Chapter 39

Just a hundred meters from the town, right before our eyes.

There, the corpse of the "second" Crank Height Turtle lay sprawled.

...During our journey through the streets, Ruruka and the others told me the reason why the main party of the extermination team had hurried back to town, even creating a small search party.

It was because Crank Height Turtle eggs had been discovered.

I remember seeing them too.

The eggs that Fran had incinerated with a wide-area spell, turning them into blackened lumps, when we were exterminating the Crank Height Turtle.

Outside the labyrinth, even monsters behave like ordinary animals, forming pairs, mating, and leaving offspring.

In other words, the presence of eggs means that there were at least two Crank Height Turtles in that forest.

I didn’t have the time to think about it or notice it after falling into the river.

However, the existence of the eggs must have been an unexpected piece of bad news for the knights.

As Sera mentioned during our march, Crank Height Turtles have the habit of moving when it rains heavily.

And yesterday evening, when we exterminated the Crank Height Turtle, it was also raining heavily.

The knights must have considered the possibility that a second Crank Height Turtle was moving and approaching the town, which is why they hurried back.

At that time, the town’s defense force, the knights, were already understaffed because many of them were part of the extermination team.

Especially, most of the healers belonging to the knights were deployed for this extermination mission.

Additionally, the ordinary healers in the town had also been recruited by the more capable ones to join the extermination team.

Crank Height Turtles are a special kind of monster that is difficult to fight without the intermittent use of detoxification spells by healers.

Even if the knights in the town had discovered the Crank Height Turtle early, they might not have been able to exterminate it before it reached the town.

This was the concern they had.

And now, the corpse of the Crank Height Turtle lies just outside the town.

This means that their concern has come true.

The Crank Height Turtle came to the town, which was short on healers, in search of food.

As a result, the knights couldn’t fight properly due to the toxic mist, and the Crank Height Turtle managed to get so close to the town.

The situation must have unfolded like this.

This situation is very bad.

Crank Height Turtles can spread a wide area of toxic mist.

If such a monster gets that close to the town, what will happen?

...The toxic mist might have reached the town.

"Wh-What...!"

Fran stared at the corpse of the Crank Height Turtle lying just outside the town and let out a groan.

Her expression conveyed a sense of urgency.

After standing there in a daze for a while, Fran suddenly seemed to have an idea and ran into the town.

"Hey!? Fran! Wait!"

"Fran, calm down!"

Sera and Ruruka also ran after her.

I followed them into the town.

...When I entered the town, it was different from the usual Merharts.

There was no usual lively and cheerful noise.

The number of stalls lining the streets and the number of people walking around were much fewer than usual.

Instead, priests in distinctive robes and armored knights were moving around busily.

In the town, where the number of people had decreased,

a large crowd had gathered in front of the clinic.

"Such a thing..."

One of the knights in the search party, Marietta, exclaimed in surprise.

The situation in the town was unusual.

Everywhere, there were anxious citizens and knights trying to calm them down.

Especially around the clinic, the situation was particularly bad.

It seemed that the people in the town had already grasped the situation.

"We must immediately head to the station and receive instructions. I think there will be a discussion about the rewards for this mission later, so please excuse us."

One of the knights from the search party said this in a hurried tone.

The emotion of not wanting to waste even a moment was evident.

Even though they had just returned from the extermination, the knights probably wouldn’t be able to rest.

"Ah, yeah."

The situation in the town was just one step away from panic.

Well, if a huge monster had been fighting right outside the town, it’s natural that the residents would have noticed.

...I’m worried about Elise, who is alone in the clinic.

I need to hurry to Elise’s clinic.

When I arrived at Elise’s clinic, there was indeed a large crowd.

It was busier than I had ever seen before.

But Elise probably isn’t happy about it.

There must be twenty, no, thirty people.

...That number is definitely too much for Elise to handle alone.

At the entrance,

when I looked closely, I saw a knight in the center of the crowd.

The knight was trying to hold back the people who were trying to rush into the clinic, raising his voice.

This chaos.

The knights might have been dispatched to the clinic to serve as security.

I was worried that Elise might have been overwhelmed by the crowd, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

I left the crowd to the knight and entered the clinic through the back door using a key.

In the usual treatment room, Elise was there.

Elise had her eyes closed, frowning as she tried to cast a healing spell on a patient.

But she looked very strained.

She didn’t even notice me entering the treatment room.

Her complexion was bad.

...Probably, Elise’s magic power is already depleted.

I need to help her.

"That’s tough, isn’t it?"

When I spoke from behind, Elise let out a deep breath in relief.

"Ah, Shiki, you’re back. If you came from outside the town, I think you know the situation. There’s a rumor that the toxic mist has entered the town, and the people are in a panic. And, I’m out of magic power...!"

Then, as she turned to speak, her eyes widened in shock when she saw me.

"Wh-What! You’re all torn up! Are you okay!?"

Elise’s gaze was on the robe I was wearing.

...Right.

I had been so absorbed in the unusual atmosphere of the town that I had completely forgotten.

My robe was stained with blood in places and covered in caked mud, torn to shreds from the battle with the Armor Ogar.

Come to think of it, even though there was such a large crowd at the clinic, no one had asked me for treatment.

Even though I was in tattered clothes, I was wearing a robe.

...Maybe they thought I was a homeless person or something.

It was lucky to avoid trouble, but it felt a bit complicated.

But there’s no helping it.

The spare clothes I had thrown at the Armor Ogar were torn in half.

I couldn’t return to the town in a robe that was missing the lower half.

I should have put more clothes in my item box, but considering that the slime jelly was taking up about 90% of the capacity, I couldn’t do that.

"It’s fine, I’m not injured."

Well, Elise is worried, but I’m not injured now.

First, I entrusted the sleeping Yuel to Elise and cast Heal and Dispoison on the patient in front of me.

For the Crank Height Turtle’s poison, this should be enough.

—At the extermination team’s strategy meeting, I heard about the characteristics of the Crank Height Turtle’s poison.

When I heard the explanation, it seemed more like bacteria than poison.

The characteristic of the Crank Height Turtle’s poison is as follows:

The toxic mist of the Crank Height Turtle contains a special delayed-action poison.

After being exposed to the toxic mist, a high fever will develop after a certain amount of time.

It’s the same as when Fran and Sera were bedridden.

The onset time of the toxic mist varies depending on the amount of exposure.

If you get close enough to fight the Crank Height Turtle with a sword, the symptoms will appear in less than a minute, but if the exposure is minimal, the onset time will be much longer.

There are even cases where the symptoms don’t develop at all, depending on the amount of poison.

As the high fever persists, black spots will slowly spread over the body, and if left untreated, death will occur within about a week.

That’s the kind of poison the Crank Height Turtle has.

...Indeed, it’s very dangerous.

It’s easier to understand if it’s said that the toxic mist is actually a cluster of bacteria.

And if the amount exceeds a certain level, the human immune system loses, and the bacteria release toxins in the body, causing a high fever.

I don’t know much about bacteria, and the knights were talking about curses and poisons, so I didn’t really understand.

Anyway, for the treatment of the poison, Dispoison is necessary, and Heal, which has the effect of restoring immunity and reducing fever, would be even better.

I took over from Elise and treated the patients as they came in one after another.

I treated them one after another.

One after another. One after another. One after another.

After treating more than ten people, I started to feel tired.

"Elise, when will this end?"

"...It won’t end. There’s a rumor that the delayed-action toxic mist has entered the town. ...I don’t know who spread it, but a while ago, there were sounds of battle from outside the town, and the mist really did enter the town. This area is particularly close to the gate, so everyone is in a panic."

If there is someone who spread the rumor, it’s probably a healer in the town who knows about the Crank Height Turtle.

Considering the busy state of the clinic.

No, the Crank Height Turtle’s poison causes a high fever, making it almost impossible to move, so it could be seen as a well-intentioned act to encourage treatment before the symptoms develop.

"There are probably many people who don’t need treatment."

Previously, Luluka didn’t have a high fever, possibly because of the Heal I cast on her injuries.

If only a thin mist entered the town, it’s unlikely that the symptoms would develop if people stayed indoors.

The residents of the town are probably in a panic because the Crank Height Turtle’s poison is delayed-action, and they don’t know when the symptoms will develop.

"Hmm..."

While we were talking, a small groan came from Elise’s lap.

It seemed that Yuel had woken up.

Yuel rubbed her eyes and looked at me blankly.

"Master, where are we..."

"Good morning, Yuel. This is a clinic. You did a great job today."

I praised Yuel and patted her head.

Yuel looked around and smiled in relief.

—But her smile suddenly froze.

Yuel’s eyes widened and she stared at a point.

She was looking at my wrist as I patted her head.

Every time I moved my arm to pat her head, her eyes followed.

She was looking at... my wrist.

Then, as if to confirm something, Yuel tentatively looked at her own wrist.

Yuel’s expression darkened all at once.

It was as if she had lost something important.

She repeatedly looked at me and her own wrist with that expression.

"The bracelet..."

Yuel whispered in a trembling voice.

The bracelet