Chapter 158

The Imperial Academy.

The highest institution of higher education in the empire, where the royal family naturally holds the position of chairman.

At the same time, it was also a place that led the empire’s narcotics market.

Various narcotics had been consumed inside and outside the academy over the years.

Copycat versions of health syrup, plain opium, hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Perhaps because they were talented individuals, they had shown creativity even in adverse environments.

Like ingesting opium with a small amount of rum,

Boiling ephedra for about two hours to extract its essence,

Or mixing mandrake, a poisonous herb with hallucinogenic effects, with opium.

It wasn’t just for recreational use; they had their own distinct market. Although Siena had dismantled one organization as a personal project, she heard that there were still students who had dropped out voluntarily or had been forced out, trading narcotics.

It wasn’t because there were no laws.

In fact, following the purge of the Wolphall family, related regulations were enacted at the request of Victoria. These laws mandated that opium traders record their transactions and report them, with both parties involved in unregistered transactions facing punishment. But without at least early 20th-century administrative capacity, regulation of narcotics was impossible.

Amidst all this, news arrived that individuals of exceptional talent had made a technological breakthrough.

It wasn’t something they had discovered on their own. It was probably something disseminated from the Empire.

“Lord Alan, an accident occurred at the academy’s baking club room early this morning.”

“The guards found that one female student had fainted and a male student was staggering while supporting her. …It appears that they were boiling opium and lime, and fainted due to lack of ventilation.”

“The students responsible for the accident have already been secured.”

An incident involving students fainting while boiling opium and lime.

This report came directly to me from the academy’s security officer.

Supervising the academy wasn’t technically part of my role as the chairman of the Privy Council.

The faculty had simply instructed, upon hearing about the incident, to “report it to Lord Alan.”

A wise decision; if I was inevitably going to get involved, it was best to be informed as early as possible.

“Did they extract morphine within the academy premises?”

After obtaining the method for manufacturing morphine, two students attempted to extract it using the baking club’s equipment. They boiled the substance for a long time and, due to poor ventilation, started to lose consciousness, eventually causing a fire.

It was an extremely foolish accident.

But just because it was foolish didn’t mean it wasn’t serious.

It was evidence that the morphine manufacturing method had found its way even into the hands of such amateurish students. Unless it was someone from the Empire deliberately spreading the method to the dull-witted, one could assume it had already spread far and wide. Among them were surely those who could skillfully manufacture it without being noticed by others.

“It was bound to happen.”

I didn’t particularly want to get directly involved.

But that thought soon changed.

“Her Highness the Heiress Apparent is personally meeting with the students.”

It was a report that the Victoria, who effectively ruled the empire, was personally investigating the academy students.

I knew why Victoria was taking this issue so seriously.

Still, this wasn’t appropriate.

I immediately headed for the academy.

***

In the dull office,

my fiancée was interrogating academy students who looked terrified.

“Through which channel and from whom did you obtain the manufacturing process?”

“A friend was making it… Ah, Your Highness, my uncle is Viscount Archibald. He was a Colonel in the Royal Guard, if that helps…”

“That’s an irrelevant answer. If you didn’t learn the method from your uncle, why bring his name up in this situation? And if you were trying to leverage your family’s influence, it’d be wiser to give up now.”

“…”

“It was from a friend, right? Who?”

Victoria was pushing them to reveal the mastermind behind the operation.

And the students were watching her for her reactions.

“Are they a couple?”

Both were sophomores. The young man was worried every time the young woman coughed, despite his own frightened state, as she was still breathing heavily from having inhaled smoke.

However, Victoria showed no intention of leniency.

“Your Highness, I sincerely apologize, but my girlfriend seems unwell.”

“Should I fetch a saintess for you?”

“Uh! That’d be really appreciated.”

“It’s not happening.”

Unperturbed by the students’ coughing, Victoria kept the pressure on.

I sighed and entered the office.

It wasn’t out of concern for the students.

“Ah, Sir Alan, you arrived just in time.”

“Victoria, there’s no need for you to personally interrogate these students.”

A faint glimmer of relief appeared on the students’ faces. Perhaps they saw me as an ally.

However, I wasn’t here to help junior colleagues.

All I wanted was for Victoria not to waste her time.

“You shouldn’t be startled by something as minor as this.”

“As minor?”

“Of course, it’s a serious situation since students nearly suffocated while attempting to extract morphine on campus. …But Victoria, if I had been a close aide to the Crown Prince of the Empire, I wouldn’t have taught someone as clumsy as these.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, those who are already in the know are likely all aware. These two probably learned it by looking over someone’s shoulder and clumsily followed.”

After Victoria fell silent for a moment, she gave a bitter laugh.

“So it’s already spread?”

“Yes.”

“And it’s meaningless to find out who taught the manufacturing process to them?”

“Not exactly meaningless… It’s just that I don’t consider it the job of a national policymaker. Incidents like this will keep happening. And to be honest, with the method having spread, it’s impossible to curb its use anymore.”

Clever ones might try to sell it outside the system. Families with territories might limit its distribution within their lands. Frankly, even I couldn’t predict who was consuming morphine and how.

At this moment, there was only one certain truth:

“Morphine manufactured by someone else is likely already for sale.”

“Is that so?”

A noticeable deflation of energy from Victoria.

But the students’ fear hadn’t lessened.

It was due to what Victoria had mumbled.

“Since Sir Alan’s right, it would be better to just execute them.”

“Victoria?”

“Don’t worry. There’s ample justification. Just trying to manufacture morphine isn’t enough to kill them, but… didn’t they set fire to a vital facility of the state, the academy? I heard the club room caught fire. They’ll claim it was an accident, but I don’t believe them.”

“…”

“Wouldn’t burning them as an example be appropriate?”

The couple’s faces paled at Victoria’s words.

The young woman’s coughing stopped, while the young man started hiccupping.

They clearly understood they were in front of a person with the power to easily take their lives.

Honestly, justification wasn’t even necessary. Just killing them and disposing of the bodies discreetly would have sufficed. If Victoria declared they had suddenly attacked her, who would dare to oppose her?

But killing them wouldn’t serve as an effective deterrent.

“On the contrary.”

A couple caught extracting morphine in a club room and setting fire in the process.

Would executing them publicly make other drug dealers more cautious?

I didn’t think so.

Most would likely scoff and say, “They died because they were dumb.” The more intelligent ones might take heed and be more cautious and thorough in their manufacturing process.

Neither outcome seemed to align with what Victoria hoped for.

“So, what should be done?”

I shifted my gaze to the academy couple.

Like frightened teenagers anticipating execution.

Executing them wouldn’t stop the spread of morphine.

“But perhaps Victoria, they can be used as bait.”

They could still serve as bait.

Bait for more intelligent and well-founded operators. Victoria seemed to understand; her serious expression nodded, acknowledging that it was better to target more significant threats than just executing these small fries.

“Send them out briefly.”

After the couple was taken out by the knights, Victoria gave her instructions.

“Sir Alan, use them to lure in drug dealers.”

“Understood.”

“There’s a condition, though.”

“Anything you require.”

“I have no intention of showing mercy. I’ll either execute or send them to a labor camp, regardless of the number. I just need you to provide the justification. It would be difficult to justify killing them solely for knowing the method, right?”

“…”

It would be impossible to execute them solely for manufacturing and selling drugs.

Because I, among others, would be the first to be executed then.

Of course, a forced purge was possible, but it would require both Victoria and I to get our hands dirty. And over-purging could also harm governance, especially now that we were locked in a confrontation with the Empire.

“Is it possible?”

“I cannot fabricate charges to punish them. It’d be hard to do in a short period.”

“Then?”

After a short contemplation, I responded.

“I can nudge them towards self-destruction.”

“Good. That’ll suffice.”

After giving instructions in rare ruler-mode, Victoria left the barracks.

I summoned the couple back to execute her request.

Their names were Todd and Sara.

I decided to seek their consent.

“Do you want to live?”

“Yes…!”

“If you follow my orders, I’ll petition Her Highness the Heiress Apparent to spare your lives.”

“…”

Did they realize they had no choice?

Todd and Sara hesitantly nodded after evaluating their situation.

…

A few hours later.

I gave the students brief instructions before sending them off.

Their task was to serve as bait themselves to lure drug dealers operating within the system, especially those around the academy. If successful, fewer students would remain, but it was better than all of them being eradicated.

We needed longevity against the Empire.

We were currently waging the dirtiest war possible.

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