episode_0021

“Hehe, hehehe… … !”

I couldn’t help but laugh as I looked at the blood that had collected enough to fill a bathtub.

Although it smelled of blood, it was like a more valuable treasure to me than anything else. If I used this, I would be able to obtain more dark magic, which would allow me to make more money. In short, this blood was a treasure that would bring me money.

“Andrew Warlock, do you have a moment?”

But as I was smiling happily at the sight of the blood, someone knocked on the door.

Fortunately, that person only knocked on the door and did not commit the atrocity of opening the door and entering without permission. I was very fortunate. If I had made a mistake, I would have looked like a warlock who was happy to see blood.

“Ah, yes! Please come in.”

After shaking off the random thoughts floating around in my head, I immediately opened the door. The person I saw when the door opened was Father Thomas, who had become the supervisor of the blood collection work due to my short relationship with him.

“What’s going on? Other people say they are going to get the things they need because they finally have more income.”

“I plan to follow along soon. Before that, I came to see Warlock Andrew because I wanted to ask him something.”

I wondered what on earth I had come to ask. The other priests ran to the market with happy expressions on their faces at the compensation I had paid them.

Even the old man, the branch manager, was happy to receive donations equal to the compensation paid to the priests and was planning a separate project for the temple. It seemed like they were already drawing up an estimate for the temple’s renovation work.

Unlike other people, my curiosity grew as I came to see what the question was.

“Please feel free to speak.”

“Can you put the paralysis curse in an object and make it into an artifact? Oh, I’ll pay for it.”

“Paralysis curse artifact?”

“Yes. When I was working today, there was a curse I used on those who drew blood. I think it would be enough to contain just that level of curse.”

“Uh… … . It’s not impossible, but where would you use it?”

“Warlock Andrew, aren’t you planning on purchasing blood consistently and continuously?”

“That’s right. The more dark magic there is, the better.”

I thought I would probably buy it for the rest of my life, until I die.

“Then wouldn’t there be times when Warlock Andrew is away to manage the forge, not here? In the meantime, I was wondering if we could collect blood separately.”

“Well, what you’re saying is that you can draw blood and send it to me even if I’m not there, right?”

“That’s right. However, in order to do that, a paralyzing curse is needed, but isn’t that something we can do?”

Simply put, Father Thomas needed an artifact so that he could draw blood on his own even when I was not around.

It wasn’t impossible, so I nodded. It wasn’t difficult to create an artifact containing a light curse. It may be a high-level curse, but it was easy to create an artifact that blocked sensation in a specific area for about ten minutes.

“It’s not difficult to make. But why does the temple suddenly want to take care of it?”

Honestly, I didn’t understand. They were very cautious when I first mentioned purchasing blood, but now they are trying to take the lead.

“Well, the poor are going crazy right now. No, we are constantly receiving inquiries not only from the poor, but also from commoners who do not have much income. In addition, we are receiving a positive response from those who sold their blood.”

“It’s a mess?”

” One hundred meds is not that much money, but it is important money for the poor or those who do not have a lot of income. Even though it may not be enough for a few days, it is enough to avoid starvation and to stay in a safe place for one night, so many people are looking for it.”

“Please buy me some blood too!”

As soon as Father Thomas finished speaking, someone was heard shouting through the window.

“There were many people’s demands, and we decided that this would be effective in relieving the poor. Several poor people have already used that money to invest in their future. Since I didn’t have much money, the best I could do was get a basket or a wooden knife and gather herbs and fruits in the mountains.”

“Oh… … . There really are people like that.”

“One person is a poor person who could not participate in this farming project due to a bad shoulder, and the branch leader is very pleased that he is trying to get up on his own. By continuing this work, we hope that opportunities will return to more poor people as well as common people.”

In short, the actions of one poor person to escape poverty were viewed favorably by the so-called superiors, starting with the old man, the branch manager.

“In that case. I’ll make the artifact before I go back. Please continue to look after us.”

“Rather, we ask you to please take care of us.”

Father Thomas bowed his head with a light smile, as if he was glad that things had gone well.

But on the contrary, it was to my advantage that I had to lower my head. Having blood drawn even in situations where I couldn’t manage it was a huge benefit.

Anyway, Father Thomas, who had given me such a huge gift, left with a bag full of coins in his pocket, as if he was planning to go to the market like other priests.

“Wow, things are going really well?”

It was great to be able to collect blood so easily, and it was even better to hear that they were now collecting blood at the temple and bringing it to me. It might cost a little more due to things like shipping costs, but honestly, money wasn’t an issue for me.

“Achacha.”

But there was no time to think about that. Since the blood collected now had not been preserved, it had to be made into blood essence before it hardened.

“Then do you also need an artifact with a freezing spell or something that can be preserved? Oh, before that, let’s check whether freshness affects the efficiency of water purification… … . No, you have to deal with it first and think about it.”

Random thoughts kept coming to mind, but I decided to put out the fire first.

But thankfully, making the blood essence wasn’t that difficult. There was no difference between the amount that filled a small glass of strong liquor and the amount that would fill a bathtub. There was only a difference in the amount of dark magic required for the process of refining into blood essence.

When about half of the available dark magic was consumed, the blood filling the bathtub disappeared, and in its place was a fist-sized blood essence.

“Wow, it’s so big.”

I was amazed when I saw the essence, which was slightly larger than my fist. Curiosity and anticipation arose as to how much my black magic power would increase if I increased it with this.

And, unable to contain my curiosity and expectations, I processed the blood essence and increased my dark magic power.

When I used a very small amount of blood collected from a mercenary, I wondered if it had increased, but this time, the dark magic increased to the point where I could feel it even if I didn’t pay attention to it. In percentage terms, it was an increase of about 5 percent.

5 percent may not seem like a lot, but it definitely wasn’t. It was 5% of the dark magic I had accumulated while studying and training for a little over ten years.

“Crazy people don’t do crazy things for nothing.”

It was understandable since it was like this, even though it was less efficient and used blood collected without harming people. For a moment, I wondered what it would have been like if I had used something more efficient.

“… … Well, it’s enough to solve the problem with quantity. Here, Father Thomas takes care of collecting blood and sending it to me, so I guess I should try it in other cities as well.”

Rather than doing something dangerous, purchasing blood in other cities was a better option.

But it wasn’t what was needed right away. Literally, this is because the amount of blood supplied every day has increased.

If on the first day there was enough to fill a bathtub, then the next day there was enough to fill one and a half bathtubs, and the next day there were enough to fill two bathtubs.

This was thanks to the fact that people who had not participated out of fear because I was a warlock began to participate. Since those who sold blood were fine and were receiving money, there was even a perception that it would be foolish not to participate.

I increased my black magic power by using the blood that increased every day, and by the time I decided to return to the blacksmith shop, my black magic power had increased significantly. Compared to before arriving here, the situation had doubled.

“Andrew Warlock. Are you going back now?”

” That’s how it should be. I have to look at the blacksmith work.”

To be honest, I was worried because a lot of time had passed since I left the village. If we assume that it is connected to the skeletons working in the blacksmith shop, there is no particular problem, but there is not much that can be confirmed with the skeletons that are not familiars.

“Then, as I said last time, when blood is collected periodically, I will visit you at the village where the warlock Andrew resides.”

“Please do me a favor. Oh, when storing and transporting, please use the jar I made. That too is an artifact. It is an artifact used to preserve black magic ingredients, so if you project divine power on it, it will be damaged, so be careful.”

“You don’t have to worry.”

I nodded at the sight of Father Thomas, who seemed to only trust me. It only lasted a few days, but thanks to the poor people’s actions in selling blood, the clergy began to think that selling blood had a very positive effect.

Naturally, it was clear that such priests would sell blood very carefully and properly. Even if I didn’t pay much attention, they would automatically increase the amount of blood collected and deliver a significant amount safely.

Therefore, I handed over the things I had prepared in advance.

They gave him a small bundle of needles that could apply a paralyzing curse, and a blade that would not cause large wounds but would cause a lot of blood to bleed.

The priests tried not to use divine power and took the items to a place they even named the blood collection room.

“I gave you everything I needed to tell you, so I’ll just head back. See you later.”

“Okay, I’ll see you later.”

After being seen off by Father Thomas, I immediately left the city.

“The warlock is leaving! Get out of the way!”

And, unlike the extreme caution I received when I entered, I left the city with people’s friendly eyes on me.

After taking a few steps out of the village, I immediately took out a piece of the skeletal horse’s bone from my arms. I threw the small piece of bone forward a few steps, and it instantly grew huge, revealing a large skeletal horse.

Because the skeleton horse had been strengthened several times using the black magic obtained during the blood collection process, the skeleton horse had a gray color close to black. The fire burning in the eye sockets was more than twice as large as before, giving off a sense of intimidation to the surroundings.

“Come on, let’s go!”

But since it was nothing more than a convenient means of transportation for me, I immediately got on the skeleton horse and started running toward the village.

The skeleton horse strengthened with black magic ran at a faster speed than before, and was able to reach the village after about a day.