This morning, our little family decided to eat together. Our father and mother were sitting next to each other while I was sitting next to Chiyuki.
The food served this morning was very troublesome. For some reason, I had a hard time eating aquatic animals that had scales or shells. Removing the meat from the small bones was enough to make me troubled, let alone animals that had hard shells. Why did I have to eat something as troublesome as this?
It tasted good.. but it was very troublesome to eat.
"You don't usually wake up early, Karl?" that question came out of my mother's mouth.
"I was just thinking about something" I replied.
That's not wrong, I was thinking about something.
Why did I come back to life? As far as I can remember, I died in an epic condition.
Is life after death possible?
That thought entered my head, sacrificing my sleep time.
"Onii-sama, do you want to take a walk with me in the park?" Chiyuki looked at me with a look full of hope.
As far as I can remember, at my current age, I am not too busy with troublesome matters. I am fed up with training that ended up being useless because I died early before carrying the title of 'Duke of Flora'.
At least, small memories and events that will happen are still in my head.
Conspiracy and betrayal to destroy the power of the 'Duke of Flora'. Those events are still etched in my memory because... I am the one who tries to solve every problem!
Our enemy is not just one person but this kingdom itself. Who would have thought that this kingdom was led by a greedy fool?
At my current age, besides taking care of my abnormal little sisterr. I need to sharpen the weapon that is currently still in the territory of the 'Duke of Flora'.
"Want to take a walk with me?" I responded to my little sister's question.
Such a terrifying powerful weapon is near me.
What kind of brother uses his little sisterr as a weapon? That's me!
If it can make me survive longer, why not use it?
I have to have a good relationship with her.
Chiyuki smiled and hummed a little song. From her expression, she looked very happy. As her older brother, I understand her current condition. She is just an innocent little sister who needs affection.
Breakfast finished without any problems.
True to my words, I started taking Chiyuki for a walk through the park where we live. I rarely paid attention to this place until our father told me about a secret escape route located in the park. I used that escape route to run away from my sister but.. I died too soon.
Yep, I know what you are thinking. I am very weak, right? What else can I do? My power in my previous life was only 'Alter Dream'. The ability to see dreams of another world is very useless in this world because of the difference in technology.
Just imagine! This world has horse-drawn carriages while the dream I saw was a horse-drawn carriage pulled without horses but small rotating irons as the driving force.
Do you think I know the meaning of that dream?
This world does not need knowledge of the power of 'Alter Dream'. Although I have made some weapons and adjusted them to the conditions of this world, they are not cheap. Finding talented people and material resources is very difficult here.
My preparation is very lacking for now.
We walked through the garden filled with purple flowers. Unintentionally, I saw a maid I knew.
"Onii-sama!!"
I felt a frightening aura next to me. Her sharp red gaze pierced my body and made the small hairs on my body stand up.
"Ah... Chiyuki.. do you know what they are doing?" realizing the sharp gaze, I tried to avert her gaze to another direction.
In front of us, a group of maids were doing something. I remember very well, those maids were royal spies who were deliberately sent to monitor our family.
A small opportunity appeared in my mind.
Changing their allegiance or using them as a bridge of false information for the kingdom.
"It seems like they are doing something, do you want to go there?" I asked.
We rushed to meet them.
In front of us was a flower that was quite familiar to me, a flower with deadly poison nested in its petals.
Ah! So they prepared these poisons here. At least, I know now.
I walked over to pick the flower and smelled its aroma. To process the poison inside, this flower must be dried and then soaked in hot water like making tea. The water solution contaminated with this flower's poison tends to be deadly but I managed to create a new variation of poison that was accidentally created.
Accidentally, I saw the flower leaves filled with a swarm of small caterpillars.
"Even though I like these flowers," I muttered softly.
Hearing my little mutter, Chiyuki then gave me a sharp gaze and the red color of her eyes changed to dark red. At that moment, my body got goosebumps. Using her charming smile, Chiyuki walked towards the flowers and then picked up the caterpillars that were attached one by one,
In her small hands, Chiyuki twisted the head of the small caterpillar until it was separated from its body then placed it on the ground to lure other caterpillars to gather from its aroma.
"This disgusting creature is destroying Onii-sama's favorite flower?"
"Know your place! You disgusting creature!"
I observed the change in Chiyuki's behavior. She looked very happy when she piled up the bodies of the small headless caterpillars.
Oh, I almost forgot that my little sister was like this.
I guess, I have to get used to her sudden change in behavior.
So scary!
[...]
This afternoon, I was at the back of the cooking room. This small room was filled with a pile of purple flowers.
Lillytium Rectrus is a beautiful but dangerous flower. There is no information about the poison of this flower recorded in the plant encyclopedia. That is because the kingdom's doctrine makes this flower the symbol of the Flora Kingdom and must be planted for every noble.
They keep this ready-to-process poison to execute someone. The poison produced by this flower is very diverse. With the right composition of the distillation process, it can produce various side effects of poison such as paralysis, shortness of breath, heart failure, and other diseases. In general, the death caused by it is foaming at the mouth but with my special composition, foaming at the mouth is an exception.
I realized this after there was a report of smuggling of this flower which was sent to a perfume distillation factory. Of course, it was an unusual act so I did a little investigation and found that there was poison in it.
They are really scary and orderly, aren't they?
Who would have thought that such a beautiful flower would be the one who brought you to the end of your life?
This time, I want to use this cursed flower to make a truth serum. Because my actions were a little out of the ordinary, the maids who were sent as spies began to show increasingly obvious movements. They were very afraid that their secret as spies would be revealed.
I already know who they are, this time I need to show them how to get information very easily.
Chiyuki who was beside me just watched me remove the flower petals using a small knife. I stripped these flowers to boil them directly. The poison content is slightly less effective but the pain it produces is very painful. Not deadly but very torturous on the body.
The truth serum that I made is very easy.
You only need to grab these flower petals.
Boil it until it becomes a blackish-purple color.
Filter the water from the flowers.
Then put it in a syringe.
One full injection of this poison is equivalent to the pain of a burn. Believe it or not, I once tested this poison on my own body. The pain was excruciating and the antidote was very simple, using boiled water from the flower's stamens and pistils.
A natural package for poison and antidote.
Very balanced, right?
"Onii-sama.. what are you doing?" Chiyuki asked me.
Should I tell her this little secret?
"I'm making an honesty serum."
"An honesty serum?" Chiyuki was a little confused by my answer.
I just nodded and accelerated the collection of the needed ingredients.
"What is the serum for, Onii-sama?"
Ah, this question. Should I answer it openly?
There's no harm in answering it, right? This is for the benefit of this family.
I then moved closer to her ear and whispered something.
"There is a royal spy here and I want to get some little information from their mouth" I whispered.
Chiyuki was a little surprised to hear my little whisper.
I could see her red eyes turning into eyes filled with darkness.
After seeing her a few times, I wasn't too surprised by the change in her eye color. It's just that this piercing aura was still very hard to hold back.
"Onii-sama, who are they?" Chiyuki's tone was a little heavier.
"…"
I don't know what my little sister is thinking but…
Something will happen if I don't hold her back.
"Do you remember the maid in the park earlier?"
Chiyuki nodded her head.
"It's them," I answered briefly.
With this short answer, Chiyuki immediately grabbed the small knife in my hand and left me.
Before she completely left my field of vision, I called out to her.
"Chiyuki? What are you going to do with that knife?"
Chiyuki stopped in her tracks. She then turned to look at me with her sweet smile.
"Of course to talk to them," she replied.
I didn't have a problem with that answer but…
That creepy smile I've ever seen reappeared.
She didn't want to talk to them!
Especially with a knife like that!
Hey! What's wrong with my little sister?
"Chiyuki..."
"Yes, Onii-sama?"
"..."
I took a deep breath before continuing my words.
"Don't kill them, we need the information in their heads" I continued.
"Understood!" Chiyuki smiled as she answered.
This short conversation ended with Chiyuki's sweet smile as she walked away leaving me. In the middle of her footsteps, a happy humming song could be heard from her mouth.
She's enjoying this!
I need them alive to insert this honesty serum into their bodies. Please don't kill them, my little sister!
Opening someone's mouth is very easy because I'm too lazy to use physical violence to break their mouths, I have to use the truth serum method to force them to open their mouths. But, if they die before I put the truth serum in, isn't it a waste?
The job sounds easy enough, right? The more they keep quiet, the more doses are used, the more they scream in pain. It's as simple as that!
Ah, am I getting out of humanity?
But, what can I do? The circumstances forced me to do it.
I once heard someone say, "Information is power".
When I had finished getting the first dose of Lilytium Rectrus flower poison, Chiyuki approached me.
I could see her hair was a little messy and the knife she was carrying had red blood stains but it was still covered with purple stains from the Lilytium Rectrus flower.
"Onii-sama.. everything has been prepared!" she said cheerfully.
"Eh?"
I was surprised to hear that.
What was prepared?
Oh, my little sister.. what have you done?
[...]