Chapter 27 - The Nobles Have Vanished from the Noble District, You See
Gokigenyou. I am Violia Nico Fortesia.
When I proposed pouring my blood into the noble district's water supply to kill all the nobles, it was rejected.
However, in its place, a plan for a staged poisoning hoax has emerged to more certainly mass-murder the noble lot!
The time limit to save the lightning user-chan is tomorrow night! I shall proceed with preparations at full power!
...And so.
We wrapped up our conversation once the sound of the shower stopped, and then, we took the lightning user to the guest room to let him sleep... just in case, we locked the guest room from the outside. Eh? Why can it be locked from the outside, you ask? That is for isolating our drug addict when he starts getting high and acting violent.
Once the lightning user was securely isolated, I immediately began collecting my blood. Then, I diluted that blood appropriately to create something that 'doesn't feel like blood but is sufficient to kill.'
To that, I added an anti-toxin. Specifically, powdered unicorn hair. By adding this, I lowered the immediate effect of the poison.
Yes. With this, it is complete.
This is the 'antidote' for this occasion.
Everyone in the noble district has already been infected by the poison because the villainous Violia Nico Fortesia scattered it in the water supply. Therefore, they must drink this 'antidote' immediately.
By the way, since we cannot prepare enough for everyone right away, the first distribution will prioritize the nobles. With this, unnecessary sacrifices can be kept to a minimum (meaning only all the nobles). O-hohohohoho.
「Yes. The bottles go in this box.」
「...I'm surprised you had this many small vials.」
「There were a massive amount of prototypes for the Mystic Ruby bottles left over!」
Come to think of it, I gave quite a lot of rejections regarding the bottles. O-hohohohoho. Well, as a result, there are many small vials here like this. It was a good thing I was selling drugs.
Yes. It was an all-nighter. The sun has risen. I am sleepy. The task of meticulously putting poison into small vials really grinds down one's spirit...
But I did my best. Thanks to that, I have prepared enough 'antidote' for every single noble in the noble district.
「Now then, Giovan. I leave the information gathering to you.」
「Yeah, yeah. Ah, I'm borrowing Chesta.」
「Go right ahead.」
「Eh? What about my will?」
Giovan yawned as he dragged Chesta out of the hideout. For what purpose? To sleep at his shop once he's prepared a certain something. Yes.
The 'information gathering' is just a bluff. It is a countermeasure in case we were being eavesdropped upon. In reality, it is just so they can sleep. That is all.
「...Then, I shall begin my move immediately. Doran, I leave the lookout to you.」
「Right.」
And I too, shall 'begin my move' immediately... or rather, I shall sleep! It was an all-nighter, you know!? I am sleepy! Good night!
There is a decadent pleasure in crawling into bed at dawn and getting out of bed in the evening.
Well, in any case, since I have secured enough sleep, I shall return to the hideout.
「I have returned.」
Everyone was gathered inside. It seems I was the biggest sleepyhead...
「Oh. You're finally back.」
Chesta seemed to have the drugs out of his system, so he appeared normal for the time being.
「Doran. How are things on your end?」
「No particular problems. Same as before.」
「Oh, I see.」
I continued the conversation while heading to the back of the hideout, toward the shelf next to the wine shelf (which is to say, my trophy shelf!). There, non-perishable foods like bread, blocks of cheese, pickles, and dried fruits are kept. I shall have a suitable late lunch-slash-early dinner from there.
「...Now then. Is it about time for those lot to start making a fuss?」
「I wonder. It is slow-acting. I expect it will be around midnight tonight.」
...After having such a conversation.
While talking... I let out a soft yawn.
「I am starting to feel a bit sleepy; would it be alright if I took a nap?」
「Yeah, that's fine, young lady. I'll keep watch here.」
「I'm sleeping too. Wake me if something happens.」
「Yeah, yeah.」
Hearing Giovan's reply, I, Doran, and then Chesta—who had stood up silently—took the things Giovan had prepared and the 'antidote,' and left the hideout.
「To think such things existed.」
「He's got wide connections, after all.」
Now then. Having left the hideout, the first thing we did was... change clothes!
These are the perfectly ordinary outfits of the Kingdom's soldiers.
If we wear the helmets, our faces won't be very visible, and in addition, we can probably deceive them in various ways thanks to the effect of the uniforms of soldiers—'people who definitely do not do bad things.'
「Hey. Did you forget about me?」
「Ah, you are normal. That is good.」
And Chesta also changed into soldier's attire. ...Yes. We shall use this guy this time as well. Unfortunately, we are short-handed!
「Now then, Captain! To protect the peace of this town! Let us head for the noble district!」
Even so, Chesta looked quite the part as he gave a crisp salute. Doran, responding to him, also looked more or less like a soldier.
As for me, if I keep my head down, I should probably be fine! Probably!
And so we proceeded to the noble district... and the first place we headed was the guard station.
「It's an emergency! Lend us a hand!」
When Chesta called out with a voice full of tension, the slacking guards came out wondering what was going on.
...There, Doran spoke solemnly while showing a document.
「It seems the heinous criminal Violia Nico Fortesia has scattered poison in the water supply of this town's noble district. It is a slow-acting poison, but everyone will develop symptoms and die by tomorrow morning. Most likely, everyone who has been in the noble district from last night until now is infected.」
Ah, by the way, the document he is showing is a fake. Naturally! However, if you show it with confidence, it looks like some sort of meaningful permit from somewhere!
「But fortunately, we have also managed to uncover the recipe for the antidote. The amount of antidote we have prepared now is small, but instructions have been issued to prioritize the nobles for administration. We need to grasp the number of people, so we must gather everyone in one place. Your cooperation.」
The guard lot decided to cooperate for the time being. By the way, when we said, 'This is not exactly a reward for your cooperation, but if there is any antidote left over after distributing it to the nobles, we shall prioritize distributing it to you next,' they followed our instructions quite readily.
...And so, we ended up gathering the nobles in the central plaza of the noble district.
The scene was in total chaos. Naturally. After all, if humans are told, 'You are infected with poison. At this rate, everyone will die between tonight and tomorrow morning,' they cannot remain calm.
「Hand over the antidote quickly! I'll pay! How much do you want!」
「We apologize, but we cannot have you take the medicine until we can confirm that every noble in the noble district has gathered.」
There were some impatient nobles, but we did not distribute the antidote yet. Naturally. It would be a problem if they didn't all drink it at once and die all at once.
「Please! Give us the medicine too!」
「Please rest assured. The second unit is also coming as backup. Since the medicine for everyone is scheduled to arrive by nightfall.」
It was not just nobles in this place. The servants were also here, of course.
However, since the distribution of the antidote prioritized the nobles, there was no medicine for them. I have no intention of killing them.
「Is this everyone?」
「Yes. No mistake.」
The guard lot was surprisingly useful. They brought the resident registry of the noble district and, checking against it, confirmed that all the nobles had gathered.
...And now that we could confirm all the nobles were gathered, it was time for the fun part.
「Now then, we shall begin the distribution of the antidote, but before that, I will explain how to take this medicine.」
Prompted by Doran, I stepped forward.
「This medicine contains powdered unicorn hair, so please invert and mix it sufficiently before opening the vial.」
I held up a small vial so the nobles could see and flipped it upside down a few times to mix the contents. The powdered unicorn hair inside the vial sparkled in the light of the setting sun; it was quite beautiful.
「Also, this medicine is an extremely delicate magical potion. It has been confirmed that the effect may vanish due to magical interference. If you are wearing any magical items for protection or recovery, please remove them before taking the medicine.」
It would be a problem if the poison failed to work due to some other factor. Or rather, it would be a problem if they died too quickly.
「Finally, when you drink it, please gulp it down in one breath. Do so vigorously so as not to leave any powdered unicorn hair inside the vial. And please take care to leave as little medicine in the vial as possible. Since it is a precious medicine, the vial contains only the bare minimum amount. Even if you think you have finished drinking, please check the vial thoroughly.」
And finally, I downed the contents of a vial in one go.
...Well, it was almost entirely tasteless and odorless. I had diluted it to a concentration where it couldn't be recognized as blood.
And naturally, nothing in particular happened when I drank it. Of course. The raw material is what flows through my own body.
「...That concludes the explanation for taking the medicine. Just in case, we shall all take it together while checking once more, so please wait without drinking immediately even after it is distributed.」
Now then.
The explanation was over, and I had actually demonstrated drinking the 'antidote' in front of the nobles. In short, I had performed the poison testing.
The nobles completely trusted us. In the first place, although we were fake soldiers, the guards were real guards, so it might be harder not to trust us.
「Now then, everyone, has the medicine reached your hands?」
Doran said this while checking, looking around at the nobles... and nodded.
「Then, we shall now take the medicine. First, the inversion and mixing of the vial.」
Ten minutes later.
The noble lot all ended up collapsed in the plaza.
The plaza was already filled with the screams and shouts of the servants and guards.
「Alright. Let's run.」
「Of course!」
「That went surprisingly well.」
And so, leaving that clamor behind, we quickly made our escape.
At the point where we confirmed some symptoms were appearing, we fled after saying something appropriate like, "We're going to check with headquarters!" In times like these, fleeing is winning. We can go in for the looting later. We'll be able to steal to our heart's content in the chaos anyway!
「Lightning user-chan!」
And when we returned to the hideout.
「Ah... W-Welcome... back...」
On the neck of the lightning user, who turned back toward us with a trembling voice... there was no longer a collar!
We did it! I do not know which one it was, but for now, we succeeded in killing the target! O-hohohohohoho!