Master’s Smile

C128 – Alchemist’s Relic

“Hou…? An uproar in the kingdom, hmm…?”

In a certain dark room, a man was receiving a report.

The content of the report he was listening to was a commotion having started in the royal capital of Evans Kingdom.

Furthermore, it was quite a huge fuss as monsters were roaming around their royal capital.

“And? Anything that would become a problem for me?”

For the man, Evans Kingdom was very far away, both in terms of distance and interest.

Although they once had a “meal” together, it was instead his subordinates who participated in it as he himself never went.

Normally, he would not be interested in listening to the report in itself, but now that he had something to do with the kingdom not too long ago, he asked the informant to continue.

“Yes, there was a little problem….”

“What…?”

The man’s eyes became sharp.

Additionally, his body overflowed with bloodlust and pressure which was aimed at the informant.

Despite the overwhelming pressure that would make even adventurers sit up and take notice, the informant showed no reaction whatsoever.

Was it because the informant was quite a strong person?

No, that wasn’t it. The informant had blank and unchanging expressions with vacant eyes.

The informant could not even feel fear.

“…I guess there’s no point in targeting you, huh? So? What’s the drawback for me?”

“It’s about Wissen.”

“Aaah, him.”

The man nodded as if he understood.

Well, if it was about Wissen, it might be disadvantageous for the man.

He did not care if Evans Kingdom was destroyed.

He would just monopolize someone from another nation and have a “meal” with them.

“I had indeed formally requested him to make “that thing” before.”

The man recalled Wissen, who was a skinny man in a white coat.

He laughed eerily, which made the man quickly shake his head off due to how irritating it sounded.

“Wissen died in all that fuss.”

“…Hah?”

The man left his mouth agape from hearing the informant’s words.

His good looks, which seemed to be able to charm every woman he sees, was damaged a bit.

That alchemist, who looked like he would not die even if he was killed, was now dead.

(EDN: People die when they are killed.) (TN: Wise words from our editor here.)

It was no wonder that the man would be stunned.

“S-So, you’re telling me that “that thing” is also completely gone…?”

The man asked the informant in shock.

That was a given. Without “that thing” he had requested Wissen to make, he would not be able to achieve what he had been planning.

It was as if he had already lost the battle before he even started.

But the man’s expectation turned out to be a blessing in disguise for him.

“No, “that thing” had already been completed, and I brought it here before the laboratory was destroyed.”

“Oooh!! Well done!!”

He sent his words of gratitude, which he rarely did, and snatched the box from the informant.

The man was overjoyed.

When he opened the box, he found a sword inside.

It did not look like an ordinary sword, it was rather twisted in an ominous way, as if it was showing the maker’s character.

And there was something oozing from it that would make even the man, who had considerable skill, afraid.

“Oh…, he really completed it. I have to commend his skills when it comes to alchemy, even though his character was flawed.”

The man fearfully took the sword in his hand and praised the dead Wissen.

He, too, was probably rejoicing while laughing eerily in hell.

“Good, now my plan has taken another step forward.”

Without the sword, which he had Wissen made for him, his plan would have fallen apart.

The man had also helped Wissen many times with his research goal, that being the demonic power.

If he was told that the sword had not yet been completed, the man would have brought Wissen back and killed him even if he was already dead.

Of course, the man did not have that kind of power.

It was only because the sword was that important and vital to his plan.

“The “Assembly of the True Ancestors” is only a few days away. I have to make sure my plan is complete by then.”

The man muttered to himself.

If his plan was exposed, he would most likely do something outrageous that might lead him to his demise.

If that was the case, it should be a big mistake to mutter it here in the presence of the informant.

Was it because he trusted the informant?

No, that wasn’t it. It was because he knew that the informant was incapable of doing anything against his will.

A puppet could not disobey his master.

“There’s one additional report….”

“Ah? What is it?”

The man replied to the informant in a good mood.

Normally, he would not listen to any of it, but now that he had the sword he wanted, he was feeling jubilant.

Hence, he decided to listen to the informant’s words.

“The mastermind of the unrest was Wissen, but I don’t think he was the only one.”

“Hou?”

“It seemed as if… there were other large forces at work besides Wissen.”

The informant was unable to articulate it well and frowned.

“Sigh…. Well, that’s probably just your imagination.”

The man did not take it seriously.

The report also said that the prince of the kingdom had been instigated to participate in the chaos that Wissen had planned.

If that was the case, it was only natural that the uproar would grow louder.

“Possibly the demon king’s army, huh….”

The man thought that the demon king would probably be the only one who would do something that would overthrow the kingdom from the ground up.

His race was also supposed to be more or less under the control of the demon king, but due to the power of his race, they had been able to avoid complete domination.

“Okay, that’s all well and good. Enough with the report.”

“Understood.”

The woman, who was the informant, backed down after his words.

What he, her master, said was absolute.

Even if it was an error in judgement, she would not admonish him.

“Fuuh…. I’m thirsty from all the excitement. Oi, give me your neck.”

“Yes.”

The informant obediently obeyed the man’s words and exposed her neck.

The man then pierced his sharp fangs into her.

The informant’s face did not contort in pain, but rather, became somewhat intoxicated.

The man…, one of the true ancestors of vampires, grinned and chuckled at the thought of his future plans.