CH 12

“Are you here? Have a seat.”

Even though the Margrave offered a seat, the Archmage did not move. Rather, he tried to slowly step back.

“Father, how long are you planning to run away?”, said the Marquis annoyed,, what caused that the Archmage opened her eyes.

“Running away, when did I?”

“Now, now. Didn’t you set yourself up to jump out?”

“Look at this son of a bitch talking to his father.”

“You can’t deny that you were splashing. Do you really intend not to see your granddaughter’s face forever?”

The Archmage shut his mouth and glared at the Margrave. He seemed to be trying hard not to look at Ariadne.

‘I guess he doesn’t even want to see me.’

Ariadne sighed inwardly and opened her mouth.

“Archange, please bear with me for a moment. There are things you need to see.”

“Oh, sweetheart, I…”

“Now I will show you how to treat pollution.”

“…what?”

She had already prepared her mind. Deciding to finish her job quickly, she took out two vials.

“Please take a look at this.”

The Margrave and Archmage saw her take out the vials. The expression of the great magician changed completely when he recognized the magic circle engraved on the glass bottle containing the contaminated water at a glance.

“That…!”

“Yes, this is contaminated water. The other is a cure for contamination in development.”

At her calm words, the Marquis’ face changed dramatically. He looked like a child running through a minefield. She was surprised to hear that the Archmage or the Marquis, did not even hear about the cure for pollution once they heard about the contaminated water.

“Ah, Ariadne, where did you get that? No, no, come here for now. It’s dangerous.”

“My dear, you don’t know how scary that is. Please put it down, ok? Slowly, like this.”

They held out their hands impatiently. It seemed that it was dangerous and could not be taken carelessly.

‘Well, this is a much more terrible substance than radiation, no, radioactivity, in terms of previous lives.’

‘Pollution’ meant the phenomenon in which the environment of this world changed like that of the Demon Realm. Pollution first appeared in this world, Elysium, about a hundred years ago. Around that time, something called a labyrinth suddenly appeared all over the world. The Labyrinth polluted the surrounding environment as soon as it was created. The sky was distorted, and the earth changed. Even air changes composition. The polluted space seemed like a completely different world. All organisms that came into contact with the contaminated ones died. Humans were no exception. The labyrinth cleaned not only pollution but also demon water poured out.

The monster was a creature from another world completely different from the monsters that had existed in this world until now. They ate anything alive. When they were full, they just killed themself. It was as if they were aiming to exterminate all living things.

So many people died during this time. But people didn’t despair. After countless sacrifices and efforts, they found a way to hunt monsters one by one. It was also revealed how to hold out in the contaminated area and how to seal the labyrinth. After research, she also learned that all of this was caused by the invasion of another world, that is, the demon realm. The labyrinth was the outpost of the devil world, the monster was the army, and the contaminated area was the occupied territory. It was, so to speak, a war between worlds. Elysium has been fighting a holy war with the Demon Realm for a hundred years. And contaminated water was a substance found in the process.

It was a blood-like liquid that flowed in the labyrinth, and had the property of contaminating everything it came in contact with. The polluted water from the labyrinth permeates the ground. It was to expand the contaminated area little by little. It was the cause of the spread of contamination, and it was a terrible substance that cannot be moved unless it was a specially made glass bottle. Of course, people die just by touching it.

“First, I will show you proof that this is contaminated water.”

Ariadne opened the bottle of contaminated water in front of the pale Margrave and the frightened Archmage. Then, she tilted the bottle and dripped the contaminated water into his palm.

“What, whoa!”

“Ariadne!”

The Archmage breathed in vain, and the Margrave called her name like a scream. The flesh began to rot from where the contaminated water fell. In an instant, her entire hand turned purple and blood dripped from the cracked skin. Ariadne bit her lip and endured the pain.

‘It’s bearable.’

She had been through several experiments in which far greater amounts were injected directly into her body. By comparison, a drop on her skin was a tolerable pain. She couldn’t help but feel cold sweat beading on her forehead and her hands shaking.

“You see? This is definitely contaminated water…”

“Priest, priest! Call a priest!”

“Shit!”

The Archmage was stunned and screamed and stood up. Marquis Baek gritted his teeth and drew his sword. Pollution couldn’t be cured. The end of the contaminated person was death in terrible pain.

‘If I cut off her arm before the contamination spreads, she has a chance to survive!’, he probably thought

Ariadne immediately recognized why the Marquis had drawn his sword.

“It’s okay, Marquis. I am not dying.”

She said calmly and lifted another bottle. A golden liquid glistened inside the bottle.

“Calm down and look at this.”

She opened a small vial and poured the golden liquid into her palm. As the liquid that melted and shined like the sun soaked her palms, her cracks healed and the purple color of her skin faded with remarkable speed. The Marquess with the sword drawn and the Archmage who stood up froze as they were. They watched the miracle in Ariadne’s tiny hands, forgetting to even breathe. The golden liquid permeated everything. Soon after, the soles of her palms returned to pristine condition without a single scratch.

“How is it?”

Ariadne held out her palm and smiled, her face full of cold sweat.

“This is the effect of the pollution remedy, the elixir.”

The sword slipped from the Marquis’ hand. It was the first time in decades that he had let go of the sword he had once held. That’s how surprised he was.

The first to move was the Archmage. He grabbed Ariadne’s hand with his eyes wide like lanterns. The Archmage who checked her smooth palm muttered like a broken doll.

“No, no, no way. Nonsense…”

Ariadne said, giving her hand to the Archmage.

“My father was developing an elixir. The scars on my arm are the result of his father experimenting with the elixir on me.”

The Archmage’s movements were perfectly firm. The Margrave was far away, so he opened his mouth and asked after washing his face dry.

“Duke Eldeer tested that on you?”

“Yes.”

“…In what way exactly?”

“Inject the contaminated water, then inject the elixir, and see what happens.”

At that moment, what the Margrave recalled was what the attending physician Jayleen had said.

<Contamination, contamination, that must be a possibility. Poison that destroys the whole body in that way is rare. But if it was contaminated, she would have died instantly. How…>

It felt like the pieces of an empty puzzle were fitting together. However, the finished painting was more brutal than he expected. The Marquis covered his face with his hands and groaned.

As Ariadne had rehearsed several times in her head while recuperating, she continued calmly.

“The Duke watched my condition and developed the elixir. It is still incomplete.”

“It’s incomplete, is this?”

The Srchmage asked in a bewildered tone. She answered as she lifted the bottle with the remaining elixir.

“Because the elixir itself is also close to poison. No one but me can stand the current elixir. The effect is lacking in many ways.”

She placed the elixir bottle in the Archmage’s hand. The Archmage looked down at the glass bottle in her hand, bewildered.

“I’ll give you this. This is a reward for helping me so far and…”

Ariadne wrapped her hands around the Archmage’s hands and induced him to grasp the glass bottle. Then she lifted her head and met his eyes directly.

“If you grant my request, I will give you the completed elixir, not the unfinished one.”

“Request’? What request?”

The Archmage asked like an idiot. Ariadne answered.

“Until I grow up, please protect me from the Duke. I don’t want to go back to Eldeer. As long as you find the ingredients, I’ll keep making elixirs for you while I’m here.”

The Margrave and the Archmage looked at her with her speechless face. Was the price insufficient? It couldn’t be. After waiting for a while, she continued her words with a feeling of uneasiness.

“Even after I become an adult, I will make it for you only for the cost of the ingredients.”

They were still speechless. she added, swallowing her dry saliva.

“Duke Eldeer can only make the unfinished elixir like the one I just gave you. There are still a lot of experiments left to do with me. I am the only one who can make the perfect elixir. You are free to check it out.”

There was nothing more to say. Even she kept her mouth shut, and a long silence fell in her room.

‘I thought this would finish the calculation quickly.’

Ariadne waited impatiently, observing the complexion of the Marquis and the Archmage.

‘The worst is to try to find out how to make an elixir, even by torturing me. The best thing is for them to accept my offer and keep their promises.’

Where were the results between the worst and the best? In the middle, they might pretend to keep their promise right now and then betray her later. That wasn’t too bad either.

‘Still, I want it to be as close to the best as possible…’

There’s no way they didn’t realize the value of the elixir. If it was a helpless child holding something so valuable, it was no wonder that they were tempted to take it away by force. So she expected the worst possible outcome.

‘Worst case… I have no choice but to use the worst possible means.’