I Became a Veteran Who Has to Stir Up Trouble to Survive - Chapter 111

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

[111] Epidemic Investigation #1
“Where… am I?”
The first thing I saw upon opening my eyes was a wooden ceiling.
I raised my upper body in a daze.
A warm, cozy circular room suffused with crimson firelight.
The bed I lay upon, the table, the roughly hewn chair—every piece of furniture in the room was crafted from wood.
The bandages covering my body bore the unmistakable touch of careful hands, yet….
“Ugh… this sense of déjà vu….”
This is that place. The Beastfolk Village.
Looking closer, I noticed crude nails fastening the chair leg I had destroyed before.
‘Why am I back here again?’
I was certain I had been banished from the village and then went to capture the spirit….
“Wait, that’s right!! What happened to Radi and Nia?! Gaaahhhhh!!!”
As I tried to rise from the bed, I heard a sharp crack and collapsed back down.
My entire body throbbed as though someone had crumpled me like a washboard and then smoothed me out.
“Ow, ow, ow… the pain suggests this isn’t a dream….”
How am I even alive?
My memory was fragmented.
Like a film reel cut and spliced together haphazardly, only scattered scenes came to mind.
I remember feeling an overwhelming surge of power, becoming incredibly strong.
At the end, I surely defeated the spirit, only to be crushed beneath the remains of the Ancient Tree and breathe my last.
As I groaned through the throbbing headache, I heard footsteps and a knock from beyond the door.
“You’re awake?”
One of the Hermitage residents entered carrying a tray.
I immediately cried out.
“Where are Radi and Nia?!”
“They’re safe, so don’t worry. Both are injured, but their lives aren’t in danger.”
“Thank… thank goodness….”
“…But you should probably focus on your own recovery first.”
The man set water and medicine on the bedside table next to me.
As he said, I had a strong intuition that recovery from these injuries would take considerable time.
This was a different kind of injury—not merely flesh healing and bones mending.
I posed my second question.
“But… how am I even alive? We should have been crushed beneath the Ancient Tree’s remains….”
“Ah, about that….”
The Beastfolk Resident explained the sequence of events methodically.
To summarize the contents….
“The villagers rescued us from the remains?”
“That’s right. Right after you two slipped out of the village that night, Nia broke into the Elders’ Warehouse, and we noticed it. We sent warriors after you—we couldn’t just let you die facing a spirit, no matter what.”
“….”
“But when I just arrived, you all were collapsed after defeating the spirit. So I barely managed to pull you out before the Ancient Tree completely collapsed.”
“…Thank you. I’ve incurred another debt of life to this village.”
“Well, thanks to that, we got our revenge on the Flower Queen too. …To be honest, if it had been anyone else, I wouldn’t have sent warriors to pursue them. But you’ve helped this village so much that it felt wrong to just let you die like that.”
I laughed awkwardly at the Beastfolk Resident’s words.
It seemed they had retraced the exact path we had taken after arriving at Lenar’s Garden.
Thanks to that, they were able to pull us out just in time before the Ancient Tree completely collapsed.
The goodwill I had built up was manifesting in such an unexpected way.
‘Oh right, there was a Quest too.’
「You have achieved the completion condition for [Orgillian’s Letter Delivery Quest]!」
「To receive your Quest reward, please find Estella of the Kelenor Family, Orgillian’s true wife!」
「You have automatically completed the Main Quest by eliminating the greatest threat to the Primordial Forest!」
「You have obtained the title ‘Slayer of the Fallen Spirit’.」
「All your abilities are enhanced, and your natural harmony rate increases, allowing you to exert power comparable to a creature’s original abilities when using the [Disguise] skill!」
「Your presence becomes even stronger! Some creatures who recognize your power may willingly submit to you.」
‘My abilities are being enhanced?’
The Disguise skill seems to have been upgraded as well, but I’ll need to use it directly to feel the actual changes.
“I won’t drive you out of the village anymore, so rest well. I’ll leave a servant here, so call if you need anything.”
“…Thank you.”
I expressed my gratitude to the Beastfolk Resident with a glance.
For now, it was time to focus on recovery.
* * *
About two weeks later.
I stretched under the warm sunlight.
My physical condition had noticeably improved thanks to the thorough rest.
Breathing the fresh air outside, finally freed from the confines of that stuffy bed, I felt as light as if I might float away.
‘I never knew walking on two legs could be such an emotional experience….’
Vigorous movement was still beyond me, but now I could manage light exercise without difficulty.
It had been a while since I could walk on my own without crutches.
As I strolled through the village, indulging the playful children circling around me, Radi and Nia, who had been harvesting fruit from a nearby tree, approached.
“You’re quite popular… anyone would believe you were originally from this village.”
“Well… should I just become a Beastfolk Resident then?”
Since the village itself was created as a refuge from persecution, there was no discrimination against dark hair, which was nice.
Thanks to that, Radi was also going around with her ears and tail exposed.
“Doran! Want an apple?”
“Oh, thank you, Nia.”
The three of us sat together on a sun-drenched bench.
Having fought for our lives together, my bond with Nia had grown even closer.
But as we three were leisurely chatting and savoring the peaceful moment, commotion erupted from the village entrance.
It appeared the hunters who had gone out to gather food were returning.
But something about the atmosphere seemed odd.
“That’s all we managed to salvage?”
“Yeah, another complete bust.”
“Wait, something feels off…! Lately, the game has been noticeably scarce! We even stopped by the Leg Mushroom Colony, but all those mushrooms—not a single one in sight!”
“That’s not even the worst part. We finally caught a lizard after all that effort, split its belly open, and found it completely hollow inside! Does that make any sense?”
“Again? How many times is this now…?”
I listened intently to the hunters’ conversation, then casually asked Nia, who was yawning beside me.
“Nia, isn’t that… the same thing we hunted before? The beetles?”
“Probably? It seems to have gotten worse these past few days.”
“Hmm…”
I furrowed my brow slightly, lost in thought.
Even as an outsider, I could sense something was deeply amiss in the atmosphere surrounding the Primordial Forest lately.
I’d assumed everything would resolve once Lenar disappeared, yet the number of monsters discovered with hollow bodies was only increasing.
Moreover, reports were coming in of previously unseen monsters being spotted near the Hermitage.
‘Could this be a harbinger of something else entirely?’
Monsters with hollow bodies…
I seemed to recall reading something similar in Belheim’s archives long ago…
As I rummaged through my memories, another commotion erupted at the village entrance.
A Beastfolk Resident came sprinting into the village in a panic.
But his face was unfamiliar, and by his attire, he clearly wasn’t from this village.
“…Who is he?”
Someone from another tribe?
The villagers had mentioned that other settlements existed within the Great Water Desert.
The man gasped for breath as he cried out.
“Disaster has struck…! I must see the Elder immediately!!”
“Calm yourself, friend. What’s so urgent?”
“Speak calmly. What brings you from Pine Tree Village?”
In the next moment, his words rang out across the entire village.
“A plague that hollows out bodies…! It’s begun spreading to humans!!”
* * *
“The very calamity we feared has finally come to pass.”
Village Chief Bernando’s voice grew heavy and grave.
The village elders gathered in the conference hall all stared at the Chief with stern expressions.
Radi and I, having been asked to attend as we had information to share, occupied seats in the corner and listened in silence.
“A message arrived from another village just moments ago. An unidentified plague is spreading among the residents.”
“Yesterday, a report also came in from the Eastern Outpost! It mentioned an increasing number of monsters behaving abnormally!”
“We’ve also been seeing more sightings of hollow-bodied beasts around our village.”
“But… where did this infection originate?”
“It likely came from outside the Primordial Forest. Both those settlements had recent outside visitors, and the symptoms began shortly after their departure.”
The Beastfolk continued their reports with unwavering gravity.
Now that it was confirmed the plague could spread to humans, the situation had fundamentally changed.
As we were in the middle of sharing the current situation, someone spoke up.
“Then… how do you plan for our village to respond, Village Chief Bernando?”
The Village Chief rose from his seat and opened his mouth slowly.
“Effective immediately, we will implement complete control over village entry and exit. Not only will outsiders be prohibited from entering, but residents will also be forbidden from leaving for the time being.”
“Understood. I will immediately issue orders for personnel outside to return urgently.”
“We will also close the Eastern Outpost and Southern Watchtower until this crisis is resolved!”
“Make haste. Once everyone has returned, we will seal the barrier immediately.”
The members of the conference room nodded in agreement and reviewed their respective roles.
If an epidemic were to spread in this small village, it would mean total annihilation. Thus, it was wise to cut off any possibility of contact with the infection source itself.
However, there was one thing that bothered me.
Unable to contain my doubt, I raised my hand.
“…Forgive me, but if you control village entry and exit, how do you plan to procure food? We don’t even know when this crisis will subside….”
“Don’t worry about that. This village has always maintained substantial reserves of supplies in preparation for external conflict at any time. We also have a self-sufficient system in place, so we can endure for quite a while.”
“I see. Then that’s a relief.”
“However, your point is also valid. We cannot simply wait indefinitely for this crisis to settle. So I’ve made one additional decision—I’m thinking of dispatching Investigators to conduct our own investigation into this matter.”
With those words, the Elder’s gaze naturally turned toward me.
Looking around, the other Beastfolk Residents were also staring at me.
Could it be that the reason I was called to this meeting was….
“Since you and Radi came from outside the Great Water Desert, you would be well-versed in external affairs. Combined with Nia, one of our village’s capable warriors, I would like the three of you to take on this investigation… what do you say? Of course, we will prepare appropriate compensation.”
Once the Elder finished speaking, I hesitated slightly.
To leave the Primordial Forest and investigate this crisis….
Though I paused for a moment, the answer was essentially already decided.
It was time to leave this Primordial Forest.
Malton and Karen would surely be worried about us, and after lying around for these past few days, my body was itching for action.
I also had a vague sense of what precautions to take against the epidemic.
I smiled broadly and accepted the proposal.
“Leave it to me.”
Ding─!
｢Main Quest has been updated!｣
｢An unidentified infection phenomenon originating from outside the Primordial Forest is spreading!｣
｢Track down the infection source and ascertain the truth. It would be wise to establish solid countermeasures to avoid becoming infected during the investigation!｣
｢Reward upon success: ???｣

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————