Rebirth of the 8th-Circle Mage-Chapter 128: Rats of Salgaera (2)

A couple days passed.

During that time, Henry did not set foot outside Salgaera and devoted all his energy to the development of the new drug. The results were as expected.

“Heee…”

“Even if I leave the door open, he has no intention of escaping.”

Aubert had become addicted to dozens of drugs, eventually turning into a half-conscious cripple.

His condition was serious. Aubert would never leave his cell now because he needed the drug that they threw in regularly.

Torian looked at Aubert with disgust, but it wasn’t disgust for a fellow human. Rather, it was the kind of disgust one felt when looking at the carcass of an animal or a nasty insect.

That was how far Aubert’s dignity had fallen.

Henry showed up at the cell and asked, “How’s he doing?”

“He’s still the same. He’s lost his mind about halfway and the symptoms of withdrawal are getting worse… He’s relatively quiet right now, maybe because he just took the drug.”

“I see. It won’t be good if he dies like this… I’ll have to do something about this. Sir Torian, can you excuse us for a moment?”

“Alright. If there’s anything you need, please call me.”

Torian left the sick Aubert in the cell with Henry, who looked at Aubert coldly.

“Hehehe…”

Aubert had even less hair than before. Age spots and wrinkles covered his face. His rapid aging and malnourished condition left some of his teeth loose, and saliva dripped like spider silk from his half-open mouth.

Henry looked at Aubert in silence for a while.

He then shook his head and said, “You and I… We’re so unforgiving. At this point, I thought I’d at least feel some sympathy…”

Henry didn’t continue, feeling bitter that he couldn’t feel the least sympathy for someone as wretched as Aubert.

Sympathy and humanity.

After Henry decided to go on his path of revenge, he had given up on feelings like love, which he had so much of in his previous life. If he didn’t leave these feelings buried in his heart, he would repeat the mistakes of his previous life again.

‘I swore to never repeat those mistakes again.’

His feelings, his conscience, his objectivity, and sense of fairness, he had lost a lot of his comrades.

This was why Henry had had no choice but to drink that deadly poison and face death despite possessing the tremendous power of an 8th Circle Archmage.

Clank.

Henry took out a dagger about the size of a hand, and without a moment of hesitation, he stabbed Aubert’s thigh.

Shunk!

“...”

Henry's strike had a lot of power behind it, but Aubert didn’t move at all.

Henry looked straight into Aubert’s eyes and twisted the dagger, but in spite of this, Aubert showed no signs of distress.

‘He’s completely lost his mind.’

Aubert had just taken the drug but in the same situation before, he would still flinch. Now, he was completely gone to the point that he couldn’t even feel pain.

Pft! Clank!

Henry pulled out his dagger and threw it on the floor.

“Halt.”

He temporarily stopped the bleeding by casting Halt on the bleeding wound. Then, he took out a small, glowing pink potion and poured it into Aubert’s mouth.

Gulp gulp.

Aubert’s throat moved twice, and in the next moment, the knife wound disappeared.

“H-huh…?”

Aubert’s unfocused eyes returned to normal.

Henry had fed Aubert a mixture of an antidote and an intermediate-level healing potion. The two potions couldn’t fully cure Aubert’s drug addiction, but that was exactly what Henry wanted.

“Y-you’re..!”

When the effects of the drugs went away, Aubert regained his reason. Only then did he notice Henry in front of him.

“W-who are you…!”

Aubert didn’t recognize Henry, because he’d only confronted Eisen before. Even when taking the letter, Henry had been deliberately silhouetted against the light so Aubert couldn’t see his face.

Gulp.

Henry’s pale skin, black hair, and green eyes. His elegant appearance made Aubert wonder about his origins. However, Aubert was also from the Three Great Families. The evil nature in the depths of his heart once more showed up in his vicious gaze.

However, Henry just smirked, because Aubert was only a toothless tiger that was little more than a cornered mouse, even if it put on a fierce gaze. The mark of the traitor on his forehead made him look even more pathetic. Not wanting Henry to find out that he was afraid, Aubert yelled again, “I asked who you are!”

Instead of answering, Henry took out a small wooden box.

“...!”

That wooden box was very familiar to Aubert. It was the box where the cigarettes were kpet.

Gulp.

Ingrained habits were a terrifying thing. As soon as Aubert recognized the wooden box, his whole body trembled again.

Henry opened the wooden box without a word. Inside, there were ten cigarettes.

Gulp.

Aubert's pupils dilated and his heart raced.

He wanted to shove the cigarettes into his mouth right away.

In the end, Aubert was unable to take the pain of withdrawal. He instinctively threw himself at Henry’s box.

“...!”

At least, he tried to, but almost at the same time that he lost his temper, Aubert realized that he couldn't move his body at all.

‘W-what the hell…!’

The Halt spell that Henry had cast to stop Aubert's bleeding was still in place. Henry hadn’t released the spell even though there was no more blood.

‘H-how…!’

However, there was no way for Aubert to understand why he couldn't move. All he could do was wonder if there was something wrong with him.

Aubert drooled. His muscles were stiff, and he couldn’t help yearning for the cigarettes.

Henry picked up a cigarette and siad, “Do you want this?”

“H-hurry! Hurry up and give it to me! Hurry!”

The Hold spell only worked from the neck down since Henry had to give him the antidote. This allowed Aubert to speak freely.

Henry silently broke the cigarette in his hand.

As if his own arm had broken, Aubert screamed at the top of his lungs, his face flushed.

“N-noooo!”

Henry continued with an expressionless face.

“The cigarettes in this box are the last ones I can give you.”

“What…? Y-you…! What did you just say?!”

Crack.

“Noooooo!”

At Aubert’s arrogant reply, Henry broke another cigarette.

“From now on, if you raise your voice or refuse to answer my questions, I will break one cigarette. I’ll start asking the questions now.”

As if the blood vessels in his eyes were about to burst, Aubert glared at Henry, but he no longer dared to cross the line.

Henry took out a letter with a satisfied look.

“What is the thing that Alfred wants from you?”

“T-thats…!”

Henry had just taken out the last letter that Aubert had entrusted to the guard a long time ago in exchange for all of his remaining assets.

Aubert felt chills running down his spine and blood draining from his whole body.

However, Henry didn’t care. He picked up another cigarette and broke it in front of Aubert's eyes.

Crack!

“Don’t make me ask you twice.”

It was a blunt threat.

All the blood vessels in Aubert’s eyes burst in an instant and his eyes turned red like maple leaves changing color. When his desire for the cigarettes took over, his mind quickly worked at an amazing speed, straightening out the situation and making him understand where he stood.

“...”

There was a moment of silence.

Henry reacted to the silence.

Crack!

“W-w-wait!”

There were only six cigarettes left.

Tears started to fall from Aubert’s eyes.

“I-it’s an egg.”

“An egg?”

“Y-yeah…! I’m sure it was called the Egg of Evolution.”

‘Egg of Evolution?’

What was the Egg of Evolution? Henry had never heard of it before.

“Explain in detail.”

Another blunt question.

Aubert held back his tears, hating himself for giving in to his cravings and abandoning his last hope for six cigarettes.

“...I happened to get the egg because one of my subordinates gave it to me as a bribe along with other treasures to impress me.”

His story was simple. The egg was a kind of evolutionary key that allowed a spirit to evolve into a higher being.

“But how do you know that it is an Egg of Evolution?” asked Henry.

“At the time, an Etherwether family spiritualist happened to be in the mansion and the spirit of the spiritualist found the egg buried among the gold and silver treasures.”

‘I see.’

The spirit had probably reacted the same way as Elagon did.

If a spiritualist who worked under Alfred had told Aubert what the egg was, then it was probably true.

“How do you use it?”

“I don’t know.”

Crack.

Henry didn’t hesitate and immediately broke another cigarette.

“I-I really don’t know! Stop! Stopppp!”

Aubert cried out like a madman as he saw Henry cruelly breaking his cigarettes.

Henry nodded at Aubert’s response.

‘I guess since he’s not a spiritualist, he was more interested in the value of the egg rather than how to use it.’

Still, there was no harm in confirming since Aubert had been a brilliant strategist.

‘Egg of Evolution, huh…’

An egg from another world that could raise the rank of a spirit.

Henry had never thought that the egg that looked like obsidian would be of such great value that even Alfred would want it.

It will make a great bait.’

Henry was glad that he hadn't delivered the letter. Otherwise, Alfred might have really gone to Salgaera for the egg.

‘The only thing left is…’

The question in one letter had been resolved. Henry took out the last letter that Aubert had intended to send to Arthus.