Chapter 42
“I’m not deceiving anyone or anything, but I can’t help but feel you’re being rude to Arleaf by responding to her explanation like that.”
I know what you must be thinking though.
You’re here just trying to live out your days and some suspicious dude that your relative’s kid brought along wants to take a look your incurable disease.
It wouldn’t be such a leap to conclusion to think that I’m here to butter you up then to cheat you of something.
“How dare you use Arleaf as an excuse?!”
“Surely, I wouldn’t be unreasonable to want you to believe her? And plus... she wasn’t lying. I really can eat her cooking.”
“Hmph. Let’s see you try then.”
“Sure, if that’s what it takes. Hey, Arleaf? I’m sorry, but could I ask you for that favor?”
“A-Alright.”
Upon hearing our exchange, the color fades from Rurika’s face as she shows Arleaf to the kitchen.
That leaves Wayne and I staring at each other.
He may be petrified and in a sorry state, but the daggers of his gaze are still sharp.
‘... long ago, the lass’ ancestor had a comrade that looked much like him. If I remember correctly, he was a dwarf.’
A dwarf... I think that’s been translated.
Anyway, dwarves are supposedly a race famous for their blacksmithing.
A descendant of one, eh?
It’d make sense why Wayne’s good at it then.
After staring at each other for a bit, Arleaf comes out of the kitchen with a gas mask on her face and a plate in her hands.
Ah, Rurika has her hand over her nose and mouth. She’s keeping her distance too.
It reeks that bad, huh?
Though it smells good to me.
Let’s see what we have today... the general shape is like a slice of bread that’s been toasted... and a fried egg on top?
... for whatever reason, it’s holding the fork in its mouth like someone would do with a rose. It’s even striking a sexy pose.
Hey, what the hell? You’re just food. Cut that out.
ＦｒＥＹイｄ ｅｇｇ ｏｎ ｔｏーｓト ?ｓ ｄ
A simpル dish consisting of toa??ed bread ??th a suｎｎイ sｉd e ｅ99 オン top.
The text is corrupted even worse than before.
I don’t know what that happens, but however it may be, I know that it definitely powers me up.
‘Ugh... I have not activated our shared senses, but yet the stench is going right through to my head. Thou oughtest bring fresh air in lest it becomes dangerous.’
“Muuuu?!”
Even Muu runs as far away as possible into the corner of the room, reaching its little hand out to open the window.
Wayne leans as far backwards away from the dish as possible as his face wrinkles.
That’s the face of realizing things have gone too far—the face of regret.
“Thanks for preparing this for me.”
“You’re welcome.”
I take the plate from Arleaf and grab the slice of toa—whoa! Don’t just jump into my mouth like that!
The flavor of pure poison fills my mouth... it’s not something you can describe with the five tastes.
If I had to put it into words though, it’s more complex than just the flavor... it feels like I’m conquering beast and nature with merely my taste buds.
It’s as if the essence of “undeliciousness” distilled into a sense. Then, that sense coils itself around my tongue and tickling my olfactory system.
And then there’s the yolk of the sunny-side up egg. It’s super rich and delectable.
But anyway, I’m not in the position to slowly savor my meal. I stuff my cheeks and finish the food in front of me.
It feels like my body is trying to reject the food, but I ignore every signal that says the undeliciousness is bad for my system.
Damn. That was good.
‘Yeugh... surely thou hast not shared thy senses with me, yet I am starting to feel nauseous.’
Poison Absorption activates almost instantly and my stats skyrocket.
They’ve been raised multiple times higher than before. Even my recovery rate has been raised.
That means I can auto recover health even while I’m not in the swamp, right?
Arleaf sure is good at Poison Cooking.
Though I don’t think she ever wanted that.
In any case, Wayne checks that I’ve indeed finished my food and then bewilderedly looks at me.
“Oh, I’m not going to pass out or anything.”
“... you truly can stomach it?”
“If that weren’t the case, would Arleaf’s dad be so eager to marry her to me?”
“...”
Yo, now’s the time for you to say no, my guy.
It may have been me who said that, but at least give me the satisfaction of a comeback.
“Let me spoil it for you. I have an attribute that lets me absorb poison. That’s why I know quite a bit about that kind of stuff. Even if you don’t believe me, can I at least have your permission to take a look at you?”
Wayne has a disagreeable look on his face and quite rudely ignores me...
“Fine. But... make that stench go away. I think I might just keel over before the petrification gets to me.”
And almost as if on cue, he begins to froth at the mouth.
... just by the smell?
‘He used all his energy to resist the foul toxins in the air... and even as he is being attacked by his disease, he still looks so strong. This one deserves my high praise.’
“Gramps?!”
“Grandpa Wayne?!”
We hurried to vent the room. While he recovers, I take the chance to check his physical state.
I look closely at his hardened skin.
Up close, it really looks like stone... or rather, perhaps more like concrete.
Maybe close to plaster. And that’s his skin we’re talking about.
‘It has eroded his flesh too... that must surely be painful.’
Yikes... it’s that bad, huh?
Well, that just makes me less want to give up on him.
He’s been so strong all the way up to now. I empathize for him.
‘Check for me what medication was effective on him.’
“He’s mentioned that his condition got a little better, but what kind of medication was that?”
“At first, a Gordonede ointment had worked. But now, we use Sagephoenix and it only barely works to soften his skin anymore.”
‘I have heard of that before. ‘Tis quite the rare medicine he is using.’
Well, he used to be an amazing smith, right? He probably has quite a bit saved up in the bank.
Anyway, is it curable?
‘Shall I speak frankly?’
Please.
‘As far as I can tell, ‘tis a wart. Quite a unique one at that.’
Huh? Like, corns on his feet type deal?
But all the way up his body?
‘Warts are but a cause of bacteria, aye? In that case, what he needs is disinfectant.’
W-Well, yeah...
‘However, the truth is that it is too stubborn of a wart. Likely to be caused by monsters, much like Bloodflower. If even a salve made of Sagephoenix is but effective, then he will need to be administered drugs for a lengthy amount of time. Perhaps then, he can be cured... but that is only conjecture based on my knowledge of available medicines.’
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