Chapter 19.1

It was more dangerous than we thought.」

The next morning. Layotte had said this after making sure that Hiroshi had recovered (more mentally than physically).

「Dangerous? She was that bad?」

「Without your ridiculous resiliency, the fight would have been over as soon as she took a hold of you from behind. If Haruna was in your place, she would have been killed, eight of out of ten. If it was Ernest in your place, it would have been really dangerous when his defensive move expired. 」

Hiroshi cinched his face upon hearing this. Who could blame him for being a little startled after knowing that the ice he was walking was much thinner than he thought?

「What you fought against was an assassin, not intended for rehiring either way, specialized in night-time infiltration and human combat. They’re called Killing Dolls. A particular drug is used to grind out most of their senses, emotions, and personality. They are made to have no cognitive or decision-making capabilities other than completing their mission. Dolls indeed.」

「Is that why she was moanin’ all sorts of…」

Just recalling the scene sent shivers down Hiroshi’s spine. That alone nearly caused him to hurl out the contents of his stomach, but he persevered.

「The drug was the problem. One of your traps last night was the mist of all-purpose potion to neutralize any poison, right?」

「Yeah.」

「The all-purpose potion neutralized the drug, causing a sort of withdrawal symptom. Which was…」

「What? Increased libido or somethin’?」

「Close, but not quite. All senses were enhanced, and pleasure reception amplified. They seemed to have cut corners by using cheap drugs, since they are meant to be disposable. Once the withdrawal hits, they can’t control themselves whatsoever.」

Hiroshi didn’t know how to respond to this info, that was honestly too much, especially considering his phobia. Hiroshi felt like he would puke up blood if he heard any more of this. Was he living in a hentai game, now?

If any other man was in Hiroshi’s place, that scene would have turned out X-rated, for sure.

「So, what happened to miss assassin?」

「She flipped. Helped in raiding the Assassins’ Guild, in fact. Since her brainwashing was undone from last night’s shocking experience, coupled with the fact that she had a weak sense of self to begin with, it was very easy to flip her onto our side.」

「Y’all think that’s safe…?」

「She came right back, and went back into her cell without a fight. I don’t foresee a problem.」

Hiroshi couldn’t help but gaze at the distance, holding back the urge to scream. What was with the utter sloppiness? With assassins, nonetheless.

「The drug constantly administered to that assassin is called Alparanon. Quite unique. They’re the only ones who know how to make it. That being said, apparently the ingredients and recipe aren’t the hard part, just need a little knack to get it done. Even so, most spells and potions have no effect on it. For all they knew, the only way to neutralize the effects were to wait for the drug to wear off. Our potion maker, court magician, and even the Head Priest had the same conclusion, in fact. Which class was the all-purpose potion you used?」

「Class-4.」

Layotte couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

「I can’t say I’m disappointed. You always find a way to blow people’s minds sideways, don’t you?」

「Hang on, ya don’t even need ingredients that rare for a class-4 multi-purpose. It won’t be a 100% success rate, but Mio can make it, too.」

「Do you understand that even Mio is a better potion maker than the one we have?」

「For real?」

「Yes. So even if we had the ingredients, making a class-4 multi-purpose potion would not be easy. Our court potion maker fails making even class-5 potions a significant portion of the time, and we’re lucky if he can yield one class-4 potion out of ten tries.」

According to Hiroshi’s estimation, the potion makers in this country had the skills equivalent to a player halfway through Intermediate. So, he nodded to Layotte’s explanation that backed up his theory. In fact, Hiroshi had not seen anyone with Intermediate (equivalent) skills in this world until he met Layotte and the other members from the castle. He assumed that even having Intermediate skills meant placing in the top tier of that profession.

Actually, the nation of academia, Lorren, was about the only country that could produce class 4 potions. All-purposes potions were especially difficult to produce, and only a handful of vials of class-4 all-purpose potions were exported from Lorren each year. Naturally, no would expect such a substance to be used against an assassin.

The effects of Alparanon would normally last about two weeks, and potions of class-5 and lower (even multi-purpose potions) could not detox the subject. Under ordinary circumstances, it would have been impossible for an assassin to be detoxed and recruited, if the drug was administered shortly before the assassin were to be sent out on a mission.

Like Alparanon, many poisons and specialized drugs only required a Novice skillset to craft, but disproportionately high-level spells or potions to neutralize. Of course, Emilrad was one of them.

「Come to think of it, if y’all can whip up class-4, y’all wouldn’t be freakin’ out ’bout Venomous Wolves.」

「Very true. So even assassins would never think to prepare against any potions above class-5. Normally the pawn on the mission doesn’t have much information to offer, and no one would use a high-level all-purpose potion just to crack a pawn. Of course, you were using it in self-defense.」

Which didn’t make the situation any less abnormal. Not to mention that, although there may be some out there that might take the potion beforehand to prevent attacks, no one would think of filling the room with it to prevent the enemy’s suicide.

Because in that case, the potion would have to be above a certain level, which were inaccessible to most, and too expensive to use like that to the 99% of those who could attain it.

「Still, aren’t they just a little too careless ’bout it all?」

「I agree. It looks like they had been pulling this off for so long, that they felt utterly complacent. Even the leader (albeit of only few years) seemed to suffer from over-confidence, perhaps conjured by his own skills in assassination. Didn’t seem like the type to lead an organization to begin with.」

「Yikes. Folks in the shadows can’t afford to lose that sense of danger.」

「You’re absolutely right. In any case, thanks to you guys, we have a nice surprise on our hands. They didn’t seem to expect that their selfless doll would come back to bite them. It was almost disappointing how easy the arrest was.」

「Won’t they make a run for it?」

「With all their fingers cut off, actively being healed here to keep them alive? I doubt it. Of course, we force-fed them the potion you gave us to prevent suicide. Although we already have their secret books, client lists, and order forms. Any testimony by the higher-ups would only serve as a little confirmation.」

Layotte said, slipping in some gruesome details with nonchalance. The Prince had some dark tricks up his sleeve.

「So. What’s gonna happen to that assassin?」

「Currently, she’s under our protection. She’s still lost in lust, so it isn’t hard to control her. She still hasn’t regained much of her cognizance, so she’ll do as we say. To be honest, there’s no reason for us to rush to execute her.」

「…Sleep with one eye open. That’s all I’m sayin’…」

「I would say the same to you, actually…」

Hearing Layotte mumble this under his breath, Hiroshi guessed how Layotte was keeping the assassin under their thumb, and shuddered. Assuming that Hiroshi imagined correctly, he was further astounded by the Prince’s ruthlessness. It was bordering on ungrateful.

「Right. I wanted to ask if I could get something to eat, soon.」

「…Changin’ the subject again? What’s up?」

「Pretty soon I’ll have to start being ready at a moment’s notice. Who knows when my next meal would be.」

「Things lookin’ tense?」

「Some cornered rats are about to get desperate. We haven’t gone through everything, but now that we have irrefutable evidence, their only option left is to revolt. Prepare yourselves for that.」

Hiroshi crunched his face in response. He wanted to shout to the heavens, to “keep civilians out of this mess!”

「Can a revolt pop up that easily?」

「Depends on what Barold does. He could immediately call ten thousand to the scene with a Summoning spell. That being said, the maximum they could pull would be about three thousand on the spot, five thousand if they were ready for this, and even if they go crazy to make this happen, the most we expect his eight thousand.」

「As if that ain’t a scary number, already.」

「Scary? Even if he summons them all inside the castle, it wouldn’t be a problem. Don’t underestimate Farlane’s national defenses.」

Layotte declared with confidence, leaving Hiroshi with a pinch of doubt. Looking at the structure of the castle, an army of five thousand or so (without even the element of surprise) would be nothing to worry about. But what about an army of twenty or thirty thousand?

「Hey, Lay.」

「What is it?」

「How many people they got, total? Without time constraints.」

「Roano has the largest force at twenty-five thousand. The second biggest would be about five thousand (at the cost of bankruptcy) so less than seventy thousand total. The thing is, most of them would be farmers with minimal training. Farmers are busy now that harvest season is coming to an end, so they couldn’t force many of them to show up. This is the same for any Lord or Lady. That leaves them with mercenaries, but the amount of coin is there limit. And actually, while Farlane is rich in adventurers, we actually don’t have many mercenaries.」

Layotte disclosed the figures from the back of his mind, not mentioning that Hiroshi may be acting a little paranoid.

「If they hired as many mercenaries as they can?」

「We only have a total of about a thousand mercenaries in the country, tops. That would be about the ceiling of their finances, too.」

「Alrighty. And if all of them waltzed into the castle… What are ya gonna do?」

「We won’t have a problem. Fifty-five to sixty thousand of the seventy thousand in that army would be farmers. A spell from the Temple would neutralize all of them. Only about a tenth of them would even stand a chance against a knight. And we have at least eight thousand knights that remain in the castle at all times.」

「That many, huh…?」

Hiroshi was taken aback by the large number, but come to think of it, the population of Wulls (just on the record) exceeded a million. Even if 3% of the population were full-time soldiers, that would mean that thirty thousand people were full-time fighters. A third of that number dedicated to the castle (the center of political power) didn’t seem out of the question.

「Still, it doesn’t hurt to put all of our ducks in a row. If you can eat, eat quick and come to my office.」

「Alrighty. It does look like we got some plannin’ to do.」

Acknowledging that both sides of the battle possessed a trump card to turn the tables, it didn’t hurt to perform preparations expecting those cards to be used. The cards were Hiroshi and Haruna against the existence of the Dark God Templar.

「So, where can we eat?」

「It’s already prepared. Eat as much as you can, quickly.」

「Ya got it.」

As soon Layotte said so, the servant (who had been waiting outside) brought in meals almost too extravagant for lunch. The final battle was approaching.