Chapter 167: Principles
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 167: Principles
“Ah… is—is that how it looked to you?”
His voice trembled, his composure fracturing.
Akad could not hide his bewilderment. A volatile emotion surged within him, threatening to burst if he suppressed it a moment longer. Simply looking at Ferda’s face made the sensation more intense, more unbearable.
“Haha… I suppose everyone has a different sense of aesthetics…”
Akad turned his head away sharply.
“I—I will serve you some tea!”
He hurried toward the tea table. He couldn't let the man see his face—not while his rage was so hideous and foul that it felt like it was clawing through his very skin.
‘I knew no one would understand.’
Yet, Akad had shown the true form of his love. He had gathered his courage, believing Ferda might be different from the others. But Ferda had called his love and his courage disgusting. He was just like that woman who had cruelly trampled his first love.
‘I am…’
He clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white.
‘…not disgusting.’
You are the disgusting one for failing to understand.
Something inside Akad finally snapped. His favor for the man instantly transformed into fuel, erupting into a great blaze of fury. No one was allowed to undervalue his love.
Therefore.
‘I will show you exactly what my love is.’
That single resolve took root in Akad’s mind. He carefully pulled a vial from his breast pocket. It contained a colorless, odorless, and tasteless liquid, which he poured into the teacup.
“Here, please. This is a black tea that embodies the essence of my alchemy.”
“I’ll enjoy it.”
Akad watched Ferda intently while pretending to sip his own tea. He tracked every movement, making sure the man actually swallowed. The edge of the porcelain slipped past Ferda's lips. The tea flowed as the cup tilted.
He drank it.
Akad spoke, a refreshed smile stretching across his face.
“Regent Ferda.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“I am Grand Duke Golt’s right-hand man. We are close enough to exchange personal correspondence.”
“Is that so?”
“That being the case, if it isn't an inconvenience to you, Regent, I would like to lend my strength so that the Far East Region can receive proper support. I was thinking of reviewing the relevant legislation; what do you think?”
Upon hearing this, Ferda looked genuinely pleased in a refined, understated manner.
“If you would do that, I would be truly grateful.”
“What is currently needed in the Far East?”
“Improvement in transportation is a priority. To that end, we need to repair the roads and clear the forests…”
Ferda’s speech began to slur.
“The forests… well… that is, the for—ests…”
Ferda’s head, which had been resting against the back of the chair, slumped to the side.
Akad took another sip of tea as if nothing were wrong, then stood up and grabbed Ferda’s head, lifting it roughly.
“Hmm…”
Ferda’s eyes were vacant, as if his consciousness had been plunged into a deep abyss. It was certain. The drug had worked perfectly. Akad gazed at Ferda with a soulful, lingering look.
“I’m sorry.”
Akad spoke softly, his voice like a lover's caress.
“I had no choice. You see, I don’t care if someone hits me or stabs me. I’m the kind of person who might deserve to be treated that way. Because I’m… such a disgusting person.”
He leaned his forehead against Ferda’s, whispering apologies repeatedly.
“But… I decided I would never forgive anyone who insults my love.”
That woman who had rejected his confession and looked at him with loathing. That woman who had wagged her tail and pretended to love him. Akad had tried to instill the meaning of his love into the woman who had insulted it. Because it was his first time, his work had been clumsy.
And so, his first love had withered away.
“Of course, this is my fault. This happened because I chose to trust you… but I still can’t forgive you. So…”
Akad carefully took a leather pouch from his pocket and untied the string. Inside was a needle thirty centimeters long. Akad picked it up, the metal glinting.
“I’m going to help you understand my aesthetics, just a little bit.”
He carefully brought the needle toward Ferda’s pupil. At the very moment it moved toward the retina—
“Huh…?”
Akad doubted his own eyes. Just as he was about to aim the needle, Ferda’s pupils seemed to quiver ever so slightly.
‘That shouldn’t be possible…?’
What he had given Ferda was an anesthetic that turned people into living dolls. Even a small amount was enough to paralyze a giant. It had worked on a Barbarian twice this man's size; there was no way Ferda could be fine. It was a state where one felt pain but couldn't scream, and could hear but couldn't speak.
‘Perhaps I’m just too agitated.’
Yes, he must have been mistaken. Thinking so, he aimed the sharp tip at the retina once more. Just as he was about to pierce it—
The brightly lit candles of the chandelier were suddenly snuffed out.
“What is it this time?”
Startled by the mood-killing darkness, Akad looked around. The candles in the reception room’s chandelier should have been replaced just yesterday. Even if they had burned down, they wouldn't have gone out all at once. It was an unnatural movement, as if someone had intentionally extinguished them.
In all his time living in this house, Akad had never experienced such a thing. This had only started happening after he brought Ferda inside.
‘Does that mean, could it be…!?’
Was it this Ferda fellow?
If coincidences happened twice in a row, they had to be viewed as inevitable. With that thought, he turned his gaze back to where Ferda was.
Those two eyes, which should have lost their vitality, were glowing a vivid, haunting blue in the darkness.
The man had been awake from the very beginning.
“Stu—!”
He tried to respond quickly with a Stun spell, but the words wouldn't come out. Something had covered his mouth, interfering with his incantation. It wasn't just his mouth. He felt an uncomfortable pressure on his hands and stomach—the areas he needed to focus on to manifest a magic circle.
It was as if countless dead souls hiding in the darkness had pounced on him.
Akad was a 5th Circle mage. Yet now, he was so perfectly suppressed that he was nothing more than a helpless, fat man. Simultaneously, Ferda’s glowing eyes moved in the dark. The body that should have been slumped over moved as if nothing had happened.
The roles had flipped; it was Akad who was now restrained, not Ferda.
“Akad Debelung.”
Goosebumps broke out over Akad's entire body. It sounded like a messenger from hell was whispering in his ear.
“You’re probably thinking right now: How is this guy moving so normally?”
Ferda wiped his forehead—the one Akad had touched—with a handkerchief and stuffed it into his pocket.
“But you know what?”
Ferda began to speak of his own secrets, just as Akad had done.
“I’ve made it a rule never to consume food prepared by anyone else.”
It was back when he was first designated as a rising noble, though he wasn't yet treated as a proper mage. It was a time when he still had a tiny shred of love and hope for humanity, thinking he might try to expand his social circle. Ferda had gone to a social gathering and trusted people.
“There were some pieces of trash who drugged me and then tried to bury me alive.”
He had been betrayed. Fortunately, it hadn't ended in death. No matter how many times God abandoned Ferda, he returned alive to take his revenge.
“So…”
Ferda grabbed Akad’s face. His burning eyes looked up toward the ceiling. Akad struggled instinctively, knowing what was about to happen. But no matter what he did, he couldn't stop his mouth from being forced open.
This darkness belonged to Ferda.
“I’ll return this to you.”
Ferda opened his mouth, and Akad looked inside. That mouth held an even deeper darkness. A thin pouch of that darkness tore open, and the contents spilled out.
It was the black tea he had swallowed.
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
It poured into Akad’s open mouth. He resisted violently, trying to spit it out. But the moment it touched his tongue, it was irreversible. Akad’s body gradually stiffened until he finally fell into a deep, drug-induced void.
* * *
The sound of a door hinge clicking was followed by a stream of light. A woman dressed as a maid entered with a candle. She showed no sign of surprise or fear at the sight. She approached silently and looked back and forth between Ferda and Akad.
The attendant was a brown-skinned woman who shouldn't have been in this mansion. It was Garnet.
“Is it settled?” Ferda asked.
“Yes.”
“The secret passage?”
“I found it. Just as you said.”
“Well done. Let’s take this fellow with us.”
“Understood.”
Despite Akad's heavy build, Garnet slung him over her shoulder and moved with ease. She led the way to Akad’s alchemy workshop. Opening the door required a security bypass spell known only to the owner.
It wasn't an issue. The key was Akad Debelung’s body itself. They entered with him slung over her shoulder.
Though it was a secret room, several vents had been installed, so there wasn't even a hint of a musty smell. At a glance, it seemed like a standard, secure alchemy workshop. But Ferda knew this wasn't the end.
One of the shelves lined with potion vials was slightly ajar, revealing a passage leading further underground.
“Shall we go down?” Garnet asked.
Ferda already knew what she had seen. That was why she was asking.
“Let’s go down.”
And so, they descended. As the door opened, odors in the form of vapor escaped. A thick scent that triggered a physiological revulsion made Ferda instinctively knit his brows. He was familiar with this energy. It was the same disgust he had felt from the abstract painting he had seen earlier.
“Shadow Captain.”
“Yes.”
“Sit him down and withdraw.”
“…Yes.”
Garnet left the room as Ferda ordered. Ferda headed toward the potion shelves Akad had organized. Like a meticulous alchemist, Akad had carefully labeled and noted everything according to its use. Thanks to that, Ferda was able to gather the necessary potions easily.
After some time, Akad’s fingers twitched. Focus returned to his distant eyes, and vibration returned to his vocal cords. But that was all. His mouth was gagged, and every single finger was bound to the armrests. Ferda had no intention of giving Akad even the slightest chance to use magic.
Ferda activated a recording crystal ball he had placed on the table.
“Akad Debelung.”
That was the name of the man he was facing.
“The miracle alchemist who cured the Black Death spreading through the Empire.”
That was the achievement credited to the man named Akad Debelung. It had been a bleak plague that killed as many as ten million people over five years.
“But who would have guessed? That it was a farce staged secretly by the Empire’s high-ranking officials.”
Akad’s eyes widened at Ferda’s words. His gaze seemed to ask how he could possibly know that.
“It’s too early to be surprised. I also know it was commissioned by Waldemar Golt.”
Akad was the one who spread the plague. But the mastermind was Waldemar. Surprisingly, he had spread the plague for the sake of the Empire. Waldemar wanted this Empire to endure. To keep this festering, corrupt Empire running, new parts had to be constantly injected, and those parts were supplied by the 90% who made up the lower class.
They were precious parts, but at the same time, they were a nuisance. With too many surplus resources, they were nothing more than insects gnawing at the pillars. Thus, there was a need to control the population, and he had killed unsuspecting people by spreading the plague centered around the slums.
Waldemar proudly called it 'quarantine.'
“I don’t care about that.”
It was in the past anyway, and Ferda hadn't come here to discuss justice.
“However, I heard there is an interesting potion passed down in your family.”
Ferda pulled out one of the vials he had selected. The name written on the label was ‘Truth Potion.’
“I’d like you to drink this.”
“Mmph! Mmm-mmph!”
The previously calm Akad began to resist violently. He couldn't drink it because he knew exactly what the potion did. But in his neutralized state, he had no means to defy Ferda.
The dark, murky liquid flowed into Akad’s mouth. The effect was immediate.
“Guh….”
Akad groaned. He shook his head, his face contorted as if suffering from a terrible headache. Ferda spoke as he watched.
“Tell me.”
He brought up the story connected to this potion.
“Who made this potion?”
Akad spoke, his voice strained.
“My father… Jackal Debelung…”
“Tell me the effects.”
“An immediate-acting potion… It makes the mind hazy and induces a terrible headache when lying… forcing one to speak only the truth…”
“What happens if you keep your mouth shut?”
“The same. It hurts… enough to make you want to die.”
“I see.”
After leisurely gathering information, Ferda began to question him in earnest.
“Who did your father feed this to?”
“That is… ugh… guwaaaaah…!”
Akad tried to keep his mouth shut. But in the end, he couldn't resist the agony and opened his mouth.
“…The 3rd Prince of the Arken Empire… Million Arken…”
It was information Ferda already knew, but he continued the questioning. He needed to be certain at this moment.
“Who was he?”
Akad answered.
“The fiancé of the Archduchess of Valdrova…”
He was the man Valdrova had killed.