Chapter 17 Part 6: Request – Rescue

The pottery containing the soil hit my head, unable to withstand the amount of shock, and shattered.

The soil and small plants contained in the flowerpot covered the floor and my hair, not understanding why such a trial had come.

“H, hiik! You’re fine! Th, then how about this!”

What the heck is wrong with this person?

I’ll make you regret doing this.

Thinking that, I gnashed my teeth and turned around, this time a brick was brought down as if waiting.

Of course, the brick couldn’t overcome the shock and crumbled, and the woman, confirming that the second attack had also failed, trembled and stepped back.

Then, as soon as she met my murderous gaze, she prostrated herself in an instant and begged me for her life.

“A, a, a, um, that’s…”

“I, I’m sorry! Pl, please save me! I’ll do whatever you tell me to do! I won’t rebel anymore! I’ll forgive you for kidnapping me, no. I won’t say anything!”

“…Kidnapping?”

I stared intently at the woman who was begging for her life in a humble manner, ready to kiss the floor.

A person who isn’t wearing the priest’s robe that those guys are wearing was kidnapped?

“Are you named Yoo Jin?”

“Heok, how do you know my name…! Su, surely you didn’t investigate me…!”

“No. Haran asked me to help.”

Actually, I came because I needed help, but wouldn’t it be better to say it like this?

The place wasn’t good to explain the situation right now. Getting out of here first is the priority, so it’s right to bring up a name that can be trusted.

Was my judgment right? She reacted fiercely as if she had met a savior.

“H, Haran! You said Haran sent you?!”

“Yeah.”

“A, aaaa, aaaaaaaa…! I, I’ve made a huge misunderstanding…! I, I’m sorryyyyy!”

“How should I repay th, this sin…! I thought it was the end here! I’m alive now!”

“Yeah, yeah. I guess so.”

“I’m really sorry! You were wearing the same clothes as those guys, so…!”

“I took them. Because I have to infiltrate.”

“As expected!”

Apparently, the rescue target in front of me thought that I was a member of the same organization as those cults because I took the clothes of these cults and wore them.

Even though she thought I was a member of the person who kidnapped her, the courage to hit my head twice without hesitation is amazing.

As a result, the fact that I was covered in dirt was an unpleasant experience though.

“By the way, what were you going to do by killing the guy who came in?”

“I was going to take his clothes and run away!”

“Ah, okay.”

She’s not completely thoughtless.

Well, there’s no way that a person who thought of using a broken camera as a recorder would have done such a dangerous thing without thinking.

Even though it was a dangerous action, it was a fully possible action if she judged that it was better to escape than to continue being trapped in a place like this.

“…Um, um, by the way.”

“What is it?”

“Could th, that person…also leave with us?”

“That thing?”

“Yes. I, I know it’s hard. If it’s impossible… I understand that it can’t be helped. You don’t have to consider me.”

Huum.

What should I call her…

A vegetable?

Yeah. You’re saying that we have to take a vegetable with us? …Why?

No matter how I thought about it, it didn’t add up.

The number of people I have to rescue is only one. It was too risky to try to escape with even that noticeable person.

Judging that the leg part is made of roots, it doesn’t seem like it’s easy to move.

I have to hold that woman and move, but if I did that, it was obvious that I would get caught in all likelihood.

There will probably be a commotion as soon as I go up to the second floor.

“It’s going to be hard. The risk is too high. She’s not small, and it’s too noticeable, so it’ll be hard to escape secretly. You know that too, right?”

“…I know.”

“So tell me. Why are you trying to get that person out?”

“Yes?”

“If there’s no good reason, I’m only going to take you and leave. Because there’s no reason to. But if there’s a reason….”

It would be worth taking the risk to escape.

As if she guessed the words I didn’t bother to say out loud, she explained to me with suppressing her excitement as much as possible.

Why she has to be saved.

“Th, the reason I was kidnapped was… because of that person.”

“Because of that person?”

“Yes. That person is, um…. A returnee who mutated into a race called Alaune.”

Her explanation continued for a while.

The Alaune race lives by taking root in the ground.

And, the flowers they bloom emit a fascinating fragrance.

The honey that collects on the flowers is attracting attention as a raw material for both aphrodisiacs and drugs.

“But, it’s quite difficult to get Alaune’s honey.”

“Because the government prohibits it?”

“Yes. So, the gate where Alaune comes out has inspections every time you enter. But… Small leaks continue to occur. Because the number is rare, it’s worth whatever you call for it.”

“Huum.”

“But… A returnee who mutated into a race called Alaune appeared.”

“OTL.”

I roughly understand. It’s a drug factory.

I wondered why there was a returnee in a place like this, but it was the opposite.

These guys are here because there’s a returnee.

But, not all the questions have been resolved.

“The drug’s raw material is supposed to be honey that collects on the flowers, right? I can’t see anything like flowers in my eyes. Let alone roots.”

“The bodily fluids that collect in the roots go up through the flowers, and then honey collects in the flowers. The bodily fluids dripping from the roots are all undiluted. So, they took off the flowers. To make it easy to extract the drug.”

“I see. Then are they processing and selling that?”

“That’s right. The concentration is so strong that you’ll die if you drink it as it is. They dilute it with water and sell it. But even that is so strong that you won’t die if you only get a small amount with a syringe.”

“I see.”

I wondered what that strange liquid was that was filled in the bucket on the root side, but it was all drugs.

Due to the nature of drugs that can easily show their efficacy even if only a small amount is injected, it was clear that even that amount would easily be worth billions.

“But Alaune are said to feel extreme pain if they don’t have flowers. To the point where it’s hard to even speak.”

“So that’s why she’s suffering like that?”

“…Yes. This person is just being exploited. For the sole reason that it makes money.”

I wondered why there were so many guards that seemed suspicious.

If there’s a being here that produces a rare drug that seems to be worth billions, it’s natural to say that that level of security is essential.

No, I think that security is rather lacking.

Maybe they thought that if they put too much security in place, they might be suspected, and they put as much security as possible without being suspected.

“You are?”

“Yes?”

“You said that the reason you were kidnapped here was related to that person, right?”

“Ah…. That’s because of my ability.”

“Why? Your ability is replication, but you can’t replicate those buckets, right?”

“How did you…no, you must have heard it from Haran. Yes, that’s right. I can’t replicate those buckets. However….”

“However?”

“I can replicate it if there’s as much as I can easily hold in my hand. From their point of view, the drug is being copied.”

“Hoo.”

Drug replication.

If that’s possible, I can understand why the Samhwa guys desperately kept Yoo Jin locked up here.

“But, is that possible?”

“Yes?”

“Haran said that it’s hard to use your ability to make money because it’s not profitable. If you can copy drugs, it’s not that it’s not profitable…”

“Ah, didn’t she tell you that far? It’s extremely difficult for me to replicate things that contain mana.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. It doesn’t matter how expensive the ore you bring. All expensive ores contain mana. That’s why the value of gold plummeted in an instant after the gate incident. The gold that originally existed in this world doesn’t contain mana.”

Gold plummeted?

I was momentarily flustered at the unbelievable story, but I soon realized that it could be true.

A world where things from this world literally flow in.

If ores more valuable than gold are supplied more easily than gold?

If that happens, gold may gradually not be able to play its role.

As a result, the world may cause great chaos, but it wouldn’t have any meaning since the world has already become half chaotic.

When the society has stabilized to some extent, other metals would have already found their place, so it wasn’t strange that the value of gold had fallen. Maybe it only remained as a symbolic and ornamental jewel.

Even that would maintain a certain price, but…….

“Your original job will earn you more money. So that’s why you said it’s not profitable.”

“That’s accurate. It can only be used about twice a day, and it requires a lot of concentration. I get so exhausted after the replication is over.”

This person’s job is a blacksmith.

The work of processing items containing mana and selling them to awakened.

Mana can only be handled by awakened and returnees, and of course most of the processing of items is done by awakened.

Even if you can do it even if you’re not an awakened, the unit price will skyrocket like crazy.

As a result, it was easy to predict that the price of processed products would be so high that ordinary people couldn’t even look at them.

Is that why it’s not profitable for such a person to work so hard to replicate items with low prices?

It’s said that if you’re going to replicate items that don’t contain magic power while suffering, it’s much more profitable to work quietly and earn money.

“…That’s how it would have been originally. Because most of the items are not profitable even if I replicate them.”

“Most of them means….”

“It means there are exceptions. The undiluted drug that has a concentration so strong that you have to add water to use it. Even if just two more of the amount that can fit in my hand are added per day… I believe you can easily guess how much that price would be.”

“Tss.”

I would have saved the plant woman in front of me even if she hadn’t told me this story.

Acting as if I was trying to convince me was a bit of an ill nature (Again, this doesn’t have an exact translation, but it means a bit of spitefulness, or trying to tease someone).

My petty nasty temper after getting hit on the head twice out of the blue as soon as I came down.

It was a foregone conclusion that I would save that plant woman to sell her a favor to her, who would make bullets for me later.

“Okay, good. I’ll save you.”

“…!”

“So move quickly. We don’t have time.”

“Yes!”

However, even if I didn’t think of saving her, I might have saved her if I had heard this story.

No, I would have definitely helped.

Because I hated drugs so much.