Chapter 107: I’ll call it a draw. (2)
Belinda put aside her tasks and stayed by Ghislaine’s side.
She couldn’t just leave a person who couldn’t even walk properly on their own.
“It’s okay. I’ll get better soon… cough hack!”
As expected, Ghislaine was spitting up blood while rambling nonsense.
Belinda sighed heavily and wiped his blood.
“Get better? Do you really think that powerful poison will disappear easily? You’re dying right now!”
Despite the constant nagging, Ghislaine just smiled.
Even if others saw him as a sick person, he could clearly feel the vigorous energy flowing inside him.
As predicted, his broken body had fully recovered in just two days.
Belinda, who had been waiting in front of his door since dawn, was shocked to see him walk out perfectly fine.
“Whoa? Are you really okay? What’s going on?”
Ghislaine merely shrugged his shoulders.
His body was still as thin as a skeleton, but with his eyes alive and his movements light, she had no choice but to believe he was fine.
“I knew it, my predictions were right.”
His amount of mana had increased compared to before he drank the poison, and his recovery speed was astonishingly improved.
Having seen the effects, he couldn’t give up drinking the poison.
After that, the stock of poison stored in the warehouse kept decreasing.
It was obvious Ghislaine was drinking it.
A few times he was found alone in the training ground, collapsed after drinking the poison.
Eventually, rumors started circulating that the Lord was angry because Claude wouldn’t properly surrender.
“Why is the Chief Officer being so stubborn! Why are you pressuring our Lord like this?”
“Why would someone who loved developing the territory suddenly want to die? This is all the Chief Officer’s fault!”
“We can’t lose our Lord! Absolutely cannot lose him!”
The Territory Residents, wherever they found them, brought out portraits of Claude and Alfoy and stabbed them with needles.
Whether it was because of the Territory Residents’ curses or the tasks Ghislaine shoved onto him, Claude’s under-eye circles got even darker.
He came to see Ghislaine every day to persuade him.
“Ah, Lord, just stop it! I told you, I’ll call it a draw! Do you even know how you look right now? A skeleton looks healthier than you!”
“Hey, are you scared? Think you’re going to lose, huh? cough!”
“Wow, this is insane! The scared one is the Lord, right? Aren’t you trembling right now?”
“You’re the master, right? You can’t be scared right now!”
“Who’s scared? Ah, never mind. Cough! Perfect timing. Check this out and let’s get moving. Ugh…”
Ghislaine clicked her tongue as she handed over the documents. Claude’s face twisted in dismay.
“Ugh, why did I even come here? Honestly, I’m just being generous because I’m leaving soon.”
After a few more times of coming for no good reason and just getting more tasks, Claude stopped visiting Ghislaine.
Ghislaine was glad the annoying nagging had decreased, so she started giving out work to others like Claude.
While the followers were buried in tasks and couldn’t pay attention, the number of times Ghislaine fainted noticeably decreased.
“I can’t believe I’m using it this way.”
Ghislaine chuckled as she held up the last vial of poison.
The Blood Python’s poison ran out within a few days.
It was originally saved for military use by diluting it with water, but it all ended up in Ghislaine’s stomach.
“Since it’s hard to use anyway, it’s better to use it like this. This is all investment, investment.”
Ghislaine poured the poison down her throat.
She was completely different now from the time when she was cautiously adding just a few drops.
Now, even if she drank the whole vial, her tongue would only tingle a bit, with no other side effects.
Any ordinary poison would have no effect on her going forward.
That also meant she could no longer rely on the trick of using poison to increase her mana.
“This nonsense ends today.”
Ghislaine sat down and slowly began to move her mana.
The poison that entered her body quickly mixed with her mana and spread throughout her body.
After losing herself in mana training, Ghislaine opened her eyes a few hours later.
A fleeting crimson light passed through her pupils.
“While I’m sick of poisons… I’m a little bummed.”
Having absorbed all the poison, the total amount of mana had increased beyond comparison.
In terms of mana alone, it seemed to be more than double what it was before.
“I really got lucky.”
Despite Ghislaine’s skill in handling mana, accumulating a lot of it usually takes a long time.
Thanks to the poison’s strong energy and its compatibility with Ghislaine’s mana, the time was drastically reduced.
‘You rarely find an elixir that has this kind of effect.’
Ghislaine slowly stood up and made a shallow cut on her palm with a dagger.
The long cut on her palm healed seamlessly in an instant without leaving a single scar.
Only a few drops of blood indicated that there had been a wound there at all.
“I like this.”
Ghislaine clenched her fist a few times, smiling contentedly.
*
Once the training with the poison was over, Ghislaine’s body quickly started to gain weight.
Her skin improved, and her eyes sparkled with vitality.
Even someone who had no idea how to use their body would feel the difference immediately.
“Young Master, why do you look so healthy? Are you just having a moment of brilliance before dying?”
“Why do you keep trying to kill a perfectly fine person? I’m just eating good stuff.”
“Good stuff, my foot! Saying that after taking poison?”
But seeing the actual improvement in her body, no one could argue against it.
Inini couldn’t argue anymore.
“Is it really good? Should I try it too?”
Belinda looked at Ghislaine with a significant gaze, scanning him up and down.
Ghislaine averted his eyes and muttered quietly, “Don’t worry, I won’t drink poison anymore.”
Claude, who was nearby, shook his head in disbelief.
“It’s not that you won’t drink it, it’s that you can’t drink it. There’s nothing left in the warehouse.”
With all the poison cleaned out, what’s the point of claiming he wouldn’t drink it now?
But at least Claude felt relieved that he wouldn’t engage in such crazy antics anymore. Receiving disdain from all the people in the territory was a burden, even for someone as shameless as him.
“Have you checked the warehouse? Then you must have seen the condition of the grain.”
“I did take a look. They looked like they could summon monsters if planted.”
Claude was stunned by the grains Ghislaine had infused with mana before. Each grain had grown to the size of a man’s thumbnail and emitted a faint blue glow.
For mere grains, they were definitely suspiciously extraordinary.
“They seem to have grown well. Then we need to prepare for the next steps.”
“Are you really going to plant that bizarre stuff? There’s only a fortnight left; what’s the point in planting it now? You should really stop being so stubborn.”
Claude scrutinized Ghislaine with skepticism.
“Or are you thinking of raising some monster to seek revenge because you’re not confident you can win?”
Ghislaine snorted as he stood up.
“I’m starting the second cultivation. Gather the laborers.”
‘Oh wow, he seriously needs to be embarrassed before that personality changes. He drank poison because he was too ashamed to lose, and now he’s acting all tough. Do whatever you want; if it fails, it’s the Lord’s problem!’
Claude regained his resolve, which had slightly weakened.
While he was recruiting laborers, Ghislaine called for the mages.
“What now?” Alfoy entered with a face full of irritation as soon as he arrived.
Ever since Ghislaine put on a show of drinking poison, people had pressured Alfoy to give up betting as well.
Lately, even his heart felt like it was being stabbed. Someone must be cursing him.
In the midst of that, there was still so much work to do.
The Lord frequently summoned the mages to do the tasks that took laborers too long to complete.
At this point, he couldn’t tell if he was a laborer or a mage himself.
“I need to engrave some magic on the runestones. It’s not complicated magic, but I need quite a bit.”
“What kind of magic?”
“Magic to keep the surroundings warm, magic to change the flow of mana. And magic to maintain consistent humidity… Roughly that much?”
None of it was particularly complicated magic.
The Mana Convergence Circle required a large amount of mana to be drawn and fixed in one place, so the runestones couldn’t sustain it for long, but simply changing the flow of mana could be maintained semi-permanently.
“Using such cheap magic on those expensive runestones… No, fine. What are you planning to use it for?”
“I’ll be embedding it in the cultivated land. It’s about time to start planting the grains.”
Ghislaine replied with grace, causing Alfoy to scowl involuntarily.
“You still haven’t given up? Well, that aside, what happens if you embed the runestones?”
“Are you not going to give up? Well, anyway, what happens if we embed the runestone?”
“It will change the properties of the land.”
“Huh…”
Alfoy chuckled absurdly and splashed his face with water.
It was hard to watch someone flaunt magic while knowing nothing about it.
‘Maybe it’s better for my peace of mind not to ask him what he’s doing.’
In that moment, Alfoy recalled the words of an ancient sage.
‘How can one attain peace of mind and happiness?’
‘You must not quarrel with fools.’
‘I don’t think so.’
‘Yes, you are correct.’
Alfoy gained realization.
Unknowingly, he closed his eyes and sat down.
Mana began to gently swirl around him.
The nearby mages gasped and hurriedly stepped back.
Ghislaine had a look of disbelief on his face.
“What’s going on? Why are you suddenly gaining enlightenment?”
Even if enlightenment comes unexpectedly, how can one gain it while talking about temperature maintenance?
Clearly, something bizarre crossed his mind.
A moment later, Alfoy opened his eyes. A subtle shimmer passed through them.
His realm barely rose, like an ant’s eyelash, but his heart was more at peace than ever.
‘Yeah, what’s the point of quarreling with a fool? The ancient sage’s words hold no error. Just say he’s right and ignore him. There’s little freedom left, so why get red-faced over it?’
After all, everything Ghislaine said was nonsense.
Why would he get worked up trying to correct someone who doesn’t even think they’re wrong?
If left alone, he would fail and eventually quiet down.
The runestone was a bit of a waste, but it wasn’t my money anyway.
Alfoy spoke with a soft smile.
“I’ll proceed with the task as you said. I will prepare just the necessary amount according to the cultivated land size.”
Ghislaine squinted, uneasy about Alfoy’s sudden compliant attitude.
It was a good thing for a laborer in the territory, especially a free slave, to have their realm rise…
But given who they were dealing with, he couldn’t be too glad about it.
However, it was also difficult to confront him about why he was being obedient. Ghislaine reluctantly nodded.
“Uh… right, do it as quickly as you can.”
“I will.”
After assigning the runestone task to the mages, Ghislaine summoned a hundred mercenaries led by Gillian.
Following orders, the fully armed mercenaries mounted their horses, unable to hide their excitement.
The thought of a fight after so long was already making their bodies twitch with anticipation.
As the laborers approached, they tied a large wagon to each of the mercenaries’ horses.
Each wagon had a shovel made of iron tied to it.
One nervous mercenary asked, “Why are we taking the wagons and shovels?”
Ghislaine responded with a look that said, “Why are you asking such an obvious question?”
“Of course, we’re going to dig, right?”
“Where are we going?”
Ghislaine, perched on the front horse, grinned.
“We’re going to the Forest of Monsters.”
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