Episode 10

<Veterinarian Druid Episode 10>

“To use oleander, those trash-like bastards.”

The oleander that those guys are talking about is a type of hemlock. Just consuming 20 dried leaves can be fatal.

Oleandrin is a component in hemlock that causes cardiac arrest.

"It seems like they're trying to poison someone."

Species like plants and birds hardly react to oleandrin, but it is deadly to humans, dogs and cats.

Considering that they know this fact, there is definitely someone with knowledge of toxicology among them.

They could feed oleander to their target, create a situation where they become alarmed or angry, and then attribute their collapse to cardiac arrest.

I tracked down the scoundrels by tracing their conversations.

If someone starts dying during the event, it will undoubtedly cause problems. Given the current situation with the crown prince present, it's even more serious.

"If something like that were to happen, the Count would be in a frenzy. Why did they make so many enemies? They should have lived moderately. Wait. Perhaps..."

Is the person they're targeting none other than Count Ulysses?

Suddenly, my heart began pounding heavily.

Until now, I hadn't shown any interest in the Count's affairs. But now, it felt personal.

My leisurely pace quickened.

"I found them."

They were two people having a conversation about 5 meters away.

To avoid arousing suspicion, I turned my gaze away and maintained an indifferent attitude.

Luckily, there happened to be a refreshment table nearby, so I spoke to the attendant standing next to it.

"Can I have a plate of steak?"

"Please wait a moment."

He was a teenager in his late teens, with a healthy appetite. Even if I keep eating here until I'm stuffed, no one would say anything.

I planned to stay here until I found out who the perpetrators were.

As I put a piece of meat in my mouth and chewed, I overheard their conversation.

"That bastard is no ordinary guy. Even after that incident, he didn't shed a tear no matter how much we tortured him."

"He seems to dislike seeing his kind suffer. But a creature is still a creature."

“Everyone only sees griffins, just griffins. Not only are they useful, but these griffins also has high intelligence."

"That's right. It's difficult to train them, but once they are tamed, they can be used in various ways."

My thoughts completely went off track.

They intend to kill the griffins.

But is there a missing griffin at the training grounds?

I don’t recall anyone mentioning that a griffin had gone missing, not even Healer Dan, the Count, or even Fred.

Their conversation continued, and I focused on listening.

"But this time, he won't be able to bear it. Once his heart starts constricting, he won’t be able to hold back and will start screaming."

“I wonder how all these people will react when they see the griffins causing havoc. Don’t you think so? Hahaha."

As I listened to their conversation, I organized my thoughts.

The griffin is currently held captured by the perpetrators. They tortured the griffin and made it scream, making the Eagle Knight griffins sense the danger to their kind and went berserk.

However, that's all in the past.

What's going to happen next is a big problem.

“They’re really despicable people.”

It’s not just a matter of the lives of the Eagle Knights, but also a matter of life and death for the Ulysses family.

As my hand holding the plate tremble in anger, someone approached them.

“It’s been a while, Duke Olif.”

“Who are you? Aren’t you Duke Beren?”

The man’s name was Duke Olif.

"So you're the one Legasi warned me about."

Now that I knew the perpertrator was Duke Olif, I had to think about how to solve this situation.

The banquet was in full swing.

Scenes from movies unfolded before my eyes.

As the orchestra's music filled the hall, well-dressed men and women gathered in the center and danced.

After the dance time ended, a singer came out on the stage set up in front of the banquet hall and sang a song. As everyone was enjoying themselves, I instinctively headed towards the terrace.

"So, the griffins knew about each other's danger signals and used them to their advantage?"

They are really clever.

"You guys got caught. And out of all things, you got caught by Kim Min-hyuk, no, Marcus, who exposes animal abuse?"

Those fearless bastards.

We'll deal with them later, but for now, we urgently need to rescue the cornered griffin...

If I go to the Count right away and report what I heard, he'll ask where I obtained the information from.

I can't say that I overheard their conversation.

"We need to find clues. The most reliable clue is the location of the griffin."

Then we can confidently request reinforcements from the Count.

"By the way, how do we find out where the griffin is captured?"

[Who got captured?]

Suddenly, a conversation echoed in my mind. I turned my head in the direction of the sound and saw Melik looking at me.

-Melik, are you okay? You must be in pain.

I pointed to Melik's front left paw.

[I'm fine.]

Oh, how much pain must he have been in... It must be so painful that he should be taking painkillers and lying down.

-But can you walk around like this?

[I can see Master from here.]

I asked if it was okay for him to walk around while he's in pain, but he replied that he's protecting his master, so I shouldn't worry.

Healer Dan said that Silver Wolves wholeheartedly protect their masters.

And Silver Wolves have excellent danger-sensing abilities.

-Melik, can you also sense danger from other species?

[Sensing danger?]

-Like when the griffin screams in pain or suffers.

[Is there a griffin captured?]

-I'm not sure, but it seems like it.

[I did feel some strange waves. Was it because of that?]

-Waves?

It was a good idea to ask Melik. No, it was fortunate that Healer Dan was here.

Thanks to him, I learned about Silver Wolves.

-Can you find out where it is?

[Wait a moment.]

Awooo....

Melik suddenly let out a long howl.

The people around were startled.

[I called for my friends.]

After about 10 minutes, two birds flew in, flapping their wings. But...

-Wait, why are you guys here?

[Ugh, why are you here again?]

[Wow! Wow! It's Marcus.]

It was Tinger and Bella.

[He looked like a steamed bun in the morning, but seeing him like this, Marcus is handsome too? How can he look so different?]

Ugh! Steamed bun?

I thought Tinger was the only one with a sharp tongue, but Bella also had a sharp mouth. It seems like that Tinger guy has influenced the kind-hearted Bella.

[Friends, I have a favor to ask. Can you check for any strange energy from my comrades, Redon and Blueon?]

[Of course.]

Tinger briefly answered and was about to fly away, but Bella kindly asked.

[But Melik, can I ask why?]

[A griffin might have been captured.]

[What? Griffin?]

Tinger asked with wide eyes.

-Well, you see....

I told them everything I had heard so far.

[This is insane!]

Tinger exclaimed angrily and disappeared in an instant.

* * *

The next day, as soon as it got bright, I went to see Healer Dan.

"How are the griffins doing?"

"They're doing very well. I followed Young master's advice and mixed two types of herbs for them to eat, and the griffins don't seem to get tired at all. The knights are very pleased. They said that they will definitely put on the best performance tomorrow."

"That's good to hear. By the way, are there any griffins that flew away and haven’t returned? Maybe missing their freedom or something."

"We can't tame those ones from the beginning. They're very strong."

"Strong ones, you say? What about the one with its hair almost standing on end? The leader, I mean."

I pointed to the griffin with its head feathers almost standing on end.

"Here, it means the leader or chief. But there are many wild griffins out there that we cannot tame.”

“I see.”

If that's the case, then the captured griffin is undoubtedly a much stronger and more temperamental one compared to them.

To catch such a creature, they must be very knowledgeable about griffins.

I went to find the Count with that in mind.

The office, just a day before the show, was bustling with activity.

"Oh, Marcus. What brings you here?"

"I want to know about Duke Olif."

"Duke Olif? The Empire's top potion master."

The mention of being a top potion master implies that he is well-versed in ingredients.

“Since you’re planning to attend the Healing Tower, you must be interested in potion making.”

"I am interested. That aside, the talk of being a top master implies that he possesses secret techniques or herbs that only the Duke has access to?"

"Oh, you think that far? There is a medicinal mountain not far from Suri Mountain called Olif's Upper Medicine Mountain."

If that's the case, that mountain is likely restricted from outsiders. They might have confined the griffin there.

"That Medicine Mountain seems to be accessible only to people from Olif."

"That's right. They say there is no shortage of new potion creations lately. One of them is the Magic Enhancement Potion, which instantly boosts magic power. It's been getting a lot of attention in the market. That's why they've been buying a fair amount of our Mana Stones recently."

This is exactly what Legasi mentioned.

Olif is targeting Suri Mountain.

The stage is set.

The griffin is in the Medicine Mountain, and Olif is feeding them a concoction.

In that case...

"I have to go and rescue it."

But how do I enter a restricted area that prohibits outsiders?

This dilemma was easily solved.

It was thanks to Melik’s companions, Silver Wolves Redon and Blueon who offered their backs.

"Hey, if I ride on the Silver Wolves and die...."

"Get on them before they change their minds. Otherwise, the griffins might cause a ruckus and kill us all tomorrow morning."

"Eek! That won’t do."

"That's right."

Healer Dan had the look of someone who had seen the whole world.

When we got on, the Silver Wolves dash like lightning. They were so fast that Tinger and Bella flying ahead seemed to be hovering in place.

To explain what happened, Tinger and Bella appeared just two hours ago.

Bella spoke with a worried expression.

[I found him. The captain was captured.]

-The captain?

[Yeah. The griffin you were looking for. They said the captain hasn't been seen lately. Damn bastards.]

As Tinger curse, he gave us the location.

[Those bastards tied the captain's legs with thick iron chains. There's no way the captain, who is so strong, could have been caught by weak humans. I don't understand how this happened.]

-They must have hidden muscle relaxants in the food and waited for his strength to weakened before they tied his legs.

[No matter what, the captain is so strong. He couldn't break those chains.]

-They probably drove sharp spikes into the inside, so the more he moves, the deeper the spikes are driven into his flesh, tying him with the iron chains.

[What? Those damn bastards. Hey, Marcus! Go and save the captain.]

Tinger ordered confidently.

-Yeah, I want to do that too, but it's difficult to go. I don't have enough time if I just run.

Thanks to the increased stamina stat, I can run better than before, but it's still too far.

“Just fly over there…Right, you're a wingless guy. And your legs aren't great either. This won’t do. I'll go get a means of transportation.

That's how it turned out.

In the meantime, I explained the situation to Healer Dan.

"What? That's insane! If that's true, what will happen to the event tomorrow?"

"It's going to be a disaster."

"Ugh!"

I handed a piece of paper to the despairing healer.

"What's this?"

"Since we don't have much time, please listen while you prepare."

As Healer Dan packed his belongings into a bag, I explained about the toxicity of the oleander.

"So, you're saying that if you eat this hemlock you'll vomit, drool, and have bloody diarrhea? Eventually, you'll have seizures and die?"

The words that came out of the healer's mouth were so crude that I wondered if he was really a healer.

"That's right. It causes vomiting and diarrhea, along with melena and caesar symptoms. Eventually, it can cause arrhythmia and ventricular fibrillation, leading to cardiac arrest. As you may know, this is the side effect of cardiac glycosides."

"It's a very potent poisonous plant."

"Not necessarily. It can be a great medicine for patients with congestive heart failure."

"Sigh, to think that such a thing exists. How did young master know about this? Even after spending six years at the Healing Tower, I didn't know about this."

I’ve been studying for even longer, Healer Dan!