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chapter 19
It was quite a shocking thing to hear.
‘So they just froze people alive?’
It wasn’t something that had ever appeared in the novel.
Of course it hadn’t. The story had been too busy praising the dazzling growth and impressive abilities of the main characters. There was no reason to reveal a dark flaw in the setting like this.
‘This place doesn’t even have a quarantine facility… Of course it doesn’t.’
Even in the modern world where I used to live, quarantine centers had only recently started increasing because of human rights issues.
Before that, people exposed to demonic energy were exiled to abandoned cities before they completely lost their sanity.
They weren’t Awakened, but ordinary people corrupted by demonic energy were still just as dangerous.
‘No wonder Eston resents Edith…’
Given what she had heard about the young lady, it wasn’t strange that she assumed Ruelin wouldn’t come to purify anyone.
And that assumption had eventually become reality.
Once the initial shock faded, only a bitter reality remained.
Maybe the villagers thought it was pure luck that Ethan had used his ability on them.
They had nowhere to isolate the infected. And they probably didn’t want to kill their own family and neighbors with their own hands once they started rampaging like zombies.
“My little brother is in the middle over there,” Eston said in a low voice.
“He’s tied to a stake, so I don’t think I can bring him here separately. I’m sorry.”
“You’ve been coming here alone every time?”
“……”
She avoided my eyes instead of answering.
That was enough to tell me the answer was yes. I frowned deeply.
‘They could’ve isolated him somewhere else. Why here?’
It must have been the villagers.
Her brother was the only one who hadn’t been frozen, and they must have been jealous of her healing ability. This was probably their petty way of taking out their resentment.
— Bad people. Bastards… When they needed me to save their families, they were kneeling and begging…
— My little brother just bit someone a little, and they reported him right away! He’s not even an animal! How could they treat such a young child like that…!
Now I finally understood why Eston had said those things while losing control yesterday.
“Let’s go.”
“Y-You’re going there yourself?”
“What other choice do we have?”
I walked ahead calmly, and she hurried after me in panic.
“It could be dangerous! And it’s not… a pleasant sight.”
“They’re all trapped inside ice anyway, aren’t they?”
“Well, some of the ice has melted a bit. And it smells awful…”
She kept trying to warn me, but she couldn’t bring herself to actually stop me.
She probably felt guilty about bringing a noble lady to such a dreadful place when I was already going to purify her brother.
It was a useless concern.
For the cure-1 experiments, I dealt with corrupted people and corpses every single day.
‘Though I’ve never seen people frozen alive before…’
It might even be a little interesting.
Before long, we arrived.
Seeing it up close, I understood why Eston had tried to scare me earlier.
“Grrr… grrk!”
“Kyaaahaha! Kyaak! Kyaak!”
“Ugh… fooood… foooood!”
Some of the corrupted had partially melted out of the ice, their shoulders exposed.
Their lower bodies were still trapped in ice, but black blood streamed from their eyes, noses, and mouths as they shook their heads wildly. It was grotesque and horrifying.
“B-Be careful!”
Some had their arms or legs melted free instead of their faces.
Flap, flap!
I dodged a hand wildly grabbing at the air and grimaced.
“It’s still cold. Why have they already melted this much?”
“I don’t know. Maybe because it’s been sunny these past few days…”
Ethan’s ability, which had frozen all these people at once, was impressive.
But it was only a temporary solution.
If the temperature rose even a little, it would only be a matter of time before they all melted.
“Why don’t you tell your employer?”
“It doesn’t seem that serious yet… Do we really need to?”
Her face was surprisingly indifferent as she said that.
‘She never intended to tell Ethan in the first place.’
Whether the fully melted corrupted attacked the village or not, it didn’t seem to matter to her.
I didn’t say anything more and quietly followed her.
As she had said, her younger brother was right in the middle of those terrifying ice blocks.
“Theo, I’m here.”
“……”
“Nothing happened, right?”
The skinny boy, who looked about eight or nine, stared blankly into space without any focus.
He was sitting there without any safety measures, completely unprotected. It looked extremely dangerous.
Still, compared to the corrupted I had just seen, he was in very good condition.
He wasn’t bleeding black blood. His body wasn’t rotting. He wasn’t screaming or lunging at anyone.
If not for his pitch-black, unnaturally dilated pupils, I might have believed he was just an ordinary child.
‘She must have poured an incredible amount of healing power into him to slow the corruption this much.’
That was probably why she had lost control.
The problem wasn’t his condition.
It was the shackles locked around his ankles.
“Forget purification for a moment. How are you planning to take him out?”
When I pointed at them and asked, Eston searched through her clothes and pulled something out.
“I’m sorry.”
“…!”
It was a key.
It felt like I’d been hit hard on the back of the head.
I glared at her sharply.
“You said you couldn’t bring him out.”
“…I thought if you saw him yourself, you might be more willing to purify him.”
“Do I still look like someone who gets swayed by that kind of sentiment?”
She lowered her head and muttered another apology.
She must have suffered so much at the hands of the villagers that she was afraid I might change my mind.
I could understand it.
But I was still annoyed.
‘Well, I didn’t sign any oath. I only gave my word. It’s not strange for her to doubt me.’
Just like I didn’t fully trust her, it was only natural that she didn’t fully trust me.
“…Just in case, hold his arms. Don’t let him move.”
As I crouched in front of Theo, Eston’s eyes widened.
“You’re… not angry?”
“Are you joking? We’ve already come this far. There’s no time to be angry. Just cooperate.”
“Y-Yes!”
She hurriedly grabbed her brother’s arms.
I reached out and placed my hand on Theo’s head.
Then I focused and murmured softly.
“…Purify.”
Whoooosh—!
Just like yesterday, my palm grew hot, and a bright green light with a refreshing scent burst out.
It was fascinating to see, even the second time.
‘When I used purification in the modern world, there was no light like this…’
Of course, the very idea of purifying the corrupted would have been unimaginable there.
Of all the terrible things about being transmigrated, I ended up gaining the ability I had longed for.
What an irony.
Fortunately, purifying Theo was much easier than stopping Eston’s rampage yesterday.
Not long after I began, his pitch-black pupils gradually returned to their original color.
They were the same brown as Eston’s.
As soon as I confirmed it, I removed my hand.
Thud.
The boy collapsed to the side like a puppet with its strings cut.
“T-Theo!”
“You fainted the same way yesterday. When he wakes up, he’ll be fine.”
“Ah…”
At my calm explanation, the color slowly returned to Eston’s pale face.
It was absurd that she could distrust me yet believe my words so easily.
She hugged her brother and bowed her head repeatedly.
“Th-Thank you, my lady! Thank you so much!”
“…Enough. Unlock that so we can leave.”
Wiping her tears, she unlocked the shackles with trembling hands.
Hooooo…
At the same time, the green light leaking from my palm finally faded.
‘Do I need separate training to control this?’
I looked down at my hand, now back to normal, and stood up.
“…Ah.”
Suddenly, my vision spun, and dizziness washed over me.
“A-Are you alright?”
Eston asked in alarm.
I pressed my fingers against my forehead and nodded.
“I’m fine.”
I wasn’t.
The dizziness faded quickly, but my body felt heavy, as if it had been filled with water.
Using my ability two days in a row must have taken a toll.
“Let’s hurry, Miss Nancy!”
Eston, now carrying her brother on her back, urged me on.
As I followed her through the forest of ice blocks, I made it clear:
“As you can see, I’m not some great ability user like Ruelin. Your brother is my limit.”
“It’s fine. They’re not my family anyway.”
I thought she might feel guilty about not saving the others.
But instead, she answered coldly enough to make my affection for her drop to zero.
I let out a hollow laugh.
“Ha! Then why were you talking about people throwing stones at me earlier?”
“I-I apologized for that.”
“You were lecturing me about how the remaining people might leave… You’re not exactly soft yourself, you know?”
“…Maybe I’m just not the type to be swayed by sentiment either, like you.”
“You sure love having the last word.”
“……”
We bickered like that as we finally stepped out of the eerie ice graveyard.
“W-Wait!”
Someone suddenly jumped out and blocked our path.
“Y-You’re a purifier, right? Why… why are you leaving? What about the others?”
