episode_0019

“You really don’t feel anything, do you? Dizziness, nausea… … . Something like that.”

The mercenaries were nodding their heads, saying it was really okay.

“But my arm is a little sore.”

“… … It’s just because of the wound.”

The stinging was entirely a result of the wound, not a problem caused by purifying the blood.

Still, I checked the mercenaries’ forearms and checked for injuries just in case. There could have been something like traces of a curse appearing. But I couldn’t find any such signs.

But there was still more to check. There was no problem in creating the blood essence, but it was unclear whether there would be any problems when using the essence.

When I decided to try using blood essence, I immediately went through a series of steps. Since blood essence could be said to be an all-purpose material, the results varied depending on how it was used.

A total of three blood essences were created, and three methods were used.

One is to make fuel that can replace the black magic used in attacks or curses, the other is to make a kind of potion that can replenish the consumed black magic, and the last is to increase the maximum amount of black magic held. It was a way to do it.

I processed the blood essence as written in the book my grandmother wrote. Because it was prepared in advance, processing it was not difficult. Although some materials were required, the entire work could be completed by the time the mercenaries started digging their nostrils out of boredom.

“Let’s test the fuel first.”

After letting the mercenaries dig out the nostrils, they used the purified water in the form of fuel that they created first. Due to the addition of materials during the processing process, the size grew larger, so he placed an essence the size of a small bead in his hand and used black magic.

It was a spell simply named Destruction, and it was a black magic that literally destroyed the target it hit. The power varied widely depending on the black magic used or the skill of the caster.

And, that destruction magic flew towards a nearby firewood flower, literally destroying it. In an instant, it scattered like powder and disappeared, and the essence in the form of fuel in my hand also scattered like powder and disappeared.

All the power in the essence had disappeared and crumbled.

“He? What is this?”

Even though I only used a very light level of destruction magic, I felt absurd as my essence was destroyed in an instant. Even though only a small amount of blood was used, I did not expect that even the simplest and most basic magic would not work properly.

Still, the important thing was not the essence in the form of fuel, so I tried to suppress my absurdity and used two essences in different forms.

“Ah… … .”

After using up the two essences, I had no choice but to sigh.

One was for recovering dark magic, and the other was for increasing the maximum amount of black magic held, but neither of them had any significant effect.

The essence used for recovery was enough to recover in just about ten minutes while burning tobacco, and the amount of essence used to increase the reserve was so small that I would not have noticed it if I wasn’t paying attention.

“No… … . Are all the people who were subjugated just idiots and idiots? Did you do that damn thing to get something like this and get subjugated?”

I couldn’t understand the people who killed humans to make blood essence and then were publicly accused and subjugated. Even if they had no talent for black magic, I couldn’t understand why they set it up just to get something like this.

“I… … . Warlock? When will we finish?”

While I was feeling pitiful, recalling the news I heard every now and then that a warlock had been subjugated, the mercenaries called me. It was because of boredom that I couldn’t bear while digging my nostrils.

“Ah! sorry. So, what about now? Is it still ok with no problems?”

“Yes. It’s just boring.”

He chuckled at the sight of the mercenary who seemed to not know how to talk back and openly said that he was bored, and checked the mercenaries’ status one last time.

Seeing the mercenaries looking perfectly fine despite using the blood essence created from their blood, I felt there was no reason to hold on to them any longer.

“I will give you the money promised as compensation right away.”

Twenty thousand coins were paid to the three mercenaries as promised in advance. The mercenaries left with a grin, saying that they had made a lot of money even though they had not done anything special.

After sending the mercenaries away, I began to think for a while. This is because I did not understand why the warlocks would even risk being subjugated in order to create blood essence.

But the reason was easier to understand than I thought. After reading a little more of the book my grandmother left me, I was able to understand why. The grandmother may have briefly studied how to make blood essence without killing someone, but there was a little bit of information about it.

“The blood shed during death boasts maximum efficiency? So, does that mean that the efficiency is messed up by just collecting a little blood from a living person? … .”

It could be said that the reason why the essence did not have much effect was because only a small amount of blood was collected from the mercenaries without killing them. If you create blood essence by killing people like the subjugated ones do, you can boast of incredible efficiency.

If a person’s blood could be divided into ten cups, it would be more efficient to fill ten cups from one person than to receive one cup from each person. If we had to compare it, it would be several to ten times higher.

It was said that in order to see the effect of collecting blood from people little by little, it was necessary to receive blood from at least dozens of people. In the worst case, there was a possibility that it would have to be done by hundreds of people to achieve a similar level.

“I guess they do it even though they know they will be subjugated like idiots.”

There were many warlocks with eccentric and impatient temperaments. Therefore, there were bound to be some who chose to kill hundreds of people rather than go through the trouble of receiving their blood little by little. Because I couldn’t deny that it was faster and more effective.

But I had no intention of making that choice, as my goal was to live a long life. So, I wondered if I should give up on this method.

“… … Wait a minute.”

But the moment I thought about whether I should really give up, something came to mind.

It occurred to me that if one person can’t do it, two people can do it, and if two people can’t do it, three people can do it. If collecting blood without killing it was inefficient, there was only one way.

“It can be solved with overwhelming volume. Is there anything that can’t be done?”

If the problem was a lack of efficiency, it could be solved with a volume that overwhelms efficiency. Although there were not a huge number of humans like in the previous life, the number of humans was still very large.

And, it’s not like there was no one to help with that process. There was someone who could connect me with a lot of people and possibly help me get their blood.

“Daddy!”

Therefore, I immediately looked for my uncle. Since I had to leave the blacksmith shop for a while, I had to have someone who could manage the blacksmith shop.

Thinking that he would need to hire an employee later, he looked for his uncle and asked him to take charge of the blacksmith shop.

“I’ll visit a nearby city. My father, please watch the blacksmith shop for a while.”

“Is it taking a long time?”

“Um… … . It will take a few days. There is a distance to travel, and there are some things that need to be done there that require some time.”

My father waved his hand as if it would be okay for a few days and told me to come back quickly.

After expressing his gratitude to his father, he immediately took out his skeletal horse and started running. The goal was to move quickly and finish the job, then amplify the black magic to the fullest and quickly digest the spells at the top.

After about three days of sprinting on a skeleton horse, resting in between and camping out, I was finally able to reach my destination.

“Stop! Stop!”

And, when I arrived at my destination, I was checked by soldiers who were extremely nervous, perhaps because of the skeleton horse. Ah, it’s been a while.

Seeing the spear and countless arrows aimed at me, I raised my hand to prove that I was a harmless human being. Warlocks are also human, so getting hit hurts.

“This is Andrew Steele, a certified warlock. I came because I had something to do at the branch of the Romina Church here. To be precise, I have business with Father Thomas.”

When I presented the certificate proving that I was a certified warlock and explained the purpose of my visit, the soldiers cleared the way after checking the certificate.

Unlike our village, there didn’t seem to be a good perception of warlocks, so I made a small skeletal horse and stuffed it in my pocket.

After getting ready to enter the city, I immediately asked the soldier for directions and headed toward the temple of the church where Father Thomas was located.

As I moved on my feet and approached the temple, I saw Father Thomas coming out of the temple.

“Father Thomas!”

“Andrew Warlock? What are you doing here? If you lost your certificate… … ? Oh, since you’re wearing it on your robe, I don’t think that’s the case… … .”

“Oh, I have some business to attend to.”

Father Thomas looked at me with a strange expression, as if he had heard something strange. His face showed what he wanted to say.

He said he was a public figure, but the warlock came to the temple personally to have business, and he was looking at me like I was crazy.

After visiting the temple to become a certified warlock, the warlock rarely visited the temple. The only cases where I had to visit him were when the certificate was lost or when I had a disciple and registered him as a certified warlock.

Since neither of those situations applied to me, Father Thomas looked at me like I was crazy.

However, I don’t know if it was because he got the items cheaply through me, but Thomas soon guided me with a friendly smile. It was a small reception room inside the temple, and we could have conversations there.

“Andrew Warlock. Can you tell me why you came here in person?”

“Um… … . It’s a little complicated, but please listen without interrupting me.”

Because the meaning could be conveyed strangely if the words were interrupted in the middle, I laid the groundwork in advance. I started talking to Father Thomas, who nodded and pursed his lips at my words.

“First of all, the reason I came here was because I wanted to get cooperation from the temple and save some people’s blood. Oh, don’t misunderstand, I don’t have bad intentions. That’s because it’s needed to increase dark magic. It’s not like I’m going to hurt people and forcibly draw their blood. I plan to purchase blood by paying a reasonable price only to those who are willing to provide blood.”

To avoid any misunderstanding, I finished the conversation in one go, and Father Thomas’ heightened alertness immediately eased.

“Are you saying that you purchase a small amount of blood with the cooperation of people?”

“That’s right. Because I sell my products at low prices, more and more people are looking for them. To supply enough to meet demand, you need a lot of skeletons, which also requires a lot of dark magic. This is the best method to quickly supply that dark magic. If you raise the price due to a lack of supply, the burden will increase on the common people who need the product right away, right?”

Father Thomas nodded slowly, as if he were fascinated by my words.

Looking at that, I decided that I could get enough cooperation if I touched a little more.

“In addition, if I purchase blood from people, wouldn’t it also help with the poverty relief work being done by Father Thomas’ branch?”

“It also helps relieve poverty… … . Could you please explain?”

“The poverty relief program currently being implemented by the branch involves having people do farming and other production-related work while paying wages, right? There is a problem here. Only those who are strong enough to do farming can participate.”

“Yes, that’s right. Even now, the people who handle the items purchased from Andrew Warlock are all sturdy men.”

“But I don’t have to be a strong man. Anyone who will not suffer any health problems from shedding a little blood can sell their blood to me. This means that those who are in dire need of money but have no work to do will have funds to spend a few days. Couldn’t you use that money as a fund to do something, starting with taking care of yourself?”

“Oh… … . Sure.”

I smiled at the sight of Father Thomas nodding his head blankly with his mouth slightly open.