"What's happening here?"The man in purple who had sent Mattimeo and Zaki away yesterday walked into the hall amid the commotion."Zacha, where did you pick up these two idiots who dare to disrespect us?" one of the two alchemists asked angrily. He had long blonde hair and looked middle-aged."Who?" Zacha casually looked in the direction he was pointing. The moment his eyes landed on Mattimeo and Zaki, however, his expression changed. He studied the two carefully before a deep frown settled across his face."Didn't I tell the two of you to get out yesterday? How dare you sneak back in? Do you have a death wish!?" he raged."It was the Viscount himself who took us in," Mattimeo explained."Nonsense! You...?" Zacha scoffed, pointing at them with open disdain."You don't even have an alchemy badge, and you're clearly very young. I know you're a con trying to make a living, but you can't go unpunished after lying in the Viscount's name."He raised a hand sharply."Seize them!""Well, that

Viscount Joshua watched attentively, his eyes moving from one candidate to another as the alchemists worked. For a while, nothing seemed to particularly interest him.Then, suddenly, something caught his attention."What are those two doing?" he asked the two Alchemists standing behind him.The alchemist followed his gaze toward Mattimeo and Zaki before snorting in disdain."Those two fools? They are probably frauds. They don't really know how to refine pills, or they might have lied about their qualifications."The other alchemist, who had a black goatee, gave a dismissive snort."Should we send them away?" the blonde-haired alchemist asked."Send them away, Edgar? Why would you even do that? They are in the middle of a test, and until the time is up, there's not really a failure.""My lord, if they end up being frauds, can I punish them?" the purple-robed man asked carefully."Punish them?""Yes, my lord. It means they played on your intelligence and deserve death," he replied.Josh

Mattimeo watched the battlefield intently. The fighting was brutal, and countless soldiers were dying before his eyes.He could see the gray energies rising from the corpses, but from where he stood, he was too far away to absorb them.“You have been watching the battlefield so intently,” Rosalie said.“Oh, it’s nothing. I’m just fascinated,” Mattimeo replied.“Fascinated by war?” She raised an eyebrow.“I mean, I can be fascinated by anything, can’t I?” He shrugged.“Yeah, you can. Definitely. But it’s strange, you know.”Mattimeo said nothing more.Instead, he walked over to the Viscount.“If possible, I would like to stay very close to the battlefield,” he said.“But why?” Joshua frowned. “You are not a soldier, and it’s dangerous.”“Yes. But there’s also fortune to be found through that danger. I think diagnosing the soldiers the moment they are struck by a poison arrow will hasten my research,” he said.“Who’s this clown, Joshua?” an elderly man standing beside Viscount Joshua as

In reality, they used dark energy to reach the forest without being seen.“So, I’m suggesting we attack the camp with our new undead warriors. What do you think?” Samuel asked.“I actually agree with you. Let’s do it, then.” Zaki rubbed his hands together excitedly.*******“Have the new captives settled?” A huge, black-haired man wearing a blue robe walked up to Slaz.“Yes. They are well secured.” Slaz nodded.“Good.” He nodded and was about to walk away when he suddenly stopped.“Listen, Slaz. There’s a complication with the new captives, so make sure none of our men sleeps with them.” He spoke seriously.“What is it, Captain Manrock? Why can’t we sleep with them?” Slaz asked.Manrock wanted to ignore him and walk away, but he paused. He, of all people, knew his men. If he ignored them and failed to give them a good reason, they would likely go ahead and do it anyway.“Among the people we captured are three women and a younger girl around eighteen. The girl started acting up and cla

The camp erupted into chaos, men stumbling from their tents and grabbing weapons, but the four masked figures were already among them. One of the men rushed Mattimeo, who sidestepped the blade, let him overextend, caught his arm, rotated beneath it, and drove his sword through the man's chest. Another attacked from behind; Mattimeo ducked under the blade, pivoted, and struck backward without looking. Puchi! The attacker collapsed.Then Slaz stormed out, his expression twisted with fury. "What the hell is going on?!" He stepped forward, then stopped.Two masked men were tearing through his men with frightening efficiency. Bodies littered the ground; blood darkened the soil. His anger gave way to something colder as his gaze fell on the corpses of his brothers, men who had fought beside him, survived hardship with him, gone through everything together.Something inside him snapped."You bastards!" His hands slammed downward. The earth ruptured beneath the masked men, vines exploding up