Chương 73: The Deathtouched

The Padma estate's infirmary was certainly one of the larger indoor spaces Jordan had seen in Stormvast. But it didn't feel that way with all the 'souls' crammed in there. The bedrolls were raised off the stone floor and arranged in neat lines on either side of the room. The occupants were in varying states of alertness. Some were sitting up, and looked up with dull eyes as the door opened. Many more were asleep… or at least that was how it looked to Jordan." Are these all… people who work for you?"

Jordan asked in a hesitant whisper. He didn't know if he had to whisper, but it certainly felt like the appropriate thing." Many of them, yes." Hanza kept a mild tone even as he scanned the room with somber eyes.

"Though some are from a neighboring village. While others… are not yet old enough to work." At this, Jordan's heart jumped to his throat. He then did a double take as he passed one of the beds. There, sure enough, slept a boy of no more than five or six. The boy lay completely still and was so pale as to look like a doll. Only the faint rise and fall of his blanket-covered chest showed that he was alive at all." What will happen to that boy if… he gets any worse?""

His soul will abandon the mortal coil, never to return." The response was emotionless and matter-of-fact, perhaps deliberately so.

"His body will remain in the mortal realm and may even continue to 'function' for some time… but only as a lifeless husk." Jordan could feel himself grow as pale as the boy at his feet. He was terrified to ask, but he just had to:" How do you know that hasn't already… you know…"" We've kept a calendar of all the cases of deathtouched as they've been brought in. As such, we know that Little Bean here has yet to reach his hundred days of wandering." Jordan looked up sharply at that.

Could it be that 'deathtouched' was another name for the Affliction listed as [Between Two Lives] on his own [Character Sheet]? It seemed to fit too well to be coincidental." How many days does Little Bean have left?" A curious expression came over Hanza then. Pain at having to consider such a monstrous outcome, yes, but also a kind of frank befuddlement. It struck Jordan as the face of a schoolboy called to talk about a book he forgot to read. Strikingly strange for someone as well put together as a Hanza Padma.

But the moment was brief enough—and what followed it distracting enough—that Jordan forgot about it in an instant." Nine days. Ten by the most generous estimate." Brutal. Jordan couldn't help but hang his head. He then let out an anguished murmur, speaking almost as if to himself, "Why is this happening?" But Hanza hadn't heard him. The Shaman was now deep in whispered conversation with a Lv. 14 Thaumaturge, who stood in the center of a cluster of beds, her Gourd of Compassion giving off a constant rosy glow.

It took Jordan a second to twig that the healer was channeling [Protection from Evil and Good]. And another second to see that there were three Thaumaturges in all, spaced out evenly from one end of the room to the other. Three Thaumaturges under his employ, Jordan had the presence of mind to note, despite the horror show all around him. And that's assuming none of the people lying in bed are also healers. Whoever this Hanza Padma guy is, he's either really rich or really good at recruiting …

By then, Hanza had finished speaking with the healer and moved closer to the center of the room. Jordan hastened to follow before asking, again in a respectful whisper," Does the spell help?"" The short answer is no." The short answer was prompt and unadorned.

"The long answer is… it helps the healers feel better than if they were doing nothing. And perhaps I can say the same for myself. So, in that sense, it helps to maintain the sanity of those yet unafflicted." Jordan grimaced. The long answer was somehow even worse than the short one. This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience." Why is this happening?" he asked again, this time expecting an answer." If I knew, I would have stopped it from happening."

A reasonable reply, mildly spoken despite its testy character." Aren't there any clues?" Jordan pressed, already invested even as an outsider.

"What were these people doing before… you know…" Hanza considered this for a moment." It's probably best if you heard it straight from the source. Little Yar, are you well enough to speak?" Little Yar, as it turned out, wasn't a pirate joke but one of the deathtouched patients. A young woman by the name of Yarrow who was among those 'with it' enough to sit up and keep her eyes more or less open. She now directed said hazy gaze onto the two men who approached her bedside." Little Yar is one of our stable hands.

She was working outside when… well, I'll let her tell the story." Little Yar did. In fits and starts, and needing the occasional coaxing along the way. Throughout, she wore this dazed look like she wasn't fully here. While her voice maintained an eerily disinterested monotone, like she was talking about the weather rather than the imminent departure of her soul." I was out… tending to the horses… when Hollyhock ran off on her own. She's… normally so well-behaved… so I did feel that something might be amiss. I went…

further out into the forest to look for her. Didn't… take long to find her because… someone had already reined her in. A man dressed all in white … white armor over a white robe." Jordan held his breath as his heart shot up his throat again, this time for a very different reason. He tried to keep his expression neutral as he nodded for Yarrow to continue." The man rode Hollyhock toward me… looking all casual like she was his horse. Hollyhock looked calm too… which was why, I guess, I didn't think anything of it.

I thought… must be Lord Hanza's guest… maybe a famous general… or the lord of another noble house… he certainly had that look about him." At this point, Jordan was burning with one question in particular. He resisted the urge to interrupt Yarrow." The man smiled at me. Said that Hollyhock was a beautiful horse and asked if she was mine. I said yes… don't know why… it's not exactly true, is it? But it felt like the thing to say in the moment. He reached down… asked me to take his hand. Invited me to ride with him.

And I thought… why not? She's my horse, isn't she? So, I took his hand, and…" Despite trailing off mid-sentence, Yarrow was clearly done with her story. At any rate, Jordan thought he could fill in the blanks on his own. He reflected on the remarkable similarities between the young woman's account and what the Gym Rats had experienced not three days ago, perhaps even enough to establish a kind of pattern. But there was still one crucial detail missing from the story." [Character Sheet]," Jordan murmured.

"Did this man in white have a [Character Sheet]? And if so, do you by any chance remember his name?" Yarrow turned her head slowly to give Jordan a blank look. She began to shake her head, but then…" Now that you mention it, he did have an origin name. Funny, isn't it? Here I was… so convinced that he was some nobleman. How did I… have it so wrong?" Jordan gulped. He thought he knew the answer, but he still had to ask," What was it? The man-in-white's origin name?"" Blacksnake Hollow. Strange name, that…

not from around here, I suppose." Jordan turned to Hanza, brow furrowed in an urgent question. The host gave a quick shake of the head, then pulled the guest aside." Thank you, Little Yar. You've been most helpful. Now, we'll leave you to your convalescence." To Jordan, he lowered his voice to ask, " Blacksnake Hollow. That is the name on every deathtouched's lips, at least while they're well enough to retain their memories of the precipitating incident. Does it perchance mean anything to you, Gatekeeper?"

Jordan almost said yes, then remembered Nüwa's warning. Whether or not the precaution was warranted or not was beside the point. By now, he was sufficiently creeped out to have become gun-shy." N—no," he stammered.

"But you're the local. Don't you know anything about it?" Hanza shook his head." I've combed through records kept by my ancestors for nearly two millennia. There's no mention of such a place called 'Blacksnake Hollow' anywhere, and yet… it's the origin name claimed by every ghost that our victims have had the misfortune of meeting.

It would stand to reason, then, that to find this nest of treacherous spirits is the key to solving the mystery—and, heaven willing, to finding a cure for all the deathtouched awaiting their fate." Thoughts went back to Little Bean, already as still as a doll and a mere nine days away from losing his young soul to the nether realm. Jordan might have his own deadline to worry about, but his side quest had just become even more urgent."

Now you understand, I hope," Hanza went on, "why we of House Padma must be so mistrustful of strangers at this time. But… having understood—and having glimpsed the potential risk to your own person—will you still help, Gatekeeper Yu? I cannot guarantee safety for you or your companion, but I can promise a handsome reward… in addition, of course, to my eternal gratitude." Fuck it, I'll do it for free… was what Jordan almost blurted, but he stopped himself just in time.

He might already be emotionally invested, but that was no reason to refuse a fat reward. So instead, he pulled out his [Personal Seal] and said," Tell me where to sign."