Was does it mean to be brave? Is it simply just not being afraid of death? Or is it just deliberate pretense?
No, brave people just don’t want to be cowards.
Even the bravest of warriors are afraid of death, it’s just that they have stuff they fear more than death. They’re afraid of being a complete failure, afraid of losing honor, so they had to continue to fight, to succeed, they had to face their enemies even at the cost of their lives!
“But this black magic weakens their willpower and makes them let go of their obsessions. It amplifies their inner fears and makes them become something that they least want to become.”
Everyone has something they fear most, perhaps something that even they themselves aren’t sure of. That thing is usually suppressed in the subconscious by willpower, but once infected, that inner fear would be blown up. Normal people would become possessed by those fears and it ends up with their personalities changing.
That was what was happening to Caesar.
“So complicated, I don’t get it.” Elena rolled her eyes, “So to put it simply, a person who’s afraid of spiders would think of themselves as one after being infected… and a woman afraid of men might become a crude man, right?”
“Uh… pretty much. The key is their inner fear.” Claire awkwardly nodded her head.
“Humans are really lowly creatures, cowardly and weak, disgusting.”
“… Elena, a-aren’t you also a human?”
“Me? Of course not.”
“Eh???”
Claire didn’t know how to react when such a beautiful maid said she was not human in front of her… perhaps after being by Lin Xiao for so long and being spoiled, she didn’t care about other people.
Claire composed herself and didn’t bother with it, she had to tell Lin Xiao first!
Although they could find some clues, they couldn’t think of any good ideas and had to rely on Lin Xiao!
“Lin Xiao! Lin Xiao!”
“Hm? Someone’s calling me? … Hey, stop just looking you bastards, come and help!”
“O-oh!”
When he noticed Claire calling him, Lin Xiao got the surrounding spectators to help so he could free himself. They relied on numbers to surround Caesar and keep him busy while Lin Xiao quickly met up with Claire.
“Lin Xiao! Caesar is actually…”
Claire quickly told Lin Xiao of the information and their conjectures.
“Personality change… illusions of fear… hm, not bad Claire, you’re quite helpful.”
“What does that mean? Is that a compliment?”
“Of course.”
Actually, there was an easy way to get Caesar back to normal and that was to treat him like Adele and forcibly destroy the engravings.
But it wasn’t something he could do that easily. The side effects of forcibly destroying the engravings were too strong, the only reason they used it with Adele was that she wasn’t human and her body was much stronger, if it were Caesar…
Even Adele fell into a deep sleep and pretty much became a vegetable, if it were Caesar he might not even become a vegetable, but a meat bag.
“Sigh, what should we do?”
After using several large moves, Caesar was already much weaker, but the other people still weren’t able to completely suppress him.
No one else knew how strong Caesar was when he started acting crazy because Lin Xiao was dealing with him, but since Lin Xiao left and they had to deal with Caesar, they finally understood how strong Lin Xiao was to be able to deal with Caesar’s crazy attacks so easily.
“Lin Xiao, maybe you can knock him out, or use magic to restrain him and bring him back to the city first?”
Rosie wiped a tear while feebly suggesting an idea.
“No.” Lin Xiao shook his head, “It’s not that I can’t, but it’s that he wouldn’t even give me a chance to.”
It would be simple for Lin Xiao to knock Caesar out then tie him up and bring him back, but the problem was that the festering wounds were continuing to eat away at his life energy and converting it into stronger power, in other words… he’s a Gundam that already initiated its self-destructs! He wouldn’t tire or give up and would just continue fighting until his life ends.
If he had to knock him out… the only thing he would have in the end would be a tattered corpse.
“Sigh, if only there were an antidote.”
Lin Xiao helplessly sighed and then noticed something strange reflecting light in front of Caesar’s chest, so he couldn’t help but ask.
“What’s that? A necklace?”
“No, that’s not… oh right! T-that’s an antidote!”
“Hah? That’s the antidote? Why didn’t you say that earlier?”
“Wuu… I-I forgot! Also, who knows if it’s real or not?”
That little sparkling pendant-like thing was a parting gift from his little sister when Caesar left Lombard Kingdom. She said it was a specialty medicine she bought from the black market to treat the plague.
At the time, even though Caesar accepted it and wore it, he never took it seriously.
What kind of joke was that? The plague was spreading unchecked and even the Holy Light Church still wasn’t able to create an antidote yet, so how could Pelle manage to buy some specialty medicine?
Furthermore, specialty medicine from the black market was suspicious to begin with, like a shoddy scam. So both Caesar and Rosie just thought Pelle got tricked and neither of them took it seriously.
Caesar just wore it on his neck as a protective talisman.
This beautiful purple crystal bottle beared his sister’s love and expectations, if it could bring him luck and allowed him to return safely, that would be for the best.
“Fake medicine? Protective talisman?”
“Yeah, Rosie is right, that should be fake.” Since Lin Xiao didn’t seem to understand, Claire came over to explain.
Special medicine from the black market, that was a shoddy scam that Claire had seen countless times in Gotham Kingdom.
While the plague was most intense, there were a lot of shady businesses that proclaimed they had special medicine to trick the cowardly nobles and make a pretty sum. It was eventually exposed that it was just dyed sugar water and almost stirred up a huge mess, fortunately, Claire showed up on time to severely crack down on anyone selling fake medicine and arrested and imprisoned them.
“Hm… Claire, I never expected that you did that many things, you’re a good leader that comes from the people and goes to the people! Amazing!” Lin Xiao gave her a sincere thumbs up.
“… Enough! Stop wasting time, since we know the medicine is fake, hurry up and think up something else!” Claire blushed and was completely flustered because of Lin Xiao’s praise, so she could only put on a tough front.
“Wait… who said that it’s for sure fake?”
“Hm? Lin Xiao, don’t tell me you believe that childish scam?”
“Hehe, we’ll know if it’s real or not after checking it.” Lin Xiao glanced at Elena.
Elena immediately understood what he wanted after their eyes met.
“I’m counting on you!”
“Hmph, you really know how to order people around.”
She walked up and quietly complained while she shut her eyes and focused.
Elena tried gathering her perception at one point and focused on the bottle in front of Caesar and discovered something.
“That’s not normal medicine, it contains a strange energy, similar to the black thing Darkness used, but it doesn’t feel destructive, rather, it feels gentle.”
“Energy similar to the black thing and feels gentle… doesn’t that mean it’s actually an antidote!?”
Claire didn’t know what kind of powers Lin Xiao’s maid has, but if she wasn’t lying, then there was a high chance that the medicine was real!
“Oh Caesar, you really are one destined to be a hero… why do all the good things happen to you? Your little sister goes to the black market to buy fake medicine and actually buys a real one… it seems the heavens have not forsaken you.”
Lin Xiao bitterly smiled with mixed feelings. Caesar’s little sister was clingy and beautiful and can save his life from thousands of miles away, but what about his own sister? She’s still competing with him and she might even be ambushed nearby waiting for him to humiliate himself and then coming over immediately to mock him.
“No matter… since the heavens want you to be a hero, then I naturally don’t have any complaints, I’ll just let it be.”
Lin Xiao shook his head and turned to Rosie.
“You’re the only one that can save Caesar!”
“Me?”
“Yes, only you can get him to drink that medicine!”
“Eh??”
