Chapter 1925 – 1925. Dark Moon
No matter how much Paul was tortured, the desired information couldn’t be obtained. The information he had about Alphatier Pharmaceuticals was only very basic. Basic information that could be found anywhere.
‘It’s certain that his memory was erased by some method. There are no traces of magic, so it must be science or drugs.’
Alphatier is a pharmaceutical company. It wouldn’t be strange if they had a drug that erases memories. A drug that erases only specific memories? Alphatier is capable of that, if nowhere else.
Alphatier deals not only with drugs made with scientific technology but also with magic potions made with magical ingredients. They handle all substances that affect living things under the name of drugs. A drug that erases specific memories? Officially, it doesn’t exist, but it wouldn’t be strange if they were making and using it unofficially.
‘I need to recover my memories.’
Magic to recover memories. Or technology to recover memories. A drug to recover memories.
‘If there’s a spear that can pierce anything, there’s bound to be a shield that can block anything. There must be technology related to memory recovery. That’s how humanity has developed.’
Click!
I tap on the laptop and search the internet.
It goes without saying, but it’s hard to expect to get high-level information on the internet. The internet is basically censored in every country.
‘Still, there are loopholes, and what I want is a small clue. If I dig deep into that small clue, I can get some meaningful information.’
If all else fails, I’ll commission a company that specializes in information. This has the disadvantage of costing a lot of money and the risk of my information being leaked, but it’s an easy way to get high-level information.
‘…Nothing. Even after looking through the list of magic potions, there’s nothing related to memory. There are some things related to memory among the magical ingredients, but nothing I want. Do I have to look through all the papers too?’
I click my tongue.
I’ve looked at papers related to magic before. The reliability of the papers was lower than I thought. Most of them were papers that seemed to have been seen somewhere before, and among them, there was maybe one paper with useful content out of a thousand. And most of those were not open to the public and were controlled. For military reasons, or for corporate secrets.
Knock knock knock
I raised my head at the sound of knocking. I turned off the laptop. I didn’t get an answer.
“Warden. This is Deputy Warden Captain Kevin.”
“…Come in.”
Kevin comes in and salutes. Seeing his disciplined posture, I clicked my tongue inwardly. This guy doesn’t get intimidated even if I deliberately harass him. It’s not because he has a strong mentality… but because he believes in something else. It was clear that he had a backer.
“What’s the matter?”
“I heard you’re looking for information about memory recovery recently.”
“How did you know?”
“Rumors are circulating among the guards. Is it possible that your memory isn’t intact?”
I wondered if I should have asked a few guards, but the rumor had already spread. It didn’t really matter. As long as rumors about Paul and Alphatier didn’t spread.
“It’s a personal matter. If you’re going to talk nonsense, go out and do your job.”
“I’ve heard that the Imperial Army has a magic potion that restores memories.”
“That wasn’t nonsense. Tell me more.”
“There are spies who are deployed after having their memories erased. This is to prevent information from being taken when the spy is caught. I’ve heard that the Imperial Army developed a magic potion to restore erased memories in order to extract information from spies.”
If it were another country, I would have shouted that it was nonsense. If they had made such a drug, Alphatier Pharmaceuticals would have already taken the lead and sold it at a high price, or they would be using it only for their own corporate profits.
It made sense.
The places where Alphatier Pharmaceuticals cannot exert its power are city-states like Neo London and Divine France, and the Haist Empire. In particular, the Haist Empire is a place where even megacorps cannot easily enter. Even if they do enter, they have no choice but to be wary of the military. The Haist Empire is a militaristic dictatorship under Kaiser.
It was a country where if Kaiser didn’t like it, companies and everything else would be blown away.
“Can you get that drug?”
“I wouldn’t have brought it up if I couldn’t get it. I can get it if I mobilize all the connections I have. However…”
“However?”
“It’s a designated special strategic material. It will cost a lot of money to get it. There are many people watching in the prison, so we have to trade in a secret place. I think we’ll need about 200 million credits.”
It’s suspicious.
Kevin is a guy who is hostile to me. A guy who is constantly aiming for my position. A guy who wouldn’t be strange if I pointed a gun at him right now.
And that guy is suddenly trying to help me? I can only think that he has an ulterior motive.
“200 million credits. It’s expensive, but it must be worth that much.”
“Of course. It’s something you can’t get even if you have money. 200 million credits isn’t even that expensive.”
“Okay. Go ahead with it.”
“Understood!”
It’s hard to believe that Kevin, who is just the deputy warden of Rumen Prison, would have such abilities. He’s probably trying to use his backer.
‘If it’s a trap, I won’t be able to get it. But it doesn’t matter. It wouldn’t be bad to find out this guy’s backer and kill him on this occasion.’
200 million credits.
It’s enough to cover it with the budget embezzled from the prison. If it feels insufficient, I can squeeze the prisoners.
‘As expected of vicious gang members, they have quite a bit of hidden assets.’
There were some prisoners who were saying that they could live comfortably once they were released.
‘I need to let them know that they might die before they’re released.’
The fear I’ve instilled in the prisoners is also fading. I’ve been quiet recently, so goldfish-like criminals are acting up.
‘I need to catch a day and execute some of them so they can’t act up. Criminals seem to care terribly about their families… so I’ll catch and execute their families as well.’
It didn’t matter if they rioted. Then I could execute them for rioting.
‘Someday, they won’t even be able to think of defying me.’
Before that, I need to find a way to save the budget. That way, I can embezzle more of the budget.
‘I should probably tamper with the food. I’ve reduced it to two meals a day… but there are still a lot of prisoners, so it costs quite a bit of money. Hmm. I heard that they make livestock feed from food waste… can’t I adjust it so that humans can eat it? I feel like I’m getting some magical inspiration… I could put magic on the food waste to keep it fresh… no, wait. Isn’t it more efficient to modify the human body than the food waste? If I modify the stomach with magic, they can easily digest food waste.’
Magical inspiration is flooding in.
‘I killed the summoner Gillian and got the Chimera Research Book and the Summoning Magic Book. Should I practice human sacrifice magic on this occasion?’
It’s all for the development of my magic.
I got up from the chair and loosened my neck, tilting my head. Crack! Pop! The sound of bones echoed. My shoulders feel heavy for some reason.
‘Have I been overdoing it recently? I feel like I’m accumulating fatigue.’
Business management and magic engineering factory management in Neo London, Rumen Prison management, personal magic research, etc. There were a mountain of things to do.
‘If I get rid of Kevin and put Anchae in the deputy warden position, things will be a bit easier. Let’s just hold on until then.’
I massaged my shoulders and went out of the warden’s office.
• • •
A week later, Kevin said to me.
“The trading location has been decided. We’ve decided to trade in the wasteland area near the prison.”
“That wasteland 30 minutes away?”
“Yes. It’s the best place for trading because there’s nothing there. Is the money ready?”
“What do you take me for? Of course, it’s ready.”
“I’ll tell them we’ll trade. The time is… after lunch tomorrow. How does that sound?”
“Not bad.”
The next day came.
After having lunch at a restaurant in Neo London and coming to Rumen Prison, I frowned slightly.
My condition wasn’t good today. It felt like the fatigue from working non-stop recently had just exploded.
‘It reminds me of the old days. It was like this on days when I worked hard.’
It was the first time I had experienced such a terrible condition after reaching the 5th level.
As the level increases, the body naturally becomes stronger. Since I’m a mage, my physical abilities don’t become extremely strong, but I’m at least at a level where I don’t get minor illnesses.
‘I should take a good rest for two days after this is over.’
I went outside the prison.
Kevin had prepared a separate car. It was a secret deal, so I couldn’t take my subordinates with me. Even if I didn’t like it, I had to move with Kevin alone. I got into the back seat of the car with a bag of money containing 200 million credits.
Kevin, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, spoke in a calm voice.
“You don’t look like you’re in good condition. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Focus on driving.”
“I’ll start.”
The car moves forward.
I used a body scan magic on myself to check my physical condition. It suddenly occurred to me that my poor condition might be Kevin’s doing.
‘There’s nothing wrong. It’s too bad of a feeling to just say it’s a feeling. It can’t be that he poisoned me… what is it?’
I hadn’t eaten anything at Rumen Prison. I can’t eat food carelessly when there’s no one to trust, whether it’s a guard or a prisoner. I always ate food in Neo London. The same goes for drinks. When I was thirsty and drank water, I used magic. There was no way poison could have entered my body.
‘…Was I being too sensitive?’
No.
My senses were getting sharper and sharper. This feeling was familiar. When I was about to fight, when there was a trap, when an assassin was trying to kill me, etc. It was just a hunch, but strangely, these kinds of hunches often came true.
‘I’ve heard that those who have experienced many dangerous things acquire it later, but I’m not at that level, I was born with it.’
I admired my own talent and prepared for battle. So that I could deal with any surprise attack.
The car stopped in the center of the wasteland, at the meeting place.
Kevin got out first and opened the back door. I smelled the dust and looked at the man standing a little distance away.
