"Poisons made from those plants are... rotten. Ugh, it doesn't even taste like poison. It doesn't have an effect at all. Don't you ever make a poison again", ani ni Zaggy nang ibuga niya ang ginawa kong lason para sakaniya.
"Yes. Yes, Your Majesty. Ang arte mo po. Hinding-hindi na ako gagawa ng lason. Leche ka!"These past few days, ilang beses na akong pumupuslit sa greenhouse ng academy.
There's a secret room that was used to be a room for creating potions beside the greenhouse. Creating potions was banned for years so it is currently unoccupied. Deserted actually.
I know this place because the novel mentioned it when Charlotte accidentally passed by it.
I didn't attend the book club for days so that I can concoct poisons to satisfy the damn snake's thirst. I thought this will solve my poison problem but it turns out my spirit guardian has a picky palate.
"I don't have a picky palate. It's just that the poison you made was not that effective. It only paralyzes you for a minute. What I want is a strong and effective poison. A deadly poison to be exact. The stronger the poison is, the tastier", Zaggy explained.
"Now, where do I get such deadly poison?", humiga ako sa higaan ko at tumabi naman saakin si Zaggy.
Hindi ko alam kung paano pero nakatihaya sa tabi ko si Zaggy. Nakatitig lang kami sa kisame.
"There's no choice but we will sneak out tomorrow".
"Excellent. It's about time you rebel. I hope next time we go out we destroy the world", hindi ko nalang pinansin yung ibang sinabi ni Zaggy.
"Hate to burst your bubble but we will sneak out tomorrow to visit the black market. Our only option now is to go out and buy high-quality poison illegally so that you can shut up for a few days".
"Aren't you a doll".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today is our rest day. I have no classes but students here are still not allowed to go outside the academy and our dorm building. There's a policy that we can only go outside once a month and I'm in no mood to follow that rule.
"Letty, please get me a commoner's dress and a robe".
"Yes, milady", buti nalang walang tanong-tanong si Letty at tinulungan akong magbihis.
"Letty, don't accept any visitor for the whole day. I will be going out and don't tell this to anyone, okay? I will give you a bonus", sabi ko nalang na sinang-ayunan naman ni Letty. "Once we depart, you can have a rest".
"Thank you, milady. Please be careful".
Pagkapasok ni Letty sa kwarto niya ay agad na kumuha ako ng mga perang nakatago sa ilalim ng higaan ko. "Zaggy, have you checked outside? Remember, we need to leave discreetly or I'm gonna get penalized for disobeying the rules. Since when I followed the rules? I have my own rules".
"You want to leave without anyone seeing you, but you're kinda noisy now".
"Ssshhh"
It's a good thing that Zaggy knows a secret passage to the plaza. Atlast, nagkaroon ng pakinabang yung pagiging lakwatsero niya.
Of course, it wasn't easy. May mga times na may makakasalubong kami ay agad na hinahagis ko si Zaggy para takutin sila. Well, it works... for a while. Ilang oras din ang inabot bago kami nakalabas at nakalayo sa academy. There were a lot of knights stationed inside kaya kung anu-anong paggapang ang ginawa ko hindi lang ako mahuli.
The things I do for this snake.
Pagkarating namin sa plaza ay inayos ko ang suot ko. Buti nalang ay nagpa-packed ako kay Letty ng commoner's dress at robe. As expected I will be needing this. Mahirap na baka may makakilala saakin or makahalata na I'm a noble from a prominent family. Itinago ko rin si Zaggy sa may bandang leeg ko dahil panigurado makakakuha nanaman ako ng atensiyon.
Napalibot ako ng tingin sa plaza. So this is the famous Luminus Square. It's very lively and peaceful or is it because we are at the center of the plaza. Maraming mga nagtitinda ng mga street foods at ang naka-agaw talaga ng pansin ko ay ang mga barbeque nila dito. It's been a while since I ate BBQ. I feel like I'm drooling. May candy apple pa sila. Wait? Is that cotton candy?
"Hey!"
Bumalik lang ako sa wisyo nang marinig ko si Zaggy. "Sorry naman".
"Do you even know where to head to?"
"Of course. The novel mentioned that there is a store here that sells poisons secretly", actually book-Alexandria is the one who bought the poison when she tried to poison Charlotte.
At heto ako ngayon, pupunta rin sa store na iyon para bumili ng lason. Ang pinagkaiba lang ay bibili ako para sa alaga kong ahas. "Are you sure this is the right way? We've been walking for a while now"
"Yes, I am sure", I said with confidence while walking on a narrow street. "This is actually a shortcut". "Let me guess, the novel mentioned this, right?"
"Right".
The more I looked at this shortcut, isn't this a place where you got mugged? Napatigil ako sa paglalakad. Ngayon ko lang napansin, bakit parang ang haba ng eskinita na ito? No one would rob me here, right? Napatingin ako sa likuran ko.
Clear! There's no one.
"LOOK WHAT WE HAVE HERE"
Hmm?
"Master, it is like what you said. This is a place for getting mugged", ani ni Zaggy na nakatago pa rin sa loob ng hood ko.
"Take out all of your money, hoodie", there are three ugly men in front of me asking me to give my money. Like hell, I will.
"Wow. This is really like the novel. Even the dialogue is the same".
"Is this really the time to think about that? Can I kill them?"
"While I'm still saying it nicely, take out all the money and get lost".
"So typical".
"What?"
"Also, why do you always say "While I'm still saying it nicely" when you are trying to rob me? Is "Give me your money" a good thing to say?"
"Preach, master. Preach". Shut up, Zaggy.
"This bitch!" gangster 1.
//slapped//
Yep, I just slapped the man who called me a bitch.
"You crazy woman! What'd you just did now?".
Nang akmang hahawakan nila ako ay agad akong umiwas. This is where I can use my Qi Manipulation training for. I gather my qi energy and emit it out of my body.
"What the! This bitch is crazy!
One of the perks I learned from Qi Manipulation is emitting an aura. Right now, these three goons are seeing a black aura around me.
"You have an interesting talent there, master. As expected of my contractor", komento ni Zaggy. Tumingin tingin ako ulit sa paligid. There are no other people. Walang makakakita saakin. "Zaggy, you can do anything to them but you can't kill and eat them. Well, not for now", sabi ko kay Zaggy tsaka ko siya ibinaba ang hoodie ko.
"As you wish".
"Shit! It's a poisonous snake!"
"She's a snake tamer. Help!"
Sigaw nila. Zaggy starts strangling the man who I slapped earlier then loses consciousness. He then started clinging to the other man before he can escape.
Zaggy's body is as hard as a rock. The more he eats raw meat the more his body gets sturdy.
"Zaggy, makes sure not to bite them", ani ko tsaka sumandal sa tabi habang hinihintay na matapos si Zaggy sa pagsakal sa tatlo.
"Well, that's a waste of time", kinuha ko si Zaggy tsaka ko itinago sa aking robe. Itinaas ko ulit ang hood ko tsaka naglakad at nilampasan yung tatlong walang malay. "No one saw us, right?"
"I think so".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well, isn't that interesting..."
"Ken, dispose the bodies".
"Understood, master".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ilang minuto lang ay nakarating na kami sa black market. I know that I should be nervous, there are a lot of suspicious people around here but why am I feeling excited? Tumigil ako sa isang lumang shop.
"Smile Malice", I read the sign. "What a cute name for a shop that sells poisons". Pumasok ako at sinalubong naman ako nang masangsang na amoy.
"I can smell it. This is the place. I smell a lot of poisons here", ani ni Zaggy.
"Hello? Is anybody here? Hello--AAaaahh", nagulat ako dahil yung akala kong statue ay biglang gumalaw. Malay ko ba na ito yung tindera. "Hello, I'm looking for poison".
"Is there a specific poison you are looking for?".
"Uhh--"
"I have here the nightshade, powdered greycap, we also have animal and insects venoms such as the basilisk and manticore. These are common poisons, they work slowly but it will cause the victim to die in slow agony".
That sounds scary and painful. "How much is it?"
"10 silver coins per bottle. It may be common poisons but they are hard to gather".
"I'll take 5 bottles each of those you mentioned. What else do you have there?".
"I have two rare poison here. The strangler, this poison is made from a plant found only in Jade Sea. It kills by closing the windpipe and therefore suffocating its victims. This poison was used to kill the 15th Emperor of Kershian. I also have the Tears of Lys. It is an odorless and colorless poison that is sometimes mistakenly taken as water. It cost 100 silver coins per bottle".
"Hey Zaggy, are you sure about these poisons?"
"Yes and I'm excited to taste them all".
"Okay, then add two bottles each, and can you put them here. I brought my bag".
Is it just me or is she not suspicious of me? I mean I'm buying a bunch of poison. I look like I'm going to have a poisoning spree.
"You don't have to worry, my dear customer. All transaction made here are confidential and the buyers information are protected. Whatever the transaction made here, rest assured that we will not hold it against you".
"That's very assuring. In that case, you can expect me to be back after two weeks".
"Thank you for your patronage. I actually have a high-actually poison here. It cost 1 gold coin per bottle. This affects the victims instant death when drank. It's called the Heart's Bane. It's the rarest".
1 gold? "Add two bottles of heart's bane".
"It will be 2 gold coins and 600 silver coins". Kinuha ko yung pitaka ko at naglapag ng 5 gold coins. "Keep the change". I just love saying that! This is what a rich kid feels like pero sa lahat ng isha-shopping ko, poison pa.
Inabot niya saakin yung bag tsaka ako lumabas ng shop. Buti nalang medyo magaan but I can hear the clinking inside the bag.
"Now that we bought the poisons the real challenge here is to sneak in inside the dorm building".
"That's easy".
"How?"
"I'll tell once we get out here and we're infront of the dorm building".
"I'll trust you on that".
Lakad-takbo na ang ginawa ko makaalis lang sa black market. Pagkarating ko sa eskinita na dinaanan ko kanina, nagulat ako dahil wala na doon yung tatlong lalaking nangharang saakin. Mukhang nagkamalay na sila.
Dahil mas pamilyar na ako sa mga dinaanan ko kanina mas mabilis na akong nakabalik sa secret passage na dinaanan ko kanina. "Zaggy? Now is the best time to tell the easy way in"
"Prick your hand".
"Pardon?"
"Prick your hand. I'll explain it to you later, just do it". Kahit nagdadalawang isip ako sa inuutos ni Zaggy, inalis ko ang isang hikaw ko at tinusok ang hintuturo ko hanggang sa may lumabas na dugo. "Now what?"
"Now say... come forth, Solgor".
Okay? "Come forth, Solgor?", pagkasabi ko ng Solgor yung dugo na lumabas sa hintuturo ko ay biglang naging itim na usok hanggang sa nag-form ito na maliit na paniki na may pulang mata. "What the f*ck?".
"This is Solgor, one of my 33 Legions. He has the power of invisibility. You're welcome".
Ilang minuto rin akong nag-process hanggang sa maalala ko yung mga paggapang-gapang ko hindi lang mahuli ng mga bantay. Kinuha ko si Zaggy na nasa leeg ko at sinakal-sakal.
"Letchugas ka! May power ka naman palang ganito pinagapang gapang mo pa ako! Did you do this on purpose?".
"Hahahaha... It was fun watching you crawling earlier".
"We will have a long talk later". So, how this work? "Hello Solgor", bati ko pero lumipad lang ito sa balikat ko. A dark smoke started enveloping us.
"Now we can enter and walk normally".
Seriously? Lumakad ako ng normal, even infront of the knights. I entered the dorm building with no problem. Yung mga nasasalubong ko ay walang pakialam. They really can't see me. Pumasok na ako sa kwarto ko. "You're the best, Solgor!", ani ko. Nawala naman yung dark smoke na bumabalot saakin kanina. I patted Solgor's head na mukhang nagustuhan naman niya.
"You can go back now, Solgor", pagkasabi ni Zaggy ay biglang nawala si Solgor. Inilagay ko ang bag na punong-puno ng poison sa ilalim ng higaan ko.
"Letty, could you prepare me a bath", utos ko kay Letty na agad naman niya ginawa.
"Zaggy, we will have a long talk after I take a bath".
I just discovered something about Zaggy today.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A man in a dark cloak entered the room. Not even a single candle is lit up. It's dark but this not bother the man at all. It was like he was used to the darkness and already memorized all the corners of his office. A pile of papers scattered everywhere, even so, he sat on his chair and lowered the hood of his cloak.
"Brandon", he called his underling. A man wearing a brown cloak entered the room. "I'm here, master".
"Bring me all the information about Lady Alexandria Eveque", he commanded.
"Understood, master. I have received your order", Brandon left the room leaving his master inside the darkroom.
The man brushed his light brown hair up using his right hand and let out a smirk remembering the lady she saw earlier.
"Alexandria Eveque, huh?", piercing golden eyes can be seen inside the darkroom.
And by that, the very most person Alexandria didn't want to meet is now intrigued about her.
Daryl Louet, the prince from a fallen country and the master of the Assassin Guild has entered Alexandria's world without her knowing.