Published at 18th of October 2020 04:54:36 PM
Chapter 17.1: Chapter 17.1 - Until I Have the Right Hand
Episode 4: Until I Have the Right Hand – Chapter 17 . 1
Something was definitely wrong about his body .
“ I didn’t think much of it,” said Calian . “At first, I assumed that it was because I wasn’t active enough . Ever since I started feeling chest pain, I thought that it was my mana acting up . I was also worried that there might be something wrong with my heart . ”
It seemed that he was wrong about all of them .
“I guess this is the antidote,” muttered Calian .
Alan nodded . “Yes . I made it in a rush, but I have already confirmed its effectiveness . You should be fully cured by the time that pouch is empty, Your Highness . Once you feel better, I will start looking at your magic . ”
Calian’s gaze was glued onto the pouch . Alan stared at Calian for a few more seconds before calmly offering an explanation, as if he were talking about someone other than Calian—someone completely unrelated to him .
“It’s a deadly poison called ‘tacrimosa’ . It is manufactured using a few poisonous plants and the blood and venom of a snake called crimosa . If a prince who was in perfect health were to die a sudden death, it would seem quite strange . It seems that the perpetrator wished for it to look as if you were slowly falling ill . However, most poison would be cured by the power of the blessing . The only choice they had was to regularly make you ingest small amounts of lethal poison . ”
It was truly a cruel move .
Calian was only fourteen . His only fault was his resemblance to Freya .
Alan continued, “Thus, they needed something that is odourless, tasteless, unreactive to silver, symptomatically similar to illness, and able to be mass-produced . Tacrimosa is the only poison that is fitting of all of these conditions and your symptoms . ”
Calian looked down once again without interjecting .
Alan had gathered his information by sitting in the Mages’ Union Headquarters all day yesterday and coercing the mages residing on Teinansha . Alan resumed his explanation:
“Without the blessing… one would start to cough as if their lungs were inflamed, vomit blood, and pass away within a week, even just by ingesting a very small amount . Your heart must have been overworking to regenerate the body from such lethal poison . That is why it seemed as if your healing abilities had disappeared, and also why your body started rejecting mana usage . It is only to be expected that your body would protest in pain when you try to use more power on top of all the work that’s already being done . ”
As Calian tried to fasten the pouch, it slipped from his hands . A few tablets of antidotes fell onto his lap . Calian hurriedly picked them up and put them back into the pouch . His fingers trembled as they touched the tablets .
Fear didn’t make him tremble . Rage did .
Calian was definitely assassinated . His cause of death wasn’t poison . Considering that I wasn’t able to use mana from the beginning, it’s certainly not the case that I was poisoned due to my acting out of the ordinary . This, therefore, means that Calian was always meant to be poisoned—even in the past .
This realisation brought about another question, which came with uncontrollable rage .
“Why—” Calian clasped the pouch tightly and looked up at Alan .
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Why did they have to choke the already dying child to death?
Alan’s shoulders flinched . He saw his student’s red eyes fill up with murderous intent, albeit for a split second . Although it disappeared without a trace, it wasn’t something that a young boy should be able to express .
“I’m truly sorry, teacher . I could never even have guessed . ”
“…there is more to sharpness than just a dagger before thine eyes . Things that cannot be seen may sometimes bear a larger thorn,” replied Alan, attempting to shake off the chilling glisten that he saw in Calian’s eyes .
Calian took Alan’s words to heart . Swordmasters were unharmed by poison, and this fact led him to his inattention . Despite Bern’s copious experience on the battlefield where attempts of assassination of every way, shape, and form were very common, he had been caught off-guard .
I was too preoccupied over the fact that Calian was choked to death that I missed the possibility of poison .
Despite the obvious symptoms, he had not thought of poison . Calian, more than anyone else, must not have made this big mistake .
“Am I in a grave state?”
“As far as I was concerned, you seemed to be straddling the line between life and death . ”
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Calian chuckled . His tension eased a little as he asked, “If I were to concurrently take the poison and the antidote, would my symptoms get worse?”
Alan’s face crumpled . “I strongly vouch against that thought . Although the process would be delayed, you would be bound to meet your demise . ”
“How much would it be delayed?”
“I cannot say for sure, considering that I am not a healer . Ten days, perhaps fifteen . ”
Calian smiled in satisfaction . “That’s more than enough . I shall take them both . ”
“Are you really telling me that you’d take the antidote with the goddamn poison?”
Is he trying to insult me or asking me out of pure curiosity?
“Yes . The symptoms being signs of poison are very different from simply being signs of an illness in that I must react carefully . I cannot just refuse to take it all of a sudden,” said Calian, gazing into Alan’s concerned eyes . “I believe that the poison was in the tea that I drink every morning . There’s nothing else that I consume regularly every day . However, I always drank it in the presence of everyone else . I wish not to doubt the maids, but I must not overlook anything . ”
Maybe, just maybe… the Old Calian realised that he was slowly being poisoned . He might have refused to drink the poisoned tea .
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If Silica had noticed that Calian realised that his tea was poisoned, it was certainly possible for her to have sent an assassin to an already dying child . Knowing Silica, she definitely would have .
If I immediately refuse to drink my tea, she would find another way . But since my situation now is different from the situation then… I can’t say for sure that they would try to kill me using the same method .
While Calian organised his thoughts, Alan began to speak once again . “Your Highness, you need not worry about not having enough evidence against the culprit . I have already secured evidence that Brissen Merchantry has been buying an unusual number of snakes—supposedly for their skin . Even as we speak, the Mages’ Union is thoroughly investigating this matter . ”
“Thank you . We can leave that as our last resort . However, we will not be able to take down Silica with just that much evidence . We must find a different way . ”
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