Twenty Thousand Left

Death Valley, a few days passed, and Cien remained busy in his alchemy room, concocting Lusting antidotes.

He had lost track of how many days he had been doing this, repeating the same process over and over again.

"Yosh, batch 1038 is complete," Cien said after putting all the antidote potions into a wooden container.

He then stored the final container in a larger wooden box containing fifty antidote vials. After that, Cien carried the box to his storage room.

"Huff..."

Seeing the stack of wooden boxes filled with antidotes, Cien let out a short sigh.

It seemed like a lot for himself, but would it be enough for the people of Mandora? Cien wasn't sure.

"...foolish! Why didn't I contact Halima?!"

He suddenly realized his mistake. Being in Kastia for so long made him forget that direct long-distance communication was possible in this world with the use of his phone.

He smacked his forehead, cursing his own foolishness. If he had known the situation in Mandora, he could have estimated the amount of antidotes needed.

What if the people of Mandora had already found their own way to acquire antidotes? Cien began to consider other possibilities.

Without hesitation, he grabbed his phone and contacted Halima. As usual, after one ring, the call connected directly to Halima's mind.

"Hey, Sis Halima."

<Whoaa! What is this?! Who's speaking?!>

"Um, it's me, Cien. I'm speaking directly to your mind."

<Huh? Little C? You're still alive?!>

"Why did you think I was dead?"

<Because Prince Hanibal said you were suddenly lifted by terrifying chains along with Asmodeus!>

"...ah, yeah. That was terrifying. But well, I'm still alive."

<Where are you now?>

"Death Valley. Home. My own place."

<Hahaha, sigh... I'm glad you're still alive, Little C. I didn't know what to tell Ethel if we lost you again.>

"Thank you for worrying about me, Sis Halima."

<...So, I guess you didn't call just to say hello, right? What's up, Little C?>

Cien then proceeded to inquire about the current situation in Mandora, and Halima gladly answered his questions.

After Asmodeus left and flew into the sky, a small battle broke out in Ashur City with the remaining demon forces left by the Demon General.

It took until the evening before all the demons were finally eliminated.

Prince Hanibal was severely injured and still hasn't fully recovered.

But losing King Abayomi prevented him from resting even for a moment. The situation was tense, Prince Hanibal and the Royal Family were struggling to maintain order.

Prince Hanibal ordered that all water purchased from Ashur be forbidden for consumption.

Unfortunately, the order came a bit too late, as at least three-quarters of the water bought during that time had already been consumed by the people of Mandora.

In the past weeks, disturbances had begun in various cities, mostly in those near Ashur.

Meanwhile, the border cities were still free from the poisoned water.

The number of antidotes made by the alchemists of Mandora was severely limited, and their priority was to purify the water sources to prevent people from dying of dehydration.

Currently, the situation is critical but relatively stable.

Many had been affected by the poison, but with quarantine orders, they were required to stay in their homes and were not allowed to leave at all.

The government would deliver food and drinks to them. So, for the time being, the large-scale chaos that occurred during the initial days of the spread of the poison had been somewhat contained.

The problem now was that Mandora didn't have enough antidotes for the entire population, and the materials were running low.

The neighboring kingdoms' stocks were also nearly depleted, and the prices had skyrocketed.

In the City of Ashur, half of the city had been put under quarantine. Many drank from the lake out of desperation before the water could be purified.

And the result, loads of moans and screams of wild humans can be heard in all Ashur from day to night.

Halima could only wait and hope for the antidote's materials to be replenished.

"Do you have any idea how many people might need the antidote, Sis Halima?"

<It's difficult to estimate for now. The total number is only known to Prince Hanibal and the Kingdom's Elders. I only know the number in Ashur.>

"How many in Ashur?"

<At the moment, around twelve thousand.>

"...that's a lot."

Cien hadn't expected there to be that many people affected. He was almost about to curse in shock.

<Hahaha, that's because Ashur is the second most populous city in Mandora. I don't think other cities will have as many cases. Well, that's if all their residents didn't drink the cursed Lusting water.>

Cien chuckled dryly upon hearing that. If that were true, he doubted his current stock of materials would be enough to create antidotes for the entire population of Mandora.

He then explained his plan to Halima—his intention to sell the Lusting antidote to Niles.

He estimated that he could produce around 20.000 to 25.000 antidotes at the moment, and the number might increase, but he would need to wait for at least three more months.

Upon hearing this news from Cien, Halima's face brightened instantly.

She didn't know what to say. She never expected that even now, Cien would still be willing to help Mandora, even if he claimed it was merely for business reasons.

His location being close to Huntara made acquiring materials like Calming Moongrass easier compared to Mandora.

<Thank you, Little C. Sigh... I never thought Niles would go to your place. So that's why we couldn't find him after the battle ended. That cunning old man!>

"Hahaha, Niles said he only wanted to evacuate his daughter-in-law and grandchild here. After that, he'll return to Mandora. That's also why I considered this business opportunity."

<Hey, Little C. Can you tell Niles to go directly to Ashur? This may sound a little mean, but I want to get those antidotes in this city first.>

"I'll pass on the message. But, the distribution and transactions after I sell them to Niles will be Niles' responsibility. Hopefully, he goes directly to your place."

<Thank you. I really appreciate it.>

After that, Cien and Halima chatted briefly about the current situation in Ashur—how the atmosphere among the people and other details.

Cien also learned from Halima that the materials needed to heal Duke Bahman had been acquired, and some of them were currently on their way to Ashur.

Feeling that they had talked long enough, Cien ended the call.

Cien let out a sigh of relief and returned to the storage room, looking at the required materials for making the next batch of antidotes.

"Huuu... twenty thousand. The journey is still very far, my friend."

Cien gathered the materials needed for the next batch and returned to the alchemy room to prepare them.

Ding!

Amidst the preparations, Cien heard a notification sound from his phone.

He picked up the phone and saw a map on the screen showing three human markers entering his protected area.

One of the markers had the name 'Legia'.

"Oh, Legia. Didn't expect her to return so soon."

Cien murmured as he remembered Crimsonagin—the weapon he had crafted for Legia, which had been used multiple times since then.

Before Legia's arrival, Cien had thought of polishing the weapon to make it look like new.

As for the other two markers accompanying Legia, Cien didn't think too much about them. If they were with Legia, they were likely not enemies, at least not for now.

What Cien didn't know was that one of those markers belonged to Reiss.

When Reiss left, Cien hadn't yet discovered the Friends List feature in his phone, which prevented him from detecting the presence of the man

Cien opened his list of friends and searched for Terrion's name before calling out to him.

"Terrion."

<Whoaa! What is this?!>

"...it's me, Cien. This is telepathy."

<Oooh, so this is what Miss Mia experiences. It's really creepy…>

"...yes, it is indeed creepy."

<Ah, I'm sorry. Is there a reason you called me, Lord Millard?>

"There will be a guest arriving, named Legia. She's not an enemy."

<Alright. I'll guide her to your location.>

"Thank you."

Cien ended the call and began walking upstairs to his shop's room. There, he saw Sella looking bored, playing with her pen.

"Finished studying?"

"Hm? Ah, Milord! Hehe, yes. Young Miss Lilinette asked me to read this book."

Cien glanced at the book's title.

"Encyclopedia of Monsters, Volume One."

He remembered reading that book during his childhood. It contained information about the names and types of monsters commonly found in Kastia.

The book provided details about their strengths, habitats, habits, and the materials that could be obtained from them.

It was general knowledge, but it was useful for someone working in a shop that dealt with monster materials.

Lilinette seemed to have asked Sella to read it because she knew the employee lacked knowledge in this area.

"Have you memorized everything in it?"

"Huh? Memorized? Not just read?"

"Umm, if you can remember all its contents, it will be very useful for you in the future."

"Ugh, fine, sir."

"Hahaha, no need to look so glum. Take your time. I don't think Lily asked you to memorize it in a short time anyway."

Moreover, the monsters in that book are not common in the Death Valley. So, it's not really useful inside this cursed place. But Cien did not intend to tell her that.

Sella could only force a sour smile. She then saw Cien taking a spear from one of the display cases. The spear that was always said to be not for sale because it already had an owner.

"Sella, I'll be in the forge shop for a while. Some guests will come here. Tell them to wait upstairs."

"Yes, sir."

Cien then left the shop and headed towards the forge.

***

A few moments passed.

Two women and a man were traversing the Death Valley forest. Legia, who was leading the way, looked around, realizing that they were getting close.

"Wait!"

Sraang!

Kirana immediately ordered them to stop and drew her rapier. She sensed another presence nearby.

Legia felt strange because they should already be within the protected area belonging to Cien.

"Hoho... you're quite perceptive, young lady."

A man's voice echoed around the three of them, causing Legia and Reiss to ready their weapons.

Suddenly, a silhouette leaped from a tree, landing in front of them. It was an old man with a stout and muscular body, looking at them with a wide smile.

"Who is Legia?" the old man asked.

Kirana glanced at the man, realizing that his strength level was lower than hers, but his combat experience might be far superior. She couldn't underestimate him.

"It's me," Legia raised her hand.

"Ooh~ in that case, allow me to introduce myself. I am Terrion. You could say I'm the security personnel around here. Lord Millard has notified me about your arrival, Miss Legia. Come, let me guide you to his place."