Chapter 160
Chapter 160
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 160
Chapter Title: Episode 53. Just a Pity (2)
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Green Dragons are born seeing the world's providence.
Providence is another world that the Green Dragon gazes upon.
Through the flow of ensuing karma, the Green Dragon understands the world.
For a Green Dragon, having her eyes of providence closed was no different from a person losing both eyes.
Overnight, she had become blind.
That was the feeling Bom was experiencing.
Bom had never felt this confused since she was born.
Should she go back? Or not? She couldn't distinguish.
What should she say? Or should she say nothing? She couldn't be sure of that either.
And she couldn't casually admit that she could no longer see providence.
It was her identity and pride as a Green Dragon. Just like how the Red Clan hated admitting weakness to the death.
The anxious feeling was contagious, beginning to gnaw at Bom's mind and emotions. The fragile hatchling's heart wavered. Her mana started tangling wildly. Her presence scattered.
Early summer. Looking at her toe bitten by a mosquito, Bom thought.
'I'm broken...'
At such a time, Bom had gone and dug her own grave. She ended up alone with Yoo Ji-tae, the one she needed to be most cautious and delicate with, standing in an unfamiliar place before she knew it.
How did things end up like this?
Thinking back, the past few days had flowed so wildly that she hadn't been in her right mind. It was like someone grabbed her by the hair and dragged her along—huh? Huh?—and suddenly she was standing at the edge of a cliff.
Bom thought.
'This is driving me crazy...'
Like a beetle that had lost its antennae, crashing its head everywhere because it couldn't fly straight.
This was an incredibly dangerous situation for Bom.
Influencing Yoo Ji-tae had always been things permitted by providence. Without providence, she shouldn't paint any color on him. Because without the answer key, she couldn't be perfectly sure if that color was right or wrong.
So, logically, the right judgment was to go home from here, hole up in her room, and hold her mind together for a while.
But Bom didn't want to go back.
'We finally have time alone together.'
So Bom reached an agreement in her head.
Just act like normal.
Like normal. But keep some distance. And don't tease him excessively even if she felt like it.
If she did that, the fun times would continue, but she wouldn't stain the canvas called Yoo Ji-tae with the wrong color.
"I don't know where to go..."
Bom added with a hum.
"Actually, I have a confession to make."
"What confession?"
"I've been feeling off lately."
"Feeling off? What does that mean?"
"Why?"
"You're not even human. What kind of 'feeling off' do you have?"
"Have you tried being a dragon?"
"No, I haven't."
"Then don't talk about it."
'There is such a thing...' Bom added in a weak voice.
Yoo Ji-tae peered into Bom's eyes for a moment. Normally, he wouldn't verify the truth in his communications with the dragons. It was to respect them as intellectual, static, and willful beings.
But this was Bom, who was always serene in mood and speech, saying she felt off. He needed to distinguish if it was something to brush off lightly or not.
The truth/falsehood floating in his Scales Eye (SS) was true.
She really was feeling off.
"...Okay. Got it. Nothing serious, right?"
"No, no. Not at all."
"So."
"Um... Anyway, I might not navigate well. My head feels a bit chaotic. My mana's unstable too."
"What then? Head back?"
"No. I told you it's not serious."
"Tell me if it's tough. I'll cancel the dispatch and we go back."
"I'm fine. Really, it's nothing."
"Alright."
After that, Bom and Yoo Ji-tae officially began their mission.
Her poor condition became tangible as they crossed the desert, felt on their skin.
Even with documents and maps, Bom couldn't focus on them. Despite being a dragon, she couldn't scout the path with mana.
Still, Yoo Ji-tae decided to watch.
Including the previous regression, this baby Green Dragon's judgments had never been wrong. So even if the dispatch was sudden, if Bom wanted it, there must be a fitting reason.
However, Yoo Ji-tae intended to be a bystander. This was her dispatch. What was earned through her own effort would be more valuable than something handed over easily. If things went awry, a hint would suffice.
That led to many missteps.
The northern Great Desert stretching along old Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya covered half the size of mainland China. Immensely vast. Most times, one wrong turn led endlessly away from the destination.
Even so, he didn't urge Bom or give advice.
After several such detours, as half a day passed, they finally stepped into the desert near Kahum Village.
"It feels like it's around here..."
Whiiish―
That was when it happened. Suddenly, an enormous sandstorm began raging.
A common desert wind filled with whirlwinds. Turbulence.
Sand particles infused with mana scattered everywhere. Bom crouched, wrapping her body in the subspace magic Heavenly Officials (S).
The wind was so fierce that visibility was less than 10 meters. Then, dark shapes began approaching from the distance.
People. A group at that.
The moment she grasped it, Bom hid behind a desert ridge. Yoo Ji-tae followed her movement.
While doing so, he observed the approaching black shapes. An intriguing situation.
He decided to test Bom once.
"Did they teach you this? What to do when encountering strangers in lawless lands."
"No. I came out in a hurry, so I didn't learn specifically..."
"Then why hide?"
"It's a lawless zone. Felt like I should attack or flee."
"Why flee?"
"Um, scary...?"
Yoo Ji-tae nodded at Bom's words.
"Look at them."
"Okay."
"Black hoods, swords, guns. The one in front is a superhuman. The ones in back carry heavy weapons on their camels. So what group is that?"
At this distance, he could read their mana. It was sharply edged. Like they'd attack anything they encountered.
A bandit gang vibe.
"...A caravan between villages?"
But Bom's answer differed.
"Why think that?"
"The camels have more goods than weapons. Direction doesn't match the warp station. And the sole superhuman rides the lead camel."
"So."
"In lawless lands, you strike first or flee. Without community ties, money or power means nothing—strongest leads. No need for the leader to be in a vulnerable front position."
Yet now, the strongest was up front.
"So, escorts?"
"Yes. And from a village with currency circulation. The two in back loaded with weapons, plus the front one—those are the escorts."
Poor condition, directionless, yet sharp eyes.
But was Bom right? Yoo Ji-tae continued the test.
"If it's a grudge thing, your guess is off?"
"Grudge?"
"If they're bandits, the front guy could be loyal. 'I'll save my own' type."
"Their clothes are generally clean. Middle camels look healthy. Plump humps full of fat."
"Not nomads?"
"A caravan with a base."
Bom looked up at him as if to say, right?
"Got it for now. So what next?"
"Follow cautiously."
"Why."
"Local skirmishes here mean villages are far apart. But their direction overlaps Kahum on the map. ...Better than me, right?"
First time here. No study, no basics. Yet understanding human behavior and conditions, a reasonable call.
"You do have good eyes."
Sincere praise.
Just before averting her gaze, Bom's eyes widened slightly.
Bom's lips twitched, then she spoke.
"...So we tail them secretly?"
"No. No need to follow."
"Huh?"
Yoo Ji-tae stood from the ridge.
A stone in his hand. He straightened his waist, twisted his body in a picture-perfect motion. Next instant, his shoulder and arm blurred, and the stone shot from his fingertips.
Bam―
Piercing the sound barrier, the stone exploded the lead superhuman's head. Literally burst.
Caravan members startled. Bom, equally shocked, covered her mouth.
"Why? Why kill him?"
"Watch closely."
Then bizarre events unfolded. The caravan members suddenly fought among themselves. More precisely, the many ganged up on two.
Muffled gunshots crossed the desert. Amid it, the head-grabbed one fell from his camel, spine snapped.
"All hits. Even with escorts, only escorts armed is odd. In lawless lands, self-preservation is personal."
They were a caravan.
A caravan taken hostage by bandits including the lead superhuman.
And Yoo Ji-tae killed the bandit leader superhuman with a stone.
"So the caravan was disarmed by bandits?"
"Exactly. Thought you'd see that far."
Bom, who saw the essence of things, had realized Yoo Ji-tae was dangerous at first meeting.
But not now.
"That's what 'off' means, huh."
"I told you..."
"Got it. Let's go."
Yoo Ji-tae intervened at the right moment. Mentioned throwing the stone himself. Asked to join to the nearby village.
No refusals. Maybe because of the stone in his hand.
Thus, Yoo Ji-tae and Bom slipped into the group toward Kahum Village.
A small village of about 200 souls, ringed by crude fences.
"Ah, no. This smell..."
"Oh God. Lord have mercy..."
No sooner had they arrived than the stench hit, sending village merchants retching far away.
Plague classification: Ef-014
Named "Ancient Chytrid Spore Propagation Type Plague."
The pathogen from this ancient strain floats in the air, invades human lungs, steals life. Blooms mold flowers with stolen vitality. On death, scatters hyphae into the air.
Hyphae have a distinct scent. And Kahum Village reeked of Ef-014.
"Go in? Or head back?"
Knowing the aftermath of Ef-014, Yoo Ji-tae asked Bom's will again.
"...I'll go in."
Bom nodded with a stiff expression.
The village interior was as expected.
Tents. Or crude huts of snapped wood and leaves. Most half-destroyed.
Strewn on streets: humans, yet no longer. Fleshy masses too filthy for flowers. Like cordyceps.
Deeply eroded hosts become something else. Irreversible without time reversal—even Bom couldn't cure.
Yoo Ji-tae stepped forward. Bom followed belatedly.
Half the infected dead, half alive but no different.
Some upper bodies intact. Others only heads human.
Pathogen sucked hosts dry, seeking new prey—sprouting white hyphae from heads like dandelion seeds.
Half swept by wind, scattering like cotton snow in the distance.
"......"
Among tangled ones, a large mass cradled a small one. The large still twitched, arms clamped around the small.
A scene too gruesome to witness.
Yet Bom faced it calmly.
"Mission over, right..."
"Yeah. Kahum's silence caused by Ef-014."
"All dead or infected..."
Yoo Ji-tae gazed not far off. One survivor. A half-collapsed tent, but unlike others, tightly woven fine fabric.
Inside, the sole survivor. A plump middle-aged Black woman, well-fed by local standards.
"Wh-who are you...?"
She was the only survivor.
The quality tent had delayed the pathogen's erosion somewhat.