Chapter 552: The Wine of Eternity and the Tears of Time
Freya’s words immediately changed the expressions of Eivass and Sherlock. They exchanged a look, confirming something in their hearts.
“—That’s more than just broken!” Master Janis was the most flustered person on the scene, as if the sky had fallen. “I have to notify His Majesty the Pope immediately… This is too dangerous! Why didn’t you tell me you were making something so dangerous?”
“I didn’t tell anyone, that’s the safest way,” Freya insisted. “Telling anyone would risk leaking information.”
But now, her words seemed somewhat weak. After all, if she truly hadn’t told anyone, how could this bottle of “Tears of Time” have vanished into thin air? Precisely stealing a drug being synthesized by a Fifth Tier Extraordinary, something they cared deeply about, carried considerable risk. It was comparable to stealing a dragon’s egg from a mother dragon guarding her nest. Unless the other party had a very specific target and knew its extremely high value, they wouldn’t venture into such danger.
“No, I have to go see Cardinal Loki,” Master Janis still looked panicked. “I need to explain to him what an important thing you’ve lost and ask him to help you find it! He monitors the entire Church every day; now is the time to use him!”
Upon hearing this, Eivass and Sherlock exchanged another look. Eivass immediately interjected, “We can wait, Master Janis.”
Sherlock nodded in agreement. Seeing their reactions, Master Janis immediately realized, “This matter can’t be spoken of? Or… Cardinal Loki is problematic?”
“It’s hard to say,” Eivass shook his head seriously. “We can’t be absolutely certain.”
“If you don’t have 100% certainty, you must leave room for maneuver. Even if you’re 95% sure, the remaining 5% could still reverse things,” Sherlock tapped the ground with his cane, his expression solemn. “Because it’s entirely possible this is a trap, designed to lure those who lack patience.”
“—In other words, Cardinal Loki is indeed suspicious?” Master Janis keenly captured the implication from Eivass and Sherlock’s attitudes. “No wonder… Gloria… Controlled Fire…” She immediately connected this to Gloria’s recent death. Gloria Blue Rose, whose condition had improved months ago, now saw her illness suddenly worsen, leading her to commit suicide before Amber Compaction after killing someone.
Was it possible that “Tears of Time” had taken effect on her? If Freya truly hadn’t told anyone, then perhaps only Cardinal Loki knew about this—just as Master Janis had said, Cardinal Loki constantly monitored the entire Church. If he had the ability to find the thief who broke into Freya’s laboratory, then he could also carry out a theft undetected. As long as he knew what this potion was for.
—Much like how a corpse was silently placed in Eivass’s room.
“Your ‘one-third,’ how many people can it be used for?” Master Janis suddenly thought of something and turned to ask.
Freya’s expression was somewhat grim. She also realized that a huge problem had arisen on her end, her voice growing weak and soft. “If it takes effect slowly, there’s enough for about a dozen people. It only takes three drops to make a healthy elf suffer from Amber Compaction and crystallize in a short period.”
“Then if,” Eivass suddenly interjected, “the other party already has Amber Compaction Syndrome, could the dosage be reduced accordingly?”
“That’s right,” Freya nodded. She paused, taking a sharp breath. Considering the purpose of “Controlled Fire,” she suddenly understood what Eivass was implying.
“Then, the deceased involved in this matter might be more than just those dozen or so people,” Eivass said slowly. “Let’s assume—just for the sake of assumption. Let’s assume Gloria’s death is related to it. Then this matter should at least be related to Controlled Fire, and likely related to Cardinal Loki. So, if ‘Tears of Time’ falls into the hands of extreme Controlled Fire adherents, what would happen?”
“—A catalyst for events,” Sherlock answered crisply. Deep blue flames ignited in his pupils, a sign of his intense thought and resonance with the Path of Wisdom. “Rather than making healthy elves sick, it’s more useful for causing elves with existing Amber Compaction to die rapidly. In other words, it’s an ‘execution drug.’ Just like Gloria, it rapidly shortens their illness duration… and in this process, it might cause special psychological illnesses, extreme mental states, or even hallucinations—”
As Sherlock spoke, he quickly walked up to Freya. “How did you determine it could cause Amber Compaction in elves?”
“Theoretical analysis… Do you want to hear it from the beginning?”
“No need. So, you haven’t conducted human trials yet?”
“…What would I use for experiments?” Freya was somewhat helpless.
“Then you should explain the theory,” Sherlock readily agreed. “I don’t understand Alchemy very well; please explain it so I can understand.”
Although Freya disliked this somewhat presumptuous man, she now clearly recognized Sherlock’s reliability and knew she was in trouble. Therefore, she explained to Sherlock very seriously, “This goes back to elven longevity. Through analyzing elven blood samples and the blood of the Giant Tree, I discovered that elves’ long lifespans are actually unnatural. Once an elf’s body tissue leaves the main body, the rate of cell aging increases significantly, causing parameters of physiological samples to significantly deviate from expectations—”
“I think I understand. But is there a more precise way to put it?” Sherlock pondered for a moment and confirmed.
Freya replied directly, “Simply put, elves’ lifespans should be similar to humans’. They are indeed longer, but definitely not more than twice that of humans.”
“—What?” Hearing this, the other three were greatly shocked. Janis’s eyes widened, “You mean…?” Janis had suffered a series of major blows these past few days, with one shocking piece of news after another.
“That’s right. As it stands now… the elves’ immortality, Amber Compaction, and lack of desire are all inherited gifts acquired postnatally,” Freya nodded, confirming, “Essentially, it’s equivalent to a Gryphon being promoted from an ordinary extraordinary creature by a Silver Crown Dragon; or the King of the Wild Hunt being promoted by a Great Philosopher. Elven physical parameters are absolutely insufficient to support them living so long and maintaining such youthful states. And you all understand… anything involving abnormal lifespan extension falls within the domain of the Twilight Path. That’s right, this gift comes from the Amber Heavenly Envoy. The popular ‘Longevity Potions’ on the market are all based on research into this phenomenon—they share the same origin as the research for ‘Wine of Eternity’.”
—This was practically heretical research. It meant that elves were not actually long-lived, directly negating their nobility. According to Freya’s research, elves were essentially equivalent to humans who automatically took a longevity potion every year after birth. This was why half-elves could only inherit a very small portion of the elves’ long lifespan, and if the bloodline was further diluted, it had almost no effect on lifespan.
Even Eivass had never heard such outlandish knowledge.
…No, no, that’s not right. Eivass’s eyes widened slightly. He seemed to recall hearing something similar. After Janis painted a magic painting with fragments of the Amber Heavenly Envoy and went mad, the Church’s Amber Compaction Syndrome was cured. Thus, they believed Amber Compaction was a curse from the Amber Heavenly Envoy. However, afterward, the Church experienced a strange “abnormal aging phenomenon,” suspected to be a sequela from the forced cure of Amber Compaction Syndrome in this manner. But this part of the story only had a beginning, with no continuation yet.
But what if… it wasn’t a disease? As the Amber Heavenly Envoy’s power receded, the elves’ long lifespans began to decline.
—Returning them to being short-lived beings.
Returning them to their true forms. But elven culture had adapted to longevity, accustomed to the reckless consumption of lifespan. Their calmness, placidity, composure, and justice all stemmed from “lack of urgency.” And if elves realized their lifespans were about to decline, it would bring unimaginable chaos… even the reversal of the entire race’s stance was possible. This would no longer be a simple sequela but the beginning of the entire race’s decay. This was the true “Disaster of the Tree and Amber.”
(End of this Chapter)
