The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 117

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 117
“Something terrible has happened!”
The door burst open and a woman with an urgent expression rushed in. Her dark hair was pulled back tightly, giving her a shrewd appearance. She stumbled to a halt mid-stride.
There were strangers in the room.
She had been occupied caring for the patients and hadn’t yet heard that outsiders had arrived in this land. And she certainly hadn’t heard that one of them was a child with the Light Ability. She faltered and stepped backward.
“······This light?”
Unnis murmured in a daze.
“Unnis! Without so much as a knock—what is the meaning of this?”
Illum regarded the bewildered Unnis with sharp reproach. But his surprise at the flood of light was short-lived; Unnis turned to him and gestured urgently toward the door.
“Something terrible has happened! The patients are in critical condition! Their symptoms are suddenly worsening! If we do nothing, they’ll all······!”
Unnis poured out the words in urgent succession. She had never truly seen proper light before. So she should have been astonished at the brilliance flooding this room. Yet Unnis didn’t linger in that shock.
‘The patients are in danger!’
She had something more important than light. What mattered now was relaying the plight of the demihuman dying at an accelerating rate to Illum, not speaking of light.
These blights spread slowly, gradually, across their bodies. When the blight first appears, it doesn’t impair daily life.
But as the blight grows larger and covers most of the skin, their vigor fades, their light of life dims, and they lose the ability to move their limbs freely.
This entire process usually takes a year, or at minimum six months—but suddenly the blight was devouring the demihuman at a terrifying speed. It was incomparable to before. It was as though someone were rapidly draining their very life force. Even now, in this moment, they were dying.
At this rate, they would all perish.
Unnis deliberately left her words unfinished, yet everyone in that room could anticipate what came next. At Unnis’s report, Illum released Herod’s hand and shot to his feet.
“The symptoms are worsening? What do you mean? Speak slowly so I can understand—No, never mind. I’ll go look at once.”
Illum spoke.
“Yes! Please, at once!”
Unnis nodded eagerly, bouncing on her heels. Illum had no time to observe Herod’s condition further; he had to move.
Tiel’s eyes widened at this sudden turn of events, her hands pressed together. The timing was too convenient.
Just moments before, Tiel’s Ability had made nearly all of the blights vanish from Herod’s body.
And now, suddenly, the blights covering the demihuman here were spreading rapidly across their entire bodies? Tiel’s complexion darkened. Something felt terribly wrong.
A small seed of unease took root in her chest—the fear that this might have happened because of her. She didn’t want to think it, but the timing was far too coincidental. She recalled what they had said about these demihuman: that they ‘cannot survive beneath the light.’
‘It’s as if······ I triggered this by using my Ability.’
Perhaps—just perhaps—using her Ability here had affected them somehow.
Unease twisted in her belly······. But Tiel didn’t give in to despair; instead, she clenched her fists with determination.
‘No, it’s all right.’
She had made the blights disappear from Herod’s body, so perhaps she could heal the other demihuman as well. It was then that Tiel was about to tell Illum she wanted to go with him.
Illum turned to look at Tiel as he prepared to follow Unnis.
“······Girl with the Light Ability.”
“Yes, Illum!”
“Will you come with us? Perhaps they need you as well.”
Tiel nodded without hesitation.
“I’ll go with you.”
She wanted to see their condition with her own eyes. Perhaps she could heal the other demihuman just as she had healed Herod!
At Tiel’s decision, the other children nodded silently.
“We were going to ask the physician to examine them anyway, so we’ll come too.”
Iandros said this.
Illum nodded.
***
“Ah, ah, ah—No! This can’t be!”
“Heaven help us, I—this cannot be!”
“Damn it! Open your eyes!”
Chaos reigned.
Cries of anguish echoed from all directions. Tiel drew a sharp breath at the sight before her. It was too dark to see clearly, but she could tell that an enormous number of demihuman were lying in one place.
They had laid all the patients down together for ease of care. Since even the smallest flame was said to be terrible poison to them, they had been laid in the darkest spot they could find.
The physician began examining a patient nearby. As soon as they confirmed Illum’s arrival, demihuman came rushing out from all around and seized him desperately.
“More than twenty have already died!”
“It’s strange, it’s wrong. It’s different from before. Their skin is necrotic, their flesh is withering, they’re dying drained of blood entirely!”
Illum hastily examined the bodies of the deceased. They were right. The corpses were shriveled and desiccated. Fearing the children would be traumatized, Illum blocked Tiel and the others from approaching the bodies.
“Your Highness, this is not a sight for your eyes. For now, for now······ please look away.”
Crown Prince······ the Heir of the Asterian House, Heir of Wolfgang and Clemens······ the legendary child of light.
What use were all these titles now? These demihuman, already long isolated from the royal house and the Five Great Houses, were nothing more than a young boy and a girl to him. And it was not a sight fit for children’s eyes. Illum regretted bringing them here.
The one mercy was that this place was so dark that outsiders would not be able to see what was truly happening in this darkness.
Of course, since they too were demihuman, they could distinguish allies from enemies to some degree even in the dark—but they could not see the full extent of the bodies’ condition. That was a blessing.
Even now, many were dying. Illum had to make a choice: watch his beloved die one by one, or abandon all shame and ask Tiel to use her Ability once more.
Illum knew something of Abilities. He was far from ignorant. He knew that each person could use only a limited amount of their Ability per day, and that in children this limit was extremely small.
But knowing this well, he could not ask her to use her Ability on so many. Illum wrestled with himself, unable to speak the words to Tiel.
“······.”
Tiel gazed out at the chaos before her. Without even a small flame, shrouded in darkness, she could barely see—yet she could hear countless people moving frantically, crying out in anguish.
What gave her some comfort was that she had confirmed, just now by using her Ability on Herod, that she could heal them as well.
The girl closed her eyes for a moment, gauging the range from which the cries came. Since she couldn’t see clearly ahead, this was her only recourse.
Pop—!
Two small ears sprouted from atop Tiel’s head. The ears swiveled in all directions, sensing the distance. How far did it extend? How far would she need to use her Ability?
Tiel’s Ability had limits. Moreover, she had never sustained the use of her Ability continuously for long periods before. To illuminate all these people, she would need to sustain strong power for an extended time······.
‘It’s so vast······.’
The small ears drooped as she tried to gauge the distance. How many patients could there be? She couldn’t even estimate. By rough measure, the patients seemed to be packed across an area the size of the Asterian Mansion’s grounds.
Since most of the demihuman surviving on this land all lived together here, it was perhaps inevitable.
“Tiel, think you can do it?”
Ferdi asked in a worried voice. Iandros placed a gentle hand on Tiel’s shoulder. Tiel turned to them and asked in return.
“Do you think I can do it?”
“Absolutely.”
Iandros replied.
“Then that’s answer enough. Even if I can’t, I’ll make it happen······.”
Tiel nodded, her small fists clenching and unclenching lightly.
It was a voice of absolute resolve, belying her years.

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