Chapter 14: Anger
“Are you sure? I mentioned before that they have a certain aggressiveness towards the living.”
“It’s fine. Even if there is a certain aggressiveness, their physical condition doesn’t allow them to engage in any intense movement.”
Fisher looked at the nearly falling-apart dried bones in the prison cell. Even if they were alive, considering their long-term minimal food intake, it was already a miracle they were still alive.
Seeing that Fisher wanted to enter, Keken ultimately had the soldiers open the prison door and also asked them to hand him a torch, as he wanted to go in with Fisher.
“Actually, you could stay outside. I can go in by myself.”
Keken smiled, “It’s alright. It’s just right to use the torch for lighting. If there are any issues, I can answer you right away.”
Fisher nodded and stepped into the dark, damp prison cell. It seemed that the patients inside sensed the presence of a living person and struggled to get up, but their frail bodies couldn’t move an inch, only struggling in place and staring at Fisher with their bulging eyes.
A few of the patients who had been in the cell for a shorter time and were still somewhat robust crawled toward Fisher, extending their hands to him desperately. However, even so, they could only crawl a step or two before losing all their strength, helplessly roaring in place.
“Have their identities been confirmed?”
Fisher crouched beside an immobile patient. As he brought the torch closer, he saw the dried blue liquid on the patient’s face, just as Keken had mentioned; that blue liquid was seeping from his body.
“Uh, this… it’s a bit complicated. These people have all sorts of identities: rural households, hunters, merchants from Shivali, and even maids from traveling guests. It doesn’t seem to have any commonality, and based on the descriptions from their friends and families, they haven’t been to the same places. Many of them even contracted this illness without leaving their homes.”
The more Fisher listened, the tighter his brows furrowed, finding Keken’s detailed description increasingly intriguing. If there were no commonalities, then what exactly was causing the illness?
“There shouldn’t have been any corresponding illness on the Western Continent, right, Mr. Fisher?” Keken crouched on the ground holding the torch, addressing Fisher, “If you’re interested, you could include them in your new paper. I randomly named it Crazy Blue Syndrome; how about we call it Fisher’s Crazy Blue Syndrome?”
Fisher couldn’t help but chuckle, “I’m not the one who’s sick. Why would you use my name for it?”
Keken laughed as well, the torch swaying slightly, causing the light to shift just enough for Fisher to see the darkened veins on the patient.
Something was off.
Fisher seemed to notice something and borrowed a knife from a nearby soldier. He made a small cut on the patient’s withered skin, and amid the patient’s numb, painful roar, thick blue liquid flowed from the wound, dripping onto the ground.
“Wait, that blue liquid is their blood?”
Keken also noticed this development. Fisher had previously noticed the strange color of these people’s bodies and thought it was due to insufficient nutrition, but he hadn’t anticipated that their blood had turned blue.
The veins and body functions appeared unaffected; the only abnormality was the color of the blood.
If that were the case, then what about the magical circuits?
Fisher suddenly thought of this. As long as one is human, there must be a complete magical circuit within their body. Unlike subhuman races like sorceresses, the magical circuits in humans only account for a small part of their bodies. The causes behind the formation of magical circuits are still fiercely debated in contemporary academia.
There are two mainstream theories: one posits that magical circuits are a smaller biological structure that cannot be observed due to insufficient existing technology, making them invisible to the naked eye but felt to exist; the other theory suggests that magical circuits exist independently from human biological structures and are perceived by humans because they originate from a deeper existence, such as the “soul.”
This thought flashed through Fisher’s mind. Suddenly, he raised his staff, the end of the staff, engraved with intricate patterns, lit up as he gently poked it at the patient’s body. The next moment, as the magical light touched the patient’s body, it suddenly vanished without a trace, changing Fisher’s expression slightly.
“Mr. Fisher, what are you…?”
Hearing Keken’s confusion, Fisher didn’t speak but gently poked the glowing staff against Keken’s pants. This time, the light of the staff wove upward along Keken’s body, as if there were a winding yet complete path. Following that, the light circled within his body before returning to Fisher’s staff.
“Ah.”
Keken let out a comfortable breath. When he opened his eyes again, the haze from the alcohol had completely disappeared. “Is this… healing magic?”
Fisher nodded, his expression becoming extremely serious, “The magical circuits in these patients have disappeared.”
“Disappeared?”
Keken almost dropped his jaw in shock. Humanity had yet to figure out how magical circuits formed and couldn’t even observe their existence by means other than magic. Yet now, in front of them, there was a disease that could completely strip humans of their magical circuits.
The reason Fisher had never encountered such a disease was that they had never experienced the disappearance of magical circuits, and of course, they didn’t know what would happen if humans lost their magical circuits.
“If the anti-magic scholars in Shivali knew about this, it would surely shatter their worldview.”
After a moment of silence, Keken mumbled.
The anti-magic scholars from Shivali are a faction within academia that claim magic burdens the body due to its use, asserting that using magic consumes life. Many perspectives on the uselessness of magical circuits have emerged from this notion.
Fisher stood up and said to Keken, “The conditions here are too crude. I’ll take some samples back to Saint Nali to examine in detail. If I reach any conclusions, I’ll contact you as soon as possible.”
Keken glanced at the bare environment and understood that even Fisher couldn’t draw immediate conclusions there.
Fisher collected some of their blue blood and confirmed the status of their magical circuits with his staff before preparing to take his leave from Keken.
“Are you only staying here for one day?”
As they reached the bottom of the prison stairs, Keken still felt a bit regretful. “Why not stay a little longer? I heard that the Kexiening Circus is touring the Southern Continent recently. I’m planning on going to see it.”
Facing Keken’s invitation, Fisher smiled. After all, he had just brought Raphael and the others from Kexiening and wondered if their leader Colin would be scared and run away upon seeing him again.
“Maybe not. I have other important matters to attend to.” He glanced at Raphael, who was looking in a certain direction. “If I have the opportunity, I’ll invite you to the opera house when I return to Saint Nali.”
“It would be more suitable to go to the Black Mamba Palace.”
He smiled gentlemanly. The Black Mamba Palace is an upscale restaurant in Saint Nali, known for its specialty black mamba wine that was previously exclusively served to the royal family and only became available to the public after parliamentary reforms, albeit at a steep price.
Fisher nodded, said goodbye to Keken, who was getting onto the carriage, and then deliberately walked along the street where subhuman slaves were being sold.
Raphael silently followed behind him. Although the atmosphere in the street was lively, the atmosphere between them inexplicably grew silent, like a heavy water pond.
“Please come and take a look at my goods, gentlemen passing by! We have werewolves that can guard your homes, as well as precious dragon races. Their blood and scales are valuable treasures!”
Fisher glanced at the trembling young dragon in the cage for a moment, pausing slightly as if waiting for something. However, after a second or two, the atmosphere remained silent.
So he adjusted his hat and continued walking toward the stable, holding his staff.
Raphael, watching the dragon race slave in the cage, gritted her teeth, her claws tightening. The tip of her tail formed a small whirlpool, and those familiar with the dragon race would know this was a sign of an impending eruption.
“Get out of here! Where did this dragon race slave come from? Hurry up and get away from here; don’t block my way!”
Perhaps Raphael had blocked in front of the cage for too long, the bandaged hunter said “Tsk” and waved at her as if shooing away a fly. She simply lowered her head again, steam beginning to billow from her clothing, startling that hunter into instinctively taking a step back.
“Where’s your damn master? Why let such a thing run wild in the streets?!”
“Raphael.”
Raphael’s body paused slightly. She stiffly turned her head to find Fisher looking at her, quietly speaking.
She understood the implication of Fisher’s words; the game belonged to the two of them. If she dared to raise her hand against other humans, then the game would no longer continue, and neither would Ral…
Raphael seemed to want to grind her teeth to dust. She lowered her head into silence, and even the unsettling steam began to dissipate slowly.
“Ha! Your damn master has finally realized the harm of letting a mad dog like you run around! Get away from me, or I’ll call the soldiers to come and take that damned bastard away!”
Seeing this scene, the nearby slave trader, who was panting in fear, seemed to see her bound by the slave mark and his expression turned angry again. He pointed at Raphael, shouting, “You!”
Although Raphael didn’t understand the human language, she could clearly see the disgusting expression on the hunter’s face.
Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn!!
Damn humans!
Damn!!
“Roar!!”
The steam on her body suddenly exploded, sending the nearby slave trader flying backward. She could no longer contain herself; her claws spread wide like five knives, her pupils constricting intensely, charging at the tall figure of Fisher, who had his back to her.
The rage in her heart felt as if it would burn her body away, and the roaring steam frightened pedestrians, making them retreat in fear of being harmed by the rampaging dragon.
Yet the gentleman at the center of Raphael’s vision still did not move an inch.
Fisher merely turned his head slightly to look at her. His left hand rested on his hat, and beneath the pure black brim, his icy gaze was terrifying.
Thank you for reading and voting. Thank you all.
(*`*)
(End of Chapter)
