Reaper of the Martial World

Book 12: Chapter 34: Rancid (1)

Maybe what those watching were all equally surprised about was just how much control the women by Dyon’s side seemed to have on him. They had never heard of a powerful man bowing to his lovers in such a fashion… Especially not in public, maybe they’d only make a few concessions in private…

Finally, Dyon chose two. A middle-aged man by the name of Emery, and another who seemed to have a foot in the grave by the name of Belin. Following this, he made his way to the ‘barracks’ of the alchemists.

The city walls were very thick. Built of brown stones, there was a five-meter diameter from front to back.

The alchemists were each given a section of the wall to control. As a member of the strongest guild, Dyon controlled a five-mile radius of the northern wall. Since there were only battles of a few thousand to each wall, though, he was only responsible for about 100 people.

For a mortal war, something like only having 100 people to a ten mile diameter was bordering on ridiculous. However, for a war of cultivators, and especially immortals, such a density could actually be considered quite high.

Still, it was basically child’s play to Dyon.

What was more annoying to deal with than anything else was the strong reaction his ‘Runners’ had to realizing they were working for a mortal. It seemed the greatness of his certification exam despite being watched by so many went over the heads of those too stupid to understand what had happened.

To make matters worse, unlike other alchemists and experts who immediately understood how special his robes and badge were, to these so very intelligent ‘Runners’, it just ‘proved’ he was a fraud.

Dyon’s ‘Runners’ were two burly men who seemed to have carved their own bodies out of gravel. They had a rustic and especially tanned appearance that made it obvious their skin tone was definitely several shades lighter than it was showing now.

They were a pair of twins known as the Rock brothers. Dyon really hoped they didn’t choose this moniker themselves are they’d be able to give his daughter a run for her money in a competition of terrible naming.

But Dyon wouldn’t put it past these two. He could almost see the pebbles that made up their brains rolling behind the reflections of their eyes.

“Deal with them.” Dyon said to Emery and Belin. “I’d rather not have these annoyances flying around.”

Hearing these words, the Rock brothers exploded with rage. They had yet to say a single word, yet Dyon dismissed them off-handedly.

To Dyon, however, he had seen everything that needed to be seen. He could already sense their disdain and displeasure, their mouths were quirked as though there were words they were waiting to say on the tips of their tongues. Why would he give them the time of day?

“Yes, Venerable!”

Emery and Belin surprised the two brothers by following Dyon’s words without a hint of hesitation.

“Please.” Emery showed the Rock brother’s out. “Deliver us the list of needed pills and we will return the completed order to you once they are done. The Venerable is busy.”

Hearing Emery describe Dyon as ‘busy’ while he was very clearly just a few feet from them smiling and chatting with Saru and Lilith practically made steam come out from their ears.

However, though these pair of brothers dared to disrespect Dyon due to their overblown biases, what they didn’t dare to do was slight an alchemist. They had no concept of the difference between Venerables and apprentices. They could barely afford the pills of apprentices every once in a while, so how could they dare to disrespect Emery and Belin?

They could only glare in Dyon’s direction and be shut out of the camp.

Dyon himself had long since thrown them to the back of his mind. He was instead focusing on the battle situation, occasionally saying a few words to Saru and Lilith.

It seemed that this gang was going all out, clashing with the armored guards of Zaneta City. The battle itself was completely disorganized. Dyon couldn’t be bothered to count how many times they randomly swapped opponents, he couldn’t even find where the line of defense was supposed to be or even where it actually was.

‘They’re not taking advantage of the fact they’re the defending party at all, how ridiculous. On the bright side though, maybe in only such a battle could the concept of ‘Runners’ actually work.’

“Venerable Sacharro, the first order is in. This one isn’t from our border, but it’s rather from a station a few ways down asking for support. They need 20 half-immortal essence gathering pills and 10 half-immortal bone mending pills.”

“Half-immortal? So we won’t be concocting Venerable pills?”

Belin smiled politely. “For a talent like Venerable Sacharro, it’s possible. But the battle could be finished before anyone else succeeded in refining just one Venerable pill. Plus, Venerable pills are far too precious, and the herbs they’re concocted from far too rare, to be used like this.”

“Alright.” Dyon nodded, this made sense. It seemed he brought out Chibi for no reason, then. “We can get started then.”

“Uh…”

Seeing Belin and Emery hesitating, Dyon looked over with a curious eye.

“… Something seems to be wrong with this order.” Emery finally said. “… The battle is too young for other posts to be swamped already. And…”

Emery placed down a box that contained the ingredients Dyon was meant to use. However, without even opening the lid, Dyon could already smell the rancid odor.