Chapter 28: Chapter 25: Even Fantasy Is About Chemistry
Andre frowned. "Isn’t the Divine Punishment Fire just the wrath of God? What else could it be! You, from Feinan, stop grandstanding!"
The village chief on the sacrificial altar strongly agreed. "The will of God must not be blasphemed..."
Baron just shook his head. "No, the so-called Divine Punishment Fire is neither the wrath of God, nor is it His punishment."
"If not those two things, what else could it be? A Wizard’s Magic? Or the work of a Demon?"
Andre sneered. "We fought alongside Viscount Yarilan, and we saw neither a Wizard nor a Demon!"
"Because there has never been a God here, so there can be no divine punishment."
Baron said something that made everyone present—including the drunkard Zod and the dazed Maguire—turn pale with shock.
"So he’s an atheist! No wonder a man from Feinan like you chose to become a Bounty Hunter. You must be a Lawbreaker, exiled from your country."
Andre ordered his men, "Seize him! Then hand him over to the Lord City Lord! Tell him we’ve found a prisoner who escaped from the Feinan Duchy!"
’He actually got it right,’ Baron thought. ’I really am an escaped prisoner, but I didn’t break out of the Feinan Duchy—I broke out of Great Britain.’
As several Demon Hunters closed in on him, Baron didn’t move. He just uttered a single word:
"Phosphine. The reason the Divine Punishment Fire burns is Phosphine."
"What?" For a moment, the crowd either didn’t hear him clearly or didn’t understand.
Phosphine? What was that?
Viscount Yarilan and Andre instinctively frowned, assuming this was something Baron had fabricated to win the villagers’ trust.
But if the villagers were to try and verify it, wouldn’t his whole story fall apart?
’Is he just stalling for time?’
But stalling for time... Yarilan glanced discreetly at the dagger in the village chief’s hand, and then at the girl on the Cross, just a few steps away from it.
She felt that the more time he stalled, the more danger the girl might be in.
As expected, a villager questioned him. "What are you talking about? What kind of god is this ’Phosphine’? Do you have any proof that he’s the one sending down the Divine Punishment Fire?"
"L, stop talking and draw your sword! That Andre fellow is targeting you now. If you don’t draw, it won’t just be Andre; even Viscount Yarilan will put a warrant and a bounty on you."
To Maguire and Zod, it seemed L had finally gone mad.
But Baron ignored their private warnings. Instead, he addressed the village chief on the stage and Viscount Yarilan, who had drawn her sword. "Please, give me a chance. I am willing to prove that the birth of the Divine Punishment Fire is not the wrath of God. If I fail..."
He pointed to the little girl on the Cross and said, "She isn’t the only offering for this ritual. Count me in as well."
Maguire was aghast, and Zod’s eyes widened. Viscount Yarilan’s elegant brows knitted together, Andre frowned, and the other Demon Hunters and villagers stood dumbfounded, unconsciously lowering their weapons and staring at each other in bewilderment.
"What kind of chance do you want?" the village chief on the stage asked, his eyes narrowed.
The young man’s words carried a powerful self-assurance, which made him reconsider his previous statements.
"It’s simple," Baron said, calm and confident. "Take me to a place!"
"What place? You liar, are you trying to escape!" a Demon Hunter shouted.
Baron looked at the village chief with a blank expression. "In that place, I will use Chemistry to clarify the will of God."
’Chemistry? That seems to be a new term that’s recently become popular in Prole.’
Andre’s expression shifted slightly. ’Could this man from Feinan actually be an Alchemist?’
"Where do you want to go?" the village chief asked.
Baron said a single word, and the surrounding villagers and Demon Hunters all looked as if they had seen a ghost.
One of Andre’s subordinates even burst out laughing. "To... to a place like that! Is this guy joking?"
Zod and Maguire’s faces tensed. There was no doubt about it. L had probably gone insane the moment they discovered he hadn’t drawn his sword!
...
「The Gillian Duchy, Mundra Town, Vismor Village—the communal latrine.」
The latrine was just a simple structure made of a few wooden planks. More planks separated the excretion holes in the middle, which were situated over a deep cesspit. It seemed that to ensure the gases didn’t escape, the pit itself was also covered with insulating boards.
Even so, when a breeze blew by, a uniquely foul stench filled the air, making one’s nostrils feel like they were turning inside out and their stomach cramp.
The Hunters all covered their noses, their brows tightly furrowed, and instinctively took a few steps back.
Andre also raised his long eyebrows, pinching his nose as he spoke coldly to Baron, whose face was pale from the stench, "Are you sure the Divine Punishment Fire was born here? This is quite a distance from the altar..."
The village chief, also covering his nose, gestured toward Baron. "We have fulfilled your request. Now, please, clarify the will of God... If you fail, this will be the place where you are buried for your blasphemy."
’Buried in a cesspool... What a vicious way to die.’
At these words, the onlooking Hunters and villagers gloated. A uniquely human, wicked sense of curiosity made them eager to see the young man meet a tragic end.
And to enhance the story they’d tell later, they didn’t mind personally participating in his punishment.
Maguire watched Baron, who appeared to be surrounded by the crowd but was actually being held captive. "Zod, what do we do? If L dies just like this..."
Zod took a drink, his expression grave. "Then he won’t be able to pay back the Silver Coins he owes us."
Maguire: "?"
In the middle of the crowd, Baron let out a breath of fresh air. It was just as he’d expected; the peasant latrines in this world weren’t much different from those in the Middle Ages.
Because the Middle Ages lacked centralized waste treatment, most rural communal latrines were single-use. Once a pit was full of excrement, it was filled with earth, and the latrine was moved to a new spot.
Furthermore, due to the shortage of public toilets in the Middle Ages, villagers often relieved themselves in the streets, against walls, or by rivers. This led to overflowing sewage, piles of feces, and an accumulation of bacteria in town streets... which was also why infectious diseases were so rampant in medieval Europe.
And with time, the phosphorus in the feces would gradually be converted into Phosphine by bacterial decomposition.
’If I remember correctly, the ignition point of Phosphine is between 30 and 40 degrees Celsius. It can spontaneously combust at normal summer temperatures.’
’But it’s late at night now, so the temperature has likely dropped a bit.’
Baron looked up at the two shining moons. Now it was up to fate. It was a gamble.
’If this doesn’t work...’ Baron thought of the two revolvers at his waist that had crossed over with him. A ruthless thought formed in his mind. ’Worst case, I’ll just make another run for it!’
Amidst the crowd’s impatient urges, Baron spoke calmly to Andre. "Give me the torch."
Andre was just starting to get indignant—’How dare you order me around?’—when Viscount Yarilan handed her own torch to Baron.
Baron glanced at the Pure-blooded Fierce Tiger in surprise. The woman reminded him coolly, "If you fail, I won’t be able to protect you, because you swore an oath in God’s name."
The moment she said that, Baron understood. This Viscount had never intended to honor the wager between him and the village chief from the start.
If Baron succeeded, everyone would be happy.
If he failed, well, that was a bet between him and the chief. What did that have to do with her, Yarilan, the Pure-blooded Fierce Tiger? ’I’ll just take what I want!’
Baron silently glanced at the woman’s curvaceous figure. ’She’s right,’ he thought. ’She’s not just a beautiful woman, she’s a beautiful bandit!’
Baron tossed the torch into the latrine. After a moment of silence...
Just as Viscount Yarilan was shaking her head with a sigh, Andre was sneering, Zod and Maguire’s palms were slick with sweat, the crowd was preparing to question Baron, and the villagers were rolling up their sleeves in anticipation...
A sound like a string of firecrackers went off.
Blue-green flames erupted from each of the pits, burning for a few dozen seconds before either flickering out or floating a short distance and then slowly extinguishing.
Although the Blue Fire didn’t float for as long as it had in the forest, the Hunters who had fought the fire recognized from its appearance and form that it was not much different from the divine fire in the woods—in fact, it was even more intense.
"The... the Divine Punishment Fire!" a villager cried out, falling to his knees in terror and praying ceaselessly.
The village chief’s face was a ghastly white in the glow. "This... this..."
He looked at Baron, trembling, his expression helpless and his tone defeated. "How is this possible..."
Yarilan, who knew the torch was the cause, looked at Baron. "What power is this?"
Alchemy? Witchcraft? Or was it Taboo Items?
"A flame produced by the combination of Phosphine and air."
The Bounty Hunter, L, watched the last remaining wisp of Blue Fire and smiled faintly, his eyes profound.
"This is the power of Alchemy, Your Grace, Viscount Yarilan."
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[PS: Let me start with a quick disclaimer. This scene could also (or more likely) cause a methane explosion. But since this is a Fantasy World, while there is science, there isn’t a lot of it. Please don’t try this at home.]
