Shane looked at Number One, whose eyes were unfocused and expression blank.
Shane then pulled a pill case from Number One’s coat, examined the pills briefly, and handed them to Adam.
“What is this?”
“It’s a doping drug made by refining the blood of non-humans.”
“Blood? You can refine blood?”
“Yes.”
The person distributing these drugs was none other than Miss Sue, so it was possible she had some connection with the black magicians.
Anyway, Adam looked at the pill case with a troubled expression.
“Are there any side effects?”
“It seems there are almost no side effects for beastmen of the same lineage.”
At least Number One, unlike the captain of the guards who died so pitifully, had taken the drug twice and was still walking around fine.
Of course, if taken continuously, there could be long-term negative effects, but…
“You’re only going to take it once anyway. A half-baked ability that relies on drugs to work is of no use at all.”
From Shane’s perspective, considering how the captain of the guards had died, there was no reason to discuss its value.
“But unlike him, it seems your beastman blood is more diluted, so we’ll need to fix that. For now, this will only serve to awaken the beastman power in your blood once.”
“Hmm… understood.”
Adam straightened his expression at Shane’s words, looked seriously at the red pill, and then put it in his mouth without hesitation.
And then…
“Gah, aah…!”
The beastman blood within Adam’s veins reacted to the beastman blood magic contained in the doping drug, spreading throughout his entire body.
At that moment, the overwhelming pain caused Adam to momentarily lose his grip on his sanity.
The hardened muscles, honed by his knightly training, tore and regenerated again and again. Each time, his body swelled to abnormal proportions.
His vision turned red, and his mind was instantly consumed by the beastman’s primal instincts.
Soon, silver fur covered Adam’s body; this was a natural armor for survival in the wild rather than in the human world.
“A Silver Wolf race…”
Shane recalled the beastman he had met in a past life. The Silver Wolves. They were the most revered and highest-ranked among the canine beastman.
The Silver Wolves were the strongest of all the canine races, but their worship among the canine beastman came from none other than their exceptional instincts.
Though never fully understood, the Silver Wolves were revered because they could foresee danger with their instincts and protect their kin.
Adam was a descendant of those very Silver Wolves.
“But you’re still a half.”
However, perhaps it was because the blood that awakened his lineage was merely that of an ordinary canine beastman.
Adam lost his senses and bared his protruding snout; he started growling at Shane with clear hostility.
Sensing this animosity, the dark spirit Arcane emerged from Shane’s shadow and confronted Adam.
“Arcane, snap him out of it.”
“Yes, Master.”
“…This puppy’s fur looks soft.”
Meanwhile, Evelyn watched Adam with a gleam in her eyes.
No matter how renowned the Silver Wolf race was among beastmen, in front of a noble pureblood vampire, he appeared no more than a silver puppy.
***
Adam was swiftly subdued by Arcane.
Meanwhile, Shane sifted through the memories of Miss Sue and the sewer rat’s underlings, whom Evelyn had brought along. Then carefully organized his plans in his mind.
“So this was when it started. When the sewer rat got involved with Nameless. Or maybe it was Nameless who sent the sewer rat in the first place.”
Just as in his past life, the sewer rat had begun associating with Nameless from this point onward.
However, in his previous life, Shane was merely a low-ranking member at this time, with no direct ties to the sewer rat, so he couldn’t be certain.
Miss Sue must have gathered information on the black market from the dog butcher, and the sewer rat collected the non-human races.
As Shane sorted through his thoughts, he stopped in front of his destination.
Miss Sue’s base.
Her base bore a striking resemblance to Goldmine and the dog butcher’s castle.
It was a dazzling building, so grand that it was hard to believe it was located underground.
Upon entering, the interior was even more extravagant than the exterior.
It felt as though it was trying too hard to mimic the splendor of nobility.
Every hallway was adorned with art pieces and expensive full-plate armor stands, which made it feel like walking through an imperial palace corridor.
“How flashy.”
But in the end, all of it was just a fleeting illusion that could vanish in an instant.
With that brief remark, Shane continued down the corridor.
He had expected a fight, but there was no sign of Miss Sue’s subordinates. Whether they were out searching for their missing boss or simply because no one was stationed there, the place was utterly silent.
After thoroughly searching the mansion, Shane returned to the central lobby on the first floor and glanced around.
“Hmm.”
The most striking feature in the lobby was a huge painting hanging on the wall.
A portrait of Miss Sue.
He stared at the painting that was depicting her in a seductive outfit and pose for a moment.
“Tear it down.”
“Yes, Master.”
At Shane’s command, Arcane swiftly tore the painting apart and a wooden door hidden behind it was revealed.
When he focused magical power on his ears, he heard a voice from inside.
“Wh-What was that noise?”
“Well… it’s been quiet upstairs today.”
“Looks like that crazy woman might be coming back.”
“Shh, keep your voice down.”
“Shit. How did we end up like this…?”
Anxiety, anger, despair, regret, and more.
Their voices were filled with a variety of negative emotions.
When the door opened and he looked inside, a foul smell hit him, and around twenty gaunt old men with dry eyes stared back at Shane.
“Are they black mages?”
“……?”
“Someone I’ve never seen before.”
“Who are you?”
Beyond the door, the old men in ragged clothing looked at Shane and asked him.
Wasn’t his outfit completely different from that of Miss Sue or her subordinates who usually visited them?
“I see. Black mages who survived from 38 years ago, are you?”
“……!”
“Wh-Who are you and what do you want here?”
“State your identity!”
A great commotion broke out among the black mages.
The black mages were glaring at him with their hands shrouded in black magic, but Shane tilted his head at the emotions he sensed from them.
If they were truly black mages, they would have attacked first, yet for some reason, they seemed to feel fear before anything else.
“The pattern of black magic is strange too. It’s different from Gordon’s.”
“…! Gordon!”
“You know that worthless bastard who’s not even fit to be fed to dogs?”
Their emotions grew even more intense at those words.
It was a deep-seated anger that surpassed their fear.
“You know Gordon?”
“Is that even a question?”
“Do you have any idea what we’ve been through because of him?”
Their reactions struck Shane as quite amusing.
After all, Gordon was revered as the master and object of respect for all black mages, as well as a figure who instilled fear.
Yet Shane had never seen anyone harbor such anger toward him before.
“Gordon is dead.”
So Shane chose to engage in conversation first.
However, they didn’t believe his words at all.
“Huhu, sure, think whatever you want. What would ignorant fools like you know?”
“He’s alive. A man like him wouldn’t die just because he was cut by some mere blade!”
“The White Flame may kill magic, but it can’t destroy his very soul!”
Their distrust in his words was perhaps only natural.
Gordon, the former leader of the black mages, had been such a person.
But Shane knew.
He knew exactly how Gordon’s soul had been dismantled and vanished.
“That makes sense. He was a man who had mastered soul separation magic while researching the Necronomi Mask.”
“…! How do you know that?”
“You know about blood magic?”
A ripple of unrest spread among the black mages.
Thirty-eight years ago, during the war between the Empire and the black mages, Gordon hadn’t used blood magic.
At that time, an unstable experiment with the incomplete Necronomi mask had led to what appeared to be a terrorist attack, which prompted the enraged Empire to invade the underground city and carry out a mass slaughter.
The black mages who knew the truth of what happened thirty-eight years ago suppressed their boiling emotions and turned their eyes back to Shane.
“I’ll ask again. Who are you?”
“The one who killed Gordon. The one who completely destroyed his soul.”
“…I find that hard to believe. What brings you here? Did you have Miss Sue’s permission?”
“There was no reason to get that woman’s permission. She ran off with her tail between her legs like a coward.”
“Ran off…? That woman?”
The black mages still looked at Shane with disbelief, but rather than explain, Shane chose to show them.
“Evelyn.”
“Yes, Master.”
Evelyn, who had answered Shane’s call, emerged from the shadows.
“A… a girl…?”
“She came out of the shadows? Can the shadow dimension be used like that?”
“The aura of that soul… just what kind of power is that…”
Despite her ragged appearance, the black mages quickly recognized Evelyn’s rank and couldn’t hide their trembling expressions.
“Show it to them.”
“Understood.”
At Shane’s command, Evelyn slipped back into the shadows and appeared again with the severed head of a man.
“Number… Number One!”
“How did that damned bastard end up like this?”
“Is what he’s saying true?”
The severed head of Number One, which had originally been meant to subdue Miss Sue’s subordinates who remained here, had proven just as effective on the black mages.
“Are you ready to talk now?”
“If… if Miss Sue is truly gone as you say…”
“Then this might be our only chance to escape.”
“Could it be that we can finally get out of this cursed place?”
From the way they spoke, it seemed they were not staying here voluntarily but had been held in a state akin to captivity.
“Follow me. There’s a place that’s at least safer than here.”
“…Listen up, everyone. For now, it’s best we follow this man.”
“But, but is it really okay to leave like this? What if what he said isn’t true…?”
“Are we fleas trapped in a glass jar? We’re not crippled fools who can’t jump higher even though we can. Now is the time for us to leap out!”
“Ah…!”
The others were persuaded by the black mage who seemed to be the oldest among them, nodded in agreement, and their faces showed determination as they followed Shane outside.
With the black mages convinced, Shane continued exploring Miss Sue’s mansion a bit further. He felt satisfied after uncovering some documents before moving on.
Afterward, he returned to the mansion of the Goldmine family, where he was able to hear the story of the black mages’ circumstances.
“We were black mages from a different school than Gordon’s.”
“A different school? I didn’t know black mages had such divisions.”
“Of course, to ordinary people, our black magic might just seem like a sinister gathering dealing with evil demons. But the ideology that madman Gordon held is entirely different from ours.”
“Ideology, huh.”
It was an interesting story.
People often believed that black magic, as the old mage had just mentioned, carried the prejudice that simply being near it would curse you.
However, black magic was just another form of magic, a force that existed within the laws of the world and could be controlled by human ability.
“This is getting interesting. I’d like to hear more.”
“…That’s a good thing to hear.”
The old black mage then continued with a tale that was a secret among them. One that Shane was hearing for the first time.
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