Chapter 459
Chapter 459
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 459
>Chapter Title: The 31st Horse Overturns the Game Board
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All of this had unfolded within two days. There would be no falsehoods in this incident.
Ur, having sensed Eragon's emergence, halted his research on the frost fever cure the very next day.
Only Mariju from the Silver Lion Society received word of it. She immediately barged into Ur's office, which still lacked a proper door.
For about an hour, they conversed. Ur issued her a one-sided directive—things to prepare, things to consider, things to ignore.
Muttering to herself so she wouldn't forget, Mariju vanished.
"Hoo..."
He had spoken boldly, but Ur knew full well how dire the situation was.
"If Eragon is already emitting light... it means disaster could strike at any moment."
A mere month's grace period.
Ur considered even that overly optimistic.
The age of humanity could crumble at any time. The harbinger of collapse might come in a fortnight, a week, or perhaps tomorrow.
Clank...
Heading to the lab, Ur released the experimental dogs and monkeys.
Grrrrr...
Keeek...
All were suffering from severe frost fever. Those dosed with palliatives were deep in slumber and excluded from this test.
"Well, sorry about this."
Squeeeze...
Squeeeze...
Ur injected them one by one with the frost fever-inducing germs from the hom drug.
Culturing frost fever hosts took time, so he usually avoided sacrificing valuable specimens like this.
It was also a wasteful endeavor with little value for developing palliatives or cures.
But now, with circumstances changed, he could no longer afford such luxuries.
Riiip...
Riiiip...
The dogs' and monkeys' bodies began swelling even larger than before.
"Tell me... what's coming."
Craaackle...
Craaaackle...
Roooar-!
ROOOOAR-!
The lab began filling with their flesh.
Ziiing...
"...What?"
Ur's eyes sharpened.
Splat...
The expansion didn't last long.
Bruises bloomed on the backs of their heads, then—pop!—chunks of flesh burst, and they slumped lifelessly.
Was this the end stage of frost fever?
"No... no."
Frost fever spread via hom, a drug dogs and monkeys wouldn't inhale.
"It was made targeting humans..."
Hom targeted humans, and humans were chosen as vectors for frost fever.
Ur hadn't focused on its fatality rate. Those dying from frost fever perished not from the disease itself, but from complications after prolonged illness.
In other words, what happened to frost fever patients at the very end remained unknown.
'That aside, it definitely seemed like...'
Just before the specimens died from overstimulation, the skull area swelled slightly, showing a faint mana reaction.
It was unmistakably mana.
Clank...
Clank...
Grrrr...
Ur methodically freed the caged specimens. The question of sacrificing one life to preserve another had long been the fulcrum of justice's scales.
Lately, those scales tipped more often to one side.
* * *
The next day.
"Hmm-hmm-hmm..."
Han Somi hesitated repeatedly near Ur's office, rehearsing her greeting.
First impressions held immense value.
Whether a initial encounter or a frequent one, it was the same.
"Ah, jazzaan! Hmm... too frivolous..."
The impression upon entering the door.
Han Somi believed it profoundly influenced the day's conversation.
"Hoo..."
Brightly.
She knew she had to act as brightly as possible.
"Huh?"
There was no door.
Come to think of it, Jamad had smashed another one yesterday.
With no choice, Han Somi gingerly stepped into the doorway where the door should have been.
"G-Good moooorning... Huh?"
Ur wasn't there.
"...What the."
Planning to wait, Han Somi surveyed the office.
She noted the extra doors added since yesterday and the books packing the shelves.
The desk overflowed with documents.
Some concerned palliatives.
"All so technical... Impressive."
No medical expert, yet he whipped up effective drugs given time, commanded respect from the arrogant Silver Lion nobles...
"Hm? This is..."
Amid the pile, a paper caught her eye.
"...A list?"
Slide...
Sliide...
As Han Somi pulled it out to check—
"Quite the cat burglar move."
"Huh? Y-You're back?"
"What brings you here?"
"So curt... I just dropped by. Heard you weren't sleeping."
"Everything catches your ear. Worry more about your own safety than others'."
"...What does that mean?"
Having seen Ur recently, Han Somi sensed something off. Overly sharp reactions, making him unapproachable?
"...Is something wrong?"
"Nothing for you to know. If there's an issue, Jamad will relay it. Or rather, I already have."
"Your eyes look sunken..."
"Always do."
"Ahem... You smell too."
"Haven't bathed. True."
"...Are you really resting properly? If there's a problem... I can help."
"...Help? You... help me?"
Definitely strange.
Ur was usually cool-headed, but he never crushed someone's feelings like this.
"Why... say it like that...?"
"F-For the time being, don't come here."
It stung. She snapped.
"No!"
"...Don't be stubborn."
"That too!"
"......Kh."
Ur chuckled.
"Khkh... Kuhahat... This is amusing."
"Smiling now?"
"Han Somi. Thanks, I feel better. Now go."
"See? There is something wrong."
Swoosh...
Ur placed a hand on her shoulder.
"From today, never leave Jamad's side."
"Huh?"
"Told him too. Obey his orders."
Snap-!
With a flick of his fingers, Han Somi was engulfed in light and ejected outside.
"Hoo..."
Reclaiming the list she'd held, Ur headed to the basement.
Sublevel 2.
A secret lab.
Four prisoners in uniforms sat bound to chairs, hands tied behind.
"Better faces than before."
"Not your concern."
"A human experimenter like you mouthing off..."
Ur replied with a blank expression.
"Kali Omagia, murdered five family members."
"You left out how they raped my sister and dumped her in the river."
"Details drag on. I'm explaining you're sentenced to death, execution today."
"Hmph. Same for the others?"
Hardened criminals.
All scheduled for execution today.
"Bian, killed twelve including investigators..."
"Enough. Kill us quick if you will. Not interested in excuses."
"......"
Ur had gathered them for the experiment.
"Right. You're dying today."
"......"
"Tough luck."
"So it's today."
Resigned ones and sneerers.
"Any last meals before you go?"
"Is this that?"
"Last supper? Not kids."
"Cut it. Just kill us."
"Make it quick and painless."
Ur shook his head.
"You'll die in agony."
"...What?"
"What bullshit is this?"
"You! Who sent you?"
He explained calmly.
"Hard to believe, but..."
Ur told them what lay ahead: Eragon's existence, the new era, the federation's fall—not just that, but humanity's survival.
"...Believe that?"
"Funny."
Reactions uniform.
No one bought it.
"So now we'll see what happens at frost fever's end stage. You're already infected—that's why you were selected."
"...So we're disposable since we're tainted? Cold."
"Human free will means nothing here?"
Ur's face remained impassive. Excessively businesslike.
"We go all-in regardless. Ethics and morals get shelved."
"Use everything available? Can you handle it? We'll die ugly."
"Khkh... Weaklings faint at corpses. You..."
Ur leaned on the facing desk, chin propped.
"It's routine."
"......"
"......"
Finally, they named their last meals.
"Banana smoothie."
"Stinky pork, heaps."
"Young lamb."
The youth in the farthest corner spoke last.
"Mom's cooking."
"......Specifically."
"Uh, the lumpy potato porridge she made... I liked it."
The youth added.
"...Tough ask? Still, if I get that, I'll cooperate fully."
Snap-!
Ur summoned Silver Lion soldiers to track the youth's mother. She was alive and willing to provide plenty.
"Hey, swap with me. Want his mom's food."
"Me too, no mom here."
"Lumpy potato porridge never fails. I like it."
Soon, an overly generous portion for four arrived: lumpy potato porridge.
Slurp...
Slurp...
"Damn, tastes awful."
"My mom's a bad cook."
"Why not warn us? You bastard."
"Khkh... Keehee..."
The woman laughed.
"Bad enough it's perfect pre-death food. Better die than live on this."
"Thanks for the praise. Guess it's a miracle I'm alive."
"Yeah, kid. Your mom must love you."
"Feel it?"
"...Yeah."
After clearing the table...
Ziiing...
Clank...
Lab partitions descended.
Their space divided into four.
"What's this?"
"To prevent sabotage. No interference."
"Ah, nice. Only you see my ugly end? Heard frost fever deaths are pathetic."
Nod...
"Haa..."
"Huhuhu..."
Ur spoke.
"Hold out as long as you can."
"Planned to anyway."
"...Then think of me as the devil."
To avoid seizure from needles, frost fever germs dispersed via gas.
Pssshhhhh...
About a minute after the smoke entered.
"Grrrh..."
"GRAAAAH!"
BOOM-!
BOOM-!
Death row inmates pounded the partitions.
Each hit dented them deeply—unsettling, but focus stayed on their changes, not missing a second.
Pssshhhh...
"Damn..."
The bold woman died first, head exploding.
Pssshhhh...
Smoke continued.
Forced reactions wouldn't align perfectly. Revealing frost fever's secret with even one sufficed.
"GRAAAAH!"
Thud-thud-thud-!
Another bashed his head against the partition, suiciding.
"Damn..."
Time short, two meaningless deaths already.
"GRUUUH!"
Spluuurt!
Third collapsed, spewing blue blood from every vein.
Only the youth who scraped his bowl clean remained.
"...You."
"......"
"...Still conscious?"
Bloodshot eyes glared at Ur.
"Said I'd... cooperate fully..."
Enduring unimaginable pain. Ur admired his willpower.
"Listen..."
"Speak. Haven't reached final stage yet."
"Cold... bastard..."
"Speak. Stay conscious."
"I killed people."
"Know. Saw the records."
"Dozens."
"Saw."
"All who tormented me... Probably killed the most here."
"...Yeah. Not brag-worthy, but."
"If I endure to the end... save that many?"
"Far more. Incomparable."
The youth grinned.
"Then, die and go to heaven? Hell?"
"...Hell's mine."
Smirk...
"Won't be lonely."
Whoooong...
Flinch!
Ur focused on the reaction from the youth's body.
"This... frost fever's final stage."
Whoooong...
His body glowed azure, swelling—like Chaila, the Silver Lion noble who'd opposed him before, ballooning grotesquely.
"Ah... can't hold on..."
"...Well done. I'll do my best."
BOOOOOOM-!
The lab engulfed in explosion.