A busy and tiring day had ended. On the first day in Kara, the ambassadors and their people took a rest from the fatigue of their travel. Meanwhile, officers of the Kara government were preparing all night for the meeting which was scheduled for the next day.
The main topic which would be discussed in the meeting was about the eradication of the ‘Great Desert Bandits’. It was previously discussed many times so nothing was special but Kara was much more serious this time. The reason was that Marquis Fabius, one of the most powerful men in the Kingdom of Robros, would attend the meeting as well.
In my opinion, Fabius came to Kara for his own reason. Yet the Kara government had to be serious about this visit of ambassadors from the Kingdom of Robros.
Bustling, bustling.
The Palace of Kara was bustling since the morning because many aristocrats and local influentials visited. Among aristocrats from First Rank to Twelveth Rank, only those above Seventh Rank were invited but the number of visitors was still more than hundreds.
After spending last night in the Palace of Kara. I went to a restaurant in a detached palace to have a late breakfast. Also, I had an appointment.
Once I went inside the restaurant, I saw a huge guy sitting on a round table from a distance. He was Zenbe.
“Hey, uncle, what’s up?”
Zenbe glanced at me.
“Human, why did you ask me to come here?”
“You know why.”
“I don’t know!”
He turned his eyes away. As I expected, he knew why.
At that moment, a giant old man kicked at the entrance door and came inside the restaurant. He was Marquis Fabius. Strangely, he was wearing a hat decorated with a feather.
He looked around the entire restaurant as if he was looking for someone. Soon he found me and shouted.
“White Mask~!”
It was a very angry and frustrated shout. I waved my hand to say hi to Fabius who was walking towards me while huffing and puffing. Yes. I also invited him as well.
“Hey, old man. What’s up?”
With murderous spirits in his eyes, he smashed the table right away.
“Hey, what is the stuff you gave me yesterday?”
I gave him a hair growth solution yesterday.
“Oh, you’re talking about the golden bottle?”
“Yes! Check this out!”
As he took off his wig, I could see his red bald head covered with rashes.
What the f***? Perhaps, there were some ingredients which he’s allergic to. Dammit. That’s why I should always make these kinds of stuff after asking real doctors or pharmacists.
I held my breath. I would be in serious trouble if I told him that I made it at my own discretion.
There’s no way I would tell him the truth.
“No way~ The hair growth solution I gave you is a very good product. I told you yesterday that it was made by a famous and credible drug manufacturer on the Eastern continent. They aged that solution for ten years. It’s of the best quality.”
“What about these rashes?! I’ve just seen a doctor as well!”
I waved my hand.
“Stupid doctors don’t know anything. Don’t you know that herbal medicines from the Eastern continent are much better than those from the Prosian continent? And it was made by the best drug manufacturer in the Eastern continent. Don’t worry about what the doctor has told you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course.”
He became much calmer but he still seemed dubious. I read his face and then I said.
“What do you mean rashes? These are not rashes. It looks like your hair roots are getting stronger. Look at the mirror. Your head looks more healthy. Before you know it, your head will become full of hair.”
Fabius took a mirror out of his pocket and checked his bald head covered with rashes.
“Hmm…”
“Just trust me. Your hair roots are getting stronger. If you still think these are rashes, you can put some lotion. Nearly dead hair roots are reviving now. So it’s not strange at all even though you have that kind of symptom. It’s like growing pains.
“Hmm… Really?”
“Yes. As hair roots are reviving, some rashes can appear. It’s not a big deal.”
“Well, okay then.”
As he felt those rashes with his hand, he made a slightly red face and sat right next to me. He seemed to be happy once he heard his hair roots growing. This old man was actually a dumbass.
After taking his seat, Fabius ordered food from a servant.
“So, why did you ask me to come here?”
“Three of us are here now. So, let’s have a debate.”
“A debate? Is there anything we need to discuss together?”
This old man was such a bad liar. Everyone knew why he came to Kara.
I should make him start talking. These two men were almost at the level of Mind Master. So obviously, I could learn a lot by listening to their conversation.
“Hey old man, you should think very carefully since you don’t often get an opportunity like this.”
Fabius glanced at Zenbe.
“Well…”
“Hey old man, let me tell you something.”
“What?”
I pointed at his bald head.
“You can rely on hair growth solutions only for a short period of time.”
“What do you mean?”
“All the things in the world are subject to the laws of nature and harmony. If you don’t solve the fundamental problem, your hair roots would be dead again. Maybe even before your hair grows.”
Fabius’ eyes trembled.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, of course. Besides, you can’t get any more of that hair growth solution which I gave you. It’s very rare. So, there’s only one solution. And I think you know it too.”
The only solution was to become a Mind Master. After reaching the level of Mind Master, one could live longer and have a perfect body condition. Thus, his hair would also grow if he became a Mind Master.
“I think I know what you’re talking about.”
“If you already know the solution, you should try it. Isn’t it the reason why you’ve come here and met my uncle Zenbe?”
Fabius and Zenbe exchanged glances.
“Well, you’re right but…”
“Don’t try to fight against each other like yesterday. Let’s just have a productive conversation together. Maybe we could give a piece of advice to each other.”
Zenbe and Fabius hesitated. They were backing off again. I could understand why they’re acting like people who went on a blind date.
At last, I brought up the topic of debate.
“Mental world is very vague and unclear. You think you know it but actually, you don’t. Yet, you kind of gets a sense of it.”
Finally, Zenbe opened his mouth reluctantly.
“Besides, two are the one. And the one is also two.”
Then Fabius added.
“Yet, such a thought might be wrong. Or it could be right.”
Soon, the debate got heated up.
Each person advocated his own theory. Fabius said that the important thing would be the true nature of mentality which was the only answer according to his theory. On the other hand, Zenbe said that the important thing would be the formation of mentality which was the only answer according to his theory.
I listened to their debate very carefully. Their theories were very profound and useful. I should not miss a single word.
“Holy Meteor! Human mentality is already in a state of perfection. It doesn’t need a process of formation.”
“How can human mentality be in a perfect state from the beginning? As a child grows and becomes an adult, human mentality also grows through a process of formation.”
“No, you’re wrong. The only things that grow are the knowledge and disposition of each human. Mentality doesn’t grow.”
It was an intense debate between two men. And I summarized their debate.
“I think those two are the same.”
“What are you talking about?”
I picked up a piece of bread in the center of our table and dipped it into a jam.
“As bread and jam transform into a jam sandwich, human mentality might be created by a combination of nature and formation.”
Fabius cupped his chin in his hand.
“That could make sense but still there should be a clear line separating those two.”
Zenbe quickly added one more thing.
“Okay. Let’s conclude it like this. We could divide human mentality into two parts which are inner mentality and outer mentality. So the human mentality is created by the combination of these two.”
“Sure. That should be our conclusion.”
I asked a servant to bring a pen and a piece of paper. Then I drew a target. I wrote the word ‘nature’ inside the target and the word ‘formation’ outside the target. Nature was the fundamental concept so I thought it would be better to write it inside.
Then Zenbe started making a few more copies of my drawing.
“Hey uncle, why are you making copies?”
“Have you heard of a wolf boy?”
“Yeah, I’ve heard of it. A boy raised by wolves, right?”
“Yes, you’re right. So, let me ask you a question. If a human baby were taken and raised by a pack of wolves, would he grow up into a wolf boy or a human boy?”
The answer was pretty obvious.”
“He would grow up into a wolf boy.”
“Exactly. As a society of wolves raises a human baby into a wolf boy, we can’t explain the process of mentality formation without taking connections of members of a society into account.”
After finishing his sentence, he drew lines connecting targets with each other. They looked like a complex web.
Yet it was too simple. In the human world, people would make close friends and not-so-close friends. But the lines which Zenbe drew were all identical. So, I added thickness to those lines. Zenbe looked at them with interesting eyes. Then he added a large circle at the end of a thick line and a small circle at the end of a thin line. The description of the outer mentality was complete.
“This is it. This is the outer mentality.”
“Are you sure?”
“I guess so.”
I looked at the drawings in silence.
Based on these drawings, human mentalities were connected through relationships and other factors. My mentality would grow in a network of relationships with other people. Moreover, my mental growth could affect the other’s mental growth. In other words, my mentality would become a part of the whole network of human mentalities. Also, a part of the whole network of human mentalities would become my mentality.
It was a very vague and unclear concept. However, it seemed quite reasonable once I thought about the wolf boy case.
A wolf boy was human but acted like a wolf because he was influenced by a society of wolves.
As we were done with the outer mentality, Fabius started talking about the nature of mentality.
“Now, let’s add the nature of mentality in these drawings.”
He wrote down the word ‘nature’ inside the target just as I did. Then he wrote the words ‘desire’ and ‘character’ in parenthesis right next to the word ‘nature’. Also, he added some symbols. Zenbe and I made very profound faces.
In our complete drawing, human nature which aims to realize personal desires and human conscience developed within a society were colliding against each other. It described one of the most typical inner conflicts of humans.
“Hmm… if we keep expanding these, we might be able to understand human mentality much more clearly.”
Both Fabius and Zenbe agreed with my opinion.
“Yes. I think we’ve got something concrete”
“Yes. I think we’re on the right track.”
With a smile on my face, I raised my glass filled with wine made of date palm fruits.
“Well, why don’t we celebrate what we’ve found out together?”
Zenbe waved his hand.
“Are you kidding me? Date palm fruit wine? That’s not even an alcoholic drink. It’s like soda. Men should drink ‘Tears of Snow Ice’ or something even stronger.”
Zenbe was acting tough. ‘Tears of Snow Ice’ was a very strong drink which had an alcohol concentration of 99.99% and was occasionally consumed by the Orcs. Fabius chuckled and mentioned another drink instead.
“Haha. ‘Tears of Snow Ice’? Is that an alcoholic drink? Men should drink ‘Breath of Flame’ or something even stronger.”
These two childish men started talking with stupid swagger again.
‘Breath of Flame’ also had an alcohol concentration of 99.99% and it was consumed by humans. Since these strong drinks had such a high alcohol concentration, there was almost no difference in taste between them. They became tasteless once they passed through the mouth and throat which would feel like burning.
I could not back out as well so I pitched in.
“Those drinks are nothing. ‘Rebellious Salaman EX’ is the best drink. Only real men can drink it.’
With odd faces, Zenbe and Fabius stared at me. They must never have heard of it. ‘Rebellious Salaman EX’ was manufactured during the Era of Destruction.
“What kind of drink is it?”
“It’s a blended drink.”
“What does it taste like?”
“I can’t explain it. Only after you try it, you will find out it’s a drink for real men. Do you want to try it?”
“Sure. Why don’t you make it for us?”
I ordered a servant to bring all the ingredients. It was very easy to make because the ingredients were easily available anywhere. Shortly after, the servant brought three glasses of flat beer. Zenbe scowled at me with his narrowed eyes.
“Hey, are you trying to make a bog-standard blended drink with Eastern continent style distilled water?”
“No, you’re wrong.”
I put a raw egg and added a half scoop of mayonnaise in each glass of beer. Then I mixed all the ingredients thoroughly with a spoon.
At last, ‘Rebellious Salaman EX’ was made for the first time in this era.
After smelling it, Zenbe put the glass away from him. Fabius took a little sip and then frowned his face right away as if he’s about to vomit. In fact, ‘Rebellious Salaman EX’ smelled like shit.
Both men shouted at the same time.
“Hey! How the hell can you drink this disgusting drink which smells like shit?!”
Actually, for that very reason, many people drank ‘Rebellious Salaman EX’ during the Era of Destruction when everything was in shortage. As it tasted disgusting, the demand had reduced.