The 29th Episode: "Why? I’m trying to treat you."
“You know what happened to my body.”
Charles didn’t question it and silently pulled Florina closer before rolling up her sleeve. The skin on Florina’s broken arm was popping up like scales.
Charles knew this was the source of Florina’s “unnatural strength.” She had transacted with a being from another world to transform her body.
Come to think of it, Charles hadn’t checked Florina’s status window. He thought he should check it later in the mental world and touched the wound.
The appearance, which usually didn’t manifest, had instantly changed due to an emergency battle. Blushing with embarrassment, Florina couldn’t push Charles’s hand away and was fidgeting.
“Don’t worry.”
“The injury heals quickly…”
Charles examined the injured area. It was shattered as if the scales had been ground off, revealing red-tinted skin. Charles took out a standby ointment he had prepared in his secret library.
It was an exceptional ointment for external injuries, made with tiger cartilage and mermaid gills as the base. He had roughly imitated a potion with the ingredients he collected from an auction house.
Florina turned beet red under Charles’s touch. Ordinarily, she seemed emotionless, but at times like this, she seemed full of emotion.
“It’s a relief that you’re here.”
“Hurry up and go shower.”
Florina hurriedly pushed Charles, who was covered in blood, to wash up. When the mansion became busy in the morning, he quickly went to take a shower.
Watching the place where Charles was showering with relief, Florina fetched his clothes.
‘Still, I hope such danger doesn’t come to Charles anymore. The people of the cult need to develop some more strength to protect themselves. Even if I’m not around.’
Florina decided to suggest a way for the cult members to gain strength to Charles. Although not all, the key individuals who would protect the cult needed to possess combat power.
Yet, a part of her heart wished to be alone with Charles even if it meant abandoning the entire cult. If all of humanity died, Charles would only look at her…
A bizarre delusion emerged, but it vanished when the sound of the shower hit Florina’s ears. Her madness still slept deep within the abyss.
Professor Carlton opened a bottle of wine in the morning. It was a wine made with foreign Sangiovese grapes. It was an old wine he had cherished and kept.
“Indeed, when it comes to wine, it’s the Kingdom of Italy. Don’t you think so?”
“Haha. Metrople wine isn’t bad either.”
The reason for opening such a high-grade wine, and that too in the morning, was due to an important guest. Before him sat a man.
The man looked very young and had exotic skin. A unique seal on his forehead emphasized his absolute beauty. Anyone would think this youthful-looking man was in his 40s.
Jerome Motion, a famous surgeon and a high-ranking member of the Dark Saints faction ‘Shambhala.’ Also, he was the one who had brought him into the Dark Saints.
The guest, who arrived at this early hour, almost made him angry at first, but realizing it was an honored person, he accepted him humbly.
“1890? You’re bringing out such a rare vintage; I’m grateful.”
“Please, help yourself.”
Both were considerable wine enthusiasts. They often enjoyed wine together and had a hobby of discussing and savoring wine itself. Jerome took a sip of the red wine and said,
“The fruit flavor is solid.”
“The mineral feeling flows over it, and the balanced acidity is excellent despite the heavy tannins.”
“It’s a very good wine.”
Jerome smiled appreciatively as he swallowed the wine. Life and death. Joy and pain. And knowing despair and pleasure, Jerome genuinely enjoyed life.
As they chatted for a while about wine, Professor Carlton asked,
“I heard you lost a magic book last time.”
“Ah, you mean the Book of Aranea.”
“Yes. It seems there were various incidents within the university. According to my familiar’s report, someone used the Book of Aranea to summon Aracne from another world. It appears Dr. Drake killed the Aracne with a shotgun. After that, the whereabouts of the Book of Aranea became unknown.”
“Do not worry about the Book of Aranea. It was intentional.”
“What?”
“I gave the Book of Aranea to a man to see if he could overcome his fate. However, he failed to overcome it.”
Professor Carlton slightly frowned, feeling offended.
“At least, I thought Mistweaver University was my domain.”
“It’s not that I didn’t trust you. It’s because of my curiosity. I hoped the boy, who had suffered from others, would overcome himself, but after all, it couldn’t happen.”
Jerome quietly savored the wine and looked at Professor Carlton with an unchanged expression. Carlton felt a strange feeling and a shiver at once as he met his gaze.
Knowing what this seemingly ordinary man had done over time, Professor Carlton changed the topic in a polite tone, as if he had never been offended. There was no need to provoke him further.
“What business brings you here today? Visiting so early in the morning.”
“Ah, yes. I lost track of time talking. Last night, the Fragmented Salvation Society was annihilated.”
“……Annihilated?”
“Yes, annihilated. Though there are a few survivors, they won’t form a significant force. I had no idea, but I learned it from the one who told me. The Nameless Church seems to have wiped them out. The Metropolitan Times should have reported it as a mass disappearance of city people.”
Jerome added that all the members of the Fragmented Salvation Society, who led ordinary lives, were dead.
