Dayton looked into the mirror and roughly combed his hair, but when he realized he couldn’t tidily arrange it, he decided to give up neatly.
He should have woken up a little earlier, but there was nothing he could do about it.
What could he do about that restless night?
Still, he had washed his hair, so that would have to do.
After finishing his self-justification, Dayton shouted towards the living room.
“Diana! Are you all set?”
“Yep!”
At Diana’s cheerful response, he moved towards the living room, where he found her beaming despite having woken up early and without complaining or grumbling.
It was not hard to remember why.
“Hehe, airplane, airplane~”
She was probably acting like that because it was her first time boarding a plane.
After all, Diana hadn’t really left this neighborhood much.
The time they went to the zoo was the furthest she had traveled.
“Let’s go now, Yerna is waiting downstairs.”
“Got it!”
As Dayton lifted his backpack, Diana immediately reached for the small children’s bag she had set in a corner of the living room.
However, the bag seemed a bit heavy for her, and she swayed slightly.
The sight of her was somewhat pitiful.
“Do you want me to carry it for you?”
But Diana shook her head vigorously, shouting, “No! I can carry it!”
That bag was her favorite, and it contained her thoughts about what she could fit inside a bag that only held a single doll.
She didn’t want to let anyone else carry it.
Diana slung the bag over her shoulder, spreading her legs shoulder-width apart to balance herself and gave a proud expression.
Seeing this, Dayton placed his hand on top of Diana’s head and reminded her of what he had asked the night before.
“Diana. You remember what I told you yesterday about Beiriton, right?”
“Don’t let go of my hand, don’t go anywhere, and don’t follow anyone who calls out.”
“Good, then what about at the airport?”
“Don’t run, don’t shout, and do what you say.”
“Good, good. Then what about on the plane?”
“Takes my shoes off?”
“Perfect.”
Pleased with her answer, Dayton ruffled Diana’s hair playfully.
While Diana didn’t particularly enjoy her brother’s rough touch, she decided to overlook it since today was a special day.
“Thanks! I’m so excited to go to Beriton!”
“It’s Beiriton, Diana.”
“Birton?”
……It just got worse.
“…Yeah, just call it whatever you want.”
“Is it Birton?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Now it was getting tiresome to correct her every time.
——–
There was a person nervously scanning the surroundings.
His gaze appeared unfocused, and his hair was damp with cold sweat, sticking down.
His unsteady steps made it seem as if he was heavily drunk, and despite the warm weather, his shoulders and hands shook, hinting that he was completely out of his mind.
Suddenly, he noticed a man in a hood, and upon seeing him, he joyfully ran over, trembling hands delivering an envelope as he pleaded.
“Here, it’s the payment. Hurry….”
“Wait a moment, I need to check it.”
The man in the hood flicked away the cigarette he was smoking and snatched the envelope.
Inside the envelope, just as expected, was a wad of cash.
The man who received the envelope leaned against the wall and casually began counting the money.
No matter how much he was urged, it was not urgent for him.
He casually glanced at the anxious man counting the cash.
The hooded man completely stashed the envelope inside his hood pocket and said, “…Okay, the payment is confirmed. Here.”
He pulled something small from his pocket and flicked it with his finger, surprising the other man who caught it and finally sighed in relief as he confirmed he had the item in his grasp.
“Now, get going.”
“Th-thank you!”
Watching the retreating figure of the man, the masked man finally spoke after the man had completely disappeared.
“Haah, this is frustrating.”
He removed the mask that was tightly stuck to his face and brushed aside his tousled hair.
The face revealed was none other than Third.
Only now did he step out of the alley and think to himself.
‘This is too easy.’
Historically, controlling drugs meant controlling the underworld.
There was no better business to generate initial capital.
Having cleaned up after the ‘drug dealer’ before, he already had information about distribution channels, making it even easier to dominate the market of an entire district.
If one were to backtrack to why he suddenly started getting involved in such matters, it would be a few months ago.
—
“Third, I have business in Beiriton.”
That was the first sentence from Luke, who had come to teach magic again today without fail.
Third was a bit startled by her sudden statement and asked, “Beiriton….? What business?”
Luke continued speaking in her usual calm and subdued voice.
“Of course, it’s a field trip. It’s a place I’ve had my eye on for a while.”
“A field trip, you say.”
Hearing that, Third couldn’t help but think of the organization that primarily operated in Beiriton.
Specifically, there was Dylan Baker, a man leading the most influential organization among the nobility.
The cartel that had suddenly risen to prominence 20 years ago, quickly grew to dominate the underworld through Dylan’s extensive connections, disregarding the law, whether illegal or legal.
Indeed, it had come to this.
Third felt a slight tension rising and asked, “How long do you plan to stay there?”
“Maybe about a week. Do you need anything?”
“No, I don’t have anything.”
“Then let me ask you for one favor, Third.”
“Please, go ahead.”
“Can you get me the ‘syringe’ that your ‘friends’ had before?”
Third came to an abrupt halt.
“…The drug, you mean?”
Walking alongside Luke, he was a few steps ahead when he suddenly stopped, turned back, and spoke.
“Yeah. The drug I was researching was lost in a fire due to an accident.”
Third was quite surprised.
She had been researching drugs?
This meant there was certainly a facility he wasn’t aware of.
You couldn’t research drugs without any equipment.
Moreover, hadn’t she mentioned she had numerous subordinates who were connected by blood?
But it burned down?
What kind of reckless individual would burn down a research facility for this ‘existence’?
Whoever it was, they were not in their right mind.
“Such a thing… Whose doing could this be?”
Luke simply waved her hand lightly.
“No, this was my mistake. So there’s no need to worry about it.”
Seeing her assert that the mischief of another organization was entirely her responsibility, one couldn’t help but think she was indeed fit to be the leader of an organization.
“Not to worry” meant she had already dealt with it.
Truly reliable capabilities.
“I see.”
The two began walking side by side again.
“So I need some new drugs now. Can you get that?”
She needed drugs, but she wouldn’t be saying she would use it, so it must have meant she was looking to set up a new drug manufacturing facility.
Speaking of which, she had previously wrecked an organization.
That organization, due to the events she had previously caused, had lost a considerable portion of their force and was in a weakened state.
Not much time had passed since then, so information probably hadn’t spread widely yet.
That meant their facilities could be taken over if they simply wished.
Did she intend to bring this up in order to seize that opportunity?
Looking at her confident gaze, Third answered.
“Of course, I’ll be able to get it.”
“Good, if you’re able to procure it, please keep it safe for now.”
“Understood.”
Just then, as they moved towards a spot out of the public eye.
“Oh right, Third. You should be starting to engage in proper ‘work’ too, shouldn’t you?”
Work? That was quite a sudden statement. What did it mean?
“Work… what do you mean?”
“Yeah. You can’t just keep doing odd jobs indefinitely, can you? You’ll need a proper source of income to live stably, don’t you think? What do you say? Do you have any thoughts on this?”
I see, ‘work.’
She seemed to be trying to assign me “work.”
“…Yes. Understood.”
“That’s a good response.”
With his answer, Luke grinned.
“Then, we’ll need to figure out what to do about your face.”
——–
Thanks to that, at present, I’m smoothly gathering funds.
To the extent that it serves as a stable source of income.
After finishing work, Third returned to his hideout, threw himself onto the mattress, and stared at the ceiling.
Currently, he had removed all the bandages and adhesive bandages that covered his face, but the skin on the parts he had been hiding with bandages was quite unsightly and distorted.
With his eyes closed, he stroked those areas and thought.
‘Maybe I should wear a mask instead of bandages during the day.’
He quite liked the functionality of this mask she made.
———–
“Hmm.”
After finishing his meal, he suddenly recalled that tomorrow was supposed to be the day he would meet Third to teach her magic.
He wondered if Third had managed to procure the drugs yet.
The remark had actually surfaced because he thought that if it were Third, she could procure a few syringes from her ‘old friends’ quite easily.
Having affirmed that as if it were obvious, she must have procured them by now and was safely storing them.
Upon reflection again, he thought that keeping them in the bathroom was a pretty good idea.
The problem was that he hadn’t thought of his own brashness at all.
Besides that, Third also needed to find a new job.
For now, he had cast a temporary incantation on the mask to make it appear like a ‘normal expression’ which was merely a stopgap measure.
With a ‘normal expression,’ even if he did well at work, he wouldn’t receive special acknowledgment from people.
In the past, the soul he had confirmed through his blood was currently twisted into an impossible form.
Luke had some understanding of how that soul’s shape was formed.
It was probably due to the influence of necromancy, which lowered the rank of a soul.
Because of that, he was currently in a state of strong schism between his body and soul.
As a result, his physical form was slowly collapsing.
If he didn’t eventually find a way to resolve this, he would lose his life.
Perhaps that was also why the circle was not performing as it should.
The circle was the link that connected the will of the soul and the body; if there was a disconnect, a portion of the circle would be consumed to bridge that gap.
Therefore, mages who were resurrected as undead could only display abilities far below their original level.
However, by properly inscribing the circle, Third’s time had been considerably extended.
But this was still a temporary measure.
To fundamentally resolve the issue, he had no choice but to raise the rank of Third’s soul again.
And to enhance the rank of the soul, he needed the essence of the World Tree, the sole ‘Ascended One.’
Luke looked in the direction of the World Tree and thought.
He had worried about what to do if the World Tree was different from the past.
Even in this era, the World Tree was a vine that climbed along the pillar of the world.
-So you want to go to the World Tree?
At Py’s question, Luke shook his head.
“No, we’ll head to the museum first.”
Nothing would change just by seeing the World Tree right away.
Whether he saw it first or later, the fact remained that he would eventually see it.
Besides, he was equally excited about the museum.
Just then, the moment Luke stepped into the area where the gathered children were.
“…….”
Shirud’s face was quite red.
How strange.
Far redder than before applying the ointment, Luke approached, stroking his chin, and asked.
“Shirud, how’s the area that was bitten by mosquitoes? It seems much redder than before. Has the ointment not been applied properly?”
“N-n-no! There’s no need for that! It’s not itchy at all!”
As Luke approached Shirud, stroking his neck and cheek, he said.
“Don’t lie to me, your skin is definitely much redder than before. It looks like the blood recovery potion you drank earlier circulated your blood while rapidly using its anti-itch effects. Come here, and I’ll apply it again for you….”
Watching Luke casually stick out his tongue to dab his finger, Shirud finally panicked and pushed Luke’s hand away while shouting.
“Ugh! D-don’t do that!”
“Why? Is it dirty?”
When Luke looked at him with a puzzled expression, Shirud flinched and whispered.
“It’s not that!”
“Then what’s the problem? Isn’t Mary gone right now?”
Mary had briefly gone to talk with another child, so there wasn’t really anyone around to see or make fun of them.
If it wasn’t a psychological issue about dirtiness, there was no reason for refusal.
In the past, he too had suffered from bug bites and endured itching while studying magic.
When he thought back, it was quite uncomfortable; at times, he had even endured by applying localized anesthetic.
Kail Propson seemed to be able to live well regardless of how many times he was bitten, whereas he could not.
“Enduring the itch is a form of suffering as well. Come over here for a moment.”
“My face isn’t red because of scratching!!”
Shirud thought he was lucky to have taken a medicine to soothe emotional agitation beforehand.
He didn’t dislike this, but he didn’t like it either.
That’s what he thought, unsure of what to make of it at all.
