Chapter 74: Free Addition (5)

“Where are we going?” Hiram followed Dracan for a long time but whenever he asked this question, Dracan only said that they were close to their destination. However, they were heading away from the Magical Spire.

‘What is this guy thinking?’

Although Dracan was acting suspiciously, Hiram couldn’t back out now since this was something his leader had ordered. After a while, Dracan stopped in front of an ordinary wall located between the palace and Magical Spire.

“We’re here.”

“This is… Isn’t this just a wall?”

Dracan ignored Hiram’s question and began to stroke the wall. A portal similar to the one Hiram had seen at the guard post appeared.

‘Black?’

However, the portal that appeared in front of him was black, and unlike the white portal he had seen at the guard post. He felt uneasy. Perhaps the black color seemed ominous, but Hiram did not want to go inside.

“Shall we go inside?” Dracan’s suggestion was really a command.

Hiram took a step back and asked, “Sir Dracan, where are you taking me?”

“Obviously, to a place where I can fix your arm.”

“Where is that? I will go if I know where exactly we are going.” Although Hiram was asking for a favor, he had a feeling that something bad would happen if he didn’t question where they were going. Dracan met Hiram’s wary eyes with wide eyes, the whites of his eyes visible around his iris. It was a frightening sight.

Dracan put on the same creepy smile from before. “Stop Spire.”

“Stop Spire? Where is this place? I didn’t know it existed in the imperial palace.”

Hiram had heard about Stop Spire before when Salmora accidentally mentioned it. He was doubtful of its existence, however.

Dracan’s eyes widened even more, and said, “Sir Hiram.”

It was such a horrifying expression that even the Sword Master Hiram got nervous.

Hiram hesitated for a split second and said, “Yes!”

“Don’t you want to get that arm fixed?”

“Of course, I want to get it fixed, but no matter how much I think about it…”

“Then, follow me.”

Dracan didn’t even try to address Hiram’s concerns. He simply stepped into the black portal and disappeared, leaving Hiram next to the wall.

“...Damn it.”

It didn’t matter if Dracan was offended, he was still behaving like a bastard. Since Dracan spoke about Salmora so casually, Hiram believed that he had to possess a high ranking in the Magical Spire. Hiram was left with no choice. Besides, he wasn’t going to run away out of fear again. Hiram had no choice but to step inside the black portal.

Zap.

The portal closed as soon as he entered.

Splash!

Hiram could feel that he had stepped in a puddle.

‘Why is it so dark?’

It was so dark that he couldn’t even see things up close. It was very humid.

Drip.

Flinch!

The dark and unfamiliar environment made Hiram’s senses more sensitive. A drop of water fell on his face.

‘Water?’

Hiram wiped off the drop and brought it to his nose. It didn’t smell like water.

‘This…!’

It was a familiar pungent smell, and he was about to identify it when…

“Light.”

Zap!

Dracan cast a spell that lit up the space. Hiram squinted his eyes at the bright light and lowered his head slightly. When he got used to the light and felt that he could see clearly, Hiram slowly lifted his head and opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was the puddle he had stepped in.

“Blood?”

The dark red color and pungent smell made him certain that it was blood. Hiram was surprised, and he quickly looked up and around his surroundings.

“W-what is this…!”

He was surrounded by red lights, corpses on the ground, boiling pots, and unknown medicines. The most shocking thing was the dozens of dead bodies hanging from the ceiling.

Dracan opened his arms wide and with a smile, he said, “Welcome to Stop Spire, Sir Hiram.”

Unseen hands suddenly attacked Hiram.

* * *

A few days later, Von arrived back at the mansion without seeing Henry at all. Everyone went to greet him and assumed nothing had happened. Henry also greeted Von. “You’re back.”

“Yes. I might not have encountered you, but I heard the details from Vhant.”

“I assumed that you would. I guess there’s no need for me to explain any further then.”

“There’s actually something that I need to explain to you. Do you have time?”

After Von quickly greeted everyone that welcomed him, he immediately began to tell Henry what had happened.

Henry frowned and said, “Outside the city?”

“My carriage is full of corpses, I can’t bring it inside the city.”

“I didn’t expect them to send assassins this soon… Anyway, let’s deal with the corpses first.”

Henry requested a special entry permit from Mayor Vant and hurried to where the bodies were. The bodies were already showing signs of decay, so Henry began to use a spell that would coat the bodies and prevent the smell from reaching the public.

“That’s much better. The amount of suffering I went through because of the smell was I brought them back was unimaginable…” said Von as he watched Henry.

“I apologize. It didn’t even occur to me that they would send an assassin team because I was so focused on the exiles. Thank you for handling them in my place.”

“It was pure luck that I happened to be there.”

Thanks to Von, the exiles were safe once again. This was a huge achievement, but Von changed the subject. “From what I’ve heard, Eisen has already met the guy?”

“That’s right. I think he must have called in the reporting order by this time and turned the place upside down.”

“I’m not so sure. I don’t think an idiot like Eisen could easily beat Aubert.”

“I agree, but I’m sure Aubert and Eisen’s relationship has gotten even worse,” said Henry as he caressed the carriage.

“And because of you, brother, we have another weapon to use against Aubert.”

“Are you planning to hand this over to Eisen as well?”

“Isn’t that why you brought them to me? Besides, now that two units of the Viper Knights have already been destroyed, Aubert will definitely begin investigating this situation unless he’s a fool.”

“Does it really matter? Isn’t it obvious that Eisen will be the main suspect?”

“No. Aubert is smarter than we think. Eisen is a fool. Aubert might have suspected Eisen at first, but when he finds out what happened to the new assassins, he’ll know it’s not Eisen.”

“Then what do we do?”

“What do you mean? We just need to hand the bodies over to Eisen again and blame everything on him. If Aubert does decide to dig deep further, he’ll inevitably find out about our existence.”

“Because you handled the request?”

“That’s part of it, but if he finds out that the supplies were delivered successfully, he’ll look into who was responsible. I will become a suspect for sure.”

“I guess he will want to meet you since you’re the only one that survived. However, you’re a mere mercenary, do you think he will still suspect you?”

“This is Aubert we’re talking about, he will not let this slide. He would rather get rid of any possible suspects than live with uncertainty.”

“All the more reason to head to Shonan quickly.”

“Probably. I will go there alone. Brother, you should rest after your long trip.”

“That’s okay. I should do as much as I can while I still can. Besides, I wanted to see Eisen anyway.”

There was no better motivation than seeing the face of your enemy again.

Henry nodded and agreed with pleasure. “If you say so. But you do realize it will be hard with that face.”

“Why? Do you think it will be awkward? I heard that he already knows that Vhant sent him the first bodies.”

“That’s true, but I don’t think there’s any need to get on his nerves. He kicked me out of his house as soon as he heard my name.”

“Of course, he would act like a beast. He still has a pretty good intuition.”

“Anyway, I think it would be a good idea to add some changes to your face.”

“How?”

“I’m not sure. He will have some sort of magic security setup since he is a member of a Patrician Family…”

“Why don’t I wear a disguise?”

“This man has been surviving thanks to his intuition. A weak disguise will only cause a bigger problem, so why don’t we just reshape your face entirely?”

“Reshape? What do you mean?”

“Have you ever heard of the spell called Plastic Cosmetics?”

“Plastic Cosmetics… Are you talking about the beauty spell that only wealthy women get?”

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

“Yes, that’s right.”

Plastic Cosmetics was also called plastic surgery or plastic surgery magic. It was the highest level of beauty spell. Using mana, a high-level wizard took apart the face and reassembled it according to what was desired. Originally, zoology wizards had created this spell for animals who had been injured. However, when the spell stabilized and the success rate reached 100 percent, anthropological wizards grew interested and developed it into the Plastic Cosmetic spell now.

“I’m okay. I would rather put on a disguise. I’m not even a woman, why would I do such a thing?”

“Beauty is an option, but isn’t it more important to change your appearance?”

“I said I was okay.”

“That’s a shame. The level of skill now makes it easy to transform your face back to when you were in your twenties.”

“What? My twenties?”

“Yes.”

In reality, Plastic Cosmetics was a very dangerous spell. Aside from requiring a continuous supply of mana, the spell relied on a wizard’s aesthetic sense, and it was possible to produce terrible results.

However, Henry was the ideal wizard for Plastic Cosmetics. He had a natural sense of aesthetics and the ability to continuously supply mana. He was also technically proficient in handling mana and had been a role model for everyone in the fashionable imperial palace for his skills.

Von’s curiosity grew. “Hmm, to look like I'm in my twenties and nothing else, huh….”

“Does this mean you’re in?”

“Don’t get me wrong, this is only for work.”

“Of course.”

“Ah also, since I’m changing my face anyway, could you fix my nose too…?”

“Haha, alright. Not just your nose, but I’ll make you look young and handsome according to your taste.”

“Well, no, I don’t need to be that handsome, even just looking like I’m in my twenties will do…

Cough!

”

However, despite his words, Von’s face lit up with anticipation.