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Chapter 10
Good thing I injected the antidote into the magic bullet beforehand.
Having fulfilled its purpose, the disposable magic bullet gun let out a hiss of smoke before meeting its glorious end.
I casually tossed it aside and walked over to the fallen expedition captain.
Just as expected, the berserk antidote had taken effect quickly. His abnormally enlarged body was already shrinking back to its original size. Even his ragged breathing was beginning to calm.
His forehead… Hmm, I’m sorry. That wasn’t intentional.
I applied some ointment—just in case—to the bright red lump on the expedition captain’s forehead where the nonlethal magic bullet had struck him.
Hopefully the bump disappears before he wakes up.
There aren’t any more killing intents or signs of life nearby. The total number of villagers and expedition members from the report matches the number of berserk people we subdued.
Everything seemed to be over, but just to make sure, I turned to the holy knight whose senses were especially sharp.
“Hey, Gabriel.”
“…Huh?”
“Check the area. See if you can sense any more killing intent or signs of life. With your memory, you should be able to compare everyone’s faces against the villagers and expedition members from Morphe Village and confirm their identities, right?”
“I-I can. I can do it.”
For some reason, Gabriel looked completely dazed.
“…Hey. What’s wrong with you?”
“W-What do you mean?”
“You’ve been stuttering ever since earlier. Doesn’t suit you at all…”
Don’t tell me this guy got scratched by one of the berserk zombies, even just a little?
Prepared to knock him unconscious on the spot if he had been infected, I carefully examined his head and body from up close.
There was nothing wrong.
What a shame.
It would’ve been the perfect excuse to give that annoying guy a solid punch under the pretense of treating him.
I patted Gabriel on the shoulder.
“If you’re fine, then why are you acting like a broken doll?”
“…W-When did I ever!”
His face had gone from deathly pale to completely red.
Apparently, being saved by someone he had looked down on was so embarrassing that he couldn’t even bring himself to say thank you.
“Whatever. Do you think the people we knocked out are going to get back up and start fighting again?”
“…No. The murderous aura I sensed from them earlier has disappeared. They’re just ordinary people now. There’s nothing wrong.”
“Good. Since you’re perfectly fine, let’s clean up everyone who’s unconscious.”
We couldn’t exactly leave the people whose berserk state had been cured lying on the ground.
As I gestured toward them, Gabriel unexpectedly obeyed without complaint.
“…Understood. I’ll cooperate.”
Thomas and Perry also raised their hands high and looked at me.
“W-We’ll help too!”
“If it’s physical labor, we’re confident! We’ll do whatever Beatrice says!”
…Why did it suddenly feel like everyone thought I was the leader of this group?
Did I overdo it?
Feeling guilty a little too late, I hurried over to Chiara and linked arms with her, determined to hand all the credit over as originally planned.
“Oh, come on. Saying you’ll follow my lead? This was only possible thanks to Senior Chiara, who had the foresight and wisdom to give me instructions in advance.”
“M-Me?”
As Chiara stared blankly, I gave her a quick wink.
“Oh my, Senior, you’re so humble! You’re trying to share the credit with me, aren’t you? It’s okay, really! There’s no need! You were the one who read the report and suspected it wasn’t a disease but something else, so you prepared the antidote in advance.”
Senior. Just like we agreed. Okay?
I silently mouthed the words, and Chiara nodded in understanding.
“Y-Yeah. That’s right. I made sure to tell Beatrice to prepare it.”
“As expected of you, Senior! You’re amazing! So cool!”
Naturally helping support one of the unconscious people, I asked her,
“So, can we move everyone back into the village now?”
“…Yes. Let’s do that. We need to find out what happened, and now that the plague has been cured, we can’t just leave these people here.”
“Sounds good! Let’s get this over with!”
“Wait…”
Gabriel seemed about to say something behind me, but I pretended not to hear him.
Phew. Looks like my future of getting fired has officially been avoided.
Still…
How did berserkification appear in humans?
As far as I knew, this phenomenon had only ever been observed in ancient magical beasts that had long gone extinct.
Berserkification.
A horrifying condition in which one could no longer distinguish friend from foe and slaughtered every living thing in sight.
Not every magical beast possessed it.
It was a desperate trump card used only when they were on the verge of death and forced to fight with every ounce of strength they had left.
Then why?
How… and for what reason… could humans become infected with and spread a condition that should only affect magical beasts?
This had never appeared in the original novel.
A much more thorough investigation would be necessary.
There’s something else… some hidden truth that even the original story never revealed.
At the time, I didn’t realize it.
I was so focused on the unconscious people and the cause of the berserkification that I failed to notice all three of my seniors watching me with strange expressions.
Nor did I realize that my attempt to shift all the credit away from myself had completely failed and was, in fact, having the exact opposite effect.
When the morning sun rose, all of the collapsed villagers and expedition members regained consciousness.
“W-What happened?”
“I was farming… Then all of a sudden I got dizzy… and after that, I don’t remember anything…”
“M-My son… Are you alright? I think… I tried to attack you…”
None of them remembered anything after entering their berserk state.
They couldn’t answer any of the questions we asked.
“Has anyone suspicious approached the village recently?”
“No… No one. This village has always been isolated, and there aren’t any tourist attractions, so outsiders rarely ever come here.”
The expedition members were no different.
“I remember coming here to investigate the village… Since nobody was around, we continued searching until nightfall. Then we were attacked and lost consciousness. When we woke up, you were already here.”
Not a single useful clue.
If it had been an outsider’s doing, we could’ve tracked them down.
As things stood, this was only half a success.
“…Understood. However, we still need to determine who caused this incident—or whether it was a naturally occurring plague. I’d like everyone to accompany us to the capital for examination.”
“…They’re not going to experiment on us there… are they?”
When a young child nervously asked, Gabriel gently reassured him.
“It’s alright. It’s simply a procedure to confirm whether any abnormalities remain. I promise you in the name of the Holy Temple.”
The handsome young holy knight smiled with such sincerity that it was impossible not to trust him.
Almost everyone nodded unconsciously.
Holy knights really are useful in moments like this.
“Let’s head back. Time to collect triple performance bonuses from Manager Yuze.”
Only then did the tension leave my seniors’ faces, and they burst into laughter.
Less than a day after resolving the Grade 1 Hazard Morphe Village plague incident…
Chiara, Thomas, and Perry of Civil Complaints Team 1 in the Proposal Department began looking at their new junior, Beatrice, very differently.
At first, I thought some lunatic had joined us as a junior…
The terrifying House Agorta.
The cradle of black magic.
A family that had produced countless villains.
Just hearing that someone came from such a place had been enough to make them instinctively avoid getting close to her.
Embarrassingly enough… that was all prejudice and preconceived notions.
Beatrice was a good person.
So good that it made all their fears about her causing trouble simply because she was from House Agorta seem ridiculous.
If anything, perhaps because she was from House Agorta, she always seemed to be trying to keep her head down and avoid standing out.
That impression had only grown stronger after hearing rumors from the maids working in the Imperial Magic Department.
“The new Court Mage… was her name Evelyn Agorta?”
“That’s right. She’s the daughter who was recently adopted into House Agorta.”
“That’s strange. Didn’t House Agorta already have a biological daughter? I can’t quite remember her name.”
“Shh! Watch your mouth. I heard the new heir absolutely hates hearing about the former heir who was cast out.”
“What? Seriously?”
“The court mages are already whispering that the former heir who was expelled won’t be alive much longer. Well… House Agorta is infamous for making sure that once they throw something away, no one else can ever have it.”
Cast out.
Desperately struggling just to stay alive.
That was the hidden story behind Beatrice’s ever-cheerful smile.
And I had no idea…
Chiara couldn’t help feeling sorry for Beatrice.
At the same time, she deeply admired how Beatrice had willingly tried to hand over all the credit to her seniors despite earning it herself.
Not everyone with Agorta blood is evil.
“I’d appreciate it if you reported that I was just dead weight during this mission.”
Beatrice had made that request…
But there was no way they could do that.
Chiara told Thomas and Perry everything.
“I knew it.”
“I thought so. Riche really is a good person.”
The two of them agreed that Beatrice’s accomplishments should never be hidden.
“Let’s keep it a secret from Riche and tell Manager Yuze everything exactly as it happened.”
