The Great Chieftain's Poison
"Ruche. Bow and arrows."
"Yes, Your Grace."
I took the bow and arrows Ruche had prepared for me and walked toward Filgote.
"So. What exactly is this trial I'm supposed to take?"
"Drink this first."
In Filgote's hand, a cup of shimmering blue liquid sloshed gently from side to side.
"And this is?"
"The venom of the serpent that once followed a snow-fiend the Great Chieftain hunted alongside the orcs a hundred years ago."
"Venom?"
"They say the Great Chieftain was struck by this poison and still shattered the totem the vile serpent guarded."
Someone who led the allied forces a hundred years ago…
The first Holy Knight, Roland, then.
Believing it a trial sent down by the gods, he advanced one step at a time on sheer force of will until he finally broke the totem.
Yeah, right. He just purified the poison with holy healing arts.
"Hmph. Stop this, Filgote. Even orc warriors built like mountains lose control of their bodies the moment they drink it. If a frail human like him swallows it, his very soul will crumble!"
"…It is exactly as they say. Without a will as iron as the Great Chieftain's a century ago, this trial cannot be passed. Even if that bow of yours is a weapon for striking from afar, it will not save you. The poison will seize your heart so tightly it will not even grant you the time to aim."
"Then why force the trial on me at all?"
"Had you been some worthless human, I would have stopped you. But the will in those eyes."
Will?
"I saw a fierce attachment to life."
Ah. Right. If the North falls, I go straight to prison — end of the road. So I have to stop it.
"That obsession intrigued me, so I brought you here. Wouldn't you agree, Gartan?"
"Yes. That's right."
There was faith in Gartan's eyes when he looked at me. As if three days of camping had been enough for him to see straight through my heart.
…I am never putting this guy on anything related to business or people.
"So. What will you do?"
"One question first."
"Speak."
"Is there an antidote for this poison?"
"Drink fresh water and the symptoms will ease. Do not worry."
"Then that's all I need."
I lifted the cup from Filgote's hand.
"Your Grace…"
Ruche watched me with worried eyes. I offered her a small smile.
"Don't worry. It'll be over soon."
I downed the poison in one go.
"God, that is disgustingly bitter."
The venom slid down my throat and began racing through my veins. My heart hammered like mad. My vision blurred. My hands started shaking uncontrollably.
"Huh?"
Somehow, the sensation was familiar. Something I'd run into more than once during my past life's overtime stretches — the kind of thing every Korean office worker experiences at least once.
That time the damn section chief botched everything and I slammed three cans of Hot6 with three espresso shots just to survive the night.
Poison, my ass. This was textbook caffeine overdose — the hand tremors, the pounding heart, the blurred vision.
"Hahaha! Look at him. Just like the warriors, he feels the fear of what is happening inside his own body."
"It brings back the day I took the trial myself. A poison that makes the heart thrash like a furious boar and sickens the soul with groundless dread…"
Buddy, that is just the standard side effect of mainlining caffeine on a Korean commute.
So that's why fresh water eases the symptoms.
Drink water, pee it out. Got it.
Those snow-fiend bastards — after conquering the continent, were they planning to force the whole world into overtime with this stuff?
Once I knew what it was, the whole thing felt absurdly anticlimactic. Or rather—
"My focus is actually getting sharper."
Caffeine after so long pulled my concentration up to a level I hadn't felt since transmigrating into this world.
"What?"
"Impossible."
"Hah."
The orc chieftains stared at me as if they could not believe their eyes.
…Ahh, this is the best. When you need focus, nothing beats caffeine.
I was absolutely packing some of this poison to take home later.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The caffeine hammered my heart, driving blood up into my brain and jolting it awake. Every sense sharpened to a razor's edge.
Screeech!
Around me the orcs were making a racket, but the world had never felt so quiet. The target stood far away, perfectly still. My whole body locked onto the totem and held.
I steadied the shake and drew a breath.
The trembling in my limbs vanished. For a split second it felt as if the world itself had become a vacuum. I released the string.
Twang!!
The arrow rode the wind like a flash of light and punched straight through the totem. The distance the first Holy Knight had once staggered across a hundred years ago under a caffeine overdose — the arrow covered it in less than a second.
What in the…!
Filgote could not tear his eyes from the scene unfolding before him. A poison that had torn even the finest orc warriors — even himself — apart and sickened their souls, and this human had overcome it the same way the Great Chieftain had a century before.
"W-water! Bring fresh water!!"
There was no time to waste. If they did not neutralize the poison at once, they would lose the greatest man to appear in a hundred years.
"Victor! Drink this, quickly!"
"Hm? Why?"
"What?"
"I'm feeling pretty good right now. Let's see…"
Victor refused the cup Filgote held out and drew the bowstring again.
Ping!
Crack!
"What?"
Filgote and the orcs froze in shock. Victor's second arrow had split the first one still buried in the totem.
"Th-this cannot be."
A poison that drove the heart into a frenzy, set the hands trembling, and tormented the soul — and he was doing that?
"Heh heh heh."
A third arrow left Victor's fingers and split the second one clean down the middle.
"Just how…"
How iron-willed a soul did a man need? How unbreakable a spirit? Gartan's heart began to pound like mad. His eyes had not been wrong.
I… have found a new legend… a new Great Chieftain who will lead the orcs!
"Ah. Thanks."
Still wearing a satisfied smile, Victor finally accepted Filgote's cup and drained the water.
"Ahhhh! So. Is that the end of it?"
The fresh water hit hard.
"Ugh. Sorry about that."
I'd had to visit the latrine more times than I cared to count.
"It is fine. The only way to purge that poison is to drink fresh water and flush it from the body. Perfectly natural."
Yeah, well, that's exactly how you deal with caffeine symptoms too…
"Victor Walterheim. No — Great Chieftain."
Thud!
Filgote, the chieftains, and every orc who followed them dropped to one knee. Hundreds of orcs gathered across the plain were looking straight at me.
"From this day forward, every orc will obey the Great Chieftain's command."
"Sounds good."
"Great Chieftain, give us your orders."
"First… hmm."
I needed land for the orcs to settle. And for an army this size to feed itself, a region thick with wild game and monsters would be ideal.
"For now, we return to the Grand Duchy. Filgote."
"Speak, Great Chieftain."
"I will find land where all the orc tribes can live together and send word. Until then, do not gather in one place. Scatter across the North and wait for my command."
"Understood, Great Chieftain. But how do you mean to contact us? Will you take an orc shaman with you?"
"No. Gartan and his tribe will stay in my domain."
"Ah. Gartan was the one who first brought you to us. Fitting that he should stand at your side."
"And if anyone in the North treats you with disrespect—"
I pulled ten blank sheets and the seal of the Grand Duke of the North from my bag, stamped each page, and handed them to Filgote.
"Show these. They prove that you stand under the protection of Victor Walterheim."
"Understood. We will await your command."
"Gartan."
"Yes, Great Chieftain!"
"Bring your people and follow me."
"Understood!"
Watching the orc tribes disperse, Ruche glanced at me with uneasy eyes.
"Um… Your Grace."
"What is it?"
"Won't the northern nobles object?"
"Let them."
"Pardon?"
"Touch people who carry my seal, and that is treason on the spot."
"Let's go. We've got a lot of work ahead of us."
From the top of the walls, Elysia watched the orcs scatter and the single tribe that trailed after the Grand Duke of the North. She bit down on her nails.
What… what the hell is this?! How is that even possible?! In the novel, even Elysia only passed that trial on her second try after drinking the poison — how did that man clear it in one go?!
Crunch. Crunch. Snap!
A nail cracked. The fragment of nail and flesh that brushed her tongue throbbed. Sharp, stinging pain bloomed through her fingertips.
"Elysia."
"B-Baron?"
Startled by Baron's voice behind her, Elysia quickly hid her hands. Had he seen what she was doing just now?
No. If I look shaken…
"It's all right."
"Baron?"
Contrary to everything she had expected, Baron simply pulled her into his arms.
"It's all right, Elysia. I'm here."
That's right. In the end, the ones who would save the world were the heroine — herself — and Baron's party. She was not so fragile that a single sudden storm would break her.
"You're right. Thank you, Baron."
"When we're alone, just call me Baron."
"…Yes. Baron."
Baron stroked the hair of the girl nestled against his chest and glared at the distant banners of the Grand Duke of the North.
Victor Walterheim… Just wait. In the North and at the Academy both, I will isolate you completely!!
Back at the Grand Duchy, the first thing I did was grant Gartan's tribe a stretch of land beside Walterheim Castle for temporary use.
"There's plenty of monsters to hunt in those mountains. And if you need anything, come into the castle and take it whenever you like."
"Understood."
"Ah, and about those…"
"I brought them, but…"
Gartan kept glancing at the jars being loaded onto the wagons, looking distinctly uneasy.
"Um."
"Hm?"
"That poison… No. The Great Chieftain must have his reasons."
Reasons? I was going to drink it whenever I needed focus or pulled an all-nighter.
Damn. Is it even right to reincarnate into another world and still work on caffeine?
Yes. To get the North back on its feet, I was going to have to work like hell.
"All right. I'm heading in. If anything comes up—"
I pointed at Ruche.
"Find her, or come find me."
"Understood."
After parting with Gartan, we reached Walterheim Manor. Jester and the servants came out to greet us.
"Welcome home, Your Grace."
"Jester, report on everything that happened while I was gone."
"Eh? Right now?"
"…Hmm."
One look at Ruche's thoroughly wrecked expression after three days of camping, and I shook my head with a crooked smile.
"If nothing's urgent, I'd rather rest today."
"Yes. Understood."
Jester's lips curved into a gentle smile.
"Ruche, go rest and come back in the morning."
"Yes!"
"…Tsk."
For the briefest moment Jester's eyes cut toward Ruche like a blade, but—
Family business between father and daughter. No need for me to stick my nose in.
I washed up, collapsed onto the bed, and stared blankly at the ceiling.
"…Family, huh."
Becoming Grand Duke of the North and sprinting full tilt ever since — making a family right now would be pure luxury.
"Haha. Not that any woman would marry a man who might die any day."
There was a time I used to think that way, too.
"…"
"Cecilia Roeyental presents her respects to the Grand Duke of the North."
I never expected the villainess would be the one to show up proposing an engagement…