*We made an error with the chapter number. This will be renamed as 50 part 2 for clarification.
“There is no way!”
“Kaichen was there.”
“No matter how great of an archmage he is, my poison cannot be treated in a day!” Exchetra remained calm as the man shouted. She leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes.
“Whether it was by chance or not… it is true that the little boy survived. Antares, I have no doubts about your skills. But I think we should release the poison before it becomes useless.”
“Have you decided on a location?”
Exchetra opened her eyes and looked at the map. She looked at the red circle on it.
“It would be nice if it’s a secluded place ruled by a poor lord. I would like it to become a ruin that no one will look for.” Antares glanced at Exchetra who had a languid smile on her face. The place that the red circle marked on the map was Acrab, a unique and secluded terrain to the east of the Empire.
The forbidden magic had already manifested once before in Acrab. It was a place where he had gone before with an already dead magician to poison the countess and activate the said forbidden magic.
“What if the Countess recognizes me?”
“She’s not in Acrab right now, so don’t worry. She was taken by the Archmage to be his research subject.” Exchetra laughed as though this was all fun and games for her.
“It’s a little different from what I had expected, but it’s not a bad development. Originally, I was going to aim for a different place, but… I think it would be better to turn Acrab into ruins now, which might one day interfere with our plans the most.”
“Did you… foresee the future again?” At Antares’ words, Exchetra laughed aloud.
“If everything goes according to plan, it will be different from the future that I know of.” Exchetra dismissed Antares. He was headed to Acrab to spread the poison he had used on the countess.
“Do you know the greatest enemy for a country?”
“I don’t know….” Asta stood there with lowered head. Exchetra got up from her seat and walked to the window. She lifted the curtains and looked outside at the lively street.
“There may be many external enemies who wage their wars,” she said, “But the greatest threat for a nation are not the external enemies. It’s an internal one. One person on the inside can undo all that a country has worked for and bring them to their knees.”
“And the way to defeat an enemy within is through a disease.” Exchetra turned away from the window and looked at Asta.
“Because humans are angrier at the imminent death of a family member than an unfamiliar external enemy. One’s own life and blood is more important, isn’t it? Even throughout history, the greatest number of deaths is through epidemics. A disease could be so great that it could turn the balance of the world.”
Asta didn’t respond. “Because when people begin dying one by one, they will doubt what they believed in and give up.” Exchetra calmly leaned against the window.
“Can Antares’ poison be made contagious?”
“No way. You can’t build a weapon of mass destruction like that with his head.”
“Is there any other way?”
“There is a rumor.” Exchetra laughed. Her laugh sent chills down Asta’s spine.
“It isn’t a contagious disease, it is a poison, but if people die indiscriminately, suspicion will arise. But if it is somewhere secluded like Acrab, where one can’t easily get help from the people outside due to its geographical location, it is the perfect place to do it.”
It was easy to instigate people. If people kept dying, it would obviously arouse suspicion. If someone called it contagious, the suspicion would turn into fear. If the deaths continued, then the fear about a contagious disease that didn’t even exist would become a reality.
“Asta, there must be no mistakes. We must stop the Archmage from being next to Julius. He’s a pain in the ass.”
“Yes, master.”
Exchetra walked away having said what she wanted to and left the study with her face covered with a robe and a hood.
* * *
Julius, who had come in like a storm, and then left after being ignored by Kaichen did not visit despite saying “I will come again,” for over a whole month. I was so nervous because I didn’t know when Julius would barge in again. It seemed to be his habit.
I had to be prepared anyhow. In this world, he was the main character. So, I had to be careful of how I treated him. His emotions mattered. I couldn’t have him assuming I was being rude to him.
I shook my head to dislodge that thought. I was afraid of him. He was the main character. Julius got what he wanted, and if he felt threatened by something, he would surely destroy it. I had to be on his good side.
It was one of the reasons why I chose to become a disciple of Kaichen. Also, because Kaichen is the greatest archmage the empire has ever seen but he was also Julius’ best friend. It was the reason I tried to hide behind Kaichen’s shadow so that I would be safe from Julius. It was my plan for making Julius the Emperor and completing the novel to live my life in peace.
