———————————— 3: Caretaker of the People
ACT 3 Caretaker of the People
“Are you ready?”
“Yes!”
Ronnie laughed and nodded his head. Ark and Ronnie were headed towards Ciel. After crossing the shopping centre, Agathe was pacing in front of the Seirun workshop’s door.
“Well, have you finally come?”
“I was a bit late.”
“What’s this? Is that an explanation?”
Agathe shouted with a displeased expression.
“I told you it was urgent! If we don’t have the ingredients for one day then do you know how much damage the Seirun workshop will receive? A common person like you couldn’t possible imagine it! Damn, I knew I shouldn’t have trusted a foreigner. Anyway, that’s how it is. Did you find the items?”
“I found them.”
“Then it is lucky. Give it to me quickly.”
“What if I don’t want to?”
Ark scratched the back of his neck and murmured. Then Agathe’s face twisted up and he made a ridiculous expression.
“What? You don’t want to? What did you say?”
“You heard me. I don’t want to.”
“What are you doing? Did you break your promise to come back within the time limit because of some unreasonable dislike? Ah, I see. Damn, as expected of a foreigner. I was too busy and just employed anyone but I made a big mistake.”
“Is it like that?”
Ark snorted and murmured, causing Agathe to wrinkle his nose like an orangutan and said.
“Now give me the box with the Seirun trademark stamped on it. Even if you are a foreigner in Bristania, you can’t just run around wildly! If you don’t take it out immediately then I’ll call the guards to grab you!”
“Guards….. That’s not a bad idea. Please do it.”
“What, what the?”
Agathe flinched at Ark’s retort and closed his mouth. Then Ark grinned and muttered.
“What’s wrong? I thought you were calling the guards.”
“Yes. What are you thinking……?”
“Why? Do what you want and call them! Why aren’t you calling them? Is it a problem if the guards are called? It would be difficult if the guard checks the contents of the box…..”
“T-that’s impossible!”
“Ah, did I get a bullseye?”
Ark smirked and murmured. Then Agathe made a puzzled expression and his countenance changed.
“You, did you open the box?”
“Then?”
“That is an obvious violation of the contract!”
“Yes, I admit it. Alas, I have committed a serious sin. I broke a promise so I should be punished…… Therefore call the guards. Let’s call them in order to distinguish between right and wrong.”
“Don’t make me laugh. You think that you discovered a weakness just because you saw the contents of the box. The contents are 100% safe and have no faults. We produce potions for the entire southern area of Bristania and even the royal family recognizes our goods…..”
“Shut up, you bastard.”
Ark used his specialty of changing completely by 180 degrees. Ark’s face seemed to turn demonic as curses emerged from his mouth. After experiencing a level 366 Intimidation, Agathe’s face turned as pale as a sheet. Ark stepped closer and growled.
“Okay, I admit it. I examined the contents. The potions that Seirun makes is 100% safe. While it is safe for people who use it, it isn’t safe for the people who make the potion!”
Agathe was silenced Ark’s words. Yes, Ark had figured out the secret of Seirun workshop.
-Karadaras Claw
The Karadaras claw is a deadly poisonous herb found at the Karadaras ravine which resembles a claw. The herb is so poisonous that a troll will die one day after inhaling it too much.
Advanced Additional Information: When the Karadaras Claw is refined through the appropriate process, it can be very useful when combined with various herbs. But if you inhale the aroma or touch the deadly poison, it may cause fatal symptoms inside the body.
When exposed to that environment for a long time, a person will suffer from serious toxic symptoms. The typical symptoms is accompanied by high fever, pain, and black red spots. If the spots become completely red then it will lead to death.
This was the information that Ark confirmed from the items in the box. The secret ingredient in the popular potions sold throughout the southern Bristania was the Karadaras Claw. Of course, Ark knew about the poisonous herb thanks to Food Worshipper. Of course, the Karadaras claws within the potion were perfectly refined so they were completely safe. It was common knowledge that the production of canned goods got rid of a variety of toxic chemicals such as hydrochloric acid during the process. However, the labourers who handled the Karadaras claws weren’t completely safe. Because of that, Ark was puzzled after he confirmed the poisonous herb. When investigating the cause of the mysterious disease, he thought it was because of an error in the manufacturing process.
But when he examined the contents, the mysterious illness wasn’t caused by a simple mistake. They were slowly poisoned by inhaling the toxins emitted by the Karadaras claw! As the owner of Seirun workshop, Agathe should know that. If there was a mistake in the herb combination process then it would obviously become poisoned! It was impossible not to know the poisonous plant was dangerous. However, the people who worked in the workshop were poisoned by the Karadaras claw. Even if the appropriate safety measures were taken, the residents of the slums should’ve at least be given antidotes so they wouldn’t suffer any pain. However, Agathe wasn’t visibly interested.
‘Does he not care if the residents of the slums are killed?’
Sparks rose from Ark’s eyes as he had a crazy idea. This guy couldn’t be forgiven!
“You are misunderstanding something……”
Sweat dripped down Agathe’s face as he stuttered.
“W-what do you want? As expected, is it money? Okay, then I’ll do it. If you hold your tongue then I’ll give you 500 gold, no, 1000 gold. How about it? Huh? It is a huge amount that a commoner like you can’t never see in your entire life. Isn’t this the reason why you came? Just sit back, close your mouth and you’ll get 1000 gold.”
“I said shut up you bastard.”
Ark growled and Agathe flinched back, thinking that he was going to be hit. But Ark just sighed and shook his head. In fact, the residents of the slums wanted to rush here to kill Agathe when they heard. The person who stopped it was Ark. Ark determined that it wouldn’t be useful for the residents to kill Agathe. So he persuaded the residents to allow him to go talk to Agathe.
“Okay I will not tell the guards.”
“R-Really?”
“Instead, there are three conditions.”
“Conditions?”
“The residents who suffered in the meantime should receive 1000 gold consolation money while the ones unjustly fired should be rehired at three times the salary. Of course, this is after the perfect safety precautions is taken, which is the first condition.”
This was one of the reasons why Ark stopped the poor residents. Although the residents of the slums were relieved of their pain thanks to Ark, their living situation had suffered thanks to the price of the medicine. Even if they recovered their health, there was no possibility of Agathe rehiring them. So he devised a way for the residents to live.