Chapter 233: Elixir
"What’s with that face?" Margott asked me when she saw my reaction.
"I don’t get along with him. And this gift is probably the result of another one of his experiments, isn’t it?"
"Well, it’s exactly as you said. But what’s the problem?"
"If he’s giving me that, he’s probably using me as a guinea pig. I refuse."
"That’s pretty rich coming from you," Margott said, not mincing her words. "Aren’t you the one who runs experiments all over the place?"
"What I do is merely carry out Lady Hel’s orders. I wouldn’t call that an experiment."
"Seriously?"
"Not in the slightest."
As one of the members of the Night Apostles, I was entrusted with the mission of granting greater powers to monsters throughout the country. There are still many days left until the Last Night arrives, so to satisfy my lady’s desire to expand her kingdom, I help increase the power of a few monsters here and there.
Some of them I simply make stronger, and naturally, they go on to cause trouble here and there.
Monsters like to expand their territory. The only problem is that Awakened can kill them as long as they’re strong enough. I merely give the monsters a little help.
A goblin can be killed by adventurers, but give it a piece of Yggdrasil and it’ll build its own village. With time, a single drop becomes a wave. And that wave would bring about the sacrifices my goddess craved.
It wasn’t an experiment, but rather an act of devotion. They were my sacrificial altars, raised with a smile on my face.
"Either way, I believe you’ll like it this time." Margott pulled a small vial from inside her clothes.
A small glass vial sealed with a cork, containing a red liquid.
"Blood?"
"Close," Margott said with a faint smile on her lips. "Byron took Leo’s blood and created an elixir based on it."
"And what does this so-called elixir do?"
"It’s made specifically for us Night Apostles. Physical abilities, mana—all of our capabilities are amplified with just one little vial of this."
At that moment, Margott revealed her mana, letting me catch a glimpse of how much she had improved. It was impressive. I, who had been stronger than her not long ago, had been easily surpassed.
"Oooh."
"I hate to admit it, but for a normal human, Byron can be really useful."
"I wouldn’t say a man like that is normal in any way," I corrected Margott. "After all, if he were, he wouldn’t be so close to us."
"You do have a point. Maybe even more impressive than him is the new recruit." Margott seemed a little annoyed with me. "I mean, how did you find him?"
"Hmm, I think it was luck, or maybe we were just destined to meet."
"This romantic talk of yours may work on innocent guys like him, but please don’t try that on me."
"I’m offended. I really am a romantic."
"You can tell that to your prey. I believe they were quite intoxicated with passion before having every last drop of blood sucked out of them."
I placed my hand over my chest. "But that in itself is romantic, isn’t it? The first time a woman took their blood, as well as their first and last death. From my point of view, I gave them a gift."
Margott sighed, as if talking to me was tiring her out. "Does it have to be so complicated? When I’m thirsty, I find an isolated victim and drink from them. Simple and practical."
I gave a small smile because her utilitarian way of thinking didn’t match her appearance, which only made her cuter.
"You’re thinking I’m cute, aren’t you?"
She also hated being called cute or having people comment on her height. In the worst case, she would tear the person to pieces with her threads.
Since she was stronger than me at the moment, getting on Margott’s bad side was something I intended to avoid.
"Not at all. I was thinking about how mature you are."
She furrowed her brows at me. She probably didn’t believe what I said, but she let it go. Margott then extended her hand towards me and gave me the vial containing the newly made elixir.
"For now, he’s only been able to produce three vials. He said it’s still not perfect and wants to make adjustments to the formula, but even so, it’s capable of increasing our powers. I believe it will be useful, considering you’ll need it to face that other guy."
I felt pressure building at my temple as I remembered him. Leo’s friend, Richard Forster. Compared to the weak boy Leo had described, he seemed like a completely different man, both in appearance and power. That was certainly the effect of the blessing he had received.
Unlike Leo, I can’t sense the presence of the divine in objects like he said he could in the dungeon. I can only sense that presence in living beings. The moment I saw the guy, I immediately noticed the aura of a blessing around him.
Having someone with the recipe for the Philosopher’s Stone possess that kind of power was unexpected. In that sense, he himself acts as the stone’s guardian. To get to him, I’ll have to defeat him and whoever is accompanying him.
"Don’t worry," I told Margott in a serious tone. "The next time I find him, I’ll bring him back to you, dead or alive."
"That’s if I don’t capture him first," the girl replied.
There wasn’t much else to do in Backwater City. I was supposed to leave following our leader’s orders. There was only one thing left for me to do.
"By the way, where is Leo?"
"Why do you ask?" she asked in a monotone voice. "Have you started falling for him, by any chance?"
"Not at all." I replied with a smile, amused by the idea. "I just wanted to say goodbye to him and give him a little encouragement so he’ll work hard."
Margott sighed. "He’s with the Silver Fang battalion. He’ll be safe there while we perfect the elixir made from his blood."
"I presume you’ll be serving as his guard, won’t you?"
"That’s right. Me, Byron, and that man. He’ll be training Leo too."
If she was referring to Backwater’s battalion with such a gloomy look on her face, then she meant that man.
I sighed deeply, remembering that piece of work. He was a troublesome man, but if his job was to protect and train Leo, then he was certainly the best option.
My desire to visit Leo diminished considerably after hearing that, though. I had forgotten how unpleasant it had been to meet him, but now that I remembered the guy lived in this city, there was nothing I could do about it.
"Are you still going to visit Leo? We have free access to the Silver Fang, but at this hour he should be sleep—No, if he’s under Laios’s tutelage, he’s probably training."
"Hey, he isn’t planning to work the boy to death, is he?"
Margott merely shrugged. "What can I do? From the beginning, I could see that Laios’s training was too intense for him, but he wanted to continue anyway."
"Is that true?"
"Yes, even drenched in sweat and visibly exhausted, he kept at the harsh training exactly as he was told. It seems Leo’s obsession with becoming stronger wasn’t all talk."
"What do you think of him, Margott?" I asked the twin-tailed girl.
She stared at me with her violet eyes. "Why do you ask?"
"At first, I thought about just using Leo—I mean, his ability to see the divine—but if he shows even a single shred of talent for fighting, wouldn’t it be a good idea to put him on the front lines?"
"Well, technically, he’s already preparing to go to the front lines. He’s in the Silver Fang now."
"I’m talking about our front lines."
Margott’s eyes widened for the first time that night.
"You really want to make him a member of the Night Apostles?!"
"Why not? If the leader agrees and he becomes a loyal member, wouldn’t that work well for our side?"
Despite my words, Margott didn’t seem very convinced.
"I know you’ve taken advantage of his innocence so far, but turning him into a believer is no easy task, you know?"
Of course it was a difficult task. For someone to start following our goddess, they would have to abandon this world’s common sense.
But I was confident I could do it. I wasn’t lying when I said I felt the hand of fate when I met him, and afterward, several pieces began moving in our favor.
I was sure I could turn him into a Night Apostle.
"Don’t worry. Just leave it to me."
Margott still looked skeptical, but she didn’t object. Maybe she still had some respect for me as her senior.
"Just don’t mess this up. If you scare him too much, we’ll have to deal with him. It’s much better if he doesn’t resist than if we have to turn him into our puppet."
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