Chapter 234
The car was moving but soon stopped.
As I got out of the car, I could see the gate in the distance.
I followed the commander into some building. Once inside, a strong disinfectant smell hit me.
It’s a hospital.
There was nothing resembling a hospital at the entrance, and I couldn’t spot any reception area inside either. All I could see was busy people rushing around, accompanied by the strong disinfectant aroma.
As soon as I walked in, a soldier approached, stopped upon seeing the commander, and saluted him. The commander acknowledged the salute, and they stepped back.
Then the commander took me further inside.
Inside, the disinfectant smell mingled with a strange, fishy odor.
I quickly figured out where that smell was coming from.
There were several beds, and a soldier with holes in his body was lying there. Dark blue fluid was seeping out from the gaping wounds, and a person who seemed to be a doctor, clad in protective gear, was carving away at the injured area.
“These individuals are cursed by something that came from under the sea and are dying. Healing magic doesn’t work on them properly; even if we completely sever the injured areas and attempt to regenerate them, they regenerate in a tainted state. Is there any way you can save them?”
Cursed.
Now that I think about it, such things exist. Maleficent was particularly adept at using them. If I were to recall the scattered memories of Maleficent, it’s said that curses act on the soul.
So that’s how Victoria was able to easily kill her back then. She was a powerful witch capable of casting curses in an instant that would take a human shaman a whole day.
I approached the nearest patient.
I grabbed the patient and recited the contract document.
The patient’s skin swelled as if about to burst, and then it solidified immediately. Next, the surface cracked like porcelain, and fragments fell away, revealing pure white skin beneath.
There was no trace of the curse.
Suddenly, the atmosphere in the room became quiet.
Instead, I was met with piercing glances from all around me.
I looked at the commander and asked, “Should I make a contract with everyone?”
The commander bowed his head to me.
“Please.”
I had ruthlessly thrown the soldiers into the worst situation. Thinking this commander is unfit for his role, I began to grab each patient one by one and recite the contract document.
The first lesson I learned in this world was that it’s best to make contracts one person at a time.
If I recite and they enter a contract all at once, it becomes hard to control.
Most of the people in this place turned to have white skin. However, in the area with severely wounded patients, most of their skin turned blue.
Even if they were doomed to die due to the curse, it seems their bodies wouldn’t turn blue until they were on the verge of death.
In my experience, both the white and blue skin felt the same to me.
It’s awkward that even I, the user, don’t quite understand its essence, but what can I do?
It’s the strongest weapon I can wield, after all.
So, over quite a long period, I went around the hospital and created a multitude of harvesters.
However, how should I put it… One of the harvesters in the intensive care unit gained the psychic ability to break curses. If there’s something that needs to be resolved and I can’t do it, then I seemingly end up gaining the psychic ability to resolve it.
Of course, the one job that harvester can handle is the dismantling of curses. It can’t heal severed limbs or vanish internal organs, but as long as the curse is broken, this hospital can treat those wounds.
That’s why I couldn’t just turn all the patients into harvesters.
It’s a bit disappointing, though.
But it’s not necessarily a bad thing that the harvester has the psychic ability.
It raises my value.
Afterward, I left the hospital and had dinner with the commander and the adjutant there. Then, I returned to the accommodation in that city.
It’s a very luxurious room.
Of course, even so, when compared to the accommodation I stayed at in the capital, it’s quite shabby, but that can’t be helped. It’s originally a place provided for royal dignitaries visiting from other countries.
In any case, they said they would prepare transportation for me to go back to the capital by tomorrow.
I’ll be able to travel back comfortably.
I thought so as I lay down on the bed.
So, what about over there?
*
Over here is hanging comfortably too.
Even without eating, it seems calories are being supplied to my body; it’s as if the tubes embedded in me are providing nutrition.
A dim memory of receiving intravenous fluids and lying down for over two days flickers in my mind.
I hadn’t felt hungry at all back then.
Usually, if you don’t move at all, muscles dry up and rapidly deteriorate, but there’s no concern about that with this body.
Why, you ask?
When pain and pleasure rush in, the body acts reflexively.
All the muscles in my body go through a cycle of contraction and expansion, so it feels like I’m exercising automatically.
But I do have a question about whether it’s okay for bodily fluids to flow like this.
However, I didn’t ask that. Instead, whenever a woman came to check up on me, I continued reciting the contract document.
Of course, I don’t think it will go through. In the first place, all the women with the same face have already completed the contract.
If you push me in, you can fill me up immediately.
But I won’t do that. Until I learn about this world, I don’t intend to act recklessly. So I kept quiet and simply recited the contract document mechanically.
Even with my eyes closed, I’m not unaware of my surroundings. Just because I cover my eyes doesn’t mean I won’t feel what’s outside when I concentrate on my body.
If I were to liken it, it would be like using ultrasound to see inside the stomach or a technology that uses special waves to see through the interior of a building.
Compared to how I usually see, the resolution is lower, but I can roughly tell that something is moving.
Adding the sound of footsteps to that, I can grasp the situation.
The woman always comes from the same direction, standing somewhere to my left and then disappearing. When my vision clears for a moment, I saw a machine with a gauge over there; it must be monitoring my condition.
Pain and pleasure feel incredibly irregular, but I’ve figured out that there’s some sort of program as it repeats at regular intervals.
From that observation, it’s completely automated, huh?
And quite some time later.
I heard heavy footsteps that were different from the usual ones. Moreover, I could tell there was more than one.
Hmm? What’s going on?
As I waited, excited about whether something was happening, I heard a familiar voice.
“Did you have fun last night? Even a powerful demon would crash and howl like a beast as soon as it enters that body. Above all, my child seemed to find it the most painful to have its existence sucked in.”
He laughed mischievously.
My child?
Ah, he must be talking about this little one in my belly. Seeing that there’s no movement and it has strangely lightened, it’s likely dead.
But demon?
Aha!
They’ve already experimented, haven’t they? They didn’t summon me right away. The fact that he doesn’t seem overly anxious indicates he must have had several experiments, which gave him this confidence. Plus, by using the term “my child,” he must have made something that drained the power from me.
But wouldn’t you just summon me and produce offspring afterward?
There might be some kind of defect on their end.
“How about it, do you feel inclined to submit to me now?”
Hmm. Here I have to either engage in meaningful conversation, pretend to be an incomprehensible monster, or act. No, let’s skip the act. I’m not an actor, after all. I’d clearly be exposed.
I want to decide while watching the other party.
By observing their expression, I can see what emotions they are feeling. In this case, it’s unfortunate that I have the blindfold on.
Hmmmm.
Next to him, I could hear multiple breaths. In those breaths, I sensed tremors.
Hehe.
Are they trying to experiment?
Did they capture a test subject?
If that’s the case, I only have one thing to say.
“I’ll give myself to you. But only after you finish everything, I want everything you have at that moment. How does that sound?”
There was a brief silence.
Then I could hear rustling. The sound of pages flipping.
“Hmmm. There are no memories inside the brain. Even a powerful demon or a lowly deity would have their information recorded once summoned? Is it a monster beyond cognition? Or perhaps a primal deity lacks the capacity for consciousness? But it tried to attempt conversation.”
Ugh!
That was dangerous. Can they read my memories? Thankfully, it seems they couldn’t extract my memories… Still, I’ll try to avoid lying as much as I can.
Murmuring sounds echoed.
Then, I could hear scratching noises, the sound of them writing something on paper.
“Assistant, take the first test subject to the author. We will now commence testing for the contract mutation state.”
At the wizard’s command, I heard fearful, muffled groans nearby. Those trembling in fear had their mouths gagged.
A few footsteps stumbled chaotically, then a heavy sound drew closer to me.
Clang!
Suddenly, my body lurched forward.
No, to be precise, my head was pushed downward. With a click, the connection between my head and body was secured.
They’re making it impossible for me to turn my head.
And shortly after.
My vision suddenly cleared.
Before me was a boy with a disheveled face, looking up at me in horror. Two identically-featured girls stood beside him, holding him, one of them holding up a blindfold.
The boy wore the necklace I had seen last time.
They’re checking for harvesters.
That’s good. I’m all for participating in this experiment.
As you seek to explore me, I too shall explore you!
I recited the contract document.
The boy trembled, shaking his head from side to side, but as the girl struck his groin, he screamed and foamed at the mouth.
A moment later, the boy nodded.
Hmm.
The connection has been established, but I intentionally waited. What I need is… You’ll find it easier to manage if you think there are limitations.
Most of the harvesters turned into harvesters.
After the last one became a harvester, I was blindfolded again and hung in a position close to being face down.
Through the eyes of the harvester, I looked around.
I could see the surrounding environment I hadn’t seen last time.
There were huge mechanical devices above and below me, with metal needles piercing through my head and spine. At the end of those metal needles were wires leading up to the metal device above.
Aside from that, several tubes were embedded in my body. Some were embedded in veins, with blood passing through an artificial kidney-type device before returning to me.
Everything is tightly packed equipment.
After instructing one of the girls with the same face to keep observing me, the wizard took the harvester out of this room.
And that harvester was vivisected alive.
At that moment, the memory of Daegon, the expert in biotechnology, flickered. Seeing the tools around, the viewpoint while dissecting. The wizard documenting the information indicates quite a high level of skill.
All harvesters were originally people living in this city housing the laboratory. Some were sold as slaves, while others were kidnapped.
However, it seems the technology in this world is likely more advanced than what I’ve seen through the harvesters.
The reason this world appears less developed is due to the vast technological disparity between the upper and lower classes.
Through these harvesters, I will learn about this world, piece by piece.