Chapter 53: The Parasitic Monster
The place I was taken to was a room with a canopied bed. Lying there was a man in a state so terrible you’d want to cover your eyes.
He appeared to be a young man in his early twenties, but his condition was so severe that it was hard to be certain. After all, purple, tentacle-like things were sprouting from all over his body.
This wasn’t so much a disease as it was, more accurately, a case of being parasitized by a monster.
“This is Prince Riley-denka, the eldest son of Crown Prince Will-denka. Behave respectfully.”
“Um… this is a monster, isn’t it…? An Elixir probably won’t work, you know?”
“I told you to be respectful!! What do you mean by calling His Highness-denka a monster?!”
He suddenly drew his weapon and pointed it at me.
“W-Wait, wait, I didn’t say His Highness-denka was a monster!!
I was talking about those tentacles!!
No matter how sick a person gets, they can’t produce something like that, can they?
Since you seemed to be counting on the Elixir, I just wanted to tell you it might not work!”
I mean, His Highness-denka was clearly unconscious, yet the tentacles were moving normally.
I raised both hands in a surrender pose, but he wouldn’t lower his sword.
As my gaze darted around, pleading for someone to help, His Majesty the King and another middle-aged man entered.
Following them were maids and people who looked like doctors.
“If it were a monster, there would be a Magic Stone.
We’ve been investigating since the symptoms were mild, but we haven’t found one.
You said an Elixir wouldn’t work, but are you certain?”
As His Majesty spoke, Albert-san finally lowered his sword.
“No, I think it’s worth a try to have him drink it, but I doubt it will lead to a complete cure.
From my experience using Elixirs, they have the property of returning things to a normal state, but they also work on monsters. So, if that thing is a living creature, it would unfortunately benefit from it too…”
“You knew that, and that’s why you figured an Elixir wouldn’t cure him completely.
If you have more information, I want to hear it.
You will be rewarded. I need a breakthrough to save my son.”
The middle-aged man who stepped forward smoothly was, apparently, the Crown Prince-sama.
“No, um… I don’t understand the current situation at all…
To begin with, why is this considered a disease?”
When I asked that, a man in a white coat, who looked like a doctor, explained.
It apparently started with black spots, which then swelled up like warts and rapidly grew longer.
Cutting them off didn’t cause the person pain, but stimulating them apparently sped up the progression.
And the main reason they determined it was a disease, he said, was because it spread through contact.
As he said this, he called over a maid waiting by the bed and showed her arm.
Smaller and thinner than Prince Riley-denka’s, but tentacles were wriggling there too.
“In this state, amputating the arm can cure it. But it continues to spread to anyone who touches it…”
Since Prince Riley-denka’s symptoms had started on his chest and spread before being discovered, amputation hadn’t been an option, it seemed.
The maid-san looked like she was about to cry, trying to hide her arm. Seeing that, a feeling of wanting to help her somehow welled up inside me.
“Um, would it be alright if I try casting a magic that only affects monsters?” I blurted out, a suggestion fraught with risk.
“What… such magic exists…?”
“Er, yes…”
I affirmed, scratching the back of my head. His Majesty then spoke to the maid, “Is that alright?” and she nodded in response.
“Okay, um, first, just for a moment. Please tell me if you feel any pain.”
After confirming the maid-san nodded with her eyes closed, I activated Light Magic for just an instant.
“Wh-What?! Such construction speed! This certainly is the mark of one who returned from the Abyss…”
Hearing the voice from behind me, I wished they’d stop saying things like that. Checking her arm, I saw it had completely withered.
Her arm, from partway down, looked like a mummy’s and was very painful to see.
“Is there any pain?”
“No, nothing… But it won’t move either…”
She held out her arm, trembling violently, tears streaming down her face.
Wanting to return her to a normal state as quickly as possible, I used Light Magic again. This time, I applied it longer and over a wider area, then immediately took an Elixir from my pouch.
“Please drink this.”
“Eh…? Could this be the legendary secret medicine meant for His Highness-denka to drink?”
“Ah, it’s fine. This one is mine. Don’t worry, just gulp it down.”
After seeing His Majesty nod in agreement, she took a hesitant sip.
The moment she did, her arm returned to its original state. After moving it to check its condition, she burst into tears again.
“Stop crying and explain! How is it, are the symptoms still there?!”
“No, the wriggling sensation inside my arm has completely disappeared. Right now, there’s nothing… I think it’s normal,” the maid answered, sniffling.
Hearing her words, the man in the white coat exclaimed, “Ooh!” and rushed towards me.
“Show me that magic circle! What are you doing?! Right now!!”
“Eh…? I don’t really mind, but…”
The moment I manifested the magic circle, a voice boomed, “Wait.” It was His Majesty’s.
“Will, Albert-san, and Riley’s personal maid will remain. The rest of you, leave.
From here on, this concerns matters of state.”
With those words, he dismissed the doctors and other maids.
After they had completely left and the maid closed the door, His Majesty bowed his head.
“My apologies. He was just agitated, please forgive him.”
“No, it’s alright. It’s really alright!!
Um, I was just a bit troubled by feeling like I was being blamed…”
“In that case, can I ask you to treat Riley as well?”
Crown Prince Will-denka’s voice made my cheeks twitch. Even with the maid’s mildly affected arm, it had turned out like that.
No matter how potent an Elixir was, there was no guarantee Prince Riley-denka would be saved.
“Um… you saw the maid-san’s arm, didn’t you?”
“Yes. But since we’ll be using the legendary secret medicine, there can be no better way.
Judging by the speed of its progression, there isn’t much time left. Please.”
“Even if you say that, I’m an amateur, and I can’t take responsibility for the outcome…”
“I understand. This is my decision after seeing what happened earlier. I will not hold you responsible… Please!”
Seriously…? It’d be more helpful if I just taught them the magic and they did it themselves…
Did he send the doctors away because nothing they tried had any effect at all?
Thinking about it that way, it’s hard to refuse any further. Since he says he won’t hold me responsible, it couldn’t be helped if my refusal was taken as leaving him to die.
“…I’ll do my best, but I can’t say what the result will be, okay?”
Seeing Crown Prince Will-denka nod with a grief-stricken face, I realized there was no escape and steeled my resolve.
If I was going to do it, I had to give it my all.
I took out five Elixirs from my pouch and extended my Maso like hands to lift Prince Riley-denka.
Since it supposedly spread on contact, I would do all the touching with my Maso.
I removed all the clothes he was barely wearing and levitated him in the air.
“A-Amazing. To undress someone with Magical Power, how much skill would one need for such precise movements…”
“That magic is also quite precise, isn’t it? Just mastering it must be considerably difficult.”
Albert-san spoke in a daze, and His Majesty and the others were muttering something, but right now, all my concentration was on this.
First, a performance check of the Light Magic. I created a Healing Magic Circle where it wouldn’t hit His Highness-denka and applied Light Magic to it.
As expected, the magic circle vanished in an instant.
It’s not supposed to affect me, but Light Magic seems to be different.
Well, I already knew that, since it even erases my own Maso constructs…
Since it couldn’t be helped, I floated Healing Magic Circles in places the light wouldn’t reach.
The closer they were to the affected area, the greater the effect, so to get them as close as possible, I floated the magic circles at the very edge where the light wouldn’t hit. While maintaining that state, I had an opened Elixir bottle ready at his mouth.
I thrust my Maso into his mouth, formed it into a funnel shape, and made it so I could pour the Elixir directly in.
Starting with the limbs, I increased the output of the Healing Magic towards his left leg while activating the Light Magic. While keeping it applied, I had him drink a small amount of Elixir.
Since it also affects monsters, I continued to irradiate him with Light Magic until I thought the Elixir’s effects had worn off.
His body convulsed many times, but when I stopped the light, his left leg had returned to a normal state.
The fact that the Elixir was having an effect meant he probably wasn’t dead yet.
There was a high chance he could be saved. That fact made my expression soften a little.
However, the tentacles stirred and began to move, trying to invade his leg again.
Realizing I couldn’t give them time, I performed the same actions I did for the left leg at high speed.
Right leg, left arm, right arm, lower abdomen, chest – I attempted to annihilate the tentacles at a speed far exceeding their invasion.
I was worried the Elixir might restore the tentacles too, but it seemed they couldn’t invade in an instant.
Figuring this would work, I hurried the process.
And then, just as I got to the head, the funnel was spat out, something like an alien burst from his mouth, and then tentacles shot out from his eyes, pushing the eyeballs out.
“Hiiiih—”
A small scream escaped from the maid.
For a moment, I almost faltered myself, but I knew I couldn’t stop here, so I continued.
If the mouth was impossible, I’d force it into his body; I created a syringe with my Maso and pierced his throat.
Knowing it would be pointless to give it to the monster, I poured the Elixir down its throat while continuously shining Light Magic on its face.
After about ten seconds, the Elixir I had been slowly pouring ran out.
I had been more thorough with this part than other areas, so the monster should have breathed its last. When I looked at its face, I saw the sleeping figure of yet another handsome young man.
Then, the remaining problem was Prince Riley’s condition.
I immediately created a stethoscope and checked if his heart was beating.
“Tch… His heart has stopped.”
“――――!! Riley!!”
I stopped the Crown Prince, who was about to rush over, and began CPR using Maso, starting with artificial respiration.
“Enough. If his heart has stopped, it’s impossible. Do not toy with the dead…”
His Majesty told me to stop, but since Cornelia-san and the others had been revived this way, I couldn’t just stop, so I continued for several tens of seconds.
Then, his body twitched with a jolt.
I immediately stopped and checked if his heartbeat and breathing had resumed, and indeed, the resuscitation was a complete success.
“Fuuuuu…” I let out a long sigh.
I returned him to the bed, covered him with a blanket, and hid his body.
Then, just as I was about to give him another Elixir, I was stopped.
“I know you did everything you could… I have no intention of blaming you.”
Huh?
No, I think it probably went well… but then again, I won’t know unless he wakes up, huh.
“Uuugh… Forgive me, Riley…
If only I had realized sooner that he was possessed by the monster…”
“Uwoooooh,” cried the Crown Prince, clinging to the Prince’s body.
When it gets to this point, it’s hard to correct him. After all, I don’t know if he’ll actually wake up.
However, just as I thought I couldn’t stay silent any longer and was about to speak up, Prince Riley’s eyes opened.
“W-What is all this…? That’s right, I was afflicted by a disease demon…
―――――!? You mustn’t, Father! Don’t touch my body!!
Eh? My body… it’s healed…?”
“R-Riley! Y-You’ve come back to life…!?”
“Eh…? Ah, so the disease demon had progressed that far, hadn’t it…” he said, while patting his face all over with his hands. “Ah, it’s really healed,” he murmured, tears streaming down his face.
“Thank you very much… Father, you found a healer for me, didn’t you.”
“Haha, I feel truly wonderful… See, nothing wrong at all! Wait, am I naked?!”
While still crying profusely, the Prince tried to sit up and pulled the blanket closer to hide his body.
Seeing that, I let out another long sigh.
“Rui, had his breathing truly stopped…?”
“Yes. It was the same for Cornelia-sama and the others.
There were some who couldn’t be saved in the same condition, but as long as there was a possibility, I took the liberty of ignoring your words. I apologize.”
“W-What are you apologizing for! I am merely astonished by the miracle you’ve performed… Truly, I’m glad.”
His Majesty gazed at the two of them with gentle eyes.
However, there was one thing I had to tell him.
“Um, I know this might be a strange thing to say right now, but… there’s no guarantee he’s completely cured, so please monitor his post-operative progress and, if necessary, apply the magic again.”
When I told him that, His Majesty looked surprised.
“By ‘here,’ do you mean I may copy the circle?”
“Yes, of course. Besides, I think I won’t be able to leave Razbel for a while anyway…”
Yeah. I’d been thinking from the start that I wouldn’t mind presenting it if asked.
Even thinking about the future, it’s highly unlikely that Lestall would become an enemy of Belfast.
I mean, if that happened, it would seriously be the end, so it’s more beneficial to indebt them to me.
If the worst-case scenario occurs, I might be able to get them to turn a blind eye to a secret defection or something.
“I see. Even though I couldn’t grant you the peerage you hoped for, I apologize…”
“Well then, I’ll be going. I must leave as soon as possible.”
However, just as I said that, he called out, “Wait. It won’t take long, so at least let me express my gratitude.”
After that, we moved to the reception room, where I received a special Hunter ID, a permit allowing entry into all Dungeons except for some specially designated ones, a certificate of commendation, and a Holy Knight’s medal.
The monetary reward also increased, and I ended up receiving two thousand large gold coins.
Even a thousand was a lot, but two thousand… That’s too much. In my previous life’s currency, would that be roughly two billion yen or so?
What? So one Elixir is worth twenty million yen?!
Ah, but if it’s a legendary-grade item and a national treasure, then that price would be normal, huh.
It’s such an astronomically large sum, something I’ve never dealt with before, so my sense of money can’t keep up.
I became anxious wondering if it was okay to receive so much, but I was told it was appropriate considering the miracle I had performed.
By the way, the rights to Light Magic are now mine.
They even issued an official certificate from the Kingdom of Lestall for the rights to Light Magic.
In other words, I’m the only one who can write down the Light Magic magic circles in a book and sell them.
Apparently, it will be used if necessary for the state, but it won’t be distributed to nobles or commoners.
I’ve acquired an incredible asset…
And so, although I didn’t receive a peerage, my audience with King Lestall, which had been quite fruitful, came to an end.