Ch.79Queen of the Back Alley – 5

Marietta sat in deep contemplation, staring at the empty chair where the boy had been sitting.

‘It didn’t work.’

The boy had shown no change even after drinking the second cup of tea.

Occasionally, there were rare individuals who could withstand the first cup, which was why the second cup was considered a last resort.

Combining more stimulants would certainly produce more definitive results, but it would leave traces. It might plant suspicion that something had been added to the tea.

Most men fell to their knees after the first cup and threw themselves into Marietta’s arms. No one had ever resisted the second cup.

In fact, few people ever received the first cup, and those who received the second cup could be counted on one hand throughout Marietta’s entire life.

She didn’t offer tea like this to just anyone. She only showed such behavior to those she deemed worthy of placing under her control.

That’s why she had believed it would never fail.

‘Either his patience is beyond human measure. Or…’

He possessed some means to recover from abnormal status effects.

Something so discreet it escaped Marietta’s keen senses, and quick enough to activate before the tea’s effects could drive the boy to pounce on her.

“The more I learn about you, the more interesting you become.”

Marietta took a long drag from her pipe and exhaled slowly. The gray smoke billowed out, gradually becoming transparent as it mixed with the air.

Her interest was piqued.

At first, she thought her brother had simply brought in a wealthy customer, but now it was clear this boy was far from an ordinary client.

The shoulder strap she had casually lowered to enhance the tea’s effect had slipped down to her elbow, nearly exposing her chest, but Marietta paid it no mind.

Instead, she summoned her brother.

“Hey, sis. You called—ugh.”

The blond man wrinkled his face at the cigarette smoke filling the room. He pinched his nose and frantically fanned the air in front of his face.

“You look like someone who’d smoke all day, so why do you hate the smell so much?”

“What exactly does someone ‘who looks like they’d smoke all day’ look like?”

“Exactly like you. Blond hair, tanned skin, muscular, cocky.”

“What’s wrong with how I look, damn it. So what’s this about, sis? You didn’t call me just to say such nonsense, did you?”

“Such nonsense?”

Marietta’s eyes flashed briefly.

The blond man seemed to realize his mistake and covered his mouth, but the magic circle drawn on Marietta’s palm was already glowing.

“W-wait! Sis! I made a mistake—gah!”

The man’s right hand grabbed his left wrist and snapped it. With a horrible sound of breaking bone, the wrist bent at an impossible angle.

Watching the man tremble in pain from his broken wrist, Marietta brought the pipe to her lips.

“Again.”

“…So, why did you call me, sis?”

The blond man forcibly straightened his contorted expression. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

“How many disposable people do we have right now?”

“Why are you suddenly asking that?”

“Because I want to test something.”

Marietta pulled out a scroll from under her desk and tossed it at the man’s feet. It was a scroll with healing magic.

Groaning, the man picked it up with one hand, tucked it between his left arm and armpit, and tore it with his right hand to activate the magic. A green light enveloped the man’s broken bone.

As his grotesquely bent wrist returned to its proper shape, the blond man wiped the sweat from his forehead. Perhaps he should be grateful his tongue wasn’t ripped out.

“Test what? That kid I brought?”

“You did bring him, but he’s not a kid.”

“He is a kid. He looked young. I had to call him ‘sir,’ and you have no idea how awkward that felt. He’s probably seventeen or eighteen at most.”

“That ‘kid’ you’re talking about withstood the second cup.”

At Marietta’s words, the blond man’s jaw dropped. His expression was one of utter disbelief.

“Wow, he withstood that? That’s fucked up. Wait, you actually used the second cup? He must be something special to make you resort to that.”

“We need to capture him no matter what. I really like him.”

“What about him?”

“That.”

Marietta’s pipe pointed to a corner of the room. The man turned his head. There were at least twenty leather pouches piled up.

“All gold coins. One hundred per pouch. Twenty-four pouches in total.”

“All… gold coins? That kid had those?”

“His bag had a spatial compression spell on it. And that’s not all. Judging by his expression, there was at least this much more inside. Where did all those gold coins come from?”

“…I see. I understand now. You asked how many disposable people we have? Probably five right now, six at most if we force someone.”

“Perfect. Deploy all of them. And don’t forget to cut the tail.”

As soon as Marietta gave the order, the blond man quickly left the room.

Had his wrist not been broken, he might have left with a grin and his usual swagger, but having just had his bone broken for a single misspoken word, that was too much to ask.

Left alone in the room once more, Marietta slowly savored the tobacco smoke.

“Now we’ll see what he’s capable of.”

Carrying dozens of pouches of gold coins in a bag with spatial compression magic, having experience with Tene leaves, and using healing magic so sophisticated that Marietta couldn’t detect it.

Marietta was curious about the boy’s abilities. Whether his actions were mere bluster or if he truly possessed skills to match his behavior.

If the former, she would simply kill him and take his bag and money. If the latter, she would use whatever means necessary—her body or otherwise—to bring him to her side.

Whether it was dozens of pouches of gold coins and a bag with spatial compression magic, or a talented individual who could earn dozens of pouches of gold coins—either way, it wasn’t a losing proposition.

Marietta was that confident.

The lodging recommended by the blond man wasn’t far from the building where I met the woman he called “sis.” A ten-minute walk at most.

The interior was also clean. According to the blond man, while the guests might be shady, the quality of the lodging itself wasn’t bad.

True to the blond man’s words about the shadiness of the guests, the innkeeper demanded nearly 20 silver for one night.

The actual cost of the room wasn’t even half that. It was a kind of deposit that arose from having too many people stealing things.

The innkeeper explained that the next morning, he would check the room with me, and if nothing was destroyed or stolen, the remaining difference would be returned in full.

For reference, I had no silver coins, so I offered a gold coin.

The innkeeper looked at me incredulously, but when I told him he could exchange it and just return 50 silver coins, his attitude suddenly became servile.

‘I have… no luggage.’

After receiving the largest room and trying to unpack, I realized I had almost no belongings.

At most, I had only my sword and this bag, both of which were very inconvenient items to leave behind in a place like this.

Especially the sword. One must always carry a weapon to protect oneself.

But the bag could be stolen.

If I returned to the palace and reported that someone had stolen my bag, Charlotte would personally descend and crucify that unfortunate thief alive.

If anything, it would give me an excuse not to spend money, so I had nothing to lose.

“Let’s deal with this first.”

I opened the bag and reached inside to pull out a potion made from Tene leaves. No, not a potion—a poison.

This potion, about the size of a finger joint, could wipe out an entire village’s population. Tene leaves were that powerful a poison.

Pop. I removed the cork stopper from the potion bottle. There was no smell at all. Odorless—another characteristic of Tene leaves.

I drank the liquid inside.

The reaction was immediate.

The moment the Tene leaves touched my mouth, my palate and tongue began to burn. As the liquid went down my throat, it dissolved my esophagus, and some broke through the valve blocking the airway, scorching my lungs entirely.

As soon as the liquid reached my stomach, it burned holes in the stomach lining. The Tene leaves that spread through these holes instantly turned my internal organs into a viscous liquid.

My legs gave out and I collapsed. Unable to withstand the liquid surging back up my esophagus, I vomited, and black bloody fluid soaked the floor.

Even the fat and muscles that made up my body turned mushy, causing my upper body to collapse and meet my lower body. My face was buried in my thighs.

Finally, just as my eyeballs were about to melt, my body began to return to its original state.

The entire process I had just experienced was reversed. My face, which had been slumped against my thighs, returned to its original position, and my spine straightened again.

The black bloody fluid spread on the floor returned to my ears, eyes, nose, and mouth. My heart, which had almost stopped, began to beat again. My melted internal organs refilled my abdomen.

Finally, my palate and tongue, which had been the first to burn, were restored.

Now, only the empty potion bottle and me, blinking my eyes, remained in the room.

“Fuck.”

I cursed.

“So I can’t die.”