Episode 70: Blood and Flesh (3)
All of the Rococo hunters were dead.
Bikir and Iyen approached through the rotten smell and heat of the corpse.
“… … This!?”
Iyen’s eyes narrowed.
The Rococo hunters were talkative even though they were dead.
They were shouting with their whole body why they died.
Traces of vomiting and diarrhea everywhere, traces of trying to warm a body suffering from chills with a bonfire and fallen leaves, and, crucially, red spots on the skin.
Iyen swallowed his saliva.
“Warriors who came out to catch prey look like this.”
Only those who were relatively healthy would have gone hunting.
If so, the people left in the village had no idea what state they would be in.
“Let’s go.”
Bikir went ahead.
Bikir and Ayen went straight through the sea and entered the realm of Rococo.
Usually, they take a large radius as their territory and leave marks at every boundary.
They usually hang skulls or corpses to warn intruders, but strangely, those signs were not updated.
It was not easy to recognize the corpses that had been hung and left unattended long ago, as they were already covered with moss and mold.
It was not like the Rococo tribe, who were usually diligent about sending out warnings to intruders.
“Something must have happened to the village.”
Ayen broke through the borders of the Rococo and headed for their stronghold, the lowland hills.
When I went, I couldn’t see a single light inside the village.
Even though the time to eat had passed, there was no smoke at all.
Eventually, Bikir and Ayen, who entered the village entrance, hesitated.
The lack of sentries is not a problem. There were no people walking around inside the village at all.
The poorly built barracks are empty and weeds are overgrown on the ground.
Poor furnishings were thrown away and rolling around on the floor.
“Where did everyone migrate?”
Ayen went into the barracks with a frown and removed the insignia.
That moment.
Weeeeeeeng-
Enormous swarms of flies come out of the barracks.
A foul stench wafted up, the stench of filth and rotting meat.
Three small children and a woman were lying in the tent.
They all seemed to have died some time ago.
Bikir rolled up the curtains of the other barracks next to him one after another.
“Other places are similar.”
The natives of Rococo were massacred without even coming out of the barracks.
Most of the corpses were rotten and unrecognizable, but there were always red spots on the skin of the corpses that could be seen from time to time and were in relatively good condition.
“What kind of situation is this? Is it an epidemic?”
Iyen said while shaking off the goose bumps.
Jungle warriors are particularly sensitive to contagious diseases. It was natural for Iyen to be so frightened.
“… … .”
Bikir kept his mouth shut and was speechless.
Come to think of it, it seemed like I had heard about this situation before returning.
‘… … Was it ‘red death’?’
Memories become clearer the more you search.
A terrifying plague called the ‘Red Death’ certainly circulated at this time.
A first-class plague that killed almost all savages and pseudohumans in the jungle.
It was so rampant that it even crossed the borders of the empire.
Once caught, you become a disabled person, unable to do anything, lie down and slowly die.
The metabolism is extremely slow, so it takes a long time to die.
Red spots appear all over the body, vomiting and diarrhea occur, and struggling with lethargy and pain, they become weak and die.
Even the contagion was unusually fast, so savages shuddered that they could be contagious just by making eye contact with a sick person.
‘How was this disease cured?’
Bikir rummaged a little further. It was a long time ago, so it seemed like it would take a while to recall.
at that time.
“No, slave!”
There was a hand pulling Bikir’s collar.
Turning his head, Ayen exclaimed urgently.
“hurry! We must get out of here quickly!”
“why?”
“Why! Curse! This is the curse of God!”
She was terribly frightened.
Bikir smiled and grabbed her wrist.
“Don’t worry. Because this is an epidemic.”
“what!? Then it’s a bigger deal! We have to get out right now! This place is cursed! Rococo bastards, every time you learn blasphemous necromantic techniques, you end up like this… … !”
“calm down. It is not so easily contagious.”
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Bikir looked around the Rococo village for a while.
Iyan was startled as if she was about to jump, but despite this, she did not run away alone.
Just trembling, holding on to Bikir’s collar and following him.
“Ugh… … ugh Aren’t you really cursed?”
“If you’re that scared, go back first.”
“And what if you get cursed and die?”
“If you die, you die.”
When Bikir calmly replied, Iyen, who was following Tulle Tulle from behind, shouted.
“Whoever wants!”
“… … ?”
‘Of course it’s on my mind,’ Vikir thought, but he didn’t bother to say it out loud.
well, anyway.
Bikir, who looked around the village of the Rococo tribe, knew that the Rococo tribe was not completely wiped out.
However, it seemed that they had left the dead and the sick and moved elsewhere.
‘Hmm, well. If there were carriers mixed in among the survivors, the result would be the same no matter where they fled.’
Bikir understood the refugees who had no choice but to make a heartless choice.
However, there was no guarantee that they would be safe from the red death.
Still, this opportunity allowed me to know every detail of the life of the Rococo tribe, which had been shrouded in veil.
Bikir rummaged through the Rococo barracks, picked up some important-looking books and items, and put them in a sack.
In the future, I think it will be a great academic contribution to the study of the barbarian tribes of Red Mountain and Black Mountain.
Right then.
Ayen’s screams came from outside the barracks.
“Quaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Urgent screams, Bikir quickly ran out of the barracks.
Then Iyen’s terrified screams become more distinct.
“Curse! You cursed child!”
A terrible fear of plague is characteristic of all natives of the water sea.
Vikir silently moved her gaze to see the direction Iyen was facing.
Then, on the outskirts of the village, next to the smallest and shabby barracks, I saw a child standing in Odokani.
‘… … Imperial?’
Bikir narrowed his eyes.
The child did not appear to be of Rococo origin.
Had I just turned 5?
It was a girl with black hair, red eyes, and skin as white as snow.
The child was standing barefoot by the rundown barracks and didn’t seem to want to leave.
Behind the barracks rose a crude stone tomb that appeared to have been built not long ago.
There are only a few purple flowers that seem to have just been picked and placed shabbyly in front of it.
“Aaaaaagh! Must be a ghost! I am a cursed child sent by the forest god! We must run away, Bikir! you go first! Me, I’ll follow soon! Ugh, strength in the legs… … !”
Ayen was shaking and crying.
Having lived together for the past 2 years, I laughed out loud when I saw him for the first time.
But apart from that, I felt like I needed to know who that kid was.
‘I can see the last atmosphere of the Rococo tribe.’
Bikir walked forward and sat down in front of the child at eye level.
The girl cowered in fear, but did not avoid Bikir placing her hand on her head.
“Who the hell are you?”
“… … .”
When Bikir asked, the child lowered his head instead of answering.
Bikir asked several more questions, but the child did not answer.
He merely listed a few words in a slurred tone.
“Rococo. slave. Burn the kitchen.”
The Rococo language and the Imperial language are clumsily mixed.
Because of this, Bikir had no choice but to associate the context in the sequence of words.
“You must be a child who lived as a slave in Rococo. What is your name?”
“… … Pomeranian.”
Vikir nodded at the girl’s answer.
‘Looks like the mother named her in the imperial style.’
Pomeranian is not a common name, but it is not a very difficult name to hear.
In any case, it was the moment when it became clear that the girl was from the Empire.
Bikir moved on to the next topic without any regrets.
Just as he was about to ask what had happened to the Rococo tribe.
The words that followed from the girl’s mouth made Bikir’s body stiff.
“… … La Baskerville.”
That moment. Bikir’s body froze as if struck by lightning.
Castle of the Baskervilles. The middle name ‘Ra’ is also given only to women in the immediate family.
Even within the family, there are few people who have been given a middle name of ‘Re’ or ‘Ra’.
When Bikir opened her eyes wide, the girl frightened and tried to hide behind the pillars of the barracks.
No sound comes out of the throat for a moment.
That’s what happens when people are too surprised.
Bikir couldn’t hide his bewildered expression and raised his hand and wiped his face a few times.
After washing my face dry, I finally come to my senses.
“Hey. Come and see.”
“… … .”
The girl hid behind a pillar and did not come out, only slightly sticking her head out.
Bikir wondered what to do to appease the child.
At that time, Ayen, who entered and exited the barracks, threw something at Vikir.
“hey. There is something like this inside. Ugh, isn’t that a curse?”
Bikir accepted what Ayen threw.
It was a small pendant made of gold.
On the front of the brooch, a tooth-shaped pattern symbolizing the Baskervilles is embossed.
Iyen remembered the pattern of the Baskerville family because of the potion bottle he received from Vikir the other day.
“Isn’t that the symbol of your family?”
“… … .”
This gave a little more credibility to what the girl had said.
Bikir swiped the crest of the Baskervilles on the pendant with his finger once.
The pendant was made in a style from a long time ago, and it was an accessory that would have been in vogue only 30 years ago.
… Click!
Bikir opened the pendant.
Inside was a small portrait drawn with extreme precision.
“This?”
Bikir studied the portrait with her eyes narrowed.
In the painting, there was a young woman, a young man, and a girl who appeared to be in her early teens.
The young woman had beautiful blond hair and blue eyes, the young man had black hair and red eyes typical of the Baskervilles, and the girl in between also had black hair and red eyes.
Bikir immediately recognized the young man in the portrait.
‘Hugo Les Baskervilles!? Unbelievable!’
This was definitely the Hugo of his youth.
