Chapter 167: Creating an Opportunity - 8
Chapter 167: Creating an Opportunity - 8
Taigirl clenched his fist.
"No, what kind of madman is this? A fair maiden would be panting and writhing from an aphrodisiac, and you'd just watch?"
"How do you know it'd be used on a virgin?"
"Every Unique is a virgin. They're so absurdly powerful that no man dares approach them. I'd stake my balls on it!"
"I'll give you mine, so take them."
Actually, about half of them weren't anymore.
Jiha shot back.
"You're the one who made Bugra. You said pharmacists only make drugs and don't care how they're used?"
"Any aphrodisiac used by someone other than me is illegal! They should all be thrown in prison!"
"......."
Jiha considered hitting him again but decided against it.
The interrogation came first.
"So who's putting you up to this? If it's strong enough to affect a Unique, you must have known you wouldn't be safe as its creator."
What Taigirl had done was absolutely insane.
Jiha had kept his Vampiric Mana an absolute secret... because exposure would be dangerous.
Warsland was a world that operated on survival of the fittest and female superiority.
Women with overwhelming Mana dominated and ruled society.
A drug that could temporarily disrupt that Mana and leave them unable to control their own bodies? If Taigirl mass-produced an aphrodisiac like that—one that worked even on Uniques—it would be the perfect counterattack, capable of overturning society depending on how it was used.
The current powers ruling the world would try to erase Taigirl.
And the madman seemed to realize this, because he was secretly terrified.
"I didn't want to make it either, but I had no choice. An aphrodisiac that works on Uniques... that cambion originally commissioned it, but while I was developing it, I suddenly lost contact with him... He must've gotten himself killed doing something dangerous."
The reason Kamain had schemed to kill Commons and stay in Waris was finally clear.
'He was going to take the completed aphrodisiac from Taigirl and use it on Asira...'
Jiha pressed on.
"Then you could have just stopped immediately. Why finish developing it?"
"When I took the cambion's commission, it was half a joke. My spirits were high because he provided extremely rare materials. But after I lost contact, I realized it was more dangerous than I'd thought and tried to halt it before the final stage... Then something far more terrifying showed up."
He was a lunatic who'd even taunt a Unique, but his face had gone rigid with genuine fear.
"I had no choice but to finish the drug, and now I have no choice but to hand it over as demanded. But the Unique who takes this and has an accident is definitely going to try to kill me. If I don't hand it over, I die anyway..."
"Does it really work on a Unique?"
"I don't know. I'm not a Unique. In theory it should work, but I can't say what'll happen in reality."
Taigirl's tone was inwardly conflicted.
"Actually, I could have made the effect stronger... but I deliberately weakened it."
"Seems even a psychopath values his own life."
A foe terrifying enough to frighten a madman who'd even defy a Unique?
Not Kamain or the escort guards.
"Purple's sole Legend... or someone above that?"
The single highest grade in Warsland: Epic.
At Jiha's pressing, Taigirl shook his head adamantly.
"I don't know, I said I don't know. That's just..."
A meaningless loop of question and answer.
Jiha moved on to the next topic.
"What's Bugra's activation condition?"
"Female. The stronger the Mana, the stronger the effect. For a Normal, it's just a pleasant sleeping pill, but for a Unique, it activates the moment she raises her Mana. It stays in the body for about twelve hours. If she doesn't raise Mana during that time, it fades away."
"Simple enough."
According to Sirel's description, Taigirl's skill in setting such clean conditions truly was remarkable.
At Jiha's admiration, Taigirl put both hands on his hips and swaggered.
"My dick really is impressive, huh."
"Yeah, get a good look now. You won't be seeing it again."
"......."
Taigirl hastily covered his crotch with his hands.
"Even if my head gets cut off, you'll still never see it. Anyway, hand over Bugra first."
"If I give it to you, I'll have nothing to give the guest who's coming. Just kill me."
It wasn't a bluff. His face was genuinely tinged with fear.
"Not the genuine product. The prototype. You must have the near-final version. I need to test it to work out countermeasures."
At Jiha's demand, Taigirl sighed, his face haggard.
His energy seemed to drain out of him.
'He got like that after remembering his client. A foe so terrifying it's become a trauma.'
Taigirl fumbled in his bosom and then spoke meaningfully.
"Hold on, I can't just hand this over for free. Give me a woman."
"If you need a woman, go find one in the red-light district."
"Heh heh heh. There are two women right outside. Why should I bother? If you don't put those women's tits in my hands right now..."
"Heh heh heh, my foot will be lodged in your abdomen."
Jiha answered flatly and kicked him in the stomach.
The sound of a balloon popping. This time, Taigirl didn't fly backward — he crumpled to his knees on the spot.
Jiha had preemptively used Shadow Hand to grab Taigirl's ankles and prevent him from being launched.
"You'd fly backward to reduce the impact, wouldn't you? While raising Mana, too."
"...Guuuegh."
Taigirl vomited blood and gasped for ragged breaths.
Leticia's kick, he had endured by artfully absorbing the shock. But Jiha had noticed that tactic, immobilized him, and then beat him.
"Touch what's mine and you die."
"Guueeegh. Hah, hah. Taigirl the man... dies here today."
"You're not dead yet. I've still got use for you."
Jiha looked down at him. Taigirl hurriedly rummaged in his bosom and produced a small box.
"Here... the prototype. Eighty percent effectiveness of the real thing. Even if you try to sell it, don't use my name. No, it's never been circulated on the market, so no one would pay a fortune for it anyway."
Jiha opened it. There was only a single pill inside.
Taigirl wore a meaningful grin.
"If you want a continued supply of the aphrodisiac, you'll have to keep me alive..."
"No, I don't need that."
Jiha only wanted to see if the drug really worked.
"So, you said your client is coming to pick up the drug. When?"
"...I don't know. But I was told they'd find me on their own."
Jiha thought for a moment, then made a suggestion.
"Make a fake."
"What?"
"I'll handle it, so just make pills that look identical on the outside. Indistinguishable by sight but completely ineffective. Do that, and I'll protect you as much as I can."
Taigirl blinked, then nodded.
Steeped in fear, he had to accept Jiha's proposal.
"If it just needs to look the same, I can make it in three hours."
"Then I'll be in touch soon."
Leaving Taigirl's shop, Jiha walked forward.
Leticia and Yura, who had been waiting, quietly fell in behind him.
'Someone designed this...'
Jiha frowned.
Kamain had come to Waris under someone's orders.
To obtain Asira using an aphrodisiac far stronger than anything he'd ever made himself: Bugra, capable of affecting even a Unique.
When Kamain was killed by Jiha, the target simply shifted to Narsha.
'Someone set up a game in Waris to dose a Unique with an aphrodisiac. Any Unique would do.'
Kamain and the escort guards were nothing more than pawns being manipulated.
"Who's the smartest person in Warsland?"
"Huh?"
Yura and Leticia glanced at each other, then spoke.
"Wouldn't it be Lady Cheonho?"
"I'd say a celestial Unique."
The answers diverged, but neither provided a real clue.
Leticia spoke brightly.
"Don't think about it too seriously. As you can see, Taigirl is out of his mind. Even the dwarves disowned him. His skill as a pharmacist is undeniable, but he's clearly rambling nonsense."
"Right. Whatever it is, if I keep smashing things, something will surface."
Jiha collected his thoughts.
'Narsha's escort guards are searching for the aphrodisiac, but they don't know about Taigirl yet. I only found out today because of Leticia, so they'll be wandering around for a while. Should I leak information about Taigirl to shake up the escort guards?'
Get them moving, then grab them by the scruff of the neck.
"While I'm at it..."
He wanted to leak the information and set a trap at the same time.
That was when Jiha heard footsteps.
Footsteps that had been following at a constant distance for some time. The rhythm was too regular — someone tailing him openly.
'With two Uniques beside me, they're still tailing me?'
Jiha glanced at Leticia and Yura, but neither had noticed yet.
"Hm? What's wrong?"
"What is it?"
About to explain, Jiha came to an abrupt halt.
As if they'd been waiting for this, the footsteps stopped right in sync.
'Either a total amateur at tailing...'
Jiha turned around.
The follower stood there boldly, not even pretending to hide.
"I was wondering how long I'd have to wait. You finally noticed."
A small frame barely over 140 centimeters, but with a womanly figure. Her light pink hair fluttered in the night breeze.
It was Unique Narsha Russellarms.
Recognizing her, Leticia and Yura each stiffened.
Narsha tsked coldly.
"You sure about this? If we fight here among ourselves, that male is definitely going to die."
"So I'm a hostage?"
At Jiha's dumbfounded reaction, Narsha replied lightly.
"Soon enough you might be a corpse. Evolving into one must be nice."
As Yura and Leticia exchanged looks, Narsha smirked.
"Blue Seal and Purple Liberation Uniques exchanging glances like that... what a spectacle. I'm starting to find you a little interesting, Jiha Shin?"
"Drop the surname. It's more awkward that way."
Shin was Jiha's family name, but he barely ever used it.
You'd have to dig through official documents just to find his full name.
'She's investigated me.'
Narsha's atmosphere was different from when she'd swung her whip at Lungtao.
She was still an arrogant little queen, but...
Her gaze as she looked at Jiha had changed.
"I looked into you a bit. You turned out to be a rather interesting man. I can kind of understand why Lungtao couldn't just smash you right away. It's still unpleasant, but I'll forgive you just this once."
"Did I do something that needs forgiving?"
"Shall I not forgive you, then?"
Narsha waved a hand lightly. From buildings and alleys all around, shadows and human presences emerged.
Over a hundred of them.
They had encircled him from such a distance that even Jiha had noticed too late.
"There are two Uniques here. You think you can take us?"
"They're my escort guards, armed with weapons I made. They can buy time. In the meantime, I just have to kill you and withdraw."
"Is your grudge against me that bone-deep?"
"I said I decided to forgive you. But a man who can't become mine has to die. If you let an excellent man live, he'll sow his seed in other women."
Jiha asked the other two Uniques seriously.
"Are all Dirga that insane?"
"...She's not the standard."
"Lord Jiha is a Common chosen by the Queen... Are you saying you'll defy Lady Snow Queen? A Legend, Narsha?"
Narsha answered casually.
"I'll just apologize a bit. Give her some magic stones to summon again, or make her a tool. Whenever I make something for people, they're all overjoyed anyway, aren't they?"
"......."
Kill someone, apologize, and it's over. What a wonderful world.
The problem was that Narsha really did have the capability.
He didn't know Snow Queen's personality, but if a Unique who served her apologized and offered compensation for a "mistake," it would be hard to punish her.
Narsha spoke evenly.
"It's best to crush future rivals. There's no harm in killing a man who might produce children who could become rivals to my own future child."
"Even in Gangnam, you wouldn't find a crazy mom like that."
Jiha gave his honest assessment.
Wasn't she basically saying she'd eliminate him if necessary because he might leave behind exceptional descendants?
For the future of a child she didn't even have yet!
Instead, Narsha addressed Leticia and Yura.
"As women, you should agree. An excellent man, you either claim for yourself or kill. If he goes to someone else, he might become an obstacle later, right?"
"Extreme tiger mom, what's your demand?"
Narsha extended her hand.
In the darkness of night, the little queen—who commanded men gripping sharp weapons with a single finger—spoke arrogantly.
"I'll give you the chance to serve me."
"And if I refuse, you'll kill me? Is that how you've been expanding your escort guard all this time?"
Narsha sneered.
"As if. Men swarm to me in droves even when I stay still. They're more tiresome to manage and annoying to deal with. You're the first man I've ever shown enough interest in to personally collect like this. Consider it an honor."
"Collect..."
"If I keep rolling you around and you prove decent, you might even become a Helper who helps me bear children. Count yourself honored."
Jiha looked at Leticia and spoke.
"I take back what I said earlier about you having a bad personality."
"...Wh— wait, did you just insult me?!"
Jiha raised his middle finger toward Narsha.
"I considered letting you grovel naked and bow your head before me, and maybe I'd keep you as a yard dog. I've decided against it. You're too worthless to use even as a bitch."
"Asking to be killed?"
Narsha smiled. Jiha sneered.
"No matter how hungry you are for a man, showing it this greedily isn't a turn-on, idiot. If you want me to hold you, beg a little more cutely."
The fight was on.