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CHAPTER 213: THE POWERFUL DRUG

CHAPTER 213: THE POWERFUL DRUG

~ Somewhere in Alto Kingdom ~

It was a dimly lit space, lit only by the moonlight itself.

Two moonlights stood side by side in a place where the howls of nocturnal monsters could be faintly heard.

One was a madman from Alto Kingdom known as “Bloodstained”, and the other was a monster from the Ibuldia Empire wearing a mask with tears motif and ecstasy painted all over it, called “No Face”.

Their atmosphere in that place was far from what you would call peaceful, but they had no intention of being hostile towards each other for the time being.

「Well then? I have been waiting for over ten years for this moment, but did you manage to obtain the item in question?」

「Kufufufu…… Why yes, of course. This is the book you were looking for all this time, isn’t it?」

「I honestly thought that you had failed to obtain it, but…… It seems that there was no need for me to worry about a thing.」

「Well, as you might already know, I am a professional liar, so it is only natural that deceiving people is my specialty. But that bomb certainly surprised me……」

The bookshelves and the desks in the royal castle’s Forbidden Library were destroyed by the bomb Fernando set off, and most of the books stored in there were thoroughly burned to ash. This seemed to have foiled Joseph’s plan, but in fact Joseph only appeared before Ruzarc and Fernando after he had finished retrieving the book that he was looking for.

It also seemed that Joseph himself had been caught up in the explosion to a certain extent, but at the time of the explosion he used his Skills and magic to quickly escape from the library without suffering much damage. Although he HAD sustained damage to a certain extent.

So why did Joseph take the risk of appearing there? He was honestly trying to recruit Fernando as their ally.

As Joseph said, there were not many people out there with both knowledge and abilities like the ones that Fernando had, who could clearly distinguish interests and make the decision to immediately discard what was not necessary for the sake of their plan’s success.

「But even so, it is actually a tremendous blow to our cause that we were unable to recruit Prince Fernando. You needed him in order to make your ambitions come true, right?」

「Yes, it is true that he was a valuable piece to be had in our midst, at least to a certain extent. However, that does not mean that he was the kind of piece that cannot be replaced by someone else.」

「Hmm, I see. Kufufu, and here I was, actually hoping to see a troubled expression on your face, even if for just a short while.」

「I would advise you to stop trying to turn your own mistakes into other reasons. Or are you perhaps just trying to make excuses for being outwitted by Fernando right at the very end?」

「Well, maybe that’s true. I never thought Prince Fernando would make a fool out of me in such a spectacular manner……」

「I guess this also means that our plans are going to be slightly delayed, but…… Oh well, I guess it is something that cannot be helped here.」

「So then…… Where are we going to go next?」

「The desert country of Ordira.」

「Oho, Ordira, huh? So, does this have something to do with those two?」

「Yes, that’s right. We will need them in order to decipher the knowledge contained in the Forbidden Book we got this time around.」

「Kufufufu, I see, I see. Then I will accompany you from here on out. Ordira has a lot of archaeologists and historians gathered there for research’s sake, after all. I have been waiting for an excuse to go there for quite some time, too.」

When it comes to the Forbidden Books, there are times when their content is purposefully hidden away from prying eyes by a technique called “Reverse Characters.” The book that No Face wanted to get his hands on this time around was most probably falling into that category, but unfortunately for him there were only a handful of experts around the world who were well-versed in that particular subject and who could accurately decipher the reverse characters written in this book.

However, judging from the conversation between Joseph and No Face, it could also be inferred that there was already someone with specialized knowledge in that particular subject among their allies, or that there was a possibility that they would manage to get someone with that particular skill to cooperate with them.

「Oh well, I guess that it is fine either way. You can tag along, but be advised that I am going to leave you behind the moment you start to drag behind or try to get in my way.」

「…… Don’t tell me that you are planning to go straight to Ordira through the dangerous Nakva Mountains? While it is true that I thought I would have to move my body a little bit as a form of my rehabilitation, but…… Gigantic Centipedes are mighty tough opponents, wouldn’t you agree?」

「Well, it is not the problem of me being unable to defeat them, but it is true that they are somewhat troublesome opponents. It would probably be wise for us to avoid that particular territory for the time being.」

「Kufufu, I think that you would have to be an existence that is extremely out of the ordinary if you were to defeat them all on your own.」

Gigantic Centipede, a monster which is also used as the Boss Monster of the thirty fifth floor of the Plainne Welt dungeon, was a troublesome monster that had both tremendous attack and defense power, the ones that easily matched its large size and length, and that was without even mentioning that it could also use the “Paralyze” status effect with all of its attacks. It also had the ability to mercilessly pursue any kind of enemy that would dare to invade its territory for whatever reason.

The solution to its highly territorial behavior was rather simple: all you had to do was to simply avoid entering it in the first place. However, there was simply no way for ordinary people to tell where its territory started and where it ended. In addition to all that, there was not one but at least several Gigantic Centipedes living in the Nakva Mountains. Anyone who would risk such an endevour to cross the Nakva Mountains would be either someone with a strong death wish or someone who was extraordinarily strong.

However, the people who were present here were No Face and Joseph Bloodstain, who primarily excelled at both stealth and scouting, so No Face thought that this route would not be too problematic for the both of them.

Or perhaps he was just implying that he did not need weaklings who could not keep up with him while going through treacherous territory like that……

「He’s really someone who can only think about himself. That’s why he attracts my interest and won’t let go of me.」

Just a single drop of danger…… When mixed together, these two could become a deadly poison for this entire world.

It may not be long before even more dangers like this would mix together and cause a strong chemical reaction across the entire world……