Chapter 67

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.’

“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.”