Chapter 106
Chapter 106
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: The Cave's Forbidden Stash
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I parted ways with Dietrich and Lavinia at the fork in the road.
They headed west to search the riwishi wild colony on the mountainside halfway up, while Florian and I went south to check the colony near the cave.
There was quite a distance between the riwishi wild colony and the nearest village.
By the time we reached the prohibition line blocking the entrance to the colony, the sun was already dipping low.
"Baby, we can't ride all the way into the cave."
It was described as a long tunnel leading underground, right?
The cave entrance was so narrow that barely one person could squeeze through.
Recalling Erich's description of its funnel shape, widening deeper inside, I took Florian's offered hand and hopped off the horse.
We decided to tether the horse we'd need for the return trip to some nearby bushes.
"What if there are people inside? They were all supposedly confined within the count's territory, but still, you never know."
"Shall we test it?"
"How?"
"If there's someone inside, they'll probably come running out as soon as we make smoke like there's a fire outside."
That sounds just like flushing out rabbits.
Florian and I gathered dry leaves from the surroundings.
We selected ones that would smoke well, scattered them in front of the cave, and Florian lit them.
Every gust of wind sucked the smoke deep into the cave.
Several times, it was drawn in as if someone inside had their mouth wide open, gulping it down.
Enough time had passed that anyone inside would have bolted out already.
"No one seems to be there, but if things get dangerous, run away immediately. Got it?"
Reassured, Florian and I stood at the cave entrance.
"Got it. But it's so dark inside. Can't see a thing ahead with all this smoke."
"I'll go first."
A tiny flame, like a candle, flickered to life at Florian's fingertip, illuminating the area.
I carefully felt along the wall and followed him down into the cave.
The entrance looked like an ordinary cave, but it wasn't truly ordinary.
Because after entering and descending for quite a while, I hadn't seen even a single patch of moss on the floor.
This couldn't happen without traces of people passing through.
Deeper in the cavern, a fishy stench lingered that even the acrid smoke couldn't fully mask.
True to the thick humidity, moss had grown thickly on the walls and ceiling where Florian and I had braced ourselves while descending.
Yet the floor alone was pristine.
It hardly seemed like a prohibited area off-limits to humans, as befitted a riwishi wild colony.
This suggested someone had been coming and going here for far more than just a day or two.
"Look over there."
Thinking we'd gone down fairly deep, the leading Florian pointed to a fork on the right.
As the ember at his fingertip snuffed out, the surroundings plunged into pitch blackness.
Only from the spot he'd just indicated did a faint light emanate.
"That must be where the manufacturing tools Erich mentioned are."
Huh?
But why is he holding my hand?
As I stared at him through the reddish glow of the divine flame reigniting, he blinked with an innocent expression.
"There are lots of stalactites on the floor. It's dangerous, baby."
Is it?
While I tilted my head, Florian gripped my hand and started toward the right path.
A bit flustered, I followed along.
Now the interior had widened completely, so the two of us could walk side by side without crowding.
There was still some time before we reached the light lurking in the cave, so I decided to ask the question that had been nagging at me for days.
For some reason, now felt like the moment Florian would answer.
"Why did His Majesty the Emperor give you the military combat aid?"
For a moment, only the splashing of our footsteps echoed over the pooled water on the floor.
"Remember I said the military combat aid comes with a powerful awakening effect?"
"Yeah."
"After the second prince was born, Duke Peterzen and the Empress started providing my father with some unidentified drug."
Unidentified drug?
"At first, he said he could sleep peacefully after taking it. He even stopped having nightmares about my late mother."
"Like a sleeping pill?"
"Who knows. One thing's certain. After taking that drug continually, one day my father couldn't recognize me even while awake."
Florian's face twisted in pain.
"From then on, I gave him the military combat aid during the day. I had to stay sharp somehow to protect myself."
"And at night?"
"My father... couldn't bear the nightmares of my mother."
There was a reason the Emperor's health had crumbled so rapidly.
It dated back eight years, to when Florian first came to our house.
Then now...
Florian had grown almost into a young man.
His face still held some youthful softness, but his build was sturdy, and his height rivaled an adult's.
Yet to my eyes now, he still looked like the pitiful seven-year-old prince who'd first arrived at our house, shunned and alone.
Was it because I'd glimpsed the depths of his memories?
"Do you keep in touch with His Majesty often?"
"Until the year before last."
"Then after that...?"
"I only get the occasional letter now, none with his signature or handwriting."
The Emperor's condition must have worsened further.
To the point he couldn't even pen a letter to his cherished firstborn son himself.
Not knowing how to comfort him, I simply gripped his hand tightly in return.
Florian turned to me and gave a faint smile.
"In case someone else is still around, I'll take the lead."
As if responding, his hand—which had squeezed mine firmly—slipped free.
Feeling strangely empty, I tilted my head but stopped behind him.
At the end of the fork, Florian stepped inside as planned, peered in, and frowned.
"What's wrong?"
With no warning of danger, I pressed close to his back and looked inside.
An unimaginable sight unfolded there.
A massive black cloth draped over one wall.
And from beneath it came a faint noise, like pebbles tapping against glass.
Drawing near, I pulled away the cloth as if entranced.
Inside were thousands of riwishi trapped in glass cases.
As the black cloth lifted and light hit them, the riwishi surged upward en masse, slamming into the glass with even greater ferocity than before.
Unless they're insane... who'd set up such a full-scale operation?
Anyone would think they were brewing alchemy here.
The area was piled high with labware resembling flasks and beakers.
There were also stacks of unidentified boxes crammed everywhere.
Florian, reaching it first, picked up a small box.
"Look at this, baby."
Along the seam joining the top and bottom was a seal depicting a crescent moon.
It was a crest I recognized.
I'd seen it multiple times while coming and going from the grand temple during Erich's treatment.
"It's the church's crest."
"Yeah. This must be the military combat aid."
All high-grade medicines for military use were imported from the grand temple in the west.
Their recipes were treated as top secret, with transport itself led by devout priests handpicked by the temple.
We quickly broke the seal to check.
Florian opened the lid, revealing red powder inside.
A faint bitter, fishy medicinal odor wafted out.
"Look here—it has the date and stamp from when the Dvayer Count family received it."
Closing the lid and flipping the box over revealed the Dvayer Count family's seal on the bottom.
Diverting drugs clearly traded for military use and stockpiling them outside.
This was ironclad evidence.
"Let's take just one box."
"Okay."
Florian pocketed a box slightly larger than his palm.
Small as it looked, the amount of drug inside was anything but negligible.
Military medicines are so potent that only tiny doses are needed.
Even that single small box would be enough to supply an entire unit.
And they had stockpiled heaps of it.
But there was no time to dwell in shock for long.