Chapter 39

There were so many different kinds of diseases in this world. Some of them often appeared during the Yo-Ma Great War series. Evan knew about some, but most of them were a mystery to him.

That was because Yo-Ma Great War was not a disease treatment game that discovered and healed diseases in history.

'I didn't know it. In fact, in the history of the Yo-Ma Great War, countless diseases were created and conquered, but they were still an unknown horror that tormented the humans.'

Evan kept wondering what they were based on and soon realized that the developers must have gotten ideas from an 'Encyclopedia'.

Why? Because the game makers couldn't have thought of these things on their own. In other words, this world was not just a game; it somewhat reflected the real world.

'I still haven't been able to give up this thought.'

Evan had believed that he would have stopped worrying and hesitating by now, after a long time. But it seemed that there was still a question and some anguish in one corner of his mind.

'I have to stop worrying about things like that.' Evan laughed at his own foolishness and hit himself on the head. Bernard was right next to him.

He looked back at Evan with a puzzled look. "Were there any flies?"

"Yes, it's was a large one. Don't worry, it has flown away."

"Alright, it's all done now. I've told you everything that I know of. When you get some time, check out all those possibilities."

"Yes, Grandpa."

"Look after your Master well, Dain."

"Yes, Mr. Bernard. I will."

Dain responded with a polite bow at Bernard's words.

The politeness of that degree was not unusual, because the Knights Commander firmly instructed him.

"You said you had already met Bernard Garcia. When dealing with him, always be polite and do not lose courtesy."

"Of course, I'll do it Commander! I'm a member of Iron Wall Knights who represent the Marquis…"

"This is not the courtesy such as that of the nobles. Respect him and give him courtesy as the strong should have. Bernard is stronger than me."

"What!?"

"Of course, I don't mean that I'll lose to him during a fight or a battle. But it's clear that his abilities are far advanced than mine in area that I can never reach. He's not an ordinary pharmacist. He is a person who has an absurd secret."

"I had already roughly guessed that he was not an ordinary person, but…"

"He isn't an exceptional knight. Not even a wizard. But he's something else and entirely amazing. I can bet that the skills that Evan learn from him must be something tremendous."

"I thought he was learning about something obsolete."

"There isn't anything meaningless about what Evan is doing. Anyway, just remember this. Even if he is not your Master, you should be polite to him."

'Yes, Sir…!'

However, the orders that had been given by Bernard were a little strange. To search for a monster's trace? A relatively large dungeon backflow had occurred just a while ago, but this year had been quite easy. It had been prevented. There would be no monsters that were still alive.

"Grandpa, I found something. Is this orc feces?"

"I knew it. There was a hint in this place."

"Orc's…feces?"

Dain's head tilted back and forth at a discovery he had never imagined. They were talking while looking at a normal wall, but why were they talking about orc feces there?

"Oh, did it get mixed up in the wall?"

"Well, the colors are similar. And there must have been no time to cover things up because of the hasty recovery."

"I wonder how… No wait, I have heard about cases like these."

Dain had a terrified expression. However, the situation was the same elsewhere. Day after day due to the backflow of dungeons, the monsters' bodies, including orcs and goblins that came out, and what they were wearing, were being used at the recovery sites.

The dungeon regurgitation occurred every three months. If the damage was a lot, the cost to rebuild was halved by using anything that was available at the time.

"But isn't that wrong? If that is the case, then this city would have collapsed immediately…If other things from the dungeon are fatal, then artifacts and weapons recovered from monsters shouldn't be an exception. Isn't it?"

"No, it's different from them. Things that are directly related to monsters are more lethal…They carry germs."

Germs. Evan's ears curled at that. However, Dain didn't seem to have grasped yet.

"So are the germs a big problem?"

"Well, have you ever heard of the dungeon disease?"

"Yes, I have heard about it. But isn't it a common disease that a lot of people suffer from?"

'Oh, the famous dungeon disease.' Evan listened intently to Bernard and nodded.

Dungeon disease was the name of a disease that could be treated similarly to "stress headache", "abdominal pain", and "dizziness".

The name was only a little convincing, and it wasn't really serious. During the symptoms, the body became heavier and started bleeding. Addiction and other abnormalities of strength increased.

'Usually, as soon as you created the main character and if you didn't do anything or even raised your existence level, you didn't have any skills and therefore, had to go to the dungeon by yourself. Fan sites said that a lot of people who didn't know much about the game contracted this disease at the start so it was common to get sick while at the start of the game and… Hmm!'

Bernard's started explaining.

"Dungeon disease is an illness in which the entire body is weakened due to abnormalities in the unique environment inside the dungeon. It is also a common malady for those who lack physical and magical training."

"Well, it's not common for explorers who simply go down the dungeon without any preparation, ignoring their training because their existence level has already risen."

"That's right."

Again, Dain wasn't able to understand it on a similar level as Evan. After all, Bernard's explanation was on a whole another level.

"By the way, would you believe if it could occur in places other than dungeons?"

"I have never heard of it."

"It will. Dungeon diseases which occurs outside the dungeon are very weak and quickly disappear. You don't contract it unless you're really a child, and it usually ends without any fatal after effects."

"Little kid… What are you talking about?"

Dain's eyes had narrowed into slits. On the contrary, Evan's eyes widened.

"There was a similar case before. It means that if the monsters come in huge amounts from the dungeon then everything becomes extremely crowded, especially after a phenomenon such as dungeon backflow. The monsters and the things they wear temporarily create the unique environment outside, similar to the dungeon. This disease flourishes in this environment created outside the dungeon' but only for some time. And the concentration of the disease is lower than the actual dungeon…"

"So that is why only the weak children get dungeon disease."

"That's right. Now did you roughly understand the workings of the dungeon disease?"

Even though Bernard had found the signs that confirmed it as dungeon disease, he still looked around and talked.

"But that won't kill you. No one has the cure, and it is a disease that dies quickly."

"But then… Oh, that's it! The dungeon disease alone does not kill someone!"

"Yes. For example, if someone obtains this disease, it becomes a very fatal situation if it overlaps with another illness."

Evan quickly understood him. A dungeon disease was a disease that didn't really mean much by itself, as it only amplified the effect of "other damage" inflicted on the body!

Furthermore, he was convinced that if the newborn baby even contracted the dungeon disease, neither the Charity Church nor the Earth Church would be able to treat her.

Infants had become a danger to Evan for the first time.

"When I heard about the possibilities of the newborn being in danger, I gave it some thought. I concluded that it would be from something recently, such as the dungeon backflow which had settled no too long ago."

"That's why you immediately thought of the dungeon disease. But that means…"

"Be vigilant for anything that might infect the child with the dungeon disease. It is an ailment that you need to look out for from now on… Make everyone get busy with this task. You'll have enough time to recognize just a few small clues, before the disease spreads in earnest."

It was ridiculous to hear those words, as Bernard already was holding a cure for the infectious disease.

If an unknown infectious disease infected Evan, he was lucky that Bernard was here. If not, he'd have to analyze it and make a cure on his own. Either way, he couldn't have done it without Bernard.

"No matter how excellent is the priest's ability to heal, in the end there is nothing that can cure the disease as surely as the exact medicine. As a priest's healing is basically strengthening the natural healing power of the body to heal itself, it doesn't work well with dungeon diseases."

"… It must have been a lot of hard work. Thank you for believing in what I said, Grandpa."

"If you are unable to do something about a particular task, stop worrying about it and look forward, little boy." Bernard laughed and tossed up Evan's hair. Then he looked back at Dain,

"You should also report to the Marquis what you have heard so far. Immediately after the dungeon backflow, children have to be taken care of because they may get effected by the weakened "dungeon disease". Even a new born child may not get sick in the first place if external contact is forbidden."

"I will keep that in mind, Mr. Bernard. I will certainly report it to the Marquis."

Dain nodded with more respect than ever at Bernard's words. At that time, a woman in a priest's uniform who had hurried over from the other side found them and shouted.

"Master Evan!"

"Sis Serpina?"

She was the person, Serpina Belline, who had led to the Marquis and the Earth Church's collaboration. She looked more mature now, thanks to a lot of things she had dealt with in the past half-year.

Her red color eyes had gotten deeper as well, and she looked very attractive as she had released the long dark brown hair that came down to her collarbone. She had stopped wearing a hood now. Indeed, she was one of the most beautiful characters of Yo-Ma Great War 4.

"Little boy, who is this true beauty?"

"I'm a close friend of the Earth Church priestess." Evan couldn't openly declare that she was his spy, so he just said that, but somehow, Bernard's expression had hardened.

"At such a young age, I was barely able to… You resemble Leo in so many ways. You two are very damn same."

"Ah…No, it's nothing like that."

"Do you really think that your Grandpa can't properly understand the meaning behind your words?"

However, there was no time here to explain such a series of circumstances, and Evan just wanted to escape the situation. But Serpina, who seemed to be in agony from the moment she saw Evan, approached him and held him.

"Master, I think Master should also know! Of course you can help There is a problem!"

"Uh, huh? What's wrong?"

"Did you know that we regularly mobilized priests in the slums to give blessings for free?"

It was one of the new initiatives of Serpina, who had helped in dismissing the Bishop of the temple and had taken over quite a lot of duties of the Bishop.

In relation to the former Bishop Setyron, this was started with the meaning of renewing the temple's image.

The Bishop understood that this was the first step that he could take to show his goodwill to the Marquis.

"Yes, I know about it. In addition to the Brotherhood Pharmacy's free potion distribution event… But what is the problem?"

"Do you know something, Master? Starting from a slum, the number of people complaining of abnormalities is increasing rapidly, so the priests alone cannot handle it. If this is a contagious disease…"

Evan made eye contact with Bernard the moment she said that.

The two were probably thinking the same.

"Go right away, Sis. Bring me someone who has the disease!"

"… … Yes, Master! Thank you very much!"

At Evan's words, Serpina rejoiced with harmony.

'Was she the one who was really supposed to be grateful?' Evan muttered to himself, as he held on to Serpina's hand tightly and ran with her. Busy following them, Bernard muttered curses in his mind, which he had yet to shake off.

"When I see him flirting with that damn girl, he looks very much like Leo…"

"Bernard, aren't you talking about the legendary hero Leo Arpeta?"

"You don't need to know, you bastard!"

Thirty minutes later, Evan heard the most positive news he could expect from Bernard.

"Okay, it's a little bit different, but… Evan you can make the antidote for this disease right now! Prepare 'that potion'!"