The characteristic languid atmosphere of the old man disappeared, and instead he was filled with a sense of intimidation.
He put down his cigarette and looked at me with a smirk.
“Who are you, you?”
I answered calmly.
“Seven Lords.”
“······What?”
The old man’s eyes widened.
I told him, who was speechless.
“I don’t intend to threaten you. I’m just talking to you for a while, alchemist Gulpiro.”
He glanced out the shop window with a hardened expression on his face. He added to the look.
“I came alone.”
“······· Are you really the 7th Lord?
“okay.”
“How can I believe that?”
“If not, you must be a madman in Calderic pretending to be the lord’s name. Any reason to lie to the facts that will be revealed even a little bit?”
The old man, Gulpiro, frowned and let out a sigh.
“It would be meaningless to ask how you came to know. What’s the reason?”
He asked why he had come to see him.
“If you’re going to ask me to make an elixir, then quit. I can’t make it anymore.”
“not.”
“Or are you planning on signing me? It’s no use threatening to kill me, so quit that too.”
“Not that either.”
He has a history of producing new drugs that are recognized as elixir.
Of course, it would be nice if I could recruit him, but I didn’t come to this person for that purpose.
Grand Alchemist Gulpiro.
He appeared as a powerful ally in Rasa’s main storyline, providing a big help to the allies once in an important time.
He was also a good man, as you can see from the way he helped the boy on the street earlier.
Therefore, even if it is not necessary to attract him as an ally, it was good to protect him if he could protect him from danger.
Because now he probably…
“He must have come all the way to Calderic avoiding the eyes of Seintea.”
Gulpiro clicked his tongue.
“You’ve already done it, so what are you asking?”
He was originally a member of the Seintea camp.
Magic Tower, the largest and most powerful group of wizards in Seintea.
As an alchemist who originally belonged to that place, he was betrayed by the Magic Tower and the Imperial Family for some reason. It was an issue with the elixir.
And he saved his life and managed to escape from the chase, and in the future, he was not here in Calderik, but in the land of the South Continent.
I was curious and asked.
“Is there any reason to settle in the capital of the 6th monarchy?”
No matter how much he thought about it, his inclination and various other things, this place in Mahea was not a good place to settle down.
Because it was a city where the monarchy of a tyrant was strong, and there was even a ‘slave gladiator’ every day.
He shook his head and said.
“I happened to be like this because of circumstances. If it’s still possible, I’m thinking of going out as soon as possible.”
“Then you can come to the capital of the 7th monarchy.”
I said so naturally.
Gulpiro looked at him with an absurd look.
“Didn’t you say you’re not going to hire me?”
“It’s not about recruiting, it literally means coming to the land that I rule.”
“So what is that…”
“I don’t want anything, Gulpiro. I just want to protect you completely from the pursuit of Seintea.”
He said with a look that seemed more and more incomprehensible.
“I don’t want anything, but you’re going to protect me? What do you mean?”
A monarch and no one else would protect him without asking for anything in return.
For him, of course, that would be unbelievable.
But what can I do, it’s all true.
“Know this first, Gulpiro.”
I decided to be honest about my thoughts.
It’s not going to work anyway to attach clumsy reasons to a character who’s about to go.
“You are one of the best alchemists on the continent. Such a person has turned his back on Seintea and came to Calderic, and it’s good for us just to keep him here. Calderic won’t take care of you. The reason is that it is nowhere to be found.”
“…even if I have no intention of holding hands with you?”
“Yeah, that’s my opinion, because it can change anytime soon. To be honest, you can think of it as a favoritism.”
I am well aware of the propensity of guinea pigs.
Even in the main story of the game, he helped the players until the end because of a small debt that wasn’t too big.
In a word, he was the type of person who couldn’t live without receiving anything.
So it didn’t matter if you didn’t want to hold hands with me right now.
Anyway, if I kept him by my side and continued to build favorable feelings for him, I could get help someday when I needed it.
“·······Favourite, huh.”
Gulpiro let out a laugh.
“I don’t know where to put myself, since a supreme person who is the lord of Calderic would say such a thing.”
He said so, but he was a person no less than a monarch simply because of his continental fame.
It’s just that, because of an alchemist’s lack of power, he was forced to live in hiding from Seintea’s eyes.
“Can I open this up a bit?”
Gulpiro pointed to the pipe he had put down.
I nodded and he put the cigarette to my lips again.
He stared into the air with thoughtful eyes and smoked for a moment, then opened his mouth.
“Does the overlord know of my existence?”
“no.”
“Then what about the 6th monarch?”
“He doesn’t know either.”
For some reason, Gulpiro let out a small drool and continued.
“If I go to the 7th Prince’s Order, I guess I’ll have to stay at the Monarch’s Castle?”
“It’s a place to stay, I’ll give you any place you want.”
In an instant, the Alkimas Workshop came to mind.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to secretly contact Gulpiro with her.
Scarlett is a talented alchemist, and it would be great if she could learn even a little bit of alchemy from Gulfiro.
As if in thought again, Gulpiro only smoked a cigarette for a while without saying a word.
Then, after a few minutes, he nodded slowly.
“Okay. Go to Enrok just as you said, 7th lord. Even if I refuse anyway, I won’t keep my eyes around me.”
…well, I didn’t mean to.
However, he seemed to have taken that into account in accepting my proposal, so I did not have to deny it.
I’m about to say I thought well, but he opened his mouth again.
“But before that, there is one condition.”
Refrigon (2)
······Condition?
I put on a puzzled look. Are you trying to get some materials for alchemy research?
But what followed was unexpected.
“I want you to save someone.”
“······Person?”
“Do you know about Actipol’s slave gladiator in this city?”
I nodded. Maybe you don’t know
‘But why all of a sudden?’
Gulpiro continued the conversation, exhaling cigarette smoke with a sigh.
“I’ve known one person I’ve been quite close with since the time I settled in this city. A young guy named Van, who ran a small fruit vendor, hasn’t shown his face lately, so I found out he couldn’t pay off his debts to the city’s lenders and went to pick him up. “
It was a rather random story, so I just blinked my eyes.
“They say they’re going to be sold as slaves to Actipole, and they’re going to compete, but I hope the 7th lord rescues him. I’m begging you.”
He was asking in a more polite tone than before.
I asked, scratching my chin.
“Do you have a bit of a debt to pay off?”
“I heard that it was over 30 gold because of how much interest I paid. When I visited Actipole, they were double the ransom there again. So, I was thinking about whether I should make a proper potion. Be poor.”
I didn’t understand what this meant for a moment, but then I understood.
It meant that he was trying to pay the ransom for the man who was caught by making a potion of the product. Then I came
‘…’
I sighed inwardly.
Because I realized that I had come to Gulpiro at an amazing time.
It looks like he’s running a shop by making just the right potions right now, but what if he makes and sells really good potions?
Naturally, it has no choice but to attract the attention of those in power in this capital. And in the worst case, it could even be revealed.
It occurred to me that the fact that he did not remain here in the not-too-distant future and moved to the South Continent may have something to do with this incident.
‘Anyway, there is nothing difficult.’
Money was rotting in his pocket. A few dozen gold was not even a penny.
And even if it was something that money could not do, it could be solved with power.
If there’s only one thing that bothers me…
“Okay. Let me bring you right away.”
“Thank you.”
I readily answered.
And after talking with him a little bit more, I finished the conversation and left the store.
***
Six monarchs ruled by a tyrant.
In particular, Mahea, the capital city, was a place full of various vices and corruption, as his notoriety.
One of the most representative of them was the slave gladiator.
‘Hey there.’
After returning to the inn, I went straight out again with Ashel and headed west of the city.
I looked at the huge structure that was starting to appear in the distance, standing in the middle of the streets and buildings.
Actipol.
It is the name of that huge stadium that looks like the Colosseum.
A death game in which only the victors can survive, in which armed slave gladiators fight for their lives.
All around, knights and soldiers standing guard, and many passers-by were seen entering and leaving Actipole.
Even now, the match was in full swing, and loud cheers and boos from the crowd were resounding inside the stadium.
“Twitch.”
I clicked my tongue slightly.
Even in the game, the episodes related to Actipole had a particularly dark storyline.
That is why I could clearly see how desperate the struggle was going on inside.
It was a world where the weight of life was infinitely light, especially this city of Mahea.
To them, the desperate struggle of the slaves was just a moment’s entertainment, and it was only a means to win a lot by gambling.
I even moved on.
The destination we were heading to now was not the stadium, but the slave prison building attached to it.
As Gulpiro said, the man named Van must be locked up there by now.
‘Let’s try to solve the problem with money.’
What I’m a little concerned about is if the other side keeps trying to raise the ransom price, or if they say they won’t sell it at all.
In that case, it was enough to just press it with power, but this was also vague.
If I reveal my identity as the 7th monarch, of course, I will immediately enter the ears of the tyrant in the monarch castle.
It was easy for him to know that I was in this city, so I wanted to avoid it. Maybe you’ll come to see me in person.
The reason I’m wearing a robe like this now was because I was afraid that someone would recognize me. Because it was the 6th monarchy right next door to the 7th monarchy.
‘Baltegger the Tyrant.’
I thought about him for a moment.
There were a lot of words that could describe him, but they were all simple.
Garbage, horseshoes, tyrants, demons, monsters, and more…
He is the worst vampire in the world, acting only according to his own desires and enjoying the suffering of others more than anything else in the world. That’s why the slave gladiator Actipol was built.
There are many villains in this Lhasa universe, but if I had to pick the most primitively disgusting and ugly one, it was the tyrant.
“············”.
Come to think of it, when I think about him, another character comes to mind.
In fact, the tyrant was also a person to watch with more attention than other monarchs.
If it’s just trash, there’s no need to worry about it.
Even though he was a villain who was far beyond his limits, anyway, as long as we were the same lord, there was no harm in me.
There was only one reason.
But he was very deeply connected with one other important character in Lhasa’s main story.
‘Flesh-headed Liprigon.’
The original owner of the 7th Throne.
The person who should have originally sat on the 7th monarch seat that I have now occupied by chance.
He was the 7th Lord of Calderic from the point of view of gameplay, that is, several years later.
I don’t know who he is.