Vol 16 Chapter 3 (1/2)
ACT 3 Caretaker of the People
“Are you ready?”
“Yes!”
Ronnie laughed and nodded his headArk and Ronnie were headed towards Ciel After crossing the shopping centre, Agathe was pacing in front of the Seirun workshop’s door
“Well, have you finally come?”
“I was a bit late”
“What’s this? Is that an explanation?”
Agathe shouted with a displeased expression
“I told you it was urgent! If we don’t have the ingredients for one day then do you kno e the Seirun workshop will receive? A coine it! daner Anyway, that’s how it isDid you find the items?”
“I found them”
“Then it is lucky Give it to me quickly”
“What if I don’t want to?”
Ark scratched the back of his neck and athe’s face twisted up and he made a ridiculous expression
“What? You don’t want to? What did you say?”
“You heard meI don’t want to”
“What are you doing? Did you break your promise to come back within the time limit because of some unreasonable dislike? Ah, I see daner I was too busy and just e mistake”
“Is it like that?”
Ark snorted and utan and said
“Now give me the box with the Seirun tradener in Bristania, you can’t just run around wildly! If you don’t take it out irab you!”
“Guards… That’s not a bad idea Please do it”
“What, what the?”
Agathe flinched at Ark’s retort and closed his rinned and muttered
“What’s wrong? I thought you were calling the guards”
“Yes What are you thinking……?”
“Why? Do what you want and call theuards are called? It would be difficult if the guard checks the contents of the box…”
“T-that’s impossible!”
“Ah, did I get a bullseye?”
Ark sathe ed
“You, did you open the box?”
“Then?”
“That is an obvious violation of the contract!”
“Yes, I admit it Alas, I have committed a serious sin I broke a prouards Let’s call the”
“Don’t h You think that you discovered a weakness just because you saw the contents of the boxThe contents are 100 safe and have no faults We produce potions for the entire southern area of Bristania and even the royal faoods…”
“Shut up, you bastard”
Ark used his specialty of changing corees Ark’s face seeed froathe’s face turned as pale as a sheet Ark stepped closer and growled
“Okay, I admit it I examined the contentsThe potions that Seirun makes is 100 safe While it is safe for people who use it, it isn’t safe for the people who make the potion!”
Agathe was silenced Ark’s words Yes, Ark had figured out the secret of Seirun workshop
-Karadaras Claw
The Karadaras claw is a deadly poisonous herb found at the Karadaras ravine which resembles a clawThe herb is so poisonous that a troll will die one day after inhaling it too much
Advanced Additional Inforh the appropriate process, it can be very useful when combined with various herbsBut if you inhale the aroma or touch the deadly poison, it may cause fatal symptoms inside the body
When exposed to that environ time, a person will suffer from serious toxic syh fever, pain, and black red spots If the spots become completely red then it will lead to death
This was the information that Ark confirredient in the popular potions sold throughout the southern Bristania was the Karadaras Claw Of course, Ark knew about the poisonous herb thanks to Food Worshi+pperOf course, the Karadaras claithin the potion were perfectly refined so they were coe that the production of canned goods got rid of a variety of toxic che the process However, the labourers who handled the Karadaras claeren’t completely safeBecause of that, Ark was puzzled after he confir the cause of the ht it was because of an error in theprocess
But when he examined the contents, the mysterious illness wasn’t caused by a si the toxins emitted by the Karadaras claw! As the owner of Seirun workshop, Agathe should know that If there was a mistake in the herb combination process then it would obviously become poisoned! It was ierous However, the people orked in the workshop were poisoned by the Karadaras claw Even if the appropriate safety measures were taken, the residents of the sluiven antidotes so they wouldn’t suffer any pain However, Agathe wasn’t visibly interested
‘Does he not care if the residents of the slums are killed?’
Sparks rose froiven!
“You are ……”
Sweat dripped down Agathe’s face as he stuttered
“W-what do you want? As expected, is it ue then I’ll give you 500 gold, no, 1000 gold How about it? Huh? It is a huge amount that a commoner like you can’t never see in your entire life Isn’t this the reason why you caold”
“I said shut up you bastard”
Ark growled and Agathe flinched back, thinking that he was going to be hit But Ark just sighed and shook his headIn fact, the residents of the sluathe when they heard The person who stopped it was Ark Ark deterathe So he persuaded the residents to allow hiathe
“Okay I will not tell the guards”
“R-Really?”
“Instead, there are three conditions”
“Conditions?”
“The residents who suffered in the old consolation money while the ones unjustly fired should be rehired at three times the salary Of course, this is after the perfect safety precautions is taken, which is the first condition”
This was one of the reasons why Ark stopped the poor residents Although the residents of the slu situation had suffered thanks to the price of the medicine Even if they recovered their health, there was no possibility of Agathe rehiring them So he devised a way for the residents to live
“W-what? What did you just say? If I pay that consolation money than the Seirun workshop will perish immediately!”
“Yes, that’s it The circumstances don’t matter When you think about it, the residents of the slu to die”
“T-that……”
Agathe made a firm expression and shook his head
“That condition is unacceptable! I can’t allow Seirun to perish!+”
“Well, you control the entire southern region of Bristania so it is difficult to iine that you can be ruined by just that”
“What?”
“The Seirun workshop is i of Bristania instead of the guards? What would happen to Seirun then?”
“You cheeky fellow Do you think the King of Bristania will believe the words of a ner like you? No, do you think you can even appear in front of His Majesty?”
Agathe suddenly hit back stronglyIf the probleuarantee of Seirun’s safety even if he had the King’s ear Agathe would imh ranking officials in Ciel ere susceptible to bribes It was possible for hi the King’s ear using his connections
“Ark-nim has the qualifications!”
Suddenly someone’s voice was heard froathe’s face who turned around
“What the? What bastard, huck, you?”
“Yes I aic Institute, Rabent”
It was the ic Institute that Ark met when he first came to Ciel who said he was a fan of ArkRabent nodded towards Ark and began to talk again
“Although I don’t know everything that is going on, Ark-ni”
“M-uy who looked for the transporter’s luggages?”
“Ark’s character is sonore it when he sees someone in trouble”
Rabent said as he once again sent Ark a respectful look He had completely misunderstood ArkAfter all…
“It is his character that made him work at the sluic Institute and told me athe-nim refuses this request then Ark will use his qualification as a full ic Institute to draw attention to thisabout my Master He does have some influence in Bristania”
Agathe’s face turned white and terrified at the ician’s words
“After hearing about the injustices of Seirun workshop, I’ic Institute traded with you I’er my Master would feel”
Fury flickered in Rabent’s eyes as he looked at Agathe with contempt
“But if Agathe-nim accepts the polite request of Ark-niht of the poor then I will bury this fact I’ll speak clearly This isn’t for Agathe-nim but because of my respect for Ark-nim who cares deeply about the poor”
Ark hadn’t known it until now but only 20 users who received the title of ‘Magic Institute Member’ and no ic Institute had a special interest and affection for those ic Institute’s influence was stronger than anywhere else
‘Indeed, it is great that I know so’
Ark suddenly realized the io to the Master, Agathe coave up as soon as he heard Ark was a full ic Institute
“Noill you accept the conditions?”
Agathe started talking politely as he realized as holding the sword Ark gestured towards Rabent and thanked hi
“What do you say? That is just the first condition”
“Then what’s the second condition?”
“Pay old”
“W-what?”
“That’s the fee and the costs of the ingredients for treating the residents of the slu old forwith Rabent, he told me that it really would be a problem if Seirun workshop collapses Do you understand? This is the limit of what I know Seirun can pay”
Ark replied with a wicked grin No matter the situation, Ark still took any opportunity to do soathe would decisively refuse the initial 1000 gold After twisting the sword in, Ark used the opportunity to get coold for hiold However, Seirun really couldn’t be allowed to collapse so Ark e of Seirun’s assets froold for the poor and 2000 for Ark, he had taken into full account the maximum amount Seirun could afford Since even his assets were identified, Agathe declared defeat while sweating
“Fine I’ll pay the compensation But I can’t pay the money immediately or Seirun really will collapse Shouldn’t you already know that if you grasped the full extent of my assets? I’ll divide the compensation into 3 and pay every two ”
Ark sestion and nodded
“That’s not a bad idea Of course you rite a contract If you don’t keep the agreeic Institute will seize Seirun and distribute its assets to the slum residents and me”
“How cruel!”
“I don’t want to hear those words from you”
Ark said with a sathe, he received two contracts One for Ark and one for the poor residents
“Now, you should work diligently to pay off your debts”
Ark shook the contract and laughed, causing Agathe to grind his teeth Just as Ark was turning around, he hesitated and said
“Oh, I forgot to tell you the third condition!”
“W-what? I don’t have anything else to give!”
“Why are you so startled? Don’t worry I’ for more money Just to borrow your face”
“Borrow my face?”
Agathe asked in a puzzled voiceArk lifted his finger and pulled Agathe’s face down Once it reached a suitable height, he smiled and spoke to Ronnie
“Ronnie it’s your turn”
Ppak-!
“Ugh!”
Ronnie bent down ran into his face like a round with a bloody face While Agathe rolled around holding his nose, Ark squatted down beside him and said
“Is this really okay?”
Ronnie nodded with a stoic expression and replied
“Yes”
“Fine, if you are satisfied with that”
Ark praised Ronnie and stroked his hair
“Do you understand? Apart from your mother who almost died, none of the other residents were in a really severe state Only your mother was in a serious situation That is because she endured the sy punished by the Karadaras claw Even when is wasn’t possible to move, she clenched her teeth and endured it”
Ark grabbed Ronnie’s shoulder tightly and emphasized his words
“It was for you So that you could be proud of her And she is proud of you”
“Ark hyung”
Ronnie eArk comforted Ronnie and returned to the slu them before Tarun opened his mouth