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"Are you still talking to me so formally? Why not relax a little? Call me ‘big sis’ or something."

"I haven\'t found my sword yet. A pilgrim who hasn’t completed their pilgrimage can’t treat a paladin as an equal."

A pilgrim who hasn’t completed their pilgrimage is still just a pilgrim.

"There’s no pilgrim stronger than you. Even the average paladin should be weaker than you. Since you’re revered so highly as the next saint, why not have the Church grant you a sword? That should be feasible enough."

The Church didn’t lack vision or spirit swords, and had some in their possession.

Would there be any issue in giving one to a swordsmanship genius of Esther’s calibre, who was even called the next saint?

"I’ve declined the offer."

"As expected. That stiff-necked pride of yours must trouble you a lot."

"The only goal of a pilgrim on their pilgrimage should be to find their sword. Thus do we fulfil the will of the Gods."

"To offer a sword that satisfies the Gods, huh?"

"Yes."

"Hmm. So how much longer do you think it\'ll take for you to find your sword?"

“… It should happen soon.”

Esther\'s eyelashes trembled with sadness.

Helena decided to change the subject when she remembered her guardian, the saint of the Church who’d adopted her as a stepdaughter.

"Oh, but why are you late? I had to wait here for so long."

“I went to take a look at a place after hearing something.”

"Oh? What happened?"

"A small fight had taken place. There were traces of a battle between one expert versus several others."

"Haah…"

Helena seemed to understand something, but still decided to listen quietly.

It was because this lady who usually sported a stiff, emotionless face now had an unusually pleasant expression.

"He must’ve been pretty strong."

"Yes. It was as if the others were fighting a ghost. Really, the expert left hardly any traces. To fight so many opponents without even pulling out your weapon… I want to meet them at least once."

"You still haven\'t found out who it was?"

"Unfortunately not."

Ah! Esther exclaimed as if she’d remembered something.

"What is it?"

“I did meet somebody, but…”

Esther frowned, as if it was really strange.

“She suddenly became a different person.”

Although the bread was hard, the texture became soft and moist when dipped in the stew.

The flavour of the thick meat stew seeped into the bread, and the taste was doubled.

Callius picked up his knife and fork, and sliced a chunk of meat.

When he took a bite, the sauce tasted just right, and sweet juice kept bursting out of the meat the more he chewed.

"It tastes good."

"I\'m glad it suits your palette."

"That fork, it’s not normal, is it?"

"Yes, I suppose it’s a bit rare. It\'s an artifact."

A fork and knife that he’d once obtained.

They were a pair of artifacts.

They weren’t particularly special.

Just a little more firm than normal utensils, and unnaturally clean.

Callius observed Beatrice eating while answering her question.

She looked just like Maria.

However, her appearance, which he’d first thought was a bit plain, changed a hundred and eighty degrees just by switching to a bit of a different style.

If Maria was like pure snow, white as her innocence, Beatrice was a rose.

An alluring rose.

‘Maybe that\'s it.\'

She was a character he hadn\'t set up.

There was a high probability that the character had been arbitrarily set like this by the company.

Named ones tended to have a bit of an exaggerated concept, but he hadn’t thought Beatrice would have a setting like this.

‘A split personality.\'

There had to be a trigger to change her personality.

If he could figure that out, he might be able to get a pretty decent deal in the transaction.

After a quick meal, Callius offered the sword he was carrying to Beatrice.

"I\'ll give this back first. I didn’t notice that I’d taken it with me, last time."

Beatrice\'s eyes twitched.

"I don\'t recognize this sword, though? If you’re going to give a present to a lady, wouldn\'t a flower be better than a sword? Or… I like this little kid here, too."

Was she talking about Vivi?

Although Callius was a little worried since it looked like she was doing strange experiments with magical beasts, she did seem to like Vivi quite a bit.

"I refuse. It’s my cherished pet."

"That\'s too bad."

"But you really won’t take it? This should be your favourite sword."

"I really don\'t recognize that sword, I’m telling you."

She kept stubbornly persisting.

Perhaps if his prediction was correct, the trigger to change her personality might be holding Maria\'s sword. There was no reason to decline his offer so stubbornly, otherwise.

"By the way, will you tell me now? Why were you waiting for me at my house?"

Anyway, it didn\'t matter.

It was Beatrice that Callius had been looking for, not Maria.

"I don\'t like long introductions, so I\'ll be direct."

"Please. I hate wasting time, too."

Callius took a vial out of his pocket and placed it on the table.

"What’s this?"

"Blood of a thunder wolf dragon."

"Thunder wolf dragon…"

"It was a beast with dragon’s blood. Can you purify the demonic energy from this and extract the dragon’s blood?"

Beatrice would one day become one of the ten pillars of the realm.

But that was just the in-game story that Callius knew.

There was no guarantee that everything would unfold as the story had been set in the game.

So this was also a test.

"The blood essence, can you extract it?"

If possible, he’d like to entrust something even more precious than this to Beatrice.

The troll blood he had, as well as the thunder wolf dragon\'s horns and other materials.

And later, he even intended to entrust everything about the manufacturing of holy water, including the Tears of Valtherus, to her.

As long as she had the skills and could be trusted, there was no reason to not do so.

He’d be in the capital, Karradi, for a while, but one day he’d be responsible for the whole of the North.

The North had to become greater and stronger than it was right now.

"I’m asking if it’s possible."

“…”

Her gaze looking at the vial he’d taken out looked exactly what he’d expected from an alchemist.

A gaze that was filled with greed.

However, her brows were furrowed so tightly that they didn’t look like they’d straighten out anytime soon.

Was she worried?

Whether she’d be able to do it by herself?

"You’re not confident, I’m guessing."

Callius said with disappointment in his heart, and Beatrice nodded calmly.

"Honestly, that’s true. But with a little time and preparation, it’s not impossible."

Hoo.

The wait had been worth it.

"What kind of preparation are you talking about? If necessary, I can support you."

Callius was flush with wealth right now.

It wasn’t a problem to provide some support, since it’d be an investment.

"About the necessary expenses and the time, I’ll just need ten thousand gold and a year. But there’s one thing I need the most, and it\'s a bit difficult to find. Is that alright?"

Ten thousand gold coins and one year of time.

Ten thousand gold was fine, but a year was way too long.

But since there was even something extra that was essential, Callius could only sigh.

He hadn\'t even mentioned the troll potion he really needed, yet.

"Let’s hear it, this most essential thing."

"Have you ever heard of demon cores?"

Demon cores[1] (魔淨).

"I have."

A core that sometimes forms inside a being that has a lot of demonic energy.

Simply put, it\'s similar to the blood essence of a demonic being, but it contains very pure and concentrated demonic energy, so normal demonic beasts have no chance of forming one.

Unless it\'s a high-ranked beast with a highly pure bloodline, it doesn\'t happen easily.

In human terms, it’s an object similar to the sacred stone of a saint.

"I need a demon core. When extracting the blood essence, you have to remove the demonic impurities from the blood first, but that\'s difficult to do without the power of a demon core."

According to her, a demon core was formed out of pure demonic energy, and it could absorb the demonic power contained in the blood.

That was why she said it’d be easier to extract the blood essence if she had a demon core.

‘It\'s ridiculous.\'

Demon cores weren’t supposed to be used in that way. The setting itself was that demon cores were used a medium to make the demonic power of a magic beast go out of control.

But Beatrice was instead saying that it could be used to remove demonic power from the blood.

This paradigm of thought that completely differed from orthodox knowledge was quite surprising.

Really, this was Beatrice.

The talent who would one day be revealed as the best and the most eccentric alchemist in the kingdom.

"Then, is there any way to find one?"

However, demon cores were as difficult to obtain as plucking a star from the sky, and it was considered unholy since it was an item with demonic magic, so it wasn’t up for sale anywhere.

Although it was useful, it wasn’t easy to find.

Unless you could find a beast with a demon core, but Callius had never seen one, not even during the War of the North where so many demonic beasts had been slain. Demon cores were that rare.

"It\'s not that there\'s no way. It\'s just that you’ll have to face a very difficult opponent."

"So somebody has one?"

This was good news.

The story had become simpler.

"Who is it?"

"Do you know Count Artemion?"

"Artemion?"

"Yes. The eldest son of the count has a bit of an eye for beasts, so he trains them and sells them in secret."

In the beginning, it’d just been his hobby, and he’d used to give the beasts out as gifts to other nobles, but when he’d realized how lucrative it was, he’d scaled up his operation.

As the beasts increased in size, it was rumoured that one had formed a demon core.

"There are two ways."

Either, make a deal with Viole, or –

"Are you going steal it?"

Unlike Maria, Beatrice\'s smile as she spoke, although bright, had a rather sinister edge.

Returning to his room, Callius put down his weapons and sat down on the bed.

Flop.

"I\'m tired."

There didn’t seem to be any need to talk about the troll potion.

Because a demon core should also be able to remove the demonic power contained in the troll’s blood.

Demon core. Viole had it.

Should he trade for it? Or seize it somehow?

Several possibilities were running through his mind.

A transaction seemed impossible. Theft didn’t sound like a good choice, either.

Viole had to be feeling aggrieved and malicious against him, so there was no way the two of them could come to terms and make a decent deal.

Talking to Count Artemion probably wouldn\'t make much of a difference, either.

“Then is there only one choice left?”

Callius laid back on the bed and pondered.

If the dragon’s blood could be extracted, along with the rest of materials from the thunder wolf dragon, a relic beyond a normal artifact might be created.

Not only that, even the problem about the troll potion could be solved if Callius got his hands on a demon core.

With Beatrice\'s skills, all his problems could definitely be solved.

Then all that was left, was to get the demon core. That was call Callius had to focus on.

"It\'s not that difficult."

He just needed a reason. An excuse.

If it couldn\'t be traded and couldn\'t be stolen, he just had to make the other party offer it by their own hands. Callius had the power and status to do so.

In the first place, it was the Artemion family who were involved in a criminal enterprise, so it was not a difficult job if he used his status as a count and the rights of a heretic inquisitor.

The problem was that, it was unclear whether the Artemions could be easily defeated if he attacked them like this.

The name of ‘the Judge’ had already spread far and wide, and Count Artemion had to be on his toes right now due to the recent accident with Viole.

Callius still had to go through the formal process of becoming a heretic inquisitor, so it was possible for the Artemions to squirrel away all their demonic items and magical beasts somewhere secret by that time.

If only the other side had attacked him first, the job would’ve been easier and he’d have been able to get more benefits…

It was a pity, but there was no helping it.

He’d just have to figure something out.

“Really, to think Viole was the one supplying her with magical beasts.”

When Callius had asked Beatrice how she knew so much about it, she’d uncaringly confessed that all the beasts she’d been using in her research experiments had been purchased Viole.

As a result, she was well aware of the general circumstances.

She was still hiding many secrets, but it didn\'t really matter, did it?

He understood the general gist of things.

"But where did that guy go?"

He’d asked Vivi where it’d separated from Bruns, but in the end Callius hadn’t been able find hide nor hair of the man.

Tremble.

At that exact moment, Bruns was shaking with fear.

"Idiot bastard. Why the hell does that maniac keep a guy like you with him?"

Bruns was locked inside a cage.

"My boss, he can\'t even sleep at night without me being there! If you kill me, he\'ll definitely get revenge, so if you really want to kill me, just come and try it!"

Contrary to his loud voice, Bruns was shaking so hard he looked like he might piss any moment.

No wonder, because the iron cage he was imprisoned in was smack in the middle of a group of demonic beasts. The beasts, each of which looked capable of chewing and swallowing a man in one bite, were drooling at the sight of him, bared teeth shining from within their slavering jaws.

"Is this really enough to make him come?"

The one who’d kidnapped Bruns was none other than the owner of the beasts.

Viole Artemion.

The son of Count Artemion.

"I don’t know if I’m wasting my time…"

"He gotta come! You just wait!!"

"I can’t tell if you\'re threatening me or asking me. But I\'ll wait. I\'ve contacted his hotel, anyway."

An answer should come in the near future.

Either that bastard would come, or not.

"Of course, if he really comes here, he won\'t be going back alive."

No matter how strong a paladin might be, he wouldn’t be able to face all the demonic beasts in this place. Besides, that man was the biggest useless trash of the kingdom, despite all this talk about his prowess. Viole couldn’t even guess what kind of trick he’d done to get such a rumour going.

However, that time in the tavern, when Callius had subdued all the knights, had to have been a trick.

He’d been deceived then, but this time it was different.

"These are the guys I’ve raised with all my power. If your master really comes, neither of you will be getting away alive."

"Eek!"

Weak nobles liked tamed magic beasts, strong and valiant unlike themselves, that would lie at their feet.

It was a pretty bad hobby, but it could be surprisingly helpful sometimes.

"There’s nothing better than these magic beasts when it comes to dealing with shitheads."

Not just to terrify them.

Even those who screamed while being eaten alive, would become quiet once they went completely into the beasts’ stomachs.

"So go and regret for the rest of your life, that you dared insult me. Inside the stomach of a demonic beast, that is!"

Hahahahaha!

"I really hope that Callius actually comes to save you!"

"S-, sure he will, you son of a bitch!"

Bruns was anxious at heart, but he still believed. If it was Callius, he’d definitely come to his rescue.

Definitely…

‘You’re coming, right?\'

But his anxiety didn\'t go away.

Editor\'s Notes:

[1] The author provided the Chinese characters 魔淨 (mo jing), but honestly? The jing (淨) character here means pure or clean. The translation instead assumes that he meant jing (魔) as in essence (kidney essence) in traditional Chinese medicine.