Before he knew it, it was late at night.
When Zorn returned to the second floor, the old butler, Glangk, was waiting at his bedroom door.
"After Mr. Bevis left through the back door, I went to the front door to find two patrol officers waiting."
"They didn't try to force their way in."
"After that, I did as you instructed. The officers were quite happy and expressed their gratitude for your generosity."
After Glangk finished, Zorn didn't hide the details, telling him the basics about the stocks and the robbers.
Of course, he maintained the story about "my Transcendent friend."
Though convinced, Glangk sighed and blamed himself.
"If… if only I'd been more careful. Perhaps those dangerous fugitives would never have found us."
"It's not your fault, Uncle Glangk," Zorn said gently.
"Perhaps this is the curse of the sea."
"We've reaped a great fortune, so we must also bear a great price, mustn't we?"
"Fortunately… this time, they were the ones who paid the price—with their lives."
Glangk looked like he wanted to say something, but he held his tongue.
He glanced toward Zorn's bedroom, then lowered his voice.
"Vanessa is a good girl."
He didn't ask what had become of the two bodies.
Judging from the events of the past few days, it was clear that Young Master Zorn, having come into contact with that Mysterious Power, could handle such things himself.
Young Master Zorn was no longer the same person he had been.
He was confident and decisive.
This was clearly the work of that mysterious and powerful Extraordinary Power.
...
Back in his bedroom, a gas lamp cast an orange-yellow glow, illuminating the entire room.
Glangk had thoughtfully covered the bloodstains on the floor with a rug; he would clean it properly in the morning.
'It really is easier to get things done as a noble!'
Zorn opened a window, letting the lingering scent of incense and the faint smell of blood dissipate.
He gazed out at the streets, manors, villas, and castles of the wealthy district—symbols of status, wealth, position, and power—and sighed to himself.
'If this were an ordinary middle-class family, the patrolmen and constables would have already surrounded the house by now.'
'They'd even smash down the doors and windows. They wouldn't ignore a single gunshot.'
'After all, firearms are controlled items. You need a permit to own one.'
'And a bust like that would be a feather in their cap.'
'But for a noble with a private manor, a castle… those patrolmen and constables wouldn't dare to simply barge in.'
Walking to the foot of the bed, Zorn looked up.
The maid, Vanessa, was lying on his bed, fast asleep.
Her cheeks were flushed and glowing, like a delicious fruit, ripe and ready for picking.
After studying her for a moment, Zorn walked around the carved wooden bed and opened the door.
He intended to go to the study to read, to mull over the Extraordinary Potions that could make him money.
Different herbs and materials had different properties, which naturally meant the formulas would vary slightly.
He needed to figure out the details as soon as possible.
As for the readily available prize that was the maid Vanessa, he had no intention of "picking" her just yet.
Vanessa's ultimate fate was still undecided.
Right now, the dazed and ignorant young woman had no idea what she was facing. In other words, she wasn't ready.
If he forced her into a position she wasn't ready for, Zorn himself would be the one to ultimately pay the price.
Zorn didn't want to bury a bullet with his own hands, only to have it hit him between the eyes years later.
...
「Early morning.」
Zorn pushed open the window and took a deep breath of the fresh morning air, tinged with mist.
In the air hung an extremely faint odor, one that only those with an exceptionally keen sense of smell—and Transcendents—could detect.
It was the smell of thick, black smoke belching from the towering smokestacks of the Steam Factories.
The Western and South Suburbs were home to countless Steam Factories that devoured massive quantities of coal and raw materials before spitting out finished goods.
These large-scale industrial Steam Factories were the very foundation of Ogrande City's prosperity.
Fortunately, it was currently summer.
Ogrande City, located in a subtropical monsoon climate zone, enjoyed the warm, humid monsoons from the ocean, which blew the city's smog inland.
Once winter arrived, however, the situation would reverse.
The northwestern arctic storms would act like a terrifying Demon's hand, trapping the thick, toxic smog over Ogrande City, grabbing every citizen by the throat and suffocating them.
Every winter in the past, Baron Leon would take Zorn to Einon Plantation to escape the dreaded winter smog.
It was a massive castle plantation, once the primary source of income for the Coric Clan.
But now, it was plagued by a mysterious mist and the Confused who dwelled within it.
Fortunately, Zorn knew the mist would recede in a year or two.
When that time came, the fertile plantation would flourish once more.
'Even after only napping for two or three hours, I still feel completely refreshed. This must be the constitution of a Transcendent.'
'And what's more… after that battle and the sacrifice, my Fighting Master Essence is settling, and my Spirituality is growing. At this rate, I'll be able to advance to a Level Two Fighting Master in just a few months.'
Stretching, Zorn looked out at Ogrande City—a place brimming with wealth, power, and hidden Extraordinary Power—and began his day's work.
Today was Friday.
All of Zorn's classes were for self-study, so he didn't need to go to the school.
During breakfast, Vanessa's gaze upon Zorn was a mixture of shyness and adoration.
Having woken up in the young master's bed to the crisp sound of birdsong, she already believed she had done what was expected of her.
The morning passed quietly, filled only with the rustle of textbook pages turning.
As noon approached, Zorn finished his studies and closed his eyes for a short rest.
'Since becoming a Transcendent, both my memory and comprehension have improved significantly.'
'And this is just from the Fighting Master Sequence, which isn't even skilled in Spiritual matters. Once I complete the legacy of the Evil Spirit Wizard, the effects will be even more astonishing.'
'At the same time…'
Information about the few Extraordinary Potions he had been mulling over recently surfaced in Zorn's mind.
Holy Healing - Micro-Light Fluorescent Agent
This was the first Extraordinary Potion Zorn planned to mass-produce.
The potion had powerful healing effects, even for Transcendents.
If Zorn had possessed a Holy Healing - Micro-Light Fluorescent Agent, his previous injuries would have healed completely in less than a single night.
Such was the power of an Extraordinary Potion.
Making money from the potions was just one aspect.
More importantly, owning his own Steam Factory and having a large number of workers in his employ perfectly aligned with the characteristics of 'Slavery' and 'Exploitation'.
Therefore, every factory would become a source of power for an Evil Spirit.
They would be fertile breeding grounds for an Evil God.
These factories would also serve as the perfect camouflage for an Evil God's power.
And this was precisely what Zorn, as an Evil Spirit, desperately needed.
As his power grew, he would need more and more powerful Steam Factories to mask his presence.
Every Steam Factory where 'Exploitation' existed would breed elements like suffering, Calamity, rage, Death, and hatred.
Some particularly ruthless capitalist factories might even give birth to vengeful phantoms, Evil Spirits, and the like.
"Every capitalist is a potential Evil God!"
This was a famous, widely circulated line from the *Steam Daily*, written by a renowned author in a scathing exposé on the dark underbelly of the Steam Factories.
The renowned author who exposed these secrets, however, was later found dead from suicide—after being shot eight times in the back.
'For me, this means I only have to provide slightly better benefits for my workers and exploit them a little less.'
'Then… the big capitalists, the Steam Factory Owners, will become a wall standing between the world and the Evil God.'
The Holy Healing - Micro-Light Fluorescent Agent was an excellent entry point.
The problem was, he couldn't find a key ingredient, Purple Blood Fluorescent Grass, among his current materials.
Of course, Zorn knew exactly where to find Purple Blood Fluorescent Grass.
It could be found deep within the Saint Jagen Misty Highland Valley, in a region connected to legends about Witches.
'It seems…'
Zorn stood and stretched his stiff body.
'I'll have to negotiate with the Spirit Witch Lady.'
'After all… he's a Bishop in the High Mountain Witch sect.'