Six people were standing inside the church when Bethany and the rest of the nuns entered.
The Pastor wasn't here so the Head Nun had to meet with them. The others—including Bethany and Sylar—came out of curiosity.
Bethany's heart skipped a beat when she made eye contact with one of those people.
The person who looked into her eyes was a young woman who seemed to be in her early twenties. She had long black hair and slanted green eyes. She resembled a noble woman who took care of herself given how shiny and smooth her hair looked. In comparison, Bethany's hair seemed a little dry.
A smile emerged on the woman's face which made Bethany's heart skip a beat.
Who is this goddess, thought Bethany to herself.
Only her mother could be said to be on par with this woman in terms of beauty.
"Hello!" the Head Nun gleefully greeted them, "Thank you for coming all this way. I'm very grateful to you, Lady Galadriel. You're the leader of the party, right?"
"Yup, that would be me, Sister. Me and my comrades were in the city investigating something anyway so we came as soon as we heard the people were in trouble."
Galadriel.
What a fitting name for such a dashing beauty.
Bethany was caught in a daze when she heard the leader of the party speak. She was not only beautiful in terms of looks but had a beautiful voice as well that made Bethany's heart feel warm.
Bethany didn't notice it yet but her face was beet red. Her eyes were fixated on Galadriel's cleavage that seemed to burst out of her armor.
Sylar looked from the side with a smirk on her face, "Well, well. So you do swing that way."
"S-Shut up."
The Head Nun and Galadriel continued speaking.
"You say the entire city's water supply is infested with the eggs of these things called parasites?"
"Indeed. We found a built up of these eggs down in our pipes when we went to check what was blocking our water from draining away. One can get infected just by swallowing the eggs."
"Wait, wouldn't they die inside our stomachs then? I hear stomach acid can even melt steel." She looked at one of her companions.
The person was a short boy with glasses who carried a big book on his waist with the title, "Alchemy and Medicine. How they fit together, First Edition".
He must be the medical expert.
"That's theoretically possible, leader. The acid in our stomachs is really powerful but why do you all think the acid can't melt right through us? That's because there is mucus that covering the stomach wall with a protective coating. Together with the bicarbonate, this ensures that the stomach wall itself is not damaged by the hydrochloric acid. My point is that the eggs of these parasites and the parasites after reaching a certain age have the same protective coating like our stomach lining. Making it impossible to kill them by ingestion."
Although Bethany understood nothing about what he just said, she could conclude that it's impossible to kill those things once they're already inside your body.
"So what brilliant solution do you have, Klimp?"
Klimp lifted his glasses as a smirk came on his face, "It's simple, leader. All we need to do is cut open the infected and take the worms out. The medicine you give your people won't last long. The city's trade supply line was cut, after all."
"W-What? Isn't there a better solution?" the Head Nun's eyes were trembling as if she lost all hope.
"Ma'am, I've been studying medicine for as long as I can remember and that's the only humane way of getting rid of a foreign object. Whom of you here have gone through a C-section before?"
"C-what?"
All of them looked clueless.
"It's a procedure that people use to deliver a baby by cutting open a woman's stomach. The solution I came up with is vastly similar."
"Ah."
"Cutting open someone's body… Sounds scary…"
All of them looked concerned.
"I assure you that every medical professional knows how to do this carefully. Any infected children will be safe."
"Don't worry, Sister. My comrade has been treating our wounds for years by now so he knows what he's talking about. He might look like a little kid but he's even older than me and I'm 18 years old already." Galadriel confidently said.
"May I ask why all of you came to the city?"
"There's been rumours going around of a monster terrorizing regions west of here. Animals are killed mercilessly, people flee their homes and carcasses litter the Pulmiar highway. No one can use the road because of this."
The Pulmiar highway was a road that led to most of the major cities, towns and several villages. It's an important trade line as well since merchants usually take that road to deliver supplies and crops from surrounding villages.
This highway was blockaded by destroyed carriages ever since the trouble started here.
"I apologize that we can't help you find this mysterious monster. But I will make sure to tell my people to be on the lookout."
"No need. We're done with our search and found nothing. The monster hasn't shown up in over a week by now. It must've gotten spooked away. We'll leave the city once we're done solving the current issue at hand."
"Oh, thank you so much! None of the adventurers we've requested so far wanted to take this quest. Many of them who live here even left the city."
"We don't get much done at the guild anyway. But if we manage to solve this case then our reputation at the Guild might improve." The mage girl of their party said while rolling her eyes.
"Pardon?"
Galadriel smiled wryly, "F-Forget what she said. We're happy to help."
"I see. Please stay here for tonight. I'm sure all of you need to rest first before you help us."
"Great!" Galadriel clapped her hands, "We've been awake for four days now roaming the city to find this monster so being able to rest is a godsend. None of the inns wanted us in their establishments."
"We can also figure out how to solve the water supply issue tonight." Klimp said.
All of his comrades nodded in agreement with him.
"These two girls will take care of you in the meantime," The Head Nun pushed Sylar and Bethany forward, "If you need anything then let them know so that they can inform me."
"Much appreciated, Sister. Well then, you can cook us up some bath water," Galadriel pointed at Bethany.
"Y-Yes!"
Will I be able to wash her tonight, was what Bethany was thinking to herself while imaging how muscular Galadriel's naked body would be.
◇◇
A few hours passed by. During this time the six adventurers stayed in the church, seemingly planning their next course of action.
Bethany had a lot of chores to do so she finished whatever the adventurer team requested of her and went to do her chores outside.
She started working here at the start of the year but she got to know many of the children.
Bethany loved to take care of children even if it wasn't a job. She wanted a lot of children once she marries the person she loves.
Bethany didn't have to stop at men, though. Sylar's words resided in her mind, "—Why does it have to be a man…". Indeed, it didn't. Bethany thought to herself how strange she was. The good thing was that there were now more options available for her. Of course, she could just be confused since she's so young and didn't understand love that much.
'Can I really get together with the leader of that party…? B-But what if she doesn't like girls?'
"Why is your face red?" Sylar's question snapped Bethany out of her daze.
"I-It's nothing…"
"You should stop daydreaming," Sylar poked Bethany's nose, causing some foam to stick to it, "We have a lot to do. Heh, saying that is actually pretty funny…"
"Why?"
"This plague or whatever is happening to our city might force us to leave our homes. So what's the point of working here any further?"
"…We have to take care of the children…"
"I wonder how long that will last. Why can't that stubborn old woman just let us go to that city east of the empire? We'll have all the land we'll ever need to build farms, homes and a new orphanage. Plus, I heard the young lord is quite the playboy so I might be able to marry him. My uncle should be able to make it possible for me to meet the young lord."
"But you have a lover…"
"….."
Sylar threw down the wet clothes into the bucket she was using and fell with her back onto the ground. She exhaled deeply.
"…I'd rather marry a man with a lot of money than someone with no wealth to speak of. How much do you think an apprentice knight earns per week?"
"Um, I'm not sure."
"All I know is that it won't be enough to take care of a family. I can't believe I happily agreed to allow him to plant his seed in me. Ugh, I might be pregnant. We've done it a few times now." Sylar pulled on her hair.
Bethany could only smile awkwardly.
Why was her best friend so pessimistic? Who knows, this storm might blow over soon.
"Ah! Whatever! Let's just finish this and think about other stuff later!" Sylar hopped back up and began washing the clothes again.
However, she suddenly stopped.
"..."
"What's wrong, Sylar?" Bethany noticed that Sylar was silently looking at a pair of shorts in silence.
There was a troubled frown on her face.
"Hey, Beth. This belongs to one of the boys, right?" Sylar pointed to the shorts.
"Yup, I told them all to write their names on their clothes with waterproof ink. Check the inside. Maybe it's written there somewhere."
"It's Brian's pants." Sylar confirmed after finding the name.
"Why were you staring at his shorts like that? Is there a stain you can't get out?"
"…Take a look at this," Sylar turned the shorts inside out.
Bethany shrieked when she saw blood on the inside. The pants were beige so the blood was very visible even when wet. She just couldn't see it clearly before due to all the foam.
"W-What happened...?"
"I thought one of the girls forgot to wear sanitary wipes during their time of the month," Sylar put the shorts in the water and began scrubbing, "Turns out that the child this belongs to is also infected. But why hasn't the boy complained about it?"
Bethany bit her lower lip.
'Was he worried he'll be kicked out?'
She threw down the clothes she was supposed to wash and stood up.
"Beth?"
"I'm going to ask that alchemy expert from the party about this. We need to know where these things came from."
"…."
Sylar didn't stop Bethany and only helplessly watched her as she walked away.
*
The church's doors banged against the walls when Bethany abruptly entered.
The sole six people inside were gathered around a round table.
How can they be sitting at a table, enjoying their lunch, was what Bethany thought in annoyance.
"Huh? I don't remember calling you," Galadriel looked at Bethany in confusion.
The others were the same.
"We can't live like this!" Bethany shouted, "We only know when someone is infected by looking at the blood on their clothes or when the worm is in their intestines and are pushed out during excretion. I just found another infected person among the children."
"W-What?"
"Another one, huh."
"Didn't they tell the children to not drink the water from the city's supply line?" Galadriel stood up.
"We instructed the children to only drink the water from the wells and the water we buy from travelling merchants. The children are smart so they wouldn't disobey our instructions. Their lives are also the line, after all."
The one called Klimp spoke, "How much blood did you find on the recent infected?"
"Uhm, I can't tell just by looking but it was the entire backside of the shorts we found the blood on."
"…It seems the parasite that infected that person may have ruptured one of his intestines. That's the only explanation since only the backside is filled with blood from what you said."
"A-Are you saying that the parasite is almost fully grown?"
The meisters who came here before told the orphanage that the parasites pose no threat if they were in their developing stage. Their teeth weren't strong enough to bite through a person's organs.
Many of those who were infected so far had excreted the parasites out of their bodies. The parasites normally rested in the stomach area. The laxatives that the meisters gave the church were so strong that the parasites were pushed down the thick intestine and forced out of the person's body. This was because the laxatives forces the inside of their intestines to pulsate and wiggle around to push everything out in there.
All the children were obligated to take the medicine so they were able to save quite a lot of lives.
"From all the information at hand, I can only assume that these parasites are possibly dungeon crawlers."
Bethany, along with the other four of them, looked at Klimp.
"What do you mean by that…? I thought you said that these things can be found anywhere, regardless of the region's temperature and whatnot."
"Leader, I never said that it's impossible that this parasite is a mutated form of dungeon crawlers. Seeing as how the medicine didn't work for—" Klimp looked at Bethany.
"His name is Brian."
"—Right. Like I was saying, if the medicine didn't work then we should assume that these are crawlers from a nearby dungeon. They tend to have a higher immunity to modern medicine since humans from the past frequented dungeons more often than today. More people also suffered from the parasites so medicine were invented to get them out of our bodies. However, due to natural selection, they got a certain level of immunity. These parasites probably have some kind of gripper or limbs on their bodies that latch onto the walls of the intestines. The problem though is that the origins of these parasites are unknown so we can only throw around guesses."
"What you mean?" Bethany asked.
"You must've seen what they looked like, right? They had weird patterns on their bodies, rows upon rows of teeth that only some species of parasites possess. Lastly, their growth phase. How is it possible for these things to break apart a person's intestines in just under a few weeks after discovery? Normal species of parasites take much longer to mature and actually damage a person's body from the inside. But none of them specifically targets a person's organs. They usually eat the food coming down our throats which robs us of our nutrients. Thereby killing us completely due to starvation if there isn't immediate medical attention given."
"Speak in terms everyone can understand, Klimp." said Galadriel.
"I'm saying that these things don't belong on this part of the continent. Not one case of them being sighted has been reported in all the hundreds of years the empire has stood. I think they come from somewhere else—"
Before Klimp was about to say something else, a scream came from outside.
Bethany recognized that scream.
It was Sylar.
Galadriel was the first one to respond to the scream.
She ran past Bethany at astonishing speeds.
Bethany was able to smell flowers coming from Galadriel's hair but couldn't enjoy the fragrance since she also had to run outside.
◇
"What the fuck!?" Galadriel stopped in her tracks once she reached the back of the church where the sound came from.
Nearly everyone rushed here as soon as they heard Sylar screaming.
Bethany gazed towards the commotion.
There was a child laying on the ground.
Another one was on top of her.
"Brian, what are you doing!?" Bethany ran towards the boy who seemed to have ripped the girl's throat and was chewing on her windpipe.
"!?"
Multiple gasps and shrieks escaped many of their mouths when Bethany lifted Brian's head.
He had no eyes.
His jaw was completely broken and his mouth was opened so wide that it could kill any normal person. Perhaps even his brain was crushed.
But the most terrifying part was that a dark purple monster's head was forced out of Brian's mouth. It closely resembled the parasites that Bethany and the others have found in the children's excrements.
The difference being that it had the head size of a small child. To sugar-coat the situation, the parasite was wearing the boy's body like a costume.
"N-No… No!" Bethany almost fell down when she backed away in fright.
Most of the children screamed and some vomited.
The monster seemed to have eaten all of Brian's insides, leaving his body deformed since only his skeleton was left. However, multiple strings seemed to be connected to the monster's head so it must've been controlling his body using its own nerve system.
"What is that thing!?" Galadriel grabbed Klimp's collar and shook him violently.
He was blankly looking at the boy who simply ignored everyone else while he feasted on the child beneath him.
"Please don't grab me like that," Klimp broke free from her grip, "It looks similar to those dungeon crawlers we always used to fight in those low-class dungeons. I'm not sure, though."
"You act so smart all the time but you don't even know for sure!? Ahh! Forget it!"
They had nothing on-hand(like evidence) to make a final conclusion. It was pointless to have any further discussions in the midst of all this chaos. All they had to do was kill that thing and seek answers later.
Brian's head suddenly exploded after its expanding capabilities reached its limit.
The monster parasite that was the size of a ten year old child crawled out of Brian's body and attempted to crawl into the 12 year old girl who it seemingly ripped apart in perfect symmetry from her neck down.
Vine-like things came out of its body and opened up the girl's body.
"Kill it, Evla!" Galadriel called out to the mage girl next to her.
"Roger! Everyone, back away! Now!"
"Kyaaah!"
"AAAAAAHHH!"
"I don't want to die!!"
It didn't even take them a second to hesitate as they all fled the scene. Galadriel grabbed Bethany and Sylar and backed away as well.
"2nd rank magic-[Fireball]!"
A massive fireball appeared in front of the mage girl when she held out her arms.
It kept growing with each second.
A boom resounded, followed by a big cloud of smoke.
The scent of burnt flesh and innards drifted around the church.
Bethany held her hands over her mouth as she tried to stop the vomit from coming up her throat.
She had just seen someone die for the first time in her life.