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Chapter 69 Parasitic Tail
🕑 Added 2023-03-02 07:59:00 +0000 UTCChapter 69 Parasitic Tail
"What is it?" others stared at her. Even when it was out in the open, the worm was hard to notice properly. It was ashen grey with some dots and blended well with its surroundings.
"I don't know," Lily replied. Her bloodied hands ruined her clothes which earned her a reprimand from Sarielle, but I no longer paid any attention to him.
Our little commotion has alerted the tavern guess, and seeing a tailfolk suddenly cut out her tail must be a shock to them. However, those lolis didn't ask any questions as if they already knew what was happening to us.
"This looked like some parasites." Sarielle tried to make an educated guess.
"Sana, are there any bandages in our supplies?" Lily asked her to treat her wounds while Lhorne and Jona discussed the nasty worm lying dead on the table. Lily's hand must have crushed its internal organ when she plucked it from my tail earlier.
"Right away!" She sped up to our lodging.
"Why are there parasites here! This is an established inn chosen by the king himself!" Sarielle shouted. "Jona, are they looking down on us?"
"No, I didn't even know what these worms were. I have never seen them in my life before!" Jona answered back.
"I see. That explained a lot." Mattheus finally nodded his head.
"What is it, Mattheus?" Lhorne asked.
"There is an epidemic inside the dwarven kingdom. These worms must be new in these lands as well."
"So our cold reception was due to these bugs?"
"Yeah, they didn't want to infect us, but they didn't want us to know about these parasites. That's why they were behaving like that. Sana carried her ointment, and together with Lily, she spread it out on my tail. The soothing cream and the bandages were refreshing to me.
"Lord Lily, are you okay?" The king ran to the tavern, and as he saw our bloodied hands, he dropped his facade and asked us directly.
"I am fine now. Please don't worry." Lily replied, "Your majesty, there was a parasite here. Did you know?"
"Yes, I know." He suddenly hugged me. "You are fine right?"
"Huh? Yes. I am fine. I get the worm out." Lily was surprised, but she didn't resist. She was used to skinship with Nora and fellow tailfolk like Sana and Alith.
"Your Majesty, that was uncalled for." Sarielle, however, called him out for acting disrespectfully.
"As you can see, we are currently dealing with an epidemic right now. So, your timing was bad. I am sorry, but for your own good, please leave this kingdom."
"Your Majesty, we are allies. Maybe we could help?" Lhorne asked, "What are these worms anyway?"
"We don't know. It happened 6 months ago; they only attacked tailfolk and decimated their population. When these worms infest your tails, they will siphon your life, and then they will breed, and you will eventually die." The king spoke with concern, "We had our medic amputate their tails and ears as countermeasures. Most of the tailfolk are quarantined in separate chambers, but we don't have any effective measure against these worms."
"How cruel…" Lily spoke out.
"Well, it is necessary, right?" Sarielle said.
"So, that's why we could not welcome you in these hours. Please leave as fast as you can. And don't forget to check your retainer's body." King Sigliendurne spoke out of concern.
"Okay. But please send your messengers into Edenthal regions, okay. We still need those Golderite and Titan ores."
"We will not sell them. They are precious and should not be used just to craft some kind of swords for nobles. We only sell them in the past because we desperately need food."
"It will not be used for some random swords! We need them to combat undead!" Lily spoke.
"I see. We will not send them regardless. If you wish to strengthen Fort Soleil, we could send some cement and construction workers. But not Golderite and Titan ores. Now, please leave. We will discuss this later." he smiled as he said his farewell.
We were returned to the mountain path, with Lhorne leading the way. Our mood was grim as Alith, Sana, and Nora kept rubbing their tail, trying to find even a single abnormality.
- New Job acquired: Diplomat
"Nora, Alith, Sana, if you feel any kind of itchiness in your ears or tails, please let me know," Lily asked their tailfolk retainers.
"When we arrive in Edenthal, please quarantine all of us. We could not let these worms worm their way into elven territories. If they do, our country will be destroyed." Sarielle gave a serious look as he let go of a messenger pigeon back to Regoia.
"Huh?" Mattheus asked.
"Almost seventy percent of elven country's population are tailfolk. If these plagues were to arrive in elven cities, we would be destroyed." Sarielle said.
"Wait, not just Regoia? But all elven cities too?" Lhorne cried out.
"Ah! This is a state secret. Please don't tell anyone. Only Hoeth has a higher elven population than tailfolk."
"Wait, I can't let that one slide. Why make this a secret?" Lhorne cried out. Alith, Sana, and Nora looked at them, interested.
"That's not important. Let us return to Edenthal as soon as possible."
"We could not obtain Golderite and Titan ores…."
"I hope those researchers manage to find other materials…." Nora said
"Well, we probably could use elven steel or Mythril, but I wonder…." Sarielle pondered as we walked back to the mountain pass.
"Wait, could you explain that to me again? About the tailfolk population exceeding elves? How could that be? As far as I know, tailfolk were at the bottom of the stratum here, right? In the human country, we had to pay attention, so they didn't die of overwork and never copulated except when forced by slave merchants. How come they thrived here more than the natives?" Mattheus asked, bewildered. He didn't participate in any of those slavery practices, of course, but he was well aware of how the system worked.
"I guess there is no harm in telling you. We elves don't like to keep secrets anyway. Lily, can we trust you to keep this a secret? we don't want other tailfolk to know about this." Sarielle pleaded.
"It began from Northlangard…." He started to tell the stories while we walked down the mountains. The journey was easier than when we climbed up.
