Chapter 388: The Unlucky Genius (3)

Sin—the deed exclusive to humans, guided by their conscience. Sins were created along with laws, and as a result of sins, punishments were introduced and reinforced.

Punishment came in many different forms, often adhering to the principle of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” where the consequences matched the gravity of the crime.

A criminal would pay a fine that matched their offense or endure imprisonment according to the severity of their transgression. Of course, the most heinous crimes led to eternal imprisonment and even regular corporal punishment.

The Eurasian Empire enforced life imprisonment for the worst criminals, but it didn’t employ the death penalty. The reason for that was simple—death was too light of a punishment for those kinds of people, and not painful enough.

A cold wind blew from the north. This desolate, frozen land had never had a warm gust of wind in the history of the continent, not a single flower blooming from this soil.

This land was considered lifeless, but ironically enough, there were more people living here than one might imagine.

“Am I seeing things?” asked Karl.

“What’s up?” replied the other guard. Cheêck out latest novels at novelhall.com

“Look over there. Aren’t two people walking this way?”

“Huh? What are you talking about? We’re not even expecting a supply wagon today.”

“But look.”

“Where... Oh, yeah, you’re right.”

Just as Karl had said, there were two silhouettes in the distance, approaching from the castle walls.

‘Hmm...’

Karl furrowed his brow as he tried to look more closely, but no matter how much he squinted his eyes, he couldn’t get a clear view of those two people. He gave up and searched for his binoculars.

“Got ‘em.”

“What?”

“My binoculars. I can’t see a single thing.”

“Were you looking for your binoculars to see me?”

“What do you mean, to see you?” replied Karl, confused. Just as he had been about to look through his binoculars, he turned to his partner to see why he had asked that strange question. However, he saw someone else instead of him, and he almost fainted after realizing whom he was talking to.

“A-A-Archmage...?”

“How has everyone been?”

“It’s been sooo cold here!”

The two people who had been walking toward Karl and his colleague were none other than Henry and Dracan.

“Is Balak inside?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Alright. Keep it up then.”

Henry smiled as he looked at the two tensed-up guards. He patted Karl on the shoulder a couple of times before entering the prison with Dracan.

The largest prison on the continent was here in Killive, and it was reserved exclusively for the most dangerous criminals who had received life sentences. It had been built at the same time as the founding of the empire, and many people considered that this prison had played a significant role in establishing and maintaining order in the empire.

“Dracan.”

“Yes, Archmage.”

“Can you hear them? The screams coming from the prisoners here?”

At this, Dracan closed his eyes and listened carefully. Then, although it was faint, he could hear them scream every now and then.

“Yes.”

“Right? All the prisoners here at Killive have committed horrible crimes. That’s why they can never see the light of day before they die.”

“Then should I use the prisoners here as test subjects for my research?”

“Yes. They’re worthless scum anyway. They’ve all forsaken their humanity, so there’s no need to feel guilty about using them.”

This was how Henry planned to offer Dracan an endless supply of human test subjects. They would use these prisoners, who were deemed irredeemable, for experimentation.

Henry didn’t feel the slightest bit guilty about this. In his view, those prisoners were the worst humanity had to offer. They had committed such heinous crimes that one couldn’t even describe them out loud.

‘They’ll either die from torture or old age. If they’re going to die anyway, they may as well contribute to the development of magic before doing so.’

“Hmm, but as far as I know, Killive doesn’t have a priest for treating prisoners.”

“I’m also aware of that. The prisoners here are just left alone when they become sick. That’s their fate. And besides, using priests to treat prisoners is just a waste of resources, wouldn’t you say?”

“Then I believe there should be even more advanced medical magic at this place.”

“Interesting. You already have some changes in mind for this place? You sure are a true wizard.”

Dracan had never had the opportunity to truly flourish. However, now that he was a fish in the ocean, all he had to do was to swim freely and explore the vast expanse of water.

“Sigh...”

Balak finished punishing the prisoner just as Henry and Dracan started talking. The prisoner had fainted from exhaustion and was bleeding so much that it looked like he would die at any moment.

Balak left the leather whip to a soldier and prepared to leave. But then, Dracan took a few steps forward. He then raised his hand to the bleeding prisoner.

“Unbleeding.”

Following Dracan’s chanting, a warm light emerged from his palm. The light quickly enveloped the prisoner and stopped his bleeding.

Seeing this, Balak’s eyes widened.

“Archmage, this is...?”

“Hehe, he’s the reason I’m here. Should we switch places? I have a lot to tell you.”

“Of course! I will prepare tea and refreshments in my office right now!”

Dracan withdrew his hand after the bleeding stopped. The prisoner who had just been on the verge of death seemed relaxed, even at peace.

This sight excited Balak for various reasons. As he took the lead to go upstairs, Henry gave Dracan a thumbs up. He approved of Dracan’s boldness to prove his worth on his own. That was exactly what Henry wanted to see from him.

“Thank you, Archmage.”

Dracan also put on a faint smile, as though he was slightly embarrassed by Henry’s compliment.

***

“Human experiments, huh...”

The three were now in Balak's office, talking about the policy Henry wanted to implement at Killive, which combined what he had promised Dracan along with his own personal opinions.

There were three parts to his policy.

Firstly, the prisoners serving life sentences were to be experimented on. Secondly, medical teams being appointed to refine the torture methods. Lastly, the knowledge obtained by the wizards would lead to better medical care for the people of the empire.

As Henry explained his future policies, Balak’s expression constantly switched between joy, admiration, excitement, surprise, and agreement.

Having finished explaining his plans, Henry asked Balak, “So what do you think?”

“There’s nothing to think about! It’s amazing! I wouldn’t have expected anything less from you, Archmage! How did you come up with all of this?”

“I didn’t come up with all of this on my own. I wouldn’t have been able to think of these policies without Dracan, my disciple.”

Henry wasn’t trying to flatter Dracan; he was simply telling Balak the truth.

At this, Balak looked at Dracan with eyes full of admiration. Dracan felt slightly pressured, as he had never had anyone look at him like this before, but he also felt somewhat good.

“And so, I want to build a small spire here in Killive.”

“A spire?”

“Yes. I believe that in order to bring the wizards who specialize in anthropology here, I’ll need to provide them with a suitable environment, even if it isn’t quite as good as the Magical Spire near the imperial palace.”

“Archmage, please, be my guest. No one here has anything against people coming to this frigid land, much less against wizards.”

“I appreciate that.”

Henry’s final policy was to build another ivory spire here and develop medical magic.

“It’ll be known as the Medical Spire, and it will focus on developing medical technology for humans. And the master of the Medical Spire will be...”

Henry looked around as he trailed off, and his eyes landed on Dracan. Although Dracan was only 4th-Circle at the moment, Henry was certain that he would continue to excel in anthropology and eventually reach the 7th-Circle just with that.

In other words, Dracan was a diamond in the rough, unaware of his own potential and talent.

“This fellow right here. His name is Dracan Rotique, and he will probably surpass me to become the greatest wizard on the continent.”