Forty pairs would be the amount to empty all the socks available. Unless this person is a giant, there’s no need for such a quantity of socks. Surely, they intend to circulate a large amount of poisoned money at once.

“Forty pairs! Of course, it’s possible. Just a moment.”

Meanwhile, the woman took out a bunch of coins from her pocket.

My gaze was drawn to her hand. She was wearing very thick leather gloves.

Look at this. It must be her.

“Do you have silver coins? I don’t really like small change, kid.”

I glanced at her to confirm one last time.

“Isn’t a gold coin better? It’s more convenient for business, right?”

“But what do I do? I only have gold coins. You don’t need small change, so take it.”

The woman picked up a gold coin and brought it over my hand. However, before placing it in my hand, her hand paused for a moment.
“However, you’re wearing gloves while working.”

Of course. Is there a chance I’ll get poisoned and die while catching the culprit?

“I have severe burn scars on my hands. When there are no customers, I quickly take them off because it feels stuffy, but it’s a bit embarrassing to show them to customers.”

“I see.”

For some reason, the woman seemed uneasy.

However, if she is really trying to circulate money with poison, I won’t give up the purchase just because I wore gloves. Once poison is on the money, it’s bound to spread everywhere somehow.

My hand was covered with shining coins. I grinned widely.

“Wait a moment, the paper bag.”

I turned around and extended the end of my sentence like singing a song. I received a paper bag from Edrish and handed over the coins at the same time. While I was buying time, Edrish would check if the money was contaminated.

“I’ll wrap it up for you right away. Now, one pair, two pairs, three pairs…”

“Could you please hurry?”

“Oh yes, let’s do that. Wait a moment. How many did I count? Oh dear, I have to start over. Haha, I must count again from the beginning. I mustn’t miss even one!”

I poured out the socks onto the stall again. The woman’s eyes wrinkled, but whether she liked it or not, I slowly counted them again, one by one.

Edrish, quickly!

“Thirty… ah, forty…”

Before the last number finished, the woman snatched the paper bag from my hand. The woman, who had been smiling a moment ago, now looked visibly uncomfortable.

“Is that okay? I’m busy, so that’s it.”

The woman turned around quickly. At that moment, Edrish whispered in my ear.

“She changed.”

Meanwhile, the silverware she showed us had turned black, and the surface seemed to be on the verge of crumbling. It was more poisonous than what I saw in the spring, not even comparable.

If it had touched my skin directly, I would have died instantly. In reality, using this method, she led numerous people to their deaths…

“We have to follow her immediately. Clear out her base.”

Following her was not that difficult. The woman was as defenseless as someone who didn’t even think that someone might be following her.

She entered an ordinary building, changed into loose men’s clothes, and climbed onto the horse tied up in front. A few knights followed her, and we approached the building.

I looked through the window, but there was no sign of life.

Edrish, as wary as before, used his shoulders to blast open the door.

“Wow…”

I applauded silently, amazed. Isn’t there a door-blasting competition somewhere? I might as well ask to hold one when I become a king. The first prize is practically already secured.

Inside, it looked like an ordinary home with a sofa, bed, and neatly stacked dishes in the kitchen. However, upon closer inspection, every surface was covered with a layer of white dust. It seemed quite some time had passed since someone had lived there.

And crucially, the smell wafting through the air was definitely not that of a lived-in house.
My face involuntarily frowned. Is it the smell of snake venom?

Edrish took out two hoods and handed one to me. We covered our noses and searched for the source of the poison.

Not long after, we found a large container filled with suspicious black liquid at the bottom of the kitchen.

The silverware turned black before even touching the surface of the liquid.

“So much poison. It seems they didn’t prepare this amount in just a day or two.”

“It looks like they’ve been prepared for a long time. If all of this had leaked, our prepared antidote would have been useless.”

Carefully using a ladle from the kitchen to flip the inside, numerous coins came out along with the poison.

“Now what do we do with this? Where should we dispose of it?”

“No, there might be more poison besides this. If we throw this away and bring in new poison, it will be the same.”

I quickly looked around.

“Then let’s make fake poison. After all, they also wear gloves and touch the coins. Let them think that they are spreading poison for a while.”

“That’s a good idea.”

Edrish and I carefully poured the snake venom into another place. The poison with a high viscosity gathered stickily. Although it was just a liquid, I felt the aura of death in its thick and sticky appearance.

I immediately began making fake poison. I mixed black dye, hastily obtained, with potato starch. When I boiled it for a while, it looked quite similar to snake venom. Please be deceived.

Leaving the original liquid as it was with the coins, we stealthily carried the real snake venom and got out.

Breathing in the clear air without the smell of poison, it felt like my lungs were letting out a sigh of relief.

Of course, the poison still filled our hands.

“Edrish, but how do we dispose of this poison? Last time, when we threw it on the ground, all the grass in the area died. So, pouring it into the water seems dangerous, and burning it would be similarly risky…”

Edrish patted my head gently.

“Why throw away such a good weapon?”

Edrish raised the corners of his mouth with a sly smile.

…Ah!