In Search of the Source of the Tentacles

Jegal mobilized the priests of the royal palace to perform a Scan Body on the heads of everyone in the royal palace.

Fortunately, there were no infected individuals in the royal palace.

Afterward, Jegal closed all gates of the royal palace except for the main gate.

Furthermore, anyone passing through the main gate of the royal palace was required to undergo a Scan Body on their head by a royal palace priest.

Just then, Peergas, the head of the Research Knightage, arrived with information he had gathered from the Grand Library regarding the brain-parasitic tentacles.

Jegal posed a question.

“What did you find?”

“I’ve investigated all the literature on tentacles, but brain-parasitic tentacles are a first for me.”

“Then it must be a newly discovered species.”

“Indeed. Just in case, I even looked into the myths of the Tentacle Wars from 1000 years ago, but the God of Darkness, Kamaite, openly corrupted and destroyed, never engaged in such parasitism.”

“We need to understand the ecology of these tentacles.”

“While not specifically about brain parasitism, I did find some similar information.”

“What kind of information?”

“Well, there are two ways organisms can live within other living beings: parasitism and symbiosis. Parasitism harms the host, while symbiosis is a mutually beneficial coexistence.”

“It could be symbiosis, then.”

“And I also looked into the routes of infection. They can be ingested through food, penetrate the skin, or even enter through the nose while a human is sleeping. They must enter without the human noticing.”

“No human would stay still if something were entering their body.”

“One thing is certain: the spread of the parasite isn’t random. There’s a source of infection, and the infection spreads from there. Occasionally, an individual may travel far and become a new source of infection in a new location.”

“I’ll have to go to Tuwood City, where the first infection was discovered.”

“This is a different example, but the monster called Swarm is said to move as one because the insects that make up its body are mentally connected. We should consider the possibility that these tentacles are connected as well.”

“All of that is within my expectations. Nothing is certain about the brain-parasitic tentacles. I have another request for the Research Knightage.”

“What is it?”

“Please create a portable magic tool that can use Scan Body magic.”

Peergas stared blankly at the sky before nodding.

“It won’t be easy, but it’s something that must be done. We’ll focus all our efforts on it.”

“Thank you.”

Jegal summoned Giliosa, the head of the Intelligence Knightage.

“Giliosa-nim. The Intelligence Knightage will accompany me to Tuwood City. We’ll begin our investigation in Tuwood City, where the first infection was discovered.”

“Understood.”

Jegal and the Intelligence Knightage arrived in Tuwood City.

Marquis Collin, the mayor of Tuwood, assured Jegal that he would provide all possible support for this matter.

Marquis Collin allowed Jegal and the Intelligence Knightage to stay at his mansion.

Marquis Collin had his personal priest perform a Scan Body on everyone in the mansion, and upon confirming that two maids were infected, he tortured them to death.

Jegal asked.

“Did you discover any information?”

“I didn’t find anything. They seemed like genuinely wronged people.”

“Both of them?”

“Yes.”

In reality, taking the events at the church in Bradon Village as a lesson, Kyle had instructed them to enter a state of hibernation the moment they were captured by the brain-parasitic tentacles and to release the host’s ego, so no information could be discovered.

Jegal said.

“The data is still insufficient, but torture is meaningless. The tentacles may not feel pain. We’re not safe yet. Three infected individuals have already been discovered in Tuwood City alone. There may be a source of infection in Tuwood City.”

“Hoo… I’m really worried too. I’m just glad my son is safe. I’ve closed all the gates of this mansion except for the main gate. My personal priest is currently checking everyone who passes through the main gate with a Scan Body.”

“You’ve done well. Could you provide me with the family information of the infected individuals?”

“Of course. I’ve had their addresses, families, and travel routes for the past month investigated. I’ll have my butler bring it to you.”

“Thank you.”

Jegal examined the travel routes of the infected individuals.

Most of them had stayed only in Tuwood, but he discovered that the first infected individual had visited Bradon Village as a tourist.

The other two had not gone to Bradon Village, so there was still insufficient information.

What was more concerning was that there was no point of contact between the first infected individual and these two.

In other words, there was an intermediate carrier.

Jegal assigned the Intelligence Knightage the task of tailing the families of the three infected individuals.

They were tailed for several days, but there was nothing that distinguished them from ordinary people.

If they went and performed a Scan Body on each of them, they would have to explain the reason, and other tentacles might notice, so Jegal issued a final order.

“Giliosa-nim. Please kidnap them all secretly.”

Since they were commoners anyway, there wouldn’t be any major problems.

With Marquis Collin’s consent, the Intelligence Knightage members kidnapped the families of the infected individuals at night and brought them to the mansion’s underground prison.

The kidnapped individuals wailed in the prison, claiming their innocence.

Marquis Collin’s priests performed a Scan Body on each of them and revealed a horrifying truth.

“They’re all infected.”

Marquis Collin sighed.

“Damn it! This can’t be…”

Jegal said with an uneasy expression.

“They’re infecting those around them. It’s more dangerous than I thought.”

“We must kill them all.”

“We can’t kill them. They’re important sources of information. May I torture one of them first?”

“I was too agitated. Do as you see fit.”

Jegal and Giliosa personally tortured them, but all they saw were people wailing about their innocence before dying.

Giliosa opened her mouth.

“If they’re enduring it, then they’re the first to withstand my torture.”

Jegal replied.

“Torture is ineffective after all. Either the tentacles are truly symbiotic, or they’re smarter than we thought.”

Jegal consulted with Marquis Collin and decided to hold an event where they would provide free Scan Bodies to the city’s residents to diagnose their health.

The real reason, however, was to obtain information about the infected individuals.

The next day, the priests hired by Marquis Collin visited people from various social classes at random and diagnosed their health with Scan Bodies.

From the test results, they discovered that families were always infected together and that various social classes were infected.

That evening, Jegal, Marquis Collin, and the Intelligence Knightage were investigating the distribution of infected individuals in the Marquis’s office.

Several Knightage members marked the locations where infected individuals were found on a large map of Tuwood City with dots.

By marking them with dots, they could understand the distribution of infections, and the areas where the dots were concentrated could be the key transmitters.

Another Knightage member divided the continental map into districts and reported on the investigation of the infected individuals’ travel routes for the past month, marking dots if an infected individual had visited a district.

The districts with many dots could be the source of the infection.

Jegal and Marquis Collin sat and read reports or looked at the map.

As the investigation progressed, Jegal discovered something peculiar.

When he marked the travel routes for the past month on the map, most of them were confined within the Gail Kingdom, but the only place outside the Gail Kingdom where a particularly large number of dots were marked was Bradon Village.

Jegal said to Marquis Collin.

“I believe Bradon Village is the source of the infection.”

Marquis Collin also looked at the map and nodded.

“I’ll look into information about Bradon Village.”

Jegal looked at Giliosa and instructed.

“Intelligence Knightage, tomorrow I want you to find out all the information about Bradon Village from when it was first established until now. Also, any dungeons around the village.”

“Understood.”

Giliosa said briefly, as was her personality.

However, Jegal didn’t pay much attention to it because he knew that Giliosa was old and handled her work reliably.

The next day, the Marquis’s people and the Intelligence Knightage were gathering information outside when they discovered something strange.

As they walked around the streets, there were fewer people walking around than yesterday, so the streets felt strangely empty.

When this information reached Jegal, Jegal stood up from his chair and shouted urgently.

“Damn it! Intelligence Knightage, visit the residences of the infected individuals who participated in yesterday’s investigation and confirm whether they are still there!”

Jegal quickly went to Marquis Collin and said.

“Marquis Collin! We must find those who left the city last night! The streets feel empty, it seems the infected individuals have escaped!”

Marquis Collin was surprised and led his soldiers along with Jegal to the main gate of Tuwood City and asked the guards there.

“Bring the records of those who passed through here yesterday!”

The guard replied.

“Marquis Collin-nim. I just arrived, and there was no one to hand over the shift. Looking at the records, they’ve been empty since 8 PM last night. And three of my colleagues didn’t come to work.”

Jegal said to Marquis Collin with a flustered expression.

“Damn it! We’ve been outsmarted by the tentacles. The tentacles were controlling humans! And they’re moving in groups!”

Marquis Collin shouted urgently.

“What should I do!”

“Send informants right now to secretly tail the tentacles!”

“Shouldn’t we kill them all!”

“The place they’re going to will be the tentacles’ base! We must catch up to them quickly.”

Marquis Collin calmed down and said.

“Alright. I’ll send my personal informants right away. What are you going to do?”

“I must return to Argilla City. These tentacles are smarter than I thought. Before more tentacles gather, we must immediately make this public, find the infected individuals, and kill them all!”

“I will find and kill the remaining infected individuals in Tuwood City!”

Jegal gathered the Intelligence Knightage and immediately left for Argilla City.

Jegal listened to the information that the Intelligence Knightage had gathered about Bradon Village.

He also heard that Bradon Village had self-isolated due to an epidemic a few months ago.

Jegal said in an angry voice.

“If there’s an epidemic in the village, people should immediately run outside to survive or ask for help from the outside, but the fact that they’re self-isolating doesn’t make sense. The tentacles have completely conquered the village. How could we only discover this now…”

As soon as Jegal and the Intelligence Knightage arrived in the kingdom, they informed the key figures of the royal palace of the terrible fact that the tentacles were moving in groups and controlling humans, and that Bradon Village was expected to be occupied by the tentacles.

The existence of the tentacles could no longer be hidden.

King Bashir gathered the troops of Argilla City in one place and, with the support of the church priests, tested them one by one with Scan Bodies.

However, the absurd thing happened that no one was infected.

The king was dumbfounded and pressed the priest.

“Are you sure you examined them properly!”

Jegal shouted urgently.

“The infected individuals have escaped! We must check if there are any missing soldiers!”

Upon checking, it was confirmed that several soldiers and their families had indeed disappeared.

Jegal said to King Bashir with an urgent expression.

“We must immediately send messengers to all mayors and lords to use priests to find and kill the infected individuals!”

“What about those who escaped!”

“The infected individuals who escaped from Tuwood City are being tailed by Marquis Collin’s people to find out the tentacles’ base. The remaining infected individuals must be killed by sending troops!”

Afterward, Jegal investigated those who had disappeared from the city with the Intelligence Knightage.

Jegal discovered another peculiar point while investigating the time when the infected individuals left the city.

“Even though I and the Intelligence Knightage returned to the capital as quickly as possible, they had already left before that. The tentacles can communicate with each other!”

King Bashir sent orders to the mayors and lords to eliminate the tentacles.

North Gail had well-maintained roads, so the king’s orders were quickly delivered to each city in North Gail.

South Gail had to cross the Loire River, and the roads were dilapidated, so the messengers were late in arriving.

Furthermore, King Bashir gave the Vanguard Knights the task of leading troops to capture and execute the infected individuals.

The cities of North Gail confirmed that a large number of city residents had disappeared and began sending troops to chase after those who had escaped.

An unexpected bloodbath swept through North Gail.

The escaped infected individuals did not move in groups but spread out in family units, making it difficult to distinguish them from ordinary people.

The Gail Kingdom army captured and killed a large number of infected individuals by having priests examine anyone they saw.

The Gail Kingdom army split the skulls of the infected individuals in the squares of each city in front of everyone and took out the tentacles.

They promoted the information revealed about the brain-parasitic tentacles to the people in each city.

Everyone in North Gail knew about the existence of the brain-parasitic tentacles and shuddered at this terrible fact.

All cities closed all gates except for the main gate.

Priests were stationed at the city’s main gate to check for infection, and priests and soldiers patrolled throughout the city, conducting random inspections.

The king declared martial law and war against the tentacles.

Several priests and Hamel Empire informants left the Gail Kingdom to inform the Holy Kingdom and the Hamel Empire of this information, but they were all killed by Sahagins while crossing the Mermaid Sea by ship from Birkenhead Harbor.

The reason why the infected individuals quickly disappeared from each city was that Edgar had placed Tentacle Heroes in each major city.

Upon seeing the Scan Bodies being performed on people under the guise of health checkups in Tuwood City, the Tentacle Hero contacted the Tentacle Heroes in other cities through the Tentacle Mental Network, informing them that the existence of the tentacles had been revealed.

Jekson of Bradon Territory and Giant Ent General Muhja also received the message.

The Tentacle Heroes in each city ordered the infected individuals not to gather together but to flee on their own to Bohark Forest or Minji Baron Territory, which is why the current situation occurred.

The Tentacle Heroes were not captured by the human army due to their excellent physical abilities and intuition, but many infected individuals were captured and killed while escaping.

Edgar of Minji Territory in the south was too far away to receive the communication, but he will learn this fact when the escaped Tentacle Heroes and infected individuals arrive.

And Kyle, who was eating and resting in the Sahagin Kingdom, felt the tentacle massacre taking place in North Gail through the Tentacle Mental Network and set off on a journey to Minji Baron Territory.