Chapter 101: The Goal of a Lifetime

Chapter 101: The Goal of a Lifetime

Judal returned with Linhard to the room where Olgren was left waiting.

The room was beautiful, you could tell it was high class.

But the items inside were strange.

They were failed artifacts, experiments of a strange man.

Olgren stood trying to analyze the strange painting that looked like a woman eating an octopus for breakfast.

Opening the door, Linhard said.

"Sorry for the delay. I very rarely eat sandwiches and tea."

"That's okay, they're first class right? I can't stand to take anything that isn't first class."

"...Yes, they are."

Judal poured the cups, despite the fact that he couldn't see because of the bandana covering his eyes, he perfectly knew how to place the spoon and plate near Olgren and Linhard.

He walked straight to the back of the room without making a sound.

Olgren stared at him.

"Before we start, why is that guy with you?"

Linhard took three sugar cubes and threw them into his tea, as he stirred it he said.

"He's my bodyguard. As you may know, I am a man who does not exist, therefore, I must not leave evidence. Years ago I made a slight mistake, but it is not one I regret."

"To get out of the capital I use several of my contacts and this guy is very helpful. My ally recommended I hire him since he used him to take care of assassins who were sent for his head."

"He charges dearly, but I'm never short of money."

"I see..."

Olgren poured milk cream into his tea.

"As usual, you're a strange man. You're the spitting image of the real dark side of the empire for a reason."

Linhard aggressively placed his cup of tea on the saucer.

"Don't call me like that. It's not my fault that my experiments and those old idiots in the palace have come into conflict."

Olgren retorted.

"If your dog bites someone's hand, is it your fault or the guy who got bitten?"

"The guy's. Nobody sends him to touch the dog."

"The dog I'm talking about is the son of Loic IV. You used the former emperor's youngest child to turn him into a chimera."

"How on earth did you plan that no one would notice?"

"The boy always spent playing alone, he had no one around him. It's not my fault, my breakthrough experiments require humans, it's impossible to achieve the same effect with plants, animals or monsters."

"Remember those kids I told you about?"

Olgren touched his chin trying to remember.

"Kids?... Oh, I remembered."

He uttered a familiar name.

"You're talking about Zoro and the other shadows, right?"

"Their names are irrelevant to me, that's why I was barcoding them to remember them. Anyway, thanks to the experiments I did on them, the 'dark crystal' was completed."

Dark Crystal.

It was a very dangerous gem in the game.

There was only one country that used it in the game.

"You're talking about that stone you sold to the Ideal Empire, right?"

"Exactly."

Linhard raised his hand.

He stood up and his eyes sparkled.

"There's nothing more wonderful than managing to create something that doesn't exist!"

"Knowing that mana can be corrupted, just as fresh water can become salt water with only slight changes in its molecules, isn't this world wonderful!"

Linhard proceeded to tell his story as he recounted the wonders he saw to Olgren.

A long time ago a child was born into a prestigious family.

The child was christened Linhard Wiseman.

One day on his fifth birthday, he caught a glimpse in the sky something that would change his life forever.

A meteor shower.

From that night on, Linhard's life focused on one thing.

"Why?"

That simple question kept him awake at night.

Why is water blue?

Why do we have to breathe to live?

Why is blood red?

All those innocent and simple questions were escalating different kinds of levels.

Until one day when he was writing down a magic formula, his pencil fell down.

The reason for this was simple.

Linhard had turned eighty.

He was already an old man.

His entire childhood, youth and even his old age was focused on research, but without coming up with an answer.

Linhard paused briefly to observe his body.

He was very old.

His teeth and hair had long since fallen out.

He didn't have long to live either because of his lousy diet.

All seemed lost until one day, something came in the mail.

The sender was unknown.

It was a small box with strange contents inside.

It was a diary and a stone accompanied by a note.

"Use it. It's a gift from an admirer."

Linhard thought it was a joke.

"You still don't reveal how you found this place."

Olgren said.

"I managed to remember you telling me about this place years ago, the password is a special whistle that manages to mimic the frequency of a wind made with magic. Even someone who knows wind magic couldn't find it, although I would laugh if it was by mere chance, gororororo."

"... And your target?"

Olgren grew serious at those words.

"Revenge."

"I want revenge on the empire, everyone deserves to suffer and die in the worst way possible."

"I want you to help me get to Ideal and sell them information for shelter and food. No! A noble title no doubt, if I'm not noble I don't care a damn."

Olgren told Linhard everything he wanted.

After sighing a little he said.

"Fine. I'll help you, but first I want you to see something with me."

"What is it?"

"Just follow me."

The three of them followed down a long corridor where a room was located.

After opening the door, a foul smell emanated the air.

"It stinks!"

"Cover your nose."

Linhard handed the three of them an oxygen mask.

Upon entering, they found that all but one part was off.

They approached and Olgren was shocked.

"This is it!"

Linhard replied as he pulled on gloves.

"It's a corpse, but not just anyone's. It's the deceased body of the dark knight of ash."

The body of Curtis, one of the four dark knights lay on a metal table.

His body showed signs that he was ripped open.

He even had a hole in his chest.

That was where the dark crystal that gave him his powers was.

"He died months ago, his neck was broken apparently."

Curtis died when Razel and the dukes went to destroy hidden bases of the black crows, there he met Desmond and was killed in such a simple way.

Linhard grabbed the dark crystal, which called out to him...

"This is the main core. This little thing is corrupted mana, it is altered to violate the laws of nature."

"For that reason..."

*Snap*

In a split second, Judal choked Olgren.

"Linhard... what do you think you're doing?"

Linhard motioned Judal to a far table.

"You see, Garrett boy. I have lived two hundred years thanks to the philosopher's stone. That stone allows me to stay young since it is made of human lives."

"Human lives have an expiration date, those lives run out fast. I can only live a couple of years, sooner or later its effect will run out."

"In other words, it's inefficient. But you know, there is something that is supreme. Something that will give me everything I desire."

He grabbed something from a table and then held it up to Olgren's face.

"Here lies the truth! In this journal is everything I want to know to create that."

Linhard said.

"The holy grail."

An object that in the game was just a simple chalice that gave full energy and could be easily crafted, but Linhard wasn't talking about that item but something else.

"From what I could understand, the holy grail is divided into two parts. The elder grail and the minor grail."

"The minor grail is a physical vessel. While the elder grail is energy."

"If you put them together you get the holy grail. The pinnacle of knowledge, that's what I want."

"But I want more than that, I want to know the truth of the world."

"For example, what happened two thousand years ago?"

"According to history, mankind began a thousand years ago. But the ruins show that there was something else, a thousand years more difference."

"Therefore, there is a gap of a thousand years that we don't know about, but everyone accepts."

"I refuse to accept that."

"My years of life are nothing compared to two thousand years of stories. I wish to know if my theory that humans crossed the stars to come here."

"For that reason, Garrett boy, you will be part of an experiment."

Linhard reached across the table and picked up a syringe.

"I planned to use you as part of the material for the new philosopher's stone."

Linhard showed part of his body to Olgren, he was aging, at an accelerated rate in fact.

"The philosopher's stone wears out if used on the same person, that's why I need a new body."

"Implanting brains into other bodies is simple, I managed to do it in the past, but I don't want your body."

"You will be part of what is written in this journal, the SS project. Don't worry. I'll make sure it's a success."

"Judal I need him awake to check his condition, but I hate the screaming they do, make sure he doesn't talk."

"Aye, aye."

"Right."

Linhard approached Olgren and showed him the black crystal.

"Your desire for revenge will come true, but not in the way you think."

"...!"

Olgren's frightened face could not reflect the torment that awaited him.

_____________

Wiseman means sage, which is part of demonstrating his level of intelligence.

In case you don't understand, Wiseman and Weissman is a play on words where Linhard is still called by the same last name, changing only the meaning. While at the beginning it was called "wiseman=sage" now it is called "weissman=white man", a reference to the old thinkers who were treated that way because it was thought that when a man was older he became wiser.