Spreading in the Shadows

Lynch was currently feeling exceptionally grateful for two things.

First, he was grateful for local customs: ever since the Mythological Era, buildings in this world had always been fitted with doors.

Second, he was grateful that the infected had not learned how to open doors.

As a result, the situation was better than he had anticipated—even if only marginally so.

Among the other three guards' households, one consisted solely of an elderly couple. Reluctant to indulge in such luxury themselves, the parents had set aside just one portion for their son's dinner the previous evening while making do with their own household rations. Consequently, both remained hale and hearty.

The families of the other two guards, however, had all eaten a little. As a result, all nine people had become infected. Fortunately, their doors were quite sturdy; Terry and his soldiers had arrived before the madmen could break them down and attack pedestrians outside.

The situation had been contained in time, yet nobody felt like celebrating. Anyone with half a brain could see that the city's state was like a rotting, battered ship, liable to spring a leak at any seam. Though they had patched the breaches that had surfaced so far, no one could predict whether the next hole would send the entire vessel straight to the bottom.

Danger lurked everywhere, but for the moment, disaster was kept at bay.

Still, with nine more infected, the dungeon was nearly bursting at the seams. Yet with the medicine likely to be formulated by tomorrow, executing these people outright felt far too cruel. No one had the heart to carry out such an order, so they had no choice but to squeeze them all in together. After all, the madmen were hardly in any state to complain about their accommodations.

All the suspected contaminated food had been gathered in one place. One household had already polished off everything, leaving behind only empty sacks and baskets. The leftovers from the other two families were piled together with Bruno's; judging by their contents and portion sizes, all four were practically identical—clearly prepared in uniform batches.

With his pipe between his teeth, Lynch stared intently at the food, murmuring a few words to the two ladies now and then. The fully armored Knight Terry stood respectfully to the side, arms hanging, anxiously watching Lynch's expression.

“I'm mulling something over,” Lynch said with a sigh, taking pity on the rugged knight's anxious gaze. “I've come across my fair share of stories about people living in hardship. Those who are used to scraping by rarely have the heart to devour fine, delicate food in a single sitting. Moderation, nibbling just a tiny taste like the other households did, is far more natural. So, what happened to the family that left behind only empty containers?”

“Did they... hide the food?”

“That would be the best-case scenario, but I fear otherwise. I'm worried they only kept a fraction for themselves and sold the rest before dinner yesterday,” Lynch replied with a grim smile. “Which means these dangerous goods may have been split into countless portions, quietly passing hand to hand through the city's corners. My only hope is that whoever bought them can't bear to eat them right away and holds off at least until tomorrow evening. Otherwise...”

Knight Terry froze, his face turning ashen. After a long moment, he stomped his foot. “I'll have my men investigate immediately, going door to door. We must find every scrap, no matter the cost!”

“Ensure absolute secrecy. Panic can be far more destructive than any plague,” Lynch cautioned. “And dispatch the soldiers to do it; don't go yourself. There's something we need to discuss with you.”

Terry's heart sank even further. After arranging for the soldiers to conduct the door-to-door inquiry, he hurried right back. He didn't dare take Lynch's words lightly in the slightest, hanging on every syllable as if receiving a royal decree.

“I want to consider what our adversary actually intends to do, and to what extent,” Lynch said, gesturing for Judy to translate as he explained to Knight Terry. “Prior to these four guards, the enemy's actions were targeted. Whether it was the ill-fated travelers or Leonard and Kemitt, every strike had a precise recipient. Even though bites spread the infection, the vector was targeted at its source. We can view that stage as experimental.”

The armored knight nodded vigorously, though Lynch doubted how much he truly grasped. After all, the man had certainly never set foot in a twenty-first-century university laboratory.

Regardless, Lynch was mainly using the conversation to organize his own thoughts. He continued his deduction: “Starting with the families of these four guards, however, the behavioral pattern underwent a marked shift. The targets began spilling over to their relatives, and eventually to completely uninvolved bystanders. A change like this usually points to an underlying reason: namely, the preliminary experiment succeeded, and the mastermind is preparing to broaden the testing scope to gather more data.”

“And now, the results of this expanded trial are already rolling in. So, what comes next? If they're satisfied and pack up to conduct other experiments, then containing the infected we already have means we're in the clear.”

Though he said this aloud, Lynch sighed inwardly. He wished developments would follow such a neat script, but the information from his deep reading told a far different story.

“However, if they intend to keep expanding the scope, or if one of their objectives is to unleash this plague across the entire city and wipe it out completely, then we aren't safe for a single second. Take this contaminated food, for instance. Right now, I can sense an anomaly, but the sensation is already extremely faint. I can't guarantee I'd still detect it if the concentration were any lower, nor can I guarantee I'll spot the source of the next test. For all we know, under the mastermind's schemes, we could unknowingly eat tainted food tonight and all turn into raving lunatics together.”

“So the situation could unravel at any moment. We have to hold out at least until the medicine is ready, and we must prepare for the worst-case scenario: what if the antidote can't be formulated, or its efficacy falls short?” As he spoke, Lynch suddenly paused, furrowing his brows in thought. After a moment, he exhaled a soft sigh, gathered himself, and continued, “Right now, the most effective approach is to walk on two legs: develop the medicine while simultaneously uncovering the person responsible for all of this. Well, Sir Knight, do you have any thoughts on the matter?”

Knight Terry kept his lips tightly sealed, his expression taut and silent, but a storm of conflicted emotions churned in his eyes.

“In truth, we already have our suspicions, but we are outsiders. Anything we say lacks credibility,” Lynch said with a calm smile. “The facts are laid out before you. It's up to you to consider the answer.”

“I...” Knight Terry looked around, ensuring none of his men were nearby and that only the travelers stood beside him, before lowering his voice. “Before Kemitt and Leonard set off, the city lord granted them a private audience to instruct them on how to report to their superiors. That is standard procedure. However, once the audience concluded, they departed directly from the City Lord's residence instead of returning to the fortress for rations.”

“Is that unusual?”

“It's also normal, because the city lord cares deeply for his soldiers. He often has rations prepared directly from the mansion's kitchen for men dispatched on messenger duty.”

“Food from the City Lord's residence naturally wouldn't be ordinary fare. It would certainly be high-grade, refined ingredients,” Lynch smiled, eyeing the tainted food before them. “Just like these?”

Knight Terry pressed his lips together. “Large slabs of smoked meat, fresh fruit, fine flour... these aren't things common folk can easily produce, let alone four identical batches at once. What you said just now reminded me of something. A few days ago, Mr. Locke, the steward of the City Lord's residence, came to see me. He said he needed to borrow four soldiers in a couple of days to help move some crates, and I told him to pick them himself.”

“You think it might have been those four? So, what do you plan to do?”

“I'm going to see the city lord and demand a clear explanation to his face.”

“That's exactly why Dr. Sven held you back.” Lynch rolled his eyes, nudging him in the right direction. “Confronting the city lord right now would be the foolish move. Rather than rashly questioning the city lord, why not start by asking the wondrous... why not ask the steward first?”

With that, Lynch pulled the knight aside and murmured into his ear. The knight nodded repeatedly as he listened, before hurrying off, filled with renewed hope.