There is a game called "Fuku-laugh".

　In this game, a blindfolded person puts pieces of paper with eyes, mouth and nose drawn on a piece of paper on which the outline of a mask is drawn, and the blindfolded person puts them back in their place. Since the blindfolded person is wearing a blindfold, he or she usually makes a strange face, and the place is filled with laughter.


　--I'm not going to be able to say that I'm not going to be able to do anything about it.


　It's a poisonous decomposition of life.

　The scene was so acidic that the assassin's instant-death poison could be considered benevolent.

　The line the Ishka official had said before we came here - it was no longer about the drugs - was right on target.

　I didn't hear a single groan when I entered the hut, probably because I no longer had the strength left to groan. Or maybe even the organ that produced the voice was poisoned.

　Just to be sure, I squeezed some Jiriah Ookus fruit into the sick man's mouth, but as expected, it was ineffective.

　It seemed to me that it would take a miracle on the level of resuscitation of the dead to cure this sick man.



　After that, I quickly left the hut. I also left the village on that leg.

　I jumped on Crow Solas and headed back to the city of Ishka.

　The officials must have thought I had escaped and returned. In fact, they were right.

　The scene of the previous day had come and gone in my chest many times, and each time a cold sweat broke out all over my body.　　


　The basilisk's venom was quite strong, but the one I'd just seen was even worse than that of the basilisk. It could be said to be incomparable.

　An ordinary poison would have eaten the body first, resulting in death.

　But that venom would first result in death, and after that it was eating away at the body like a raging river - that's how it seemed to me.

　That meant that it was incapable of healing.

　Even if the soul-granting process that had healed Claudia had been performed, it would have been impossible to cure that sick man.

　There was no need to think about the consequences if such a poison spread.


''If we don't hurry up and destroy the source of the poison, it could destroy the Canarian Kingdom, let alone Ishqa.


　I'm not sure if it's contagious or not," he murmured seriously from his saddle on Crow Solace.

　The lucky thing is that it doesn't seem to be contagious, but that's just a guess. It is possible that the disease could have developed after a certain amount of time.

　In a sense, this new venom is a greater threat than Stampede. More to the point, the outbreak of this venom and the stampede may be linked together.

　To tell the truth, I would have liked to head straight to Titis Forest, but there was no way I could continue my aimless search for days without leaving Ishka, who was being attacked by a demon right now.

　Besides, if I was going to explore, I wanted to take not only me, but also Lunamaria and Miroslav with me. Lunamaria, the Sage, and Miroslav, the sorcerer, would be able to notice things I didn't.

　I sped up Klau Solas' speed even faster and headed for Ishka in one direction.



◆◆◆



I've never heard of such a thing.


　Lunamaria said with an expression that was a mixture of nervousness and confusion.

　The other Miroslav was asleep as if he were dead, so he didn't speak to me. According to Lunamaria, the experiment I was ordered to do - mixing my blood with the antidote to test the effects - was done until the early hours of the morning.

　I opened my mouth to Lunamaria, thinking that I'd forced her to do something, and I opened my mouth to Lunamaria.


'It's completely my speculation that it's incurable.

'No, if your master (Master) felt that way, he had good reason to feel that way. It couldn't have been far off from the truth.


　Lunamaria, clad in the purple-blue robe that is the proof of a sage, assures me with a serious face.

　The sight of an elf who trusts my intuition more than I do myself is subtly irritating.

　Well, Lunamaria is aware of my kindred entity (anima), the soul eater. If I think of it as a dragon's intuition rather than a human's, it's reasonable to have more faith in baseless speculation.

　As I was thinking about this, Lunamaria's expression suddenly became cloudy.

　When I looked into her green eyes to find out what was going on, Lunamaria began to speak in a confused manner.


''Speaking of speculation, this is exactly what I'm speculating about, Master...''

What?

'When I heard my master's (Master's) speculation that it was actually incurable, I was reminded of a mythical passage.


　Lunamaria says, shaking her golden hair.


'Myth?'

'Yes. Too strong, never to be healed, the poison that killed God.


　The wise man says.

　By nature, gods are immortal beings and cannot be killed by poison. But the gods who were poisoned by this poison could not endure eternal suffering, and so they chose to die, renouncing their own immortality.

　It is said that the immortal heroes of the Twelve Labours could not endure the poison and burned their bodies in flames.

　The material for this terrible poison...


This is the Hydra, a highly poisonous multi-headed dragon.

...a dragon. An illusionary species.


　The name was a close memory.

　It was the name uttered by the deputy head of the Clan 'Scythe of the Reaper' when the basilisk appeared and part of the forest of Titis was turned into a rotten sea.

　The Holy Kingdom is located in the south of the Canary Kingdom. He also said that the Great Sea of Rot that stretched further south of the Holy Kingdom was caused by the death of Hydra.

　That Hydra may have appeared in the Forest of Titis. Lunamaria's words suggest this.

　However, Lunamaria also added: "It is possible that the hydra did indeed appear in the forest.


If the Hydra really did emerge, then the whole of Titis should be a rotten sea. Perhaps Hydra is on the verge of emerging.


　Unlike sub-dragons like the pterodactyl (wyvern), true dragons are not the life that comes from their parents.

　Like lightning. Like a tornado. Like an earthquake. Or like a volcanic eruption.

　A phenomenon that is triggered when the conditions of the world are right. The illusory disaster born of flesh and blood.

　That is the dragon.


　Conversely, it cannot appear unless even one of the conditions is in place. This is also a dragon.

　The fact that the hydra was about to emerge meant that the final wedge that had prevented the emergence of the hydra to this day was about to be pulled out.


　--Or perhaps the wedge itself had been pulled out long ago, and the hydra had been materializing in this world little by little, bit by bit, over time.

　If the outbreak of Stampede and poison was the result of the Hydra materializing beyond a certain level...


This is going to be a hell of a mess.

'Yes. Assuming, of course, that all the current speculation is correct...

'In this case, I'd be rather grateful if I was wrong. Now let's assume it's right and move on.


　For now, let's hurry up and tell the Ishka Government Office, the Adventurer's Guild, and also the Slavers' Union. First of all, they will definitely not believe us, in fact, they will laugh it off with their noses, but later on, "Why didn't you tell me then! I don't want to hear that.

　After that, we should evacuate Seal and Sparrow--well, let's send them back to King's Landing for once. I want to let Lord Dragnoth know about it, and Miroslav's parents' house can't be left alone.

　After that, depending on the situation, we can let the seals escape to the Empire or the Holy Kingdom.



　--When I thought to that point, the scene that had flashed through my mind was that of Melte's village.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most of it.

　Even if we put aside the hydra, there is no doubt that a vicious and deadly poison is flowing along the river.

　We need to get the word out for the sake of the priest and the little bastards. If possible, I want all four of them to evacuate to King's Landing along with Seal and the others.

　Besides, Lars and Ilaria should be in the village right now. Even though a lot of things have happened, it's indeed a pity that they have been affected by the deadly poison. I can't say I'm also worried about Ilaria's reaction when she found out that Miroslav had joined the Sword of Blood Smoke.


　The problem is Stampede, but from what I saw on my way back from the village, the defensive line of the city road was still alive and well, so it won't be like the gates of Ishka will be breached today or tomorrow.

　In fact, the more time passes, the more the stampede becomes full-blown, so if you want to fly to Melte village, it's now or never.

　That's what I thought.



　........At this time, the only two threats I was looking at were 'Stampede' and 'Poison'.

　The reason why Onigashima was lacking was because I knew that it would take at least two months for Jijinbo's death to reach the island and for the Gokens to learn of it and send a replacement to scrutinize the information.

　Given the nature of the current head of the family, he hadn't expected to be so serious about a request from the Empire that did not involve the defense of the island.


　Annihilating, I didn't expect that new personnel would have been dispatched the same day Jirinbo died.

　Moreover, there is no way we could have anticipated that these men, who had reached the capital, would jump into the middle of the stampede with an unnecessary display of chivalry.