The Vermillion Duchy is not only famous for its extraordinary military prowess, it is also the continent's leader in supplying alchemic ingredients. Most of them are grown in the Ducal Garden and their annual produce is quite large and it does not matter if only some few plants or flowers are missing in the garden. The Duchy is heavily guarded by the elites of the Vermilion Army and even servants are interrogated before they are employed in the Duchy.
There have been a few cases of robberies in the past and all of them had ended with their heads on a pike. Some years ago an organization was wiped out from the world as it had a 'minor' hand in these robberies. For safety measures the herbs are engraved with a genetic magic spell which alert the Ducal house if the herbs are taken out of the Duchy without explicit permission.
I entered the garden by crawling inside the water inlet and proceeded to my secret stash. I have 'collected' the herbs in the garden by taking two to three herbs per night over the course of two years. I had hidden them in a safe inside a chest in the garden. Whenever I was caught I would tell the guards that I was lost and they would take me to my quarters. To the ducal guards I was only a small child who have spend their childhood inside the duchy with no sense of direction.
I do have a lesser sense of direction but it is not so severe that I cannot memorise routes. Over the years I have collected many herbs using this strategy and today would be the day of result. I opened the stash and took out every herb and began to ingest each and every one of them. This caused various effects to my body as I became poisoned, healed, staggered, stunned, paralyzed and all kinds of alchemical effects dawned upon me. The side effects were so severe that I passed out.
Luckily the patrolling officers were not able to spot me due to denser foliage. I woke up after 3 hours and found many changes in my body. I then checked my slate for verification. A new skill was added in my skill section.
[Skill] Alchemical Body
- Can identify properties while ingesting herbs.
- Immunity(2) to poisons.
- Can store potion affects upto 5 times.
- 5x experience boost.
The changes were very satisfying to me. Now I can execute the next phase of my plan. I then plucked some alchemical herbs from the garden and proceeded to the ducal house. I arrived at the front of classroom and entered the room. I slipped the herbs inside teacher's table and escaped from the classroom.
Next morning, the ducal house was in shambles as the guards had discovered the chest as well as the missing herbs in the garden. The fuss was so big that the duke himself took command of the guards and searched every room for the missing herbs. Soon the guards found the herbs in the teacher's desk and he was fired from his position with a swollen face. This felt satisfying as I had finally taken revenge for that bastard's bullying and abusing of power.