Chapter 93: The Insides of the Incidents
“It's poison. The inside of the submarine was completely filled with it. As much as could possibly fit within the submarine's capacity. Without a single gap.”
“Poison!?”
“Yes. And it’s a potent poison that can take the lives of river creatures with just a single drop... Salamosa.”
“...!!”
Elwin lowered his voice and said.
“Depicio probably planned to release the poison, filled to the brim in the submarine, into the waters of Nevera Valley.”
“Good heavens...!!”
“Shit. They’re completely insane!”
The audience was plunged into shock. The gravity of the situation seemed to cling to their throats. Words failed them.
“Salamosa?!”
After a moment of silence, the first person to react was Gale.
Gale shrieked, looking utterly horrified. As a seasoned mercenary, he knew just how terrible the effects of the poison called ‘Salamosa’ were.
And he also knew how Salamosa was made.
“If it was enough to fill a submarine... How many people did they kill?!”
Perhaps you know about the poison called ‘Gu Poison’?
First, poisonous creatures like snakes, centipedes, and toads are put into a wide jar.
Thrown together, they soon engage in a desperate struggle, killing each other until only one remains.
That is Gu Poison.
It embodies the venom of everything that was in the jar and the tenacity of surviving until the end.
And... the curse constantly repeated towards the world.
It is born harboring such terrifying malice.
“But Salamosa is a poison incomparably more vicious than such Gu Poison!”
A deadly poison created by substituting ‘humans’ as the ingredients for making Gu Poison. That was Salamosa.
Regardless of age or gender, regardless of whether they were good or evil, regardless of race or status, a group of people are gathered in one place. In a sealed space with no exit.
And the mastermind who forcibly brought them there simply had to say this.
‘Only one person among you will survive.’
Then, just like with Gu Poison, a massacre ensues where they kill each other. A living hell unfolds.
Eventually... the last survivor.
“The poison made by capturing that final survivor and ‘grinding’ them alive. That’s Salamosa.”
“I’ve heard of it too. Depending on the purpose, they grind them in a crusher or melt them in a hot furnace...”
Gale nodded heavily at Sercia’s words.
“A colorless, odorless deadly poison. What’s even scarier is that its effects manifest even if the victim doesn't ingest it... just by touching the skin. Allowing for secret, undetected assassinations.”
Salamosa wasn't the absolute worst poison like Soul Poison, which annihilated even the circulating soul... but.
It caused the poisoned person to flail in extreme agony until the very moment their life ended.
“Wait a minute... was I about to die?!”
Gale’s face turned pale as he recalled jumping around on top of the submarine filled with Salamosa.
Due to the unexpected launch of the submarine, he had inadvertently drunk enough water to burst his stomach, which he had considered misfortune until now... but it turned out to be luck! Unexpected luck!
“If I had slipped and fallen into the submarine... Ugh!”
Elwin thought.
‘Troublemaker and Man of Misfortune. Gale’s two traits manifested simultaneously.’
In fact, that was precisely why Elwin hadn't reprimanded Gale for his impulsive actions in Nevera Valley.
‘If the Troublemaker trait hadn't manifested just then... I wouldn't even have suspected the submarine.’
Suddenly imagining the 'what if', Elwin felt a chilling sensation, as if something had dropped heavily inside him. Just imagining it gave him goosebumps.
Because this was... a clear 'variable' that hadn't appeared in 「LAMPAS」!
‘This didn't happen in the original work. The crazy act of trying to release a large amount of Salamosa into Nevera Valley.’
Nevera Valley was also the water source connected to rivers leading to surrounding countries.
Water transmits quickly. The water mixed with Salamosa would have instantly spread throughout the Northern Continent.
‘Not only Dagnes, Kanga, and Godard, which border Batevil, but it would have flowed into other countries of the Northern Continent as well. Queenzel might have suffered the least damage, perhaps.’
A horrific disaster would surely have occurred. A catastrophe on a scale no different from those caused by the Beastkin King or the Great Witch in the past...
‘I expected it, but they're completely insane.’
Do you know what the scariest type of human in the world is?
It’s a lunatic with conviction.
Such bastards, despite being humans who use the same language, don't speak human language but utter bullshit.
Simply put, you can't reason with them.
Moreover, they stubbornly stand by their pointless tenacity, rejecting even common sense.
Truly the main culprits disrupting the world's order.
“Candela. I need your help.”
The reason they invaded Mediale despite the clear presence of a Top Hunter.
The reason they attempted the malicious act of polluting a clean water source by releasing Salamosa into Nevera Valley.
“You asked earlier. If I give you what you want, what can you receive in return?”
The key to solving this was held only by Candela, the owner of the Unique Magic: ‘Voice of the Earth’.
He was prepared to use force if she turned hostile... but somehow, Candela's attitude was compliant, so there was plenty of room for negotiation.
‘This is good for me.’
Gaining even one competent ally meant Elwin would have one more card to play in the future.
“Nahr.”
“Yes. Present.”
Elwin simply extended his hand behind him while still facing Candela. It was something prepared before coming to the tunnels.
Nahrhan then respectfully handed over a navy-blue briefcase onto it.
“Bringing those children was purely a bonus. The main point is this.”
Elwin held out the briefcase towards her. And gestured elegantly with his chin.
“What is this?”
“Read it.”
Chwarak-
Candela took out the documents from the briefcase and slowly scanned through them. Soon, her ochre eyes widened significantly.
“This is...!”
As she hurriedly looked at Elwin, he said.
“Twice the resources Depicio used to provide. I will provide them free of charge for the next 3 years. And I will do my best to help the Batevil tunnels become self-sufficient.”
“...H-How?”
“Hmm? Don't you know? That a huge incident occurred recently in the Batevil Kingdom.”
Candela, realizing this, shot up from her seat and shouted.
Because the ones at the center of that incident were right in front of her!
“Clover Trade Company...!”
Correct.
“The Clover Trade Company and the Magpie Merchant Group are planning a merger as equal partners. Launching a new entity requires corresponding effort, and merchants always want suppliers who produce good quality.”
Elwin asked cheerfully, as if making casual small talk.
“How about it? The ore mined by the Batevil tunnels?”
“...”
Why was it? At that ordinary question, something seemed to surge up hotly from deep within her.
Candela’s pupils trembled violently at the instant resolution of her troubles.
The feeling of having her solitary ordeal, endured and suppressed alone because she couldn't tell anyone, acknowledged by a benefactor who appeared suddenly one day.
Various emotions floated in her ochre eyes. Guilt, self-reproach, worry, anxiety, despair...
Like a revolving lantern, the days she had struggled to endure flashed vividly before her eyes.
“Hoo.”
But it was a good day. On such days, one should laugh, not cry.
“Naturally, top quality!”
Candela grinned broadly, revealing her sharp fangs.
Because the fruits of her people's hard work were always the best.
* * *
On the way back to the surface using the portal, after hearing information about Depicio from Candela.
“...”
“...”
“...”
The atmosphere surrounding Elwin's group was simply silent.
After hearing Candela’s story, everyone was lost in their own thoughts.
-I already know Depicio’s objective.
Elwin had said.
-Complete conquest of the Batevil Kingdom. And establishing a kingdom solely for non-humans upon it.
-!!!
-...What!?
It's unknown how shocked the listeners were.
Only Jana and Calix, who already knew from stealing Candela's papyrus earlier, could maintain a calm demeanor.
-What I want to know is their motive for action. Why they invaded Mediale, why they tried to release Salamosa into Nevera Valley.
-...Since you already know about that, then things will be quick.
Candela had said.
-Their objective definitely hasn't changed or been altered. It's damn annoying to admit, but those bastards were always pure when it came to their 'cause'.
-Right. Since it's the founding ideology of the organization called Depicio, they probably can't give it up either.
-To think you know even that...!
Candela, slightly impressed, continued.
-Trying to spread poison in Nevera Valley... honestly, I was surprised to hear it too, but knowing those bastards, I believe they have a motive for doing so.
-For what reason?
-That is... to 'keep in check' the Top Hunter of Yellow.
“Sir Lewin.”
Just then, Calix broke the silence.
“What is it? Mr. Calix.”
It was rare for the taciturn man to speak first.
“Do you think what she said earlier is true?”
“Hmm? Which part are you referring to?”
“...The part about committing such a crazy act because of the Top Hunter of Yellow, that person.”
Isn't it difficult to understand from a common-sense perspective?
Invading Mediale, guarded by the Top Hunter of Yellow, to keep the Top Hunter of Yellow in check?
Spreading poison in the Northern Continent's water source because of him, who is commonly known to reside on the central island?
It was utterly illogical.
“No. Candela’s prediction is plausible.”
But Elwin was strongly convinced.
‘All the butterfly effects in this world started from me.’
Therefore, if one sought the cause, it also lay with Elwin himself.
This was something Elwin had anticipated to some extent. He just needed concrete evidence, not mere conjecture.
“The Top Hunter of Black who protects the Northern Continent... Munas Queenzel doesn't intervene unless it's an area she's interested in.”
Put nicely, one could say she was a ruler who advocated for individual freedom without imposing any restrictions or control.
But put badly...
“Indifferent.”
Whether war broke out in the Northern Continent, whether countless people died, she wouldn't get involved.
Because she only needed to fulfill her duties as a Top Hunter.
Extermination of Geoma appearing within the Northern Continent.
‘So the Queenzel Magic Kingdom was cleverly excluded from the poison's range?’
Since Munas Queenzel was the princess and heir of the Queenzel Magic Kingdom.
So that she, angered by the damage to Queenzel, wouldn't attack Depicio.
‘But I am different.’
Five years ago, Elwin induced the full support of the executives and gained the right to roam the world freely.
Therefore, unlike other Top Hunters who were tied to one continent and couldn't leave without special reason, he traveled here and there, undertaking various missions.
‘The fact that Depicio knows that... Is it Gregory Jaeger's doing?’
That man was certainly capable of it.
‘I already placed restrictions on the Hunter Association executives and the Senate, prohibiting them from leaking information about me.’
He couldn't force it upon the Top Hunters, who were his equals, but he could certainly compel the executives and the Senate.
It was a safety measure put in place to prevent Gregory Jaeger, who would become an enemy in the future, as well as any potential defectors.
‘Though he couldn't have revealed my identity anywhere.’
He might have been able to subtly leak the fact that the Top Hunter of Yellow was actually traveling the world undertaking various missions.
Because traces are always left behind as a person moves and lives.
In summary.
“Depicio committed those acts to prevent the Top Hunter of Yellow from interfering at all in the overthrow of the Batevil Kingdom.”
Elwin laughed as if amused.
“In a very clever way.”
He hadn't expected them to resort to political maneuvering.