Chương 59: The Cursed One

broken.

barren.

Weeds were everywhere.

Xia En looked at the village before him, a sense of doubt rising in his heart.

Are you sure this is the place?

Frillie squatted in front of the wooden sign at the village entrance, took out a piece of paper, and carefully compared it.

"Yes, this is the address."

In the Central Kingdoms, in the Tak region, there is a small mountain village called "Kreel".

"But here..."

Xia En frowned.

It doesn't look like a normal village at all.

"So, what kind of commission is this? It's not like it's for civil engineering repairs in the village..., is it...?"

"No, this time it's a request from Haita."

Upon hearing Haita's name, Philon paused.

"Did Mr. Haita leave us a task?"

Frillie nodded.

"He said the village was infected with a strange plague. He couldn't cure it or find a solution, so he wanted me to give it a try."

"plague?"

"Calling it a plague might not be the most accurate description, but Haita couldn't find a more precise one. In short, it's a disease he can't explain, or perhaps an unknown curse; he's not entirely sure."

Shane fell into deep thought.

"That sounds like a tricky situation."

As they spoke, the three of them walked into the village...

The entire village was eerily quiet; every household had its doors and windows tightly shut. Weeds had grown rampant along the streets, and the fences in front of several houses were nearly collapsed. As far as the eye could see, there wasn't a single livestock or poultry in sight, nor a single human figure.

However, I could feel countless eyes watching me.

Through the cracks in the door, beside the window... it seemed as if countless people were hiding in the shadows.

Philon looked nervous, unconsciously gripping his staff tighter and moving closer to Shane.

Xia En glanced down at her.

The little girl's eyes darted away for a moment, then she quietly pulled away half a step, and then, taking advantage of Xia En's inattention, she slowly moved back again.

After that, she firmly remained between Shane and Frilian, following their lead closely.

Shane looked around, exchanged a glance with Frillie, and then walked toward the nearest house.

dong dong dong- dong dong dong- No one responded.

Xia En did not give up; he knocked on the door repeatedly.

After knocking at least five or six times, the tightly closed door finally opened a crack, revealing a pair of cloudy eyes.

Those eyes were fixed on Xia En, and his tone was old and cold.

"Get out of here if you don't want to die."

Before Shane could answer, Frilian stepped up from behind him.

"Sir, we are here on behalf of Archbishop Haita to investigate. May we ask if you could come out and speak? Or, where is the village chief?"

After hearing Frillie's words, the eyes peeking through the crack in the door paused for a moment.

He looked Frillie up and down, seemingly hesitant. In the end, he opened the door a little wider.

From Xia En's perspective, you can see half of his face; he is an old man with gray hair and a withered appearance.

and many more!

Why does that person have a pair of twisted black goat horns growing on their forehead?

They're demons!!!

Without a word, Shane immediately drew his longsword and pulled Frilian behind him. At the same time, the Goddess's Barrier was ready to be activated, ready to envelop him, Frilian, and Philon at any moment.

"Wait, Shane, he's not."

At the critical moment, Frilian called out to him.

"No? But his head..."

Xia En was stunned before he could finish speaking, because he discovered something even stranger.

Because the door was opened a crack, a ray of sunlight shone on the old man's face.

The horns on the old man's head seemed to come alive, twisting and wriggling in the sunlight, slowly moving from his forehead to the back of his head, as if trying to escape the sunlight.

This corner is alive!

What's going on?!

This bizarre scene caused Philon behind him to immediately cover his mouth.

The girl's face was pale and bluish, and she looked like she was about to vomit, but she was trying her best to hold it in in order to maintain politeness.

Xia En quickly took a step forward, successfully blocking Philon's view.

"Was it really Archbishop Haita who sent you? Has he found a way to cure us?" The old man's voice was full of urgency as he looked at Shane and the others, as if he had grasped at a straw.

But to everyone's surprise, Frilian shook her head regretfully.

"Haita couldn't find a cure for you, so I was commissioned by him to come and investigate again."

"Not found..."

Upon hearing this, the old man slumped down, his previous excitement vanished, replaced by deep despair.

"Really? Even Archbishop Haita can't solve this...?"

"It seems we really are cursed..."

After saying that, the old man ignored Frillie and closed the door.

After that, no matter how much they knocked on the door, the old man inside did not respond.

Xia En looked at the other houses around him, and they were basically all in the same situation.

They could clearly sense that someone was spying on them, but no matter what they did, no one came out of the house again.

"Hita said it would be tricky, but I didn't expect the situation to be this serious."

"What do we do now? What are the findings of Haita's previous investigation?"

"no."

Frillie took out the letter left by Haita.

The handwriting on the letter was somewhat messy, and it recorded the results of his investigation in previous years—Haita had conducted an on-site investigation of the village's water sources, tested the villagers' grains and vegetables, and even carefully inspected the walls and foundations of each house, and found no trace of magic.

Meanwhile, no trace of demons or monsters was found around the village.

It was as if this "plague" had appeared out of thin air.

He searched through the Bible and consulted countless documents and classics in an attempt to analyze it, but to no avail.

In the end, they had no choice but to entrust the village's hopes to Frilian, hoping that Frilian's expertise in analytical magic could pinpoint the problem.

"But Haita is, after all, a monk, and he doesn't really understand my magic."

Frillie stroked her chin, looking troubled, and continued, "My [Analysis Magic] is naturally designed to target magic. But right now, we have no idea where the [Plague] originated, or whether it was caused by magic. This leaves me completely helpless."

Upon hearing this, Shane immediately understood what Frillian meant.

As I said before, magic is the realization of imagination.

Frillie couldn't imagine how this "plague" came about, and naturally, she couldn't analyze it.

"This is going to be difficult..."

Both of them were troubled at the same time.

Just then, Philon's weak voice came from behind them:

"Mr. Shane, Ms. Frilian, when I was a child in my hometown in the southern countries, I think... I think I've seen these [horned people] before..."

Upon hearing this, Shane and Frillie turned around simultaneously.

"!"

In an instant, Philon was startled by the two people's piercing gazes.

She lowered her head and recalled for a moment, then explained, "... My father was a herbalist, and people would often come to our door asking for medicine, including one [the horned person]."

At this point, Philon's face paled, as if recalling something unpleasant. He paused, then added, "Like the villagers just now, that person's horns also move around wildly in the sunlight."

Upon hearing this, Xia En and Frilian exchanged a glance.

What a coincidence.

"And then, did your father cure him?"

Philon frowned, thought for a moment, then shook his head: "There probably isn't..."

"That man was a hunter. He was very healthy and didn't change much after he grew horns. However, he would scare people every time he appeared. After that, he rarely came down the mountain, and I never saw him again."

"A hunter?"

Xia En tapped his fingertips lightly on the hilt of his sword, lost in thought.

The profession of hunter instantly brought many things to mind.

In past lives, some strange "plagues" would occur in certain places. The main causes of these plagues were mostly related to "close contact with wild animals" or "eating wild game".

For example, viruses and parasites.

"Since Haita has investigated all environmental factors around the village and found nothing wrong, could the source be in the mountains? For example, a new disease transmitted by animals? Or poisoning caused by some plant?"

"Plant poisoning is quite common, but can animals transmit diseases?" Frillie asked.

"Animals carry many germs that are normally unable to infect humans, but if something unexpected happens... then such rare cases may occur."

Upon hearing Shane's words, both Frilian and Philon frowned, their expressions revealing their incomprehension.

Ok.

Xia En didn't continue. Given the current level of development in this world, microbiology probably doesn't even exist.

How can this be explained?

"I see."

"?"

"As expected, you did undergo the [monastic] training." Frilian patted Shane on the back with satisfaction.

"It's great that Haita convinced you."

"..."

I don't think you understand at all.

Although, well, never mind, Xia En didn't offer any further explanation.

After all, as Frilian said, he had indeed learned a lot from Haita over the years.

"In that case, let's search the surrounding mountains. Everyone split up and keep a distance where you can hear each other. If you find anything strange, call for help immediately," Xia En instructed.

The three of them headed towards the mountains behind the village.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Xia En walked among the wild grass.

The longsword occasionally parted some of the thorns blocking its path.

He carefully observed the surrounding mountain forest environment, focusing on looking for any small animals such as wild rabbits or lynxes.

When he first saw the tentacles on the villager's head, his first thought was that it was a demon.

After all, I've been in this world for quite a while, and my way of thinking has become ingrained.

But upon closer reflection, something didn't seem right: those "living horns" looked a lot like parasites. Could they have eaten something they shouldn't have?

Teng— Just then, a gray shadow darted out of the bushes ahead.

Xia En's eyes widened instantly.

It was a plump gray rabbit with its head covered in dense black antennae, more severe and terrifying than the people in the village.

At the same time, a line of text flashed into Xia En's eyes: 【Demonicization (Grayish Inferior)】: A cursed mutation that occurs with a small probability to some animals with low magical power after they come into contact with high-level monsters.

The source has been found!

Without hesitation, Xia En activated [Swiftness] and chased after the gray shadow.

Whether it was Shane's imagination or not, the rabbit in front of him seemed to run much faster than a normal rabbit.

However, no matter how fast it is, it's still just a rabbit.

Snapped!

He slammed his longsword heavily into the other man's back.

sizzle- The [Electrocution] effect is triggered, causing the rabbit's limbs to stiffen, twitch twice, and then it faints.

At the same time, Philon immediately "flew" over.

"Mr. Shane, I heard the sounds of fighting... What happened... ugh!"

The first thing Philon saw on the ground was the eerie "magical rabbit." Before he could finish speaking, he was immediately frightened by the rabbit's head full of tentacles.

She covered her mouth in disgust, took a step back, and bumped into Frillie behind her.

Following Philon's gaze, Frilian also saw the target that Shane had captured.

"This is probably the source of the plague, hmm... it sounds like a curse."

Xia En nodded.

His guess was similar to Frilian's; as the entry described, the rabbit was most likely cursed and had mutated. The villagers might have also eaten cursed wild animals, which is why they carried some remnants of the curse.

"Can it be reversed or purified?"

"We need to analyze it to know."

With that, Frilian waved her staff, and the unconscious rabbit was levitated in the air.

Fearing that it would cause panic among the villagers, the three did not choose to return to the village, but instead found a place in the mountains and forests and set up a temporary camp.

Night fell.

Frillie was focused on analyzing magic not far from the campfire.

Xia En and Philon sat together and chatted.

Feeling disgusted and afraid of the demonized rabbit, Philon would frequently glance up in the direction of Frilian, fearing that she might be walking over with the rabbit.

Xia En noticed Philon's subtle actions.

They didn't point it out.

The little girl seemed to have a very low acceptance of certain things.

"Philan, would you like me to read you 'A History of Magic on the Continent'?"

"..."

"Come on, a bedtime story."

"..."

Philon's attention was successfully diverted from the disgusting rabbit to the disgusting Shane.

Seeing that Shane had actually pulled out a thick history of magic, the little girl pursed her lips, quickly grabbed her blanket, and went to the corner furthest away from Shane.

Xia En smiled.

Just then, Frilian waved to him from across the campfire.

"Shane, come here."