Chapter 96: Black Death: Wheat Seeds Are Poisonous [VIP]

“…Signed

Emperor Edmund III

After reading the last word, Lias, feeling relieved, handed over the emperor's handwritten letter with the royal emblem on the letterhead.

Xiao Yun politely took the letter of commendation with both hands, turned around and put it on the tray.

On the other side of the crystal mirror, Yaris on the sofa suddenly narrowed his eyes.

"Lias——"

"Your Highness?"

Lias pricked up his ears.

"Have you been feeling tired and fainting a lot lately?"

"you……"

"You have a demonic curse on you."

Yaris said indifferently with a polite smile.

Then, the "Dark Night Mentor" walked out from the shadows with a white cane.

"He, he is——"

Lias was frightened by the "Dark Night Mentor" and the cane twisting in his hand.

"I am--"

"You don't need to know his specific identity. He and his familiar are both magicians serving our brothers."

"It turns out to be the Master Magician."

Lias did not dare to delay and quickly bowed to the "Dark Night Mentor".

His flattering attitude brought a rare smile to the wrinkled face of the "Dark Night Mentor".

"...Your name is Lias? Is the pretentious 'Bat' your adopted brother?"

"'bat'?"

Lias was stunned for a moment, then realized that the "bat" he was referring to was his adoptive brother Ulysses. "Ulysses has always been very caring towards me."

"Although that boy is young, arrogant, and self-righteous, he also knows how to repay kindness and knows how to act in moderation."

The Dark Night Mentor commented disdainfully, slamming his cane twice.

Romila, forced to become a crutch, immediately grumbled in dissatisfaction: "Old man, if you keep hitting me, my brains will fall out."

"Do you have a brain?"

The Dark Night Mentor cursed and told Lias, "You've been poisoned by a chronic poison. While there's an antidote, it's only effective in the early stages. Once obvious symptoms appear, the antidote is too late. How do I know this? Because I invented this poison!"

"It turns out I was really poisoned."

Lias instinctively took two steps back in fear, then pleaded devoutly, "Master Mage, what should I do now? I'm already showing obvious symptoms!"

"It's too late to get the antidote, but it can still alleviate the symptoms. You don't have to think too much about it. Everyone will die sooner or later. It's just a matter of dying sooner or later..."

The Dark Night Mentor said proudly.

Xiao Yun glared at him in dissatisfaction. "Did you really invent this poison? Can your so-called antidote really alleviate his poisoning symptoms?"

"--Um?"

Yaris looked at the "Dark Night Mentor".

Having his lie exposed, the "Dark Night Mentor" shamelessly stated, "Alright, I admit this poison wasn't my invention. I just happen to know its preparation method and the ratio of the antidote... In reality, the poison that tormented Lias is a combination of a demonic curse and demonic spores..."

"A combination of the demonic curse and demonic spores?"

(Yaris said that the magic curse is a neuroscience between mind control and brain wave interference. The magic spores... as the name suggests, they should involve biotechnology... combined with the golden gem, I saw the white worms that drilled into Yaris's spine...)

"I will prepare an antidote later and have Romila deliver it to Dalavia for you. As for the detailed antidote formula and the corresponding pharmacological explanation, I will definitely give you some free time in the future..."

"Dark Night Mentor" tried to pique Xiao Yun's interest.

"My achievements in medicine have been recognized by both the Kukuchia and the Dalavia. You can give me the antidote formula directly."

Xiao Yun said impatiently.

The Dark Night Mentor's expression suddenly turned ugly: "--I was too arrogant and underestimated your ability."

Upon hearing this, Lias looked at Xiao Yun with eyes full of admiration: "So, sir, you——"

"I don't know exactly when, where, or why you were poisoned, but since you came to Dalavia as the emperor's envoy, Adlon and I have an obligation to save your life. At the very least, we can't let you die in Dalavia."

Xiao Yun solemnly declared.

“……!”

Lias's plump cheeks undulated with excessive emotion.

After a brief silence——

"Sir, I have something to tell you and His Highness."

"What is it?"

"wheat."

Lias took a breath and said, "This time I came to Dalavia, not only to express my condolences to the people of Dalavia on behalf of His Majesty and to read His Majesty's letter of commendation to you, but I also brought disaster relief supplies allocated by the capital to Dalavia, including three carts of high-quality wheat."

"Is there something wrong with the wheat?"

"I don't know, but the day before we set off, His Majesty repeatedly reminded me that these three carts of wheat were high-quality wheat suitable for the local climate and soil of Dalavia. Every grain had been carefully selected and must be handed over to the farmers instead of being ground into flour."

“…”

Xiao Yun looked at Yaris: "Brother, what do you think——"

"I think there's something wrong with Edmund's wheat."

.

Xiao Yun asked, "Where are the wheat seeds now? Have they been stored in the warehouse? Or have they been distributed?"

"I don't know... After arriving in Dharavia, I immediately handed over the relief supplies to Haras for unified processing..."

Lias hesitated.

"--you!"

Xiao Yun looked into the darkness and said, "Notify Haras to send the royal capital to the garden. I want to inspect it myself!"

"Yes, sir."

The mage obeyed the order and disappeared into the shadows.

Afterwards, based on the information provided by the "Dark Night Mentor", Xiao Yun asked Lias to roll up his sleeves, and sure enough, he found several inconspicuous purple spots on the inside of his arms.

"When purple spots appear on the body, the victim's life has entered the countdown. After that, the purple spots will gradually turn into bluish-black until the patient stops breathing."

"—How can I, since my youngest child isn't even a year old yet!"

Lias panicked.

Things are buying time for you."

“Thank you…thank you…”

Lias choked with sobs.

"In addition to taking antidotes regularly, you should wipe the skin with purple spots with hot water every day to detoxify and slow the spread of the poison."

The Dark Night Mentor added.

"I will do it!"

Lias nodded repeatedly like a chicken pecking at rice.

"Your Highness Jarris, Master Lucien, please forgive my rudeness."

After saying that, Lias, who was eager to survive, left the room and went to the kitchen to ask for hot water.

After Lias left——

Xiao Yun: "Yaris."

Yaris understood and looked at the Dark Night Mentor: "Can you and Romila leave for a while?"

"……All right!"

The "Dark Night Mentor" reluctantly left the room.

Xiao Yun opened his waist bag and took out a pale golden gemstone formed from the third eye of the "Three-Eyed" Godalu: "Brother, this thing..."

"This is the third eye of the 'Three-Eyed' people."

Yaris said without hesitation: "It's still the precious royal blood."

"What's so special about this thing?"

"Legend has it that the ancestor of the Three-Eyed Tribe was originally an ordinary person. An accident caused him to obtain a drop of golden divine blood. The divine blood dissolved into his forehead and became the third eye."

"Golden divine blood..."

Xiao Yun thought of the "Golden Blade" that had actively integrated into his body.

"...The third eye on the forehead of a three-eyed member becomes their source of power, helping them master various magical techniques and immunize themselves from illusions. Once separated from the body, the eye crystallizes and solidifies into a gem capable of seeing through illusions."

Yaris continued.

"To maintain the power of their third eye, the Three-Eyed Tribe developed the terrifying custom of inbreeding. This practice gave the Three-Eyed Tribe strength, but it also inevitably led to their extinction... For the past five hundred years, there have been no records of Three-Eyed Tribe members in the Western Continent... I never thought that someone so far away in the Eastern Continent could actually... I never expected..."

Having said that, Yaris smiled brightly.

"To sum up, Lucien, you are the one chosen by fate."

…

…

"Lord Lucien!"

Haras saluted Xiao Yun who arrived at Rosa Marie Garden. Behind him was the garden littered with petals after the rainstorm and the "high-quality" wheat seeds from the royal capital piled near the fountain.

"All the wheat seeds sent from the capital are here."

"Not a single one missing?"

"...a quarter of a sack of wheat is missing."

Haras said, "After hearing the mage's message, Lord Adlon and I suspected the wheat sent from the capital was poisonous. We took a quarter of a bag of wheat and gave it to the kitchen, instructing them to grind it into flour and bake bread immediately."

“This is a way to verify it.”

Xiao Yun nodded in praise. His intuition told him that the wheat seeds sent from the royal capital were not only problematic, but also major problems that could not be detected by ordinary means.

Thinking of this, Xiao Yun quietly activated the "God of Agriculture" Hou Ji card.

Then--

Open the bag and observe the wheat seeds, which have a plump and round appearance and dry grains.

"Here are the wheat seeds..."

Xiao Yun grabbed a handful of wheat seeds and examined them carefully: "It looks fine."

"Yes, this wheat seed appears to be fine on the outside, so Lord Adlon and I decided to hand over a quarter of the bag to the kitchen to try to make bread to see if it's poisonous."

Haras said helplessly, "After the Black Death incident, the relationship between Dalavia and the capital became very delicate."

"I completely understand your difficulties."

As Xiao Yun was talking, he was rummaging through the wheat seeds in the bag. Suddenly, several dark red wheat grains appeared in his field of vision.

(Crimson wheat grains?)

Xiao Yun looked up and saw Haras, who was also reaching out to stir the wheat seeds with a normal expression. He realized that the dark red wheat grains in the bag were something unusual that only he could see, so he ordered his servant to bring a small plate, picked out the dark red wheat grains that only he could see one by one, and threw them into the plate.

"There's something wrong with the wheat grains here."

"Yeah?"

Haras was puzzled: "They don't look any different from ordinary wheat grains... Wait! They, they..."

"What's the matter?"

Xiao Yun asked.

“They do look slightly different than the regular wheat kernels in the bag!”

Haras exclaimed.

"They're completely invisible among the whole bag of wheat seeds. You have to pick them out individually to see them... Their color, properties, and grain fullness are all subtly different from normal wheat kernels! Could these wheat kernels be, could they be..."

"What is it?"

"Weeds! They could be weeds!"

Haras uttered a terrible cry.

"Poisonous wheat?"

Xiao Yun was surprised.

He had never heard of this plant, although he could guess from the name that tares were not a good thing.

"Well, poison wheat..."

Haras said painfully, "Weed is a poisonous plant. Its plants and seeds look very similar to wheat, so it's easy to be planted and harvested as wheat. Weed plants will rob the wheat fields of nutrients, affecting the wheat harvest. Weed seeds are highly toxic. Whether it's a human or an animal, eating food made from flour containing even a small amount of weed will cause dizziness and vomiting. In severe cases, it can even lead to death from poisoning!"

"So this high-quality wheat seed sent from the capital..."

"If these seeds laced with poisonous weeds were distributed to the farmers of Dalavia, not only would their six months of hard work be wasted, but the harvested wheat would also be inedible due to the high concentration of poisonous weeds. Farmers without food would have to choose between poisoning and starvation. Although the Empire allocates grain to Dalavia every year,... such a sudden food shortage..."

Haras became more and more frightened as he spoke.

"Weed seeds naturally resemble wheat, making them easily mixed in with wheat seeds... Even if we suspect this wheat is His Majesty's revenge against Dalavia... we can't publicly question the capital just because the wheat seeds sent from the capital are mixed with weed... Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless we can prove that the poisonous weed seeds mixed in with the wheat seeds sent from the capital aren't just ordinary poisonous weeds! They're something far more terrifying, cultivated using dark magic!"

"……I see."

Xiao Yun tilted his head and said, "No matter what the truth is, this batch of wheat seeds mixed with poisonous weeds must not be distributed to farmers. Even if it is not destroyed immediately, it must be stored separately."

"Yes, this batch of wheat seeds is too dangerous."

Haras said worriedly.

At this time, Xiao Yun casually glanced at the open cloth bag and found that among the wheat seeds that had been picked out on the surface of the bag, dark red wheat grains representing poison appeared again!

(What's going on? Did I not pick them clean enough, or do the weeds themselves increase in value? Or—are these crimson wheat kernels not "weeds" at all?)

[LA's suggestion is that the host conduct experiments to verify their own guesses.]

(Experiment... guess...)

After much deliberation, Xiao Yun asked Haras to destroy the contaminated wheat seeds immediately, leaving only a small half bag as an experimental sample.

"This wheat seed carries unknown risks and must not be circulated among the people, harming farmers and next year's harvest."

"What if..."

"I'll take responsibility for any eventuality!"

"yes!"

Haras looked at Xiao Yun with admiration and ordered his servants to transport all the problematic wheat - except the bag that Xiao Yun had already opened - to the metal incinerator behind the Winter Castle for closed incineration.

"Dalavia barely survived the Black Death and cannot endure trauma again!"