The Peerless Kobold - Chapter 77
After returning to the castle, Ernesta hurriedly went to the office assigned to her.
This is because she must come up with a plan against the bleeding disease and present it to the Head Magician Greio Elballard and King Alexius by evening.
“Ugh, I don’t want to waste my time eating lunch… Maybe I’ll just skip it.”
Deciding to skip lunch, she opened the door to her office and saw that a person had been waiting inside along with a large number of reading materials delivered from the Great Library.
“Thank you for coming, Mr. Vest.”
“It’s my pleasure, Lady Elballard. So, what can I help you with?”
In spite of his humble manner, the youthful gray-haired thoughtful-looking man called Christ Vest was one of the most prominent biologists in the Kingdom of Riastize.
Although he has taken on the old family name of Vest, he was originally a mere adventurer, and his wife, who inherited the peerage was left to take care of the household while he, along with his daughter who was in the same profession, conducted field studies on monsters and the like.
“Nobody but you and I are in this office, so as Muriel’s dad you don’t have to be so formal around me, Uncle Christ. Rather, I’m the one who should be grateful to you for coming all this way.”
“Very well, then I’ll be more casual with you.”
“Have you read the materials already?”
“Yes, I’ve skimmed some of them over and chose some books that I think would be useful to you.”
“Let’s split it up and read it then.”
……………
………
…
The first confirmed case of the bleeding disease was approximately 200 years ago, in Sedona, a city in the southern tip of the continent in the Kingdom of Zerba. During that time, the mysterious, white-masked person had not been around yet, and the source of infection was unknown. However, there are records scattered about that the first patient who had acquired the bleeding disease was an adventurer who became ill after being bitten by a green monkey, the Forest Ape, in the forest area.
Its symptoms were extreme lethargy and a high fever that would impair the infected person’s mobility. After three weeks, the patient would enter the last stage of the disease, dying due to bleeding in the oral and nasal cavities, the skin, and other body parts. Additionally, those who come into contact with the blood also become infected.
Not long after the first outbreak, the disease spread next from Sedona to the nearest city called Alve, where the first victims were the people of the Holy Church, and the mysterious, white-masked entity was spotted during the time when the disease scattered throughout the city.
Since then, similar incidents have occurred throughout various cities within the continent every 20 years, with the clergymen becoming the first victims every time while the eerie, white-masked entity was spotted whenever the black rain fell.
The information was spread throughout all branches of the Holy Church as they were always the first to be affected, and the mysterious entity was given the name Alvesta. And due to the magnitude of the damage made by the black rain, they were classified as one of the Seven Plagues, which were S-rank monsters considered to be huge threats to humanity…
Eventually, Christ, who had finished compiling the material, shared his thoughts on the matter.
“I would think that the first and second breakouts of the bleeding disease were separate events, but…”
“Yes, the second occurrence seemed to be man-made since the infections started from the clergymen first.”
“There’s a marked difference that anyone can see.”
“… the first case infected large numbers of livestock that died of the bleeding disease and became a further source of infection but from the second case onwards, only people were affected.”
Yes, pets and livestock were unaffected after the second case occurred, and even now, none of the animals were affected in places where the black rain fell.
“Ah, so Alvesta of the Black Rain is a threat that specifically targets humans.”
