Arnold's eyes slowly sought out Madilith.
He just realized that he didn't confirm that her mark was gone right after he was done with the ritual yesterday.
He got rid of the rotten apples but not the one apple that caused the rot to spread.
"…."
Arnold calmly inhaled then exhaled.
He then spoke to Fecius, who had been missing from the group all this time. Fecius had apparently carried all five of them here using a flat wooden makeshift platform.
Arnold's voice was laced with an eeriness disguised by his calmness that could probably be felt by the whole group.
"What happened?"
Fecius wordlessly walked to the person on the far left—the first corpse.
"I did not know them personally so I will be standing over them while explaining what happened." He gulped which was surprising for someone like him who isn't usually so expressive, "I ran into the five of them when I was roaming the forest. I got lost and didn't know how to reach this camp but I ran into the group when I heard a commotion coming from a clearing near where I was. Turns out it was the path into a dungeon. I found them fighting some monsters that had been hanging around the dungeon. We quickly got rid of them and built a camp near the path to the dungeon. The sun hadn't rose yet and we had a quick breakfast while they explained to me everything that happened in the camp." He looked at Arnold for a second, "They explained to me what had been going on inside the camp while I was gone. I want to express my gratitude for saving Her Highness Shirley's life."
"Your gratitude is unnecessary right now, Fecius." Shirley said with a small sigh, "The problem doesn't seem to have gone away."
"Indeed… Alright, then I will explain what happened. We were just getting ready to leave before some native tribe ambushed us. This adventurer was the first to be struck by their arrows, right through the eye." He looked down. Everyone confirmed that there was a broken arrow lodged in his head.
Fecius moved on to the next one, a disfigured body that had lost one arm and both legs, "We had to leave him behind and escape. There were too many of them so we wanted to decrease their numbers while fleeing and collect the corpse later. This woman let a large group of them to the mountain east of here. She shot her explosive magic arrows right at an overhanging cliff. She said that she could use her glider to quickly escape before the boulders fell on the tribe members but her glider malfunctioned when she jumped off the mountainside trail. She fell from several hundred meters onto the ground. The fractures are as of a result of her rolling down the mountain when landing."
Arnold could hear gulps coming from around him.
Fecius walked to the next one who only had his upper body and half of his face, "This one ran into a faerie cove, maybe thinking that the little creatures would help him hide since they are depicted as friendly creatures of the forest… but it turns out they were man-eating faeries who attacked him and ate more than half of his body. I think most of his organs are gone since he felt rather light when I found him…"
One of the girls couldn't hold it any longer and vomited.
Fecius was about to walk over to the third corpse but Daraia spoke: "Is this… Fleridine…?"
There was an unreadable expression on her face as she knelt down and put her hand on the creature.
"Yes, that is Miss Fleridine."
"…How did this happen?"
"I'm not… sure. The two of us managed to get rid of most of the tribe members which made them retreat so we rested somewhere in a cave. I left Miss Fleridine the cave to go find some herbs to make us some healing potions. She had a deep wound on her stomach which we had to quickly heal if we wanted to get a move on and bring the others back. I thought everything would be alright even after what happened. Upon returning, I heard Miss Fleridine's screams resonate within the cave. I ran towards her but she came out of the cave… with her entrails being dragged behind her… She… She had pulled out her organs through the hole in her stomach and told me that 'they're everywhere, I can't get them out, they're in my pee, in my eyes, under my nails, make them stop'. I did not know what she meant so she picked up her entrails and showed them to me. I saw things move inside her entrails as if it were alive. She... cut open her entrails and hundreds of worm-like things flew out... They swarmed her when they were finally free from her organs and covered her entire body. The next moment… this thing emerged…"
Someone gasped, their hand flying to their mouth, eyes wide and trembling while muttering "No, I don't want to die like that" repeatedly. A man near the front, pale and visibly shaken, staggered back a step, almost tripping over his own feet.
The tension was palpable, and a suffocating weight pressed down on everyone, making the air feel thick and hard to breathe.
Fecius, sensing the growing unease at boiling point, swallowed hard, his eyes scanning the crowd and finding only stunned silence.
"I-Is that going to be us!?" Hans flared up, stomping over to Arnold, "Arnold! You fucker, didn't you remove the curse!? Is this your idea of a joke!?"
He grabbed Arnold by the collar, yanking Arnold towards him.
Arnold calmly stared into Hans' glaring eyes. He couldn't exert any energy for any other expression or emotion at that moment.
He was… simply tired.
A young woman who was near Arnold suddenly turned and bolted away while screaming "Mamaaaa!", unable to handle the sight and tale any longer.
"H-Hey, Ira!" her friends ran after her.
Hans let go of Arnold and shouted: "Get back here! We need to stick together! You'll end up dying just like these four!"
"Hans is right, everyone." Arthur stepped forward, "I have no idea what's going on but it's best that we stick together. Keep all your weapons sheathed, do not cast any spells, do not drink the river water and leave the food. Don't even attempt to pick up the large pot the girls used to make food. Anything that you think can pose potential needs to be avoided or handled with care. Always watch each other's movements."
"…I agree." Daraia approached Fleridine and stroked the blob.
She looked at Arnold who hadn't moved an inch from his earlier position.
"Can you do a second ritual if we get all the necessary supplies?"
"Assuming the curse didn't evolve somehow."
"What? How is it possible for a curse to evolve?" Castacia was the one who asked that.
Arnold looked at her, "Forget all common sense you have of our world and stop questioning every goddamned thing as if you'll get an answer."
"I-I'm sorry… It's just… we need to know what we're up against…"
"I can attempt to redo the ritual to see if we'll get it right this time. If successful, we might be able to save Fleridine before she…"
He didn't even need to finish because everyone knew the outcome of all this.
Arnold looked at "Fleridine" who Daraia was stroking gently as if she was holding an infant by its head.
The blob of moving flesh that was wearing a magician's robe had been wheezing for a while now. There were multiple worm-like things creeping under its skin. Crimson-dyed liquid squirted out of tiny holes on the blob.
It had no eyes so Arnold couldn't tell where it was looking.
'This is a cocoon, right?'
The system answered him at that moment.
· This phenomenon is known as "death by species rebirth". The victim undergoes various changes to their body which drastically alters their DNA and erases all signs of human genes, killing the victim and birthing something new.
Arnold looked at Fleridine.
· Condition: Evolving
Judging by what the system said, Fleridine is technically on the verge of death. However, there will be no Fleridine once this thing comes out completely. Her soul will be gone and what will replace her is something Arnold didn't want to find out. It might just turn out to be an unfriendly creature that attacks anything in sight.
Arnold could feel everyone's eyes on him at that moment. They didn't even need to say anything because he knew what they wanted to say.
"Arnold…"
Arthur called out to him.
"Al…"
Anais and Sabrina pulled on the sleeves of his coat; both of their gazes filled with trust.
"Boy…"
Daraia.
"Sir Arnold…"
Fecius.
He didn't feel happy that he had their trust. It was bothersome having others rely on him, thinking he could do anything.
However, seeing Anais and Sabrina's gazes in particular was enough to make him think that he shouldn't let them down.
Part of what motivates him to do anything was saving his own life but the two of them also felt important. The others, well, they were here anyway so he might as well try and save them. He would've saved Shirley and Flora only if things were different.
Arnold was about to open his mouth to give out his orders but a familiar voice called out to the group: "Oh dear, it seems there is a big crowd surrounding my dear customer. Even though I am undead, I am usually shy when it comes to speaking in front of a crowd. I suppose my emotions didn't die with the rest of my body! Oh well, perhaps this is an opportunity to gain new customers, kukukuku."
The group separated at that moment. Allowing someone, who Arnold knew well, to approach him.