My Youngest Keeps Bringing Home Male Leads - Chapter 64

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 64
He appeared entirely unharmed.
There were no injuries, no signs of exhaustion.
Relief flooded through Agnes, and she smiled brilliantly.
“You didn’t come back, and I grew so worried—I came to find you, wondering if you were all right.”
“My dear Agnes, as you can see, I am perfectly well. I apologize for causing you needless concern by not sending word ahead.”
Only then did Silmare’s gaze shift to Rupert.
“It seems Amy has returned during my absence.”
“Yes…!”
Her heart swelled with emotion.
Though they’d only been apart a month or so, so much had happened in that time.
She was certain he would marvel at everything with that warm, radiant smile of his, and she wanted nothing more than to hurry home and show him all that had changed.
Meanwhile, Kesenor drew near, surveying the surroundings. “Why did you come here? I don’t see anything particularly suspicious.”
“It’s a long story.”
Silmare shrugged and turned to regard the three of them before exhaling softly.
“The house is cramped, but come inside for now.”
The cottage was old but remarkably well-kept.
On the right sat a bed and a table; on the left stood a workbench of sorts—the owner appeared to be an apothecary.
Shelves lined the walls, crowded with glass bottles filled with mysterious powders and dried plants.
A scale, a small mortar, and implements like a spatula were visible as well.
And in the corner of the workbench sat an old man.
He looked terrified, his frame hunched, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at these uninvited guests.
“Who is this person?” Agnes asked the man beside her, but instead of answering, Silmare produced a glass bottle from the windowsill.
The round vessel was crammed full of wilted blue flowers resembling cornflowers.
“I spent considerable time waiting for this to bloom.”
“What is it?”
“Do you know of Romanil?”
“No, I’ve never heard of it.”
The men behind her exchanged glances and shook their heads as well.
As if he’d expected as much, Silmare nodded quietly.
“Romanil is an herb that grows in the Meridis Kingdom, beneath the Eternal Mountains. Traditionally, it was used as an anesthetic for severe injuries. Since the Empire has relied on Magic for treatment, the name itself has likely been forgotten.”
“But why this…? Was Herald Miller gravely wounded?”
Yet Silmare shook his head.
“Romanil serves as an anesthetic because small doses produce an effect like intoxication. Pain becomes muted, and one’s judgment may be paralyzed entirely.”
Agnes understood at once what Silmare was driving at.
“Someone used this on the Security Force captain.”
“Precisely.”
“Then what is Herald Miller’s condition now?”
“A large dose was administered from the start.”
“What happens with an overdose?”
“One loses one’s Reason—one’s very humanity.”
“Good heavens. So it was merely to silence him…?”
“That is my supposition.”
Silmare’s expression, usually as warm and gentle as a spring day, had grown heavy as lead.
Whoever had used Romanil in such a manner would not be forgiven; his gaze turned cold as winter as he regarded the old man cowering in the corner.
“An overdose causes addiction, making normal life impossible. Basic functions—eating, sleeping—remain possible, but conversation itself becomes impossible. Someone who could obtain and use an herb unknown to the Empire itself could not simply be overlooked. I had no choice but to investigate.”
When he realized that Romanil had been used on Herald Miller.
Few people could possess knowledge from the distant Meridis Kingdom.
Moreover, it was said to be lost knowledge, abandoned long ago once the Empire dispatched mages to Meridis.
There had to be someone who had made it; tracing this path, he’d finally found this place. Silmare recounted how he had come to be here with measured calm.
Agnes felt nothing but admiration.
“How did you ever find this place?”
“Romanil releases a distinctive scent when processed. Humans find it difficult to detect, but animals are sensitive to such things. I thought that if the scent had ever appeared anywhere outside Meridis, the animals there would remember it.”
Even so, how could one find someone whose whereabouts were unknown across an entire continent?
The time Silmare had been away proved just how intensely he must have pursued this.
Agnes’s thoughts appeared to be shared; Kesenor too bore an expression of awe.
Suppressing the swell of emotion within her, Agnes cleared her throat and asked, “So this person is the one behind it all?”

“No. That man simply received a commission and prepared the drug. He’s from the Meridis Kingdom, so he knew how to work with Romanil.”
“Then the person who placed the order must be the culprit.”
At last, they might uncover who had attacked the house.
At first, she’d thought it was simply motivated by theft.
But if that were true, there would be no reason to employ such an elaborate method.
There had to be another intention behind it.
Silmare must have reached the same conclusion, which was why she’d come all this way to investigate.
Silmare gripped the bottle full of Romanil and continued speaking.
“According to this man’s account, orders don’t arrive constantly. A letter comes first through some unknown channel, and then Romanil is sent afterward.”
“Magic, then?”
The moment she asked, Kesenor was already examining the bottle.
“No. There are no traces of magic use. And there are fingerprints on it, too.”
“That’s right. A child from Lower Village brought it. When asked where it came from, the child said it was simply left in front of the house—along with a letter to be delivered here.”
“Clever of the child to bring it. It could have been ignored altogether.”
“The child was told that if the delivery went well, a reward would be left in front of the house. This man tried his best to track down the source, but it seems the other party was careful enough to avoid being found.”
If someone as capable as Silmare—someone who could even handle animals—had found it impossible, then no ordinary person could have traced it either.
“There’s no need to deliberate further.”
Kesenor rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward.
In a matter of this gravity, they had to uncover the person behind it by any means necessary.
The target was clearly a criminal, so even Agnes would have no choice but to accept what had to be done.
“I’ll probe this man’s mind through magic. He couldn’t have flown here from the Meridis Kingdom, so he must have met the person who placed the order at least once.”
The old man understood what that meant and gasped in horror, his breath quickening.
“No, please……!”
“You knew how it would be used and still manufactured and supplied it without hesitation. That alone is already a crime. Don’t bother trying to escape.”
“I only made the drug! That’s the truth!”
“You don’t know who it went to?”
“Enough, Mage. I’ve already investigated—this man truly only manufactured the drug itself.”
At Silmare’s restraining words, Agnes felt a flicker of doubt and pursued a different angle with the old man.
“Then how exactly is the drug delivered? It has to be sent after completion, doesn’t it?”
This time the answer came from Silmare as well. It seemed she had already extracted this information from the old man.
“After sending the Romanil, a letter arrives several days later. It contains instructions on where to place the finished product so it can be collected.”
“Ah! That’s why you waited. Without using magic, the only way to retrieve it would be to come in person.”
“Precisely, Agnes. Which is why we were delayed.”
Rupert, who had been listening quietly, stepped forward.
“I have a question, Silmare.”
“What is it?”
“How much could be produced from that amount of raw material? In other words, how many people could be dosed with an ‘excessive’ amount?”
“The manufacturer would know better. How many, then?”
The old man answered readily enough.
“Not many. One or two people at most…….”
“Did orders come in frequently?”
“Not particularly. There were years when none came. This year, with repeated orders coming in—that’s been rare.”
Hearing this, Agnes fell into deep thought.
“That means it’s been used continuously. When the supply runs low, another order comes in. The actual number of victims could be far greater than we think.”
Agnes paused, tilting her head in puzzlement.
“But would all this be necessary? It’s not even extremely toxic, and yet they hide away out here, obscuring every trace of their path. Is this drug really that important?”
“Agnes.”
Kesenor smiled grimly and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“If I’m not mistaken, this would be extraordinarily useful to those in power.”
“Pardon?”
“Even in small amounts, it destroys judgment, so it could serve as a truth serum. It doesn’t rely on the Magic Tower’s power, so it can be used independently. And since it doesn’t kill, it can be disposed of without drawing attention.”
“But if someone loses their sanity, wouldn’t people around them naturally find it suspicious?”
Silmare added an explanation from beside her.
“Romanil is colorless and odorless. That is, it can be mixed into ordinary water or alcohol without detection. What’s more, those addicted to it suffer from a persistent, troubling pain—and there’s only one way to ease it: continuing to consume something similar that numbs the senses.”
“Can’t painkillers solve it?”
“Perhaps if it were a narcotic. But usually, simply drinking alcohol readily available nearby is enough to ease the pain. Those around them would assume it’s addiction to drink, not Romanil.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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