[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
Chapter 127
"Whew, it took quite a while to get here."
It took longer than expected to reach Atlas because he had to destroy the Hounds' camp and leave Argos without leaving a trace.
Zeke, entering Four Seasons Castle, headed to Summerrock, where the administrative department was located.
As Zeke entered in his unkempt appearance, other knights murmured as they looked at him.
'Isn't that Zeke Draker?'
'He took on an A-rank mission alone, did he fail?'
If a knight failed their first mission after the initiation ceremony, they had to return their knighthood.
Zeke ignored the other knights murmuring about him and headed towards the administrative department.
He went to the clerical office and handed an envelope to the person in charge.
The person in charge asked Zeke in surprise,
"W-what is this, Sir Zeke Draker?"
"It's a mission completion report. I've attached a personal letter from Golin Yober inside. I've also attached a certificate of confirmation for the letter from the Guild Federation, so please check it."
The clerk's jaw dropped as he looked at the report and attached documents in the envelope Zeke brought.
The paperwork and report were incredibly neat for a knight on their first mission.
He was even more surprised after confirming Golin's personal letter and the Guild Federation's certificate of confirmation.
"D-did you really go to the Barbarian territory alone and meet Golin Yober?"
"Yes. He was doing very well."
The clerk was speechless at Zeke's nonchalant response.
Zeke had actually completed an A-rank mission alone.
"Is it confirmed?"
At Zeke's words, the clerk barely came to his senses and nodded.
"Yes, yes. Sir Zeke Draker, mission completion confirmed."
Zeke received the mission completion certificate from the clerk and left Four Seasons Castle, leaving behind the clerical office staff with dumbfounded expressions.
And the place Zeke visited next was the hideout where Kay was staying.
Kay was surprised by Zeke's sudden appearance without any contact.
"Boss? You finished the mission already?"
"Yes. By the way, Kay, I have a favor to ask."
Zeke introduced Richmond to Kay and asked her to provide him with a laboratory and a new identity.
Richmond, quick-witted, rubbed his hands together as he looked at Kay.
"Hehe. Please take good care of me, ma'am."
Kay was surprised to hear that Richmond was a Demi Lich.
"An undead? He doesn't look like one at all."
"Think of him as a variant. Is it okay for Richmond to stay in Atlas?"
Kay looked Richmond up and down and nodded.
"He doesn't really give off an undead vibe, so I think it'll be fine."
Since Richmond looked like a Naga, a snake beastman race, on the outside, they decided to create a new identity for him as a Naga.
Along with that, Zeke also asked her to find the Lubern bloodline.
"How long do you think it will take?"
"Hmm, with this much, it'll take at least half a month."
"Okay. Let me know as soon as you have any information."
Zeke also took out the demonic artifacts he brought from the camp, along with Richmond's research materials, and placed them in a gloomy room in the corner of the hideout.
"Research what these artifacts are. Tell me immediately if you find anything, even if it's trivial."
"Yes, Master. Don't worry."
Only after giving Richmond the task and leaving him with Kay did Zeke finally head back to his mansion after a long time.
"Welcome back, Master."
But Decker's expression as he greeted Zeke was somewhat strange.
"Decker, what's wrong? Did something happen?"
Decker, who never lost his composure, was unusually flustered.
He could sense a commotion inside the mansion.
'Hmm?'
Zeke, leaving behind the sighing Decker, headed straight to the drawing-room.
When he got there, he saw two teenage boys he had never seen before sprawled on the sofa, eating snacks and drinking juice.
Snack crumbs were scattered everywhere, and the walls were stained with strange colors.
Decker, who followed behind, frowned at the two and trembled.
Zeke realized that those kids were the culprits who broke Decker's incredible patience.
The boys sprawled on the sofa were wearing robes that were too big for their age.
Surprisingly, the robes of the two had overlapping hexagrams drawn on them, symbolizing official alchemists.
Zeke tilted his head as he saw the two who resembled each other slightly.
'Could those guys be...?'
There were people who came to mind.
The genius twin alchemists, Al and Jeff.
Just then, Al and Jeff spotted Zeke, jumped up, and shouted.
"The sponsor! The sponsor is here!"
Al and Jeff, who still had youthful faces for young men, rushed towards Zeke.
Then, Decker stepped in front of Zeke and said to them,
"Stop! If you act rudely towards the Master, I won't stand for it any longer!"
Zeke clicked his tongue as he looked at Decker.
'If the polite Decker is acting like this, I can only imagine what kind of havoc those brats must have wreaked.'
They had cute faces, but their actions were like those of demons.
Zeke gestured to Decker that it was okay and said to the twins,
"Al and Jeff. I see you for the first time."
Al, the older brother, grinned and held out his hand.
"Nice to meet you, sponsor, I mean, Sir Zeke Draker."
Zeke grabbed Al's outstretched hand.
But just then, a message window popped up.
[Detected drug containing a large amount of Laughing Mushrooms.]
[Neutralizing the poison with the All Poisons Immunity constitution.]
Known for their pranks, the mischievous twins had played a prank with a laughter-inducing drug from their first meeting.
Al tilted his head when Zeke didn't show any reaction even after grabbing his hand, and Jeff gestured to Al as if asking what he was doing.
Zeke squeezed Al's hand tightly.
Al's face contorted as Zeke's grip strength gradually increased.
"Ugh, w-wait, let go of my hand..."
Zeke squeezed Al's hand even tighter.
He grinned and said,
"The pure-blood Awakened gloves are made of dragon leather, so they have good elasticity and block various contaminants. For example, things like Laughing Mushrooms."
Al and Jeff were surprised by Zeke's words.
When he let go of his hand, Al rubbed his hand and stepped back.
"Uggggh. I thought my hand was going to break."
Jeff shouted at Zeke,
"H-how dare you! Trying to break a precious alchemist's hand over a little prank! That's too much!"
Then, Zeke sat on the sofa and said to the two,
"If I had wanted to, I could have ripped your whole arm off, not just your hand."
Al and Jeff's faces turned pale at Zeke's cold voice.
Even though they were notorious troublemakers, they couldn't act recklessly because Zeke had an undeniable aura of authority.
"B-brother, what do we do? Our plan completely backfired."
"D-damn it. We were supposed to take control of the atmosphere by overwhelming him from the start."
Although they lowered their voices as much as possible while whispering, Zeke could hear everything. Scoffing inwardly, Zeke said to Al and Jeff,
"It seems you have something to say. Hurry up and say it. I'm busy."
Al and Jeff sat down on the sofa, looking a bit discouraged.
Jeff was the first to speak to Zeke.
"How did you know? That we used Laughing Mushrooms."
"I don't see why I should tell you."
Jeff, feeling defeated, shut his mouth.
This time, Zeke looked at the two and said,
"I believe I paid your research expenses sufficiently through Master Feynon. Why did you come all the way here? I told you to avoid contacting me as much as possible."
Al and Jeff felt overwhelmed by Zeke's sharp gaze and firm voice.
Al said in a slightly trembling voice,
"W-well, there's a p-problem..."
Zeke frowned at Al's words.
"Problem? Do you think I paid you over a hundred thousand gold to create problems?"
Al and Jeff flinched at Zeke's words.
As he said, a hundred thousand gold was a huge amount of money.
There was no other sponsor who would provide them with such valuable materials as freely as Zeke did.
Al, his voice much quieter, carefully said to Zeke,
"W-well, it's not really a problem..."
Zeke stared at Al intently without saying a word. Al felt even more suffocated than before.
'He's so scary. Damn it.'
When Al couldn't speak properly, Jeff next to him said,
"I-it's not fermenting!"
Zeke turned his head towards Jeff and opened his mouth.
"What do you mean it's not fermenting?"
Jeff gulped and said,
"T-to suppress the addictive properties of Soma and turn it into medicine, we have to go through a fermentation process to change its components... but it's not working, no matter what we try."
Zeke pondered Jeff's words.
'It's not fermenting...'
Zeke, who had never learned alchemy in his previous life, couldn't quite understand what Jeff meant.
Seeing that Zeke didn't seem to understand, Al cautiously took out a toolbox from beside him.
When Al opened and unfolded the box, it was as if a small laboratory unfolded on the table.
Zeke looked at the toolbox Al unfolded with curiosity.
'I heard that all alchemists have their own unique toolboxes. Interesting. Do they shrink it with magic and store it in a box?'
Zeke curiously examined the beakers and flasks containing various liquids.
Then, Al pointed to a flask on one side.
"This is the natural raw material of Soma. According to our hypothesis, if this ferments and its components change, it will have a tremendous effect."
"What will it become if it ferments?"
"Have you heard of antibiotics?"
"Are you talking about the medicine that prevents infections? I know they exist now."
Al and Jeff were surprised that Zeke knew about antibiotics and continued their explanation.
"The ones currently on the market are damn expensive and have severe side effects. If used incorrectly, the treated area could become necrotic."
Zeke changed his posture as he listened to Al's words.
"So you're saying the antibiotic made by fermenting this Soma won't have side effects?"
Al and Jeff brightened and nodded.
"That's right! But... we can't make a fermented sample, so there's no progress in our research."
"But why did you come to me? If there's no progress, you should go and do more research."
Al and Jeff had awkward expressions as they said to Zeke,
"W-well..."
Zeke, seeing their expressions, clicked his tongue with a 'don't tell me' look on his face.
"Did you use up all the budget? The hundred thousand gold?"
Al and Jeff looked away and smacked their lips.
Since they only used rare and expensive materials, there was no way they could have any budget left.
Al shouted towards Zeke,
"P-please believe in us and give us more research funding just this once! If this antibiotic is completed, it will be a truly amazing medicine!"
Zeke looked at Al and Jeff with an unconvinced expression.
The two looked at Zeke with pleading eyes, trying to secure more funding.
He shook his head and said,
"I'm not an expert in this field, so I can't make a decision right away. I'll ask Master Feynon for his opinion when he returns."
Al and Jeff's faces turned pale at Zeke's words.
"W-well..."
If he asked Feynon about giving them additional research funding, it was clear he wouldn't allow it.
This was because Feynon had caught them using most of the budget to buy expensive materials and then using those materials to make potions for their pranks.
That's why they came to Zeke while Feynon was away on a business trip to the south.
Zeke, with his uncanny intuition, saw right through Al and Jeff's thoughts.
He clicked his tongue and picked up the flask containing Soma.
"What good are your skills if you've lost the trust of your superiors? Can you be worth the money?"
Al and Jeff were speechless at Zeke's words.
Their usual motto was 'Amazing inventions are created through pranks,' but if they said that here, they might not only lose their funding but also both their arms.
"Jeff, I think we're done."
"Oh man, I told you we shouldn't get involved with Draker."
While the twins blamed each other in hushed voices, Zeke pretended not to know about their conversation and looked at the Soma in the flask.
'Is it that difficult to ferment this? Isn't fermentation a kind of decay?'
With a sudden thought, Zeke playfully used the power of decay.
Bubble, bubble, bubble!
The Soma, which had been in the form of white powder, suddenly turned into a liquid and started boiling due to Zeke's power.
The twins, who had been blaming each other, were startled to see the beaker in Zeke's hand.
"T-that reaction!?"
[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]