Children of the Holy Emperor - Chapter 442



Only Noblemtl

442. Reunion (4)

Dacianus explained:

The effects of Blue Dileria are so powerful that, if not careful, it can become a terrible poison that completely alienates the soul from reality.

So, after much research, he came up with a herbal medicine that would minimize side effects. Of course, the effects of Dileria would be reduced accordingly, but if taken consistently for a long time and with sincerity, he said that it would be possible to build a strong spiritual wall.

‘But Dileria is a precious material. Didn’t Dacianus say that he created a secret flower garden and monopolized those flowers?’

There, Seongjin took a little leap in thought.

The period of activity of Dacianus, the founder of the Marquisate, goes back hundreds of years. So, it is possible that the knowledge he spread was also shared with someone and secretly spread.

And in order to achieve their dream of immortality, they would have searched for something to replace Dileria. For example, things like the eggs of Loperum, which gave off a similar scent to Dileria.

‘In other words, the eggs of Loperum were used as lower-grade materials for Deleria!’

If so, we can guess to some extent what the ‘wall’ of the soul that Dacianus spoke of is.

The most comfortable place for the soul to dwell.

as soon as-

‘Salt crystal!’

The herbal tea showed an extremely activating effect on the salt crystals of the Holy Spirit. This means that the eggs of the Loperum are a sufficiently valid substitute.

Just like the Dacian decoction, the medicinal tea, if taken over a long period of time, may eventually produce proper salt crystals.

‘But it must have taken longer than expected. So there must have been those who tried to see more radical effects.’

Perhaps they conducted an experiment in which they directly planted the eggs of the main ingredient, Loperum, on humans. The gray plague patients that suddenly appeared all over the place were all side effects of this experiment.

Of course, after Archbishop Wesker unilaterally declared [Temporary Emergency Measures], the momentum was somewhat dampened.

It is still unknown who the radical forces that spread the Gray Plague are. However, Sungjin at least has a clear idea of ​​the forces that are supplying the medicine in a ‘traditional’ way.

‘So, in the end, the beginning of all this was the Penitent Church?’

I once heard this while interrogating Belinda. The medicine. That is, the ingredient for the ‘awakening tea’ they call Loperum, is a treasure distributed directly by the Archbishop of Penitence.

And then Belinda said this.

-The awakening car is ultimately sent down to save all mankind! The reason we willingly share it with you apostates, even at the risk of suffering disadvantages, is because it is the will of the Lord that mankind on all continents will awaken spiritually!

In other words, it is possible that the medicinal herb had already been secretly consumed throughout the North for a long time before it spread to Sigismund’s territory.

‘And the center of it is likely to be the strongholds of the free underground passages used by the Dark Cult.’

So, Seongjin suddenly threw a tantrum and changed the route of the ‘special delivery’ carriage.

He intended to see it with his own eyes. He currently had an ability that could be called [spiritual eyes], even if it was imperfect.

And if only we could actually see the salt crystals forming in people’s heads!

[Well, what do you think… … .]

The Demon King was a little skeptical after hearing Seongjin’s explanation.

[I traveled with you before, didn’t I? If there had been someone with a salt crystal, I would have definitely been able to recognize them.]

“But our group only stayed at the inn for a short while?”

What are the odds that you’ll run into any locals near the heavily trafficked inn above?

So, we had to identify people who had lived in the stronghold village for a long time and had been taking the herbal medicine for a long time.

[But you know, even if we find the salt crystals as you say, there’s still a problem.]

The Demon King moves to the center of the lamp, fidgeting.

[You can’t show people something that only you and I can see as evidence, right? If you want to stop the distribution of the medicine, you’ll probably have to find another way.]

“Hmm. That’s true, but… … .”

While I was sitting in the wagon thinking like that, the day was already dawning and the first light of day was breaking on the horizon.

“I see Teresa. Down.”

As Sir Marsain had said, a view of a small village in the distance began to come into view.

* * *

The party got off the ‘special delivery’ carriage and arrived safely at Terre’s inn.

“Is this the end? Are you just going to let us go like this?”

Owen glanced at the coachman and asked. Indeed, the coachman was still glaring in his direction, showing his discomfort to the fullest.

“No. You won’t stop watching until we get to Regina, right?”

“What? So what do we do now?”

“What can we do? They’re just watching us. They can’t harm us openly.”

Although he reassured Owen like that, Sungjin was also secretly uneasy.

‘It might be a bit of a hassle to move around under their surveillance, right?’

Anyway, let’s think about it after finding a stable place to stay. Having made up his mind, Seongjin asked the innkeeper for the three best rooms.

“There are three of you? Then just getting a large room should be enough.”

The innkeeper frowned at the shabby appearance of the group and replied. Of course, his expression changed as soon as Seongjin took out a generous wallet.

“No, I need exactly three.”

“I can give you up to two. Of course, you have to pay a lot of extra money.”

“Three. The other room is three times the price.”

“Okay then.”

Seongjin dropped a gold coin into the owner’s palm and asked.

“The inn is crowded. Are there really that many people wanting to stay in this town?”

Certainly, the town felt noticeably more bustling than when I used to go back and forth to Sigismund’s Lands.

Then, the owner, who had been secretly biting into the gold coin, answered with an awkward smile.

“That’s right. Recently, there has been a noticeable increase in small merchants and individual peddlers. Have you heard of the name ‘Bertran & Lee’?”

“I know. It’s a very good company that does business with integrity. Its financial structure is also strong.”

“… I don’t know about that. Anyway, I think they come and go often, and the number of individual peddlers is increasing. I heard that they are doing some kind of business with the peddlers in Delcross.”

“I see.”

Seongjin nodded, glanced at the people carrying large bundles here and there, and then stood up from his seat.

The room they decided to stay in was on the third floor.

“Your Majesty. Isn’t this place too shabby for Your Majesty to stay in? Why don’t you go back to Regina right away?”

Sir Marsain looked around the room and asked with a slightly uncomfortable look.

“It’s okay. I won’t be here long, Sir Marsain.”

“Is that so?”

“Okay. Then I’ll go look around and come back, and Sir Marsain, you can rest here for a while.”

Then, as expected, Sir Marsain looked very dissatisfied.

But the strange thing is that he, who should have protested and said he would follow right away, obediently sat down on the bed at Seongjin’s order. Of course, even Masain himself looked puzzled for a moment, as if he didn’t understand his own actions.

“…hmm?”

Owen, too, seemed to sense a strange awkwardness in his actions.

‘Newbie. Why has your brother been acting like that since yesterday? Isn’t he acting a little strange, different from usual?’

‘… … .’

Of course, it’s not like I had no idea what it was.

-Forget everything and go to sleep now, Sir Marsain. When you open your eyes later, you will forget all the bad things that have been bothering you.

-Kyung, just follow what I say right now. Then everything will be resolved.

After coming out of the sewers of Furiano, Seongjin had comforted the very anxious Sir Marsain with such words several times.

But when I asked the Demon King later, I heard that those words, filled with strong will, must have acted like a kind of binding or curse on Masain Kyung?

‘Of course, my condition improved a lot after my father came for a while.’

But still, unlike his original personality, he strangely seems to listen well.

The feeling of something creaking because the jaw didn’t fit. Trying to ignore the discomfort that would get on his nerves whenever he forgot about it, Sungjin asked Owen.

“I’ll go to the next room. You rest here and take a good look at Sir Marsain.”

“ok?”

Owen looked confused. He seemed undecided whether he should stay with the unstable escort knight or follow the newbie who still looked young.

But his wanderings ended sooner than expected.

“Hey, it’s an emergency quest!”

“What are you saying?”

“Just… do what you have to do? What is this?”

Owen sank into his chair with a sullen expression.

“The instructions are short and vague, so I guess he’s telling me to do as you say? Strangely, Status Chang is so cautious when it comes to things related to you.”

“… … .”

“But the reward is too low! How can this be! It’s supposed to be an urgent quest, but the grade is F and the reward is only 5 cash! Is this real?”

Aren’t you saying that if you just rest like I said, you’ll get a reward? What more do you want from that?

“Go.”

“Ah, yes. Newbie. But you still have to stay in the inn. Okay? Don’t go out alone and-”

widely!

Seongjin left the room, leaving Owen behind with his endless nagging.

As I quietly gathered my wits and looked around, I could feel the assassins who had been chasing me from the wasteland, one by one, taking up positions on the roof of the inn.

At this point, I started to get worried about Dasha, who was following me from afar.

‘How many days has this been going on? Dasha needs to get some rest, even if it’s just for a little while.’

Since meeting Giovanni, Sungjin has not been able to detect her presence at all. He guesses that she may have been staying a little far away to avoid the attention of the assassins who were watching the group.

Of course, since Sungjin knew Dasha’s outstanding skills better than anyone else, he didn’t worry that anything would go wrong with her.

But that doesn’t change the fact that you have to keep moving and can’t rest for days on end.

‘I need to finish this quickly and return to Regina. But how on earth will I do it?’

Holding the Demon King’s Lamp in one hand, Seongjin walked slowly down the hallway and thought.

‘I could sneak around using Auror cloaking, but it would take too much time if I went around investigating myself.’

How about a better way to gently bring all the townspeople together?

* * *

But Seongjin’s worries were surprisingly quickly resolved. It was thanks to a young man who got into an argument with the innkeeper right in front of the inn.

“Who would want to set up a stall here?”

“I’ll pay you a generous amount for the seat. Please, sir! Yes?”

The young man carrying a large bundle looked more like a simple farmer from the countryside than a merchant.

But for some reason, he is clinging to the innkeeper quite desperately.

“If I don’t perform well in this promotion, the investment in the palace will go down the drain! Please help me!”

“Oh, I don’t know! Don’t bother me with business and go to the alley over there!”

“Elder-!”

But among his words, there was one word that particularly caught Seongjin’s ear.

‘… Palace investment funds?’

It was the first time Sungjin had heard that the Delcross Palace was giving investment funds to private merchants. And that young man was clearly not the type of person who would seek investment funds from anyone.

“Hey, if you don’t mind, can I talk to you for a minute?”

So the story I heard from the young man was quite surprising.

“A top-tier business license?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The young man, who introduced himself as ‘Oliver’, showed me a document he had been holding carefully in his arms.

After he confirmed the gold coins that he had shown to buy the goods, he became quite obedient towards Seongjin.

“Rumors are already spreading everywhere. If you receive a ‘quasi-merchant business license’ issued by the palace and make progress in the north, you can receive proper investment and start a proper merchant company.”

Due to the recent pioneering efforts of ‘Bertran & Lee’, the sense of crisis regarding security in the North has been greatly reduced.

That is why small merchants and individual peddlers who are reluctant to compete with the established merchants are recently rushing to the north.

And to guarantee and protect their identities, the [Semi-upper Merchant Business License] has recently been issued by the Imperial Palace. With just this business license, your identity will be guaranteed anywhere in the North, and you can follow large merchants around without any separate case fees.

“Good? Who approved that?”

“This is Princess Amelia. I heard that recently, all the activities of the Imperial Capital are being supervised by Princess Amelia.”

“hmm.”

Seongjin accepted the document he had handed him and looked at the elegantly scribbled signature with a new feeling.

Sister Amelia’s signature… … .

“As expected, Princess Amelia is the best calligrapher in Delcross.”

“…yes?”

When Oliver asked with a bewildered expression at the sudden sentiment, the Demon King let out a small sigh.

[Here he goes again. That thick bean pod.]

“shut up!”

“Huh?”

Oliver was greatly surprised to hear the sudden order to shut up. Seongjin returned the documents to him and thought for a moment. Somehow, he felt like he understood his sister’s deep intentions.

If you and I were blinded by our inflated dreams and rushed north, I think some of them would die a sudden death. That’s why I asked them to achieve results under the protection of a suitable superior.

If the business produces some results, I will receive investment and build a proper business, but if the business fails, I will simply give up and return to my hometown.

In addition, the ‘Junior Top Business License’ is proof that the Imperial Family knows his identity. So even if he is unlucky enough to be isolated in the North, it will be difficult for thieves to threaten his life.

Ah, how can our older sister Amelia be so kind?

[… If it’s to that extent that you can’t sell your arms, it’s a disease, Lee Seong-jin.]

What are you talking about! I was just telling the truth!

“So Oliver, what do you deal with?”

“Oh, yes. They are herbs. They are easy to grow and effective. However, they would be difficult to grow in the northern climate.”

“Hmm… … .”

Sungjin rummaged through the dried grass that Oliver had spread out on the table. Compared to his grand ambition to run the store on his own, the items he had spread out were not very satisfying.

At that very moment, there was a plant that particularly caught Sungjin’s eye. It looked like some kind of hairless dog’s-foot grass, or like an unripe barley ear.

“What is this?”

“Oh, that’s called teosinte.”

“What kind of herb is this used for?”

“Rather than a medicinal herb, it’s good to boil it and drink as tea. It doesn’t have any particular medicinal properties, but it has a very rich flavor.”

A flash of inspiration flashed through his mind. Sungjin smiled broadly and tapped Oliver on the shoulder.

“Okay, Oliver. Congratulations on receiving the Imperial Investment Fund.”

“yes?”

“Your stuff is marketable enough. I’ll buy all of your stuff and prove it to you.”

“Me, all of them?”

Seongjin answered forcefully to the young man who was still hesitating.

“Yes. Teosinte, the twisted herbs, and the stall. All of it!”

I just had a really great idea!

What a brilliant idea to bring all the locals here without lifting a finger!