NOVEL NEXT chapter 22
22 – Salt Delivery Commotion (9)
After a meager dinner, we laid out blankets and sleeping bags, getting ready for sleep.
We still had about a day to go until we reached Karabka with the salt.
“Here you go, teachers.”
One of the patrol members boiled tea leaves in a pot and handed it to us.
“It gets really cold at night. Have some to warm yourselves up.”
“You’re so kind. Thank you.”
When Liana laughed, the patrol member couldn’t help but burst into laughter as well.
The investigator was flipping through a small notebook while warming himself by the campfire.
“I’m double-checking his whereabouts and such. Just in case there’s anything new that catches my eye.”
The investigator, sensing my gaze, spoke up.
“You’ve been through a lot.”
“I don’t consider it as going through a lot. It’s a rewarding task to eradicate the kingdom’s scum.”
The detective put the notebook away in his pocket and continued speaking.
“The person we’re chasing is distributing drugs all over the kingdom, causing a lot of suffering for many people.”
“What kind of drugs exactly? Are they medicinal?”
“Don’t you know about drugs? I suppose someone who has no interest in that sort of thing could be ignorant.”
The detective kindly explained about drugs.
Drugs are substances that can induce hallucinations and pleasure even in small amounts, but they are highly addictive.
Furthermore, they have a severe toxicity, and continued use can lead to death.
As a result, there are numerous crimes and accidents associated with them.
“Drugs have a negative impact even on those who don’t use them.”
“That’s right. If parents become addicted to drugs, their children may be neglected or exposed to violence.”
“Yes, in severe cases, due to hallucinations, people suddenly kill others or set buildings on fire.”
“Oh, how terrible.”
The patrol officers next to them interjected with a comment each.
“Most crimes in the area are handled by the local security forces, but drug cases go beyond their capabilities. That’s why you, detective, have come from the capital.”
“Most drug trafficking involves large-scale organizations rather than individuals. There are even cases where they are in cahoots with the local security forces, taking bribes.”
Those are truly the worst of the worst.
“And… it’s not just the distributors of drugs that are a problem. It’s also difficult to catch the users. They have nothing to lose, so they fight to the death.”
The detective pulled out a black mask from his pocket.
“Drug investigators always carry this mask. If their identity is exposed, they could face retaliation later.”
“It must be really tough, investigating drugs.”
“Well, as I mentioned before, I can save numerous people through my suffering.”
“I see. If the conditions are right, I would like to help as well.”
At that moment, the investigator smiled and reached out his hand.
“Impressive. My name is Mera.”
“I am Ergaduk. You can call me Ergaro.”
They shook hands, joining their hands together.
“I am Liana. hehehe.”
“Nice to meet you all.”
* * * * *
We sat around the campfire, exchanging various stories.
The conversation was led by long-distance patrol members who had many interesting experiences.
Although there may have been some exaggeration, the stories were still intriguing enough.
“Well, then, we have to leave all day tomorrow, so let’s call it a night.”
The patrol members decided on the order of watch rotation among themselves.
“Since it’s an outdoor camping, it would be troublesome if thieves or monsters came while we were sleeping.”
One patrol member leaned his sword against his shoulder and sat down next to the campfire, while the others went into their sleeping bags.
The patrol member glanced briefly at the bag containing the wyvern’s egg next to the campfire, but didn’t seem to pay much attention to it.
Liana and I went into one of the sleeping bags provided by Baphelt.
As we settled in, Liana spoke up.
“Eruga-nim. Do you feel like things are going really well?”
“Yeah. I didn’t expect to make money this quickly.”
“That’s what I’m saying. And it’s reassuring to be able to go with those kind of people.”
Feeling good, Rianna giggled and her shoulders bounced.
“Let’s make as much money as possible in Tussenne. And add it to the dragon bounty to buy a house.”
“A house sounds nice. Or we could keep staying in the lordship and save up for a house.”
“That works too. For now, let’s keep doing this job. It doesn’t seem bad.”
“Alright. Let’s do that.”
We talked a little more and fell asleep.
* * * * *
How much time had passed?
I woke up from the sensation of hot wind and something touching my body.
What is it?
Is it a wolf-like wild animal sticking its snout into the sleeping bag…?
No, if that were the case, the fire alarm would have woken us up.
When I opened my eyes, there was nothing in the sleeping bag.
The only thing there was Rianna, sticking to my lower back with her body.
Hmm, nothing’s wrong… Or is there?!
“What are you doing?”
“Eruga-nim…?”
Riana’s voice was soaked with moisture, and her body emitted a hot heat.
The hot wind from earlier was her irregular and rough breath.
“What are you doing? Are you hurt?”
“It’s not that…”
Drenched in sweat, Riana clung to me, slipping and sliding.
“Please hold me…”
As she spoke, her hands continued to fumble and touch my groin persistently.
Despite the stimulation, which inevitably caused a reaction, I was more worried that Riana was not in her right mind than about any s*xual desire.
“Are you okay?”
“No… I’m not okay…”
Now I noticed that the buttons on her shirt were undone, revealing her massive breasts in all their glory.
“Touch me… It’s so hot, I feel like I’m going crazy…”
“What are you saying, seriously?”
“Please, Eurga…”
Riana pulled my hand towards her groin.
It was warm and damp, as if she had just urinated.
“No, Riana… Not again…?”
“Get up! Get up right now!”
A sharp blade tore through the sleeping bag vertically.
And then strong hands reached out and grabbed my throat and Riana’s.
We were dragged out of our sleeping bags without even knowing what was going on.
When I turned around, I saw that the two patrolmen who had pulled us out were there, and the other one was lying down on the opposite side of the bonfire.
Investigator Mera was kneeling beside one of the patrolmen, doing something.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed that she was tilting a small glass bottle in her hand and feeding its contents to the patrolman.
“Kneel down and put your hands behind your head!”
The patrolmen, who had been kind and friendly until we fell asleep, treated us like criminals and exercised their power roughly.
“What’s going on? You have to explain!”
“Shut up!”
One of the patrolmen swung his baton towards my chin.
I raised my hand to block it, and there was a loud thud.
“Ouch…!”
The patrolman who held the baton was startled and tried to pull it back, but I wouldn’t let go.
“Let go of this…!”
“Explain what’s happening first. Otherwise, I’ll make you want to explain.”
As I forcefully took the baton, the patrolmen stepped back.
I turned to Rianna and saw that she couldn’t regain her composure and was shaking her body back and forth.
“Rianna, come over here.”
“Heh… Lord Erga… Something’s wrong… I feel strange…”
I pulled Rianna towards me, who was babbling, and slowly stood up.
I looked back at the patrolmen, holding the drawn-out knife.
“Can you explain what’s going on?”
“Everyone step aside.”
Detective Mera pushed the patrol officers to both sides and stepped forward.
Behind her, the patrol officer who had been lying down until now shook his head vigorously and seemed to stumble.
“Mr. Erga, put down the knife.”
“Do you think I won’t be able to harm you if I put down the knife?”
“Well… put it down for now. We need to treat Rianna.”
Mera pointed to Rianna, who was leaning on her chin.
Rianna had her eyes half-open and was drooling.
Her condition looked extremely serious at a glance.
“She needs to take this. It’s too late to turn back.”
Mera held up a bottle containing liquid.
“What is that?”
“An antidote for drugs.”
“Drugs…?”
“Yes. So put down the knife. We can talk about it after we treat Rianna.”
It was hard to believe they were lying.
Judging from what they had shown so far, and seeing a patrol officer who, although unsteady, seemed to have regained his senses from behind, it seemed right to do as Mera said.
After dropping the knife to the ground, Mera slowly approached.
“Lay Rianna down. We need to pour the antidote into her mouth.”
She did as she was told and laid Rihanna on the floor.
Mera knelt down and poured a little antidote into Rihanna’s open mouth.
“Swallow it, Miss Rihanna. If you don’t swallow it, you’ll become paralyzed.”
Fortunately, Rihanna, in a daze, gulped down the antidote that had entered her mouth.
“Just leave her like this for a moment. She’ll recover soon.”
Mera, who regained consciousness, stepped back and said.
“But what about Mr. Erga? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Rihanna must have eaten the stew you made…”
Considering everything she just said, it means that drugs were put into Rihanna’s stew.
If we assume that, the situation makes sense.
Rihanna became strange as the drugs took effect, and the patrollers who shared the stew with her became the same.
The patrollers detoxified because of Mera’s antidote, and we concluded that drugs were put into the stew and pulled them out of the sleeping bags.
But why drugs in the stew…?
Suddenly, I remembered that Rihanna had sneaked some salt from the cargo compartment of the carriage and put it in the stew.
Oh no…
“It wasn’t salt, it was drugs.”
“Yes. When we opened the box, we found that they had cleverly hidden it.”
That bastard, Tusenne… He deceived us and had us distribute drugs, didn’t he…?