episode_0038

There were things Juul told me to do, and I couldn’t stay there because he seemed to notice. When I came to my senses, I suddenly found myself running after Julia.

It wasn’t there anywhere. Nowhere! Are snakes really that fast? How can I run right after you and not see you already?

The inside of the cave was quite long and wide.

A torch with a slight odor of resin, perhaps recently replaced, was burning at a distance in a stand.

I don’t think I need to go back to get the lamp. Anyway, I have no idea how wide this cave is. Unlike the previous location, the ceiling here was not made of mud.

The shape of the cave was also unique.

Unlike the entrance, supports were made at certain lengths and the length was straight.

···.

A sense of déjà vu crept into my mind.

The supports are a model of a mine, and the interior shape of the cave resembles a North Korean tunnel that the military visited for mental education. In other words, it was made by breaking stones rather than digging the land.

How did they clear the mine without dynamite?

Moreover, the floor was so flat that there was not a single stone to trip on. It is so consistent and precise that you wouldn’t even think it was a tunnel at first glance.

Is this a refuge from flood damage?

“Hey! There!!”

uh? me?

As I was walking fast, I passed by. It seemed like it came from a room I passed by. I took a step back toward the source of the sound. When I looked into the room where the voice had come from, I saw huge animal cages piled up inside the slightly open door.

Someone was beckoning me from inside the cage.

Why are people here?

In a cage in a dark room with no lights on, a naked elf male was locked in a miserable state.

Is this perhaps a prison?

“Me, save me…! please! Please just don’t go!”

scrawny

The flesh was so dry that the bones were visible. Let alone hair, all body hair had fallen out, as if someone was undergoing chemotherapy.

Because I was naked, all my pubic hair had fallen out, and what I thought was pubic hair was my genitals, which had rotted and turned black.

The plant on my head had already rotted and fallen, and even its roots seemed to have rotted, and the outline of rotted and blackened roots could be seen behind the thin and pale scalp.

A few fingernails were also missing.

My remaining fingernails opened like grilled clams, as if to claim that I was dead. The ring and little fingers of my right hand were pitch black and both little toes were rotted.

Was it necrotic?

As I got closer, I noticed a strong odor. ······Is this a smell that a living person can smell?

“···Who are you?”

The elf opened his eyes wide and then let out a trembling breath.

“Thank you, Maal! My name is Sorshei Dag. Kid, listen carefully! The Lamia here kidnaps people and feeds them strange things. My hair is falling out and my body… starting from the end… my body is rotting little by little… please help me… Please don’t leave me behind…”

The introduction is made calmly at first, but the words become increasingly urgent.

Who is coming? I went out for a moment and stuck my head into the cave to look around, but there was no sign of anyone approaching.

…Am I crazy because I’m addicted?

“Please don’t go!”

“I’m not going. Aren’t the elves and Lamia both members of the Yunaira alliance?”

“That’s right! That’s right, I didn’t know you would do something like this! He called me out because he had something to say, and then he kidnapped me!”

Saliva is flowing down. My legs were shaking, as if I was exhausted from just standing there.

“My, I… I can help you with anything you want, as long as I can get out of here. money? female? authority? slave? Well, anything…”

I’ve heard this a lot somewhere.

It was definitely not something a good person would say. Trust drops in an instant. But that doesn’t mean it’s something to just ignore.

“I don’t think it’s a problem I can judge alone. First of all, another…”

“They are all part of the same gang! They are one of a kind!!!”

The elf screams.

The teeth that are revealed through tears are sharp like a monster… no. Due to weight loss, all of the gum tissue had fallen out, leaving long teeth exposed. If you push even slightly, it seems like it will fall out.

“I don’t think I can help you right now.”

“Don’t leave it behind. don’t go! Better kill me! Kill me!!!”

The sound of sobbing rang in my ears.

What on earth would an elf have to go through to become so devastated that he would cry and beg for humans? As I turned around, the heartbreaking wailing I heard was so devastating.

It is predictable what this place does.

I think I’ll have to ask Lamia directly about that. Also, who is that person?

“I’m sorry I can’t help you right away.”

“Kill me…! Just ask me to kill you!!!”

I left the prison and walked out the door.

“You are the same guy… You too…!”

thud.

“······.”

The moment the door closed, the man’s voice disappeared.

The echoes that echoed through the cave and the sobbing wails disappeared like lies the moment the door was closed.

I guess so.

This is a prison, and there’s no way someone who hasn’t committed a crime would be locked up there. The sorrow that was shown to me was a lie. It’s amazing to actually see someone like that.

That kind of thing is called a psychopath. If I open this door, what will he say to me? Like villains in movies, will they tell you to fuck off or tell you if it’s fun or something like that?

I think it would be more convenient that way.

Those questions and expectations made me open the door once again.

“Hey! There!!”

My heart went cold.

“Me, save me…! please! Please just don’t go!”

Was it a joke from the beginning?

As if replaying the video, he showed the same behavior. The hand reaching out to me, the blood mixed with it, turned a light red color, and the tears and trembling legs.

Even the words spoken and the pitch of the words are the same.

It’s a bad joke.

really.

But you can’t be equally angry. Because it would be too cruel for someone who has someone to crave someone who doesn’t have one. Let’s treat it as a joke. How did I start my first sentence?

“Who are you?”

“Thank you, Maal! My name is Sorshei Dag. Kid, listen carefully! The Lamia here kidnaps people and feeds them strange things. My hair is falling out and my body… starting from the end… my body is rotting little by little… please help me… Please don’t leave me behind…”

“─────What the fuck?!!!”

I closed the door as panic filled my head. The voice disappeared as if it never existed.

What is that···?!

Have you lost your mind because you were poisoned?! I thought it was a joke, but something was strange. How on earth can a person show such a uniform appearance?!

······Let’s ask Jules about that person separately. First, we have to find Julia. I guess this place is a prison. Several prisons began to appear as we passed by.

There is also a solitary confinement room.

I don’t know what they were trying to trap, but the door is quite thick. There is an iron bar on the door that allows you to see the inside, and there is a feeding hole under the door for putting rice in.

It seemed like there was no one in prison except the elf from before. I saw such a scary person just a little while ago, but now that there is no one around, I feel like a ghost is coming out and I am scared.

The passage was very long.

How many minutes did you walk? There was a fairly large wooden door in front. Lamia’s tail can be seen peeking out from the slightly open door.

The tail I stepped on.

The tension was intense. There is no Jules here to protect me. Let’s be formal. First of all, wouldn’t it be better to pretend to be popular from afar?

“Julias. Is it okay if I come in?”

“Huh? Are you here? Come in.”

Although I haven’t seen him in a long time, I still feel relieved to meet him now. It seemed to her that she shouldn’t mention the strange person she had seen earlier. Because it may have been Lamia who made the elf like that just now.

“Seolrang told me to get the necessary items.”

“I heard. I was there too, right?”

Although he was an easy-going person compared to other Lamia, he was not someone to relax on.

I guess I should just take what I get and go back.

“Yes.”

Julia paused, looked at me, and began to pull out something.

“Would you like to sit down for a moment?”

···where?

I looked around when I was told to sit down, but there were no chairs. Oh, I was a slave, right? You can’t give a slave something like a chair, right? I sat down on the floor.

“Ugh. Sit here, not there.”

“Yes? Ah… thank you.”

Julia sighed and took out the chair that was hidden by his lower body. I don’t like the pitiful look in their eyes. How do you make something you can’t see because it’s covered by the tail?

“Poison is poison, and I have a question for you.”

to me?

“What are you curious about?”

Julias rested his arms on the desk and looked at me in a comfortable position.

“How did you know about microorganisms?”

microbe?

That’s right, in the textbook—Why did I say this?!

After all, if humans talk a lot, useless words tend to come out! How do people in this era know about microorganisms?!

“I found out by chance 120 years ago. Like this…”

120 years?

No matter how old he looks on the outside, he is only 30. When Julias gestured, dozens of water droplets began to form in a row in the air. At the same time, the water droplet is pressed and the center widens into a slightly stubby shape.

······We made a lens out of water!

“When I looked inside the car to check the coordinates to practice precision magic, I saw something transparent moving? After making some improvements, I created a tool to view microorganisms. Look.”

Lamia points her head at the desk.

What do they say they made? Several chalets, bottles filled with poison, cultivated mold… and a microscope?

microscope···!

It may be clunky, but it definitely looks like a microscope!

“I found out by chance, really by chance. How did you discover microbes?”

My heart beats without stopping.

120 years ago, before the Great War broke out. If you roughly estimate his age, he is more than a great-great-grandfather. Perhaps Julia may have lived for more than two centuries.

Additionally, when you think of Dragonia, the first pronoun that comes to mind is ‘intelligence’. How can you lie to someone like that? But you have to do it! I took a deep breath.

“My father liked fruit wine.”

“But?”

“I always added fermented liquid to fruit wine…”

I was speechless.

What should I continue…?

“When exposed to sunlight, fermentation slows down, but when placed in a cool place, fermentation improves, so I conducted various experiments.”

Lamia rests her chin on the desk and looks down at me.

“Lie.”

driving me crazy.

How can no one tell a lie? Do you have a lie detector? In addition, the eyes that looked at me strangely were harder to deal with than Heilang.

“Microorganisms are things you can never acknowledge until you see them with your own eyes.”

“······I’m sorry.”

“Hmph, it doesn’t matter if you don’t want to talk. You think I’m threatening you?”

Thankfully, he walked away obediently.

Julia looked at me sheepishly, then relaxed her chin and adjusted her posture.

“How about this? If you give me useful information, I will help you as much.”

“What are you curious about?”

Julia dipped the quill into the ink pot.

“What are antibiotics?”

“It is a microbial poison.”

Perhaps because he was interested in hearing this for the first time, he looked up from his notebook and looked at me only with his eyes.

“What kind of poison is it?”

” Microorganisms eat each other like animals and fight for food, so they harbor poison to protect themselves.

Among them, there is no or minimal harm to humans, and the unique poison of microorganisms that kills only microorganisms is called an antibiotic. It helps prevent wounds from festering or prevents inflammation in the body.”

Julia nodded.

“It matches to some extent what I found out. I discovered a lot of things like that. But there is only a small amount of poison that can be obtained. Every person shows an abnormal reaction.”

The person who discovered antibiotics received the Nobel Prize, and this person calmly says that he has discovered many things. Are all people called Dragonia like this?

“Good. What antibiotic is easy to obtain? No, what poison is there that kills microorganisms?”

“It’s alcohol.”

Since it is said to be a poison that kills microorganisms, alcohol can also be used, right?

“Alcohol? Spraying that didn’t have any effect, right? It certainly seemed effective, but the wounds got worse. I don’t know why.”

Alcohol has been an alchemy ingredient that alchemists have been interested in since ancient times.

There’s no way Julias hasn’t tried an experiment. Considering that the majority of alcohol in the South is fruit wine, it is reasonable for Julias to conclude that way.

It’s like spraying the sugar that bacteria love the most.

Alcohol disinfectants are almost ineffective unless they contain 60-80% alcohol.

“If you heat alcohol so hot that it does not boil, the alcohol vaporizes at a lower temperature than water. When it cools, it becomes liquid. After distillation, collect it──.”

─Julias, are you ready to be hit?

An inorganic voice rang out softly.

Soon, Jules’ footsteps began to get closer.

“Wait a minute! It’s an important time!”

Julias locked the lab door.

Then he looks at me with urging eyes.

“Collected after distillation?”

bang! Bang!

The hinge screws were shaking as if they were about to fall off at any moment.

It seemed as if the door itself would break.

─Open the door! I’ll throw you on the floor!

If you stop talking and explain, the door might get smashed.

“When mixed with pure water in a 7 to 3 ratio── the number of alcohol crystals is 7. You can disinfect wounds by mixing water and crystals and spraying them on the wound. Eating it doesn’t work, just spraying it on the wound.”

“What if the ratio is not right?”

“If the ratio is not right, the effect will be weakened or disappear. Since alcohol evaporates easily, it must always be kept sealed. And since it catches fire easily, you have to be careful with fire.”

“If it sticks, it won’t go out even if you pour water on it. Just in case, you have to shake it before using it, and it is very painful. Do not leave it in a place exposed to light.”

Color began to appear on Julias’ face.

“Good, good! The proportions were vague, and I didn’t have any alcohol to drink, so I put it on the back burner. I have to try making it sometime.”

There was a smile that couldn’t be hidden on her face.

You said you would help me. There was one thing I wanted to ask you briefly.

“Yes, slave. What do you want me to do?”

One of the hinges crackled and shattered.

Please or anything, I’m going to end up like this.

“First of all, the door looks like it will break.”

Julias’ eyes grew as big as a flower lamp.

If the door is smashed, it is obvious that all the surrounding chalets and flasks will be smashed as well.

“I’ll open it for you! calm down! The door will break!!”

─Give me 5 seconds. 5, 4…

Jules’ cold voice comes from outside the door.

Julia shot out like an arrow and immediately opened the door. Literally at the same speed as an arrow. It gives me goosebumps to think that something like that happened to me.

If it rushes at you like that and hits you, a person will die just by hitting it. It was that kind of speed. Julia smiled and opened the door, but when she saw Jules with a Shinigami-like expression on her face, she leaned back and waved her hand.

“I’m sorry! You know it’s a joke, right? Instead, I took care of a lot of other things too─── Gaaa?!!”

“Take it sweet───?!”

Jules grabbed Julia and threw him out of the lab. Even though he jokes around, he’s the type of person who doesn’t like being the butt of jokes.

I thought he was surprisingly narrow-minded.