Chapter 67
There were 24 survivors in total. More than half of them were unconscious, and the rest were far from fully awake. The only one who seemed to be doing well was Finnett, a young child who was the first to be found and ingested the energy pill.
After much hesitation, Cadel decided to uncover the full story of the tragedy through the child's own words.
“It was because of the well that the villagers got sick.”
The residents of the Baskin Village shared a single well for drinking water. At first, no one suspected anything was wrong with the well because it was shared by everyone, no one would do anything unusual, and the water had been flowing for years without a problem.
“My parents told me I was throwing a tantrum, but the water had a really weird smell to it, a sour smell, so I wouldn't drink it even if I was thirsty.”
All of the current survivors, including Finnett, shied away from drinking water from the well that way. It was the right choice. Those who did drink from the well began to complain of strange symptoms the very next day.
“They vomited green. They didn't eat or drink anything, but they kept vomiting. The vomit smelled incredibly foul, and it wouldn't stop even when the adults had medicine. I was so scared…… At that time, an older brother I had never seen before came to the village.”
The man introduced himself as a healer and happened to visit the village while traveling. He offered to heal the sick villagers for free. He wasn't lying about being a healer, and after one simple healing session, the dying villagers' illnesses subsided.
But that didn't mean they were back to being healthy.
“They didn't vomit anymore, but they couldn't wake up. The older brother said that it takes everyone's strength to get better, so he gave everyone a pill. A very small pill…… About the size of your pinky nail.”
A medicine that prevented the spread of disease. These were the words of a healer who had cured an unheard-of disease in an instant. There was no reason not to listen.
The healthy villagers obediently swallowed the pills and went to sleep, believing him when he said he would begin the full treatment the next day.
“When I opened my eyes, I didn't feel any strength in my body. I had a headache, and I had a terrible stomachache. I barely got up and went to see my mom and dad…….”
By the time Finnett found his parents, their decay was already at an advanced stage. It was a terrible sight, but Finnett didn't have the strength to lift a finger. He was in so much pain that he couldn't even scream for help.
He passed out and woke up over and over again, watching his parents decay a little more each time he opened his eyes. Finnett said in a shaky voice.
Cadel, who had heard the whole story, bit his lips. The main culprit of this situation was clear enough to be quickly identified even with the child's rough description.
‘He posed as a healer. Demon bastard.’
The demon went to great lengths to wipe out a village, and Cadel shuddered at his intelligence.
‘Is the medicine Finnett took a sleeping pill? To say that he had no strength in his body when he woke up, it’s hardly a simple sleeping pill.’
Cadel carefully grasped the demon's true intentions. The mastermind behind the incident was clear, but there were still many questions.
If the goal was to exterminate the villagers, why gave them vaguely energy-draining pills, and if that was the case, why sealed the gates to keep outside help out? It didn't make sense.
And then, beside the distressed Cadel, Lydon, crouched and swaying freely, suddenly reached out. His target was Finnett. The rough hand yanked the helpless child's shirt up. Startled, Cadel tried to stop Lydon.
“As expected. I kept getting bad vibes from the humans here.”
Black veins protruded on Finnett's flat belly. Cadel winced at the sight of the hideous figure and frowned. The veins that bulged from his chest split into many strands like roots, staining his lower abdomen in a dark color.
“This…… Is this the work of the demon?”
“He must have come after making them sleep with medicine. I guess the demon punk wanted to call forces?”
“Call forces?”
“This, if you don't get rid of it quickly, all humans here will turn into monsters.”
“……What?”
Lydon, who responded calmly, lowered the shirt, revealing Finnett's frightened face hidden by the hem. Cadel, who relaxed his expression almost reflexively, rubbed the child's stomach. He felt an unpleasant tingling sensation on his palm.
“You don't have to be scared. This older brother here likes to talk nonsense. What he just said is just a joke.”
“What? It's not a jo―”
“Lydon too! You should save your jokes for another time! If you're bored, come here. I'll play with you.”
Quickly covering Lydon's mouth, Cadel flashed the child a breezy smile before dragging him out of the house at a brisk pace. Once outside the house and out of Cadel’s grasp, Lydon spat out the breath he'd been holding, a confused look on his face.
“What's wrong, Cadel? Did you want to go on a date with me?”
“Sounds like a date huh.”
Lydon didn’t know in the slightest why he had been dragged out. Cadel swallowed a sigh and ran a hand through his hair.
“What you just said, tell me in detail. What's with the ghastly marks and the talk of humans turning into monsters?”
“That's the way it is. Sometimes there are demons that infect humans to get their energy. I haven't seen it myself, but one of the symptoms I learned was the ‘black veins’ that appeared on the stomach of that human kid earlier. It's spreading quite a bit, so it's only a matter of time before he becomes a monster.”
“To say that humans would become monsters…….”
Is it something that would work?
As Cadel was about to say that, a memory suddenly flashed through his mind. A memory of attacking a demon when playing 「Hero of Knights」.
‘No, what the f*ck is this asshole's skill set? If you're going to give that bastard a scam skill like [Ally Multiplication], give me more turns, or balance the other skills! How many times do you want me to think and form a new game strategy? Ugh!’
[Ally Multiplication]
A skill that allows you to multiply your allies each turn when the other skills cool down, allowing you to defend yourself and deal massive amounts of damage in a burst of attack from your multiplied allies.
‘Could it be that this is [Ally Multiplication]?’
In the game, he didn't even have to think about where that monster came from. If he had read the story carefully, he might have guessed it, but it was a far cry from Cadel.
‘All I knew was that the strategy was to defeat the boss before he used [Ally Multiplication].’
If this phenomenon was the preparation process for [Ally Multiplication], even the strategy that Cadel knew would be useless.
“……Is there any way to stop the infection from progressing? A healer to cleanse it?”
“Well? As far as I can tell, it's impossible to detoxify, even with healing. There's only one solution I know of.”
Raising his index finger, Lydon looked up at Cadel. He softened his eyes lightly and spoke clearly as if he thought it was cute that Cadel was listening to him with such a serious face.
“Killing that demon bastard.”
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