Chapter 75 : Chapter 75

Chapter 75 - Money That Gives You a Stomachache if You Take It

The Forest Witch walked out.

The Ancient Tree Spirit also did not avoid her and walked to face her.

The Ancient Tree Spirit.

A being created from the combined grudges and souls of the Dark Elves.

Though called a spirit and appearing pure at first glance, it was a monster made from the dregs of malice.

Its only thought was destruction.

The pure aggregate of violence did not stop to realize the reason for its creation.

Its arms, covered in bark and overflowing with purple Yin energy, reached high into the sky.

[Damn it. I don’t know how things are turning out.]

The bone marrow Enad hurriedly came down from Kio’s shoulder and headed for Hexa.

Beyond the entrance where the Forest Witch had just walked out.

The Youngest Son could be glimpsed, collapsed as if dead.

[Seeing as I’m still alive, you don’t seem to be dead. But if you faint like that without a Battle for Dominance, I can’t even take over your body.]

Did he calculate this far?

To somehow keep himself alive in case he fainted helplessly?

[That madman.]

While spitting out curses, my body moved as intended.

I laid him straight and placed my palm on his chest.

[…It’s faint, but it’s beating.]

What I had to do now was make this heartbeat stronger.

What was it? What was the best way?

Kwwaaaaaaaang—!!

While I was thinking, the outside of Hexa became noisy.

The ground was overturned by the impact, and debris dirtied the surroundings.

Among the debris were pieces of the main culprit who had made the noise.

[Even with the Curse of the Forest gone, a great witch is still a great witch.]

Through the open gap of Hexa, the shattered and crumbling Ancient Tree Spirit could be seen.

The incarnation of destruction was helplessly destroyed.

And the Forest Witch also collapsed weakly, her knees hitting the ground.

“M-Mother…!”

“Kio….”

The Forest Witch forced a smile, pulling up the corners of her lips.

The Forest Witch, who had died and been resurrected.

The Youngest Son, who had resurrected a dead person.

Neither of them could be said to be in a good state, even as a lie.

“K-Kio. Take me, to the basement….”

“Yes, yes!”

The son supported his mother and went down to the basement of Hexa.

In the meantime, the Youngest Son had to find a way for himself.

A state of prolonged exposure to excessive Yin energy.

Weakened soul endurance due to excessive use of magic and curses.

[If left like this, it wouldn’t be difficult to fall into a coma.]

I said it in a flat voice, but it was an emergency.

[You would have left something behind in preparation for a time like this.]

The bone marrow once again returned to the Youngest Son’s body.

Enad also moved his consciousness into the body and rummaged through the spatial artifact, memories, and everything else.

It was of course impossible to search through his entire life.

But I could at least know what he had been thinking about recently.

The most recent thought of the Youngest Son.

A way to move around normally after the work was done.

[…Ah. Right. I understand.]

Enad moved according to that thought.

I focused magic power on the spatial artifact.

Jjeo-eok—

A toad appeared, jumping out from inside with a ‘boing’.

It was the earth dragon.

[To use this ugly thing like this….]

The furniture that had been moved to the outer wall of Hexa went into the earth dragon’s mouth.

It extended its long tongue and ate them all.

As it chewed them with its saliva.

Steam occasionally rose from its open mouth.

[It seems like he's just waking up because it's hot. Well, it’s not my body.]

At this moment, it was someone else's body.

I poured without hesitation.

Jureureuk—

Thick mud poured over the body.

Chiiik—

A heat that turned the skin red.

Even though it had various things in its mouth, the reddish-brown mud was as soft as cream.

Even the smell was sweet.

Even though it didn't look like it had a face that would produce something sweet.

[Did you prepare this because using the Path of the Beast more could really kill you? It’s a good method for something improvised.]

“Of c-course. Naturally….”

[…What. Are you awake?]

“Just opened my eyes.”

I still needed to warm my body more.

The mud, rich with the life force of nature.

It was a bit hot at first, but once I got used to it, it was as cozy as a blanket.

[You broke the curse faster than I thought. Was that also with the help of that ugly toad?]

“It’s an earth dragon. And yes, I did receive its help.”

Lying down, a system window intervened in my view of the ceiling.

──「Earth Dragon」──

[Description]

: The scavenger of the forest, rarely found deep within. It swallows anything and spits it back out, distributing nutrients evenly throughout the forest.

[Unique Skills]

: Mud Bomb

: Soil of Healing

: Slippery Saliva

[Classification]

: Bone Sorcery / Beast Sorcery

──────────

“The undead I have now couldn’t really be used to break the curse. You also only eat curses, you don’t break them.”

[…This toad did something I couldn’t do.]

“Everyone has their strengths. This earth dragon can put anything in its mouth, just like the Chairman of the Physicians’ Council.”

The process was the same, but the result was different.

“The Chairman of the Physicians’ Council makes potions out of what he eats, but the earth dragon only puts things in its mouth, it doesn't swallow.”

So as soon as I saw the earth dragon’s heart, my eyes lit up.

With this, the middle and end of the curse-breaking would become much safer.

“I fed the curse to the earth dragon little by little. It reduced the burden of the Yin energy coming to me. That’s why I woke up so quickly like this.”

[Then the amount of Yin energy. Even after doing that, did enough Yin energy gather to be used for resurrection?]

“I increased the work speed instead.”

Reduce the burden on the body but increase the speed.

“That way, the subject of pain shifts from the mind to the body. The former is not okay, but the latter is fine after being sick for a few days.”

[Heh….]

Only a hollow laugh came out.

To find an earth dragon among the hearts the hunters sent indiscriminately.

And even in the process of curse-breaking, where the received hearts had to be consumed quickly.

This madman used a heart to turn the earth dragon into an undead.

He grasped its use in a short time, calculated, and foresaw this far.

[…You really are tough to kill.]

“I told you so. Normally, the resurrected Forest Witch would have had to save me, but the situation has gotten much better.”

Sreureuk—

I pushed away the mud.

The reddish-brown mud hardened slightly and became squishy like slime.

It fell off cleanly without sticking to my clothes or skin.

[Can you get up.]

“Are you worried about me?”

[Just die.]

I smiled faintly.

Adding even that faint strength, I placed my hands on the floor, my knees, and stood up.

Soon after, the mother and son came out of the basement.

The Forest Witch, with a much more comfortable expression, looked at the Youngest Son without a word.

Her cyan eyes held many things.

Not all, but most of them could be read.

“Say your thanks after we leave the forest. Worried about the reward? You can put that down. It’s something I can give you plenty of.”

“…If that’s the case.”

The Forest Witch had been worried.

That her son would be taken hostage during a moment of weakness and be bound to another forest.

But I had no such thoughts.

“I will provide you, the Forest Witch, with a new forest, but you can leave this forest whenever you want.”

“It doesn’t matter. If my family is in that forest. Right, Young Master?”

“Of course.”

The three of them came out of Hexa.

Outside, the hunters had just returned.

The two of them smiled only after seeing the three standing there perfectly fine.

“Dante! You’re safe!”

“That’s a relief. I came running as soon as I heard a big commotion.”

“Is the work finished safely too?”

The Youngest Son nodded.

Now I could say it.

Not just to Cailin.

But to the whole family, each bound to their own forest.

I declared to them.

“Let’s get out. Of this forest.”

***

Magitech Domain Eclipse.

The base camp built nearby for its construction.

Representatives from all sorts of organizations gathered there.

It wasn't a blockade like last time.

“This is from the head of the Belluon Merchant Troupe. He asked me to deliver it to the Fifth Son.”

“This is from Baron Pigumali. I would be grateful if you could deliver it to the Fifth Son.”

“I was sent by Anthia, a collateral blood relative of Millesdusk. Please deliver this.”

Merchants. Nobles. Blood relatives.

Regardless of field or status, anyone with some money in the East sent a representative.

There were two reasons.

The first was the Fourth Son’s investment.

The second was the investment from the family Treasury.

Indeed, such definite big shots had decided to invest that you'd be a fool not to believe it.

And with a jaw-dropping amount of money at that.

They each threw in an amount close to or exceeding the annual budget of their respective domains.

So the rumors went.

Of course, they were rumors, but the fact of the investment was a clear truth.

Because no one would dare to impersonate the family Treasury and the Fourth Son.

“So many came today as well.”

Two days after receiving the investment confirmation from the General Manager of the Treasury.

From the next day on, the shrewd ones who smelled money sent the same confirmation letters.

Just piling those up made a heap.

Josephine’s mouth fell open without her realizing as she checked the amounts.

“W-with this much money, I can build most of what I designed, without having to leave anything out.”

“Eating too much of a good thing can give you a stomachache.”

Jubel Maxman, the expert on financial matters.

The great merchant had flown to the base camp in a flash at the appearance of other investors.

Dozens of promissory notes were spread out on the desk.

The amounts were all different, but they were all huge sums.

They would become money as soon as the Youngest Son’s seal was stamped on them and they were sent back.

“Financial power is political power. This is even more so for this kind of investment. This money is like a certificate that asserts one’s rights within Eclipse.”

Marvin, who was next to him, added.

“Those rights are stakes, and within those stakes, the investor will try to achieve their desired objective.”

“Desired objective…?”

“It could be to realize a profit on the money they invested. Or it could be to harm the Young Master.”

“Ah….”

Jubel clasped his hands behind his back as he looked at the seals stamped on the promissory notes.

“It is a judgment the Young Master must make, but there is definitely a trap among these, and the biggest trap among them is most certainly this.”

He picked up the most ornate paper.

Yet, he held only the very edge with his pincer-like fingers, as if picking up something disgusting.

It was the one stamped with the Fourth Son’s seal.

“Even a blind man can see this is a trap.”

Everyone in the camp agreed.

“And the Mystics family is even involved in this.”

“They really have no shame.”

Josephine crossed her arms with a pouty face.

“Millesdusk gives too much authority to its blood relatives. Sometimes it seems like there are no laws.”

“Compared to Wisdom, which is said to have created a great library with just its family law, it is indeed loose.”

Jubel chuckled, rolling a copper coin.

The difference between magic and sorcery.

Both handled magic power, but Wisdom controlled it with rules.

But sorcery, on the contrary, liberated it to contain the primal will of humans.

A different perspective on life created a different power and a different family.

In the world Millesdusk created, Millesdusk was the freest.

It was just that to those who were not free, such freedom seemed unfair.

“Only a direct blood relative can attack another direct blood relative. The Fifth Son might even know a way to use this.”

The judgment was not theirs to make.

So they did what they could now.

“If we only count the money borrowed from the Treasury, how much can we build?”

“Yes, yes. With just that money, we can build two big things, or one big thing and five small things.”

“Have you read the proposal I sent you last time?”

“Of course. You’re talking about the White Tower building, right? I wrote down some things that came to mind after seeing it, would you like to take a look?”

“With pleasure.”

Jubel received Josephine’s idea notebook.

This notebook contained the starting points for everything from the machine-gun wall to other magitech-style buildings.

And furthermore, another beginning.

“This is….”

It was stirring within this palm-sized piece of paper.

“I tried to imitate Wisdom’s Magic Tower. So that not only councilors but a more diverse range of professions can use it.”

“For example.”

“For example, people like me. It’s embarrassing, but I also… want to nurture magitech engineers.”

Magic Tower.

The symbol of Wisdom and the dream of pure mages.

The girl, who had once harbored the same dream as others, was now building her own tower in a foreign land.

With a touch of magitech added to it.

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