But That Big-Eared Guy Was Me? (2)
Obelisk, the David-class assault destroyer.
Deck 2, Upper-Deck Medical Bay.
Reina Florence, the Koorn race medical officer whose head sprouted massive sheep horns, picked up two tweezers that looked like chopsticks from the shelf.
This is...?
She carefully probed the biological tissue.
And seeing the pitch-black parasites, she frowned.
Where did you even get this from, Captain?
A parasite received directly from the Captain a few days ago. In a transparent glass jar, the host's blood and flesh mixed with the parasites in a jumbled mess.
"Analyze it. I won't take questions. Submit a report on this parasite within 3 days."
The Captain said this and cut off the question, but it only deepened her suspicion. She wasn't some innocent who would receive such a thing and just analyze and report it.
She's an elf, after all, you can't read her mind.
Reina, who had been the chief researcher at the Unknown research facility. One of the many top-secret 1st-class Unknown-related items hidden since the founding of the Aegis Coalition. The act of handing her this thing without hesitation, the existence of this 'parasite' which is still the most taboo, how absurd it was. Was she really not knowing?
Or does that mean it's urgent?
Moreover, this sample... It looked like someone had roughly torn the parasite tissue from the host's flesh with clumsy hands. Traces of a rookie mistake that no expert would make were found scattered around the sample.
If they tore it out forcibly, it must have hurt a lot.
The ugly torn flesh. Traces of trying to cut it with a blunt knife instead of a medical laser cutter multiple times. And puddles of blood around the sample. Suspicious points galore. She pushed the rising doubts to the back of her mind and ordered the medic.
"...Medic, record. Infection form, Sigma(Σ). Course, untreatable, irreversible erosion. Final stage of erosion."
"Understood, Chief Medical Officer. Infection form, Sigma. Course, untreatable, irreversible erosion. Final stage of erosion."
The Unknown's Sigma(Σ) type parasitic organism.
If the parasite that was originally blue is now this black, the host must be feeling the pain of their entire body burning from the infection spreading through the blood vessels by now. Normally, the host would die before the parasite turns black, so this final evolution form is really hard to see.
"Sigma parasite... This is the first time I've seen one in person. Is it okay to just leave it like this?"
"Are you worried about the infection?"
The medic nodded with an anxious expression. The parasite in the jar seemed to not want to leave the host even for a moment, greedily sucking up the blood that fell around it and sticking disgustingly to the torn flesh.
"Don't worry. The Sigma parasite infects only one host that it chooses for life."
"R-Really? That's good."
"And it shares the fate with the host. If you eat all the host's blood and flesh in this sample, it will naturally die. How's that, amazing, right?"
"Haha... It's not amazing. No, I can't even look at it anymore."
The medic's expression went beyond horror to disgust. Interestingly, once the Sigma parasite chooses a host, it doesn't infect others. Moreover, despite its grotesque appearance, it doesn't emit any smell. This mysterious creature was treated as a mystery in academia.
"I need to run an experiment. Prepare the laser welder."
"Understood, Chief Engineer. Preparing the magic power laser welder right away."
What was clearly revealed in academia so far: only two things. First, the parasite chooses hosts based on some unknown criterion. The hosts referred to here are high-intelligence beings like humans, beastkin, elves, and demons. Second, the infected host reaches a state of self-destruction driven only by violence and instinct.
In other words, this parasite is—
Drinking only the host's blood,
Eating only the host's flesh,
Devouring only the host's cells.
Until the host is completely destroyed and loses its self.
With a gesture, the medic handed her the prepared medical magic power reinforced laser welder. An ultra-strong magic engineering laser that burns skin tissue instantly and forcibly joins it. If even this doesn't work, there's no hope.
"Medic. I'll burn the upper part to a depth of 3mm, the lower part to 5mm."
"Understood, upper 3mm, lower 5mm. Adjusting to strength 5.0."
A blue flash burst out, and a tear pricked her eye.
"Seriously, does this not kill it?"
"...It seems so. Keep shooting at 5-second intervals."
The black parasite writhed in pain every time it was hit by the laser, then adapted and began to twitch frantically. Despite that, it was quite a sight to see it desperately trying to block the laser with a dense, slimy wall of mucus, not wanting to burn even the flesh it was holding as much as the host's.
"...Ugh, sorry, Chief Medical Officer. I need to use the bathroom..."
"Go ahead. Let's take a short break."
While the medic held her mouth and hurried to the bathroom, Reina wiped the sweat from her face with a towel and looked back at the parasite writhing hideously.
Where did this parasite come from?
She closed her eyes and thought.
From what she heard, the Captain had a fit of rage just before the decisive battle for the name of Cephalus planet yesterday. Gritting her teeth, she endured the pain of the fit, achieved a historic feat by destroying the Unknown's 'Nightmare Gate' in one shot, and didn't stop commanding until the last moment before she fell. At the time, she was on a mission to Babel heavy cruiser, so she couldn't check her condition, but she could clearly see the miraculous sight of the Nightmare Gate collapsing there too.
"-I saw it again. I thought you were just a demon."
The medic evaluated her that way.
Reina's instinct whispered something.
A panic attack she had never seen before.
And the parasite she gave her just before the decisive battle.
The connection between the two.
"Could it be that the Captain...?"
The medic explained her fit symptoms to her.
It was similar to the Sigma infection symptoms she had read in some academic journal sometime.
"No way. There's no way..."
But looking at the state of the parasite, if it had progressed to this final stage, it would be impossible to even walk properly. And that was far from the lofty appearance of Captain Elia that she had seen so far.
The 'Demon of the Obelisk' who brought blood and chaos from the first day of her posting.
She remembered that day.
The supply officer of the Corps, who had a gunshot wound on his thigh, was carried into the medical bay in a pool of blood. She was quietly reading a book alone when she was startled and asked the medic.
"What is this... Did a gun accident happen?"
"No, Chief Medical Officer. The newly appointed Captain used a pulse pistol on..."
"What? No, prepare for surgery immediately!"
She didn't know where to start asking.
She made a surgeon like this from the first day of posting?
"Move him to Operating Room 03 right now!"
"Understood! Moving to Operating Room 03!"
It wasn't just the gunshot wound on the thigh. Seeing his face battered and swollen from being beaten severely, anxiety grew in her heart. Probably, the newly appointed Captain was someone with a completely opposite personality to the current Captain Laura.
The supply officer who recovered later was handed over to the Aegis Military Police for embezzlement. Although he had committed a crime, the punishment was somehow wrong. This incident was a kind of small omen for Reina that she would be busy from now on.
"Chief Medical Officer, there's a patient you need to see..."
"I'll treat it quickly. Just wait a moment."
And the omen was exactly right. From the next day, the medical bay was busy without a moment to rest. Numerous patients were brought to the medical bay one after another due to the violence of Captain Elia that was not violence. She treated various fractures and contusions, and her heart ached, but since the injury was 'part of ship-to-ship combat training', which was too just, she couldn't raise a proper objection.
"Are you okay? The training must be tough."
"...Damn it, that Captain is a monster. Even though we attacked all at once, we couldn't even touch him."
A pilot of the Corps with a dislocated shoulder muttered to her.
"At least it's not a lie that he has a parachute. His skill is real, not fake."
"Damn, you're a coward! The starting signal didn't even ring-"
"Hey Ralph, we were four against one. Still, is there anything else to say? Let's admit it."
"Shit! Wait and see, next time I'll beat the hell out of that arrogant little bastard!"
"First, do something about that big bruise on your eye and stop talking nonsense. Idiot, heh heh."
The elite Corps assault pilots were known for receiving the hardest training of all. But if they could defeat four at once alone... She turned away from the memory and erased the possibility that the host of this parasite might be the Captain.
But what was it, this uneasy feeling that had been nagging at her since earlier...
"...Still, just in case, it might be worth investigating."
Reina muttered to herself and sat on the chair, operating the keyboard. She took a small chip from the pocket of her white coat and plugged it into the terminal. The chip flashed once, and the holographic screen changed.
[Aegis Integrated Magic Engineering Blood Information Query System]
She took a sip of coffee and dropped a drop of the blood separated from the biological sample onto the magic power test device. Red waves scanned the blood up and down, and soon the test result came out.
[Query Unavailable: No Permission]
And what was visible was an extremely suspicious message.
Query unavailable? No permission?
She tapped the coffee cup she was holding with her index finger. And activated the test device again.
[Query Unavailable: No Permission]
"Is this a challenge?"
Her pride as the youngest chief researcher at the Nebula Empire National Unknown Research Institute was pricked by a thread. Soon, the sound of typing on the keyboard at 200 words per minute echoed through the medical bay. It sounded like the rapid fire of a pulse machine gun. This time, the keyboard commands began searching for records most related to 'Elia Edelvine'.
[Searching for matching related items...]
[(1) matching related items found - Views: 4]
'This is...?'
~Cetus Year 4312, December 24~
'09 District Sigma Infection End 15th Anniversary, What's Left There.'
It was a newspaper article. An old one at that.
Why was this article related to her?
The tail-chasing questions continued.
"-Chief Medical Officer?"
"Yes, yes?!"
She was startled by the medic's call and immediately answered.
"Ah, I interrupted. Sorry. A customer came outside."
"It's okay. Who came?"
"Acoustic Analyst Cecil Bouvelle. Shall I let her in?"
"Yes, send her in right away."
Cecil? Cecil coming to see her. So far, she had been the one to come looking for Cecil, but not the other way around. It was unusual, so she ordered her to be sent into the room immediately.
"Welcome, Cecil!"
"......"
Cecil entered the room with a fidgety gait, looking around. Her cat ears twitched as if guarding the surroundings. Her appearance was so cute that Reina couldn't help but smile.
"What can I help you with? Are you feeling unwell?"
Instead of answering, Cecil suddenly handed her a empty medicine bottle cartridge.
"To me...?"
"......"
Nod nod.
Cecil couldn't answer because of her congenital muteness. Reina thought about the intention behind Cecil handing her this empty cartridge. It looked like a normal Type-3 medical pistol medicine bottle cartridge.
'Hmm... What could it be, first-'
She smelled the bottle. A faint, sharp, unpleasant scent. Even just smelling the aftertaste made her dizzy. A bell rang in her heart.
"-Cecil! Where did this come from?"
Reina's expression became serious. The sharp tone made Cecil's ears and hair stand up straight. Ah, did she scare her?
"Ah, sorry. I wasn't talking to Cecil."
With a sorry heart, she gently stroked her head.
The stiff ears slowly relaxed.
Abutilon.
The last mercy given to red-tagged soldiers (those with certain death) during combat. One each given to the Corps assault pilots before they went out on the Unknown defense line breakthrough operation, and if they safely returned, it was immediately recovered as priority 0.
Where did Cecil get this...?
A drug that was strictly forbidden to be touched by anyone except the medical officer and medic in normal times. Naturally, export to the outside was strictly prohibited, and using it for private purposes was considered a serious crime.
"Is this strictly prohibited from being exported outside? It's a really dangerous drug. I don't know where you found this, but if it's wrong-"
Cecil shook her head vigorously. She hesitated and pointed upwards with her finger.
"Up...?"
Nod nod.
Up? Upwards... The Captain's quarters? The Captain's quarters, the top layer of the ship, had been designated as an entry prohibited zone since the Captain changed. Wait, then yesterday Cecil said she took the Captain who fainted to her room?
"...No way, Cecil. Did you take this from the Captain's room?"
Cecil nodded slightly.
Unable to believe it, Reina asked again.
"This was in the Captain's room?"
Again, Cecil nodded.
Another question floated in her mind.
How did she open the security door of the locked Captain's room?
No, more importantly than that now.
"How much? It wasn't that much, was it?"
This time, Cecil shook her head vigorously.
Hmm... Does that mean she didn't know exactly?
"Thank you for telling me, Cecil. From now on, I'll handle it myself."
Cecil, hearing that, quickly turned her body and ran out of the medical bay like she was fleeing from a housekeeper. Her back looked like a cat escaping to a quiet place to avoid its owner.
So... What to do with this now. First, she felt the need to tell Laura about this matter. She put the bottle in her pocket and left the medical bay.
And at that time, heading to the deputy captain's room.
"Hey you."
The familiar voice from behind stopped her.
