Chapter 129 - Rats of Salgaera (3)

“T-that’s…!”

As Henry took out Arthus’ letter, Aubert’s face turned pale. It was not surprising to him, however, because he had given Henry two letters.

Henry waved the letter and said, “You know what this is, right?”

“O-of course…! That’s the letter I asked to be delivered to Duke Arthus!”

“That’s right.”

It was great.

There were five cigarettes left.

Henry waved the letter once again and said, “Explain.”

“T-that’s…”

Before spitting out an answer, Aubert closed his eyes tightly.

He looked quite distressed because if he revealed the contents of the letter, it would mean giving up his hope for five cigarettes. However, the withdrawal was far more severe than expected. In the end, Aubert decided to make the trade.

“...What Arthus suggested was a rebellion.”

Aubert no longer called him "Duke Arthus" but just "Arthus."

Hearing this answer, Henry couldn’t help but laugh.

‘Wow, so it is true.’

The word "rebellion," which he hadn't heard in a while, awakened an interesting feeling inside him. If Arthus truly was planning a rebellion, his actions in Shahatra made perfect sense.

‘A rebellion, huh…’

Henry thought about the word "rebellion" over and over. It was absurd and very unpleasant, since Henry never expected that the man who had power comparable to the emperor was planning a mere rebellion.

‘I must have been too careless.’

It was said that there was no end to a human’s greed.

When Arthus got rid of Henry’s comrades and took over as grand duke, Henry thought that his greed would end, but that had been a foolish assumption.

Human greed was so ugly and limitless that a man with 99 of something would want what belonged to a man with just one of something.

With an even colder look in his eyes, Henry said, “Then you must have known about the rebellion in Shahatra beforehand.”

“A-a rebellion in Shahatra?”

“Don’t pretend like you don’t know.”

Aubert was genuinely confused, and when Henry tried to break another cigarette, he shouted urgently, with a frightened expression, “W-wait! I’m being honest! This is my first time hearing about this! A rebellion in Shahatra? What do you mean by that?”

Henry stopped.

Judging by the look in Aubert's eyes, it didn’t seem like he was lying.

Henry slightly bent the cigarette and said, “How can I believe that you didn’t know?”

“I-I really didn’t know about this! When Arthus proposed the rebellion to me, he asked me to join him as it was almost already!”

“Really?”

“Yes! I’m telling the truth!”

Aubert expressed his sincerity with all his heart and in an urgent voice, fearing that the cigarette would break.

Henry stopped bending the cigarette and fell into deep thought once again.

‘He was almost ready?’

Arthus would have to get a private army ready for a rebellion. Henry suddenly thought, ‘Is it possible that Benedict's army was Arthus’ private army?’

It was possible. Benedict had frequently contacted Mordred, and Arthus had even been bold enough to kidnap the Khan royal family just to help Benedict.

No matter how strong Benedict's armed forces were, there had been no reason for him to start a rebellion in Shahatra. The key to a rebellion was to quickly take over the palace and behead the emperor, but that wouldn’t do him any good.

‘Wait, come to think of it, I think Mordred asked Benedict for something…’

He remembered overhearing the conversation through Klever.

Henry closed his eyes and quietly called to mind the conversation between Mordred and Benedict.

- …In any case, no matter what the circumstances are, the Highlanders will fully support you, Sir Benedict, so just give us the item you promised.

Henry was the smartest man with the best memory on the continent. He eventually remembered what Mordred had said to Benedict.

‘That’s right. Mordred asked Benedict for something. Now all I have to do is figure out what that thing is…’

Henry’s thoughts ran through his head. Still holding the cigarette in his hand, Henry recalled the things he had seen and heard in Shahatra. However, no matter how hard he tried, it was not easy to remember the information he wanted.

‘Damn it…’

It wasn’t a good feeling.

It felt as if he were on the verge of discovering a clue, but instead of seeing it clearly, he was navigating through a thick fog.

In frustration, Henry broke the cigarette in half.

Snap!

“N-noooo!”

Aubert had been holding his breath, but now he cried out desperately. However, Henry didn’t care at all. He broke the remaining cigarettes and started to crush them under his feet to release his anger.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Every time he stomped on the cigarettes, crunching sounds filled the cell.

Aubert was so shocked by Henry’s sudden actions that he could only open and close his mouth in silence.

Even though the cigarettes were completely crushed, Henry was still frustrated.

Snap!

Henry released the hold on Aubert, who remained motionless with his mouth half open. Henry was done with his business. Thinking that he had no more information to gain, he left the cell and slammed the door behind him.

Bang!

“N-no…”

By now, it didn't even matter to Aubert whether Henry was there or not.

The dry tear tracks on his face became wet again and Aubert’s lower lip trembled.

He started to collect the dust-covered, crushed cigarettes as if he were collecting the fragmented remains of his dead child.

“Ah…”

He shoved a handful of the crushed powder in his mouth as he stared into space.

…Chomp chomp.

His jaw started to move a little.

* * *

Thud!

A few days had passed when the cuff port in the door opened and someone threw a box of cigarettes into the cell as usual.

Torian listened for Aubert.

“...”

However, no matter how long he waited, he couldn’t hear anything.

‘It can’t be?’

Torian had a bad feeling. He quickly opened the cell door and checked on Aubert.

“Damn it…”

He couldn't help but curse.

Aubert’s tongue stuck out, his eyes had rolled to the back of his head and a terrible smell of filth was wafting from his pants.

In the end, Aubert hadn’t been able to handle the withdrawal symptoms and died.

Torian frowned after he confirmed that Aubert was dead. He took out a scroll and held it up.

Oong!

It was an Ignition Scroll with fire magic.

Crackle!

Torian tore the scroll and threw it over Aubert’s corpse, and soon, a magical fire started to burn the corpse.

Sizzle…

The magical flames didn’t produce smoke or blaze up like ordinary flames. Instead, they quietly incinerated the corpse.

Torian stepped on Aubert’s ashes and said, “What a weak bastard.”

He didn’t feel any sympathy; rather, he felt angry that Aubert had died sooner than expected. Of course, Henry had decided on this method of disposing of Aubert’s corpse.

Torian trampled on the remaining ashes once more to vent his anger and left the room to notify Henry of Aubert’s death.

* * *

“...Should I have kept him alive a little longer?”

That was the first thing Henry said after hearing that Aubert had died. Henry also didn’t have the slightest bit of sympathy. Just like Torian, he only regretted not being able to torture Aubert for a little longer.

Henry wasn’t a sadist but it was foolish to kill an enemy in one blow. Although he seemed very cruel, Henry’s reaction was only natural.

‘He was quite useful, but he died too quickly.’

Aubert was lucky he hadn’t been tortured even more, but at least Henry had gotten something useful.

‘The Egg of Evolution, Arthus’ plan, and…’

Henry smiled as he looked at the pink object on the desk.

It was called the Pink Swamp.

It was the final version of the drug, and it created the best reaction in Aubert. The Pink Swamp was a bewitching drug. As soon as it came in contact with fire, it spewed out beautiful pink smoke.

In addition, inhaling it once or twice didn’t negatively affect the body at all, and it even healed mild migraines. However, the true power of this drug was the intense addiction that came with its harmlessness.

The craving that the Pink Swamp caused could be reduced by consuming an appropriate amount of alcohol from the moment of inhalation. Only beverages with high alcohol content had any effect, but even then, the craving for Pink Swamp still lingered.

‘But because it doesn't actually cause physical harm, this will be more popular than any scented candle or cigarette.’

Thus, Henry had given this new drug a cute name. Henry put the Pink Swamp on the desk into a box. There were boxes of the Pink Swamp that were tightly packed in one corner of the laboratory.

Henry then shifted his gaze to the other side of the room where a large pot filled with black liquid was.

‘This should be enough.’

Blurp blurp.

While he was developing the new drug, Henry had visited Caliburn whenever he had the chance to collect ingredients, devoting the rest of his time to helping the Palegon recover.

As a result, Henry was finally able to make five hundred doses of the Black Tear.