Chapter 1-13 : The Girl Decides, And The Cat Supports Her
The next morning, the elderly couple woke up and ate the soup Yoyo made last night.
The black spots on their faces started to fade and the lump on their necks started to shrink. They were getting better.
Elle was sure that they would be fully recovered from the illness in a few days.
「Ojou-san, thank you very much. You saved our lives.」(elderly man)
「Thank you. I’m sorry we don’t have anything to give.」(elderly woman)
「No, it’s fine. Seeing you getting better is the best token of gratitude ever.」(Elle)
「You are too kind… By the way, I had a weird dream while I was sleeping. I dreamed your cat was talking and taking care of us.」(elderly man)
「That’s strange. I had a similar dream.」(elderly woman)
「A, ahaha… Th, that’s truly a strange dream…」(Elle)
ーBang bang bang!
While they were talking in the elderly couple’s room, suddenly someone knocked on the door violently.
Yoyo approached Elle and poked her feet. He looked somewhat serious, perhaps because he felt malicious intent.
「I wonder who that is…」(elderly man)
「They wouldn’t have knocked that hard if they were someone from this village.」(elderly woman)
Seeing Yoyo’s face and hearing what the elderly woman said, Elle thought that it might be the people with bird masks.
「I will go see them. Can I borrow this blanket?」(Elle)
「Sure, but what for?」(elderly man)
「I’ll pretend to be Obaa-san.」(Elle)
「I see.」(elderly man)
Elle grabbed the worn-out brown blanket from the cupboard, covered her head and face with it, and went to the entrance.
「Yes, yes… I’m coming…」(Elle)
While trying to sound like an old woman, Elle opened the door.
As expected, it was one of the people with bird masks.
She bowed a bit lower and pulled the blanket on her head a bit forward to cover her face even more.
「Oh, my… Isn’t it one of The Miraculous Saviors? What can I do for you, Sir?」(Elle)
「Is there anyone in this house who got infected with black spot disease?」(man in bird mask)
「Fortunately, my husband and I are doing fine.」(Elle)
「Is that so? That’s too baー I mean, that’s great. I advise you to stay at home for a while. Also, don’t take baths in hot water because it will attract the pathogens that cause black spot disease. 」(man in bird mask)
（Hot water attracts pathogens? No, no. It will kill them!）
Listening to his nonsense strengthened Elle’s belief that these people really were scammers.
「I can’t take baths in hot water…?」(Elle)
「Yeah. Don’t worry. If you follow my instructions, you won’t get infected. According to the villagers, twenty people have died these past few weeks. You don’t want to be the next person dying, do you?」(man in bird mask)
「Of course. I will be careful. Thank you…」(Elle)
As Elle said that, the man held out his hand.
Elle thought he was asking for a handshake, so she held out her hand too, but when she tried to grab the man’s hand, he slapped Elle’s.
「Don’t touch me!」(man in bird mask)
「E, Ehh…?」(Elle)
「What? Do you think I want to shake hands with you? Are you stupid?」(man in bird mask)
「S, So… What do you…」(Elle)
「Don’t pretend like you don’t know what I want! Money! I want my money!」(man in bird mask)
「Mo… Money…?」(Elle)
「You don’t think I gave that valuable information for free, do you? It cost one silver coin!」(man in bird mask)
「One silver coin…? I’m sorry, Sir, but I don’t even have a single copper coin.」(Elle)
「What? Are you kidding me?」(man in bird mask)
「My husband and I are living a poor life… We don’t have money, but we have some vegetable soup from last night. I can pay you with that. It’s really delicious.」(Elle)
「Huuh!? Don’t be stupid! Just give me my money!」(man in bird mask)
「I told you we don’t have money. You can search the entire house if you want.」(Elle)
「Alright, I’ll do it then!」(man in bird mask)
「Ah, before you go inside, I have to tell you that…」(Elle)
「What?」(man in bird mask)
「My house is haunted…」(Elle)
Saying that, Elle slowly opened the door to purposely make an eerie creaking noise.
At the same time, Yoyo, who was hiding his appearance, whispered into the man’s ear.
「Boooooooo~~~…..」(Yoyo)
「Hiiiiiiiiyy!! You should have told me sooner! S-screw your money! I’m getting the hell outta here!」(man in bird mask)
Just when he was about to step inside, he immediately turned around and dashed, running away as fast as he could.
「Bwahaha! Look at him!」(Yoyo)
「Fufu! Good job, Yoyo!」(Elle)
After chasing away the man, Elle closed the door and returned to the elderly couple’s room.
「It was one of the people in bird masks.」(Elle)
「So, it was one of the Miraculous Saviours.」(elderly man)
「Yeah. Umm… There’s something I have to tell you. It’s about those people.」(Elle)
Now that she was sure that she had gained the elderly couple’s trust, Elle decided to tell them the truth about those evil people.
She told them that they were not saviors or doctors, but a bunch of con men who scammed sick people and made money out of them.
They went from one village to another and pretended to heal sick people there. The treatment they gave to the villagers was completely fake.
The elderly couple were shocked when they heard what Elle said, but they didn’t seem to doubt it at all.
「I see… So they were not saviors or anything like that…」(elderly man)
「Oh, god…」(elderly woman)
「Umm… Do you believe me…?」(Elle)
「Ojou-san, you saved our lives. How could we not believe you?」(elderly man)
「That’s right. For us, you are the Miraculous Savior.」(elderly woman)
「Thank you.」(Elle)
Elle let out a sigh of relief. She was glad that the elderly couple believed her instead of hating her for insulting those people.
「Ojou-san, I’m very grateful to you, but as you can see, we are fine now thanks to you. I suggest you leave this place as soon as possible.」(elderly man)
「That’s right. You will get infected if you stay here any longer.」(elderly woman)
「U, Uhh…」(Elle)
As the elderly couple said, Elle should leave the village.
However, she wondered if it was really okay if she abandoned the other villagers.
The people in bird masks spread misleading information that might cause black spot disease to spread even faster.
She remembered Moritz once told her about a village that was burned by the government to stop a plague from spreading to nearby towns.
Elle didn’t want this village to end like that.
「Ojii-san, do you know how many people live in this village?」(Elle)
「Hmm… I don’t know the exact number, but I think it’s less than a hundred. Why do you ask?」(elderly man)
Without answering the elderly man, Elle crouched down and secretly whispered to Yoyo.
「Yoyo, can we stay here a bit longer? I want toー」(Elle)
「ーYou want to save the other villagers, don’t you? You won’t stop even if I tell you. Well, I don’t mind staying a bit longer. Of course, I will help you as much as I can.」(Yoyo)
「Thank you, Yoyo.」(Elle)
The villagers here had suffered terribly because of the people in bird masks. If that continued, all the sick people here would die.
Elle had no responsibility to heal them, but she had the ability to do so. She knew she would greatly regret it if she chose to abandon them.
She stood up and looked at the elderly couple lying in the bed with determined eyes.
「Ojii-san, Obaa-san, I’m sorry. I’ve decided. I will stay a while longer to heal the other villagers. I will save everyone!」(Elle)
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