Chapter 46

The reception room attached to the Academy’s teaching office.

I was waiting here for Leon Rothe Dale.

“Student Leon will be here soon. Please wait just a little longer.”

The Academy’s attitude toward me was overly polite. Even though I’d abruptly come in and declared my intention to sponsor Leon, they readily helped and even had a faculty professor come out saying it was an honor to meet me. This was not the kind of treatment a young knight like me should receive.

‘They’re behaving this way because of Siena backing me, these people too.’

Anais had gone off to another good place, and Siena’s position had surged rapidly. She wasn’t quite on Victoria’s level, but it wouldn’t be right to say she was too far behind, given that it was widely known Siena had a special relationship with Empress Lianhua. In fact, as a shareholder in Medoff Pharmaceuticals, she even drew envy from the nobles.

And I was Siena’s closest confidant and business partner.

It was natural for the Academy to treat me with great respect. It was fortunate that I could sit quietly and call Leon over.

‘But why isn’t he coming?’

I’d been waiting for over an hour, but there was no sign of Leon. Instead, random students kept lingering around. “Oh…? Could it be Mr. Alan? What a coincidence.” That sort of thing.

The fact that they recognized me was a suspicious matter on its own. Not only did they just nod and disappear but they were even spouting strange things.

“I, uh, Mr. Alan? I have a proposal that could be mutually beneficial.”

“Proposal?”

“Oh, you must be surprised. It might seem daring for a mere student to talk of proposals which could be offensive. However, just as Mr. Alan is both a bodyguard and businessman, I am also a student planning a business venture.”

“…”

“Please consider it seriously. If you allow it, I will explain my plan.”

A third-year student from the Department of Magic was saying this. Even more surprisingly, he already knew about Ephedrine.

‘That was the one I mentioned to intimidate Syrup exchange investors. He already picked it up?’

I was aware that Health Syrup had somewhat infiltrated the Academy, but I didn’t expect someone to approach me about a business deal. Moreover, a fellow student. The Imperial Academy truly had talented individuals learning and growing quickly.

Still, I had no intention of playing along.

“Mr. Alan, I am prepared to work like a dog…”

“It’s not needed.”

“No, just hear me out.”

“It’s fine. Even without hearing, it’s obvious what you’re going to say. You want me to provide goods so you can open sales routes, right? From your demeanor, it seems you’ve already tasted monetary gains, but if the products you’re currently handling are ‘that syrup,’ it’s best to stop. It’s banned by the royal edict.”

The flicker in his eyes at those words confirmed he had indeed sold the syrup. Dealers were already active within the school — it had spread faster than I thought.

“I haven’t done anything… just brainstorming.”

“Then end it at the brainstorming stage.”

Only then did the unnamed third-year student from the Department of Magic slink away.

I didn’t feel disdain about seeing a nineteen-year-old indulging in such antics.

In my past life, my younger sibling, while being a high school sophomore, employed Southeast Asian laborers to smuggle ketamine internationally. Some young people were simply full of ambition. And even if we consider this student as merely redistributing, the scale was likely small.

Still, it wasn’t easy to let it slide.

If there’s a seller, there must also be a buyer. That thought naturally made me suspicious of Leon too.

However, it would be reasonable to dismiss it as unnecessary worry. How many students were there in the Academy?

The Department of Magic and the Department of Swordsmanship cherry-picked only the most promising individuals. Even though other departments each had a thousand students per year, the possibility of Leon, with whom I shared interests, being a drug addict…

But it was slim, it had to be.

A genius who developed just by breathing wouldn’t eat syrup for its stimulant effects, nor did it appear he’d taken it for the flu or nasal allergies. Unless Anais had distributed it for promotional purposes, it didn’t make much sense.

‘There’s no way he’s a drug addict. What could dissatisfy him?’

I merely hoped Leon would show up with a normal face to dispel my unease.

I planned to give Leon a sponsorship of 50,000 Talers, exchange some appropriate compliments, Leon, with his fattened wallet, would quietly wait before joining the Saintess’s escort team upon the academy’s request, and together they’d become the harbingers of peace in the Great Forest.

It was a road where we could all live happily.

‘I’ll probably be able to confirm my feelings upon seeing him in person.’

But Leon still hadn’t arrived no matter how long I waited. Since I couldn’t wait indefinitely, I decided to go and find him myself. He might be someone obsessed with swordsmanship who’d dismiss money and be buried in training. If that were the case, I’d gladly forgive him.

More than forgiveness, I even had an intention to double his sponsorship.

With that thought, I stepped outside.

However.

In front of the reception room sat one vagrant in perfect posture.

‘What are you, kid?’

He was in a student uniform, so he wasn’t a vagrant. But my initial suspicion wasn’t entirely wrong.

It seemed he had sprawled about all day—his greasy hair, the cold sweat endlessly flowing down his forehead and neck, and his rapid breathing were obvious. He was even rapidly opening and closing his eyes at a pace indicative of instability. He was human, yet his form wasn’t entirely human.

As I murmured my disbelief, the hope that he might not be who I thought he was vanished.

“50,000 Talers, right?”

He grinned happily and asked.

I muttered ‘fuck’ under my breath.

It couldn’t be helped.

“Sorry! I skipped breakfast… or was it lunch? Oh! Both meals! I didn’t eat because I had some things to do, but I can’t make any mistakes with the sponsor, so I already ate nine spoons just now. Usually, it gives me incredible energy, but for some reason, things are a little weird today! …Ah, sweat.”

The young man cut his tirade to complain about sweat getting into his eyes, making a face.

However uncomfortable it was to admit, this was Leon.

Continually making excuses, he seemed to recognize that his condition was abnormal. He was rather enthusiastic about explaining to me that he “was absolutely never like this.”

But explanations weren’t necessary. By his very appearance so far, I could pretty much gauge the situation.

The biggest clue was the familiar smell coming from Leon’s body.

‘Opium.’

Because I usually dealt with producing Morphine, I had plenty of exposure to Opium, making it easy to distinguish from cigarette smoke.

By the way he mentioned skipping two meals, it seemed as though he had been smoking for at least six hours, if not more.

“How much opium have you smoked?”

“Huh?”

“Because word reached you about the sponsor, you desperately wanted to regain your strength, right? So you impulsively ate a lot of the health syrup. If I say ten spoons… it’s probably half a bottle at the minimum, right?”

“Over half a bottle!”

“…Yeah. Over half a bottle. And once you reached the interview location, you realized you couldn’t stand up properly, so you collapsed?”

“You know the feeling, huh? Wow.”

In sum, he had been smoking opium all day and then proceeded to take a whole lot of syrup in one go.

Though compared to “real drugs,” opium and syrup are on the softer side.

Still, soft has its limits. It was almost admirable how he managed to keep his wits about him after indulging in such a way. An ordinary person would’ve slipped into unconsciousness, if not straight into death.

‘Still, the protagonist is the protagonist, huh.’

On closer scrutiny, he did embody the look of a protagonist.

Thick blonde hair, green eyes with the pupils dilating (from drug effects) but gradually returning to normal, and a fairly handsome face despite his facial muscles spasming. It matched the description of Leon in the original work.

‘Okay, the shell’s about right.’

But the content was already broken.

It hadn’t likely been going on for long, but during this early phase, consumption is often done purely for the joy and simple pleasures it provides. Communication wouldn’t be effective at this stage.

It would be extremely difficult to make him understand that drug use is self-harm, especially because his body felt fine.

Leon was at this nascent stage of addiction.

By simply ceasing immediately, he could go through a few weeks of withdrawal symptoms before returning to normal.

But if not, the situation would rapidly deteriorate.

Stronger and more effective drugs, increasing dosages, and eventually reaching a point where ordinary narcotics couldn’t even provide pleasure, leading to drastic measures. He’d do anything to get the drugs he wanted.

‘What should I do with this kid?’

I wanted to just let him figure out his life on his own, but it was tricky because I knew his future.

Even if I personally intervened to resolve the conflict with the elves (which wouldn’t be easy), what about afterward?

Without a genius who became significantly stronger with each hurdle he overcame, the consequences would be too great to bear, and eventually, they’d reach me too.

Had he sensed the concern in my expression? Leon, who had been talking incoherently, now looked at me seriously.

His sober face almost made me forget he was a drug addict.

…But then the words coming out wiped away any hope.

“So, when do I get the 50,000 Talers?”

“…What?”

“50,000 Talers!!”

So, he was demanding the money quickly to leave. Leon extended his hand flat toward me and tapped the table impatiently, as if demanding I hand it over.

“You’re not giving it?”

As I replied, he even glared at me. I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Leon Rothe Dale. Do you remember my name? Your teaching assistant must have told you.”

“I do. 50,000… huh?”

Leon tilting his head gave me an idea of what he might do with a lump sum of money.

I’m not sure how much the syrup currently costs on the black market, but with 50,000 Talers, he could indulge for a very long time.

He might not even just eat it—there’s also the possibility of doing so with opium smoke. One hand on the pipe, the other on the syrup.

‘He’s already deeply embedded. It’s beyond verbal persuasion now. There’s no time for that anyway.’

I didn’t feel particularly disappointed again.

Rather, confirming Leon’s state helped me quickly end my indecision.

Because if it’s impossible both to get him off drugs and to abandon him completely, then there’s only one option left.

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