Chapter 239
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 239
Chapter Title: It's Already Over.
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A dense jungle overgrown with forest.
Deep within it lay a single village.
Or rather, it was hard to call it a village, exactly.
A massive wooden palisade tangled with vines, a swamp encircling it like a moat, and suspicious men standing guard atop the walls with rifles in hand.
Its impregnable defenses resembled a fortress far more than any village.
At the heart of that fortress.
In a mansion built on a scale incomparable to the other structures—grand and ornate beyond measure—a single man was savoring his meal at length.
Crunch, crunch.
He tore into a roasted hind leg of wild boar as thick as his forearm with one hand.
Downed a bowl of seafood stew in one go.
Emptied a mug of beer in a single gulp.
A man of elephantine girth sat alone at a table laden with a feast enough for dozens, devouring it all like a ravenous beast.
Gula set down his empty beer mug.
Then, letting out a light belch, he asked casually,
"Burp. So, who got taken out and how?"
"Antonio is dead..."
"Who's that punk?"
"...He was the boss of the gang handling Ambrosia distribution in São Paulo."
"There was a guy like that?"
He crammed a whole sandwich into his mouth, chewing as he racked his brain for a moment.
Unable to recall by the time he'd swallowed it, he reached for the alligator meat without a care.
"Anyway, how'd he croak? OD on drugs and dive into a dungeon or something?"
"It seems the Green Dragon Princess made her move..."
At that instant.
Gula froze, his hand midway to the alligator meat.
His previously glazed eyes now gleamed with a feral light as he turned to the old man.
"That bitch came out herself?"
"Yes... They say he was interrogated until he took his own life."
"Heh heh heh, is that right?"
The sinister chuckle lasted only a moment.
Gula crushed the alligator meat in his fist and crunched through bone and all, muttering as he swallowed.
"For that wench who holes up and never shows her face to stir personally... she must be shitting bricks."
"We can't say for sure yet. She might've had some other agenda..."
"Shut your trap! If I say so, then it's so!"
Thwack!
Gula bellowed, hurling a chunk of half-eaten alligator meat at the old man's face with a phlegmy roar.
He glared at the bowing elder, snorting in fury, then grabbed another dish and spoke again.
"There are other gangs in São Paulo, right? Set up a new distribution line with them. Double the volume this time."
"That'll leave traces..."
"That's the whole point."
Gula caressed his scarred left cheek with his particularly blackened left hand, grinning chillingly.
"It's the best way to really screw that damned bitch over."
"...Understood."
In the end, the old man obeyed Gula's orders.
Rebuilding the distribution network was necessary anyway, and he had no right to refuse.
"Oh, and that Antonio or whatever—the guy she offed? Wipe out all his underlings. If any have families, rip 'em limb from limb and hang 'em on their doorsteps."
"Is there any real need for—?"
"Gotta show failures their fate. Keeps the rest in line, doesn't it?"
"...Yes, sir."
Whether the old man truly agreed or was just play-acting out of fear.
Gula didn't care.
Fear him. Obey his commands.
He expected nothing more from his subordinates—and any who strayed from those two rules were already dead.
So Gula stroked his left cheek again, chuckling gleefully.
"Heh heh heh... Just you wait a bit longer, Green Dragon Princess. I'll pay back that debt from that day soon enough."
[...Starting with something like that on day one. Maia really doesn't hold back.]
"This much was expected."
[Even if it's as expected, that doesn't make it any less troubling.]
Li Chingwei gave a wry smile.
She had anticipated Rimon being exposed as not Black Dragon Clan—and Maia digging aggressively into his secrets once that happened.
But to test him by siccing a gang boss on him before even a day had passed?
It was far beyond her projections.
"Still, this is a relief. With our tacit agreement in place, she won't probe my identity openly."
[She'll just use other methods to uncover the Sword Duke's secrets.]
Sending him alone after a gang boss on day one.
What would tomorrow bring?
The mere thought drew a sigh from her.
But unlike the worried Li Chingwei, Rimon's demeanor was utterly nonchalant.
"Eh, what other methods could there be? As long as I handle it well, it's fine."
[Yes, you're right.]
'If the Sword Duke only had Dragon Psionics, I'd think the same.'
Li Chingwei murmured inwardly.
It wasn't that she distrusted Rimon.
The issue was that he carried the essence of psionics—and was oblivious to it.
Someone unaware of their secret makes the perfect keeper... but they can also blurt it out at the worst moment.
[Anyway, Sword Duke, please don't let your guard down. She's the Green Dragon Princess.]
So Li Chingwei earnestly warned him.
Not just because Maia was a peerless physician and apothecary with keen insight.
If anything, it was her status as Green Dragon Clan princess that was the real problem.
"Don't worry. I know what the Green Dragon Clan is like."
Rimon took her caution in stride.
Hide a secret, and the Green Dragon Clan could be trickier than mind-reading Black Dragons or prophetic White Dragons, depending on the situation.
Still, he was confident he could keep his identity under wraps.
Putting aside needless worries, Rimon shifted the conversation.
"More importantly, Princess, do you know what this Ambrosia stuff is?"
[Well, I've heard of a few kinds. Like that American salad...]
Or a recovery item in games.
Or...
[The most famous is the food of the gods from Greek myth, but that's not what you mean, right, Sword Duke?]
"Weird for the Green Dragon Princess to personally chase something as trivial as gods' chow."
[Most would find asking a gang boss about it even weirder.]
True to the Sword Master who slayed even gods, she stifled a chuckle at his casual dismissal—calling divine food "trivial chow."
Li Chingwei composed herself and replied calmly.
[If Maia went out of her way to verify the source herself, it's clearly no ordinary item.]
She spent most of the year holed up at home.
For someone who rarely ventured out, this was undeniably suspicious.
Rimon murmured softly to the candid Li Chingwei.
"Could you look into this Ambrosia for me?"
[Even if it might irk Maia?]
"Her mentioning it openly in front of me means 'dig if you dare.' Snooping a bit won't be an issue."
If even Li Chingwei of the Seven Dragon Society didn't know, it was either trivial or too vital to share.
Yet Maia had deliberately dangled it before him. Why?
Rimon scratched his cheek, pondering her intent, then added,
"Plus, this Ambrosia thing... it nags at me strangely."
[...In other words, bad vibes?]
"Yeah, you could say that."
He'd rarely come out ahead ignoring such nagging instincts.
Li Chingwei nodded with a wry smile at his obvious statement.
[Got it. If you're saying that, Sword Duke, I'll look into Ambrosia.]
"Thanks. Appreciate it."
Rimon replied evenly.
Normally, he'd investigate himself, but he was tethered to the Green Dragon Princess now.
Her tagging along was a stroke of luck.
Few were as reliable for intel-gathering.
...Though others' competence wouldn't stop a backstab.
'Being the Sword Duke's fiancée-to-be isn't easy in any sense.'
Li Chingwei smiled softly at his unwavering trust, then recalled something.
[By the way, Sword Duke, when did Maia say treatment starts?]
"That sculptor's treatment?"
Her worry must've been immense.
Rimon chuckled at her belated key question.
Gazing at Hermann—who stared in awe at his own hands after Rimon pulled out the densely packed needles—he continued softly.
"It's already over."
"To be precise, today's treatment is finished."
Like mocking spectators who celebrated a single first-half goal as victory.
Maia sneered coldly.
But even her blatant scorn didn't irk Hermann.
He couldn't feel it.
His hands—no longer trembling as usual—moved normally, leaving him too stunned to care.
"H-How...?"
Hermann was dumbfounded.
Of course, he'd received plenty of treatment from Maia.
Pulse readings with fine threads on his wrists, scans from high-tech devices, endless herbal brews, black sweat baths, acupuncture...
He'd been occupied all day, barely remembering the details.
One thing was clear, though.
Less than a day had passed since treatment began.
That alone made him doubt if it was a dream.
The hand tremors and pain tormenting him for years—gone in a single day? Unbelievable.
"A disease even the Holy Lord couldn't cure, healed in just one day...!"
"You dare compare that quack to me?"
"N-No, that's not what I meant. I was just shocked—please understand."
Hermann blurted excuses unwittingly.
Maia eyed him sharply, then snorted coldly.
"It's nothing impressive. Your illness stemmed from your body's lifespan running dry. I merely suspended the root cause."
"What does that mean?"
Hermann blinked in confusion.
He couldn't grasp "suspending the root cause."
Thus, when Rimon chuckled beside him and explained, his face went slack.
"Simple. Your lifespan's been extended by about ten years."
"Lifespan... extended?"
"Exactly."
To keep a busted car rolling, you don't have to fix the tires.
Slap on a V12 engine and alloy frame, turning it into an eight-wheeler that flies even without wheels.
Hermann's jaw dropped at Maia's cynical explanation.