Chapter 2441 – 2441. Dark Moon
I entered the hut and met Nesha and Aisa.
Nesha was staring blankly into space, drenched in sweat, while Aisa was looking at Nesha with a gaze full of pity.
As I was choosing my words, Nesha spoke first.
“I’m sorry for not being able to bear a healthy child. But I’ll make sure to bear a healthy child next time.”
Contrary to my expectations, Nesha’s voice was calm. So much so that Aisa, who was beside her, was taken aback.
She wasn’t just pretending to be calm. I could tell by her eyes. Nesha was sad, but not as deeply as a mother who had lost her child would typically be.
I felt a strong sense of incongruity.
Even though they looked exactly like humans, there was a strangeness as if something was fundamentally different.
“…Are you alright?”
“Huh? Well, yeah. I’m a little tired, but I’m okay. Um. But I don’t think I can mate today.”
“…It’s fine if you’re okay.”
I stepped out of the hut. The others who had come to see also offered words of comfort and disappeared. Among them, there wasn’t a single person who looked genuinely concerned.
‘Right. So this is what a tribe is like.’
Miscarriage is a common occurrence here.
I was the only one who was overly empathizing. It seems I had grown more fond of Nesha than I thought. But from Nesha’s perspective, I’m just another ordinary man. The bracelet of nature still proves that.
My emotions cooled down. After taking everything into account, what remained was a question.
‘Why a miscarriage?’
It could happen if the mother’s body is weak.
Nesha was as healthy as any other ordinary person. Even after giving birth, there was no sign of any danger to her life.
‘Miscarriages are common here. It can’t be because there are no medical facilities, as everyone is healthy. Considering the short three-day pregnancy cycle instead of ten months, it wouldn’t be strange if the population was teeming with people, but the population isn’t that large. …Is it being maintained?’
This is Apatear’s human experimentation site.
If Apatear is directly intervening to control the population… it’s not a strange story.
‘Or there could be other genetic problems.’
• • •
The funeral for the stillborn baby was modest.
They sang and danced in front of a dark bonfire, eating food for the baby. The solemn atmosphere was only at the beginning. Soon, they started chatting and playing among themselves.
Thanks to that, people’s attention was diverted from me.
I went to find Aisa.
“Aisa.”
“Ah, Eugene. I’m sorry about Nesha’s situation… It might have been an unwanted child from your perspective… but still, it was your child.”
“Aisa. You don’t need to worry about it.”
“…Wow. That was a bit rude. You didn’t just come to see me, did you? What’s wrong?”
“I want to check the baby’s body. Do you know where the body was buried?”
“……Huh?”
“Didn’t you hear me?”
“No, no. I heard you. I was just too surprised because it was unexpected. Is it like the heart of a parent who can’t accept their child’s death?”
“Let me tell you one thing. First, I won’t be shaken by the death of a child. Second, I just want to check something. I casually asked the other warriors, and they said that the tribe’s corpses are handled by the chief and his family. Isn’t that strange?”
“…That’s strange. The chief is the most powerful person in this village. There’s no need for him to take on the task of handling corpses. Okay. Let’s move. I know the location of the graveyard. It’s behind the chief’s hut. The chief mostly doesn’t move from his house… He’s probably still in his house now. As if he’s guarding the hut. The graveyard, that is.”
“We’ll have to sneak in. Can we go around?”
“It’s an underground graveyard. To sneak in, we’d have to get the chief and his family out… or make a hole and enter from somewhere else. What do you want to do? If you’re a skilled blood mage and dark mage like you, Eugene, you probably have a way.”
“The goal is to check, so let’s move quietly.”
We quietly moved behind the chief’s hut. It was an ordinary-looking forest. Just by looking at it, it’s hard to believe there’s an underground graveyard below.
[Electric Detection]
I used a detection spell. The electromagnetic waves that spread out beneath my feet were blocked by something and disappeared. Naturally, I didn’t get any information.
“You used a detection spell, right? How is it?”
“…It’s blocked. It’s blocked by something. It feels like magic is being interfered with. It’s quite unpleasant.”
“Like the cave where that flesh-tree monster was?”
“Yes. Like that time.”
I raised my hand. It’s not that I can’t use magic, but I can’t pinpoint the exact location of the underground graveyard. I’ll be interfered with inside the underground graveyard.
I took out ten shovels from my inventory.
[Telekinesis]
An invisible hand of will took hold of the shovels and began digging into the ground.
“Is that telekinesis? Usually, mages don’t prefer telekinesis because it consumes a lot of mental power… You’re different, Eugene?”
“This is more convenient for me.”
They say it consumes a lot of mental power, but I don’t really feel it. And telekinesis is quite convenient for doing various chores like this.
It has less impact and saves mana compared to using a spell to dig.
“Hmm. Your skill in using shovels with telekinesis is amazing. Have you ever done manual labor?”
“…A little bit in the past.”
Shoveling was basic in the military. It was no exception even for special forces.
After digging about 3 meters, a hole leading to the underground opened up. I widened the hole appropriately and jumped down. Aisa followed, jumping down as well. Looking up from below, her private parts were clearly visible. Aisa didn’t seem to mind at all and jumped down. I looked away from her bouncing breasts, as if proving the recoil, and checked the underground graveyard.
It was quite spacious.
There were coffins made of carved stone and wood lined up.
But the number was smaller than I expected. Only about 30 or so. Considering the current population of the tribe, there should be at least 100 coffins.
“…Looking at the coffins, they all look the same.”
“There’s not even a name written on them, let alone any recognizable markings. At this rate, there’s no way to know who’s buried in which coffin.”
“It’s just for show.”
The coffins all looked the same, as if they were made in a factory. There were no small coffins that would have been used for stillborn babies.
I used telekinesis to push open the lid of the coffin right next to me. The inside was completely empty. Aisa opened other coffins. They were also empty. She took pictures with a serious expression and turned to me.
I was staring at a bizarre sculpture in one part of the graveyard.
“What do you think?”
“What is there to think… There’s only one possibility. They stole the corpses. Those Apatear bastards, do they have a thing for corpses?”
“Haha. Well, I don’t.”
A voice came from behind.
Being in this underground graveyard dulled my senses, and I realized it late. Aisa and I turned our heads sharply.
The chief was standing as if blocking the entrance. Behind him, the great warrior Sharok and elite warriors had gathered and taken their positions.
Sharok was distorting his face as he looked at me.
“The chief was right. Now that I see you again, you’re strange. Garga. Did you deceive and trick us?”
I ignored the growling Sharok. In the current situation, Sharok was irrelevant. He wasn’t the one in control.
“…Chief. How long have you known?”
“I knew from the beginning. The Toripel tribe may be rough, but they don’t treat their wives like livestock.”
“It was my mistake. I should have looked into it more carefully. I was too reliant on the bracelet’s magic. Are you an employee of Apatear?”
I was too complacent. To manage the tribe more easily, it’s more convenient to actively intervene directly.
“It was a great stroke of luck that you came to Tiat on your own. Thanks to you, I’ll get a promotion. Haha. Did you enjoy the tribal experience?”
“…Is Nesha also an employee?”
“No. She’s just a test subject. We used her to extract the genes of a rare pureblood vampire. Everything went according to my plan. It was so smooth that it made me scared. Hehehe.”
“Is it okay for you to blabber on like that?”
“Ah, are you worried about these guys’ reactions? It’s okay. These guys are made to be friendly to me and the employees. They say they interpreted the imprinting effect magically and imprinted it… I’m not a shaman, so I don’t know the details.”
“What is your purpose? What are you doing this for?”
“Hmm? Well… I don’t know either.”
He grinned. It was a sneer. Then he said,
“Fresh Drug Project. To create new creatures and discover and manufacture new drugs. That’s the goal of this project. But I think there’s something more to it. But it’s not really my business. I’m just a salaryman. As long as I get paid for my work, I don’t care what the company does, you know?”
“…Why did my child die? Did you kill it?”
Was it really a genetic problem? I was suspicious. My body now is not that of an ordinary human. There’s a high probability that my dead child also inherited vampire genes.
“……First, I need to capture you to get more information.”
“Your child? Ah, that. It was just bad luck. These things have an average miscarriage rate of about 30%. They called it a genetic clash. If you’re lucky, you live, and if you’re unlucky, you die. Your child was unlucky. Do you understand?”
“I understand. First, I need to capture you to get more information.”
“Hehe. What can a mage who can’t even use magic properly do?”
The guy held a small device in his hand. Mana waves emanated from it.
A mana wave device. A device that interferes with magic casting with irregular mana waves. It’s not that you can’t use magic at all. However, to use magic, you need several times more concentration than usual.
“It’s a mana wave device. And this is Akar’s sanctuary. Most mages have trouble even breathing in this space. How is it, vampire? Does it feel like you’re in poison gas?”
“…Who the hell is Akar? I’ve never heard of that god.”
“He’s the god of life, evolution, and mutation. He fought against the god of magic in the past and was defeated and repelled. He was so enraged by his defeat that he mutated himself to kill the god of magic. This is the result. In Akar’s domain, a mage’s magic is suppressed.”
“Thank you for telling me one by one. Shall we talk a little more?”
“Hehe. That’s my last mercy.”
“It would have been better if it weren’t for the poison gas you quietly spread.”
A colorless, odorless poison.
An invisible poison was spread all around this area.
