Chapter 205: Why Are You There? (3)
「It is said that the beginning of humanity’s taste was sugar, and it was salt that made them realize the concept of gastronomy.
It is no exaggeration to say that the development of food began with the white powders of salt and sugar.
However, there is one more spice needed to complete a dish.
‘Pureum’.
A spice that suddenly appeared in the middle of history.
No one knows the meaning of the name, but it appeared at the time when myths faded and legends crumbled, and permeated human history.
The method of use is relatively simple. Steam the ‘Pureum’, dry it completely, and white grains will remain. Add that to the broth or sauce.
It makes the food a little spicy and the taste firm.
The meaning of ‘firm’ here is that the empty taste felt when cooked disappears and gives a strange savory taste.
It is a mystery who named this ‘Pureum’ and how people came to eat this thing that was only used as a poisonous weed, but now it has become the third essential white powder in gastronomy.”
━ From the History of Spices」
“This……this is it?”
Morning frowned.
To Morning, who enjoys fine dining, Olivia’s claim was absurd.
It’s ‘Pureum’, a spice used as often as salt and sugar. Not only its overwhelming taste, but also its affordable price makes it an indispensable spice in both homes and restaurants.
But that’s a brainwashing tool?
Morning chuckled and ate her food without hesitation.
“I know it’s not used much in Airian, so you must find it strange.”
She just doesn’t know any better.
Nearly a thousand years of history proves the toxicity of ‘Pureum’. How can a spice that gives a pleasant taste be a brainwashing drug?
Olivia nodded calmly.
Her thin, gray hair swayed. And from between her hair, her clear eyes stared directly at the ‘Pureum’.
“My words may sound a bit strong, but it is the truth.”
“Then, if everyone who eats ‘Pureum’ belongs to Commons, everyone on this continent would be Commons.”
Morning’s sarcasm followed.
Princess Elena looked back at Cain.
Cain was casually listening to their conversation with his arms crossed.
Thinking that she should learn that composure, she turned her head towards Olivia.
Although first impressions can often be wrong, a woman who speaks so articulately wouldn’t say something completely absurd.
Swoosh—
Olivia took out a thin, palm-sized wooden box from her arms.
Opening the box, there were several thin, blue incense sticks inside. Olivia placed the stick holder from the bottom of the box on the table and inserted a stick.
“As you all know, this is a stick used as an air freshener. If you burn the end of this……”
She took a candle from the table and set the end of the stick on fire. The red flame that had momentarily ignited disappeared with a sizzling sound, and white smoke began to rise.
“This is a brainwashing drug.”
“Considering you’re showing us something so dangerous here, I assume it’s harmless for now.”
Morning’s eyes narrowed.
The ‘Commons’, hidden deeper than rats, is a strange organization.
They know it exists.
But they don’t know who they are.
They are meticulously divided into cell organizations, their purpose is ambiguous, and it is unknown what they are working towards.
They don’t even know how such a huge organization is structured, how it operates, or why it exists. Furthermore, they are those who don’t even have a proper name to avoid being called.
Can you even call that an organization?
Morning, who had her hands in various parts of the Empire, had considered creating an organization similar to Commons.
However, it was an organizational method that could only be demonstrated in special operations teams of a dozen or so people.
“Hmm.”
She took a deep breath.
The scent of the incense stick, which seemed to have been refined from ‘Pureum’, was quite pleasant.
It made her forget that this was a high-class restaurant in the Mytilene Auction House.
It felt like standing on the sea with the horizon on all sides. Or the feeling of floating freely in the sky above the clouds.
However, it is impossible to be brainwashed by just this much.
“It just smells a little peculiar.”
“Yes, this one is just an incense stick. Except for the fact that it’s made with ‘Pureum’, the method is a secret within Commons, and they burn it whenever they meet.”
“…….”
Morning stroked her smooth chin.
Certainly, if what she said was true, her deduction of a ‘brainwashing drug’ was not wrong.
But.
The effect is weak.
If that’s the case, aren’t magic perfumes, which are deliberately made for that purpose, even stronger brainwashing drugs?
That’s when Olivia spoke.
“Freedom.”
“Freedom?”
“The shackles of status obtained at birth, the oppression of life, a difficult life, the difference in talent. Freedom from all discrimination.”
Her eyes sparkled.
And after looking at everyone here once, she gazed at Cain.
“The way I investigated the Caballeros Rebellion in Antwerp was by applying to join them.”
“……!”
“Since I was already halfway running away from home, I thought it wouldn’t be bad to live hiding my identity.”
“And so?”
“Since they’re such a great mercenary group, they need other clerical staff besides mercenaries, so I got in.”
Olivia slowly told her story.
As expected of the best mercenary group in Antwerp, everything was good.
But the strange thing was……
“This scent was burning all day long throughout the building, and we had to listen to the ‘Master’s’ lecture every time we returned from a mission or every ten days.”
“Master?”
“Yes. They said that since mercenaries return from working in extremely tense situations, their minds need to be eased. Along with regular staff like us.”
Aurelia, who was listening quietly, raised her hand. As everyone looked at her, she spoke calmly.
“This is a method of preaching mainly used by cults. Of course, it depends on the content.”
“The content wasn’t anything major. ‘You can do anything. Everyone is born the same child, and you are no different.’”
Morning’s eyebrows twitched.
Olivia continued, as if she had anticipated her reaction.
“You can do anything. Innate talent, lineage, it’s all just discrimination, the freedom an individual can have is limitless. Don’t look down on the low and don’t look up to the high.”
“It’s not a cult in terms of content, but……”
Aurelia read the logic embedded in the words.
So did Morning.
She leaned to the side, leaving the delicious food behind, and rested her chin on her hand.
“Dangerous.”
“Yes. In modern times, people are determined by their innate mana aptitude, talent, and lineage, but they deny that.”
“And while constantly smelling this scent……”
The scent that gives a feeling of vast freedom.
Constant education about freedom.
Freedom.
Cain, who had been listening silently, opened his mouth.
“They were usually not nobles.”
The hidden ones were people who were pushed around everywhere. Even in this restaurant, how many people pass by like scenery?
From the chef who prepared this dish, to the kitchen staff, servers, cashiers, cleaners, and so on.
“They were everywhere, but they were unnoticed by anyone.”
Truly common.
An organization called ‘Commons’ that has permeated among such Commons.
“People are usually a little stronger when they fight for something other than themselves than when they fight for themselves. A beloved lover, or a belief.”
I have to do something.
My sacrifice will protect everyone.
Then I can go a little further.
“I don’t know much about them yet, but I understand what it means to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time.”
Cain rose from his seat and approached the window. The main street in front of the restaurant was crowded with people.
In Cain’s life, they were just an ordinary sight that he saw once and moved on, but to them, they were the protagonists.
Commons who are not the main characters.
The freedom they desire.
Cain lifted the corners of his lips.
“Freedom, huh?”
It wasn’t wrong.
It wasn’t bad either.
To Cain, who had always pioneered his own life, the freedom they longed for was something he welcomed.
But he had seen too many people sacrifice others for freedom.
From Lesbos, who was close to him, to Abel in the previous world line.
“A freedom whose direction is unknown.”
Cain muttered to himself as he looked at the huge auction house in the distance.
Thinking of Lourens and Anje, who would be somewhere underground.
🔹🔹🔹
Anje pressed her fingers against the limp person’s nose and carotid artery at the same time.
Shaking her head.
A human already dead.
“Crazy bastards.”
Lourens scanned the entire body of the now-dead man.
These were not wounds inflicted to kill, but wounds inflicted to push the victim into excruciating pain.
“He’s tortured.”
Anje’s face hardened.
His nose and ears were cut off and swollen, so she didn’t recognize him at first, but he was another agent she had seen a few times at the Special Intelligence Division.
Seeing him in this state in the basement of the auction house naturally made her blood boil.
“Calm down.”
Lourens said coldly.
“Hot revenge leaves only ashes, but cold revenge leaves only results.”
“……Yes.”
Lourens and Anje took a few deep breaths and delved deeper into the basement of the auction house.
The basement of the auction house, where countless people flocked, was deep and wide.
After seeing all sorts of things on the way down, Lourens saw a very small door tucked away deep underground.
Swoosh—
Anje took out a lock pick kit from her pocket and held the necklace she was wearing to the door.
“It’s not magically secured.”
“These guys are strangely averse to using magic.”
After inserting a few thin pieces of metal into the keyhole and fiddling with them, the door opened. The two slipped through the tiny gap like shadows and entered the deepest part of the basement.
Whoaaaaaaa—
The two frowned.
The place they arrived at after passing through a terribly dark place was too bright.
It was a field.
A wide field neatly divided into furrows and ridges was located underground, and on the ceiling was a fake sun made of magic.
“Is that why they don’t use magical security, because it might be affected by that?”
Lourens continued his reasoning and examined the plants carefully planted in the field.
Judging from its appearance, it was ‘Pureum’……
“It’s ‘Pureum’.”
Anje, who had just taken a bite, confirmed.
It was an ordinary spice.
Why would they cultivate such a large quantity of this deep underground? The two sensed there was something more to it.
The Seven Wise Men, who had taken over the neutral territory of the Mytilene Auction House to avoid the eyes of the state, would not waste the underground space for spice trading.
At that moment, Anje opened a door that looked like it stored tools for tending the field.
But what awaited them was darkness again.
“This must be it.”
Realizing the real deep secret, the two slipped in without a sound.
Beyond the dark passageway was a cavity illuminated by a bluish light like dawn.
Transparent pillars stood throughout the cavity.
They had a hunch when they saw it from afar.
As they got closer, they could see it clearly.
Eyes.
Ears.
Hands.
Feet.
Bones, nerves.
A place where all parts of the human body were dismembered and stored in a liquid inside transparent pillars.
“What the hell is this……”
Lourens muttered.
Click—
At that moment, a finger moved towards them.
Slowly, it wrote letters on the pillar.
[Witch]
“……!”
[Kill me]
Where do the witches captured by witch hunters go? The destination was right before their eyes.
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