Chapter 12
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Clinical Trial
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Clinical Trial
Not just the resting knights, but every knight in the training grounds followed my every move. I savored their gazes as I sat down in an empty spot near the middle.
"Everyone is looking at you, Grand Prince."
"It seems so."
Creator's Eye is activating.
Favorability: -90 (Disgust)
Favorability: -92 (Urge to Kill)
Favorability: -91 (Urge to Harm)
Favorability: -87 (Disgust)
Unlike the servants, the knights' favorability hadn't changed at all. Most, no, all of the knights here despised me.
Even if Yuren was a complete scoundrel, he couldn't have provoked every single one of these knights. It was strange that they all hated me.
"Arin."
"Yes."
"It seems like every knight here hates me, doesn't it?"
"Wouldn't you know the reason better than anyone, Grand Prince?"
"I know, I know. But he couldn't have messed with every single one of them."
"That is true."
Arin gently closed her eyes, then opened them.
"Knights have a strong sense of camaraderie. If a comrade is wronged, they will seek revenge even at the cost of their own lives. 'Fidelity' is a word that exists for knights."
I immediately understood what Arin was trying to say.
"Because of the knights who suffered at your hands, the others have come to hate you as well. Furthermore, to the knights, a Grand Prince who torments people with his inherited status, without any ability or effort of his own, is the lowest form of human trash they'd rather not deal with."
"Ugh..."
It wasn't my doing, but hearing those words made my chest feel heavy, as if a stone were sitting on it.
I wondered when the shadow of the scoundrel Yuren would finally disappear.
"Well, that's all in the past. The Grand Prince of today is a completely different person. I believe others will gradually come to realize that."
Unlike usual, Arin's voice held a hint of concern and consideration.
"I hope so."
I'm only human. I won't last long if all I receive are hateful glares and malice.
"But are you not going to train?"
"You told me to think about learning swordsmanship. So I came to watch how the knights train."
"Ah! I see. A wise decision."
Pleased that I had taken an interest in knighthood, Arin nodded.
I felt a bit sorry, but I had no intention of becoming a knight. I was here today to test a few of my abilities.
I looked around the training grounds. The knights seemed to be watching me even as they went about their own training.
They're not approaching, though.
Perhaps because I was nearby, the knights weren't chatting like before. They didn't approach me, simply training while keeping a wary eye on me.
They were probably on edge, wondering when I might start trouble.
"That is the basic form."
"The basic form?"
Arin pointed to a knight in the corner, practicing his swings in the air.
"Yes. It is the fundamental swordsmanship of the Lox House. He appears to be a trainee knight."
"A trainee knight, huh."
Come to think of it, that bastard Yuren supposedly picked on the trainee knights because the full-fledged ones were too difficult to handle. He was truly a man who preyed on the weak and cowered before the strong.
"He has learned the fundamentals well. His form, the path of his sword, is nearly perfect. He seems better than most knights, aside from his excessive force."
At Arin's words, I watched the trainee knight practicing the basic sword forms. As I focused, his movements seemed to slow down, like in slow motion.
This slow-motion effect must be another power of my internal energy.
"That man will become a knight soon."
"You think so?"
"Yes. His skills are more than sufficient."
Hearing Arin's praise, I decided to take a look at him.
Creator's Eye is activating.
Name: Klyde
Traits: Berserker, Superhuman Strength lv1
Favorability: -30 (Dislike)
"Gah!"
I thought my eyes were deceiving me and rubbed them again and again. But my eyes weren't mistaken.
The trait Berserker was still clearly visible.
I had no idea why he was here.
Klyde. That guy is an important character from my novel. I never established his background before he met the protagonist, so to find him in a place like this was truly fascinating.
"Hmm..."
I wanted to talk to Klyde right away, but he already disliked me. Approaching him rashly would only make him more guarded, so I held back for now.
Besides, I hadn't come here to meet him today. Now that I knew he was with the Lox House, I figured I'd have a chance before he left.
Right then, shall I start with the one who called me a lump of flesh?
I had already memorized who he was. A bulky man, who looked to be about 190 cm tall, was warming up near the middle, glancing around warily.
Camilo
Traits: Aura Detection lv1, Endurance lv1
Favorability: -87 (Disgust)
Two traits. Not bad talent. And with Endurance, he was the perfect subject for my experiment.
I set the targeting arrow of the Prolonging Poison on Camilo, and I could feel the internal energy leave my dantian and head toward him. Camilo, seemingly oblivious, continued to swing his sword.
I counted silently. Knowing how long it took for the poison to activate after use was crucial information for this experiment.
1, 2, 3... When I reached 60 seconds, Camilo's calm expression began to change. He clutched his stomach, his face contorting as if he were trying to hold back a massive bowel movement.
"Hey, Camilo, what's wrong? Gotta take a shit? Haha."
"Ah, it's nothing."
"Nothing? Just go and get it over with."
Another knight approached Camilo, who was still clutching his stomach.
"Hey, holding it in will give you constipation."
"It's not that! Keuk..."
Prolonging Poison spreads to other organs over time, increasing the pain. Whether it was due to his Endurance trait or his pride as a knight, Camilo was holding on, but he wouldn't last much longer.
Camilo's tolerance was quite impressive; 10 minutes had passed, yet he was enduring it as if nothing was wrong.
"Keeeuk!"
"Hey, Camilo. What's wrong?"
"Camilo?"
"Hey!"
About 15 minutes after the poison took effect, Camilo could no longer bear it and collapsed to the ground. His face was flushed as he clawed at his stomach until it bled.
"Kraaaah!"
"Hey!"
"What's happening to him!"
"My stomach hurt, but now my whole body... Aaaargh! Shit!"
"Get his armor off!"
It takes about 20 minutes to incapacitate a low-ranking knight, it seems.
Snap!
With a snap of my fingers, I detoxified the Prolonging Poison affecting Camilo.
"Let's carry him to the priest!"
"I'll carry him!"
Just as the knights were about to lift Camilo and run, he suddenly shoved away the knight who was carrying him.
"What thewhat's wrong?"
"W-wait, the pain is gone."
"What?"
"What are you talking about!"
"You little bastard, playing a prank like that!"
"It's not a prank!"
Camilo touched his body all over, as if in disbelief.
"You scared the hell out of us!"
"That's not a funny joke, Camilo."
Thwack!
"Keuk! I told you it wasn't a joke!"
Thinking Camilo had been playing a prank, a knight next to him smacked the back of his head.
"I told you to go to the bathroom when you needed to."
"It wasn't that! It really hurt!"
But the knights still didn't believe him, lightly punching him and laughing.
I felt a little bad, but this seemed like the perfect opportunity.
About ten knights were gathered in the center of the training grounds. What's more, they had all rushed over to Camilo without their weapons, making it the ideal situation for my next experiment.
Soul-Killing Mist was a poison that targeted a specific area. I designated the spot where the knights were gathered and activated it.
As internal energy flowed out of my dantian, a thin mist formed where the knights were gathered. It wasn't a smoke bomb that completely obscured vision, but a mist that still allowed enough visibility to distinguish people.
"What is this!"
"I don't know!"
"I've got a bad feeling about this. Let's get out."
"Camilo, are you okay? Can you move?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Even in their confusion, the knights didn't abandon Camilo, trying to help him out of the mist.
"W-What the!"
"Who are you!"
"Aaargh! Spiders! Spiders!"
"Damn it, why is there a Black Axe here!"
"You sons of bitches!"
About 30 seconds after the mist appeared, the knights who had inhaled it started hallucinating, cursing at their comrades and throwing punches.
"You monsters!"
"I'll kill you!"
"Die!"
Fortunately, the knights started brawling with their bare hands instead of looking for their weapons.
"W-What's going on! All of you!"
"You can't do this!"
"Everyone, stop!"
Higher-ranking knights tried to stop them, but to those already poisoned by the Soul-Killing Mist, everyone looked like a monster.
"Uwaaah!"
"Blinders! Kill the Blinders!"
"W-What is this!"
The knights who approached to intervene also became poisoned by the mist, and utter chaos erupted. If they'd had their weapons, several would have died already.
Seeing more knights about to enter the fray, I dispelled the Soul-Killing Mist first.
The duration of Soul-Killing Mist varies from person to person, but on average, it seems to last about an hour.
My eyes could see who was poisoned and for how long, so I detoxified everyone who had been affected by the Soul-Killing Mist.
"W-What in the world just happened?"
"I saw you as a Blinder."
"And you were a Black Arc."
"What was that mist?"
They were still disoriented and confused by the effects of the Soul-Killing Mist.
"I don't know what happened, but that was dangerous."
"It was. What in the world was that?"
Arin didn't answer my question, merely staring at me.
Did she figure it out? No, honestly, unless she was a fool, there's no way she wouldn't know I did something.
I've been acting suspiciously in many ways lately, so I'd have to pick a day to explain things properly to Arin.
"Isn't this the Grand Prince's doing?"
"The Grand Prince? With what ability could he pull off a stunt like this?"
"Otherwise, how could something like this happen so suddenly? His sudden visit is suspicious too."
The knights who had come to their senses were now openly casting suspicious glances my way.
"I doubt it."
"What?"
"I was watching him from the side since he arrived, and he didn't sprinkle anything or do anything of the sort. He was just watching and talking with the butler next to him."
"I was nearby too, and it just looked like he came to watch."
The knights who had been sitting behind and beside me, watching warily, were thankfully taking my side.
"Hmm..."
"True, there's no way that guy has such an ability."
"Then who the hell pulled a stunt like this?"
"Let's report this first. Their injuries aren't severe, but they should probably get treated."
"Right."
A few of them left the training grounds with the injured, and the highest-ranking knight moved to report to the Marquis.
"This isn't a good place to train. Arin, let's go where we were headed."
"Yes. That seems for the best."
I had found out everything I needed to from my clinical trial, and I'd detoxified all the knights, so there was no reason to stay here any longer.
Leaving the still-chattering knights behind, I left the Third Training Grounds and headed for the Fourth.
As expected, the Fourth Training Grounds were empty. The moment I arrived, I started practicing my body technique and throwing hidden weapons.
"My internal energy has increased tremendously. At this rate, I could throw hidden weapons and practice my body technique all day without getting tired."
Just as I was sweating and enjoying my training, someone came running into the Fourth Training Grounds.
Hey, isn't that...
It wasn't a knight who had come to train, but the female servant who always stood like a doll on the first floor of the mansion.
"Why is she here?"
"Mita's presence means there is a visitor."
"A visitor?"
Mita spotted me and immediately ran in my direction.
"Pant, pant! Grand Prince."
"Calm down first."
"Gasp, yes."
"Take your time and catch your breath."
"Ah! I-I'm sorry! I forgot to greet you."
Realizing she hadn't bowed, she bent her waist 90 degrees and trembled.
Even though her favorability had risen, she was still afraid of me.
"It's fine. Just tell me what's going on."
My calm voice seemed to soothe her, and she slowly opened her mouth to speak.
"Lady Ilia has come to visit."
The fiancée who knew how to use her fists, the one who beat up Yuren before I possessed him, had arrived.