Chapter 226
“Hmm?”
“What the hell do you mean, ‘hmm’?! You’re going to die!!”
For once, even Melin couldn’t take Chris’s side.
“…That was too reckless.”
“Th-that’s right!! Sh-shouldn’t we just run away?!”
[Ohoho. That’s what I’m saying. Since it has come to this, how about a lover’s escape with me?]
“…I’m not joking. As Lady Mari and Alros said, it might be better to run away. Of course, I doubt they would let you go so easily, Your Grace….”
Everyone was reacting as if Chris had just committed suicide.
But then Chris made another dumbfounding statement.
“Why is everyone acting like this? The situation is great right now.”
“…Great?”
“First, since we’ve officially set a date for the duel, Marquis Goras’s faction won’t be able to harm me until then. I’m free from the threat of poisoning or assassination.”
Everyone, including Marisa, had an exasperated expression.
“So what, you idiot! You’re going to die during the Holy Grail Duel!!”
“That’s right, Your Grace. I’d rather inform Count Khazar and request reinforcements.”
“Uwaaah, at least save me!!”
[Lovers’ escape, deal?]
Chris shook his head at their frantic words.
“Wait, I think you’re all misunderstanding something. I have no intention of losing the duel. I’m going to win.”
“…You’re going to win?”
“Yes. Have you ever seen me fight a battle I would lose?”
Yes, he had no intention of losing.
On the contrary.
‘With this duel, I will make Marquis Goras’s faction kneel before me.’
An absurd thought.
But he was serious.
‘I came to the Venomous Demonic House to receive their loyalty. I have to deal with the biggest obstacle, Marquis Goras’s faction, first.’
He had proposed this duel for that very purpose. He had a plan.
At his confident appearance, everyone exchanged glances.
Marisa said in a hopeful voice, “Be honest with me. You’ve been learning the poison arts in secret, haven’t you?”
“No. I’m a beginner in the poison arts.”
“Then how are you going to win, you idiot! You can’t use any other cheap tricks in a Holy Grail Duel!”
“That’s right, Your Grace. It’s absolutely impossible….”
As they were about to get noisy again, Chris sighed.
“That’s why I set the duel for a month from now.”
“…You’re saying you’ll learn the poison arts within that time and win the duel?”
“Yes. I don’t know how many times I have to repeat myself, but that much time is more than enough.”
“……”
Everyone shut their mouths.
Their expressions still showed that it was difficult to accept.
“…Do you have some other clever trick up your sleeve?”
“Well, I do have something in mind.”
“What is it?! Tell me.”
“First, Marisa, I have a favor to ask of you.”
Chris told Marisa a few things, and her eyes widened.
“A secret chamber? A library permit? And a thousand different kinds of poisons? Why?”
“Because I need a quiet place to study, reference books, and reference poisons.”
Next was Alros’s turn.
“Alros, I have a job for you, too.”
“…Don’t tell me?”
“Yep, that’s right.”
He gave a rough explanation, and Alros had a bewildered expression.
It was another plan to use Alros as a decoy.
‘Uwaaah. You scoundrel! Do you think I’m some kind of living, walking artifact!’
But it wasn’t a dangerous job like before, so he accepted it meekly.
“Wait, Your Grace. Is this everything?”
“Why?”
“Isn’t this all just creating an efficient study environment?”
Chris hadn’t prepared any grand secret plan. The operation he had assigned to Alros wasn’t anything special, either.
Everyone gave him a look as if to say, “Is that it?”
“Coming from you, Your Grace, I thought you’d have some kind of special secret plan….”
“What secret plans are there when it comes to studying?”
“…Then, do you really mean to win by purely studying the poison arts for a month?”
“Yes. It’s enough.”
Chris nodded, as if tired of repeating himself.
“Has everyone forgotten who I am?”
“……”
“Don’t measure me by the standards of an ordinary person.”
He added one more thing.
“On that day, everyone in the Venomous Demonic House will witness a new horizon in the poison arts.”
An arrogant statement. But he was serious.
One month.
It was more than enough time to create a miracle.
* * *
The next day.
An incongruous figure appeared in the Hall of Poison Arts, where the junior disciples learned the poison arts.
A figure who was beautiful, but had an extremely arrogant and insufferable expression.
It was Christian.
“What are you looking at?”
“!!”
The junior disciples of the Venomous Demonic House, who had been stealing glances at Christian, hurriedly averted their eyes.
Everyone knew what kind of crazy stunt Christian had pulled in the middle of the Venomous Demonic House the day before.
‘If we mess with him, we’ll get wrecked.’
‘His expression is even fouler than I heard. Let’s be careful.’
Meanwhile, ‘Christian’ was frowning even more than usual, and there was a reason.
‘Uwaaah, you scoundrel. I’m not an artifact.’
Because it wasn’t Chris, but Alros!!
In other words, Chris had disguised Alros with the Insignia of the Constellation and sent him to ‘attend in his place’.
Attending classes would be a waste of time, so he had sent Alros instead.
‘I can’t get caught. I’ll just keep frowning so no one talks to me.’
Fortunately, the Insignia of the Constellation made him resemble Chris down to his very essence, so no one noticed the disguise.
But soon, he faced a crisis.
The instructor appeared.
A face that resembled Fernan, who had been defeated by Chris the day before.
It was Fernan’s younger brother, Prince Amar.
As Fernan, who had originally been assigned the role of instructor, had been imprisoned, he had appeared as the instructor in his place.
“……”
“……”
A moment of silence passed.
As the young master of the Venomous Demonic House stared at him menacingly, Alros’s heart pounded like crazy.
‘Uwaaah. What do I do if he throws poison at me? You scoundrel, Christian, why do you always put me through these trials.’
For reference, Prince Amar was also at the 5-Star level.
If Prince Amar were to throw poison, Alros would turn into a handful of bloody water and disappear.
Terrified, he opened his mouth.
“What are you looking at?”
It was a bluff to keep from looking weak.
Fortunately, the Insignia of the Constellation transformed his bluff to perfectly resemble Chris’s usual demeanor.
“!!”
Prince Amar showed an unexpected reaction.
He gritted his teeth and turned his gaze away!
Alros had a bewildered expression.
‘Is that guy scared?’
The quick-witted Alros uncannily sensed Amar’s inner thoughts.
He was clearly intimidated!
‘That guy is a coward, just like me!’
A coward knows a coward.
Of course, Prince Amar was at the 5-Star level, but his true nature was clearly that of a coward.
‘He must be scared after seeing what happened to his brother yesterday.’
When Alros cleared his throat, he could see Prince Amar flinch, even while pretending not to.
Prince Amar began the class, trying his best not to show that he was scared.
“Today, as an in-depth look at the basics of the poison arts….”
The class proceeded, and Alros had a blank expression.
‘…I don’t understand a single thing.’
Of course, on the outside, his expression and face were perfectly arrogant.
Prince Amar’s face suddenly scrunched into a frown.
“Are you not listening, Grand Duke?”
‘…I’m listening, but I don’t understand? What do I do if he asks me a question?’ Alros’s heart was pounding.
There was a line Chris had taught him for times like this.
“Your level is so low that it’s not worth listening to.”
“!!”
Prince Amar clenched his fists tightly.
But he couldn’t say anything more.
He was definitely intimidated!
‘…This is kind of fun?’
Alros, who had always lived as the weak one, felt an unknown sense of pleasure at seeing his opponent afraid of him, and he took on an even more arrogant attitude.
‘Anyway, even if that guy gets pissed off, he can’t say a word.’
Alros saw right through the nature of a coward.
That kind of person can never bare his fangs at the strong.
And so, the story of Christian’s insolent behavior in class spread throughout the entire Venomous Demonic House.
* * *
“I hear the attitude of Grand Duke Christian from the Dark Demonic House in class is quite a sight. They say he’s a complete scoundrel.”
“Heh, is he crazy? And he’s just a beginner learning the poison arts.”
“I heard he was a scoundrel to begin with, but he’s a complete and utter scoundrel.”
Meanwhile, Christian listened to these stories and nodded.
‘Looks like he’s doing a good job.’
He, in turn, was in the form of Alros.
This was also done using the Insignia of the Constellation.
‘Because it’s possible for someone else to imitate my appearance, and for me to do the opposite.’
There were a few reasons why he had gone out of his way to switch appearances with Alros.
First, it was to make the magi of the Venomous Demonic House let their guard down by consistently showing an insincere attitude.
‘And there’s a more important reason. I have to hide what I’ll be studying for the next month.’
Just then, Marisa approached.
“Here’s the library permit.”
“Ah, thanks.”
For reference, Alros had also come in the capacity of an exchange disciple.
Therefore, he could receive a library permit under the pretext of studying.
‘In Alros’s form, no one will pay attention no matter what I study.’
Marisa said.
“But the books in this library will be too advanced for you, won’t they? Wouldn’t it be better to go to a library with slightly lower-level books?”
The poison arts were a ‘scholarly field.’
Therefore, the volume of books was vast, and the libraries were divided by level.
What Chris had requested was a permit to the library where the books read by 2 to 3-Star and higher poison wielders were collected.
Books for an advanced course, meant for disciples who had finished their basic studies, rather than for beginners.
“No, this is enough.”
“You really….”
“I’m going to go study now.”
Leaving behind Marisa, who had an expression of complete incomprehension, Chris made his way into the forest of countless books.
Glancing at the bookshelves, he saw they were filled with books with difficult titles, such as ‘The Antagonistic Action of Corrosive Poisons and Neurotoxins,’ and ‘The Process of Enhancing Botanical Poisons.’
Content that one would have to study poison for at least several years to understand.
But Chris lightly picked up a book, rapidly flipped through its pages, and said.
“As expected, there’s nothing special here.”
It was a statement that would make others doubt their ears.
Even though he had never properly studied poison before?
But it was true.
Chris already knew most of the content written in the book.
No, it wasn’t just this book.
It was all the books in this library.
He even knew most of all the scholarly knowledge of the Venomous Demonic House’s poison arts.
The reason was simple.
‘In the end, poison is just a branch of the medical arts.’
It was a fact that many people overlook.
Poison and medicine were not different.
After all, if the same substance is used for the purpose of healing, it is medicine, and if it is used for the purpose of harming people, it is poison.
‘In terms of knowledge, I’m already at the level of a great master of poison.’
This was the reason for Chris’s insane confidence.
Even for Chris, it was impossible to achieve great results in a single discipline in just one or two months.
But the poison arts were different.
Since he already had all the foundational knowledge, all he needed was a little know-how.
‘Let’s begin.’
Chris began to devour every single book on the poison arts in the library.
Flip, flip, he turned the pages at a terrifying speed.
A speed so fast that others wouldn’t even be able to imagine he was actually reading.
‘Since I already know most of the content anyway.’
In between, he quickly absorbed only the knowledge unique to the poison arts that couldn’t be known through medical knowledge alone.
This wasn’t very difficult, either.
Even if it was knowledge unique to the poison arts, it was, in the end, just an application of the medical arts.
It was similar to how a great master who has reached the pinnacle of one field can absorb new knowledge in an instant with just a sideways glance.