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**Chapter 8**
The Crown Prince’s eyes flickered with murderous intent.
Yuz knew all too well that this was the pent-up resentment from losing his mother to an unknown illness.
“…As of yet, nothing has been ascertained.”
“Nothing? You’re the captain of the Crown Prince’s personal shadow unit, and you’re telling me there’s information you don’t know?”
“…I apologize.”
Yuz willingly bowed his head to the Crown Prince, who was much younger than himself.
Claudio rejected the apology with disgust.
“Spare me the apology. Instead, I’d like you to thoroughly investigate whether that woman is someone who needs to be eliminated or not.”
“There’s certainly nothing overtly suspicious about her… but so far, she’s adapting well as a new hire at the Proposal Department. She did volunteer for the dangerous outbreak response mission, using the excuse of hiring a chef, claiming she couldn’t let go of the habits from her days as Agorta’s heir.”
“…What? Volunteered? That Agorta bloodline?”
“Yes. She pretended to be pushed by financial concerns, but… volunteering for a Class 1 hazard mission just to hire a chef for her home is hardly a logical move.”
Claudio had also heard about the outbreak in Morphe Village.
“How peculiar… A former Agorta member willingly risking herself to serve the Empire?”
“I found it hard to believe myself, but… on the surface, Miss Beatrice seems to be a diligent worker.”
“She could be putting up a front while scheming something behind the scenes.”
Claudio did not trust the Agorta bloodline. Those who had reached the pinnacle of dark magic by any means necessary were nothing less than monsters—neither more nor less.
‘Even the fact that she saved me that night might have been part of a meticulous plan.’
If she had only recognized the Crown Prince’s face, it was a plausible scenario. Even if she had been cast out, Agorta was still Agorta. As the saying goes, blood is thicker than water—the exiled direct heir of Agorta might have decided to earn merit and return to her biological mother’s good graces.
“Yuz, keep watching her. Find out whether her volunteering stems from ulterior motives.”
“Understood, my liege.”
“If she dares to pull any tricks—such as spreading the outbreak elsewhere… you will personally dispose of her, making it look like an accident.”
“Yes.”
Having received his orders, Yuz melted into the shadows to vanish—but then he paused.
“Captain, is something the matter?”
“There was one matter I forgot to mention, so I wished to convey it before I left.”
“What is it?”
“The Proposal Department employees volunteering for this mission have made a demand: in exchange for taking on this mission, should they return safely, they want triple the performance bonus and generous dispatch subsidies.”
“…Ha! Figures.”
Agorta never takes a loss.
Even if the opponent is the Imperial Household.
“Did the former heir of Agorta herself say that?”
“No. However, though I’m not certain, she appeared to have sent a subordinate named Kiara to deliver the demands on her behalf.”
“Just like an Agorta bloodline, enjoying pulling strings from behind the scenes. Very well, you may go now.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Once Yuz departed, Claudio lit a cigar and exhaled a puff of smoke.
“Beatrice, Agorta, huh…”
What on earth was she plotting?
Even if she was his savior, an enemy was still an enemy.
Agorta was someone who must always be watched with the highest vigilance.
‘Mother’s only keepsake… perhaps I’ll never find it.’
Claudio laughed bitterly, assuming it had already been sold and that shaking down all the fences in the capital would be the easier approach.
“Why must precious things disappear so quickly…”
Claudio murmured, fingering his empty neck.
“I miss that child.”
In the unfathomably dark Agorta, there was a child he had thought of as the only white snow.
The luck that child had given him was enclosed in Claudio’s lost golden locket.
‘That precious locket, which I must never lose, has fallen into the hands of a former Agorta heir…’
A feeling of disgust crept over him, as if bugs were crawling all over his body. He wanted to seize that woman Beatrice right now and force her to reveal her schemes, but without solid evidence, he could not act.
“I’ll have to trust Captain Yuz and wait.”
Yuz Millen was not a man who handled matters carelessly. He would surely observe Beatrice Agorta’s every move closely and gather proof.
‘I’ll move on my own as well, though.’
Claudio pressed a button on the magical artifact in his hood pouch.
In the blink of an eye—as if no one had ever been there—only a desolate wind blew through the spot.
—
As soon as the meeting with Manager Yuz ended, our dispatch team, including myself, headed to the magic supply street.
It was thanks to Manager Yuz’s swift action.
It was good that we secured the funding quickly.
‘But something feels off…’
That Yuz guy was especially cold when he was giving me money, wasn’t he?
“I hope you won’t do anything foolish like using the subsidy to satisfy your personal greed, Miss Beatrice.”
I didn’t do anything wrong!
As I fumed under his gaze, which looked at me like a tax thief—
“Protective suits, protective suits!”
“I need disinfectant!”
“And tents and sleeping bags for the base camp…!”
Kiara, Thomas, and Perry were busy buying survival gear.
In the meantime, I leisurely made my way to the herb shop I had frequented during alchemy and potion-making classes.
“Grandma, I’m here.”
“Riche? Is that you?”
The elderly shopkeeper welcomed me warmly.
I set down my bag as if it were second nature, pulled out the herb list I had written, and handed it to her.
“What’s this?”
“A list of herbs I need to buy here. You can get all of these, right?”
The shopkeeper put on her magnifying glasses and carefully reviewed the list, then gasped in surprise.
“These are ingredients for a magic potion that suppresses rampage! What do you need this for?”
What else, the outbreak.
“I have my… uses for it.”
When I casually dodged the question, the old shopkeeper’s eyes grew even sharper as she scrutinized me.
“Are you going off to hunt monsters or something? Otherwise, there’s no reason you’d need rampage-suppression potion ingredients…”
“Come on, Grandma. What monsters are there in this day and age? If there were any, that’d be a huge problem, wouldn’t it?”
“I suppose that’s true…”
“I’m just following orders from my superiors to prepare it.”
Manager Yuz, I’ll be using you as an excuse. Not sorry about it.
“Give me all the potion ingredients you have here. I’ll pay in full upfront.”
When I quietly slid a check across the counter, she seemed to have no further questions and obediently handed over the rampage-suppression potion ingredients.
“Here you go. Blue dandelion root, spring dormouse fur, mandrake fruit, syrup made by simmering fairy tree sap with honey, chamomile tea leaves, and acacia honey. That comes to 30 gold total.”
A large bundle filled with ingredients was pushed in front of me.
Rampage-suppression potion ingredients were mostly common herbs with deceptively complicated names, so acquiring them wasn’t difficult.
“Thank you.”
I was about to stuff the ingredient bundles into my dedicated potion subspace bag and leave the shop when—
“Wait!”
The shopkeeper came running over, panting, and slipped something into my pocket.
“What’s this?”
“A mana-boosting potion mixed with ground mana crystals, and a gun loaded with mana bullets.”
“…Why are you giving me these?”
“Take them. You’re a longtime regular, so consider it a service. They’re cheap, disposable items, so don’t feel pressured—just accept them.”
No matter how cheap she claimed they were, these were surely more expensive than the herbs I’d just bought.
I almost teared up at her kindness.
“…Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. Just come back and buy more next time.”
It was a typical merchant’s line, but today, I couldn’t just let it slide.
“The rampage-suppression potion ingredients I just bought—Grandma, please buy up all the stock available on the market. Put it under the name ‘Kiara Valet of the Proposal Department,’ and I’ll come by soon to settle the payment.”
Because after we return successfully from the dispatch, the prices will skyrocket.
Kind-hearted people should be rewarded, don’t you think?
—
After finishing our shopping in a short time, we headed straight to the temple where the portal was installed.
On the way, I sidled up to Kiara as if we were close friends and whispered in her ear.
“Did you buy it, Senior?”
“Ah, yeah. You mean the potion mixer, the tea pot artifact, and the bulk pack of bottled water, right? I bought everything just as you said.”
“Good job.”
Kiara had purchased the crucial equipment needed for potion-making, so the evidence was perfect.
“Don’t forget, Senior. You were the one who knew the potion recipe, and you were the one who instructed me to buy the ingredients.”
“Uh, yeah. Of course.”
“Great.”
I grinned and turned my head—
“Why are you here?”
I locked eyes with the most unlucky bastard.
…So that’s why my luck had been running so good.
