Chapter 281
Chapter 281
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 281
Chapter Title: Hypothesis Verified
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Andrea Friedman blinked wildly, as if he couldn’t comprehend what he had just heard. I had no intention of explaining further out of kindness.
I released the grip on his collar and pointed my staff at him.
“W-Why are you aiming that at me again…?!”
I twisted his wrist holding the staff, and he scrambled backward toward the opposite side of the bed.
Mana surged right up to his nose before dissipating into the air just as he squeezed his eyes shut.
I wondered how someone with such a strong will to live could think it was fine to drive another person to the brink of death simply because they couldn’t secure their own interests.
He couldn’t be hurt, but others could die?
“Why make me repeat myself?”
I’d even drunk blood to test this hypothesis—how much longer did he plan to keep me waiting?
I wasn’t going to turn back time right here, so the sooner, the better.
With trembling hands, Friedman cautiously picked up the device and fitted it over my left arm.
Even then, his eyes remained fixed on my staff.
The needle-like artifact pierced my skin and sank in.
The skin that had just healed tore open again, and the smell of blood filled the air.
I looked down at the device and asked,
“There wouldn’t normally be a machine like this. Did you make it yourself?”
Andrea Friedman hesitated before nodding.
“For what purpose?”
“……”
“Why not answer?”
“A tool to… test dispositions…”
“My disposition? Hahaha… So you already had a hypothesis that pushing someone to the brink of death would reveal something. Right? Judging by how you got angry when things didn’t go as planned at first, it probably wasn’t your main hypothesis—more like a secondary one.”
“……”
Crunch—
I grabbed his shirt collar and forced his head up.
Infusing divine power, I asked again.
“Am I wrong? Don’t make me ask twice—answer properly.”
Only then did he shake his pale face vigorously from side to side.
He wasn’t the careless type.
Someone who prepared methods even for low-probability hypotheses had an unremarkable thought process that made him unworthy of dealing with, yet his paranoia made him tricky.
When I released his clothes, he glanced at me warily before channeling mana into the device and pressing the second button from the top.
“……”
Mana was draining out through the upper needle, while someone else’s mana was flowing in through the lower one.
Was it meant to jolt and force the mana outward?
Either way…
“Haha…”
I couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
Just moments ago, my mana had been draining out wildly through this needle, but now, though I felt something leaving, the mana from my core wasn’t escaping.
Since mana kept surging endlessly from within my body, there was no need to absorb the mana flowing in from outside.
The most astonishing part was that not all my mana was being sucked away—it could only be explained by my core continuously producing mana.
Did drinking blood turn the core into a bottomless well?
That settled it—the hypothesis test had passed.
Whether due to the core reaching peak condition from the blood, my mana wasn’t being drained.
The blood didn’t just act as a shock buffer; it had even more effects.
‘Not bad.’
I still didn’t want to drink blood, but it was a useful ability in combat situations.
Thinking of it as a power that could save me from the brink of death made it somewhat comforting.
Though the unexpected incident had soured things, the only real changes before and after the mass were the core’s growth rate and absorption capacity.
It was still speculation, but the absorption might not be new—it could be an expansion of an existing ability.
Leo’s insane ramblings about “adapting to blood” weren’t because I’d become a real corpse without it, but to prevent accidents from my core’s unnaturally rapid growth for my age.
The ability only activated when my mana was nearly all drained, making me feel like I was dying—so as long as no one tried to strangle me to death like today, no one would discover it.
I’d obtained the most crucial information I sought.
This intel was necessary for both Andrea Friedman and my brother.
I’d make sure to drink blood properly before the next hospital visit.
And now…
I scanned the remaining two doctors and yanked Andrea Friedman to his feet.
Time for interrogation.
Why had he suddenly pulled this stunt? What did he hope to gain from Adrian Ascanien?
First: Why now, all of a sudden?
Even if I was a threat to him, why not earlier? What reason—or urgency—prompted this haste?
“You said you proposed to my brother first, offering to monitor my health while in Berlin.”
“Y-Yes.”
“The vice director himself volunteering to check my health. Haha… You didn’t originally plan to pull this right away—what accelerated your plans?”
“……”
Instead of answering, he darted his widened eyes around frantically.
Only after I tightened my grip on his collar did he snap to and respond.
“L-A letter… I received a letter…”
“You’ll have to say from whom.”
“It was from His Excellency the Vice Minister of Magic.”
“My brother, then.”
Friedman nodded vigorously.
“What did my brother say?”
“He…”
“No.”
I cut him off and pulled a letter from the inner pocket of his gown.
“You had it on you to take me away, so no need to waste time asking.”
[ I was touched by your thoughtful proposal, Teacher… My brother has just awakened and arrived in Berlin. To ensure his smooth future activities, I am writing to request a prescription to enhance his core condition. ]
As expected, Adrian Ascanien’s letter was straightforward. No other topics.
The trigger here was likely the mention of the “core.”
Friedman had been wary since January that I might ascend as Anhalt’s sovereign, and my brother’s letter led him to suspect something wrong with my core.
No need to read more.
I tossed the letter aside and checked the status windows of the doctor and nurses on the right.
Then I thrust my staff toward them.
—Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman’s vigilance is in vain!
Boom—!
I cast sleep magic and erected a barrier.
Andrea Friedman flinched preemptively, shrinking back.
I snapped my fingers, dragging him along.
“Warp to your house.”
Andrea Friedman’s eyes widened.
Against his will, by the time he blinked again, we had already warped.
A mansion that looked newly built came into view.
Good— the divine power infused in his body was working properly.
“…Huh?!”
A servant cleaning in front of the mansion spotted us and cried out with wide eyes.
Boom—
—Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman’s vigilance is in vain.
I slammed my staff into the ground and chanted.
No one would welcome a suspicious intruder as a guest, so putting them to sleep was better.
All the servants visible on the way in as I dragged Andrea Friedman lay collapsed, deep in slumber.
“Where do you keep the letters exchanged with my brother? Take me there.”
I grabbed his nape and said.
I felt his shoulders stiffen instantly.
I shoved him forward to keep walking and continued the conversation.
“Looks like you have plenty to gain from my brother. Did Adrian Ascanien promise you the imperial Ministry of Health directorship or something?”
“…Pardon?”
“He’s just a vice minister himself—he wouldn’t make such promises lightly. So what could it be? Did magic potion pharmaceutical companies promise rebates to your hospital? Or have they already? Is my brother covering up your medical malpractice or prescription drug trafficking? Nonsense. He’d never touch anything that dirties his name. Maybe a magic potion tax exemption system? No, you’re not a rights group chairman, and it wouldn’t benefit you much. Then…”
I stared piercingly into his eyes and said,
“There’s one clean, most plausible way to win your favor without upsetting Anhalt’s people. Did my brother offer you a stake in Anhalt’s national medical project?”
“……”
“Close, huh?”
I smiled and patted his shoulder.
Unknowingly, he blinked rapidly twice.
“…No…!”
“Anhalt Health Minister or Ascanien royal physician badge would be nice too. But why go this far—dirty deeds and all—to ensure Adrian Ascanien ascends?”
The justification faltered a bit on why it had to be Adrian Ascanien.
The biggest issue: those positions weren’t exclusive to him, and Friedman, as vice director of the Imperial Central Hospital, already qualified for both.
Friedman halted before a door, staring at the knob with a frozen face.
Sweat beaded on his forehead.
I admired his profile and said,
“Open it.”
“……”
Click—
With trembling hands, he found the key and inserted it.
The moment the door opened, I shoved him inside.
As he stepped in, layers of defensive magic shattered at once.
This was a small document vault attached to the room.
“Is this the room with the letters from my brother?”
“…Yes.”
I dragged him to a small table and sat him down.
Friedman looked incredulous, unable to believe he’d led an enemy into his mansion’s heart.
He appeared on the verge of fainting, revealing just how much his life hinged on his career and gains.
“Let’s talk slowly.”
“…Talk?”
“Even if I ordered you, you’re too slow, so I won’t command you anymore. I’d rather do it myself. Sit comfortably.”
He stared at me, wondering why I’d come for letters just to sit.
Ignoring his confusion, I continued from earlier.
“Now I get why you mentioned Georg Ascanien. I wondered why, when you got a letter from my brother, you claimed Georg sent you. Sure, Georg holds the real stamp for something major like temporary physician to a ruling family child. But practically, you secured it through Adrian Ascanien, and you knew I’d received a letter from him mentioning you—yet you brought letters from Adrian too.”
“No particular meaning…”
“Right, no particular meaning. It was just an unconscious urge from deep inside manifesting without you realizing.”
The more anyone speaks, the more they reveal.
Since it was minor, I pressed on quickly.
“Ultimately, you craved endorsement not from Adrian or anyone—but from Anhalt’s sovereign, subconsciously preferring Georg Ascanien’s true legitimacy over Adrian.”
“……”
“Unlike your ambition to deeply involve yourself in Anhalt’s medical sector, Georg Ascanien likely views you unfavorably. He’s not ready to step down and wants to control Anhalt’s political and financial spheres with his own people—no room for you. But you saw that Georg listens easily to what Adrian says. Am I wrong?”
“…No.”
“Then why Anhalt? No one as close to the imperial family yet poised to become a nation’s next sovereign like Adrian Ascanien—and since Georg’s era, Anhalt wields major influence over Saxony Duchy, so grabbing Anhalt’s medical world boosts chances for Saxony too. Best of both worlds. With management experience in a pro-Prussian microstate like Anhalt, you planned to return to Prussia later for an even flashier post, right?”
“……”
“Adrian Ascanien, rising in the imperial government, will become Magic Minister and eventually Imperial Chancellor someday—placing you where you want is trivial for him. Me? I lack political foundation, and no guarantee I’d befriend you like Adrian. If I ascend, you’d have to abandon your grand dreams. Horrifying thought.”
No path beyond vice director visible—or it’d take too long.
Fair enough.
Probably in his fifties now, reaching vice director was already early.
Considering new humanity’s average lifespan, fifties were still young.
Now I saw his ambition was huge too.
Of course someone stooping to this would be blinded by something.
Now I had to decide his fate.
Naturally, he’d go to prison like this, but I needed to think ahead.
In a world where he doesn’t harm me and lets me go peacefully—what then?
Turn him to my side, or…?
“……”
The problem: incentives to flip him were exhausted.
He held a high position, but not one ideal for political leverage.
Above all, inferring why Adrian built ties with him: I had little reason to keep someone who drives others to near-death for gain nearby.
My answer was set.
Time to see if he could offer enough gain to sway my pre-decided verdict.
I glanced at the bookshelf beside and asked,
“Hoarding compulsion?”
“…Why do you ask…?”
“Most people don’t build a room in their home just to store documents like this.”
Considering he was a doctor, it was odd.
Usually, at best, a locked drawer or safe.
Friedman answered in a crawling voice.
“It’s not quite a compulsion.”
“We’ll see.”
At my words, he wore a subtle expression.
“I like loyal people—that’s why I’ve kept one around. Know why?”
“Because flipping loyalty brings profit.”
“You get it. We’ve discussed what you want. I can give you everything.”
“…….”
“Last chance. Prove your worth.”
His eyes wavered.
Even without knowing I could rewind time, he knew this was truly his final shot.
After a long, gleaming stare, he spoke.
“What do you want?”
“……”
I smiled faintly and raised an eyebrow.
“Wish your compulsion had cleared up sooner.”
Boom—!
As I slammed my staff down, Friedman’s eyes widened before me.
With the explosion, divine power rapidly filled the document vault.
I watched the white wave flood the space and said,
—Seek, and you shall find.
“Verify, then burn.”