Chapter 721 – 721. The Serpent’s Tail (2)
“In other words… Count Ephrate regularly buys slaves to sacrifice to the devil? Could that mean?”
Aira nodded her head at Lily’s guess, which summarized the contents of the report in a concise manner.
“It seems highly likely.”
“And if you add the story I heard from that adventurer, it’s not an impossible story at all.”
Cha Han-seong, who returned from the interrogation of the adventurer Lily had captured in his room, agreed with Eira’s guess.
He secretly received drugs from Count Ephrate, the lord of the manor, and poisoned the owner of the brothel, prostitutes, and slave traders visiting the manor.
To become more and more dependent on drugs and to force them to spend too much to get them regularly.
In the end, he sells his slaves to make money, and the money made in that way flows naturally to Count Eprate, who provides drugs.
“Really… It’s okay to think like this…”
Aira frowned and muttered.
And the money is used not only as a business fund for the manor, but also as a capital to purchase slaves, so in fact, it is close to a vicious cycle in which only money continues to roll in the manor.
In the end, it is the drug addicts and the sold slaves who suffer.
The scale of profit that has steadily increased without any risk to the person himself is beyond imagination.
It means that he has already raised enough capital to promote the territory itself from a vassal territory to a county territory.
“… I don’t understand.”
As if agreeing with Erindoeira’s words, she tilted her head while putting on her uneasy expression.
“Isn’t the distribution of drugs a sensitive and moving kind of issue even within the kingdom? How could I have stayed safe without getting caught?”
Erin had several experiences of eradicating the Artia Knights or the criminal organizations that secretly distributed drugs by helping Eunhyun.
Drugs will be a bad thing that will make not only a person’s body and mind, but also his life itself fall into hell.
Because of her, she was well aware of how swiftly and strongly the Kingdom of Pernias and the Knights of Artia moved against these things.
“Maybe it’s because of the nature of this drug.”
Cha Hanseong took out a cloth-wrapped pouch from his bosom.
When I undid the string on the pocket on the table, dozens of glass bottles filled with pink liquid were revealed.
“This…”
“Yes. That drug.”
It was a drug circulating among prostitutes and slave traders in this estate.
Cha Han-seong forcibly retrieved drugs from an adventurer who had been interrogated.
“They say that this drug loses its efficacy after a week from the time it was made.”
“… Do you think it’s too short?”
Although the manufacturing process and efficacy are completely different from potions, which have the effect of healing human wounds, drugs are also objects with the nature of ‘medicine’.
It is natural that no matter how long it is stored, it eventually loses its effect once the expiration date is exceeded, but unlike potions that have a sufficient expiration date of more than 3 months once manufactured, the drug that Hanseong Cha collected was too short even if the expiration date was short.
“Yes. It’s short. That too.”
In addition, drugs that are generally manufactured in one place and spread to various places have a much longer shelf life than ordinary potions.
Drugs that are made but are not delivered to users and quickly lose their effectiveness have no value as a commodity.
“But if this territory itself is a place where drugs are manufactured, the deadline doesn’t matter much.”
It had a limited restriction that it could only go out in this territory, but the effect seemed to be as strong as that.
Considering that wealthy merchants, prostitutes, and aristocrats go to the pleasure grounds to obtain these drugs and do not hesitate to pay, it means that they are worth it.
“In addition, there is no fear of leakage due to the constraints of the short period.”
Of course, the worry that news about drugs from the county of Ephrate will leak into Pernine, which is located 2-3 months away by carriage, is significantly reduced.
Unlike the criminal organizations that tried to make a big profit by distributing drugs extensively throughout the kingdom, Count Eprate strictly controlled information, production, and quantity to proceed with the business.
“This…”
“…”
Erin and Lily stared at the glass bottle filled with pink liquid that Cha Hanseong had placed on the table.
“Two people? What’s the matter?”
Ayra, who noticed that the reaction of the two was unusual, called Erin and Lily.
“… Sister. Did you notice?”
“Huh. It seems certain.”
The two looked at each other and confirmed that they were thinking the same thing, and immediately answered Eira’s question.
“This drug, it’s not just a drug.”
“… What do you mean?”
“Ayra. Inside this drug… It contains demonic power.”
“…”
Ayra and Cha Han-seong’s shoulders trembled at Lily’s shocking words, and they soon hardened.
“It’s true?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sure.”
The two were convinced without hesitation.
The reason Erin and Lily were able to detect the devil’s magic in the drug is because of the characteristics of the divine and the devil that the two have.
Erin’s sensitivity to her magical energy, and Lily, who inherited half of the devil’s traits, could feel its power.
“It looks pretty strong too. Maybe… It’s not enough to numb some of the senses, but to excite them, causing a kind of hallucinatory state… It looks like a demon with the same ability to charm as me.”
Lily was sure that the demon who generously donated her magical powers to create this potion must be a succubus like herself.
“Are you stronger than Lily?”
“… Yes.”
Lily affirmed Eira’s question with a complicated expression on her face.
At least she can’t handle her powerful magical powers enough to create a potion like this.
“Okay. Okay.”
Aira nodded her head and referred to Lily’s explanation.
As an outsider to her field of battle, she had no intention of asking her hordes to deal with her demons.
“With this… I am convinced that Count Ephrate is cooperating with the devil.”
Of course, this was purely Erin and Lily’s words without physical evidence, but Eira and Cha Han-seong did not doubt their words.
Rather, I am grateful for the confidence of the two that makes them resolve that this opponent will never be easy and that they must not be vigilant.
“Then, can we now break into the mansion of the count and arrest him and deal with the devil?”
“That, that…”
Cha Han-seong was taken aback and worried as she didn’t know how to dissuade Erin.
When I slightly moved her gaze to the side and looked at her Aira, Aira smiled bitterly and said.
“It would be really nice to do that, but… Unfortunately, I can’t.”
Occasionally, Erin had such a tendency to be indecisive that she wondered if it was true that she was taught by that seasoned man named Eun-hyeon.
Aira slowly explained the operation.
◆ ◆ ◆
A single small candle lit up the bedroom in the dark mansion where the sun had set.
But the candle gave off too little light to illuminate the whole bedroom.
In the dark vision that could not be illuminated even by candles, something in the shape of a person appeared.
She was a woman full of lust, covering only the important parts and revealing pure white skin, to the extent that one might wonder if she was wearing only underwear.
One peculiarity is a pair of black wings on the woman’s waist.
She was not a human, but a demon who enjoyed bewitching humans.
“… Are you here?”
Count Ephrate politely greeted the devil who unexpectedly came to the mansion at dawn.
It’s been a long time since this has become an ordinary daily life, and the opponent is a demon, not a human.
The gap between her and himself was too stark for much of her.
“Is it hitting this month?”
“I have it ready.”
“Huh. Good. Good job.”
As always, the demon who checked the ingredients prepared today, the deadline, Lucy showed a satisfied smile and nodded his head.
He knew that the slaves purchased by Count Ephrathe were always locked up in an underground prison, so he headed straight to where the slaves were.
“The water… Give me some water!”
“Live…”
The slaves in the prison who felt the presence of people cried out earnestly in a state of exhaustion from not eating or drinking water for several days, but what they faced was not Count Ephrate, but the devil.
“Noisy.”
Lucy, not wanting to hear the voices of the slaves buzzing in her ears, used her own magical powers.
[Quiet.]
The slaves’ eyes, which met red eyes full of unpleasant light, soon lost their focus and stopped with a blank expression.
The slaves, who were full of earnest pleas, lose their emotions and do not move at all in a rigid state like wooden dolls.
Lucy, who released her materialization and passed through the prison blocked by iron bars in a state of mental body, absorbed all the spirits in the bodies of the slaves as usual.
Just as the fertile soil evaporates and cracks, the slaves who become withered in an instant don’t even scream or show any signs of pain, even though their vitality is being absorbed by the devil.
Already completely possessed by Lucy’s brainwashing, they were close to being unaware of it even though their vitality was being cut in real time.
Before long, the slaves, completely deprived of their vitality, fell to the ground one by one.
Laying on the cold floor without a single sound of breathing, they died with their hearts already stopped beating.
“Hmm… It’s also a bit sad…”
As I always felt, the amount of food that Count Ephrate prepared was only enough for three or four people.
It was always not enough to fill Lucy’s stomach.
In addition, it is not the spirit of a healthy human being who eats properly and rests, so the taste is not zero.
“Still, there is nothing I can do.”
Considering how sternly the Kingdom of Pernias has been taking measures to find clues about demons and root them out, I feel fortunate to have such an environment where I can safely consume energy on a regular basis rather than complaining.
Lucy naturally thought of those who were currently massacring humans by taking over the entire eastern part of the continent, starting with the Kingdom of Rendir.
A necromancer who harbors hatred for the man who was a hero of the past named Raynan and the existence of the goddess of the continent.
And currently, the eastern part of the continent of Arcena, which is active mainly with a high-ranking demon named Belphegor, is no different from a disaster for humans.
The reason why Lucy escaped from the eastern continent and sneaked into this territory, absorbing human spirits, is because there are few humans she can eat in the east.
These days, demons with strong personal tendencies come out and hunt humans in order to grow their power.
“… Tsk.”
Lucy clicked his tongue and waved his hand at the withered bodies.
Bodies that disappear in an instant do not evaporate without a trace.
Due to the effect of her artifact, she was transferred to the pre-set location.
“That witch… What the hell is it?”
Lucy frowned at the thought of the dark-haired witch who handed her a crystal ball imprinted with her teleport magic.
Even though she said she wasn’t specialized in fighting skills, the fact that she, a demon, was only afraid of humans made her irritated.
It was the witch who gave the order to transfer her corpses with this artifact, saying that she had a place to use the corpses that had absorbed all the spirit.
Lucy was terribly proud of why she had to listen to humans, but aside from that, she instinctively acknowledged the power gap between her witch and herself.
Even though she did not fight the law of the weak and the weak, in which the order is determined by the logic of power and the rulers and the ruled are created, she subdued Lucy.
After using her artifact to transfer her corpses and finishing her meal, Lucy found Count Ephrathe again.
It was to work on making drugs by pouring his magic power into the potions he had prepared in advance.
The relationship between Lucy and Count Ephrate was close to that of cooperation.
She desperately needed food to keep her spirits supplied, and Count Ephrathe desperately needed the ability that a succubus possesses.
That’s why it’s close to a cooperative relationship that was created.
“I think we should finish it soon.”
“Hmm? What must have happened?”
“It seems that the knights of the kingdom have smelled it. Two Artia Knights came to visit today. You don’t seem to know of your existence yet, but if this drug is caught, it will only be a matter of time before your identity is revealed.”
Count Ephrate’s attitude was very calm.
In the first place, he was not sure that this business, which he worked with the devil to make drugs, would not be caught by the kingdom for the rest of his life until he died.
I kept in mind that it would happen someday, and I was just preparing for the next one.
“Hmm. So?”
Lucy wasn’t too surprised by Count Ephrate’s attitude.
“Your brainwashing ability. Will it work for the Knights of Artia?”
Count Ephrate began to devise a plan to seize the minds of Eira and Cha Han-seong and make them their cards.
