383
Chapter 383
"Ah, demon summoning?"
The chairman's jaw dropped at Zeke's unexpected words.
Zeke spoke while scanning through documents.
"Seems you've done quite a lot of business with House Jiemens. Is that right?"
Chairman Conrad exchanged glances with the vice chairman and other executives.
Until recently, Jiemens was Draker's biggest blood ally and one of Central Continent's influential houses.
When Jiemens made requests, it was natural for the Union to make deals with them.
When Conrad remained silent, Zeke looked at him with sharp eyes.
"Why aren't you answering?"
SWOOSH SWOOSH
At Zeke's chilling voice, Conrad shrunk back unconsciously and answered.
"Y-yes, that's right."
"HMM."
Zeke silently flipped through more documents.
With each rustle of turning pages, Conrad felt his heart shrinking.
Though they deliberately brought Zeke and Melissa to this conference room to pressure them, the situation had completely reversed with them being interrogated instead.
Zeke closed the documents and asked Conrad.
"So what are you going to do?"
Conrad broke into a cold sweat, confused by Zeke's direct questioning that cut straight to the point.
'D-damn it. First bringing up demon summoning out of nowhere, then suddenly mentioning House Jiemens... I can't make heads or tails of this.'
He exchanged glances with other executives trying to figure out what to do, but they were equally clueless about the situation.
That's when the vice chairman stood up again and shouted at Zeke.
"Sir Zeke Draker! What is this rudeness! Suddenly talking about demon summoning - our Tower has never been involved in such things!"
The chairman felt his heart stop again at the vice chairman's sudden outburst.
'Shit, what's wrong with this guy today? Why does he keep making scenes!'
Despite being signaled once to stay quiet, the vice chairman provoked Zeke Draker again without consultation.
Zeke rested his chin on his hand and scanned the vice chairman and other executives.
"Hmm, never involved in demon summoning, you say. Do you have evidence to prove this?"
The chairman's breath caught at Zeke's words.
'This bastard... he's trying to pressure us by forcibly connecting us to demon summoning.'
Rather than presenting evidence of demon summoning, he was unreasonably demanding they prove they hadn't done it.
By Zeke's logic, the Union would somehow have to prove they hadn't performed demon summoning, which was nonsensical from the start.
When the Union members remained silent, Zeke slowly stood up.
"Seems none of you care much about this issue. Well, alright then. I'll report today's events exactly as they happened to the Black Corps."
At the mention of the Black Corps, Conrad jumped up in surprise.
"W-wait! Sir Zeke!"
He quickly approached Zeke, bowed his head and said:
"How can you leave just like this after coming all this way? Please, let's discuss this over a meal at least."
The chairman's attitude had clearly changed from when Zeke first entered.
Zeke responded playfully to the chairman.
"No need. You don't seem very welcoming, so why waste each other's time?"
At those words, the chairman gestured to the other executives.
They stood up and bowed to Zeke.
"I've always admired and wanted to meet the Knight of Salvation!"
"Please join us for a meal. I know a great restaurant! You'll love it, Sir Zeke!"
"I-I heard you like tea - how about some after the meal? I know an exclusive tea house that serves with precious tea sets imported from the East."
Seeing things had developed enough, Zeke finally put on a reluctant expression and asked Princess Melissa.
"Well. What would you like to do, Princess? Aren't you busy with other schedules later?"
Princess Melissa furrowed her brow slightly at Zeke's words and nodded.
"Yes, it is a bit tight. But well, we need to eat anyway, so that much..."
The chairman and executives quickly sprang into action at Princess Melissa's words.
'Quick, reserve a restaurant and clear it out completely. Hurry!'
The executives quickly understood the chairman's silent signal and hurried into action. While they prepared, the chairman stalled for time, groveling before Zeke and Melissa.
Shortly after, they arrived at the most expensive and famous restaurant in the neutral city. Following preparations, the restaurant was completely emptied and quiet inside.
The chairman guided Zeke and Melissa to the head seats and sat beside them. Before the food arrived, he poured expensive wine into their glasses.
"I couldn't let such honored guests leave without proper hospitality."
The wine cost about a knight's monthly salary per glass. Neither Zeke, who rarely drank, nor Melissa, who valued modesty, appreciated such extravagant treatment.
Unaware of their feelings, the chairman rambled on about the wine's value. Before he could finish, Zeke picked up his glass and downed it in one shot.
"UH..."
The chairman was speechless seeing Zeke drink the precious wine like water.
"I wonder if all these other people need to dine with us," Zeke said.
The chairman's expression showed he'd been expecting this.
'This is completely different from the rumors.'
Though he clicked his tongue internally, Zeke was still Draker's Guardian Knight. He had the authority to act this way.
He quickly gestured for the other executives to leave. Soon only Zeke, Melissa, and the chairman remained.
When the chairman tried to refill Zeke's glass, Zeke snatched the bottle and drank it all at once.
The chairman's face turned pale.
'He-he's insane...!'
Watching Zeke drink the hundreds-of-gold wine like cheap rum, the chairman realized he was dealing with no ordinary madman.
Emptying the bottle,Zeke said
"Conrad Mason. You must be very wealthy. Seems you frequent expensive restaurants and wines,"
The Chairman protested.
"N-not at all. I only come occasionally for honored guests like yourself". the chairman protested.
With a cold stare,Zeke said.
"Let's speak freely now that we're alone. You know why I'm here,"
The chairman asked nervously.
"Is... is it about Feinan Pharmaceutical's new medicine?".
Zeke clicked his tongue.
'Th-that's not it?'
The chairman's eyes wavered.
Zeke said, shaking his head.
"You don't seem to grasp how serious this situation is,"
"W-what do you mean?"
"Are you deaf? Forgot what I said earlier? About the demon summoning."
Conrad was flustered.
'Wasn't that just to intimidate us?'
Zeke silently watched his confused face before pushing forward the documents from earlier.
"See for yourself if you don't believe me."
Conrad's eyes widened as he hurriedly scanned the documents.
'Ar-artificial blood stones manufacturing?'
Zeke had traced how Jiemens and the Abyss were manufacturing artificial blood stones needed for demon summoning.
According to Richmond, artificial blood stones required more than just blood and fairy stones. Various materials and processing techniques were needed - realistically, only the Alchemist Union had such capabilities at this scale.
That's what Zeke had investigated.
The documents detailed how their processed materials sent to Jiemens were used to create artificial blood stones for demon summoning.
Conrad stammered, jumping up.
"Th-this is unfair! We were never involved in demon summoning!".
Zeke glared at him coldly.
"Are you saying my investigation is all lies?"
Conrad could not respond to his words.
Even though he was someone who prioritized money above all else, he was still an alchemist who had studied extensively to reach the position of President of the Alchemist Union.
The contents of the documents were not just absurd lies. In fact, they were likely to be true.
Therefore, the fact that they had sent related materials to Jiemens without even properly asking about their purpose was ultimately their responsibility.
Especially since demon summoning was one of the gravest taboos on the continent, the law explicitly stated that even unintentional involvement in a summoning ritual could be grounds for punishment.
Conrad knew this well, which made it difficult for him to argue against Zeke’s words.
Zeke clicked his tongue as he looked at Conrad.
“If this truth reaches the Holy Kingdom of Vadoka, the Pope might revoke the certification authority he granted to the Alchemist Union entirely.”
Conrad snapped to attention at those words.
‘No, that can’t happen.’
The reason the Alchemist Union had the authority to certify potions and medicines was because, in the past, the Pope had recognized potions as a substitute for holy water and permitted their widespread use.
At the time, this approval had also served the purpose of establishing reliable quality standards.
However, now that the original purpose had faded, the Union had only been exploiting the system for its own profit.
Conrad recalled how Zeke had recently saved the Holy Kingdom of Vadoka from the monster army.
The Pope had personally granted him the title of Paladin and even honored him as the savior of the Holy Kingdom.
If, in such a situation, Zeke were to personally report to the Pope that the Alchemist Union had processed and supplied materials for demon summoning, they could lose their certification authority.
It was only then that Conrad realized that he and the Union were cornered.
‘I have to convince Zeke Draker somehow.’
Without hesitation, he stepped forward, knelt before Zeke, and began bowing, slamming his forehead against the floor.
“Please spare me just this once, Sir Zeke!”
Zeke coldly looked down at Conrad, who had kneeled without hesitation.
At that moment, the door opened, and staff members entered with food.
Despite seeing Conrad kneeling on the floor, the well-trained staff acted as if they hadn’t noticed, calmly setting the plates down, bowing politely, and leaving the room.
Zeke turned to Princess Melissa and encouraged her to eat.
He and the princess enjoyed their meal without paying any attention to Conrad, who remained kneeling and bowing.
This uncomfortable situation continued until the entire course of the meal was finished.
It was only when they began eating dessert that Zeke slowly spoke.
“Ugh, it’s disgusting having to eat with such a distraction.”
At Zeke’s harsh words, Conrad raised his head and crawled closer to him.
“Sir Zeke, I was wrong. Please spare me just this once.”
Zeke clicked his tongue and put down the fork he had been using for dessert.
After wiping his mouth with a napkin, he looked down at Conrad.
“HAH… Conrad Mason, do you even understand what you did wrong?”
Conrad was not a fool.
He knew that what Zeke truly wanted was for the new drug from Feinan Pharmaceuticals to pass approval smoothly and for things to proceed without issue.
At the same time, Zeke was intentionally using the demon summoning issue to pressure him while making it clear that this matter had nothing to do with him personally.
‘I should never have forgotten that he’s a direct descendant of the Draker family, who are worse than demons themselves.’
Conrad had made the mistake of underestimating Zeke, relying only on rumors that he was young and had a mild temperament. That foolish assumption had led to this disaster.
If he stubbornly blocked the new drug, the entire Union could be overturned.
In the end, he chose to bow down completely before Zeke.
“Please show mercy!”
Even though Conrad had already submitted, Zeke did not give him a clear answer.
Conrad became even more anxious than before.
Just then, Zeke suddenly took out a potion from his pocket and placed it in front of Conrad.
It was a potion he had brought from the city of the Naga.
Conrad was confused about what was happening, but when he saw the potion Zeke had handed him, his eyes widened.
At a glance, it was clear that this was completely different from the standard potions made from processed troll blood.
“Th-this is…?”
“What do you think? This is the new potion that will be sold through the Linehart Trading Company next quarter. I’m thinking of pricing it at about 50 silver coins. Oh, and we won’t need the Union’s approval. I’ll be making a direct request to the Pope.”
At those words, Conrad’s face turned pale.
‘If something like this hits the market, the Union is finished…’
At this point, Feinan Pharmaceuticals’ new drug was no longer the issue.
Zeke then spoke to him.
“Conrad Mason, I’m giving you an opportunity.”
Conrad looked up at Zeke and asked in a trembling voice,
“A-an opportunity…? What do you mean…?”
Zeke spoke in a voice more demonic than any demon.
“Abandon the Union. Then, I will open a new path for you.”