After knocking out Celica, Murphy skillfully stuffed her into the box.
"Vadivasi!"
The box shot up into the sky like a catapulted stone, but after reaching a certain height, its speed suddenly slowed down, and no matter how much magic Murphy used, the box wouldn't rise any further.
As expected, it wasn't going to be that simple.
Murphy put down the box and after pulling Celica out, he noticed something very wrong with her appearance.
Her face was a shade of dark blue, and the blood vessels in her neck were also dyed a blackish blue.
The blackish-blue color seemed to originate from her chest and was now receding back.
Murphy hesitated for a moment but ultimately, his great spirit of healing overcame his slight embarrassment. He unbuttoned Celica's clothes.
In the center above a pair of large rabbits, there was a black patch the size of an apricot, looking like a bruise but more ominous.
"Plague?"
But why would it suddenly act up?
He glanced at the sky, then took off again with Celica. As they ascended, her complexion rapidly worsened, quickly turning from blue to black, almost like an African girl.
This...
Could it be that the "Heart of Mind" is not entirely psychological but can also limit the transformed person's movement through bacteria or something similar?
Murphy put Celica down and tried spells like Arresto Momentum and antidote potions, but none worked.
As the diary said, common methods simply couldn't remove the Heart of Mind.
Dual control of the mind and behavior, and anti-curse resistant! For a magic spell, this was too perfect!
But this also meant it would be very troublesome to solve.
Murphy re-dressed Celica and lifted her from the stun spell. She groaned as she woke up, looking dazed at Murphy, "My chest hurts, what happened to me?"
"You just had an attack and fainted," Murphy fabricated, "Tell me what happened here."
"I remember you used a stunning spell on me..."
"That's not important." Murphy cut her off, "What's going on in this place?"
"...This is the village of Joachim that I found," Celica was still somewhat confused.
"I know that, did you find Joachim?"
"Yes, the villagers said there was a doctor in the village named Joachim. I saw him, but he was always wrapped in a black robe and wore a terrible mask. He ignored me when I spoke to him."
"Is he still alive?" Murphy asked, "Or, like the others, has he turned into a zombie?"
"I don't know, but he might be crazy," Celica said. "The night before last, I saw him slaughtering the villagers, chopping many into pieces. But the next morning, I saw him casting spells on them, piecing their bodies back together."
That's twisted...
So he's treating these already dead villagers like this? Is this Joachim some kind of super dismemberment maniac?
"How long have you been here? Where have you been staying?"
"Six days." Celica said, "Sometimes I hide in the barn, sometimes I stay in the villagers' houses. They look scary and smell bad, but they are actually quite nice. The food they offer is rotten, though, so I could only eat fruit and I'm always hungry."
Murphy thought of the two hefty rabbits he saw earlier.
Hmph, always hungry but doesn't look like you've lost weight.
"So, you don't know what's going on with these villagers?"
Celica shook her head.
"You don't know where the Heart of Mind is?"
Celica shook her head again.
"You also don't know how you were cursed?"
Celica shook her head once more.
"What do you know?"
Celica knew Murphy was despising her again.
She was a bit indignant, "I know it's dangerous here, and I told you not to come."
Murphy was speechless.
Considering Celica's symptoms just now, maybe the curse is related to the plague? If Celica was cursed just by being infected, doesn't that mean the curse could spread indefinitely?
If I replace the curse effect with "loyalty to Murphy" and spread this plague, could I start a global pandemic and unify the world?
Great, now Umbrella has no choice but to research bacteria and viruses.
Unable to take Celica out for now, but Murphy was prepared.
He drew 400cc of blood from Celica, first confirming she was infected with the plague through indirect blood coagulation tests, then put the remaining blood into a centrifuge.
This plasma was used to separate peripheral blood mononuclear cells to make Celica's specific T-cells.
At the same time, he brought a lot of antibiotics, many of which were effective against the plague bacillus.
"These drugs should temporarily control your symptoms, and once the specific T-cells are ready, curing your disease won't be difficult," Murphy said.
"Really?!"
Celica thought she was doomed and was thrilled to hear this, looking at Murphy with joy and admiration.
"Of course," Murphy affirmed with confidence.
"But..."
He held the syringes and suddenly looked troubled, "Actually, these injections will only be most effective if administered through the buttocks muscle."
Celica stared at Murphy's serious nonsense, blushing after a moment, "You, you're lying..."
"Do you want to be cured or not?" Murphy insisted righteously.
"..."
So why does this man always speak nonsense so seriously?
And why do I always believe him?
"...Yes..."
The girl's face was red to the tips of her ears.
Tsk tsk tsk...
Just as Celica reluctantly agreed, and Murphy was about to have her lie on his lap for the injection, a crowd of people surged in from a distance.
They held hoes and pitchforks, obviously villagers. Looking at them, each was riddled with holes and rotting flesh, none intact, yet they seemed unaware, crowding around.
Celica got nervous at their momentum and immediately hid behind Murphy.
"Was it you who was shouting just now?" an old zombie called out.
"Where are Ouleika Granny and Mite?" another zombie shouted.
"Who are you? What are you doing in our village?" someone questioned.
"Take off your mask, looking all weird!" another ordered.
A younger-looking one shouted, "Let go of that girl! She's mine!"
Murphy rolled his eyes heavenward, "Brother, maybe fix your half-peeled face before thinking about girls, huh?"
And besides, you're all rotted down there, what's the hurry?
He asked Celica, "The curse of the Heart of Mind is that as long as the plague exists in the village, you cannot leave, right?"
"Yes, that's why I wanted to cure them all."
"Hah," Murphy snorted, "It's been a hundred years, and the plague in this village still hasn't disappeared. There are no living people here. You can't cure them."
"But curing them doesn't mean the plague can't be eradicated."
Murphy said this, pulling Celica into the Jeep and locking the doors, "Stay here and don't move."
He then climbed out of the Jeep's sunroof, shrunk the megaphone back into his suitcase, and then waved his wand. A dark object flew out of his suitcase and mounted on the roof of the car.
Six chrome-plated gun barrels, an electric turret, the romance of men, the favorite of exorcists.
It was a Gatling gun!
Pulling a belt of ammunition from the suitcase into the ammo chamber and plugging in the power source, facing the crowd of people, Murphy sighed in pity.
"A hundred years, boundless suffering, let the Bodhisattva liberate you all!"
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