Chapter 90: Variable (4)
“M-mayor?”
“Yes.”
Monsieur had become a free city through a peace treaty, and mayors were chosen in a slightly different manner than other cities in the empire. They used a method similar to the selection of an emperor that had been in use since Monsieur had become a kingdom.
“Monsieur holds a festival of craftsmen called ‘Masterpiece’ every three years. The most beautiful and outstanding work at the festival is selected as the masterpiece of that year, and the creator becomes the next mayor of Monsieur.”
“Henry’s right. The creator is given the surname ‘Vulcanus.’”
“Wow, how come I’ve never heard of such a great tradition before…?”
“That’s because extremely few people come to Monsieur. Most of the products they make are sold at very high prices, so it’s normal that the general public doesn’t know about it. Don’t feel discouraged. You know now, so that’s all that matters, right?”
The full name of the mayor of Monsieur was Gorba Vulcanus. He had been a Masterpiece winner for 5 consecutive years, including the current one, and he was a legendary figure who had been mayor for 15 years.
Rumor had it that Gorba’s ancestors might have included dwarves, who were known for their craftsmanship. Vulcanus was so talented that he was considered one of the continent’s best craftsmen.
“By the way, I heard that Vulcanus has a very eccentric personality.”
“Even if he is eccentric, he’s still a great craftsman, isn’t he?”
“Hmm, really?”
“Usually, people who have risen to the top of a particular field all have similar personalities.”
“Hmm, you do have a point. The Grand Duke also used to do things that I couldn’t understand at times.”
“...My master?”
“The Grand Duke was incredible, but as you said, he sometimes had behaviors that I couldn’t understand.”
“O-oh, r-really…” Henry couldn’t bear to ask which of his actions seemed strange, so he quickly changed the subject and headed towards the city hall where Vulcanus lived.
The city hall of Monsieur looked like a giant blacksmith village.
Halger stared in amazement with sparkling eyes, but Von’s expression was like that of an old man. “No wonder… These craftsmen like to show off, don’t they?”
“Isn’t it cool? I think this shows Monsieur’s traditional characteristics.”
Henry showed his badge to the gatekeeper of the city hall on behalf of Von and said, “I’m here to meet Mayor Vulcanus. Does he happen to be here right now?”
“Salute! Nice to meet you, Shonan family! The mayor is taking time off due to health reasons.”
“Health reasons? Is he sick?”
“I don’t know the details, I apologize.”
The people of Monsieur were known to be healthy and strong. In particular, Vulcanus had the strength of steel, so it was a little strange to hear that Vulcanus was sick.
“There’s nothing we can do since he’s sick, so why don’t we give up and look for someone else to do the job? We don’t have much time anyway,” said Von.
“If it doesn't work out, there’s nothing I can do. However, I have something to discuss with Vulcanus, and I’ve been planning to meet him anyway.”
“What do you need to discuss?”
“A city agreement.”
“Is there a reason you need to bring it up during this situation?”
“It’s exactly because we’re in such a situation that we need to hurry and sign an agreement.”
Henry went back to the guard and asked, “ I’ll have to at least see his representative. Who is the mayor’s representative?”
“It is Secretary Veham.”
“Is he inside?”
“Yes.”
“I must meet him. Let him know that the vassal of the Shonan family has arrived.”
“Alright.”
They were soon able to meet Secretary Veham.
“I’m honored to meet a Patrician Family member.”
“Nice to meet you. My name is Henry.”
Veham wore pointy glasses and looked like a typical secretary. However, although his glasses made him look fierce, he was short and muscular like most Monsieur residents, which made him look a little ridiculous.
“I heard that the mayor is unwell,” said Henry.
“Yes. It happened as he was preparing for the Masterpiece…”
“Oh, is it this year?”
“Yes. This is also the mayor’s last term, but I’m worried about his health.”
Despite his fierce-looking appearance, Veham seemed to be a very affectionate person.
“What are his symptoms? If my family can help, I will aid in any way possible, both physically and spiritually.”
“Thank you for the offer, but it won’t be necessary. Monsieur’s medical staff and priests have already given up.”
“Is it really that serious? What are his symptoms?”
“It’s poison.”
“Poison?”
“That’s right. The mayor was developing a new kind of alloy to present at the Masterpiece, but during the process, he was poisoned.”
“Is there no antidote? Isn’t it common sense to have the antidote before dealing with any kind of poison?”
“That is… He used all sorts of different poisons to make an alloy and created a new one. We still haven't been able to find the right antidote.”
“Deadly poison, huh…”
There was no antidote for this deadly poison and he was dying miserably.
Henry frowned as he remembered how his previous life had ended, but he thought of a possible cure for Vulcanus.
“Sir Veham, would I be able to see the mayor right now?”
“What? As I said before, that’s not possible. The mayor is not in a good state.”
“I’m asking because I think I can cure him.”
“What did you say?”
At Henry’s sudden suggestion, Veham, Von, and Hagler looked at him with their eyes wide open.
* * *
“Have you found the antidote?”
“I apologize, we still haven’t found it…”
“That’s all right. This is a synthetic poison with unknown ingredients so it would be considered even more strange if you found the antidote to it quickly.”
“I apologize.”
When Veham appeared at the hospital, various medical professionals appeared and greeted him. They didn’t look well. Most of Monsieur’s medical professionals were masters of medicine, so their reputations depended on finding an antidote, and they felt very frustrated.
“Anyway, we have a visitor from outside Monsieur, and he is going to examine the mayor.”
“A visitor? Who is he?”
“He said he is the vassal of Count Eisen.”
“What? From that Shonan Patrician Family?”
“Yes. Of course it’s not certain that he’ll be able to find a cure… But I brought him here since we need to take advantage of any possibility, so I would appreciate it if you let him examine the mayor.”
“...Alright, we also feel the same as you.”
“Thank you.” Veham led Henry inside the hospital room. “It’s this way.”
Mayor Vulcanus was in the large VIP hospital room by himself as befitting his status.
“Mayor, I have brought a new person to examine you.”
“Ehh…”
Vulcanus was a middle-aged man with a white beard that reached his belly button. Like the other people of Monsieur, he was as short as a child. Since he’d been bedridden for a few days, he had lost muscle mass and was quite thin.
‘His skin is dark.’
The deadly poison had turned his whole body dark, and his eyes were so swollen that he had difficulty even lifting his eyelids.
“It has been more than ten days and the pain is so severe that he can’t even talk anymore.”
“That’s fine. By the way, can I see the poison?”
“I have a sample, give me a second.”
“Thank you.”
Veham came back with the poison and gave it to Henry. “This is just a sample, I’ll bring more if you need it.”
“No, this is enough. What kinds of poisons were mixed together to create this?”
“Since it was supposed to be submitted to Masterpiece, the ingredients are confidential… Which is why we’re having a difficult time right now.”
“What kind of alloy was he trying to make that he needed to create synthetic poison?”
“As far as I know, the mayor was trying to make an alloy called poison gold.”
“Poison gold?”
“I heard that if you melt poisons inside this alloy, you won’t have to apply poison onto the metal any longer since it will release its own poison.”
“Then it’s highly likely that he inhaled the poison in the process of melting.”
“That’s what most likely happened.”
“Alright. Sir Veham, may I use your laboratory?”
“The lab? Are you done with the examination already?”
“No, but I want to be able to make the antidote right after I’m done with the examination.”
“There is a lab for the mayor in the next room, but… Sir Henry, I want to let you know just in case: even if you create an antidote, you must absolutely not use it on the mayor recklessly.”
“Of course. Could you give me some privacy for a moment?”
“Privacy…?”
“I would like to keep the antidote confidential. I assure you that everything will be fine, I promise you the safety of the mayor on the Shonan family’s name.”
“If you say so… Alright, but only for an hour.”
“Thank you.”
When Veham left the room, Von spoke in a worried voice, “Henry, are you sure about this? Even the famous Monsieur doctors haven’t been able to figure out the poison.”
“Brother.”
“Yes?”
“We’re lucky. I think things will work out better than expected.”
“What?”
“Let's move to the lab first.”
The three moved to the room next door, and Henry said, “Brother, have you heard of the saying ‘set a thief to catch a thief’?”
“‘Set a thief to catch a thief’… Are you thinking of using poison to cure the poison?”
“That's right. Mayor Vulcanus is suffering from a deadly synthetic poison with unknown ingredients, but what do you think will happen if an even deadlier poison takes over the body?”
“He’ll die right away, of course.”
“You’re partially right. If a stronger poison is administered to the body, it will remove the old poison.”
“You want to use a stronger poison than the synthetic poison?”
“Yes.”
“You said you don’t even know the ingredients of this synthetic poison. How will you find a poison that is stronger than… Wait, you’re not saying…”
“You saw it a while ago, didn’t you? My blood infused with the venom’s heart is the strongest poison to ever exist.”
After ingesting the venom’s heart, Henry gained a resistance to all poisons, but it turned all the blood flowing in his body into a deadly poison as well, as proven by Pip’s corpse.
As Von’s face stiffened, Henry spoke casually, “There’s no such thing as a poison without an antidote. No matter how strong my blood is, there must be an antidote for it too.”
“There’s an antidote?”
“Yes.”
Henry knew very well what the antidote to his poisonous blood was.
“What is it?”
“It’s my blood after boiling.”
The antidote to the venom’s heart was surprisingly simple: one simply had to boil and drink the blood that contained the poison.
Henry picked up a small knife in the lab and cut his right forearm without any hesitation.
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