Chapter 38. It Was Dragon's Blood.

It didn't take long for the Arachne to stop rushing at us.

There was only one superior individual, the one I had killed, and the rest were small fry.

“It seems the surroundings are mostly cleared up.”

The Arachne Queen's lie made my teeth chatter.

What did she mean there were only a few?

There were over dozens of them.

Just the sheer number of them was tiring.

I wasn't in danger from the likes of normal Arachne, but the wasted time and energy were a shame.

“Let's move.”

In any case, I could now calmly investigate the incredibly suspicious green light.

I had come this far, so I had to do what needed to be done.

“Phew- I'm dead tired. Let's rest for a bit.”

Pol whined.

Around him, a multitude of dead Arachne were scattered about.

At least he wasn't just putting on a show after slacking off.

“Then get some rest. I'll go check that out.”

“Hey. If you say it like that, it makes me feel like I have to go with you.”

I told him to rest because he said he wanted to, but he shot up and followed me.

Then how was I supposed to say it?

Is this how kids talk these days?

Anyway, at least it didn't seem like he didn't even have the strength to walk.

I let Pol follow on his own and took the crystal out of my pocket again.

“Hey. Queen. Are you still out of it?”

[……No. I am not. If you have something to ask, ask away. I will answer whatever I can to the best of my knowledge.]

After the superior individual, her last hope, was defeated, the Queen had become docile again.

It was going to turn out like this anyway.

Wouldn't it have been nice if she had been cooperative from the start?

“Do you know what that green stuff is?”

[Food.]

“Specifically? There are many kinds of food. Is it a plant, an animal, or could it be a monster.”

[I don't know.]

It was a truly honest answer.

She just ate it because it was in front of her, without even knowing what it was?

The senses of monsters were truly difficult to understand.

Before I knew it, we had reached the front of the green light.

Looking closely, I saw that the light was emanating from a pit about one meter in diameter.

Like the floor, it was a structure with a strong artificial feel.

What was emitting the light was something that filled the pit.

The surface level was quite low, so I extended my sword and touched it lightly, discovering that it was a viscous liquid.

Since the Arachne had lived by eating this, I wondered if the pit was originally full of the liquid.

“Isn't this- Yonghyeol (Dragon's Blood)?”

Pol said after staring at the green, glowing liquid for a while.

“Yonghyeol? As in, a dragon's blood?”

“It's just named that, it's not real dragon's blood. It's a substance sometimes found in the nests of monsters. From what I've heard, it's usually just a few drops dripping from between rocks, but this is an incredible amount.”

Pol continued his explanation, sounding impressed.

A green liquid related to monsters was enough to bring to mind the blood of monsters.

On top of that, dragons were the representative of powerful monsters, so it would have been a good name to attach to a special substance.

“It's toxic to humans and normal creatures, but I've heard it's a great nutritional meal for monsters. They can survive for a long time by consuming an extremely small amount, and it even has the function of promoting evolution into a superior individual.”

It glows, it's toxic, it's high in calories, and it even causes mutations?

This is completely…… isn't this a radioactive substance?

I took a slight step back, feeling uneasy.

It might be a little different in reality, but just in case.

“This is too blatant.”

A substance that is normally found only in small quantities was filling up a pit that looked artificial from any angle.

It was something that could not happen by chance.

The objective was also clear.

“Sufficient space and food. It's an environment sufficient for Arachne to breed. And since Arachne have the characteristic of evolving into superior individuals when their numbers increase-”

With the added effect of the Yonghyeol, it was a setup where superior individuals or a queen of the Arachne would quickly emerge as their numbers increased.

And- even after the queen was born, there was still a lot of Yonghyeol left.

If they had calculated for it to evolve one step further over time.

‘What did they want?’

Did they just want to see the evolution of the Arachne Queen?

Like a mad scientist?

No.

If so, they would have tried to observe the process.

There was no sign of any effort for observation in this underground space.

They had only set up the minimum conditions to increase the number of Arachne.

Then, after an extremely dangerous monster was created from the Arachne?

The Yonghyeol was not infinite.

When the food eventually ran out, how would the creature have acted?

‘Did they intend for the monster to come out and run rampant?’

If Simon hadn't been around, even the Arachne Queen would have been a disaster that couldn't be handled.

If a monster evolved from the Arachne Queen had emerged, the surrounding residents would not have been able to avoid being annihilated.

But unless they took pleasure in people dying, why would they do such a thing?

“Tsk.”

It was all just speculation.

There was too little evidence.

Only one thing was certain.

Whatever their final objective was, they were not sane to have tried to artificially create such a perilous monster.

Moreover, the fact that they had secured a large amount of Yonghyeol, a relatively rare substance, meant they were that capable.

‘So capable lunatics are operating in the shadows.’

The state of the Empire was a real mess.

First the Emperor gets assassinated, and then in a place not far from the Imperial Capital, this kind of bioterrorism…….

“……Wait a minute.”

I frowned at a hypothesis that suddenly occurred to me.

There weren't many similarities between the two incidents.

But, there weren't few, either.

An extreme means to deal a blow to the Empire.

A difficult task that not just anyone could attempt.

And, what bothered me the most was- the absence of ‘management work’.

Even though I, who was supposed to die in Luke's place after he assassinated the Emperor, had escaped, there was no reaction to clean up the mess, and there wasn't even anyone monitoring the cave filled with Arachne.

I didn't sense any obsession.

It didn't seem like a critical project that absolutely had to succeed, but rather something that would be nice if it succeeded and just a shame if it failed.

Even though, considering the scale of the work they had set up, the resources invested must have been substantial.

‘It's unexplainable unless they are proceeding with several projects of a similar scale at the same time.’

How many entities were hostile to the Empire and could cause several incidents of this magnitude?

If there were several, was there any reason for them not to cooperate?

Even if the stems had spread out in various places, they were likely connected by a single root in the end.

“Pfft. Pft.”

“Brother? W-why are you suddenly like this?”

“Puhahahahaha!”

I couldn't hold back my laughter.

To have indirectly come into contact with Luke Ivers in a place like this.

And-

The Arachne Queen had died without being able to evolve.

One of the plans of Luke's gang had been ruined.

‘No matter how many schemes they have set up, a failure won't be completely without impact.’

Schemes to shake the Empire will continue to erupt in the future.

If the plans continue to fail, that bastard Luke will also be in a difficult position.

“I'm in a situation where the emperor's killer, who's being chased by the Empire, has to cheer for the Empire. How can I not laugh?”

Life is just this ironic.

* * *

“Luke.”

At the low voice that called out to him, the young man raised his head.

Jet-black hair and eyes.

A figure that seemed to be cloaked in shadow even under a bright light.

The one who had spoken was a middle-aged man with graying white hair.

His neatly trimmed beard seemed to represent his personality.

“Have you adapted to the new body?”

“To some extent.”

Luke answered with eyes that felt devoid of life.

Despite the clear difference in their ages, there was no sign of him being polite.

The middle-aged man, too, did not take issue with Luke's attitude.

He gave a light nod and continued.

“Let me know when you've recovered enough to go on a mission. I will prepare a mission for you.”

“You work people hard.”

“Think of it as the fate of the competent. Others can do your work for you, but no one else can do your work for you.”

For example, the assassination of the Emperor.

It was a plan that could not have been executed if not for Luke.

Of course, after Luke assassinated the Emperor, he couldn't find a way to escape without being caught by the Sword Saint, so in the end, he had to use the extreme method of switching bodies.

“Is there another person who needs to be killed?”

Luke's role was the sword.

By succeeding in assassinating the Emperor, who was the most thoroughly protected person in the Empire, he had proven that no one could escape his sword.

If he willed it, no one could escape the tip of Luke's sword.

“There are always plenty of people who need to be killed.”

The middle-aged man chuckled at Luke's question.

It was a story that was nothing new.

Was it possible for the world to run out of people who needed to be killed?

Could it ever happen, even for a single moment?

Even at this very moment, someone was committing a new wrong, and among them, there must be a great sin for which they must die.

Like weeds that grow back as soon as you turn around, even if you pull them out one by one.

“If I were you, I would ask, ‘Is there anyone who cannot be killed?’”

The work entrusted to Luke was work that only Luke could do.

What Luke had to kill was a person that no one else could kill.

“……Right. Is there anyone who cannot be killed?”

“Unfortunately, there are several. That is why I am nagging you so about your recovery, is it not.”

For the wheels of the great cause to turn, a great road is needed, and to build a great road, many trees must be cut down.

The thick, large trees that cannot be cut down by ordinary methods were Luke's share.

“There are setbacks in the plans here and there. It's still within a manageable range- but there's no law that says it will always be so.”

The middle-aged man looked at Luke with cold, sunken eyes.

To disperse the risk, they were proceeding with several plans at the same time, so one or two failures did not affect the overall flow of the plan.

However, that didn't mean there were no problems at all.

Just as the plan would not be ruined by one or two failures, the final goal could not be reached with just one or two successes.

At least 40 percent, or to be generous, about 60 percent of the plans in preparation had to succeed to prevent problems from arising in the next stage of the plan.

Based on recent events, the Emperor's assassination was a success.

And, as if to pair with it, one failure had popped up.

“News has come in that the Arachne were suppressed with almost no damage dealt.”

“Ah. Are you talking about the cave near the Imperial Capital.”

Luke soon realized what the middle-aged man was talking about.

It was not a matter that was completely unrelated to Luke.

Luke had also lent a hand in the plan to utilize the Arachne.

“Yes. There. The place that was set up to grow the Arachne and have them attack the humans on the surface.”

“It's early.”

According to his calculations, it should have gone off at least a month later.

Something must have gone wrong.

“I don't know the reason, but it seems the breeding ground opened too early.”

“The fact that they dealt almost no damage, does that mean even the Arachne Queen failed to evolve?”

It fell far short of the plan's objective, but the Arachne Queen alone should have been a monster capable of devastating a small territory.

“No. A queen was born- but as luck would have it, Simon Liatro was nearby, so she was dealt with anticlimactically.”

“…….”

Luke frowned.

Simon Liatro.

They had the same master, but he had almost no good memories of him.

To think that man had been nearby.

“In any case, if the Arachne came out early, they wouldn't have consumed all the Yonghyeol. If there's any left, I'd like to retrieve it.”

The middle-aged man said with a faint smile.

This was probably what he had wanted to say from the beginning.

He had no regrets about the failure.

However, throwing away resources that could be used for the next attempt was a different story.

Efficiently, what could be recycled should be recycled.

Just like how they were using Luke, even going so far as to put him in another body.

“How about a short trip for recycling.”

At the middle-aged man's suggestion, Luke quietly nodded his head.

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