The Reincarnated Martial God Brings Down the Heavens

Chapter 143 – Marquis Laksir (1)

“How much do you know about my teacher?”

Nella asked.

“He founded an organization called the Poison Palace under the Emperor, and worked there for ten years. However, all of that was an effort to help the Great Hero’s daughter escape.”

I relayed what I had heard from Narakas. At the same time, Nella silently nodded.

“You know about the past. But the important part is what happened afterward.”

“Where is he now?”

“Before talking about his whereabouts……”

Nella adjusted her glasses that had slipped down her nose.

“Give it to me, too.”

“What?”

“Trust.”

Since she had completed May’s cure as promised, she was asking for me to trust her in the same way.

“I need to know if you’re truly capable of handling the truth, and whether you can truly be called the Great Hero’s disciple.”

“It won’t hurt to listen.”

“It’s a simple request. Just catch one person.”

At the same time, my body stiffened slightly. Even Narakas, who had been listening nearby, raised his eyebrows.

It was such an unexpected request.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

“Catch someone? Who?”

“That person is a poison master and pharmacist who once worked with my teacher at the Poison Palace. I also heard that he’s currently in the capital of the Hart Kingdom.”

From there, Nella’s story continued for a while.

The Poison Palace had many employees.

As an organization under the direct control of the royal palace, its scale needed no further explanation.

However, one of them had stolen a valuable medicinal ingredient. It was essentially embezzlement.

“That person had skills and a good reputation around him. He was even quite favored by my teacher. Until he committed that damned crime……”

“It must have caused an uproar in the palace.”

Nella nodded with a stern face.

“It was more than just an uproar. My teacher had a particularly hard time.”

He was the head of the Poison Palace.

As such, he was responsible for anything that happened within the organization. Because he was in charge of managing who had access to the medicinal storage.

“I see that antisocial poison master, who’s always had no eye for people, was put in a position beyond his ability.”

“Exactly! My teacher was someone that got ripped off routinely. If it weren’t for the Great Hero’s daughter, he wouldn’t have even been given that position……”

Nella trailed off.

And as if sensing something strange, she tilted her head repeatedly.

“……Wait a minute. But you speak as if you know the Master very well?”

I immediately changed the subject.

“So? What happened after that?”

At the same time, Nella’s face grew grim.

“Honestly, it would have been better if he had stolen an expensive but abundant medicinal ingredient, but he chose the rarest one to escape with. A treasure with only three roots left.”

“Of course. The rarer something is, the more expensive it is. After all, that’s the law of supply and demand, isn’t it?”

If you’re going to embezzle, it’s best to take the most expensive one. After all, you’ll become a criminal after that either way.

“Because of that, someone who was suffering from a rare disease couldn’t receive timely treatment. As you know, poison and medicine are two sides of the same coin.”

“So, who is that person?”

“They’re like a second parent to me.”

Nella answered without hesitation. She was an orphan. If someone like her called them ‘parents’……

“Your guess is correct. My teacher was the one who couldn’t receive treatment.”

“……!”

“Didn’t you find it odd? Why I knew so well how to treat Lady May, and why I could make the medicine so quickly.”

The pieces of the puzzle were beginning to fall into place.

“For a long time, we had been researching to cure my teacher’s ‘dwarfism’. The research was in its final stages.”

“……I see.”

“There was no time. Just like Lady May, my teacher’s health was slowly deteriorating.”

Suddenly, a thought flashed in my mind like a lightning bolt.

“Could that ingredient be……?”

“Yes. It’s the Panella you brought this time.”

“……”

Having obtained it myself, I understood.

Considering the difficulty, there must have been significant issues with supply even back then.

“Even the royal palace couldn’t be told about the embezzlement. As I said, everything that happened in the Poison Palace was my teacher’s responsibility. They covered it up by saying it was just a new poison experiment gone wrong.”

“Did they get away with it?”

“No. Somehow, the Emperor, that bastard, found out about everything, and he was even harsher in his punishment. He even gave my teacher an unbearable insult.”

“What kind of insult?”

“He called him a fool who couldn’t even manage his subordinates in front of the nobles…… It was a total disgrace.”

“……”

Remembering that, Nella’s face turned bright red with fury.

“If it’s not going well, you can just kill him. He’s worthless anyway.”

“Alright. That’s enough.”

I nodded.

“Describe his appearance in detail. I’ll decide whether to kill him or not after I catch him.”

It was after Nella had completely left the mansion.

“You heard everything, right?”

I asked, and Narakas shrugged his shoulders.

“I knew you’d ask, so I already had the kids investigate.”

At that, a satisfied smile appeared on my lips.

“This is why it’s convenient to have smart friends around.”

“Friend……”

Narakas, who had been muttering my words for a moment, suddenly let out a soft laugh.

“I didn’t know ‘friend’ could be such a pleasant word.”

“If you think so, I’m grateful.”

“By the way, what will you do if the person you’re looking for is already affiliated with a certain family?”

“Hm……”

I momentarily placed my hand on my chin, lost in thought. This was a problem I hadn’t considered yet.

“A skilled poison master is valuable in and of itself. Especially if they have such extensive knowledge from working in the Imperial Palace, all the influential figures would definitely covet them.”

“Before that, I have a question.”

“A question?”

“Why did the Emperor leave such a person alone?”

“……!”

Only then did Narakas’ eyes widen. From Nella’s story, it was clear the Emperor knew about the embezzlement.

“Are you saying that the criminal who stole from the Imperial Palace was just left alone and not arrested?”

“……Are you suspecting that the Emperor intentionally set up this situation?”

That’s exactly what I was thinking.

If Raven wasn’t a traitor, but just a temporary business partner, he would have been an eyesore to the Emperor anyway.

“Well, I guess we’ll find out once we catch him and interrogate him, right? Your way, of course.”

I immediately nodded.

“That’s true.”

“If he’s affiliated with a family, that family probably worked hard to cover up his past and give him a new identity.”

This sounded very familiar.

“……Why are you looking at me like that?”

Naturally, I turned my gaze to Erina, the lunatic, who frowned at me. At the same time, I shrugged my shoulders and looked back at Narakas.

“So, do you think you can find him?”

Narakas flashed a sly smile.

“You’re in luck. You’ve got Narakas, the best in this field, as your friend.”

A smile of appreciation spread across my face.

“What a reliable friend I have.”

***

After finishing everything I needed to do, I headed straight to the heart of the city

I was going to meet with the kids. At the same time, the conversation I had earlier with Jan came to mind.

“I’m going to check around the heart of the city, with some others.”

“Are you planning to stay at an inn? It’d be better to stay here.”

“If it’s a place to stay, we also have the mansion of Count Arsene. More importantly, even though he’s your friend, Marquis Milon is still a difficult person for us.”

“So, what are you going to do there?”

“I’m thinking of picking people out.”

“People……?”

Jan silently nodded in response to my question.

“Even with the watchtowers we’re building in the North, we can’t cover the vast land with just Verdant Vale. Eventually, the knights from the Duke of Herman’s family will have to return to their own family.”

The unexpected voice continued.

“As your territory develops, you’re going to need a lot of people. So, I’m going ahead to pick them out.”

“Hmm……”

“You don’t need to worry too much. I don’t overly trust my own judgment either. Fortunately, the talent manager from the main house has been sent. We’re just helping out. The final decision will be yours, since it’s your territory.”

I didn’t notice at first, but the more I interacted with him, the more I realized how capable he was.

‘He’s already fit to lead a family, isn’t he?’

I looked at Jan with a feeling of admiration.

“When did you think of all this?”

“I have to repay my debt.”

“Oh~ A debt.”

“Hmph.”

Jan quickly walked away after letting out a small chuckle, as if he was embarrassed by his own words.

That was what he had said.

However,

“What’s going on here?”

Back in the present, the scene in front of my eyes was unexpected.

“Who said you could do business here?”

“Business? Is gathering people considered business?”

“It’s definitely business. People business.”

Some familiar faces, Jan included, were surrounded by a group of people.

“And there’s a thing called business ethics. This is our area for recruiting talent.”

“……We’re just paying the proper fee to the palace and posting an advertisement on the city board.”

“Really? Then you should pay us too.”

They were clearly picking a fight.

“By the way, the fee is 100,000 gold.”

“Hahaha!”

Laughter erupted from all directions. It meant they were all in on it. Because it was such an unreasonable fee.

“If you don’t have the money, you beggars better get out of here. This isn’t a place for some baron’s family to walk around.”

Narakas, who had been watching this from the side, quietly whispered to me.

“They’re the knights from the Laksir March.”

“……”

Their toxicity didn’t end there.

On the other side.

[Laksir March, Recruiting Talent]

They were proudly pinning a message of their own, as if out of ridicule.

I couldn’t help but think that they didn’t really need to go this far. Objectively, we were a newly titled baron family.

And our future domain was the notorious Black Swan, known as the land of death. This was a fight already in their favor, but resorting to such disgraceful acts was……

“They’re openly trying to provoke me.”

At that moment.

“Lord Narakas.”

A masked figure, who had appeared out of nowhere, quietly whispered to Narakas.

At the same time, his eyes lit up.

“……That’s him.”

“Huh?”

“The one with the green hair, putting up the post. He’s the one who embezzled from the Poison Palace.”

“……”

A slight smile appeared on my lips. Was this what they called ‘killing two birds with one stone’?

“So…… Those bastards are begging me to kill them, right?”

Without another word, I took a confident step forward.

“Good, they’ve saved me the trouble of finding him.”

* * *