Chapter 6 - This, too, must be the will of the heavens (1)
This, too, must be the will of the heavens (1)
Translator : Elizabeth
May Miller.
A young girl born in an ordinary rural village, living simply day by day gathering herbs. She is a very ordinary girl who can be found commonly anywhere in a village. But unfortunately, it seems a great misfortune has befallen the village where May lives now.
"You want me to heal the villagers?"
"Yeah... Even for a moment is fine, I beg you like this."
Seeing her beg so earnestly even while knowing full well that my identity is a demon, it seems the village's situation is much more serious than I thought.
"If you want a reward, I'll give you anything... So please, come to our village..."
Pitiful tears welled up in May's eyes. She bit her lower lip tightly as if trying to hold it back, but eventually, a single drop fell helplessly to the ground.
"What on earth happened for you to cling so desperately?"
I spat out words indifferently with a feigned cold tone. But as soon as I saw May's small hand gripping my sleeve hem trembling faintly, my eyes narrowed for some reason.
"It seems a curse has fallen on the village. People are suddenly groaning in pain..."
"A curse?"
"Yeah. At first, we thought it was a light cold, but suddenly black spots appeared on their bodies and they couldn't even breathe properly..."
As May's words continued, my eyelids sank even cooler. Black spots and rapid weakening. Its characteristics are too unnatural and malicious to be an ordinary disease. If what happened in May's village is related in any way to the demon I defeated yesterday...
"Hmm, indeed. It's understandable to think of it as a curse."
"Right? Isn't it strange even when you think about it?"
"Yeah. It doesn't seem like an ordinary contagious disease."
"If we stay like this, all the villagers will be eaten by that curse..."
All sorts of thoughts flashed through my mind quickly, making my mind distant for a moment. But that was only for a moment; at one thought that suddenly came to mind, my eyes flashed wide immediately.
"Wait. What do you mean by 'eaten by the curse'?"
At my sudden question, May flinched. May looked around quietly once as if terrified. Then she came close to my side and whispered quietly in my ear with a trembling voice.
"The village elders said if you get completely eaten by the curse, you become a terrible monster..."
May's shocking remark made me doubt my ears. As soon as I heard that, my brow, which had been smooth, immediately furrowed seriously.
"Become a m-monster...?"
"Yeah... Later, they lose their reason and attack people recklessly."
This... isn't this almost the exact same phenomenon as the 'encroachment' I talked about at the abandoned church? I just spat out whatever came to mind as a moment's improvisation. To think that was actually happening in this world...
So that's why Daren and Chloe passed over it without much suspicion back then. It wasn't because I spoke too well that they were fooled.
"Ah, shit... what is this..."
I muttered quietly while wiping my face dry. My head suddenly became complicated.
"Huh? What did you say?"
"No, nothing."
Well, anyway, the situation passed somehow thanks to that lie back then, so that's that. There's no point in holding onto what has already passed and worrying about it; it will only give me a headache.
"In short, you want to borrow my power right now to get rid of the villagers' curse, right?"
"Ye, yes... If it doesn't work, it can't be helped..."
May murmured that one sentence quietly and slowly lowered her head. I watched May silently for a moment.
"The one who spread that curse might be a demon, but you still want to take me to your village?"
"Yeah... Because Vivian isn't a bad demon who spreads curses..."
Is this what they call grasping at straws? To beg so earnestly to a demon she just met for the first time without any solid certainty.
"......."
It is truly a baffling situation. However, the word 'curse' has already been embedded too deeply in my mind to just ignore May's situation and leave it be.
"Okay, well... let's go once for now."
"R-really?!"
As soon as I finished speaking, May hurriedly raised her head, which had been lowered.
"You'll really come?!"
At May's excited question, I nodded my head slightly once.
"Yeah. But I can't guarantee that I can completely get rid of that curse."
As if the tears welling up just now were all a lie. May held my hands tightly and smiled very brightly.
"Yeah! Yeah! Thank you so much, Vivian!"
Looking at May like that right in front of me, inexplicable embarrassment rushed in rapidly.
"I'm just... going to see what the condition is like. Understand?"
I turned my gaze to the side and threw out a word as indifferently as possible. However, despite that, May smiled even more brightly like a person who had gained the whole world.
"Yeah! Yeah! Understand!"
It was just yesterday that I was living in seclusion in the abandoned church to avoid having my identity discovered. To think I would crawl into a village where people live with my own feet in just a day.
I know better than anyone that it is a very dangerous choice. But I need to check once how the curse May mentioned eats away at a person's body. Because I know best that I can't handle all future situations with just improvisation.
I need to have at least the minimum information to get a rough idea of what I should do in the future.
"It's not that far from here. If we walk fast, we'll arrive soon!"
. . . . . .
As May said, the village was located less than 30 minutes along the forest path. But as soon as I entered the village entrance, what I felt was not the peaceful atmosphere of the countryside.
"Cough, cough..."
"Ahhh..."
Lifeless coughs and low groans constantly coming from here and there in the village. The air was unpleasantly damp. A fishy stench of unknown origin mixed in and stung the tip of my nose mercilessly.
"Hmm, it certainly is serious."
"Right? Everyone is in a lot of pain."
"Even for me, this might be a bit tough?"
A word muttered calmly from under the nun's veil worn upside down. I couldn't come up with a brilliant idea to cover my eyes properly. Every time my vision was blocked and I tried to see ahead, I had to frequently lift the veil, but it's still better than having my identity discovered by the villagers and causing a commotion.
"Is it a curse Vivian can't do anything about...?"
"Well. I'll have to see first, but it's not very hopeful."
Just as I was looking around the village through the slightly lifted veil. In the center of the village, near a large well, a small building that looked like a sanctuary suddenly caught my eye.
"What is that building?"
"A place for prayer. Everyone goes there to pray to the Goddess when farming doesn't go well or when they are sick."
I stared at that building silently for a moment. Unlike May's words, that building had a worn appearance as if it had been neglected for quite a long time for some reason. As if even the villagers' faith had been eaten by the curse and lost its light. The roof of the building was shabbily torn off, and the walls were covered with unpleasant moss.
To think I would see a building with a similar appearance to the abandoned church I left yesterday in a village I stopped by by chance.
"...Is it a coincidence?"
"Huh? What is?"
May tilted her head and asked, but I didn't answer. Even if I explained, she wouldn't understand anyway.
"May. Who on earth did you bring?"
Just as I was looking around the village carefully once again. Suddenly, a thick man's voice came quite solemnly from somewhere nearby.
"Ah, Chief!"
Turning my head inadvertently, I saw a middle-aged man with a rough beard walking slowly toward us using an old axe as a cane.
"She's my friend! She's an apprentice nun, and she said she came to investigate the curse, so I brought her!"
I swallowed a hollow laugh inwardly at May's brazen lie. An apprentice nun... looking at this flipped veil, I wondered if such words would come out, but fortunately, the chief didn't seem interested in such minute details at all.
"Apprentice nun? What our village needs right now is not a kid playing nun, but a Paladin or High Priest who can stop this curse right now!"
At the chief's sudden rough rebuke, May immediately shrank her shoulders greatly.
"B-but..."
"Shut up! You know clearly what the village situation is like, yet you bring in an outsider carelessly?!"
Spitting out those words quite fiercely, the chief coughed dryly with a weak cough.
"Get out right now! If this dirty curse spreads to an outsider and rumors start, let alone Paladins, this village will be burned down entirely!"
Hmm, it certainly isn't wrong. Isolating and incinerating the entire village when an infectious disease or curse circulates is a very classic and effective method often used by people in the old days. Ultimately, the chief's nervous reaction is a survival instinct coming from inner fear.
However──.
"I apologize for interrupting, but may I scoop some water from the well to drink?"
That is not what's important right now.
Because I've been running around busily since dawn until now, my throat, which hasn't had even a sip of water let alone food, has been parched since earlier.
"W... What?!"
I'm too thirsty. I want to drink water too much.
"Ha, you must be crazy to die... If you really want to do it, do as you please!"
The chief clicked his tongue loudly once as if dumbfounded.
"Don't blame our village even if spots appear on your body as soon as you drink!"
"Okay."
As soon as the chief's blunt permission fell, I headed straight to the well without a shred of hesitation.
"Vivian, will it really be okay? Everyone said this water is suspicious..."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Everyone said a strange smell comes from the water..."
Despite May's subtle dissuasion. I lowered the bucket and drew up a bucketful of cold water from deep inside the well.
"Hmm, I see. That is quite important information."
"So if possible, it's better not to drink..."
May grabbed my sleeve slightly and tried to stop me somehow. But I eventually drank a mouthful of the well water refreshingly.
I am a demon anyway. Even if I get cursed, there is no worry about turning into a monster.
"Phew, now I feel like I can live."
Just like that, I drank a mouthful of well water refreshingly. At the very moment I wiped the water off my mouth with the back of my hand and uttered a short exclamation.
Shhh...
From the water filled in the bucket, suddenly, a wondrous energy erupted intensely along with a strange light.
"...Eh?"
As the water drops on my mouth fell helplessly to the ground, green sprouts began to shoot up out of nowhere from the dirt ground where a fishy stench had lingered.