Player Who Became A Constellation [EN]: Chapter 29

29.

“A panacea that can cure everything. As long as you’re not dead, it can revive anyone and eliminate any disease… a legendary potion, I’m talking about.”

“…….”

“I heard it’s somewhere in the north.”

“…….”

“That’s why we were searching the Celtic Mountains.”

Loki remained silent, feeling a twinge of guilt.

That potion was likely one he had created.

Everyone who used it said it was like a miracle of God.

Indeed, Loki could see that it perfectly healed not only severed arms and legs but even old scars, so he understood why it was considered truly ‘omnipotent.’

But why were they looking for that potion?

‘Could it be?’

“Are you trying to cure the plague?”

“Huh? Ah! No. We’re just trying to cure a crazy old man….”

“Lapilta!”

Lapilta fell silent at Albert’s rebuke.

‘A crazy old man?’

Contrary to Lapilta’s denial, Paul said with an awkward smile.

“Yes, it’s because of the plague. We’re scared we might catch it at any time.”

Loki knew that was a lie but didn’t want to delve any further.

It seemed they had their own circumstances, just like him.

“…Is that so? Is there no cure?”

“The Holy Order claims they can cure it with their holy water, but….”

Paul glanced around and whispered to Loki.

“Actually, only the highest-grade holy water made by the high priests is effective. The lower-grade holy waters are just scams sold by the priests to make money-”

“Ahem…!”

Albert cleared his throat.

Criticizing the priests of the Holy Order was a sensitive issue.

“Watch your words, Paul.”

“…Yes.”

Paul wasn’t entirely without thought either.

The reason he criticized the Holy Order’s priests to Loki was because he was a Nord [a person from the northern region].

Priests were in a position to keep wizards in check, and wizards felt aversion to such priests.

As much as the Nords were oppressed by the Holy Order, Paul wanted to vent his accumulated dissatisfaction with the Holy Order and get closer to him.

“Oh, is it real?”

“That’s right! An elf! An elf! A dark elf at that!”

Suddenly, there was a commotion among the mercenaries.

Loki glanced sideways.

The mercenaries were pointing at a cart a little distance away.

“There was a dark elf! Wow, I can’t believe I’m seeing a creature from a fairy tale in person!?”

“But isn’t it a bit… you know? Not just any elf, but a dark elf? I heard that dark elves are descendants of demons who worship darkness? Then they’re demons. Maybe we’ll be cursed if we get close to that demon?”

“So what? They’re slaves now. A curse on a slave who is just livestock or a tool? That’s nonsense.”

Looking almost like humans but called descendants of demons just because they were different?

‘A twisted world.’

It was a cruel world with twisted values, unlike the world Loki and Yoon Seirin had lived in.

Loki clenched his fist, resolving to find her as quickly as possible.

***

The struggling donkey stops.

It was Azar who stopped it. He looked at the small territory in front of him with a happy expression.

“We’re here! We’ve finally arrived!”

The territory was small and shabby, looking more like a village.

There were small and large farmlands that looked like fields, and next to them were houses where the owners of the farmlands seemed to live.

Even so, there were only about 30 houses in total, so the actual residents would be around 100.

The castle on the hill in the distance also looked small and shabby enough to be called a castle.

It was an unexpectedly peaceful-looking village with too lax security for a village adjacent to the Monster Mountains.

However, there was a strange lack of people and the atmosphere was dark.

Dense fog was rising around it, and the sky was full of dark clouds, as if it would rain at any moment.

“Let’s go! I’m tired of sleeping outside! We need to deliver the goods to this territory quickly and leave!”

Azar shouted and whipped the donkey.

The donkey screamed and moved again, and the mercenaries followed behind.

As they entered the village, Loki was seized by a strange sense of incongruity.

‘…There’s no vitality.’

No, life was being sensed, but… there were no people at all.

Moreover, a strange stench was stinging his nose.

Looking around, there were remnants of rice that had fallen while sorting it on the street, vomit that someone seemed to have thrown up, and even the corpse of a dead stray cat left unattended.

The mercenaries and Azar marched silently, so it was clear that this sight was common to them.

Loki asked Paul, who was walking side by side next to him.

“Are… are the villages on the continent usually this dirty?”

“Huh? Ah, no. That’s not the case.”

Paul shook his head.

“Maybe in small territories like this… but in cities, everything is managed thoroughly because it can be said to be the face of the noble who governs the place. The lords directly hire territory managers and cleaners to keep it clean. However, small villages like this are not managed unless there is a special event.”

“I see.”

But Lapilta, who was next to him, said as if something was strange.

“But isn’t it strange? Why is the village like this? There’s no one here? And it doesn’t look like they’ve lit candles in their houses. Isn’t it a bit early to go to sleep?”

“That’s true. Even if they went to sleep a little early, it’s strange that not a single person is seen.”

“That’s right. Oh? There’s someone over there?”

Paul pointed to the farmland.

There was a man among the rice plants that had grown to the size of an adult male.

“Hey~! Hello!”

Paul waved his hand greatly and greeted him, but the person buried in the rice looked at Paul with his shoulders slumped. Then he tilted his head and weakly raised his hand and waved it around.

“Wow! He said hello!”

“…Is that… a greeting?”

Loki frowned.

He couldn’t see well because he was covered by the rice, but the farmer seemed to be staggering, as if he had no strength.

Then he looked at the group and walked, but fell over. He struggled to get up and fell again. His rough breathing and rattling sound disturbed Loki’s ears.

‘Is he sick?’

No, before that….

‘Something feels off.’

He could feel the energy of life, but there was a sense of something being twisted.

It was a truly unfamiliar feeling.

‘…What is this feeling?’

Loki was about to ask Paul again.

“Hey! You guys! What are you doing? If you’re going to be escorts, hurry up and come!”

At Azar’s shout, Lapilta and his group grumbled and walked away.

“Damn it, when did we say we’d be escorts? Are we getting paid to be escorts? The world is so great!”

“Well, we actually got help, so don’t complain, Lapilta.”

“But what are we going to do? We don’t have any more money, do we? Should we look for another request?”

“…….”

Listening to Lapilta’s group’s conversation, Loki missed the opportunity to ask a question.

Then the stench of rot passed by his nose.

As the group moved away, the farmer who had been buried in the rice managed to get up.

A distorted face.

The clothes he was wearing were all torn, and the exposed skin was deeply hollowed out as if something had eaten into it.

Between the rotten skin, red worms like blood were wriggling and filling the space instead.

‘It’ tilted its head as it watched the group moving away.

***

“What! Why is there no one here!”

Azar arrived in front of the gate of the castle where the lord resided.

He kicked the gate out of frustration, but there was no response.

Even if it was small, it was a lord’s castle, but strangely, there were no soldiers guarding the gate.

Loki shifted his gaze to Paul, who was also looking around as if he couldn’t understand.

“That’s strange. Even if they’re small, if they’re lords, they should have soldiers to protect their territory… but there’s not a single one.”

It wasn’t just a small number, but none at all…!

Moreover, it was even more puzzling because it was near the Celtic Mountains, which were a monster’s paradise, and the frozen lands where the Nord raiders lived.

Even if the frequency of monster or Nord raids was low in this area, it was too defenseless.

Loki listened to hear the sound inside the castle, but he couldn’t hear anything.

“It seems… there’s no one here?”

The presence was felt in the village, but not here at all. It was a completely abandoned fortress.

“That can’t be! It’s strange that there’s no one here.”

Loki became curious at Paul’s bewildered denial.

He wondered how many people belonged to the lord in this small scale.

“How many people are usually in a fortress like this?”

It was a light question, but Paul kindly told him even the smallest details.

“In a territory this small, it would be ruled by a noble who is about a baronet or a baron [low-ranking nobles]. Maybe they have about 10 private soldiers? 20 at most… servants and maids are all commoners unless it’s the royal family, so maybe some of the villagers were hired. There would only be one or two knights.”

“You know a lot.”

Paul smiled.

“Well… I’m in a position to learn this and that.”

Drip…. Drip.

Suddenly, raindrops fell from the sky and soon turned into a downpour.

The mercenaries frowned and looked up at the sky.

There was no way there would be an inn for the mercenaries to stay in in a small village like this.

Normally, they would get permission from the lord and set up tents in the lord’s castle, but now there was no lord. No, there wasn’t even anyone in the castle itself.

That meant there was a resting place in front of them, but they had to stay outside.

Azar was startled by the rain and knocked on the castle gate.

“Hey! Open the door! Is no one there?! Isn’t the lord there? The slave trader Azar has arrived! If I don’t get inside quickly, the goods will spoil!”

Azar hurriedly pushed the castle gate with all his might, worried about the slaves in the cart. Then, surprisingly, the castle gate opened easily.

“Huh?”

Azar himself was embarrassed and looked inside the castle gate with wide eyes.

Where weeds grew thickly, a stone road was divided into three branches and stretched out.

On the right, a church was built, in the center, a small castle, and on the left, a training ground of 10m in size, a warehouse above it, and a small staircase leading down to the basement.

It was neither that wide nor that fancy.

It was clearly different from the fantasy buildings in the games and movies that Loki had seen.

‘Maybe this is more realistic.’

Lapilta clicked his tongue as he looked around the castle.

“What kind of small castle is this? It’s smaller than most noble mansions. Is this really where the lord lives?”

“This is more than enough for rural nobles. If you had obtained a title and been granted a territory, you would have started in a place like this.”

Lapilta stuck out his tongue at Albert’s words.

“Ugh! Where is the lord? If I can’t hand over the goods now, those guys will cost more to feed!”

Azar wailed and pointed his finger at the mercenaries, as if even a piece of stale bread was precious.

“Hey! Find him quickly! You got paid, so do your job!”

The mercenaries expressed their dissatisfaction at Azar’s angry shout.

“Damn it, does he think we’re slaves?”

“That’s right, we’re definitely people too. We’re different from slaves.”

‘No, I think slaves are people too.’

If Yoon Seirin had become a slave, she might have been treated like that.

If it was known that she wasn’t human, the treatment might have been even more terrible.

‘But because she’s not human, she might be alive.’

As much as she had traveled this terrible continent for 300 years, she would have received all kinds of incidents and wounds.

Loki looked at the window.

If she was here in Lonia, she might be looking at the rain like he was now.