Chapter 152: Chapter 152 - Desperate Pleading

Thundering hooves raced against the dirt road as the carriage tore through the quiet outskirts of the village.

Isabel, who was gripping the reins like her life depended on it, looked like a woman possessed by utter grief. Her hair was slightly messy, and her face was a mask of sheer, unadulterated distress. Tears and all.

Villagers tending to their gardens or mending fences stopped and stared at the commotion, the peaceful afternoon shattered by the huffing of horses. The carriage swerved into the central square, dust billowing in a cloud as Isabel hauled on the reins, bringing the horses to a desperate stop.

Not waiting for the dust to settle, Isabel leaped from the driver’s seat onto the ground and began to scream.

"Help! Please, someone help us! Is there a healer?! Please!"

"... What’s going on?"

"... What in the blazes?"

The call for help acted like a magnet.

Within moments, a crowd began to form. Mothers clutching children, elderly men leaning on canes, and sturdy laborers in mud-stained clothes all gathered in a wide circle.

In the center stood the Village Elder, a short old man with a long, grey beard and eyes that looked soft yet seemed to hold a layer of something more beneath the facade of concern.

Isabel stumbled to the carriage door and flung it open. With a sob, she reached inside and dragged Kurt out. He looked like death. His skin was pale and clothes were torn with small cuts and dirt, his eye was half-lidded and glassy, and he leaned heavily on her shoulder while breathing in shallow, ragged hitches.

"... Oh, mercy."

"... Goddess above, what happened to him?"

"What has happened here, child?" the Elder asked.

"W-We were at the lake!" Isabel cried, the tears now fully streaming down her face. "A man... he came out of the woods! He looked like a corpse, his eyes were red and he was foaming at the mouth! He attacked us! He bit my Master!"

The crowd erupted in shocked whispers.

"What happened to this... ’man’?" the Elder asked as his eyes narrowed. "I also recall seeing another woman with you all when I pointed you toward the lake."

"M-My *sob* M-M-My Master managed to kill him. But the woman who was with us... s-she couldn’t get away in time. *Sniff* He tore her apart! My Master tried to save help but was too late! She’s gone! Please, the capital is too far, you have to help him!"

The mention of Ayako being killed sent a ripple of genuine horror through the villagers. The Elder stuttered for a moment, his composure slipping just a fraction. "Of course... of course we will help. Joren! Take the boy to the sick bed in the apothecary’s–"

"I’ll do it," a younger man interrupted, stepping out from the crowd. He was lean, with sharp features and a leather satchel slung over his shoulder.

The Elder’s jaw tightened as he looked slightly annoyed at the interruption, but Isabel didn’t give him a chance to protest. She lunged toward the younger man, grabbing his hand with a trembling grip.

"C-Can you heal him? Can you stop whatever is happening to my Master? Please tell me you can!"

The man looked at her tear-streaked face, a faint blush creeping onto his cheeks at her sudden touch, but he quickly composed himself. "Y-Yes, I can. Follow me, quickly."

He took Kurt’s other arm over his shoulder and hauled him toward a stone house at the edge of the square. Isabel followed closely, bowing her head as she let out a fresh wave of quiet sobs.

.....

High above, perched on the bell tower near the center and hiding in its shadows was Ayako. She watched the scene closely. Standing perfectly still as she gauged each and everyone’s reactions.

She watched as Kurt and Isabel disappeared into a house. Then, her eyes shifted back to the Village Elder. The moment the crowd began to disperse, his face transformed. The mask of concern vanished, replaced by a contorted, terrifying rage. He turned to a group of five villagers – three burly men and two sharp-eyed women.

"Go to the lake. Search every inch of the shore. If there are any ’remains’ of @gy%#...."

The rest became too quiet for Ayako to pick up on.

The five villagers nodded and sprinted toward the forest path.

’Hmm... Should I stay and watch the old man? No. Rossana-sama can handle the village. I may be able to find out more from those who have left.’

With a faint shimmer, she vanished as sakura petals scattered in the wind.

.....

Inside the stone house, the man led Kurt down a dimly lit basement where he set Kurt down on a wooden cot. He immediately moved to a cabinet, pulled out a white cloth mask and tied it over his face.

"Uhm, excuse me miss. Please stay back." the man said to Isabel. "There is another room inside the door behind you. Or, please wait upstairs. It wouldn’t be good if any residue got onto you too."

"B-But–!"

"Go, Isabel... I’ll be fine." Kurt said in a shaky voice.

Reluctantly, she stepped into the adjoining room. The man followed her to the door, closed it, and Kurt heard the distinct click of a key turning in the lock.

The man turned back to him with hardened eyes behind the mask. He reached into his satchel and pulled out a tray of glass vials filled with a murky, swirling blue substance, alongside a razor-sharp scalpel.

"Now, let’s see the damage..."

He knelt and rolled up Kurt’s cuff on his ankle. The wound was a mess of blackened blood and oozing pus, but as the healer cleaned away the surface grime, he paused. He peered closer at the purple veins.

"Strange, the necrotic spread has... stalled? It hasn’t reached the bone yet nor has it spread far. It should have taken your leg by now."

"That’s because I’m not a very good patient," Kurt said.

The weakness vanished from his voice instantly. Before the man could react, Kurt’s good leg lashed out, kicking him squarely in the jaw. The man flew backward and crashed into a table of empty vials and herbs.

Kurt was off the bed in a fraction of a second. He pinned the man to the floor with a knee to his chest. At the same moment, the door to the next room shattered. Isabel burst through the splintered wood, her "distress" now gone and replaced by a cold, lethal efficiency. She held a metal baton from her thigh, ready to crack a skull.

"What... What is this?! What’s going on with you two!?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing," Kurt leaned down and tightened his hand on the man’s throat. "What kind of messed-up zombie party are you people throwing down here?"

The man’s eyes went wide, but they weren’t filled with the mindless rage of the man at the lake. They were filled with genuine terror. "Wait! Please! I’m on your side!"

"Why should I trust a word out of your mouth?"

The man pointed a shaking finger at the tray on the floor. "The blue liquid! It’s the cure! I’ve been developing it in secret for months! I’m the only one in this village who isn’t... who isn’t a part of it!"

Isabel stepped forward and narrowed her eyes. "Master, don’t listen to him. It’s a trap. We should kill him and burn this whole place to the ground. It’s practically confirmed. They’re the ones turning people into monsters. We should nip the problem in the bud."

Kurt glanced at Isabel, a bit surprised by the sheer ruthlessness in her tone, but he didn’t disagree. "You’re right. Any evil left unpunished just grows bigger."

He then reached into his belt and pulled out his knife.

"No! I swear!" the man screamed as Kurt raised the blade. "The Elder... he’s been–! Please stop! I can explain if you give me a chance! I’m trying to stop it!"

Kurt brought the knife down with a violent arc straight to his face.

"HA–! AHHH!"

BAM!

The man flinched, screaming and squeezing his eyes shut. But the blade lodged into the floorboard’s mere inches from his ear.

"Why didn’t you kill him?" Isabel snapped, looking genuinely pissed off.

"Because dead men don’t talk, and they don’t give us the proper lead we need. Besides," Kurt reached down and grabbed the blue vial. "I want to see what’s in here first."

"What if it’s the opposite of a cure!? What if it makes the infection spread faster? He’s probably trying to turn you into one of them right now!"

"I’m telling the truth! It’s really a cure!" the man pleaded beneath Kurt’s knee.

Kurt looked at the blue liquid. "Only one way to find out. Well, technically two. I could pour this down your throat and see if you turn inside-out, but I’d rather not. That’d be a waste."

"Let me use it," Isabel said suddenly, reaching for the vial. "If it’s dangerous, it’s better it happens to me."

"Absolutely not. I’m not exactly on good terms with Yuna just yet. I can’t imagine what would happen if I let something happen to you. No, I’m the one already bitten. I’m the test subject."

Isabel looked like she wanted to scream and argue but the hierarchy of her training won out. She bit her lip and nodded. "Fine. But please... let me administer it. I have steadier hands."

"No. You watch him," Kurt nodded at the healer. "If he moves a muscle or tries to shout for anyone, kill him on the spot."

Isabel’s expression went cold as she looked at the frightened villager. "With pleasure."

Kurt picked up the discarded scalpel and sat back on the cot. He pressed the blade into the edge of the bite wound on his ankle and sliced upward, opening the blackened flesh to let the stagnant, dark blood flow out.

Holding his breath, he uncorked the vial and slowly tipped the vial, letting the blue liquid seep directly into the open, pulsing wound.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then, Kurt’s entire body jerked. He let out a strangled wince and slumped forward to hold his leg.

"Master Rossana!"