Chapter 14

­ The Very Antithetical Alchemist (3)

Douglas was running to the forest near the village.

Considering his age, he ran very fast.

He kept a good distance between Ian and himself.

However, Ian knew some tricks.

“Haste.”

He was a mage.

He approached Douglas very quickly.

“……..?”

While Douglas felt someone was following him and turned his head,

“Sleep.”

No more hide and seek.

It was a low-class sleeping magic.

It was strong enough for a young boy.

“The flower…. I must find…..”

He mentioned the flower again, even while he was losing consciousness.

The herb that would cure the disease of his father.

The flower of Randor.

‘Oops.’

Ian attempted to catch him with one of his arms,

Then he decided to use both of his arms to catch Douglas.

‘I still feel awkward.’

He often forgot that he had returned to being a young child.

This wasn’t easily accepted by his body.

“Phew…..”

After laying Douglas on the ground, Ian sat next to him.

Then he started to think deeply about this situation.

Firstly, the flower of Randor.

‘The flower of Randor neutralizes mana.’

It was a vital herb for a mage.

He never knew about it in his former life.

‘To a mage, it is a poisonous herb rather than a medicinal herb.’

Fortunately, it was a rare herb.

In addition, it was nearly impossible to trade or to cultivate this herb.

‘Furthermore, its effect is unknown to most people.’

Even Ian wasn’t sure about the effect of this herb.

Would there be anyone else who knew about the effect of this herb?

‘I need to find out.’

The one who taught Ledio about the effect of this flower, or maybe a book, record or rumor, whatever it is, he must figure it out.

“Daddy….. Flower….. Uhm….”

Douglas said in his sleep.

Still, he was seeking the flower of Randor for his father.

‘This boy is another problem.’

Ian looked at his face insightfully.

It gave him confidence about his previous guess even more.

‘If I removed the anger from his former face….’

Ian could easily visualize his future face.

But as he said, this boy didn’t have anger in his face, unlike his former face.

Douglas in his former life was filled with hatred.

Of course, he might have thought that he had hidden it.

‘What should I do?’

The deadly poison that Ian consumed in his former life.

It was likely made by Douglas.

Actually, it must have been.

‘He must have known the poison was for me.’

He hated mages.

He must have brewed the poison knowing the emperor’s plan.

‘Should I kill him now?’

The one who threatens Ian the most.

Maybe this boy was the only one.

Killing him before he became a threat, was one of the only methods.

‘But, I can change him, to make him stand on my side.’

What if he uses his talents for only Ian, and not Ragnar? What if he brews artifact level elixirs which enhance the power of Ian further, instead of brewing deadly poison?

‘I may be able to challenge the 9th class.’

The level of Dragon.

He might have a chance to reach it.

‘But.’

Humans couldn’t be controlled, without exception.

Since his father survived and he didn’t become a slave, he would grow in a different way than in the former life.

‘They change quickly.’

The human was an animal which never trusted.

He already trusted, and it resulted in his death.

The only person Ian could trust in this life was,

‘Only my mother.’

He decided to not trust anyone except her.

The precious present that former life gave to him.

Perhaps, it was rather a curse.

“D, daddy…. Don’t die…. daddy….”

Douglas started to scream in his dream.

He must be having nightmares.

This nightmare, which was about him losing his father, which could have been real in the former life.

“Mr. Mage!”

The voice was coming from a distance.

It was the soldier, Luca, who was running to him while breathing roughly.

He always carried the spear with a red feather.

“What is going on?”

“I..i saw you rushing out of the village…..”

Luca said while glancing at Douglas.

It was the boy who rushed out from the village before Ian did.

“That boy ….”

“I chased him because he would do something reckless.”

“But what….. He is sleeping, isn’t he?”

“I made him sleep.”

“Aha! That is. The sleeping magic! oh..”

Luca nodded quickly.

He seemed to be inspired by his book.

“Well as you came here, please bring him back to the village.”

“What about you?”

“I need to go somewh….”

Suddenly Ian has sharpened his eyes.

“A..anything wrong….?”

Luca was frightened by Ian’s eyes.

He started to sweat due to his fear.

“….. nothing. I’ll be back later.”

“Ah, Yes, Yes! T..then!”

Luca quickly carried Douglas on his back.

Even though he swore to himself to be brave for his book, still, he was so scared.

He moved quickly to run away from Ian.

‘It was worth it though! Sleeping magic!’

With a mixture of pleasantness and fear, Luca arrived near the village.

“Let’s do this!”

After a short shout, Ian stood up.

He went deeper into the forest.

“Yo, kid?”

It was a rough voice from a man.

“Where ya going? It’s dangerous.”

He wasn’t alone.

There were more than 10 men.

They started to encircle Ian.

“Seems you just came from Lloyd village, we want to hear a story. What happened there?”

Thieves who assaulted the village.

These guys seemed to be part of them.

“We are gentle guys, you know? If you remain a good boy, we might spare your life. Huh? What was the word… Mercy! Yeah, with mercy.

Furthermore, there were a few kids they kidnapped. It wasn’t just kids from Lloyd village.

‘They must have assaulted a different village.”

Heisting many villages simultaneously?

It was a risky move for the thieves.

Probably, they were going to move their den after this heist.

They tried to steal as much as they could, before they move.

“I killed them.”

Ian replied simply.

“What?”

“I ordered people to burn or bury the thieves’ corpses.”

He recited the words which Eric had said before.

“What the hell is he sayi……”

“If I burn you, it will cause a bush fire. Then…”

Ian swung his hand from down to up.

“Entangle.”

Then an amazing thing happened.

*Grrr…..*

They felt a weak earthquake shake underneath their feet.

A few seconds later,

*Crush! crush! crush! crush!*

Monstrous vines came out, rupturing the soil.

“Wh, What…..!”

Vines came out from every side.

It targeted the thieves and started to entangle their bodies.

Not just that, it started to block their nose and mouth, causing them to suffocate, like giant snakes that hunted their prey.

Cunning and quick.

“mmm… mmmph!”

Ian didn’t care for the thieves’ struggling.

Ian released the tied up kids.

“Where did you come from?”

“F..from Soil Village…..”

“Hmm, Soil is it?”

It was a village he hadn’t heard of.

There must be many tiny villages that he has never heard of.

“Head straight that way, then you will see the village.”

Ian pointed to the Lloyd village side.

“Tell them that you came from Soil village, and that things happened in your village, and Mr. Mage removed the thieves. You got it?”

The kids nodded.

Although there were some kids who were older than Ian, nobody dared to question him.

Because they just saw what happened to the thieves.

“Go, quickly.”

Ian sent the kids.

Now, he turned his eyes towards the thieves.

They were still struggling.

“I’ve decided to see how thing turn out. Before I kill anyone.”

The vines started to wrap around them with more strength.

Ian didn’t order the vines to do so, but the vines automatically acted itself by understanding Ian’s intention.

“Dead or alive, which one would be beneficial to me?”

Ian gathered mana on his left leg,

To cast a new magic.

“For you guys,”

*smash!*(E/N: HU*ahem* IAN SMASH)

Ian powerfully stomped on the ground with his left leg.

Then, the ground in front of him started to fall down

A giant hole was made.

“A dead body will be beneficial to me, won’t it?”

With Ian’s order, the vines started to move.

It stretched their roots and moved down into the hole.

Of course, together with the entangled thieves.