I, Reincarnate as the Leader of the Villainous Knight Order - Chapter 183: The Research Left Behind

Chapter 183: The Research Left Behind

“Whoa!? What’s wrong, Aria!? Did the Commander make you cry!?”

“Don’t say such misleading things!”

The moment I got off the carriage and Aria’s tear-swollen face was seen, Simon immediately pointed to me as the suspect.

It’s painful that I can’t completely deny it—because he’s half right.

“N-No! I was just getting advice from Commander Justin, that’s all…”

“Really? If the Commander was mean to you, tell us, okay?”

“Oh…? Even though the person herself said it wasn’t me, you still don’t trust me that much?”

When I asked Simon with a smile that hinted at anger, he suddenly panicked as if just now noticing I was there.

“We didn’t say anything, okay? It was only Simon.”

“Yeah, yeah! No way the Commander would ever make a kid cry!”

“I didn’t think that either!”

His subordinates instantly sold him out.

Their teamwork in times like this is truly impressive.

“Ah, no, that’s not what I meant! I didn’t think the Commander would do that either!? But, you know, it’s just reassuring to have someone to talk to when something happens, right? Right, Aria?!”

“Hehe, you guys really are like children. …But, thank you.”

It’s not ideal to be lumped in with these guys. But if Aria was calm enough to smile, then it’s fine.

Once we’re deep into the forest where only carriages or horses can reach, it becomes the perfect place to have private conversations.

In fact, rather than me coming up with strategies, it’s more reliable to have Arnault or Marius do it.

So, skipping over the topic of the previous Tower Master’s cause of death, I decided to share the information with my subordinates.

Since our stay here is getting longer, I can also ask them to gather intel during the times they’ve gone out drinking.

Aria’s magical tool seems to be completed with this adjustment. But I had her tell the Tower Master that it’ll still take a while.

“Um… there’s one more piece of research my master left behind.”

Just when we were about to leave after finishing the experiment, Aria spoke with a determined look.

“A new magic tool product!?”

The first to bite at that topic was Marius. As expected of a merchant’s son.

“No. Originally, it was research on whether we could take in monsters’ abilities in order to communicate with them…”

“That’s something… that could be misused in so many ways, huh.”

Arnault’s face stiffened. I felt the same.

“Was that research completed?”

“No. Gathering mana particles can be done using magic stones. But when we tried injecting it into animals, they turned into monsters. So, as a trial, we tried altering it so the mana didn’t affect the brain much, just the physical ability. But then… my master passed away in the middle of it…”

“Did you take over the research, Aria?”

When I asked, Aria’s body noticeably twitched.

“Right after my master passed away… the current Tower Master, who was the Vice Tower Master back then, saw my master’s research materials. He told me that the research left behind was proof my master had lived… and that he’d help, so I should continue it. The highest priority was this magic tool to guide monsters that he and my master had originally researched together. But I’ve been continuing the other research as well.”

Aria looked away and explained awkwardly.

She probably knows it’s dangerous research.

“So then… is that research completed?”

“Not yet. When using animals, they inevitably become monsters. But…”

“But what?”

“If you use animals that *just* became monsters, it’s easier to communicate—or rather, to guide them—with the magic tool than with ones that were monsters from the beginning. So the research has reached the point where… if we use a highly intelligent animal, a monster capable of communication might be born even without a magic tool.”

A highly intelligent animal.

The first thing that came to my mind when I heard that was humans.

But Simon was groaning and thinking hard.

“How intelligent are we talking? Smart animals, huh… like dogs?”

In this world, unless they’re scholars, people don’t really think of humans as a type of animal.

Simon’s reaction is pretty typical.

“Well, there might be dogs smarter than you out there. But forest animals and dogs aren’t that different. If we’re talking smart animals… it’d be monkeys. Assuming we’re sticking to ones in the forest.”

“Who are you calling dumber than a dog!? …So, are there animals smarter than monkeys somewhere else? Wolves… monkeys are smarter than them, right?”

Though he looked annoyed, he seemed curious about the answer.

“Humans.”

When I answered, Aria looked at me with a stern face.

She’d probably already reached that conclusion herself.

But if animals can become monsters, then humans probably can too.

And that’s exactly why she’d hit a wall—because you can’t run experiments like that.

“When I last reported the experiment progress to the Tower Master, he joked about how it’d be nice to secretly use death-row prisoners no one would miss. He laughed right after saying it was just a joke, though…”

“Ehh? But you’re using animals for the experiment, right? Then there’s no way you’d use people, right?”

“It’s not widely known, but humans—or more accurately, demi-humans like dwarves—are considered a type of animal too.”

“Wait, so if you experiment on humans, they could end up turning into monsters!? No way, that can’t be… right?”

Simon laughed at first, not believing it.

But when he saw Aria still wearing a serious expression, his own face tensed up.