Chapter 49: Chapter 45: Deep Feelings, Down in One
Bagins took the Time Grass. Without asking too many questions about the origin of this legendary herb, he hurried upstairs.
He was going to concoct the Magic Potion for Baron to nullify the Time Death Judgment. No one could disturb him during the process, or the Alchemy experiment would very likely fail.
As Don Quixote explained it: Alchemy was a mystical and fortunate art passed down from God. Humans are naturally born with an invisible aura, and that aura could very well interfere with the ceremony.
Before leaving, Bagins specifically instructed Don Quixote not to let Jack, that "retard who looks like a golden-haired gorilla," touch anything in the room.
Jack protested strongly, claiming that as a Westminster Commissioner, he wasn’t some two-year-old toddler. And besides, some gorillas are exceptionally intelligent, you know?
Baron scoffed internally, ’So you already see yourself as a gorilla?’
While they waited in the living room, Don Quixote served Baron and Jack black tea and cookies, just as before.
As Jack drank his tea, he enthusiastically admired the dazzling array of Taboo Items in the living room and said to Baron:
"This old Dwarf has some serious stuff. A lot of the Taboo Items he’s collected are C Level and above... Strange, why do my eyelids feel so heavy? I feel sleepy... What did you put in this tea?"
"A Sedative, Mr. Tang," Don Quixote said, troubled. "My master told me not to let you touch anything in the room, so I had no choice."
"Heh, what a surprise... motherfucker."
Those were the last words Jack said before collapsing on the sofa.
In no time at all, he started snoring. The sound was like some kind of motorcycle engine—a four-cylinder one.
Seeing this, Baron was about to silently pour out the tea in his hand, but Don Quixote said, "Mr. Constantine, there is nothing wrong with your tea."
Baron nodded, but in the end, he didn’t drink it.
Instead, he got up and went behind the sofa to look through Bagins’s newspaper collection.
The Dwarf Master’s newspaper collection chronicled the entire process of his rise to fame and subsequent decline in the world of Alchemy.
Besides that, there were some reports about the Blood Biter, mixed with articles about the Dragon Eater Association, price fluctuation charts for Alchemy Materials, and buying guides.
Baron casually picked up a newspaper to kill time, but he froze when he saw the date.
It was yesterday’s paper, the latest issue. ’Has the collection pile been updated?’
Baron flipped it open, and a breaking news headline caught his eye:
[King’s Cross Station Fire, Arsonist Suspected to be Fugitive Baron Constantin...]
Baron’s expression tightened at the headline. They had already revealed his full name; his photo would probably be next.
[The Hestia Family, celebrating their marriage alliance with the Lancelot’s Family, has announced they will cover all repair costs for King’s Cross Station and have guaranteed they will assist the court in capturing the Law Judge.]
A marriage alliance...
Baron stroked his chin and turned to the next page.
[According to reporters’ investigations, Baron Constantin, spurned after his engagement was broken, allegedly acted out of hatred born from love and brutally murdered Anthony, the Lion Eye Knight Order Leader...]
"Bullshit," Baron muttered, turning to the next page.
[The Constantine Family has issued a statement: Baron Constantin and his sister, Yelena Constantin, were expelled from the family many years ago...]
’Oh, right. I think I have a sister... Hmm, and that sorry excuse for a brother.’
Baron slapped his forehead.
Ever since he’d transmigrated, he was either on the run or on his way to being on the run, or just off in the Otherworld acting as a Demon Hunter. He had almost forgotten he actually had two family members.
But he immediately shook his head with a bitter smile. ’In the sorry state I’m in, wanted and all, it’s better not to get them involved.’
He flipped to the next page, and another piece of news jumped out at him.
[Blood Biter Strikes Again on the Outer Side. Family of Three Slaughtered. Griffin Knight Returns Empty-Handed From Pursuit...]
Baron paused, not because the Blood Biter had struck again, but because the words "family of three" sparked a strange suspicion in him.
’If I remember correctly... the last time the news reported on the Blood Biter, he also killed a family of three, right?’
Baron rummaged through Bagins’s newspaper pile and, sure enough, found a complete timeline of the Blood Biter’s crimes since his first appearance.
The Blood Biter first appeared six years ago. At that time, he operated on the Inner Side, murdering a family of three from a collateral branch of a rather prestigious family. That’s how he started to make a name for himself.
Baron looked through the papers one by one and was shocked to realize that the victims of the Blood Biter were always a family of three, and the crimes occurred every two months...
The newspaper reporters had also deduced the Blood Biter’s modus operandi. Alchemists published articles claiming the Blood Biter might be performing an ancient cult ritual, perhaps even to summon an Evil God...
An Evil God...
Baron suddenly thought of Prole. If they really managed to summon the Blood God, this world would probably be screwed.
He put down the newspaper and started digging through the pile again.
He had to admit, Bagins’s newspaper collection was extensive. He even found a six-year-old copy of the Outer Side’s *Birmingham Times*.
There was a heavily creased section in the paper, as if it had been folded many times. It reported a car accident in Birmingham involving a family of four, with three fatalities...
Suddenly, behind the newspaper, Baron saw a broken oak picture frame.
He picked up the frame. Inside was an old, slightly yellowed photograph.
The Dwarf Master, then middle-aged with a beard not yet grayed, stood on a tall stool, smiling. He had his hand on a young man’s shoulder.
The young man had a straight posture and was dressed in a sharp suit, a shy smile on his face.
"That’s Master Bagins’s first and only apprentice, Mr. Lankao."
Don Quixote, holding his dog, had come up behind him at some point.
’Lankao... that name sounds familiar.’
"Mr. Lankao was an exceptionally brilliant genius in both Alchemy and Wizardry. If not for that incident, he probably would have inherited Master Bagins’s mantle and carried on the legacy of his unique school of Alchemy."
He added, somewhat dejectedly, "And Master Bagins wouldn’t be spending all his time researching Alchemy now."
"What incident?" Baron asked.
Don Quixote hesitated. "Mr. Constantine, uh... about that Gold Coin Chocolate from last time... it wasn’t me. It was mainly Sangji who wanted it."
"Thank you, Mr. Constantine!"
Don Quixote took the chocolate and broke into a smile. He hugged Sangji’s head and glanced around. After confirming Bagins was still making BANGS and CLANGS in the attic, he whispered:
"The Resurrection of the Dead Ceremony and Soul Twin Alchemy. Mr. Lankao broke a Taboo at the Wizard School. He used alchemy on a corpse and turned it into a Living Dead..."
"Living Dead?" A thought flashed through Baron’s mind. ’I remember the news saying it was Master Bagins who did that, didn’t it?’
He still remembered the headline of that newspaper: [Master Bagins’s Resurrection of the Dead Ceremony Fails, Test Subject Turns into Living Dead...]
It was for this very reason that Bagins was ostracized by the mainstream Alchemy community.
Don Quixote shook his head. "Master Bagins took the blame for Mr. Lankao... because at the time, Mr. Lankao was a professor at the Wizard School with a bright future.
Master Bagins didn’t want this incident to cost Mr. Lankao the opportunity to go to the London Tower. That had always been Mr. Lankao’s dream."
’A professor at the Wizard School... Lankao...’
Baron suddenly remembered. The newspaper he saw in Freya’s Collection Room at the Lancelot Clan’s estate—didn’t it say her former private tutor was also named Lankao?
’So there’s a connection? The Resurrection of the Dead Ceremony, Soul Twin Alchemy... It sounds like a ritual to resurrect someone, but if you could really bring the dead back to life, that would be terrifying.’
Don Quixote didn’t know what Baron was thinking and was about to say more, but just then, the CLATTER of footsteps descending the stairs came from the attic. The noise even woke the soundly sleeping Jack.
The Dwarf Master came downstairs, his face alight with excitement. He raised the strangely colored Magic Potion in his hand toward the three people in the living room, proclaiming that Baron’s salvation lay within it.
Baron stared with a strange expression at the indescribable liquid in his hand, which was so viscous it was bubbling greenly. He repeatedly asked Bagins if this was really a proper Magic Potion and not some random concoction of herbal medicine and black sesame paste.
Although Bagins didn’t understand what this herbal medicine or black sesame paste were, he instinctively knew Baron wasn’t saying anything complimentary.
The old Dwarf’s beard twitched and his long eyebrows shot up. "Are you going to drink it or not? If not, I’m pouring it out!"
The moment the words were out, Baron, in a show of deep trust, downed it in one gulp!
In a race against time like this, it didn’t matter if it was an antidote or a poison. As long as it could keep him alive, it was good medicine!
————
[Diary of Baron Constantin (Original):
May 8, 1982 / Worlington / Sunny
I moved into a new home with Yelena. Cousin Edward took us siblings in.
I pushed Yelena around the neighborhood. It’s jacaranda season, and the petals rained down like purple snow.
Yelena said she wants to save the flowers and use them to build a pretty snowman in the winter.
I’ve decided to start saving money now. By the time winter comes, I’ll have just enough to buy two pairs of gloves for Yelena and Brother Edward—lambskin ones.]
