Chapter 47

Guided by the boy, we arrived at a cave. From the very entrance, the stench made me wrinkle my nose in utter disgust as I thought to myself.

This is the second cave of my life.

The first had been the dungeon where I met Aria, and the second was right here. But the one difference was that while the cave where I found Aria had been designed for her to live comfortably, the cave in front of me now was the exact opposite.

As if someone had deliberately tried to make it miserable, the floor was completely uneven and jagged, with sharp rocks sticking out dangerously in all directions. The walls weren’t flat or comfortable for sleeping either. Shaped like a protruding half-moon, anyone leaning against them to sleep would surely wake up the next morning with their spine twisted in a bizarre angle.

“Wait here with the others.”

“U-Understood.”

Reluctant to drag along children who would likely just become dead weight and heavily armed knights, I told them to wait outside for the time being. They looked restless and uneasy at the thought of sending me in alone, but seeing them like that, I found it absurd.

Honestly, if they were going to worry, they should have stopped me from the start. To act like this now—tsk, tsk. I’d probably have to say a word to my dad when I got back home.

“And the kids?”

“A bit deeper inside.”

“Got it.”

I nodded and walked further forward. The ground was so rugged that I had to watch every step I took.

“Ugh.”

Venturing deeper, I realized the smell at the entrance was nothing compared to the sickening stench drifting from within. I had always considered the worst smell of my life to be the milk that had sat in our fridge ten days past its expiration date, but I’d have to update that ranking starting today.

Just breathing it in made my head spin.

“Are you holding up okay, kid?”

At my question, the boy bristled again.

“I’m used to it. And I’m not a kid. If you call me a kid one more time, I’m going to cling to those big breasts of yours for the rest of my life.”

“…………”

What is this scheming little bastard? But thinking about it, that sounded kind of terrifying. To have this kid attached to my chest for the rest of my days.

What would Miel think if she saw that?

[First Aria, and now a young boy? Hmph, so Armienne was a lolicon all along!]

No way. Miel! I’m innocent! I’m not a lolicon! I’m just a wholesome person who happens to like kids. Did liking kids even count as being a lolicon? Well, I wasn’t a criminal, so it shouldn’t matter, right?

“Right up ahead.”

I looked forward at the boy’s words. Coming from a bright area into the dark space, my eyes hadn’t adjusted to the gloom yet, so I cast a Light spell at its lowest possible setting. Since they had been in the cave for a long time, they probably weren’t used to bright light—a little consideration for the children.

Sometimes, moments like this made me realize just how kind-hearted I really was.

“Light.”

Whoosh!

When light suddenly materialized inside the cave, the children shrieked in surprise. Those kids, they must have been seeing magic for the very first time.

“Ack! Someone attacked my eyes!”

“It’s an enemy! My eyes! My eyes! My eeeeeyes!!!!”

“Mommy, is it not enough that I’m in pain, am I going blind too?”

Ugh, I thought I had cast it as weakly as possible, but I suppose it was too much for kids whose senses were already on edge. Feeling a sudden pang of guilt, I looked around and was instantly struck speechless. The situation had once again surpassed my wildest imagination.

“…………”

Nearly seventy children were strewn across the stone floor like discarded trash. They seemed to have somehow managed to lean their bodies against the harsh cavern walls, but they looked like skeletons awaiting death.

In particular, a few of them with red spots all over their bodies had apparently vomited blood, leaving stains from their mouths all the way down to the ground. With zero vitality left in their eyes, they looked as though they were simply waiting for the end.

A flicker of life only returned to those hollow eyes when the boy who had brought me in finally spoke up.

“I’m back.”

“Camile?”

“That’s me.”

While I stood there completely frozen, the boy who had guided me—apparently named Camile—began chatting with everyone.

“Camile, I think I’m gonna die now.”

“Looks like it to me, too.”

“…………”

Watching him give such a blunt, emotionless reply to kids who looked like his friends, my fists clenched tightly for some reason.

“You’re strong, so you won’t die, right? Camile?”

“I’m strong. So I won’t die. Pwahahaha.”

“Hehehe.”

The boy’s laughter, reading like a textbook, somehow sounded strangely like crying. That seemed to be why the laughter I heard earlier had felt so off.

“Who’s that pretty big sister in the back?”

“There’s no pretty big sister behind me.”

“Really? Then she must only be visible to me. Are you perhaps an angel?”

At the question from the young boy who looked like he didn’t even have the strength to flick a finger, I finally opened my mouth. Just a moment ago, I felt like I’d throw up the second I opened my lips, but strangely enough, I felt fine now.

More than that, I had a feeling that if I couldn’t even answer the boy’s question right now, I’d regret it for the rest of my life.

“No. I’m not an angel.”

Hearing my voice, the boy’s eyes widened. He must not have expected me to speak.

“Not only are you pretty, but your voice is beautiful, too.”

At the boy’s words, showing early sprouts of a future Casanova, I let out a dry chuckle. My burden felt a little lighter.

“Thank you.”

“Angel, I think I’ve stayed alive until now just to meet you.”

I told him I wasn’t an angel. Perhaps because I hadn’t stated my name, the boy kept calling me Angel. A villainess like Armienne being an angel? If an outsider were watching this, they’d scoff out loud.

Nodding toward Camile, who had led me here, the boy spoke.

“Camile is special. He’s capable and smart. Thanks to Camile, we’ve been able to survive this long.”

“I see.”

Even to my eyes, this kid was different from the others. Aside from being blunt, the fact that he was the healthiest one here, coupled with the way he expressed his opinions confidently in front of others, practically proved that his existence stood apart.

“So please, take Camile with you, Angel. Camile will be helpful to you.”

At the boy’s words, I nodded.

“Alright, I’ll take this ill-mannered brat with me. But you guys are coming along, too.”

And if they refused, I’d drag them by force. I had that kind of power. Outside waited knights ready to follow my command, and if we just made it back to the ducal estate, we could summon renowned physicians to cure their illness. I didn’t know what kind of disease it was, but I had no doubt that once they knew the name of the sickness, the doctors would find a cure.

At my declaration that I was taking Camile, a faint smile touched the lips of the children collapsed on the floor. But the moment I added that I was taking them, too, their expressions vanished once more.

The boy who had been acting as their representative and calling me Angel spoke up. He spoke eloquently, as if he were the smartest kid here.

“No, Angel. We can’t leave this place.”

“…………”

Why? The moment I was about to ask, the boy revealed what kind of disease they had contracted.

“Do you happen to know… the Black Death?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded heavily.

I knew it. It was common knowledge I’d heard about multiple times in history class as the most horrifying epidemic in the world. A nightmare of a disease boasting a mortality rate not of 100%, but 99%.

Yet, the era of [Harmiel] was the 17th century. Whether the author intended it or was simply too terrified to use the Black Death as a plot device, by the 17th century, the Black Death had completely vanished from history. There was no way in hell it could be the Black Death.

…Or so I wanted to believe.

“Angel, ever since I was little, I wanted to be a doctor. It’s embarrassing to say this, but I’m smarter than the adults.”

Aren’t you just a genius. Shit.

I didn’t want to hear anymore.

“The illness we caught is a very dangerous contagious disease. Still, I suppose it’s not as bad as the historical Black Death. This sickness only infected the kids in the village; the adults didn’t catch it at all.”

That made no sense. A disease that only targeted children? Where on earth was a disease with such picky tastes?

If that was the case, what on earth had the adults done when they saw the sick children? No, the result was right in front of my eyes. The children inside the cave. That was the result.

“I figured that, compared to adults, we haven’t fully grown, so the immune systems functioning inside our bodies haven’t properly established themselves.”

I fell silent at the words of a child who looked ready to start practicing medicine right this instant. The boy kept on talking.

“That’s right. To put it precisely, this is the Black Death, but it might be a different strain from the ones discovered up until now. With any luck, it might not be the Black Death, and it might not even be contagious. But the fact that it’s a dangerous disease is true.”

Having said that much, the boy finally uttered his last words.

“So we have to die here. Angel.”

That was nothing more than some bullcrap logic.