《A Fungal Dream》Chapter 25. Human Nature

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Elves and I have been walking for days, passing through rivers and tall grasses. We were naturally attacked by monsters and even bandits tried to have a taste of us, but the elves disposed of them before they could do anything.

This really makes me wonder why I am here. Everybody is strong enough to protect themselves. The only thing I did till now was put bandages on their scratches while applying some healing potions on them.

By the way, I found a newfound respect for the elves.

Turns out, the Black Thong kingdom is located in the middle of a mountain range.

These pointy eared guys dragged their wounded to us, who knows how many died.

While we were marching through a dense forest, the sun shone down on our parsley.

One of the elves,

“We will be home shortly. Be prepared for anything.”

“Finally.”

From a thick batch of bushed, we looked out to the village.

It was…different from what I have expected.

It was the same sort of small, rural area you would see in video games, albeit it was ruined, burned black by flames.

What was surprising was the white flowers growing on the ground, covering almost all surfaces on the ground.

Those plants… they look familiar.

“Wait here. I will scoot forward.”

Before they could say anything else, I stood up and sneaked there.

Examining the nearest flower, I found what I was afraid of.

The pollen of these flowers was black.

“This is the flower which grew from that girl’s body when I infected here. How did it get here?”

Not knowing what to do with it, I went back to the group.

“These are poisonous plants. One-touch and you are dead. My body is naturally immune to this kind of poison, so I will go forward to find a way to get rid of them.”

“Alright. We will stay here and alert you if there is something. “

Nodding, I went to the flowers and with a deep breath passed through them.

Feeling anxious, I put my mask on, calming me somehow.

Why am I even anxious about it? These guys are inoffensive to me.

I went deeper into the village, finding something quite interesting.

It was a pile, covered in white flowers.

“This must be the source of the infection. What did they use as a catalyst?”

I grabbed a handful of flowers and pulled them out.

Behind them was the familiar mold…covering what seemed to be the hand, burned back.

“… No way.”

I pulled out another handful, finding now a severely burned leg.

“They used the dead as nutrients for the flowers. How can they even imagine something so horrible? How did they even get their hands on the flowers anyway? The only source they could get it from is from the samples from my lab… and the girl. D-Did the church weaponized it?”

Why? Why would they do something like that? What was the point of killing so many innocent people?!

“Wha-Who are you?”

I turned facing someone wearing a white overall with a white silver mask covering their face.

“You are not one of us. An intruder! How are you even ali-UGGH!”

I didn’t think, just acted.

I pulled my left glove off and raised my finger at him, making my finger shout out somehow, transforming it into a wipe, which grabbed the throat of that guy.

“Talk. Who are you people?! How did you do this?! Where did you get the flower!?”

“I-I won’t...say anything…monster.”

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“This is bloody pointless.”

I grabbed his mask and tore it off, exposing his scarred face.

“Now you are unprotected. Tell me what I need to know, or I will shave your place into the ground and turn you into fertilizer!”

The boy, seemed to almost piss his pants, started to talk.

“W-We were sent here by the church! Our task was… was...”

“Oh, for god’s sake!”

I let go of the boy, and back his mask.

“Better?”

“Y-Yes.”

“Good”

I grabbed him by the collar and took his mask off.

“Continue.”

“What-Y-Yes! The Church sent us here to test out the new weapon our excellency gave us! When the test is done, we are supposed to report back and burn down the entire place.”

“… How are you going to contact these people?”

“The priest has a communication stone connected to headquarters! I don’t know how it works!”

“… Alright.”

I leaned forward and with my exposed thumb, I stretched his face slightly.

Letting out a faint scratch, he grabbed his face, horrified.

“I have infected you with the mold. I have the antidote, you can have it when you take me to your boss.

“Y-Yes! Yes! I wi-will take you there…sir.”

Shaking in fear, the boy stood up and shambled away.

Sticking to him closely, we left the village and a few meters away, we arrived at the campsite.

There were several tents arranged around a campfire, all made from white fabrics, with armored guards keeping watch.

Before they could notice me, I turned invisible and put my hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“Keep on walking.”

Nervously, we entered the campsite, the guards not even noticing my presence.

“Which one is the tent of the leader?”

“… It’s the biggest one, on our left.”

“… Wait here.”

I let him go and entered the tent.

It was nicely decorated, it reminded me of one of those luxury rooms you would find in a high-class villa, with expensive fur laid on the ground. There was even a chimney!

As I entered, I meet face to face, with a heavy wooden table, behind it a wrinkled old man was flipping through yellow pages, with a satisfying light in his eyes.

Guessing from the heavy gold chains around his neck, he must be the boss.

Slowly, I took out a knife and walked behind the fossil, not alerting him at all.

When I was sure he didn’t see me, I covered his mouth and stabbed his arm, pinning him down on the table.

As a muffled scream escaped his mouth, I turned visible so that he could see who he was dealing with.

Quickly, I took out another knife, and as he was about to reach for the one in his arm, I pinned it down as well.

He screamed again, tears flowing on my gloves.

“Quiet. Alert anyone and the next one is going into your neck. Understood?

The old man nodded. I slowly took away from his face and walked to the other side of the table so that we could talk face to mask.

“W-Who are you?”

“That’s a difficult question. For now, you can call me… The Father, creator of the mold you just used to kill all those people.”

Hearing this, the leader studied me for a while before talking again.

“So, you are the one who is behind the plague. I read the reports, and they don’t do justice about how hideous you look.”

“… In your current situation, I don’t believe that you have the luxury of judging me. Considering that, you killed an entire village.”

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“Those were nothing more than heretic low-humans! Slaves, created for us to use! They should rejoice for us blessing them with our divine mission!”

“Sigh, so cliché.”

I was expecting to hear race discrimination considering that I was in an isekai world, but hearing it seriously is something completely different.

I took off one of my gloves and, using another knife, cut one of my fingers, letting some blood drop on the table.

Soon, my mold started to grow, eating the wooden surface.

The boss looked at the mold, with wide eyes.

“You blood… You have God’s Touch in your blood!? You, a filthy lower human?!”

“God’s Touch? Is that what you are calling my mold? It doesn’t sound good to me, but I will keep it, since I haven’t named it yet. The important thing is that you used the mold I left behind as a weapon. I even went as far as lending the cure to you guys. And that pisses me off.”

The boss smiled as he breathed deeply, fighting the pain.

“You are a fool, then. With the plague, several people got infected. The cure you left us, only held back the infection, it didn’t cure it. After the higher-ups injected all the human populace, they saw the potential in it! This place is one of the many test zones! Soon we will use God’s Touch to eradicate all the filthy monsters on our planet, purging them from all sin! HAHAHAHAHAHA!”

This guy is a fanatic, he won’t tell me anything useful.

“Tell me, how are you able to contact the higher-ups?”

“Hehehe, as if I would tell you tha-AAAAAA! THE CRYSTAL! THE CRYSTAL IS LINKED TO THE HIGHER-UPS, YOU ONLY NEED TO FEED IT.”

“There you go, it only took you one broken finger.”

I went to the bluish crystal and lifted it up while feeding it with my energy.

“Old man Mark, I hope you have a good reason to-“

“Old man Mark is currently pinned down to his desk. Literally, by my knives.”

“Who am I talking to?”

“I am The Father, the one who isn’t happy to see his children being used by you.”

“Children? Who are you talk-“

“The mold. God’s Touch, or whatever stupid name you are calling it. I gave you the antidote to cure your people of the disease, and instead you turned it into a weapon.”

“… If you are truly the creator of this weapon, then you understand the power of it. With just a liter of water filled with spores, we destroyed 12 demi-human villages. By injecting ourselves with the cure, we became immune to its effects. When we harvest enough of it, we will become the true rulers of this world, and peace will reign.”

Immune? Not by a long shot. The serum only suppresses the stuff.

“Oh, but you forgot something.”

“And what is it?”

“Me. I am the one who made the mold. Do you really think that I cannot destroy it?”

“… I wouldn’t advise it. Think, if you join us, we can rule over everyone together. I will surely give you a place amongst us.”

“Even if I am not human?”

“…certain exception can be made.”

This is a trap or horribly biased. Plus, conquering worlds sound like a hassle, so no thanks.

“Not going to happen. This is your first and last warning, never use the mold again. If I see it as a weapon, I promise, you will beg me to kill you. And to show you that I am serious, I will do something.”

“… What will you do?”

“I will make all people here disappear.”

I threw the crystal on the floor, breaking it into pieces, with my foot.

“Did you know? It’s soon Christmastime. Let me teach you a merry song.”

*****

“Protect the doors!”

“Block the exits!”

“Treat the wounded, then quarantine them!”

“… Did we arrive at a bad time?”

When the elves and I arrived, the throne hall became a battlefield. People were wearing armors and weapons, hiding behind barricades made from tables or other things they could find.

When they noticed us, some elves screamed at me, firing arrows at my feet.

“Murderer!”

“Monster!”

“W-What is happening?”

I raised my hands, afraid to say anything.

“YOU!”

“Storming towards me was the King, looking at me with murderous rage.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing, I swear!”

“Then explain the army we just discovered in your lab!”

Not knowing what she was talking about, I shook my head and looked behind her, to the angry elves, who still looked quite enraged at me.

“My king, I don’t have the slightest idea of what you are talking about. May you tell me what is happening?”

“Tell? TELL?! Rather go there and FIX THIS!”

“Alright, alright, I am going.”

Sheesh, those the king in its time of the month…wait, can it be if it has… no, questions for later.

I passed through the barricades and arrived at the corridor of my lab.

“Oh, boy.”

Right, I saw what the problem was.

Spots of mold, covered the ground, slowly growing in size.

“What the hell did they do?”

I walked to the door of my lab, which and its surroundings were now covered in the mold, with a few vines hanging on the ceiling.

“ I should have given them better orders.”

Without opening the door, I passed through it arriving in my lab, which now looked like a garden.

The walls were green, and the ground was covered in white flowers.

There was no sign of my research equipment or the kayeri.

“If they got destroyed, I will get supper furious.”

As I looked around, I noticed a hole next to the wall, which led underground.

“Have they made a nest for themselves? Did they evolve or something?”

“… Father…”

From the hole, something crawled out.

It was one of those many-armed creatures, this specimen having 8 with several holes on its head.

“… Father…have returned.”

*****

A group of knights arrived at the empty campsite, staring at a construct in the middle of it.

It looked like a cross, which was sounded by the mold’s flowers, on it the old priest was tied in a T pose his eyes rolled back, tears flowing off of his cheeks, while he was muttering something.

G-God rest ye merry gentlemen.

Let…Let nothing you dismay.

Remember Ch-Christ our Savior.

Was born on-on Christmas Day.

To save us all from Satan's pow'r.

When we we-were gone astray.

Oh, tidings of comfort and joy.

Comfort and joy.

Oh, tidings of comfort and joy.

*

*

*

[

Name: Phil Smith 'Plague Father'

Race: [Molded High Elf] Lv: 1/100 (0/100)

Main Class: [Life Father]

Sub Class: [Rouge]

HP(Health Points): 240/24

SP(Stamina Points): 260

MP(Magic Points): 160/160

TMN (Tamed Monster Numbers): [231.810

Blessings: [Blessing of Nergal] [Blessing of Airmed]*

Active Skills: [Basic Steady Hand] [[Hive control] [Hive Absorption] [Hive Repulsion] [Mold Field] [Basic Spirit Voice] [Aether Vision] [Steam Engineering] [Dagger Arts][Presence Concealment] [Lock Picking]

Passive Skills: [Body Knowledge] [ Plant Knowledge] [Medicine Knowledge] [Stamina Enhancement] [ Movement Enhancement] [ Reflex Enhancement.] [Basic Sponge Mind] [Perfect Stomach] [Hive Mind] [Music Instrument Knowledge] [Prayer Knowledge] [Healing Hands]* [Medical Senses]* [Medical Mind]* [Surgical Precision]

Affinities: [Basic Farming Affinity] [Basic War Affinity] [Basic Pestilence Affinity][ Basic Fire Affinity.] [Basic Life Affinity] [Basic Death Affinity]

Titles: [The One Who Saw A Thousand Worlds] [Knowledge Driven] [Chosen by Flies] [Medicine Pioneer] [Hive Master] [Giver of Life]

]

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