Volume 4 Chapter 1 Rotten Disease
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
*Clang clang*
From the village, the sound of a familiar bell rings out──something’s definitely wrong.
The church bell usually has a clear, pure tone, but it only ever tolls like this when some disaster strikes.
Lately, it’s started to send chills down my spine.
An emergency quest, maybe?
I drop the quail hunting and rush back to the village.
The guild hall is deserted──everyone seems to have gathered at the village head’s manor.
”Sir Hero, this way.”
At the gate of the village head’s house, Ms. Erin spots me and waves me over, barking orders to the gathered villagers.
Most of them are waving torches around, freaking out about killing poisonous bugs.
Bugs? That’s our new enemy?
The village head’s manor looks like a sprawling mess──endless corridors and second-story walkways turning it into a 3-dimensional maze.
It’s got some history, sure, but honestly?
It’d be better to tear it down and build it fresh from scratch.
Ms. Erin grabs my hand and marches ahead like she owns the place──no hesitation, like this is her home.
Inside one room, I find Mr. Laken, Ms. Lucia, and Ani-Ani lying on a bed.
The usually lively girl’s face is deathly pale.
She’d gone into a forbidden thicket and got bitten by swamp mites.
Leaving the village gate and following the moat inside the wall leads to an old, crumbling gate, long out of use.
Around the old gate are scattered, decaying ruins overgrown with arrow bamboo thickets.
The villagers call it the forbidden bush──a place no one dares approach.
Arrow bamboo’s good for arrows, but since my master, the blacksmith, recommended we gather top-quality bamboo from a hill a bit farther out, I never cared for the forbidden thicket.
No way good bamboo would bloom in such a damp, clogged patch of earth.
No grown-ups ever dared to go near that creepy place──but somehow, it became a secret playground for the village kids.
If a swamp leech bites you, trying to yank it off will only make it dig deeper, pumping its poison straight into your bloodstream.
If it gets ahold of your arm, the best bet is to chop it off before the venom spreads──but kids can’t exactly do that, can they?
Instead, they’d just squirm and make things worse.
Scared of getting scolded, they hid it for half a day, and by the time they finally sought help from an adult, even Ms. Erin’s magic was too little, too late.
Take a look at that jar──see the swamp leech, frozen in place like a specimen?
It’s a grotesque, red-and-black bug, almost like a centipede.
Alchemy has skills for making antidotes, but I’m way out of my depth here.
I can’t even tell what kind of poison this thing has, let alone make a cure.
If you’re struck by the leech’s venom, chances are you’ll catch the illness known as “the Wasting Disease.”
Regular medicine or healing magic won’t cut it.
Without an elixir or dragon herb extract, you’ll be dead in a matter of days.
In this world, those baptized at a church have a shot at resurrection, even after death.
A healthy kid like Ani-Ani could come back with at least a 50-50 chance.
They call it a miracle of God, and if you pull through, you’ll reappear at the church altar in perfect condition──except for your HP.
Lose a limb, and it’ll regrow.
Most diseases or poisons will vanish──except for a few exceptions.
The Wasting Disease is one of those exceptions.
Even if you revive, it’s only a brief reprieve.
Once Death has you in its grip, it won’t let go.
You’ll waste away, die again, and fail to revive──enduring endless suffering until you’re lost forever.
It’s tough on the person, sure, but imagine the pain and despair of the family, watching helplessly.
If there’s nothing you can do, you might as well give up… but there are these wonder drugs, elixirs and dragon herbs, at least.
Elixir, a national treasure, is virtually impossible for a commoner to obtain.
Even the royal family has it on lockdown──only the king and his heir can use it.
That’s how precious it is.
Compared to that, getting the Dragon God Herb is a piece of cake.
It can be obtained as a clear reward from the Trials Valley dungeon, so if we can hire a party of Adventurers above level 50, we should be able to manage.
The Trials Valley is a desolate gorge located about 80 kilometers southwest of Toyata village, famous for the dungeon guarded by a dragon.
Since there’s a wealth of strategy information available for this place, a party of 4 Adventurers over level 50 should have a stable chance to clear it.
That said, hiring a party of that caliber requires some serious rewards.
”I wouldn’t mind pouring our entire fortune into this. I’ve already sent requests to every guild, but unfortunately, the timing’s just not right.”
According to Mr. Laken, strong parties capable of taking down dragons usually gather in the northern glacial region around autumn.
For some unknown reason, this year’s young wyverns have been flocking there in droves.
If you’ve got the strength, it’s an easy opportunity to make a killing.
Commonly known as the Wyvern Festival, it’s become an annual bonus event for Advanced level Adventurers above 50.
Though the Wyvern Festival wraps up by the time the first snow falls, we can’t afford to wait that long to save Ani-Ani.
I reckon a healthy Ani-Ani has a low chance of being lost, even if she dies, but there’s no way I could say something that comforting to a troubled Mr. Laken.
If there’s even a 20 percent chance of loss, the odds of surviving until it snows are… no, that won’t do.
It’s not 0, but the mental toll of watching family die time and time again isn’t something they’d be able to withstand.
”Hey, you’re a Hero, right? Don’t you know anyone who can take down a dragon?”
It’s not like I don’t know anyone; Ms. Hóa’s Antfolk army has a proven track record of slaying dragons.
However, given Ms. Hóa’s position, I doubt she could mobilize in the royal capital, and it’s hard to imagine humans getting an easy helping hand──might be different if they were elves.
”I can’t say for sure without consulting a bit first.”
”I’m counting on you… please figure something out.”
Seeing Mr. Laken bow his head to me like that is a first.
He looked a decade older than usual.
* * *
When I got back to the blacksmith and asked Ms. Ant, she told me that the Antfolk army isn’t even qualified to challenge the Trials of the Valley.
Apparently, overwhelming opponents with sheer numbers is against the rules──there must be some guidelines for a challenge like this.
A party can have up to 4 members, and while there isn’t a strict level cap, the Adventurer Guild recommends a level of at least 50.
”I’ve been to the Trials of the Valley myself. I only made it to the entrance, though, carrying our gear.”
According to Ms. Claire, it seems that warriors of the Horsefolk head to the Trials once they hit level 40.
Few parties can clear it, but if you die in that dungeon, the chances of losing everything are surprisingly low, making it a rite of passage for top-tier warriors.
I don’t know exactly what kind of traps await, but if you die during the trial, the likelihood of losing your stuff upon resurrection apparently drops to about half.
For me, that means I could keep my losses to under ten percent.
Still, if luck’s against me, I could vanish completely from this world.
Fewer bullets in the Roulette of Chaos doesn’t make it any less terrifying.
Alex said he wouldn’t lose no matter how many times he died.
With his high stats, he could’ve easily become a true hero.
Damn it, it’s those strong guys who slack off that force weaklings like me to struggle so hard.
”If they’re giving trials to humans, that means the final boss dragon isn’t as bad as they seem, right?”
If there’s a chance, that’s where I need to start──if it’s a good dragon, maybe I can reason with it and it’ll share some herbs.
”You can’t directly apply human morals of good and evil to a dragon’s value system, but the Trial Dragon Uno is indeed respected among warriors.”
Impressive as always, Ms. Nina──so the name of the final boss is Uno?
”The Dragon God’s Herb is famous as an antidote to the Withering Disease. I’ve heard many push themselves to face Uno to save loved ones, only to end up lost.”
Looks like it’s not going to be something I can negotiate over.
The poor who can’t afford the Dragon神草 keep trying and failing to save their families and lovers, only to ultimately disappear for good.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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