Chapter 66
66
*
There were quite a few young men from the Pirate Islands in the capital. And they were all under Viktor Dampfelt's control.
Viktor opened the warehouse door and stepped inside. Armed men, upon seeing the uninvited guest, checked his face and chuckled.
"Isn't it Captain?"
"It's been a while."
As the armed men approached, the warehouse door opened completely. And the men stopped. Dozens of navy soldiers stood behind Viktor. The men inside the warehouse cursed, threw down their weapons, knelt, and put their hands behind their heads.
Evan stepped forward and said.
"What were you going to do if the Captain had come alone?"
"That's not likely."
"Right?"
While Evan grinned, the navy soldiers entered the warehouse. Viktor scanned the young men from the Pirate Islands and gestured to one. The selected young man cursed and stood up.
Viktor, who had spent more time with pirates than the citizens of Salantie, was sure to recognize the leader among them, the one with the most information.
The young man entered the dusty side room attached to the warehouse, wincing. Viktor stabbed the sacks piled there with a folding knife, and sand poured out.
"It's just sand. We're building houses these days."
"Then I guess I can take it."
"We're trying to live like people here now, why are you confiscating things?"
"I'll buy it."
As Viktor spoke, Blight took out a water buffalo leather wallet and held it out. Viktor said.
"How much for twenty sacks of sand?"
"……."
The young man, who had been speechless, opened his mouth.
"It's not Hallucinogen."
"Then?"
"It's a Cure."
As the young man spoke and hesitated, a man about Viktor's age arrived late, sighed, and said.
"You've already seen it, the Cure."
"Harold."
As Harold appeared, Viktor walked closer and said.
"Now we can talk."
Harold looked at Viktor as if he could kill him with his eyes, but chuckled with his scarred face.
As Viktor approached, Harold raised both hands and stepped back.
"Aren't you going too far? You can't just come to me for any information after I ratted you out once."
"Your scar has healed a lot."
At Viktor's words, Harold scratched the long scar on his left jaw.
"Yes, yes, thanks to you, I can still use my eyes, nose, and mouth, Captain."
Harold, the pirate who had ratted out everything and saved his life, vividly remembered the devilish Viktor Dampfelt when he had captured him.
He thought that he would never forget Viktor's expressionless face and monotonous voice until the moment he died.
There were two reasons why he clung to life. One was because he had to lead the remaining people of the Pirate Islands, and the second was because he believed that one day the goddess of revenge would sit on his back and leave the same scars on Viktor Dampfelt's dazzling face as he had.
Harold said.
"You seem interested in the Cure?"
"Yes."
Viktor nodded to Evan, who soon took everyone out of the warehouse.
Only Harold and Viktor remained in the warehouse.
Harold opened his mouth.
"You know that the Cure the Lady Scarlett used on Count Crimson is the one we distribute, you secretly assigned guards."
"I did."
"You came to me with information you got from betraying the Captain. Isn't that ironic?"
At Harold's words, Viktor looked at him with an indifferent face before slowly opening his mouth.
"Your weakness is that you have a loose tongue."
"I'm not usually loose-tongued. I only said it because I thought I was really going to die."
"Were you afraid of dying?"
"No, I have to live to get revenge on you someday, Captain."
"You can dig up my grave later. There won't be any other way."
Viktor said casually. Then he said to Harold, whose expression was distorted.
"Are there any drugs related to memory?"
"Why are you suddenly asking that? You treated everything we use like narcotics."
"I did. It doesn't seem like the Royal Family does."
"Huh. Shouldn't it be the opposite?"
Harold said, then asked.
"Why?"
"If you knew the reason, would you get out of here alive?"
"Ah, right."
Harold replied, then said.
"There is something. Something about memory. It makes memories clearer when used."
"Side effects?"
"Temporary Memory loss occurs."
"What do you mean by temporary?"
"It varies so much from person to person that I can't say exactly."
"Are you saying it might not recover?"
Then Harold tapped his head with his finger and said.
"Actually, the reason why Memory loss occurs is because of the defense mechanism here. Everyone's psychological state is different, and their minds are different. If it's a memory you never want to remember, you might not remember it at all."
"Treatment?"
"There isn't any. It's a side effect of the drug, but in the end, it's your brain that acted. The only thing you can do is reduce your workload, rest a lot, and get out of a state of tension."
He explained, but Viktor did not move and stood there, staring at Harold.
Harold knew the meaning of that arrogant gaze. It meant that if there was no answer, he should create one and present it.
"There's no way to completely cure it, but if Memory loss occurs frequently even after that, there's a drug that can alleviate it."
"I see."
Viktor answered, but he did not ask any more about the alleviating drug. Harold took it as a sign to find out about it and prepare the drug.
Viktor soon opened the door and said to one of his men.
"Keep him under surveillance."
"Yes, Captain."
The subordinate bowed politely, and the navy soldiers turned and left the warehouse.
Viktor had an indifferent face, but Evan and Palin, the two navy soldiers who knew what the Royal Police had done with the drug, were very angry.
Palin tried to lower his voice and said to Evan.
"Does this make sense? To dare to do that to the Captain... This is an attack by the Royal Police on the navy."
"Yeah, right. The Captain isn't a member of the Royal Family anymore, so he doesn't have access to Royal Police information."
"That's right."
Mageria, a yellow flower that only grows in Salantie, bloomed under the carriage wheel.
Viktor thought of Scarlett, who used to smile brightly whenever she saw those insignificant weeds that bloomed randomly in all four seasons.
She said that when she was young, she made wreaths and ornaments out of Mageria and attached them to her fans. Scarlett's parents were both extremely rational people, and so they seemed to really love this warm side of their daughter, who was so happy even with a small flower.
He was only now remembering Scarlett's words.
Before getting into the carriage, Viktor bent down and picked a Mageria flower, and the coachman said urgently.
"I'll do it, young master."
At that moment, Viktor remembered telling Scarlett to call a maid and have her boil the water herself. And Scarlett's answer too.
"I... I want to be alone with you. It's natural for you to always have people working around you, and you can live as if those people aren't there, but I'm not like that. I'm bothered when someone is there. It doesn't feel like I'm... alone with you."
It wasn't understandable.
In fact, he couldn't understand her thoughts at all.
There were two reasons for this: first, Viktor did not consider the servants to be equal individuals to him, and second, the high nobles of Salantie, including Viktor, took it for granted that their lives were in the eyes of others.
They did not think of their lives as their own, but as conceptual beings that continued their family and protected their territory. Therefore, the words "it doesn't feel like I'm alone" and "I want to be alone" were not completely understandable.
But that didn't mean it would be bad.
Viktor stared at the Mageria he had picked and then threw it out of the carriage.
Rich roses and red flowers suit her.
