The Baby Isn’t Yours

[<Report 1, about rapidly spreading ‘demonic disease’ in the capital city>]

The current report consider trends from now to the last 6 months.

A strange skin disease called ‘demonic disease’ is currently spreading in the Empire (the capital is the main spreading plase).

It mainly affects active soldiers and veterans or their families.

It was assumed that by this time a disease could have developed and spread in the imperial palace, or that was transferred there during the war.

The main symptoms include 1. Dark red spots 2. Itching 3. Sensitivity to pain 4. Mild fever.

Although it’s not contagious, it remains a symptom found mostly in families living in the same house, so further research is needed.

The reason it was called ‘demonic disease’ is because characters with skin diseases become more and more ferocious. The skin layer gradually turns black.

Right now, the only remedy that can temporarily alleviate the ‘demonic disease’ is the Akan Kingdom’s Akan Cream.

Due to the explosive demand for Akan Cream, it’s impossible to ensure its supply.

<Note>

[Akan, the exporting country, has declared its full support and has decided to provide an additional 3 000 boxes of Akan Cream.

In addition, they expressed their intention to attend the meeting with an additional 2 000 boxes of Akan Cream at this ‘Imperial Meeting’.

The Prince of Akan Kingdom ‘Buford Adio’ will be present as the king’s representative.]

“Ahh!”

The boy ran.

It was a sunny afternoon.

The boy threw away the clothes of the imperial palace and raced, wearing a rag that he had hidden a long time ago.

‘Faster Faster! They can’t catch me.’

A grassy field that no one cared about for a long time.

The boy’s face was filled with fear as he ran across the muddy grass.

“Ha-a, ha-a!”

The day the child first entered the palace as a servant.

It was a meeting place for gentlemen and ladies, drinking tea, looking at the beautiful fairy forest in the distance. This place, that always was before cheerful with fragrant tea, butterflies and flowers, was now abandoned.

This changed just 4 years ago.

This creature, who came to serve the beautiful nobility, soon turned into a child, and the sign of death appeared on his envious face.

The boy ran with all his might to escape from the palace, which has now become a terrible nightmare.

‘Okay, we’ll have to go there.’

Gritting his teeth, the boy ducked and ran.

If he is caught, he is dead. He will also fall prey to these demons of the underworld and die a terrible death.

‘He will cut me into pieces. The mad doctor will tear me apart and throw me like a food to those terrible demons!’

The boy squeezed his eyes shut tightly, trying to forget the cruel scene that continued to flash before him.

But it was useless.

On the contrary, when he closed his eyes, the scene that the boy had seen a few days earlier only surfaced more vividly in his memory.

Dozens of huge bathtubs filled with blood.

And dozens of corpses dangling above them.

Humans, monsters, and fairies alike clung to each other and bled to death.

And also the royal palace doctor Lirik and the King of this country, calmly pacing between that all.

“Besides… fairies’ bodies don’t look like demons’ bodies. If you just stick them in there, all the tissues will decompose.”

“In order to implant them into demons, you need a mana stone from a fairy of a higher level, which can counteract them.”

“Don’t you know how difficult it is to get a high-ranking mana stone?”

“Well, what’s the point of mixing demons and fairies? If you’re going to punish these guys, make them jump barefoot.”

“Leave the fairies alone for now. As promised, the first thing to do is to overthrow the Empire. You said you want to see a human country without gods.”

“Well. But today, even that is annoying… It’s not in line with my principles to act like a mouse.”

“Your Majesty.”

“…Hmm, it’s good to hear ‘Your Majesty’.” I wonder if that’s why people sell their souls and summon demons?”

With a cruel smile, the King pulled the corpse of a young man hanging on the wall and began to gnaw on his fingers.

Hearing the sound of breaking bones, the boy nearly wet himself.

‘Why did I come here…?’

The sick King, who was once like a corpse, came back to life and wandered around the palace.

Since then, the royal servants have disappeared one by one, and at some point there were hundreds of them, and then about forty altogether.

The boy was one of them.

A servant who, unnoticed by the King and the nobility, cleaned the palace, prepared food for them and carried out the orders of the nobility. From that day on, he simply worked, not asking about colleagues who disappeared one after another. Instinct told him that if he looked back, something terrible would happen. Then the boy was saved and focused on the task he was given.

“Take this and come back.”

On that day, he briefly stayed in the basement to carry out the instructions of a nobleman who was passing by.

So if it was a sin to look through an open door out of curiosity, then he did it.

The boy was trembling at the strange sight of dead bodies hanging upside down and couldn’t move. In this state, he listened to the growing voice and, frightened, huddled behind the mutilated bodies.

Trembling among the graves of cold corpses, from which all the blood flowed clean, he waited for the departure of the King and the doctor.

Even when Ahin’s face, who served with him until last month as a servant, appeared before the eyes of a boy who was lying on his back and couldn’t breathe normally…

He gritted his teeth and held back any sound.

And when he was finally alone, the boy crawled out of the room with all his might.

‘I need to get out of here right now.’

What was most worrying was that he didn’t get the medicine that the royal palace had given him on an errand.

A sign of loyalty.

Nobles and servants were supposed to receive medicine.

Without medicine, they had headaches all day, vomiting and a destructive desire to destroy everything.

In fact, those who refused the drug caused problems at first, and several people died. However, if you simply take the medicine, all symptoms will disappear in an instant.

Their minds were a little tired, but their stamina and strength were increasing.

Everyone was addicted to these drugs, and without them they were anxious. Society’s loyalty was more about drugs than money.

The boy was also addicted to drugs, but his addiction was weaker than that of the others. He vomited all night the first day, when he ate the medicine he was specially given, saying that it was good for ‘relieving fatigue’.

Because he was in a hurry, he vomited everything he ate.

However, the vomit was strange.

Obviously, bile should have come out, but strangely what came out was black water. Not to mention the disgusting smell.

It was a little strange. He hasn’t eaten all day…

Because of this, the boy didn’t want to eat the medicine, even when he had to take it again the next month.

He swallowed it, but felt that he was about to vomit.

However, there were so many people who believed in the effectiveness of the drug that after a while they began to take it.

Because of this, even now, his addiction to drugs was lower than that of anyone else.

‘…Everything is fine. I took a lot of medicine.’

The boy ran, aware of the bottle in his pocket, and finally reached the fairy forest.

“Ha-ha, ha-ha!”

Holding his breath, the boy looked back at the palace from the fairy forest.

He didn’t think about it when he just ran like crazy, but there was something odd about it.

‘Why was it so easy?’

Because the escape was much easier than he thought.

No matter how long the prince and Lirik were outside, there were always suspicious knights there. Inhuman knights guarding the royal palace.

However, the boy never ran into them as he left the palace.

As if someone had already cleared the way for him.

‘It can’t be…’

He shook his head hastily to dispel any distracting thoughts.

Rising majestically under the midday sun, the royal palace was beautiful and luxurious, like in a fairy tale. However, for some reason it seemed gloomy, like a graveyard for the unknowingly dead.

The boy looked back, looked at the castle, and hurried back to the fairy forest.

* * *

‘I’m terribly thirsty.’

It’s been two days already.

The boy pressed his lips to the water bottle he was carrying, but not a drop came out.

‘…I’m going to die like this?’

He laughed in disappointment.

He was lucky that he wasn’t torn to pieces, draining the blood from the body.

It was hard, because he was tormented by thirst, but it didn’t hurt.

Holding onto his tousled hair, the boy moved forward.

The strange thing was that it was too quiet in the fairy forest. There was no fog showing illusions, no spirits playing pranks. Even though the night was deep, not even the spirit of darkness could be seen.

Only terrible darkness.

The silence went on endlessly, as if everything was hidden without making a sound.

In addition, he couldn’t see the way out of the forest, as he had gone too deep.

He seemed to have lost his way.

“…I don’t want to die.”

The boy lay down for a while, chewing the roots.

He was hungry, his head ached, and his strength had long since left him.

‘Should I take the medicine?’

The first day he survived without taking medication.

When night fell, he felt his energy dwindle, and soon the boy’s mind was filled with anger.

A madness arose, filled with the desire to destroy everything. His arms and legs were numb.

However, as he approached a certain place in the forest, this itch gradually decreased. And if he could survive without taking medicine, he would like to do that. However, he couldn’t find the exact spot where his head cleared up.

“It feels like I keep going in circles in the same place.”

It seemed to him that he had fallen into an invisible labyrinth.

If you go inside, then there must be something, but he couldn’t find the entrance.

At that moment, all the boy’s strength evaporated, and his motivation also decreased.

‘Still, if I take this medicine, I think my stamina will recover a little…’

The boy took out the bottle of medicine from his pocket.

‘I’ll take one.’

After hesitating, the boy opened the bottle and took out a pill.

And just as he was about to put it in his mouth, someone grabbed his wrist.