Chapter 44

I ended up staying awake the entire night.

“Did you sleep well, Dion?”

“No.”

“Neither did I.”

As soon as I stepped out of the room and saw Dion, I asked him. He shook his head decisively. I had spent the night trembling in fear, worried that the village chief might barge into my room. The contents of Adrian’s journal were so chilling that sleep was impossible.

Seeing my sluggish state, Dion clicked his tongue and handed me a restorative.

“Thank you.”

“Shall we head back now?”

“No.”

I downed the restorative in one gulp and shook my head. The sound of the village chief climbing the stairs reached us. I prayed that the “disease prevention method” he mentioned wasn’t cannibalism. Even if this was an R-19 game, there should be limits. I bought this game for the steamy content, not horror. I absolutely detest horror!

When the chief finally reached the top of the stairs, I smiled and greeted him.

“You’re here.”

“Yes, I’ll now guide you around the village…”

“Before the village tour, could you tell me what the prevention method you mentioned yesterday is?”

“Pardon?”

The chief had mentioned a traditional prevention method passed down in the village while guiding us here. I decided to use this as a starting point. Since he had brought it up himself, he wouldn’t have an excuse to refuse.

“We need to understand how the prevention works.”

Thinking it might be the cause, I refrained from elaborating and simply looked at him. He hesitated for a moment but then agreed, surprisingly readily, and began to lead us.

“It’s nothing special. There’s a herb that grows only in our village, and we consume it.”

“That’s…”

Dion frowned, looking at the chief. Did he know something? When Dion trailed off, the chief quickly added, “You must be aware of it since you’re from the palace. Yes, it’s that herb.”

“…What is it?”

“It’s the one used in the restorative you just drank.”

Leaning toward Dion, I asked in a small voice, “The one I just drank?”

“Yes.”

When I repeated the question with a hint of dread, Dion replied in the same uneasy tone. It seemed the relationships between characters in this game were deeply interconnected. I still had no clue about the dynamics of the imperial characters…

So, the restorative for the Crown Prince’s illness requires this herb, which is cultivated in Adrian’s childhood village, and now it’s being grown in Adrian’s herb chamber. Is that correct?

I reviewed the information I’d gathered and nodded.

“We used to sustain ourselves by selling the herb, but after the palace began taking it, we didn’t need to sell it anymore. They also ordered us not to sell it outside…”

“The herb was supposed to be entirely destroyed. Wasn’t it agreed that the village’s maintenance costs would be provided in exchange for that?”

“Ah, well… We thought the palace might ask for it again, so…”

The chief faltered and stopped walking under Dion’s interrogation. It seemed the village had been defying orders and continuing to cultivate the herb. Realizing his slip-up, the chief stammered out excuses.

“T-The herb grows exclusively here, so we thought…”

“Just take us there.”

“Saintess.”

“We need to see it for ourselves first.”

Cutting off his excuses, I stepped forward. Dion called out to me, seemingly wanting to return to the palace to report the situation immediately. The chief, sweating profusely, quickened his pace.

The place we arrived at was a building with an arched entrance. The entrance was firmly sealed with a stone wall. When the chief struck a flint near the doorway, a fire lit up, and the stone wall began to move automatically.

“Wow.”

“This is how we open the door from the outside. It can’t be opened from the inside, though.”

Impressed by the automatically opening door, I watched as the chief, with a hint of pride, glanced nervously at Dion while explaining. He packed away the flint and led us inside.

“How does one open it from the inside, then?” I asked as we followed him in.

The chief replied only after we had fully entered, “If you light a fire inside, it causes an explosion. You’d have to wait for someone outside to open it.”

“An explosion?”

“Yes, even a tiny spark is dangerous, so be cautious.”

Horrified, I stared at the chief, who nodded with a pretense of benevolence. So, there’s no way out from the inside.

Inside, rows of herbs and irrigation channels were neatly arranged, with a massive stone at the center. The building’s walls were entirely covered in thorny vines.

It felt oddly familiar. Where had I seen this before?

As the metallic smell tickled my nose, I frowned in thought. Approaching the large stone, the stench intensified. The moment my fingers brushed the reddish surface of the stone, I remembered where I’d seen this form.

This is a sacrificial altar.

“Dion, this…”

I hate horror! My lips trembled as I clung to Dion’s sleeve. Sensing my fear, Dion scowled and stepped closer to me. He turned to check where the chief was.

“What?”

The chief was gone. He was outside, striking the flint again.

“What the…!”

Dion grabbed me by the waist and bolted toward the entrance, but the stone door shut faster than he could reach it. The last thing we saw was the chief’s grin before the door closed completely.

“What… What just happened…”

Clinging to Dion, I mumbled in disbelief. The herb chamber, now dimly lit, felt stiflingly dark.

“Saintess.”

“W-What is it?”

“Please let go.”

“N-No! I’m scared!”

“I can’t move if you cling to me like this!”

“Why are you yelling at me! I’m already scared—Ahhh!”

As I clung to Dion’s waist, I screamed at the sight of glowing eyes in a dark corner. Didn’t I say I hate horror! Let me out of here! I want to log out!

My desperation to log out grew stronger. Trembling, I held onto Dion tightly. With a resigned sigh, he wrapped his arms around my head.

“All right, calm down. Look, it’s just a child.”

“A child?”

“Look closely.”

Following Dion’s words, I lifted my head. Narrowing my eyes and focusing on the corner again, I began to make out a small figure. Just as Dion had said, it was a child. The child, clutching a cat tightly in her arms, blinked innocently. The glowing eyes belonged to the cat.

“Why is there a child here…”

“Who are you?”

Without hesitation, Dion questioned the child. His calm demeanor began to settle my nerves.

Right, with Dion here, nothing bad will happen.

Summoning my courage, I approached the child. Perhaps intimidated by Dion’s commanding presence, the child hugged the cat tightly and stayed silent. I knelt to meet the child’s gaze.

“Who are you? Why are you here?”

“I’m…”

“Go ahead, take your time.”

The child blinked innocently and answered haltingly. Encouraged by my gentle tone, the child began to speak more freely. I listened attentively, nodding as I heard her story.

“I’m the caretaker here… I grow the herbs….”

“Oh, really? How do you grow the herbs?”

“It’s simple… On that stone over there… with just blood…”

“Dion!”

I couldn’t listen to the end of the sentence. I ran toward Dion and wrapped my arms around his waist. Dion let out a sigh and allowed me to cling to him.

“This is absolutely absurd.”

“B-blood! They’re using blood!”

They’re doing something terrifying with blood on that stone! Even though I didn’t hear the full explanation, it was horrifying enough!

“Stay here.”

“No way!”

“Then what do you want me to do? I need to investigate.”

“Let’s go together. Don’t leave my side, not even for a moment!”

Dion opened his mouth, seemingly about to protest, but my stubbornness left him at a loss for words. I didn’t want to face a dead end like this! I would have preferred to die by Ardal’s hands instead!

Gripped by sheer terror, I clung to Dion, not with any sexual intent but purely out of fear. Seeing how determined I was, Dion sighed, peeled me off slightly, and took my hand in his.

“Fine, let’s go.”

“Don’t let go of my hand.”

“I won’t, so come on.”

The child remained where she had been. Clinging to Dion’s hand like it was a lifeline, I forced my trembling legs to move forward.

<You have discovered the Herb Chamber’s caretaker!>

“Ahhh!”

“…What now?”

I jumped in surprise at the system window floating in midair all of a sudden. For a moment, I almost cursed out loud. Why is this popping up now of all times?!

Dion looked at me with a mix of disbelief and pity as I shook my head and closed the system window.

<You can obtain clues about the plague!>

No sooner had I closed the window than another one appeared. This time, I didn’t scream but instead tightened my grip on Dion’s hand. He sighed and held my hand firmly.

Seriously, is the system trying to scare me on purpose?

Suspicious of the system’s intentions, I stared at the window until it disappeared on its own.

<There is a fragment of Adrian’s journal nearby!>

That seems right.

I blinked, and the system window suddenly appeared so close that it filled my entire field of vision. Dumbfounded, I let out an incredulous sigh.

Wow, this is ridiculous.

***

Though I was scared, the child wasn’t as dangerous as I’d initially thought. Introducing herself as Hella, the child explained that she knew nothing about the village. She lived alone in the herb chamber, tasked with feeding the herbs with the blood of animals brought in from outside. Once her work was done, the villagers would reward Hella with food and occasionally allow her a brief glimpse of the outside world.

The cultivation method for the herbs involved feeding them animal blood. Remembering the restorative I had drunk that morning, I gagged and asked Hella, “Hella, have you seen any papers around here?”

“Something like this…?”

<You have obtained ‘Adrian’s Journal Fragment’!>

• Progress (2/3)
• Your understanding of Adrian has increased.

<Collected Plague Clue (2/3)!>

To my embarrassment, Hella kindly handed over exactly what I was looking for.

“Did you read it?”

“No… I can’t read…”

Hella whispered softly, clearly feeling a bit embarrassed.

“If you have time to ask pointless questions, I’m getting up.”

“No! Don’t you dare move. If you try, I’ll cling to you and never let go.”

“How much closer could you even get?”

Dion’s voice came from behind me.

While questioning Hella, I had been sitting in Dion’s lap the entire time. To be precise, I had forced him to sit and claimed his knees for myself.

Though Hella wasn’t frightening, I couldn’t bear the terror of being in this herb chamber!

When I first sat down, Dion had been stiff as a board, but now he seemed irritated, twisting his body to shake me off.

Ignoring his annoyance, I clung to him and unfolded the paper. Wrapping my arms tightly around him, I rested my chin on his shoulder and began reading the writing on the paper.