.
Was it half a year ago when she first came to the store?
Hearing about her circumstances, Gulpiro went to the house and inspected her brother’s condition.
The blood mist that the boy ingested was completely incompatible with mana.
Someone with magical power could protect themselves from the poison. But for someone who had already been poisoned, magic power was nothing more than a deadly poison.
Therefore, Gulpiro made a potion that did not contain any magical power and could ease her brother’s condition even a little.
But that was it.
It only played the role of barely holding onto the poison so that the boy’s condition would not get worse.
Just by looking at Reef’s increased frequency of visits to the store these days, the potion’s medicinal effect was gradually declining.
Eventually, her brother would die unless they found a fundamental solution. It was an unavoidable result.
Light blood disease, an incurable disease suffered by those who came into contact with the unique [Blood Art] of the Sixth Lord.
It was an unknown area that even the great alchemist Gulpiro had no way to cure.
He sympathized with Reef’s plight, but he also knew that there was nothing more he could do for her.
“I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do anymore. Go back.”
“...”
Reef’s eyelids trembled.
She clenched her fists in her hands and half-glared at Gulpiro, then turned around with a sign of resignation.
“...Thank you, so far.”
The moment she was about to get out of the store, the door opened first.
Their gaze shifted to the stranger who came in.
A man wearing a robe that made his face difficult to see.
He looked at Gulpiro and Reef one after another and opened his mouth.
“There is a potion I want to purchase….”
Gulpiro’s complexion hardened slightly.
Because he felt an unusual atmosphere. It was not the time for ordinary guests to come in the first place.
“Tell me. Is there anyone who needs urgent treatment?”
“No, no, that’s not it.”
The man pulled up his hood and said in a low voice.
“The thing I want to buy is an elixir, the great alchemist Gulpiro.
“...!”
Gulpiro’s eyes widened for a moment.
The man, Dersan, did not miss the reaction.
He exposed his fangs and put a creepy smile on his lips.
“As expected.”
“Who are you?”
Dersan reached out toward Reef without answering.
In response, Gulpiro hurriedly raised his magic power and performed magic.
Aww!
Blood and magic collided in the air.
Thanks to Gulpiro’s defense, she didn’t get hit directly, but the impact caused Reef to fly to one side of the store and crash into the wall.
“Uh-huh…!”
It was time for Gulpiro to perform the next magic right away.
Dersan, who had approached a short distance in an instant, was aiming the dagger he drew at his neck.
“...”
Gulpiro glared at him, then slowly lowered his hands.
Dersan smiled and nodded his head.
“It’s a wise choice.”
“Why are you attacking us?”
“Oh, don’t get me wrong. I’m not at all hostile to you. I was just trying to get rid of the disturbers in the conversation… was that woman important to you?”
Dersan scratched his chin with an empty hand and looked carefully at her face, then burst out a small sigh, as if realizing it.
“Oh, aren’t you the slave gladiator bitch of Actipol? Was it Reef?”
Reef got up from where she crashed and glared at him fiercely.
“Well, anyway, don’t move and stay still. If you want to save your life, that is.”
Dersan turned his gaze back to Gulpiro.
“I only want one thing, Gulpiro. Where is it, the Blood of Diferi, the elixir you crafted?”
Gulpiro replied with a chuckle.
“It’s not with me.”
“Even if you don’t have it in your hands, of course you have the recipe. Give it to me.”
“Crazy bastard. Did you think I would do what you said if you threatened me with just a knife to my neck?”
Dersan lit a crimson flame in his hand and aimed it at Reef. At that, Gulpiro gulped.
Dersan let out a mean laugh.
“Yeah, that’s right. You had a pretty special relationship with that gladiator bitch, didn’t you?”
“...”
“Give me the Elixir’s recipe quietly. Otherwise, she will burn without leaving a single bone fragment on her body.
That was the moment.
A blue sword energy shot through the window and hit Dersan.
“...!”
He hurriedly twisted his body and barely defended himself, and then bounced off to one side of the store.
Shortly thereafter, another person jumped through the window and landed on one side of the store.
The woman with the sword, Asher stared at the staggering Dersan with cold eyes.
Gulpiro looked at her with surprised eyes.
“You...?”
Then the door of the store opened, and another voice intervened.
“Didn’t I tell you she would be around to keep you safe?”
A man walked in and looked around the messy interior of the store.
Then, his gaze stopped on Dersan, who had an even more bewildered face.
The man, the Seventh Lord, opened his mouth.
“What are you doing, vampire?”
