Player Who Became A Constellation [EN]: Chapter 33

33.

“……”

I think I misunderstood something.

Loki turned his gaze to the mercenaries.

In everyone’s eyes, there was fear along with blatant hostility.

In particular, Albert, who had been friendly to Loki until bedtime, was now aiming his sword with a look of firm determination, completely different from before.

‘This has become troublesome.’

In his heart, he wanted to leave them as they were… but Loki was not one to remain still after they dared to point their swords at him.

Wasn’t he the Loki who had buried all the foolish Nordics who attacked him in the frozen land?

“Wait, just a moment.”

At that moment, Paul stood between Loki and the mercenaries. And he shouted at Albert.

“He’s infected, but there’s still, still hope!”

“……?”

“Just… just stay still for a moment.”

At Paul’s words, the mercenaries looked around cautiously. For them, killing Loki in front of them was the best option, but they hesitated to take action because they were afraid of catching the plague.

After a few minutes passed, Paul let out a sigh of relief.

“Look. He’s not dying. If he were infected, he should be dead, but he hasn’t turned into a ‘Wight’ [an undead creature], and his mind seems to be intact. I’ve heard of it. People with strong resistance have a slower infection rate to the plague.”

At that, the mercenaries were surprised and became noisy.

“Immunity?”

“I’ve never heard of that before?”

“Of course. It’s very rare, and it doesn’t completely prevent infection.”

Loki looked at Paul with an incomprehensible expression.

He couldn’t understand what was going on since a while ago.

Why such a monster popped out, and why the mercenaries were wary of him.

‘Besides, infection? Is it possible to get infected just by touching the skin?’

However, he didn’t feel infected at all.

Just as Loki was examining his body, something swarmed and approached from outside the door.

They were the undead who had died from the plague, called ‘Wights.’

Loki stepped back when he saw them.

“This is troublesome.”

‘…It’s really troublesome. I don’t want to deal with those guys.’

Killing one of them earlier had already made him quite dirty.

A foul smell permeated his body.

He couldn’t imagine how much dirtier he would become if he killed the others.

More than anything else, he didn’t like the wriggling bugs on his body.

‘Of course, if I killed them with a sword or something, it wouldn’t matter….’

The problem is that killing them would cause a foul smell to sting his nose.

Is he avoiding it because he’s afraid of poop? He’s avoiding it because it’s dirty.

Loki was reluctant to kill the monsters in front of him.

The reason was simply ‘because it’s dirty,’ but the mercenaries, Albert, and Paul, who couldn’t know that, thought that Loki was intimidated by the threat of the monsters.

However, they didn’t even think about approaching Loki.

Because the black blood and flesh of dead bugs were stuck all over his body.

“…Albert. I have a favor to ask. Can you stop the Wights from coming in?”

Albert glanced at Paul.

He was surprised to see Paul taking out a white bottle from his pocket.

“You, that’s….”

“It’s holy water. It’s something made by the high priests that can prevent the infection of the Worm Fest [a deadly plague].”

At Paul’s words, the mercenaries stared at the holy water as if possessed.

“Holy water?!”

“The one that can cure the plague…!”

The blessed potion that can prevent the plague, only given by the Holy Order! When the holy water, which only high priests can make, was in front of them, the mercenaries rushed towards Paul as if their eyes were turning over, but Albert, sensing the danger, drew his sword and stuck it into the floor.

The stone floor ‘melted’ and was embedded as if it were tofu.

“…This old man, you see. Even though I’m old….”

Albert looked at each of the mercenaries and made a kind expression.

“I have the power to deal with everyone here. Anyone who touches Paul will have their hand cut off without mercy.”

Despite the smile, the mercenaries moved away at the cold words.

Albert suppressed the mercenaries with his momentum alone and looked at Paul.

“Are you going to use it?”

“We received help too. We have to repay the favor.”

“Huh, you’re too kind. In fact, about that ogre back then….”

“Still, I can’t turn a blind eye.”

Paul approached Loki without hesitation.

“Um… t, this.”

Paul carefully held out the holy water.

His face was full of fear that he would catch the plague, but he was trying to muster up courage and offer it.

“……”

“Hurry! Or you’ll die!”

“…Thank you.”

When Loki reached out his hand, Paul flinched, but barely handed over the holy water.

He had no choice but to receive the holy water because of the atmosphere that was difficult to refuse.

In fact, the feelings of the serious-looking group in front of him and Loki were completely opposite.

‘This… it’s too unsettling.’

Loki felt even more burdened by the fact that the connection from their first meeting was with people who were cleaner than he thought.

If they were cold-hearted and treacherous, Loki would have known how to treat them. However, they were even trying to share the holy water, which was obviously going to be a precious lifeline….

‘They’re interesting people.’

They were some of the few kind people in this cruel world.

Paul smiled bitterly, perhaps misunderstanding Loki’s smile.

“You don’t have to be so touched. We’re just helping each other out. Stay still. I’ll release the ‘curse’ on your body.”

Paul held up his staff and pointed it at Loki, muttering small, incomprehensible sentences.

Then, a stream of water appeared in the air and cleanly washed away the black blood and bugs on Loki.

“Curse?”

“I’ve researched those bugs. They were created by a ‘curse’ made with black magic.”

‘…So that’s why I felt magic power?’

“Now! Drink it quickly. You have to. It’ll heal you!”

Loki looked at the holy water and drank it.

The feeling of it going down his throat is chilling. At the same time, it was strangely tingling.

It felt like drinking carbonated soda.

‘…Come to think of it, Loki’s attributes were fire and darkness, right? If it’s holy water, is it a light attribute?’

Perhaps because of that, the feeling was unique.

“How is it? Do you feel like you’re getting better?”

“It feels like I drank cool carbonated water.”

It was when Paul was tilting his head.

-Kuaaaaaak!

The monster, called Wight, tried to jump towards the door, but Albert quickly ran out. And he swung his sword from the bottom up with all his might.

The Wight’s hard and tough body seemed to be cut in half by a streak of light, and as the Wight died, it scattered black blood and earthworms everywhere.

Albert calmly avoided it by keeping his distance. However, his face was stained with tension.

The bugs attached to his sword sparked and burned.

Albert’s divine skill [Thunderbolt].

It was the ability to send lightning through the sword.

‘…Attacking is my specialty, but Lapilta, who uses a shield as her main weapon, is the best for defense. I wonder how long this old man can last.’

“Huh… where is the knight who is supposed to be helping those in danger? Ah, he was in charge of defending the gate.”

Albert shook his head.

‘He’s good at running away…, so he’ll probably be safe.’

Albert glanced back.

The mercenaries were either huddled in the corner in fear, staring blankly at the empty holy water bottle, or just looking at Albert with horrified expressions.

“Why are you standing there blankly! You young ones are slow to react! Quickly bring things that can block the entrance!”

“Yes? Ah! Yes!”

“Move it-!”

The mercenaries moved heavy furniture to block the entrance. But even that wasn’t enough, and the furniture shook with a thumping sound.

Each time it shook, dust and debris flew out, which was not the superhuman strength that an ordinary human could produce.

The reason why the Worm Fest is scary is that it has a high infection rate and mortality rate, but what’s even scarier is that when you are resurrected as a dead person called ‘Wight,’ you gain physically unbelievable strength and speed.

It is difficult to kill because ordinary people’s swords and spears cannot even penetrate their skin.

Loki looked at the entrance while being examined by Paul.

The door at the entrance shook more violently as if the Wights kept coming.

It would probably be limited to a few minutes.

“Are places like windows okay?”

“…Surprisingly, Wights don’t recognize things like windows. You can prevent it to some extent just by covering the windows, but it’s not completely safe.”

“You know a lot.”

When Loki said that, Paul gave a bitter smile.

“It’s a plague that broke out in our country. Many people, such as magicians, alchemists, healers, and pharmacists… researched to find a cure somehow. So did I. Of course, everyone failed and gave up at the risk of being infected….”

Paul bit his lower lip as if he was upset.

“……”

“Stay still. I’ll check your condition.”

Paul grabbed Loki’s hand and muttered an unknown sentence. Accordingly, light permeated Loki’s body, and Paul manifested a magic to examine his body, but the magic stopped before long.

Paul looked at Loki’s hand with a surprised face.

“…Why isn’t the examination magic working?”

“……”

Loki smiled awkwardly.

Among the settings when creating the Loki avatar, there is resistance to magic. It repels most magic, including low-level magic.

Recovery magic or auxiliary magic that increases physical abilities are allowed, but if something tries to invade the body, a force that resists it acts.

When Paul couldn’t check Loki’s condition with magic, he asked with a serious expression.

“How do you feel?”

Paul was trying to check Loki’s condition one by one, perhaps because he was quite worried.

Loki waved his hand as if it was nothing.

“Don’t worry. I know my body well. I don’t know what the Worm Fest is, but… thanks to the holy water Paul gave me, it seems like there’s no problem.”

“Haa-, that’s a relief. Really….”

Paul let out a sigh of relief. Loki was impressed by his appearance, which seemed to truly think so.

“So, what are you going to do now? Aren’t all the entrances blocked?”

When Albert came over and asked, Paul carefully thought and looked around the castle.

“First… let’s find a secret passage.”

A secret passage?

Not only Loki and Albert but also the mercenaries looked at Paul.

“Even if it’s a rural area, this is a fortress where the lord lives. There should be a secret passage to escape in case of emergency.”

“That’s right! Then can I live?!”

Azar had already approached.

He had been terrified of the word Worm Fest until just now and was trembling, but he stood up as if he had gained hope from Paul’s words.

Azar pointed his finger at the mercenaries and shouted.

“Hey! Find the entrance quickly! There must be a secret passage!”

So they each scattered and started looking for a secret passage.

Loki entered the noble’s room where Azar had stayed.

Loki looked around.

‘Generally, there is a secret passage in the lord’s room.’

“I wonder where it is.”

Loki looked around the surrounding walls, ceiling, floor, and around the bed as if he had become a detective.

Then, after confirming that there was no one here except the slaves, he lifted the bed with one hand and checked the bottom.

“There isn’t one.”

Loki smacked his lips.

He looked around, but he couldn’t see any doors like that.

Of course, it’s a secret passage, so it must be hidden somewhere.

‘In RPG games, if you pull out a book from a bookshelf, you can find a hidden door.’

With that in mind, he pulled out all the books from the bookshelf, but there was no reaction.

Loki felt disappointed and was about to turn around when he heard a strange wind sound from the bookshelf.

“…That’s right. Rather than a secret door, it’s just covered up.”

Loki kicked the bookshelf mercilessly.

The bookshelf collapsed as it was, and a secret passage made of stone walls was revealed behind it.