Chapter 1367: Variation (6)

A botanical garden located in District 31 of the mega-city Vulcan.

Plumber’s Orchard, a place discreetly frequented only by shadowy figures working in the underworld.

Today, as always, numerous suspicious clients visited the Orchard, which dealt in all sorts of harmful drugs and medicinal ingredients.

“G-Type Beta Elixir. It’s a replica, mimicking the effects of commercially available elixirs, but degraded. The reproduction rate is roughly 15%.”

Thud!

Plumber, the old man of the Orchard, said, placing a few small vials containing murky liquid on the counter.

The tightly sealed vials contained such a small amount that one gulp wouldn’t even register.

Yet, Plumber’s handling of the vials was exceedingly careful.

“It’s often sought by wizards who are short on money but suffer from extreme mana consumption. I’ll take 3 million cell for one vial.”

“…3 million cell? Are you insane?”

The freelancer, who had been silently listening from across the counter, flinched and furrowed his brows.

“Old man. This is a different story. I clearly asked for something cheap.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Replicas that mimic elixir effects are worth whatever price I name.”

Plumber replied, pipe in mouth.

“Even if you mix in impurities and dilute them to reduce the effects, the base price is still tens of millions. This one is cheaper only because it’s mixed with narcotics that have severe side effects.”

“…I, I failed my last designated request and I’m short on money. I absolutely have to succeed on the next one.”

The freelancer’s eyes, staring intently at the vial, were bloodshot.

“Take some off for one vial… you already have so much.”

“You don’t listen, do you? Haven’t I always told customers who use my shop?”

Plumber’s eyes, staring at the freelancer through the purple haze, glinted coldly.

“No discounts, no installments. If you can’t pay, leave.”

“Ha, old man. Who do you think would… be scared if you glare like that?”

The freelancer’s hands trembled as he gathered mana.

The freelancer pulled out a small staff from within his coat, raising mana and pointing it at Plumber.

“Damn it, I said I’d pay!! Hand over the goods…!!!”

“…”

Despite the freelancer’s blatant threats, Plumber scowled as if annoyed.

The old man slowly shook his head, and just as he was about to press a button located under the counter.

The old man’s eyes widened as if struck by lightning, looking behind the freelancer.

“You…!”

“K-hahahaha!! What, old man. Are you scared now?!”

Seeing this, the freelancer triumphantly reached for the vials on the counter, mocking.

“Damn it, I should’ve done this sooner!! An old drug dealer with nothing but a stiff neck—”

“The quality of the Orchard seems to have deteriorated quite a bit since I last saw it.”

At the chilling voice coming from right beside him, the freelancer’s body stiffened.

It was so close, like a whisper in his ear, yet he hadn’t noticed it until the first syllable was uttered.

Ignoring the frozen freelancer, the figure that emerged unhesitatingly picked up a vial from the counter.

A black-haired young man in a black coat. His uniquely sharp and chilling aura, and a subtly empty presence.

The freelancer, seeing the silver staff he held in his left hand, trembled and mumbled.

“N-no way… No way…!!!”

“No matter how I look at it, it’s cheap stuff, without even a hint of the original elixir’s scent…”

Lennok, inspecting the vial without looking back at the freelancer, gazed down at Plumber with an expressionless face.

“Is a renowned Orchard now dealing in elixir replicas?”

“How could a drug dealer like me deal in elixirs if there’s no place to sell them to me?”

Plumber grumbled.

“Enough, move aside. I need to deal with that robber first.”

“It’s done. You may send him off.”

“Huh?”

The old man tilted his head, and the freelancer flinched.

Lennok spoke calmly, without looking at the freelancer.

“Move.”

“Ah, understood.”

Only then did the freelancer understand the situation, his face brightening as he bowed obsequiously.

“Th-thank you for saving me. Thank you…!!”

The freelancer backed away, turned his back, and bolted, trying to flee the Orchard in a single breath.

CRACK!

A brilliant blue lightning flashed from inside the freelancer’s head, momentarily bathing the Orchard in blue light.

Spewing blood from all orifices, the freelancer’s corpse collapsed in place, unable to take even two steps.

THUD!!!

Plumber, who had been watching, shook his head.

“…It’s not my place to say, but you’re truly a ruthless one.”

“Wouldn’t it be difficult to dispose of a body if someone dies in front of your counter?”

“…”

The old man, rendered speechless, stared at Lennok and managed a wry smile.

“Never mind. It doesn’t matter, we’ll just call the cleanup crew. Do you think this is the first time something like this has happened?”

“That’s surprising. It seems there are more troublesome customers using the Orchard than I thought.”

“…Well, it can’t be helped. Not everyone can be like you.”

Plumber’s expression, as he said this, seemed surprisingly bitter.

“What kind of job is a freelancer’s? There are countless failures who can’t even earn money, just barely getting by on failed requests. Even successful ones often end up half-crippled after one major fall.”

“…”

“Most of the people who come to my shop are fools who want to force results, even if it means overexerting themselves. There are perfect ones like you, but then there are also those who cross the line like this.”

“An interesting observation.”

Lennok, his hands in his coat pockets, smirked as he smoked his rolled cigarette.

“Are you pitying him, even after he almost killed you?”

“Well…”

Plumber puffed on his pipe and mumbled.

“Perhaps I’m just tired of seeing such things for so long.”

“…”

“Enough, this idle talk has gone on long enough. Why have you come this time?”

The old man’s slightly relaxed, wrinkled face instantly turned stern.

“Last time, I fell for your sweet talk and gave you a Jinwa’s fruit fragment, but such a thing will never happen again.”

“I haven’t even spoken yet. Please calm down.”

“No, not this time, absolutely not!! I never imagined you’d be crazy enough to use that thing in a war! You must be out of your mind…!!”

Plumber scowled, snarling.

“If ‘she’ gets angry after you do something like that…!!! Do you truly have no sense?!”

“Indeed. Its efficacy was certainly extraordinary.”

Lennok nodded calmly.

“Since its medicinal effects lasted until just before the end of the war, I suppose it more than sufficiently fulfilled its original purpose.”

During the Subjugation Operation, Lennok had taken a fragment of Jinwa’s fruit from the Orchard to forcibly elevate the rank of his Incarnation Body.

A power that temporarily and perfectly separated his consciousness from the Incarnation Body while pushing the Incarnation Body’s rank infinitely close to that of an Ascendant.

Thanks to it, he was able to completely crush the Legion until the very last moment of the Subjugation Operation, making it a truly satisfactory outcome.

In a way, it could be said to be the core component that essentially enabled the Adamant Thunder Subjugation Operation.

However, Plumber scrunched up his face, seemingly displeased with Lennok’s assessment.

“No matter how satisfied you are, it’s not happening again! I will never hand that over a second time—”

“That said, I’ve become curious: Is it really alright for you to stay in a place like this for so long?”

The vast apothecary was filled with a thick purple mist.

Lennok asked, looking around at the mist that ceaselessly spread as if something was burning.

“This mist. It’s the result of Jinwa’s fruit being slowly burned. I imagine one would lose their mind if they breathed this in for too long.”

“Not particularly, no.”

Plumber replied, his expression still crumpled.

“Lost artifacts of an Ascendant usually follow the Ascendant’s own standards or values. The fruit you saw is no different.”

“What do you mean?”

“…In the past, she believed that only power or concepts that could be contained within her own body held value.”

The old man mumbled.

“Residual traces, like this smoke, that could always escape her body, held no great meaning to her.”

“…”

“Her relationship with the fruit is just like this. The fruit itself is extremely dangerous, but the lingering scent that escapes it carries no significant toxins. At most, it only has a slight calming effect.”

“A calming effect, you say? Didn’t you just suffer an ordeal today because of it?”

“That’s because you cut off a piece of the fruit and took it, wasn’t it!!”

The old man, who had burst out shouting, then gave an embarrassed cough.

“Ahem, ahem. It’s pointless to dwell on what’s already done. Enough, let’s just consider it a mutual insult and forget about it.”

“No. I have no intention of forgetting, however.”

“What?”

“While I don’t need to use more fruit fragments right now, I’d like to hear more about the fruit’s owner.”

Lennok said, crossing his arms.

“I need information about Paradise Lost. You seemed quite close to Jinwa in her lifetime; could you tell me about her?”

“…”

The old man, who had been staring blankly with his mouth open, finally spoke after a long moment of mumbling.

“You, the reason you came to see me today… it was for this. You impudent brat…”

“I hesitated a little, but I thought it best to hear such stories from someone who knew Jinwa personally.”

“…”

“What kind of person was the Empire’s Whispering Grand General? Why did the Spell-Word user who founded the common language fall? Can you tell me?”

For a long time, the old man couldn’t speak.

As if merely thinking deeply about Jinwa caused him discomfort and difficulty.

How much time passed? Plumber’s voice, when he finally spoke with effort, was deeply somber.

“No… it won’t do.”

“It won’t do?”

“You don’t know how terrible she was… I didn’t even know until the very end.”

“…”

“She was a beautiful and splendid person. Everyone knew she was a rose with thorns, but they thought they could endure it. Yet…”

Plumber mumbled.

“What she harbored within her wasn’t thorns at all.”

“…”

“She… wanted to be the owner of this garden that is the world.”

Plumber, who had been mumbling as if reminiscing old memories, then shook his head with a complex expression.

“Enough. This isn’t a story for a place like this, after all. Didn’t you sweet-talk me like this last time when you took the fruit fragment?”

“Are you still holding a grudge?”

“Yes! I can’t just speak freely anymore. This is all for your sake. Even if I warn you not to go to dangerous places…”

He grumbled that he couldn’t speak without compensation, but his concern for Lennok was not a lie.

For this eccentric old man quite liked Lennok, who showed him courtesy.

But precisely because of that, there was an answer he needed right now.

“It seems ordinary persuasion won’t convince you.”

Lennok tilted his head.

“Then how about this?”

“No matter what you say, my mind won’t change—”

“I will supply pure elixir to the Orchard. I’ll even open a new trade route for you.”

“…What?”

Lennok smiled at Plumber, who turned back with a look of astonishment.

“It seems you’ve had a rough time dealing with replicas; wouldn’t you be free from such problems if you dealt with the pure elixir?”

“No… I know your Magic Tower deals with elixirs, but…”

The old man mumbled, then asked.

“How can you decide on such an important matter as supplying pure elixir on your own—”

“The creator of the elixir is in my Magic Tower. Didn’t you know?”

“…”

Lennok nodded, looking at Plumber, who was speechless.

“I want to hear about Jinwa. I hope this is a sufficient price.”

[Synchronization Sequence initiated. Synchronization progress 94%….]

[Counter-Active activated. Gamma sensors installed.]

[Mana Reactor resonance commencing. Overload Phase entry in 3 seconds, 2 seconds, 1 second—]

WHOOOOOSH!!!!

Blue mana was drawn in a circle around the black hole suspended in the air.

The mana light, pulled by gravity, spun and was sucked into the dark center, then moved away again, repeating an endless rotation.

Countless rings of light formed around the black hole overlapped, transforming into a black halo.

“The engine redesign process itself, centered around the Singularity Reactor’s core, is smooth.”

[You’ve already seen how the engine works in the Demonic Realm, haven’t you? Then replicating it should be possible.]

Following the black hole located in the center of the Underground Cavern, Davi and Lennok walked along the railing.

Lennok mumbled, checking values one by one on the inspection sheet in his hand.

“Replicating the original output isn’t an issue. The problem lies with the frequent overloads that occur during the engine construction process, I suppose?”

[Since the Black Hole Engine itself is inherently unstable, even a slight surge in output would shatter everything around it. For now, it’s less an engine and more a bomb.]

“…”

After obtaining a grimoire containing the Demigod Transformation spellcraft through his research into the World’s Ten Laws.

Lennok had been intensely accelerating his research, aiming to complete what he could before leaving Vulcan.

It took a long time to organize the artifacts and abilities obtained from the Four Archangel Demonic Mirrors, but the Singularity Reactor was something he absolutely needed to address.

The Singularity Reactor, which uses a black hole as an engine, is literally the pinnacle of over-technology, harnessing stellar-level gravity as its engine power.

However, as the concept of a black hole cannot normally exist within a planet, handling it is extremely tricky.

If used as a catalyst to boost spellcraft power, as in the Demonic Realm, it might be one thing, but using it properly as an engine presented more than a few problems.

“How about deliberately increasing the output and stabilizing it? Wouldn’t increasing the rotation speed reduce energy deviation from orbit?”

[If it malfunctions even once, several Outer Zones might be wiped out, you know?]

“…So, it’s not a problem that can be solved immediately.”

There are no issues reproducing the engine’s output, but stabilizing it and strengthening the surrounding facilities will take time.

If his understanding of the Singularity Reactor was lacking, he could study it, but problems were arising even before he could get to that point.

For now, identifying the multitude of problems with the Singularity Reactor should be considered an achievement.

“Sequence terminated.”

WHOOOOSH…!

The countless lines of light suspended in the air faded, and the black hole’s size rapidly shrunk.

The noise ceased only after the black sphere floating in the center of the Underground Cavern had shrunk to the size of a fist.

“Until new components or Singularity Reactor parts are discovered, it’s better to use it as a spellcraft medium, as it is now.”

Lennok, having retrieved the Singularity Reactor’s core from the now silent cavern, turned to leave.

“Let’s stop the Singularity Reactor research here and prepare. What about bullet production using Mass Manipulation Spellcraft?”

[We’ve increased the spellcraft reproducibility and quadrupled the process yield. By now, the target quantity should be almost complete.]

“What about new tasks or schedules arriving at the Magic Tower?”

[All tasks concluded with yesterday’s Particle Sculpting technical consultation. Most tasks requiring the Master’s approval are finished. The schedule has also been delivered to the seaweed-haired organic being.]

As they walked up the ramp leading out of the Cavern, Lennok and Davi conversed, swiftly clearing the remaining schedule.

Excluding tasks already handled or not requiring immediate attention, they checked available time and sent out communications.

As the schedule involved moving under the alias Adamant Thunder, this time he informed those who needed to know about his movements and settled his surroundings before departing.

Lennok’s figure, which had been silently gazing at the sky above ground, was engulfed in sharp lightning and vanished.

CRACK…!!

The evening sky, shrouded in darkness. In front of an old cathedral’s chapel, where a faint sunset was visible.

The black wizard Ermont, who had been sitting on a heavy backpack, flinched and looked up.

“Whoa?! Wh-you startled me. Would it kill you to knock?”

“…”

“I was just about to contact you anyway, but how did you know to come, like a ghost? Have you been watching me this whole time?”

Instead of answering, Lennok silently gazed at Ermont.

At that strange reaction, Ermont also coughed and adjusted his backpack.

“…Once we leave this time, you’ll have to be prepared. Are you ready?”

“What means do you plan to use for travel?”

Lennok asked, looking at the massive backpack Ermont carried.

“You can’t travel on foot with a backpack like that. I don’t expect much, but have you at least prepared some sort of plan?”

“Hey, what do you think I am, anyway, since last time?”

Ermont turned to Lennok, looking incredulous.

“Well, I might look foolish to you, but I do think, you know. Stop looking down on me.”

“Is that so? My apologies. It’s not that I’m looking down on you, but seeing such a diminished intellect, I couldn’t help it.”

“Enough. I wasn’t expecting an apology anyway. You just need to be amazed by the means I’ve prepared.”

“If there’s even one such moment during this plan, I’d have nothing more to wish for.”

“…Uh, were you always this eloquent?”

Every time he went through many things and obtained various things, he became entangled in many burdens, making his feet heavy.

Unlike before, when he had nothing, now he had to pay attention to many things just to make a single move.

He had no regrets. He knew this, too, was something he rightfully had to endure.

But even so, at the moment of departure, he needed to lighten his step.

Lennok, leaning on his staff, began to walk.

“Let’s depart for Gateway City.”