56 – 56. Diffusion
The period promised by the emperor was still a long way off.
However, there were already those exerting pressure.
“Um, Sir Alan? This is not to convey to the envoy, but there are thousands of people dependent on the forest in the Grand Woodland. It could even be tens of thousands indirectly. Just the timber coming out of the outskirts of the Grand Woodland exceeds eight million logs per month.”
Words spoken by the mayor of the border city of Antrim. People who had relied on the vast resources coming out of the Grand Woodland were complaining.
“It must be difficult, of course.”
However, I didn’t feel any urgency.
Even at this moment, heroin was undoubtedly spreading diligently.
Of course, if the delivery workers tried to monopolize it, the speed could be slowed down. But there was no way to block the signal itself.
Even if the elves were normally static creatures, it was impossible not to feel curious when they were buzzing with excitement next to you.
Once you made contact in any way, it was difficult to escape. In fact, you would naturally get sucked in.
If you knew about the side effects, you might be able to restrain yourself. But recognizing the harm of heroin was never easy.
Looking back now, it was strange, but in fact, heroin was one of the dru*gs developed to replace the extreme side effects of morphine.
After its release, it was perceived as a “safer and more effective dru*g than morphine” for a very long time, and it sold like crazy.
It wasn’t until almost 30 years later that its use was banned.
The modern form of dru*g regulation was also influenced by heroin. Before that, it had caused numerous thefts, robberies, prostitution, bankruptcies, and family breakdowns. In a way, it was even worse than the crack crisis in the 80s.
“But they were only a few days.”
It was too short a time to realize the harm of heroin.
Of course, there was only one way to realize it early.
To resist desire and deliberately stop taking it.
Then the withdrawal symptoms would disappear, and after about 5-6 hours, the withdrawal symptoms would start to appear. Depending on the individual, it would be unbearable pain with normal mental strength after 24 hours.
By that time, you could feel the danger of heroin, but the possibility was slim.
“The elves wouldn’t be able to resist it.”
Without knowledge of the side effects, with an increasing desire for heroin, and even heroin available to satisfy that desire?
It was practically impossible to resist.
There might be a tiny minority of elves who could endure it, but it would be useless. Because there wouldn’t be many elves with such exceptional mental strength. Instead, it would only create discord between the elves who desired and the elves who resisted.
It wasn’t a bad idea when I thought about why I came here.
It was because the elves would be incapacitated to the point where they couldn’t carry out the war.
Waking up from sleep, Marcela blinked her groggy eyes and recalled a smile.
‘Right. I can overcome this.’
Even compared to before she indulged in heroin, her current state was a mess. Although she could probably wipe out an Imperial detachment now, it was less than half of what she could achieve at her best.
Still, it had somewhat improved compared to when the “phenomenon” reached its peak.
The desire for heroin persisted, but enduring it was the only solution.
The sensation of purifying the soul with each sip, the warmth enveloping her like the arms of the World Tree Mother, and the joy akin to the constant spring of inspiration in her mind—all these pleasures were being deliberately erased.
‘Thinking about it, I want to smoke again.’
But would this desire someday disappear?
Marcela wiped the cold sweat on her forehead and slowly rose.
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It was time to return to Madeline, the domain of the World Tree.
She planned to report to the elders about peace negotiations and dispose of heroin. Also, she decided to take care of her subordinates who, unlike herself, were not in good condition. They growled at her, but they were valuable resources and needed attention.
“Now, let’s move again!”
Marcela instructed her subordinates who should be scattered nearby.
However, there was no response coming back.
“Lurde? Marina?”
Still, it remained quiet.
Come to think of it, there was no sense of presence either.
No matter how dull it has become, what a shameful thing to say.
Marcella sighed and began to look around. She believed that her subordinates would be suffering nearby, consumed by heroin.
But what could have happened?
Not only were her subordinates missing.
“Uh…?”
Come to think of it, it wasn’t just her subordinates who had disappeared.
The ceramic bottle that had been in her hand until she fell asleep. The one containing 30 grams of heroin was also gone.
Whenever her craving intensified, she deliberately looked at it to gather herself. Where could it have gone? She searched the area where she had fallen asleep, but it was nowhere to be found.
Marcella’s face grew paler and paler.
“No way.”
She said “no way,” but there was only one possibility that came to mind.
Theft.
While she, the boss, was exhausted and asleep, someone took advantage of the opportunity to steal.
It was an unpleasant thought, but there was no other explanation.
It was not a good habit to suspect her own kind, but the faces of her subordinates, who were sniffing and wiping their runny noses due to heroin, kept appearing before her eyes.
There was even one who spat at Marcella and shouted, “You’re going to eat it all by yourself, huh?” while taunting her.
“I have to find them before it’s too late.”
Marcella clenched her teeth and set out to find her subordinates.
With ten heads and ten pipes, they must have already started a fierce fight by now. They might be blowing smoke in each other’s faces, growling and hissing.
“Foolish bunch.”
Let’s smoke some heroin, they said, even the high-ranking officials.
I was willing to tolerate swearing and informal language, but this was something that couldn’t go unpunished. It wasn’t just about Marcela’s own feelings, but about the actions that were undermining order.
Above all, this was destroying the lives of those involved.
Just with two doses, the pain was already unbearable. If they smoked it three or four times, wouldn’t it be even harder later on?
Perhaps the physical effects that come when they stop taking it could worsen. They had to avoid that grim future by any means necessary.
“I have to find them before they ruin themselves, no matter what.”
Marcela started searching for places where her subordinates might hide.
The bases they used during the empire’s military campaigns.
The dwellings of the elves who were assigned to guard the forest and lived on the outskirts of the Grand Forest.
She searched frantically for almost a whole day, but couldn’t find them anywhere.
The more she searched, the more her impatience grew. It meant that even Marcela herself couldn’t find a hidden place where she could indulge in heroin.
“Lourdes! Marina! Yomira! No heroin…!”
Marcela shouted desperately, rummaging through the forest. But no matter how fervently she called out, there was no response.
Instead, a troublemaker intervened.
– “Marcela, you must return to Medelin. The elders are acting strangely all of a sudden.”
It was a report from one of her subordinates, left for her in Medelin through communication magic.
Perhaps the elders were urging her to report on the results of their contact with the empire’s envoy.
Was the report the problem now?
Though disappointed, Marcela decided to just follow along. It wasn’t out of respect for the elders, but because she realized she couldn’t find her subordinates on her own.
“I might as well report to the elders about heroin and request a search team. I can’t handle this alone anyway.”
Let’s go back for now.
Marcella, after staring frustratingly at the unnecessarily lush and dense forest, moved her steps.
Although her physical condition suddenly improved, her inner thoughts were more restless than ever before.
Perhaps even more so than when fiercely battling the Britannia Imperial Army. The army wasn’t frightening, but heroin was.
…
City of the World Tree, Medelin.
As soon as Marcella arrived through the teleportation magic circle, she immediately ran towards the building where the Chief Elder’s office was located.
A building erected on a branch of the World Tree, the most magnificent among its branches.
Normally, she thought it was too much for the lazy Chief Elder, but not now. It was a priority to inform about the disappearance of subordinates as soon as possible and get their cooperation.
“I will meet the Chief Elder.”
Marcella informed the Southern Elf of her rank.
“Yes, everyone is gathering right now.”
“Other elders too? Are they in a meeting?”
“Well, um, whether to call it a meeting…”
“Why hesitate? No, forget it. Move aside.”
She pushed aside the Southern Elf and urgently entered the building. It was rude behavior, but now was not the time to worry about etiquette.
Marcella reached the Chief Elder’s office after a month.
“Weren’t the elders supposed to be gathered?”
Certainly, she felt the presence, the presence of several people, yet the Chief Elder’s office was relatively quiet.
Marcella, who was about to urgently open the door, paused for a moment.
To reveal her deteriorated appearance due to her addiction to heroin?
Or because she mismanaged her subordinates and caused them to disappear, leading to disgrace?
It wasn’t for such trivial reasons.
There was just a sinister suspicion lingering in her mind.
The suspicion that the disappearance of her subordinates and the elders’ meeting might be related. And perhaps there was something happening inside the conference room. The sound of empty laughter seeping through the crack in the door amplified her worries.
“No. It can’t be.”
Marcella repeated to herself as she entered the room, blaming herself for entertaining baseless and disrespectful thoughts.
But-
Inside the office, scenes beyond her imagination were unfolding.
“You emptied the pipe. Fill it up one more time.”
“Silien, Elder, you smoked earlier. …It’s my turn now?”
“Get in the car and… drink, in the car.”
The elders lazily puffed on their pipes.
Beside them, Marcela’s subordinates (whom she thought had disappeared) were whispering and sniffing the smoke.
Even the chief elder, while measuring, was licking what seemed to be heroin powder spilled on the table, as if it were too precious to waste.
It was a scene that lacked reality, even when seen with one’s own eyes.
“Huh?”
Marcella’s face turned blank as she watched her fellow vampires enjoying their heroin party.
There was nothing else she could do.