Arc 3 - Chapter 28: Moving Forward (1/3)

He was glad that there was no animal rights community in Mora. If there were animal rights activists like those around the world, they would have started a massive lynching campaign against Yu after they found out what he had done.

-Experiment one: Three drops of blood were poured into the drinkers of three crows at night.

  -Experiment result: At first light in the morning, all the crows were found dead.

  -Symptoms: No changes were observed in the crows' bodies.

  -Experiment date: February twenty-sixth, ABH forty.

In the morning he woke up as usual, looked at Yurine's sleeping face, smiled and got up first thing to look at the crows. When he saw the crows in the cage, excitement and fear combined to make his chest tremble.

He was excited because a few drops of blood had killed three living beings without warning. The usefulness of a poison that could also kill humans without a trace was beyond question.

He was afraid because a poison that can kill living beings without warning was coursing through his veins, reaching every cell.

"Was it a sudden death or did they die slowly over a period of time?"

Yu checked the crows' bodies thoroughly while Yurine was still asleep. He even plucked their feathers to see if there was any change in their skin, but the animals looked exactly as they did before they died.

"A small dose was enough to kill a small animal. But will it work the same way with larger animals? I'll try it on dogs, and I need to check if the poison is contagious or not. I don't want to accidentally infect Yurine."

He took the birds out of tent and looked around. He saw the campfire around which several waking roaros were gathered.

"Good morning, Mr. Valarfin."

Forgetting that he had given them guard duty, the sudden sound of Ana's voice caused him to flinch and on a sudden instinct he tried to hide the crows, not to mention that it was a failed attempt.

"Good morning. Are you still on watch?"

"Still not. We switched again after Sivina kept her vigil at night."

Although Ana had gloves on, she rubbed her hands together to warm them. Her eyes shifted to the crows lying lifeless in the cage Yu was carrying.

"Aren't those the birds we brought last night? What happened to them?"

"For a number of reasons, they will not be able to continue their vital activities."

He hoped that a long answer and an indirect way of explaining would stun Ana and give him time to escape. Unfortunately, Yu's hope was in vain.

"Did you kill them?"

"Please don't look at me like I'm a bad person..."

He didn't like Ana's look. He knew he was bad, but it still hurt when someone else threw it in his face.

"Do you remember the black blood that came from my hand last night? I put a few drops of that blood in the crows' drinkers."

"Why did you do such a thing?"

"Because that's how I know there's poison in my veins."

Just like in a moba game, Ana was stunned, unable to give any answer, and Yu told her she could leave the watch and went to the roarons who had built a campfire.

"The crows are dead, can I throw them in the fire?"

Burning the animals he poisoned seemed a safer option than burying them. He didn't want to face a scenario where the poison would pass from the soil to the plants that grew from the soil and spread to the world through the animals that ate those plants.

Even if such a scenario sounded utterly absurd, he could not ignore the possibility of this absurd possibility as the world was trying to put him in a difficult position.

The Roarons nodded and allowed the campfires to be used as crow graves. Yu threw the crows into the fire and went back to his tent.

"Yu~ why weren't you with me when I woke up?"

"I'm sorry, I stepped out for a minute."

Sitting up in bed, Yurine turned her cheek to perform their daily ritual with Yu. Yu placed a kiss on the offered cheek and then received a kiss from Yurine on his own cheek.

"Good morning."

"Good morning, Yu."

Before breakfast, he put on his black butler's outfit and examined himself in the mirror. Now that he was with Yurine, he had struck a few poses, though not his usual exaggerated ones.

He dressed Yurine in fancy clothes fit for a noble lady. He was not a fan of the girls' clothes of this world, but he bought the best he could find for Yurine. Later he would have modern clothes made for her.

Leoral insisted on having lunch and dinner with Yurine, but because she woke up late in the morning, Yurine had breakfast with the Virgo Cathedral's entourage and the roarons.

On Yu's side of their camp, the roarons made up the majority. They liked Yurine and wanted to have breakfast together.

When the roarons included breakfast, they had to set a very long dining table for two hundred people. Most of them didn't even hear what Yurine was saying.

Still, they had breakfast together and were happy about it. It was also good for Yu to give them such small joys, it strengthened their loyalty.

"Good morning to you, Your Eminence. And good morning to you, Mr. Valarfin."

"Tch."

Seeing Link after last night made his nerves jump. He pouted and turned him head away to avoid his face.

"Should I try the poison on him instead of trying it on the dogs?"

He still remembered what had happened last night and still couldn't understand why he had done what he had done. At least his pride hadn't been hurt by Link's finger up his ass. If Link had been the only one stung, he wouldn't have been able to sleep at night.

"Trying the poison on him... What effect would it have on a human being?"

They sat at the breakfast table. As usual, Yurine sat at the head of the table and Yu sat to her right. Link took the third chair to Yurine's left. He knew that the two chairs before him belonged to Sivina and Ana.

Sivina came and said, "Good morning," and took her seat. Ana came with her.

Neither of them could sleep because they had spent the night on guard duty. They had been on guard duty before and sleep was not a problem then. Maybe they were sleepless because they had been up late at night.

"Good morning," Yurine replied.

Given that Ana was going to be a priestess, Yu was the only one with the status of a servant sitting at the breakfast table. The other servants didn't seem to care, but Yu could feel the glances Bart was giving him as he set the plates in front of them.

It was unusual for a servant to eat at the same table as his master. Bart's occasional glances at Yu out of the corner of his eye stressed him out.

"What are they planning?"

If he hadn't gotten into Luna's head last night, he might have seen Bart as harmless. Now Yu was uncomfortable with him even being near him.

"Absolutely unacceptable, I can't leave Yurine's side."

"Enjoy your meal," Bart said.

Yu made up his mind at that moment, he wasn't going to risk anything.

"Hey, you didn't wait for me."

"Hmm? I was actually waiting for you, I just wasn't waiting to start breakfast."

Kigaro came and sat next to Yu. He knew that Dimen was on guard duty right now because Yu was the one who wrote the duty roster.

"Did anything happen about what I told you?"

"No." Knowing that Yu was asking a serious question, Kigaro answered him seriously.

Yu didn't think Raul could enter their tent, but he didn't want him to come out of nowhere and talk to Sivina or Ana.

So he ordered Kigaro to stand guard around Ana and Sivina. He described in detail what Raul looked like and told them to kill him the moment he appeared.

"Tch, I wish it was like I said."

He wanted Raul to be a fool and try to approach them to meet Sivina. That way Kigaro could kill him immediately and their problem would be solved.

"What if it was as you say?" Ana asked.

"It's not a big deal."

Kigaro knew he was lying, but he told him it was for the sake of the two girls, so he didn't say anything to expose Yu's lie.

"Yu, stop talking about work at breakfast and eat your food. Come on, the bird is coming!"

"Are you my mother?"

Yu laughed and opened his mouth as Yurine dipped the cheese on a fork and brought it to Yu's mouth.