I can evolve everything

"Raine, what's wrong?" Ella noticed that Raine's expression was a bit off and nudged him with her elbow. "You look even worse than those adventurers."

Renn did not answer.

His gaze was fixed on the remaining half-cup of medicine in Harold's hand.

Just now, as Harold turned to feed the last swordsman his medicine, the medicine cup swayed slightly under the light.

Ryan subconsciously focused his attention.

hum-

The light in their field of vision distorted here. Lines of characters appeared beside the cup of medicine.

[Slow-acting psychotropic agent (chronic poison)]

[Description: A slow-acting poison made with an extremely sophisticated technique, difficult to detect. It does have a calming effect because it numbs the nerves.]

[Characteristics: The drinker will fall into a deep coma, and their metabolism will drop to a minimum.]

The spores of the Shadow Mushroom slowly erode the user's will and memory, inhibiting brain activity. With prolonged use, victims will gradually lose themselves in their sleep.

Raine's pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpoints.

This is not a tranquilizer, but some kind of slow-acting poison!

He shook his head and looked up at the adventurers on the hospital beds.

He had thought that the tranquility was a sign of the medicine's effectiveness, but now he realized that it was anything but tranquil.

Although the female mage had her eyes closed, her face, which was originally just pale, was now strangely steady, her breathing so steady it didn't seem like that of a living person.

Gareth, the burly man, had his eyes open.

There was no light in his eyes. Even as Harold was cleaning the inflamed, festering wound on his broken leg and even using tweezers to remove bone fragments, he didn't even flinch.

It was as if that leg wasn't even part of his body.

"This medicine works really fast."

Harold straightened up and wiped the blood off his hands.

He turned around and looked at Ryan and Ella, a kind smile spreading across his wrinkled face.

"Look how soundly they are sleeping. There is no pain, no fear."

The old man's voice echoed in the closed room, but to Raine it sounded somewhat eerie.

"They're so badly injured, they'll probably need to rest here for ten days to two weeks. But that's alright, I'll take care of them myself until they're fully recovered."

Upon hearing this, Renn felt a chill run down his spine.

Looking at the kind-faced old man before him, and at his cloudy eyes, he felt a wave of nausea wash over him.

Raine's fingers trembled slightly at his sides as he desperately suppressed the urge to draw his sword immediately.

Karen was still outside; Harold was her old friend.

If we launch an attack now, without any evidence, it will only make things spiral out of control. Besides, this is inside the sheriff's office, and Harold's guards are everywhere.

"...Yes, Knight."

Raine heard his own voice, but it sounded as if it wasn't his own voice—dry, hoarse, as if it were being squeezed out from between his teeth.

"With your personal care, they will definitely recover."

He lowered his head, concealing the murderous intent that was about to overflow from his eyes.

Ella, who was standing next to him, sensed that something was off with Ryan's mood. She turned her head and saw his gloomy face.

"Now that they're settled, Ella and I will head out to report to Sir Karen." Raine really didn't want to stay in the room any longer, so he forced himself to remain calm and offered a plausible excuse: "We expended too much energy in the swamp and need to rest."

"Of course, of course." Harold remained as kind and gentle as ever. He dusted off his hands and smiled as he bid farewell to the two of them.

"Go and rest, children. I'm here, you don't need to worry about anything."

Renn nodded without saying another word.

He quickly turned around, grabbed Ella's wrist (who was still clueless and had no idea what was going on), and pulled her out as well.

"Hey! Ryan, what are you doing?"

Ella was pulled so hard that she stumbled and almost crashed into the wall of the corridor.

She was completely bewildered at that moment.

"You look a bit off. Even if you're exhausted, there's no need to act so out of sorts. Sir Harold's expression changed just now."

"Don't speak." At this point, Ryan didn't care about anything else, lowering his voice to an extremely low hue, almost commanding, "Come with me."

Without explaining, he pulled Ella through the corridor and found Karen talking to the captain of the guard in the front hall.

"Sir," Ryan approached Karen, even forgetting basic knightly etiquette, "I need to speak with you. Now, immediately."

Karen looked at Ryan's bloodless and gloomy face, and then at the way he was gripping Ella's wrist. Her eyes instantly sharpened.

He knew that Ryan was always very calm, so his current loss of composure meant that something was wrong.

"Come with me."

The old knight didn't ask any more questions, turned around and led the two out of the police station, through two alleys, and finally into a corner.

The place was dimly lit and deserted, with only the howling wind blowing through the street.

"Alright, now you can tell me. What is it?" Karen turned to look at Ryan and asked patiently, "You look like you've seen a dragon."

"I'd rather have seen a dragon!"

Before Renn could even speak, Ella couldn't hold back any longer.

She rubbed her wrist, which was red from being gripped, and said with a hint of complaint, "Raine, you'd better give me an explanation. What happened to you in the medical room just now?"

"Harold poisoned it."

Ryan's voice interrupted Ella's questioning.

These words instantly froze the atmosphere.

Ella's slightly displeased expression froze.

"What did you say?"

"The tranquilizer Harold gave those adventurers was poison," Renn said, enunciating each word clearly, his eyes gleaming coldly.

"He wasn't saving people, he was murdering them. No, it was more vicious than murder; he was turning those living people into mindless idiots."

"That's impossible!"

Karen's first reaction was a firm denial.

"Raine, do you know what you're saying? I've known Harold for thirty years! I saw him shield a civilian child from an orc's battle axe with his own body!"

"I also find this absurd, Sir." Ryan took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, and began to explain clearly:

"The method of preparing that potion was extremely sophisticated; most people couldn't even tell the difference. But the most crucial ingredient was a material called 'Shadow Mushroom Spores.'"

"I...I once saw a description of it in an ancient book about exotic plants in my father's study. These spores are colorless and odorless, but they can slowly erode a person's mind, causing the user to gradually lose their soul while in a deep sleep, turning them into a living corpse that can be manipulated at will."

"Shadow Mushroom?" Ella frowned, recalling carefully. "I think I've seen this name on some black market bounty posters. It's said that only highly skilled necromancers know how to use this stuff to make poisons."