Player Who Became A Constellation [EN]: Chapter 43

43.

The area where the plant’s roots had spread was completely dried and hardened, resembling a mass of earthworms.

“Is this… Worm Fest? That parasite you mentioned?”

Alex shook his head at Loki’s words.

“That’s an interesting thought. These aren’t parasites, but parasitic plants. However, they reproduce asexually, even without pistils and stamens. Ah! I suppose you could still call them parasites because they reproduce in that way.”

“…….”

The ‘Worm Fest’ that Loki envisioned was damp and resembled earthworms. This dried, hardened mass was the complete opposite.

“It looks completely different.”

“The Worm Fest, after parasitizing a host, sucks its blood. It uses the nutrients obtained in that way to lay eggs, or rather, seeds. When the Worm Fest absorbs blood, its outer layer becomes tough, giving it resistance to physical attacks.”

“…….”

“These things mainly gather in the heart, brain, and muscles. And they forcibly move the bodies of the dead, essentially becoming the muscles, heart, and brain themselves, creating a fake human.”

Alex paused to take a breath.

“With just a drop of blood, they lay hundreds of seeds, which take root and form a colony of thousands or tens of thousands, forming a body… creating a ‘wight’ [undead creature] that ordinary people can’t handle.”

Loki recalled the times he had killed wights.

When they were destroyed, Worm Fest flowed out of their bodies. And the inside of each body was completely empty.

It was like a ‘giant earthworm in the shape of a human.’

“These things especially like ‘humans.’ And they only feed on blood. That’s why they are such dangerous beings. There shouldn’t be another disaster like this on the continent.”

“…You know a lot. It must have been difficult to learn about such naturally occurring plagues.”

“…Natural? Huh! Do you really think nature created this creature?”

Alex looked dumbfounded.

His voice rose as if he was angry, and his face was flushed.

“There are many mysterious and amazing things on the continent, but do you think that mere plants… have the inherent magic to attack living things?”

Alex ran his trembling hands over his face.

“This monstrous plant suddenly appears without any signs for thousands or tens of thousands of years? No. No! This… was artificially created!”

“Artificially… created?”

“Yes! The Holy Order speculates that this Worm Fest was ‘created’ by someone. The one who created it is…”

Alex couldn’t continue speaking, overwhelmed by the implications. Then, looking at Loki’s expression, he opened his mouth with difficulty.

“It’s King Kalib, the Demon King of the great empire called ‘Harness’ that plunged the continent into fear 50 years ago.”

“No!”

Celot shouted, startling them both.

As if his quiet demeanor was a facade, he clenched his fists, glared at Alex and Loki, and shouted.

“No! That’s not it! The one who made this is…”

‘It’s you humans!’ Celot thought, but the words caught in his throat. His chest felt tight, and his body trembled.

Loki put his hand on Celot’s head and gently stroked it.

Even though Celot was wearing a hood, he grabbed Loki’s hand with both hands and pressed it down on his head.

He bit his lower lip and quietly sobbed, as if he wanted to forget the painful memories and receive comfort.

After some time, Celot muttered softly.

“…I want to go for a walk.”

As if wanting to shake off his depressed mood, Celot left the lab.

Loki didn’t chase after him. He just looked at Alex and continued speaking calmly.

“…Please continue.”

“Yes? Ah, yes….”

Alex answered in a daze, thrown by the suddenly heavy atmosphere, and continued with what he knew.

“That’s… there’s a reason why Worm Fest is a plant. Trees have had a mysterious ability to absorb supernatural powers since ancient times. That’s why many people use trees to make tokens or statues. Also, the fact that wizards and priests use wooden staffs is in the same context.”

Alex took a breath.

“Anyway, I think this Worm Fest was also created by black magic using that principle. Interestingly, Worm Fest parasitizes other creatures besides humans, but that’s only used as a means of transportation to move the host. Just looking at that, you can see that this was created specifically against ‘humans.’ Yes! So those kids…!”

Alex shouted, blood vessels bulging on his forehead as if he was becoming overly excited, but soon stopped speaking, realizing that he had lost his composure.

“…Hoo. I got too excited.”

Loki was quite interested. An old man in this remote countryside had done this much research? It seemed closer to obsession than simple curiosity or interest.

“You said it only infects humans… have there been any reports of infection in monsters or other plants?”

“Yes? Ah, yes….”

Alex took a deep breath to calm himself. Then, suddenly wondering, he asked Loki in return.

“…Didn’t you know? That Worm Fest only infects humans?”

Alex was embarrassed. With this information alone, some confusion on the continent could be prevented. But that fact was still unknown?

“I haven’t been interested in Worm Fest for very long.”

Loki was Loki, but in reality, almost nothing was known about Worm Fest on the continent. Currently, healers and herbalists on the continent were also studying Worm Fest, but almost no one knew what it infected and what it didn’t.

Even if the rumor was known, it was soon buried.

It was hard to believe unless it came directly from the ‘Holy Order’.

‘Didn’t the Order tell me?’

Alex closed his mouth.

It had been 50 years since the epidemic spread. However, the Holy Order had created holy water, but it seemed that they had not disclosed detailed information.

‘…Is it the Holy Emperor’s doing? How corrupt is that human being?!’

Clearly, it may have been kept secret in order to increase the Order’s influence.

Alex gritted his teeth.

He decided to share what he knew, thinking that he should let this fact be known.

“…If you travel, please spread this story. This Worm Fest only infects humans and does not infect animals. Moreover, even if it is a demihuman such as an elf or dwarf that looks similar to a human, Worm Fest is not able to infect them for some reason. Even if it’s a mixed race.”

“…You’re telling me in quite some detail.”

“This has nothing to do with hoarding information. Everyone must work together to deal with such a dangerous epidemic.”

Alex was angry that even this basic information had not spread across the continent.

This fact was clearly revealed by the Holy Order 50 years ago.

‘I don’t know what his intentions are, but I’m going to let this fact be known! I’m going to write a letter to the Pope tonight and send it! I’m saying that the Holy Emperor might be planning something!’

Loki looked at Alex and then at the books in the cabin.

“Those are…”

“These are the results of my research.”

“Can I see them?”

“Of course. But…”

Alex was reluctant.

“It’s dangerous here, so why don’t you look at them somewhere else? Of course, that glass is made of magic-enhanced glass, but…”

“Is there a possibility that it will break?”

“…Unless you break it on purpose, that won’t happen. Worm Fest can’t even penetrate the skin of an orc.”

“Then, I’ll read it here. There’s a lot of data, so it will take longer to move it to another place.”

“Yes? But…”

Alex glanced at the carpeted floor and then at Loki’s expression.

‘It’ll be okay. There’s no way he’ll find it.’

The underground lab he created was a secret. He was secretly worried about that.

Even if he found it, it was too dark to think about going in.

“Yes, it’s okay. There’s also a warehouse for storing herbs, so please feel free to look around.”

Alex ended up agreeing.

As someone who had lived alone in a remote place for decades, he missed the company of others who had come to visit him too much.

He was so lonely, and his world had become so small.

“Then… I’ll stay one more day.”

Alex felt uneasy at Loki’s words, but at the same time, he felt relieved in one corner of his heart.

***

[Worm Fest cannot penetrate the epidermis of creatures with tough skin or hard shells. …(omitted)… This cannot be said to have occurred naturally. This was ‘designed’ and created as a ‘weapon’. And the one who designed it is one of two people. Demon King Kalib or…]

“……?”

Loki, who was reading the research data, crossed his arms and stroked his chin.

The content was not written in an important part of the book.

Did he forget to record the content? Or was he reluctant to write it? Or maybe it was content to be written in the future.

Anyway, it seemed that Alex speculated that Worm Fest was created by someone.

‘Can you create such a creature with magic?’

Undead made of souls and bones could also be summoned, so it wouldn’t be such a mysterious thing.

Loki continued to read the text in Alex’s lab until late in the evening.

“No.”

‘It has nothing to do with Helga at all.’

He wondered if the plague was caused by the angel of death. However, Helga’s avatar created by Loki had curse skills but did not have the ability to create Worm Fest like this.

Helga.

Her real name is Hel.

In Norse mythology, she is also known as the ‘Goddess of Death’. And most of the skills set for that goddess of death are ‘curse’, ‘darkness’, ‘summoning’ and ‘healing’ skills.

‘Helga’s skills can’t create this Worm Fest. Then, is there no relationship between Helga and the plague at all? Then, on the contrary, curing the plague…?’

There was a high possibility that the rumor was true.

Helga has skills related to death. Therefore, there was not only a healing skill but also a skill one level higher than that, a skill to revive the dead. There was also a skill called ‘resurrection’. When the opponent died and was resurrected, it was a skill to make them his own.

However, it is resurrected as a living creature, not an undead, and naturally becomes a follower.

It was a very powerful skill, but the disadvantage was that there were many restrictions.

The target must have died within 10 minutes. Movement is restricted for 3 minutes when using the skill, and finally, the skill’s cooldown time is 30 minutes, and the magic consumption is dozens of times different from other skills.

‘If you think about it that way, Helga is more like a real god than me.’

Reviving the dead? That was completely fine even if he was called a god.

Reviving the dead was something that even Loki could not do.

Above all, as it is a skill that makes Helga aware of the owner, it has a strong subordinate relationship.

Before coming to the continent, I heard it from Aum Linia.

There are quite a few groups that follow her.

Perhaps… those followers were likely affected by the resurrection skill.

“This is… troublesome. I don’t know where to start.”

Unless there is a proper clue, for now, I had no choice but to continue tracking this epidemic.

‘…Information is lacking. I have to send a message to the frozen land, Asgard.’

They wouldn’t have accurate information either. However, since the scope of the Ronia Kingdom has been narrowed, some information can be obtained.

‘…It’s boring.’

Celot looked at Loki, who was sitting in a chair with his back to him.

He’s been reading only text for hours.

I was going to go outside again to calm my mind, but outside it was already dark with the sun down.

Above all, Celot was reluctant to go outside because it had a gloomy atmosphere near the cemetery.

There is only one thing she can do….

“…The combination is strange.”

That is to mix medicines.

Celot took out the medicinal herbs in the lab. And looking at the medicines that Alex had made, he sighed as if he was pathetic.

‘Did complete beginners make this? Even elves who haven’t come of age would make it better than this!’

She took out the medicinal herbs, chopped them, and mixed them.

Elves study pharmacy from a young age. In particular, she was a ‘royal family’, so the education process was bound to be different from others.

‘Complete!’

Celot smiled after making the medicine.

There were many medicinal herbs here that were difficult to obtain even in the forest, so I was able to make quite good medicine.

There are various types, such as medicine to treat injured wounds and medicine to relieve fatigue.

‘Let’s take it! I might need it later!’

A voice was heard to her who was trying to steal the manufactured medicine.

“Don’t take other people’s things without permission.”

“…I made it.”

“Before that, it belongs to the monk [Alex].”

Celot felt disappointed as he looked at Loki, who turned his head and spoke.

“The monk told me to look around, but he didn’t tell me to take it. Let’s respect his words.”

“…Okay.”

Celot lost strength at Loki’s firm and low voice.

I made it with great effort….

Celot looked back at Loki, who was showing his back. And as he was about to put the manufactured medicine back in its place, his hand ended up slipping.

The medicine was spilled on the floor with a loud noise.

“……?!”

Celot, who was surprised, discovered something strange while scraping together the medicine he had spilled on the floor.

A small space was visible through the gaps in the carpet that was thickly laid on the floor.

“……?”

When she lifted the carpet, she was able to find a handle and an iron door.