80 – Addict
The delivery person comes every three days.
Leon Rotherdale of the Academy’s swordsmanship department used to earnestly pray every time.
More accurately, he invested all his time except when under the influence of medicine in earnestly praying to the heavens.
Please, ask for more medicine, make the delivery person mistakenly add one more drowsiness pill.
But the heavens always ignored his desperate prayers.
Considering the power of the heavens, it wouldn’t be that difficult, but they always ignored him. They turned away, crushed, and stubbornly insisted on giving the exact prescribed amount.
“He was a terribly lazy bastard for a genius.
“A bad woman. No, a bad guy?”
That didn’t matter.
The real important fact was separate. The amount of medicine he received for free from Maydof Pharmaceuticals had remained the same for several months.
Six Morongis, or morphine.
And six Beolleongis, or ephedrine. This was a three-day supply.
The way he took them was by taking one Morongi and one Beolleongi together.
There was no particular reason for mixing them. Morongi and Beolleongi always had to go together. They were never to be separated, an unbreakable bond. Like a couple standing affectionately by the Academy Lake…
“No, it’s more than that.”
How could it be compared to such a trivial lover?
Morongi and Beolleongi were closer than twins. Even families could be separated, but those two couldn’t be apart.
Leon, who was frustrated by the fact that he couldn’t properly explain why they had to be together due to his lack of eloquence, muttered curses.
It was really good to take them together. Whether it was the first time or now.
But…
“Why don’t they give me anything else?”
Damn it.
Leon looked at the small pill bottle while cursing.
There were only four pills inside.
What would happen after he took them all? It would be hell from then on.
Of course, Maydof Pharmaceuticals’ employees would deliver another three-day supply, but it was not comforting. It would still be six, six. The frustrating amount that didn’t change no matter how many times he looked at it. It was far from the quantity Leon desired.
“Sure, I’ll give it a try.
“My friend stole it.”
“Who is this friend?”
“Huh?”
“Don’t try to deceive me while enjoying it for free. Alan, the CEO, has instructed to cut off immediately if he catches any tricks… Well, don’t give me that threatening look.”
However, it didn’t make any difference.
I lied, made excuses, and even begged, but it was all in vain.
I wondered why they only gave me this little when I could eat more and wanted to eat more. If they doubled it, I could spend the whole day intoxicated. I’m confident that I can handle even triple the amount. Why on earth?
Leon felt unjust and sad about the current situation.
“I agreed to give up 50,000 Taler and take the medicine, so they should give me the equivalent of 50,000 Taler. No, it’s not giving up, what should I call it… Anyway, why aren’t they giving it to me? What should I do to receive more Monlong and Berong?!”
At this moment, Leon Loaderdale had only one hope.
Swordsmanship.
From Noble mtl dot com
For some reason, the deliverymen occasionally showed interest in Leon’s skills.
He didn’t understand why they were interested in such trivial swordsmanship, but if he trained and showed results, they would undoubtedly give him more medicine. Enough medicine to mock those idiots who boasted about smoking worthless op*ium.
“That’s all.”
As usual, Leon took the medicine and headed to the training ground.
It started with basic training.
To be honest, it was just sitting blankly in the training ground. Just like he did throughout the lecture, he sat there, spreading out, and watching other students.
“Um… Senior?”
A junior asked him to make room, but he simply ignored it. By sitting here blankly, he would eventually grasp something.
After a while, a faint vitality began to fill Leon’s face.
It was because the demonic figure appeared before his eyes.
Of course, it was a demon conjured up in his imagination.
“You bastard!”
Leon drew his sword and fiercely thrust it forward as he stood up.
At first, it was just a fabricated existence needed for virtual sparring partners.
Up to this point, other swordsmen also played along well.
However, as he always longed for the medicine, the imaginary enemy gradually took on a grotesque form.
In the early days, it was a deliveryman with a pleasant appearance who gave him the medicine, an old deliveryman who threw the medicine at him as if it were a hassle, and a friend who laughed while saying, “Is it you…?” when Leon boasted about touching the wall of imagination. The faces of those wicked bastards mixed together and became increasingly sinister.
“Why won’t you give me the medicine…!”
An enraged Leon began to swing his sword at the demon.
Sometimes he sobbed, sometimes he attacked fiercely, and even shouted, “Ah!” while rolling on the floor.
At some point, he simply danced the sword dance fiercely. It was because the demon laughed at Leon, mocking him. He had no choice but to follow along.
“Crazy… idiot…”
“Let’s just go to the second training ground.”
“Don’t curse. Are you satisfied with being second or third place?”
The students muttered, but Leon, completely absorbed in the sparring, did not give up.
Medicine.
More medicine.
The only reason Leon Loaderdale swung his sword was for that. His training continued until past midnight, accompanied by the vitality of the medicine.
Master (Jin) Summons.
The current state of Leon Roderdale could only be expressed in this way.
“He has reached the realm of the sublime. Just to be sure, I checked with the swordsmanship professors, but the credibility… honestly, it seems nonexistent. He spends the entire lecture lost in thought with a vacant expression. Even when he went on a practical assignment last month and devil worshippers attacked the students, he just watched from behind.”
It was a report from the investigation I had commissioned.
The realm of the sublime, transcendent, enlightenment. It didn’t matter how it was expressed. The claim was that he would soon reach the level of a master.
Considering Leon’s original talent, there was nothing strange.
If anything, it might be a bit late. In the original work, he was a human who entered the realm of a master after gaining enlightenment in a duel with Marcella. It’s a story that has now faded in significance.
Logically, it could have been a lie.
But it was worth checking. If by any chance it was true, it could help resolve the incidents in the original work that would happen in the future.
In the original work, devil worshippers began to install devices during the academy’s winter vacation.
That time was approaching.
The devil worshippers themselves were just fanatics and terrorists affiliated with the dark sect, not a significant threat. However, the devils that manifested using their bodies were formidable. They were not only armed but also cunning, using both force and clever tactics.
There were those who attacked the academy entrance ceremony in a brutish manner, but there were also individuals causing disturbances on a national scale.
“If even one more master is added to the empire, it would be a meaningful help. It’s impossible to handle it proactively as in the original work.”
Thinking that I should see Leon Roderdale for the last time, I headed to the academy.
Expectations were low.
For almost a month, he had been living as a shadow of his former self, soaked in health syrup, op*ium, and rum. He had been dependent on ephedrine and morphine for over three months after that. Instead of a genius about to enter the realm of a master, he was likely to be more like a dru*g-addicted invalid.
Of course, I had no intention of giving him free dru*gs indefinitely.
By now, Leon was probably dissatisfied, feeling that 15 milligrams of morphine and 40 milligrams of ephedrine per dose were not enough to satisfy him.
There was no room to use force, so I had to settle it here.
This was the visit for that purpose.
…
As soon as I arrived at the academy, my already low expectations hit rock bottom.
“That person is Morphin.”
There were students murmuring like this as they looked at me.
It wasn’t strange that they recognized me.
From the beginning, I had quite a notorious reputation, known as Morphin’s supplier, the fallen Third Princess, and the hero of the Medellin revolution, attracting the attention of the nobles.
The problem was that they were murmuring right in front of me, not from a distance.
Judging from their expressions, they seemed to know that Morphin was being used for entertainment. I couldn’t be sure, but it seemed like they were not op*ium addicts.
“It’s a first-year, even.”
Of course, I had heard about the situation at the academy.
They said they introduced dormitory inspections and roll call system because of op*ium.
Thanks to that, they could clean up the op*ium den in the dormitory… but they said eradicating it was difficult. They said that this semester alone, there were double-digit dropouts, and some of those dropouts were lingering around the academy, continuously interacting with the enrolled students.
The situation where dru*gs had already contaminated the academy.
It wasn’t difficult to guess how Leon, the pioneer of this, was doing. He probably had to make a decision by today…
“Viscount, sir.”
Viscount?
I turned my head immediately as I heard a strange voice from behind.
There was a student standing there, fidgeting.
Half-opened mouth, sparsely scattered beard, and a subtly awkward posture that was challenging to pinpoint precisely. Despite not starving at the academy, he had a lean build. It was a familiar face from memory, yet pretending not to recognize him was easier said than done.
Leon Roderdale.
In a manner that made it clear that three months was not a short period, he stood before me.
It seemed better not to inquire about the marquis or whatever. I couldn’t figure out what incident led to these words. Even if I asked him directly, he probably wouldn’t explain.
Just in case, I had supplied only a specific quantity… It was indeed a failure. While contemplating how to handle this, Leon spoke first.
“Medicine…!”
“I didn’t come to deliver medicine.”
“No, it’s not that, but… I eat at 6 and 10. That’s when I can see the devil. However, I don’t have any right now. You promised to give me two morphines each if I proved I mastered pyridine. But why only morphine… increasing?”
“……”
“I’m not complaining.”
Did he receive a promise of additional supplies from someone in his imagination? Despite being nervous about getting caught, he extended his palm, begging for medicine.
I instructed Bono, whom I had brought along for the mission, to provide the medicine.
“Leon Roderdale. You claimed to have attained enlightenment to our employee. Prove it. If you need a sparring partner, I’ll help you.”
“Yes!”
He roared in response, swallowing the medicine in one go and dashing towards the training ground, the original protagonist of the story.
Perhaps due to not realizing that the free medicine had come to an end, he had an extremely cheerful expression.