Goblin Knight - Chapter 350



Only Noblemtl

EP.350 The Fall of the Moon (29)

“The straw tower. Is that the one to the south of the village?”

“Have you seen it?”

“On the way here, as I climbed up the forest, I saw a strange building erected.”

“That’s right. That’s half true and half false. We destroyed the first one. Looking back now, it was reckless.”

Tirasya said in a gloomy voice.

“When we first saw the straw tower being built, we sent out trackers as we always do to find out what it was. What is this structure, and why is it built on our border?”

“Was there anyone who could answer?”

“Yes, there were. It was a group of humans. They were scared when they saw the pursuers we sent, and they fired arrows at them from the top of the tower.”

“Those idiots. They must have been torn to pieces.”

“Yes, it was.”

Thirasia agreed without much emotion to Nelivia’s eerie words.

… … Even as we are having this conversation, I am reminded of the fact that they are essentially monsters.

Because the well-being of humans is not a concern for them.

“What were they doing?”

“At the time, I was foolish and arrogant enough to think they were just a bunch of hunters who had set up shop next to our territory… but now I don’t know. I think they might have something to do with the Order of Yul.”

“What? Yul?”

“… … It was a little later in time that I began to have such doubts. For now, let’s continue the story.”

Tirasya said, caressing her cooling teacup.

“In the abandoned straw tower, the slaughter of the animals they had hunted had stopped. The pursuers had come during mealtime.”

“You’re not going to tell me you ate that, are you?”

“… … .”

“Wow… What the heck? I knew you werewolves would just pick up anything that fell on the ground, but you don’t even worry about poison?”

“I won’t deny that we were reckless. But we did our best to be thorough. We made sure there was no poison to harm us, and that there was no magic or curse.”

“How do you know that?”

“… … Because I checked it.”

Tirasya muttered bitterly.

“It was a difficult winter to get food. The trackers brought us their report and the spoils they had taken from the straw tower, and I went to check it out myself.”

“… … I think you’re a pretty good sorcerer. Let me tell you. How did you find out?”

“I used ᛃ and ᛉ to check for poison, and ᛈ to check for curses. The results were clean.”

Incomprehensible languages ​​burst out.

I was a layman when it came to magic, so I couldn’t tell what they were talking about, but seeing as Nellyvia kept her mouth shut, it seemed like the saintess’s judgment wasn’t wrong.

“Keep going. What happened after that?”

“The straw tower was burned, and the human corpses were buried in unmarked graves. The butchered meat was returned to the pursuers and consumed as a meal for their families. Six full moons passed without incident after that.”

“… … 90 days?”

“Yes. Everyone, including me, was just thinking of that day as a somewhat special day and was forgetting about it… when the first incident happened.”

Tirasya said, her hands shaking slightly.

“Five werewolves, including the tracker and his family who had eaten meat that day, went mad. They were subdued, leaving three dead and fifteen seriously injured, but the shock was great.”

“… … .”

“But before the shock had even subsided, this time the madness manifested itself in the severely injured. It happened in just three days. The number of madmen was three times greater, and unlike the pursuers, it was in the center of a residential area.”

The trembling in her hands soon spread throughout the saint’s body, and she was enveloped in emotions that could not be identified as anger or sadness.

“Nearly a hundred werewolves suffered from injuries of varying degrees of severity. Even if we now knew that the infection was contagious through wounds, it would have been physically impossible to completely isolate that number of werewolves.

The few madmen who could not be isolated ended up creating new victims… The situation was out of control. We had already reached our limit, and the number of infected people was increasing every day.

When over 20% of our members fell victim to an unknown madness, we threw away all our pride and asked the Coppertails for help.

They were called ‘Yaksha’ and banished, meaning that they were nothing more than wild beasts, not worthy of being called werewolves.

But when they arrived… it was already… … .”

Unable to continue speaking, the saintess trembled and lowered her head quietly.

… … Regardless of their unfortunate circumstances, the Yaksha was a new fact that had to be engraved in the mind.

Yael, the leader of the brown werewolves, was reluctant to face the saint, bringing up topics such as attitudes toward humans, faith, and class discrimination.

If you have time, I should listen to the story… … .

“… … I don’t understand. How could that be?”

Nelivia muttered while Blanc was organizing his thoughts.

It was a voice full of questions.

“It’s not poisonous, since it’s contagious. But… how can a curse with that much power remain undetected for nearly 100 days?”

“huh?”

“That’s impossible. To begin with, a curse is something that comes from resentment. It’s far from being secretive. If it was magic, I would have noticed. Then what on earth is… … .”

“Uh… a dream?”

“What is it, goblin?”

Blanc asked in a bewildered tone.

Because she couldn’t understand why she couldn’t even come up with a possibility that even Blanc could think of.

“Isn’t this a curse or an effect of a plague?”

“What? No, make sense.”

Nellyvia immediately refuted that.

“Even though I said earlier that they are ‘those who pick up and eat what falls,’ in fact, werewolves are like that. If we only consider physical strength, they are a race that can be compared to trolls with fresh blood. They are far from being sick, unless they go crazy because they can’t overcome their innate evil nature.”

“There… I have considered the possibility of a plague, but I don’t understand the symptoms. What kind of plague in the world makes its victims so ferocious, and infects them just by biting them?”

Tirasya also joined in the rebuttal.

Both had very valid reasons.

Simply the innate physical strength of the race, and unprecedentedly terrible symptoms.

but…….

‘… … Now I understand.’

Having heard those objections, Blanc was able to understand.

In fact, when Blanc first arrived here and saw the mad werewolves, the first thing that came to mind was a sad memory from the past.

A plague that is transmitted through bodily fluids and has symptoms that cause the infected to attack everything around them.

The third dream. Because she knew of the existence of the plague that had destroyed the peaceful village where she lived.

I figured that since the tall guy was still alive at this time, this must be one of his tricks.

But it wasn’t.

It didn’t take a tall man to interfere for the werewolves, who once claimed to be the rulers of the forest, to decline into monsters driven only by ferocity.

Even though it is a plague that almost all humans know about and are wary of… it is a plague that cannot be dealt with because it is impossible to even think about it.

Because there was one plague that immediately came to mind, just to break the stereotype that ‘werewolves don’t get diseases’.

What if you can’t overcome your evil spirit and go crazy?

How many werewolves were going crazy because of such misunderstandings?

… … Blanc loved dogs.

“They say there is no cure if you are bitten by a mad dog.”

“what?”

“What about a crazy werewolf?”

Blanc muttered bitterly.

“rabies.”

“──”

“A plague that is not a curse, but has a long incubation period, becomes extremely ferocious, and is contagious when bitten. Those who contract the disease are said to die in agony before long… Werewolves have a strong life force. It is the worst combination where you cannot die and only pain and ferocity remain… … .”

“Now, wait a minute. So, even before this incident, all the werewolves who went mad-”

“I guess so.”

Blanc looked outside without realizing it.

Even at this moment, I mourn the werewolves who are going mad because of the plague.

“If it was poison, then it could be detoxified. If it was a curse, then the caster could be killed. But as far as I know, there is no cure for rabies.”

“… … .”

“Since they don’t die because of their unique vitality, those who survive in that state may attempt to reproduce. The offspring they produce will also have rabies… History will only remember werewolves as ‘beings driven mad by their own ferocity’… … .”

The Wolves of Tamullah.

What kind of lives they lived and how they were treated.

Thinking of those who met their end without even losing the faith and culture they once served, and even the nobility of ‘repaying a favor even with death’ like Ji-an.

Blanc could only click his tongue in regret.

“That was… the truth about Tamullah.”

And at the same time.

Blanc felt a surge of anger rising in him.

No sin deserves such a punishment.

Isn’t it too cruel to be cursed as a race, to live as monsters in eternal pain, and to disappear from history forever?

There was someone who planned it.

The one who built the first straw tower and released rabies into the Broken Moon Village.

As if driving the werewolves mad wasn’t enough, he rebuilt the burnt-down tower as a border.

“Saint, you clearly thought that the tower’s inhabitants had some connection to the Order of Yul.”

“… … .”

“I understand your heartbreak, but let’s continue the story. Let’s start with why you felt that way.”