4 Conspiracy

It's been a while since Calamity woke up in his bed, but he lied motionlessly, silently sinking into the river of thoughts.

He discarded his previous identity and accepted the new one.

'From now on, I am Leto, the young master of the Lockhart family, son of Gile, one of the four great generals of the country.'

After thinking of ways how to proceed and integrate with his new identity without arousing suspicions, Leto stopped thinking and lied motionlessly.

A while later, the image of his soul surfaced in his consciousness.

'As expected, even without my powers, I can still have access to it.' He thought as he observed his unique soul.

A long time ago, he found an extraordinary piece of tree bark which miraculously merged with his soul. He didn't know of its origin but doubtlessly, it was some kind of heavenly treasure.

He studied and discovered only a number of its uses, which was of great help in his previous life.

Leto was happy he still had it after transmigration.

'With its help, I'm going to recover faster, but I'll have to trouble Gile, uh, father.'

After making up his mind, he determinedly opened his eyes.

''Son, what happened there? Are you alright?'' Gile noticed his awakening and asked nervously.

''Father, the disease won't trouble me for the time being. I'm alright now.'' Leto smiled brightly.

He didn't care about the maids, who listened to their conversation.

''What? How...how could it be?'' Gile was dumbstruck and doubtful at the same time. He didn't dare believe it, so his false hopes wouldn't be crushed mercilessly.

''I feel well. You can have doctors check my condition. I'm not lying.''

Gile was flustered as he didn't know how to respond. Shortly, he made up his mind and called his caretaker.

''How could this be?! A miracle...this is a miracle...'' Gile mumbled after he was thoroughly checked. He looked funny with disheveled hair and blank eyes.

The caretaker was also dumbfounded, as he couldn't believe his eyes. The worms were dormant, as they were supposed to be in the first place.

''Right, this is a miracle from the god. I received a divine message too. If we don't abide, I'm afraid my condition is going to worsen once again. The worms are lying dormant now, so I need to recover my vitality and improve my constitution so when they wake up, I can resist them.'' Leto spoke seriously.

He felt a little ashamed, as he didn't want to burden his father much, so he decided to restrain himself. In his previous life, his family was massacred, so he didn't know the familial love. Instinctively, he considered Gile his real father, as he was happy to experience fatherly love.

''What do we have to do? As long as there's hope, I won't hesitate.'' Gile stated solemnly. He didn't ask whether he was sure or not about this, as there was not any other method he knew of. He felt, that such sudden turnabout of events was miraculous, so he had to cooperate to the end, lest he regretted it in the future. Leto had his unconditional support.

''We need to sacrifice a lot of cattle to the god, besides, I have to slaughter them myself to show my sincerity.'' Leto finally made himself clear.

The treasure in his soul had the ability to measure and absorb the vitality of living beings.

For example, a normal adult human with no cultivation had about 100 health points (HP). As their cultivation increased, their vitality rose too. Meanwhile, beasts had more abundant vitality. Cows, for example, though they didn't have the intelligence and the ability to cultivate, they still had about 250 health points, over 2 times more than normal humans.

Through slaughtering living beings, his treasure absorbed the small part of victim's vitality and converted them into 'vitality essence,' which had many uses.

Though unfortunately, it only absorbed 1/100th of the target's vitality, so he needed a massive amount of blood sacrifice to accumulate points.

The deed had to be done by his hands too, otherwise, it wouldn't work, hence his proposal.

''Alright. That's easy...I'll prepare immediately. How much do we need?''

Leto hesitated as he calculated. To recover fully, he needed a lot of sacrifices, but he couldn't just abruptly ask for thousands of cattle's lives, as it would economically damage Gile.

''150 cows, 300 sheep and hundreds of chicken.''

Gile winced a little but still nodded without hesitation. Even for him, this was no small amount, but at his high position, he could afford that, as he owned some territories.

''Alright, I'll go prepare. Rest well and get better. Leave everything to me.'' Gile's figure slowly disappeared through the door.

Leto nodded and lied down to rest and recover.

* * * * *

3 days have passed.

The news of Leto's miraculous recovery spread all around the kingdom. It was a hot topic of discussion.

Another big news, which shook the kingdom was the rumor, that the esteemed general, Gile had disrespected the old physician, Tian Shan, who had once saved even king himself.

The rumor was proved to be true when Gile was called by the king for judgment. Gile was a clever old fox, as he easily smelled a conspiracy, listening to Tian Shan's harsh accusations and insistence of severe punishment, so he decided on a different approach.

King Kratos was also in a tough position. If he ignored his savior's begging, he would be criticized by the public for being ungrateful.

The obese king fidgeted, while fats on his body wiggled, as he was unable to rest on his throne. His emissary cautioned Gile before the meeting, but knowing his hot-tempered personality, the king was afraid he would ignore it, which would make things so much more complicated for him.

Surprisingly, Gile was as docile as a lamb, bearing harsh words with mild temperament. He apologized and to show his sincerity, he announced to hold a grand feast, inviting everyone. He declared, that the old physician would be the most honored guest, as the feast would be held in his name.

King Kratos was more than happy to play along and give Gile an easy way out.

The old physician still didn't look happy as he grumbled, but he could say nothing. He didn't seem to expect such development.

The news spread fast. The banquet hosted by the General became another hot topic. The hotshots from all over the kingdom boisterously started preparing for this event, both in the light and in the shadows.

* * * * *

The antique looking door creaked open, revealing the hunched figure of Tian Shan.

''Well, aren't you useless? What do you have to say for yourself?'' The masked middle-aged man sneered as he eyed him with a piercing gaze while resting in his armchair.

The old physician's face was ugly as he stooped his head and clenched his fists.

''There is no cure to that thing! I saw him at the brink of death with both my eyes! You can't doubt my professionalism! There has to be some sorcery in this!'' Tian Shan's eyes were about to spit venom, as he shouted with a twisted expression

''Hehe, it doesn't matter. Let's look at the bigger picture.'' The middle-aged man grabbed the chess pieces from the board and played with them as he narrated.

''Your corpse poison was useless on that brat. Now we can't link his death to Kratos' side and manipulate Gile into changing allegiance. You also wasted the opportunity to punish him for abusing you.''

''None is my fault!''

''Maybe, but only the results matter.''

''...''

''...''

''The kid's recovered. Why didn't you claim to have cured him to showcase Gile's ungratefulness? Wouldn't he have a higher chance of being punished that way?''

''What good would that do? Gile would have smelled something wrong, wouldn't he?''

''Haha, you underestimate him.'' Antonio chuckled while inspecting the black rook in his hands.

''You mean...?!'' Tian's expression changed.

''You're right.''

''What should we do? If we fail to neutralize Gile, they won't spare us.'' Anxiousness could be felt in the old physician's voice.

''Haha, don't worry. Gile dug his own grave. We'll crush him on his banquet! We might even kill two birds with one stone this time.'' A wide grin appeared on Antonio's face as he clenched his fist and crushed the black rook into pieces.

''What's your plan?'' The hunchback asked in thrill.

''Kuhahahaha, wait and see.'' Antonio chuckled sinisterly as he took and played with the black queen from the chessboard.