Blue Beard (5)
The small golems stacked the goods with precise, efficient motions.
Then something bright red joined the pile.
Ugh!
The moment he laid eyes on it, his face twisted. The stench and the visual were both overwhelming.
“……You really didn’t need to bring anything that looks like a heart.”
The golem nodded.
Seeing organs that were never meant to be seen made his stomach turn. While Evan was still trying to settle his queasiness, the small golems began stacking papers as well—sheets densely packed with complex formulas and records.
Research journals.
“Wow! The writing is sooo packed!”
“Hmm.”
The primary goal of the research was ‘extending lifespan.’
He had zero interest in that. Safety first—Evan might not admit it, but he was a coward, and those were not side effects he was willing to risk.
Homunculus? Oh, so he had this too.
Seeing one in person was fascinating. Better take it just in case.
Oh, this looks good too.
Thud!
The next find was a book filled with alchemical knowledge. Scrawled across the cover in a hurried hand: introductory alchemy text. It looked handmade.
Probably a book his master made for him.
Not bad at all. Newer than anything Evan already owned, and better organized.
I’ll have to copy this.
It might actually prove useful. Maybe even more than his own master.
Finding a master is a lost cause.
Blue Beard had taught him that much. Even fellow alchemists couldn’t be trusted. Alchemy was a one-to-one transmission—everything passed to a single disciple. Inherit the wrong things and you were finished. Better to self-study. He already had game knowledge to tell him when he was heading in the wrong direction, so it would be fine.
Clack, clack!
Next came objects that looked ominous at a glance—things with enough power to ‘contaminate’ any living being that touched them. Most of them were like the smoking skull from earlier.
Heretic relics?
The heretics who had fallen and vanished. Items only the ones Arthur had recently slaughtered would possess. Why were they here?
Did he buy them somewhere?
That made sense. Heretics were always short on cash. Selling this sort of thing wouldn’t be strange. Still—
Tsk. Way too early compared to the original story.
In the original, Blue Beard the count and the heretics did make contact. It never went anywhere, though—not because of conscience, but because they were discovered first and ended up as dew on the execution grounds. And that was supposed to happen at this point in time? It didn’t make sense.
Should I take a few just in case?
Curses? Those only worked on living things, not inanimate objects. Golems were completely unaffected. He had the golems pack them into a box and seal it tightly. That should be enough.
Clack, clack!
“Good work.”
Everything he needed was out. He gave the collected items a rough check: a few gold coins that had quietly appeared, the homunculus research notes, the alchemy book, the Moon Illusion Herb and other necessary materials.
This much made for solid compensation.
Satisfied, Evan headed back down to the first floor.
“Haaah!”
Count Gilles de Rais gasped as he woke.
The moment Count Gilles de Rais opened his eyes, despair swallowed him.
His last memory was of being struck on the chin and blacking out. The golden eyes looking down at him remained vivid.
I failed.
The great cause he had pursued even at the cost of countless lives had failed.
He had read my plan from the very beginning.
That something lurking in the shadows—something that could not even be called alive—when had he hidden it? From the first moment they met, no doubt.
It has to be a chimera.
Not a golem. A golem that resided in shadows? He had never heard of such a thing, never seen one. Not even alchemists with over a century of experience, not even his own master, knew of such a golem. It simply couldn’t exist.
Golem-craft was a forgotten art even within alchemy—never taught, never inherited, with no records left behind. The last known golem master had died without a successor, reduced to a corpse rolling around the underworld. That was why Gilles himself had struggled so much with creating a homunculus.
A chimera was far more plausible. A rare specimen that lived in shadows, said to exist only in the North—but with the wealth of the Alcarte Duchy, acquiring one would have been entirely possible. Combining it into something new made perfect sense.
But more important than that was one simple fact.
I have failed completely.
His long-held dream had crumbled.
“…….”
“You’re awake.”
A low voice reached his ear. When he opened his eyes, Evan sat in the seat of honor. Even in the unlit room thick with shadows, those golden eyes shone with quiet brilliance. Chin resting on his hand, Evan regarded him steadily and asked,
“Are you all right?”
“I’m…… fine.”
There was no anger in Evan. No anger, and no other emotion either. Looking at him felt like staring at a doll that possessed none at all. And as Gilles watched, another feeling slowly poked its head out.
Its name was terror.
“Asking may be pointless, but I’ll ask anyway. Why did you betray me?”
“…….”
“Answer him.”
The one pressing him was the little girl at his side. Beneath white hair, two crimson eyes glared at him with murderous light.
“I really, really want to kill you right now.”
“Th-that’s…… I mean…….”
His teeth chattered of their own accord. The killing intent born purely from the desire to slaughter an enemy made his head swim. It was worse than even the Dark King. As if Wrath itself had taken form—
“Lapis.”
“Haaah.”
The killing intent cut off at once. She glanced sideways, reading the room like a tamed rabbit. The cognitive dissonance was considerable.
“Please calm down.”
“……Sorry, Evan.”
“It’s fine. You were angry on my behalf. I’m only worried whether that old body of his can withstand the pressure.”
Evan stroked Lapis’s head. The sight made him look like a young ruler.
Slowly, Evan rose from his seat. His body was small and slight, yet the atmosphere he radiated was anything but ordinary.
If this continues, I die.
Really? With death right in front of him, his mind went blank. The only emotion left was the instinct to survive.
“I’ll tell you everything! Everything!”
Thud!
He dropped to his knees and bowed his head.
“So please! Spare me!”
He was more terrified now than when he had first heard the name of the Dark King. Evan looked down at him with blank eyes—or more precisely, with puzzled ones.
……What’s wrong with this guy?
Like he’d seen a ghost? Had Lapis scared him too much?
Count Gilles de Rais confessed everything—uninteresting personal history, why he had tried to betray them, what tools he had used, all of it.
Man, hearing it like this almost makes him sound pitiful.
The reason was so he could see his master again. Listening to it directly almost made Evan feel a little sad.
Of course the feeling lasted only a moment. Gilles de Rais was still a murderer. In modern terms, a mad scientist. A man who had treated life with contempt—that hadn’t changed either. Everything else matched the game. The only difference was the connection to the heretics.
He met them much earlier than he was supposed to, huh?
The reason was Arthur’s massacre. ……There was enough of a connection that Evan had nothing to say about it. Still, useful information. With this, he might be able to avoid the heretics altogether.
“……Are you going to kill me?”
Gilles asked in a stiff voice. Evan considered for a moment.
A clean end with no loose ends? That would mean killing Gilles de Rais right here. But that choice was the inferior one. Why?
I really don’t want to get tangled up with the Alchemist Tower.
Just as mages belonged to the Magic Towers, most alchemists belonged to the Alchemist Tower. Originally it had gone by many names—the Cauldron, the Alchemical Workshop, and so on—but apparently they changed it because the names were too hard to remember.
Gilles de Rais was a member of the Alchemist Tower, or the Al-Tower for short. Kill him and they would inevitably come asking why. A year ago they had already tried to visit, and only the duke’s authority had stopped them.
I don’t want the attention either.
Evan was safety-first. He had no desire to take unnecessary risks. Not because he was a coward—purely for the sake of thorough safety.
And keeping him alive is more profitable than killing him.
A supply line for materials that didn’t require dealing with the underworld. His network was wide, so Evan could keep receiving whatever he needed just like now. The man was also enough of a coward that he wouldn’t dare stab him in the back a second time. In the game, Evan had often used him as a materials supplier. Keep the conscience at a slight distance and he was useful.
Evan slowly shook his head.
“No. I won’t kill you.”
“……Why on earth not?”
“It would be inefficient.”
Any reason would do. Honestly, he just wanted to leave quickly.
“You and I are both alchemists. Ours is a profession that values efficiency. There’s no need to do something so inefficient.”
“…….”
“What I wanted from you was never your life—only materials and knowledge. I’ve already obtained what I need.”
Number Four waved a long arm, showing off the Moon Illusion Herb before tucking it neatly into storage.
“So let’s put this matter behind us. I believe you understand what comes next without me saying it.”
“…….”
I won’t make an issue of it, so let’s end things cleanly here! That was the meaning behind the words. Gilles stared hard at Evan, as if he still had more to say.
“I’ll take the homunculus research journals, but I won’t touch your other research notes.”
“……!”
He hadn’t touched them……? Gilles’s eyebrows trembled.
“I’ve taken the materials I need and a few books. Let’s leave it at that.”
“B-but…….”
“Or would you prefer to pay a steeper price?”
“!”
Gilles hurriedly shook his head. A steeper price! He couldn’t even imagine what that might be.
“However, I forbid any further research of that kind. If your current fiancée is for the same purpose, either break the engagement or become a good husband.”
“……Understood.”
“And don’t forget to atone every day for those you killed.”
“I under…… stand.”
That should be enough, right? Evan glanced at Lapis. She formed an O with her thumb and index finger. Seemed fine.
Time to wrap this up.
“Contact me next time. This is how to reach me.”
He drew a single sheet from his coat and held it out. Not quite a business card—more of an identity token that noble friends usually exchanged. He would need materials from time to time, so better to establish the connection now.
“This is…….”
“Think of it as payment for the goods.”
Business concluded, Evan rose from his seat as if he had never been there.
“Wh-where are you going?”
“My business is finished, so I’m heading back. Is there anything else?”
“No…… thing…….”
“Then I’ll be off.”
Without so much as a farewell, Evan simply left. Gilles de Rais couldn’t even think of stopping him.
In the reception room after Evan’s departure, Gilles stared at the empty seat of honor. Emotion welled in his eyes.
……Ahh! To possess such composure……
Jealousy, hatred, and anger had already been wiped away. Something greater remained. The ability to show such mercy—an attitude that reminded him of the father he had once revered—made respect bloom.
Could he be the benefactor Father spoke of……?
The words his father had left on his deathbed.
—A great person will come to you.
Yes! Evan was that person.
Delusion and jealousy washed away, and a plain of enlightenment opened before him. Enlightenment. Before the brilliantly shining sun that lit that plain, shadows meant nothing.
How foolish I have been.
This man was the one. He was certain.
Evan. A presence that could not be confined even by the word genius—a true ruler’s aura. With him, the Alchemist Tower once led by Gilles’s master could gain a new Tower Master.
This is my chance.