Chapter 115
Elena took hold of Lily’s hand and headed down the road. After an hour of walking with Lily leading the way, a forest came into view.
“There’s a village beyond this forest,” Lily informed her.
“I see,” Elena replied, her gaze fixed on the forest’s entrance. The path to this point had been faint, but there were signs of blood inside the forest.
‘The blood of villagers? If not…’
It wasn’t just blood; they passed decaying animal corpses and what seemed to be human remains.
‘Surely, the royal soldiers wouldn’t leave such chaos behind, would they?’
Despite her unease, Elena kept her pace steady, wary of zombies or infected people possibly lurking nearby. Fortunately, nothing dangerous crossed their path, and soon they emerged from the forest.
A small village came into view just beyond the trees.
“This is our village,” Lily said.
Elena nodded in response to Lily’s words and raised her hand into the air. Magic flowed from her fingertips, enveloping them both.
“Wow, what is this?” Lily asked, astonished by the sudden glow.
“This is invisibility magic. Sister is a wizard,” Elena explained.
“Really? Are you a real wizard? Do magicians actually exist?”
Elena gave a nod and added a soundproofing spell to keep their voices from being overheard.
“Why are you casting spells?” Lily asked curiously.
“I thought it would make things easier,” Elena replied, though she didn’t offer further explanation. Lily, thrilled by the revelation of Elena being a wizard, didn’t press her.
The reason behind the invisibility and soundproofing spells was simple for Elena.
‘I don’t want to attract zombies or have a run-in with soldiers from the Kenen Kingdom.’
While proving her identity to them wouldn’t be difficult, Elena wasn’t there to form alliances. Her goal was to complete her first trial, stopping the epidemic. Dealing with the kingdom’s soldiers would only add unnecessary complications.
‘It’s quicker and safer to do this quietly, and it’s better for protecting Lily,’ she thought.
With that, Elena made sure they were completely undetectable.
“Lily, can you take me to where the infected are?” Elena asked.
“To the villagers?”
“Yes, we need to check their condition before we can treat them.”
“Okay!” Lily responded enthusiastically, grabbing Elena’s hand and leading her into the village.
Elena followed Lily into the village. It was small, but the surroundings weren’t too bad. While not highly developed, it also wasn’t overly primitive.
‘This village is close to the kingdom’s capital, which is probably why the royal soldiers arrived so quickly,’ Elena thought, as she observed the sparsely populated area and let Lily guide her further in.
As they ventured deeper, Elena began to notice the presence of Kenen Kingdom’s royal soldiers scattered throughout. Behind them, she spotted a barracks, and in the middle of it stood a prison-like structure made of iron bars.
‘There it is, zombies.’
Inside the prison, strange growling sounds like “Grrr—” echoed, and the figures within matched the zombies Elena knew well. Royal soldiers stood guard in front of the enclosure.
‘It seems not only villagers but even soldiers and capital guards have been infected.’
Elena glanced down at Lily, then back at the prison from a distance.
“Lily, thank you for guiding me. From here on, Sister will go alone. The spell will wear off in a few minutes, so find a safe place to hide in the meantime.”
“Sister, please save my mom and dad.”
“I will. Trust me, I’ll do my best to cure everyone as quickly as I can.”
“Thanks, sister.”
Elena gave Lily a comforting hug before moving ahead on her own.
She slipped past the Kingdom soldiers and quietly approached the prison, careful not to make contact with any of the guards. Standing in front of the iron bars, Elena muttered softly to herself.
“Hm….”
She made a promise to Lily, but could she really cure them?
‘At least the Kingdom soldiers don’t seem to mean any harm,’ she noted. They could have easily killed the infected, but instead, they had chosen to keep them imprisoned.
‘To prevent rumors from spreading and…’
A faint smile crossed her lips.
‘Even though they fear the unknown disease, they haven’t abandoned their people,’ she reflected, a strange sensation stirring within her. It was surreal, unlike anything she had ever encountered in books or films.
‘First, I need to examine these people closely.’
Elena focused on the infected inside the prison, who continued making unsettling “Grr—” noises. And then, she noticed something peculiar.
‘…Why does everyone have a mole on their right wrist?’
If only the villagers had it, she might have thought they were all distant relatives or shared some bloodline. But even the capital guards and royal soldiers had the same mark.
‘And something about it… seems familiar.’
The mole was in an unusual place, shaped like a semicircle, almost like a half-moon.
‘Wait… I’ve seen this before in the olden books,’ she realized, recalling her memories.
‘People who resemble zombies, with a mole in the shape of a semicircle…’
Then it hit her.
Of course! This is…!
****
Late that night, Elena entered the forest—the same one she had passed through earlier in the day while heading to the village.
‘I remember Lily mentioning that the villagers mainly ate fruit from this forest,’ she thought. If that was true, there might be a clue here.
Elena moved slowly through the woods, no longer using her invisibility or soundproofing spells. The moon shone brightly above, but clouds gradually covered it, darkening the sky.
The moment all light vanished, Elena acted swiftly.
Paah—!
“Grrr—!”
A creature was caught in her grasp. Without hesitation, Elena unleashed a powerful blast of magic toward it.
“Grrr, grrr—!” The creature convulsed briefly, stretched out, and then went still, its life quickly extinguished.
“I never thought Finnegans still existed,” she murmured.
Finnegans—bat-like creatures, though they resembled phoenixes more closely. These vicious beings had been thought extinct for hundreds of years.
‘They only come out at night when there’s no moonlight and attack humans quickly,’ she recalled.
When a person is bitten by a Finnegan, a mole in the shape of a semicircle appears on their skin.
‘And anyone with that mark turns into a zombie.’
Finnegan was a carnivore. It infected humans, causing them to attack others, though not to kill—just to spread the mark of the Finnegan. After two weeks of this cycle, all those infected die, and Finnegan waits for that moment to feast on them.
‘Long ago, it’s said that a small kingdom was destroyed by Finnegan,’ Elena recalled. But over time, the creature was believed to have gone extinct.
‘…Due to the emergence of a monster.’
Yet now, with no monsters to oppose them, Finnegan had reappeared in a small kingdom.
‘Fortunately, since I killed the Finnegan before the two-week period ended, the marks on the villagers should have disappeared.’
In other words, Elena had resolved her first trial.
However, her expression remained troubled.
Although they’ve cleansed the Black Continent, Finnegans were still out there. There could be more Finnegans, not only in the Kenen Kingdom but throughout the world.
‘When I return, I must inform the entire continent of this,’ she decided.
As long as the Finnegans were eliminated, the infection wouldn’t matter.
‘It’s not difficult to get rid of a Finnegan, so people just need to be made aware of its presence.’
Finnegan has a tendency to burrow into human skin. To prevent this, people wore iron armor, which stopped the creatures from penetrating. Once dead, Finnegans released harmful substances, so burning them was necessary.
Hmph.
After destroying the dead Finnegans, Elena cast invisibility and soundproofing spells on herself again and made her way back to the village.
“Hey! Hey! Why did you lock us up?!” voices cried out.
As expected, everyone who had been imprisoned had returned to normal. The royal soldiers, startled by the sudden change, hurriedly released them.
‘Since Finnegan disappeared long ago…’
People would naturally have forgotten about it. It was clear the situation needed to be explained properly.
She pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket, glancing at the confused but relieved villagers and royal soldiers. She began writing down all the details about Finnegan.
After finishing, she carefully folded the letter, sealing it with the mark of the Magic Tower, and imbued it with magic. The letter would fly directly to the King of the Kenen Kingdom.
‘That should take care of things,’ Elena thought with a smirk before flying to the sky.
At a certain point, she stopped mid-flight.
Elena spotted Lily asleep at the entrance of the alley and immediately went over to her. She gently reached out and called, “Lily.”
“Hm, sister?” Lily stirred, looking up at Elena.
With a warm smile, Elena said, “Go on, your parents are waiting. The epidemic is completely gone.”
“Re-really?” Lily’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Yes,” Elena confirmed.
Without hesitation, Lily jumped to her feet and started running. From a distance, Elena could hear her joyful cries as she called out to her parents.
Hearing this, Elena took to the sky once again.
Her first trial was finally complete.
