Chapter 49: Allergic

What?!

Seeing the expression on my face, Arthur explained further.

"If this egg is of Mythical or possibly higher rank, then the mana essence required to evolve it would be tremendous."

Right!!

How could I ignore such a basic thing.

I should have been able to notice the danger in proceeding with Alfred’s plan. Why didn’t I think of it?

Those headaches.

The constant pain in my head seemed to have reduced my ability to process things at my usual pace.

Tsk.

It was troublesome.

But why didn’t he think of that? I looked toward Alfred, who stayed silent.

Sigh.

It’s pathetic.

For someone who prides himself on his intelligence...

How could I fully trust the person before me?

No!

Alfred wasn’t a person.

A monster in human skin. For him, nothing mattered except his research!

In Alfred’s eyes, I was just some fellow member of the organization he had joined. Nothing more than that.

Heck, the guy wouldn’t even hesitate before using his own blood if it meant having a lead in his discoveries.

Haa...

I really had to do something about these headaches.

I felt like I had become dumb.

No, this was me being foolish. I had to get my act together before entering the academy.

Such slip-ups at that stage could be very disastrous for my ambitions.

"If you provide your own essence, the egg would desire for more, and may even subconsciously try to forcefully extract it from your core."

Arthur spoke in a low voice.

I could feel the hostility in his words as he stared in Alfred’s direction.

Sensing both our gazes, Alfred just shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, even if you had perished, the beast emerging from that egg could very well have aided the Boss in his goals.

It would even have pleased him.."

Alfred’s voice was calm.

It was like he believed in what he had suggested.

He thought it was the right decision.

Maybe it was...

But—

I wasn’t some random member, I was the damn boss the bastard was speaking about!

What good would the beast have done if I was dead to even witness its appearance?

"A necessary sacrifice."

"..."

This fucker!

Huu...

I took a deep breath.

I need to calm down. I should have known it.

Dealing with this madman wouldn’t be easy. That was a given.

It was an oversight on my part.

"Collect the egg and that seed, and take them to Tamyr."

Arthur nodded his head before moving to retrieve the items.

"Huh...Wait?!"

Alfred hastily blocked Arthur’s path.

Arthur stopped for a brief second before looking in my direction.

"Do you have any issue with it?"

"Issue? It’s my discovery.

And why do you want to take it? Can’t you examine it here?"

Alfred voiced his complaint.

He wasn’t being so calm now, was he?

Such love for his specimens.

"The men that brought these discoveries here...who do they work for?"

Alfred went silent.

"The boss would be interested in your discoveries. We will feed the mana essence to these things in Tamyr.

It’s better suited for such things."

"And what’s the deal in not doing it here?"

Alfred asked.

He looked frustrated.

The bastard should be glad I didn’t take his head off!

I swear, if he hadn’t been useful for D.X., even death would have feared his end.

"Well...I am allergic here."

"..."

I nodded my head once, and Arthur moved to collect the items before us.

Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t feed them the mana essence here, before him.

Alfred only knew about my ability to control mana essence on a superficial level.

And I wanted to keep it at that.

If this guy notices my ability to absorb foreign mana essence...

Glancing at the various bed-like structures around me—

I didn’t want to end up on one of these.

As for the issue of the egg forcefully extracting all my essence, it was serious but manageable.

I was good at multitasking.

Absorbing essence from monsters and simultaneously feeding it to these items wasn’t a big deal for me.

I just had to be careful enough.

As Arthur packed both the egg and the seed, I turned toward the area of the teleportation passage.

I really didn’t want to stay here a second longer.

As I walked out, Alfred didn’t stop us.

Not like he could.

He seemed dissatisfied...not that I care!

Alfred knew he could research the items once I fed them with mana essence. At the end, he was our alchemist.

Our partnership was interdependent in nature.

He could very well refuse to cooperate with me if I blocked his access to these specimens in the future.

At least that might have been the leverage Alfred had in his mind before letting us go with his valuable discoveries.

Little did he know, his refusal might very well bring him to hell!

Being soft with this monster wasn’t an option.

I had learned it the hard way.

If Arthur hadn’t stopped me from feeding my mana essence to that egg, I might very well have been dead.

Still, with the level of my mana control, I didn’t think it would have been possible for the egg to forcefully extract my mana essence.

But...

My way of thinking may be biased and arrogant.

Honestly, underestimating something on the Mythical level wouldn’t be wise.

And if it was something above that level...

I surely was courting my death!

"And increase the production of the potions. You have been slacking a lot."

"..."

"The business had been slowing down. We need more funds."

I had been soft on him, thinking of developing a good relationship.

I didn’t care for him, but I thought he might contribute more if he had fewer things to disturb his research.

But now...

There was no need to be so lax.

It wasn’t like I was asking too much of him. This was the deal we made, and—

He had to contribute on his end.

Mad Alchemist or whatever, I didn’t give a shit about his reputation.

A blade was sufficient enough to spill his guts out.