BZZZZZZZZT.

PAFF!

The enormous wasp-like insect fell on the floor.

"That's the sixth one already...", panted Araven.

Ferguson had told them they were called Plague Buzzers, or simply "Buzzers". Each one of those had more or less the size of a dog if you didn't count the wings, and the sound they made when flying triggered the instinctive response to immediately kill them, regardless of how big or dangerous they were.

"Wildlife here is... wild", said Ferguson.

"More like dangerous. What the hell's up with these things? Why's everything so damn big and aggressive?", asked Nero.

"I blame it on the Plague.", said Ferguson, "otherwise it wouldn't make any sense for bugs to be this size being so close to Nycea, where there aren't things like these."

"A fair assessment.", said Sharmon.

"And we're following the roads, you know. If we go deep into the wilds in a place like this, away from other people, we might run into trouble. And I mean big trouble.", he continued.

"Like a Plague Bringer?"

"Or a Dark Beast."

"That doesn't sound nice at all."

"It isn't. They are nothing like the crawlers, which are mostly herbivorous. These ones are full-on predators."

"What do we do? Is it even worth going on at this rate?", asked Araven.

Sharmon took a look at the dead bug.

"We can take this one back to Trena and examine it.", he said, "it is already dead, anyway."

"Huh, that's a pretty good idea. It should be a lot lighter than a crawler, too.", said Ferguson.

"How do we carry it, though? I don't wanna touch it, and it looks rather heavy, too.", said Nero.

"We should be able to make a rope with plant fiber and drag it.", said Sharmon.

"Oh, I know how to do that. It should only take half an hour.", said Ferguson.

"You choose the plants, then."

"Yeah, a few of these should be fine..."

Ferguson sat on a rock and spent the following while crafting the item while the rest of the group stood guard for him.

"All done. Now we just.... tie it like this... give me a hand, boys, and lift it on that side."

Sharmon stopped Nero and Araven from touching the dead Buzzer and instead used his own cane as lever.

"Theeere we go. Should be good. I'll drag it, so you guys can focus on any hostile animals that we might run into.", he said, "oh, but before we go..."

Ferguson dropped the rope, walked around the bug, and plucked its six wings off one by one.

"What're you doing...?", asked Nero.

"Their exoskeleton is hard, so it can resist being dragged around, but the wings will likely get damaged. This way we can study them better", Ferguson carefully placed the wings in his bag -they were so big he had to let them come out of it- and grabbed the rope with his two hands, "alright, let's go."

The group backtracked northwards all the way to Trena; the sun was setting by the time they passed by Herbert's farm -they waved at each other on the road- and they arrived at the town at dusk.

Ferguson had to spend a hot minute explaining to the innkeeper that they had brought a Buzzer for research purposes. The boys didn't know how, but he convinced him of letting them carry the dead insect upstairs with something along the lines of finding a cure for the plague, which even though it wasn't technically a lie, it was a very far shot from what they could realistically do.

He also went upstairs to check on the insecticide and clean up any dead bugs and rearranged the beds to make space for a table upon which they could place the Buzzer while the group sat at a table and waited for dinner.

"He sure works hard...", said Nero.

A very young girl aged about thirteen approached their table carrying several steaming bowls of soup. She was wearing a very simple light brown dress.

"Good evening! Here's your dinner!", she said rather loudly, her long, brown hair flowed behind her as if it had life of its own.

"Thank you.", smiled Araven.

She froze up for a second upon seeing the blonde, then hurried to place all the bowls -including one for Ferguson, who was still upstairs- and left quickly.

Speaking of which, he was just walking downstairs when he saw her going back to the counter, her face beet red.

"Poor kid, she's probably not used to the sight...", he commented while sitting down with the boys.

Sharmon, as always, leaned against the closest wall. Did he ever sit anywhere?

"The sight of what?", asked Nero.

Ferguson gave the boy a rather pitiful smile and pat his shoulder a few times.

"You may know a whole lot about magic, but when it comes to girls you're totally clueless. You're at an age where you should start to learn these things, you know? That one's a little too young, but if there's someone you're age that you're interested in, then you should really start to be more aware of things."

"Uh, huh. Because you do great with women...", said Nero.

Ferguson shrugged.

"I have my experience.", he said proudly.

"Yeah, kissing the pillow."

Araven snorted out a laugh at Nero's comment. The boy couldn't possibly imagine a woman falling in love with a doofus like him.

"How rude! I'll have you know, she was considered the beauty of my home town!"

Pft, right.

"Speaking of which, where are you from?", asked Araven.

"Oh, I was born and raised in a town named Coria, a little bit to the north."

"Never heard of the place.", said Nero.

"Yeah, most communities here are very small. Nobody outside of Armorica really knows about them."

"And how did you land a job in the government?"

"Well... my dad kinda did a favor for the previous governor, and he got me this gig in return. Then, a few years later he died and I've been working for the old governor's son Arcturus ever since."

"And what is working with him like?"

Ferguson shrugged.

"Pretty chill. He more or less lets me handle stuff my way, and is usually satisfied with what I do, so everything's good. I don't get paid much, though, haha..."

"We have not seen this man. Where is he?", asked Sharmon.

"Oh, I'm not sure. Normally he's at the Government House in Coria, but he sometimes goes out to other regions of Armorica, usually to supervise something."

"How do we know he's satisfied with our performance? We're kinda depending on that for the College test...", said Nero.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. He left me in charge of everything regarding you guys, so he will approve if I tell him so.", he smiled and winked at them.

Which means, this guy has my College entrance in his hands. Unbelievable.

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"...are you done eating?", the young girl asked, this time rather shyly.

"Yeah, thanks.", said Nero.

She stood there, immobile, staring at Araven for a second.

"Lisey! Hurry up and bring me those bowls so we can wash them!"

"Yes...!", the owner's words seemed to make her snap out of it. She picked up the table and essentially ran away to the kitchen.

The group gulped down the last of their black syrup and headed upstairs. Nero noticed that all beds had been moved against the walls and there was now a square table in the middle of the room. Ferguson had placed the Buzzer atop it and covered the whole thing with a blanket.

Also...

Sniff, sniff...

"Is that incense?", asked Nero.

"Yeah. This thing doesn't really smell that much, but I lit one just in case. It should also chase the bugs away. You know, the tiny ones.", said Ferguson.

"The tiny ones are still huge.", said Nero.

Araven approached the blanket and lifted it, revealing the dead Buzzer.

"The wings are over there on the corner.", said Ferguson, pointing at his bag.

"Thank you. I would like to spend some time examining this. Mind leaving me alone for an hour or two?"

"Uh... yeah, sure.", said Nero, "wanna head down and ask the innkeeper if he can get us some documents on the Plague investigation?", he asked Ferguson.

"I guess we might as well...", he agreed, and the trio walked down to the counter.

Lisey could be seen washing the plates in the kitchen behind.

"Hey, Georg. Is that kid a new hire?", asked Ferguson.

"Yeah, started working today. She doesn't have any experience, but learns fast and is careful, so I guess she'll be fine.", he said in an upset tone.

"Well, that's nice. You seemed to be a little overworked after Billy left."

"Don't remind me... bastard's probably living the life of his dreams somewhere in the capital by now."

"Haha... we all do what we can."

"Yeah... I guess."

"So, Georg. The boys are taking a look into the Plague. Do you remember that investigation the College of Nycea did here some four years ago...?"

"Yeah, I remember. Even the headmaster himself was here. What was his name... Rinonte?"

"Creonte.", said Nero.

"Yeah! That guy. The College stayed here for several weeks, conducting all sorts of research on the Plague."

"Do you have any idea of what they found?"

"Of course I do. Some of them would get drunk at this very shitty counter and spill the beans on everything, from their love problems to the cure for the Plague."

"Wait, so... they found a cure, after all...!?", asked Ferguson.

"Yes and no."

"What do you mean by that?"

Georg puffed on his wooden pipe.

"If you wanna know, it'll cost ya."

"..alright, then."

Ferguson took out his small pouch and placed a gold coin on the counter. Nero's eyes widened open at the sight of so much money casually being given away in exchange for information.

"Tell me everything you know."

"Heh, you're quite generous today.", laughed Georg, "know what, I'll serve you a drink. What do you want, boy?"

"Me? I, uh..."

"He can't drink alcohol.", said Ferguson.

"Alright, I'll make you some tea. Oliver, what do you want? I got some whisky."

Huh? Who the hell was Oliver?

"...I'm technically working, so a cup of wine will be alright.", said Ferguson.

"Okay, just give me a minute."

"Wait, so Ferguson is your last name!?", asked Nero.

"Well, yeah.", he said, like it was obvious.

"Oh, alright, sorry for not noticing, Oliver."

"Haha... just call me Ferguson."

Georg returned with the drinks and the other two sat at the counter.

"You said it yourself, this happened some four years ago," he started, "the College Headmaster arrived with a contingent of mages and students, said they were here to study the Plague. They said they would be staying for six weeks, but ended up being here for a little over three months before finally leaving to Nycea."

"How did it go for them?", asked Ferguson. Nero took a sip of his tea.

"Apparently, they made progress, or so they said. The Plague could be cleaned, but the problem was that it would just come back."

"A cleaned plant would get re-infected?"

Georg nodded.

"Plague Bringers. They found no way to kill those, and also, even if they could kill them, there's the problem with the sea and the water deposits... they found no way to purify them either."

"So, why did they leave?", asked Nero.

"...I dunno. They appeared to have made some progress, more than any other we'd ever seen here, to be quite honest. Real shame the headmaster died after that, too."

"Do you know the cause of death?", asked Ferguson.

"I have it he died of the Plague. Maybe that's why they headed back."

"And what happened to the research after Creonte's death?"

"The whole business got dropped after he passed. It was deemed too dangerous, the College had just lost their most important member and didn't wanna risk ruining their reputation and losing more people at the same time."

Sharmon was listening intently without saying a word from a nearby wall.

"Do you happen to have any sort of details regarding how the College was able to purify the Plague, even if it got contaminated again?"

Georg puffed again.

"Unfortunately, no. But these kids are from the College, right? They should be able to get their hands on those documents sooner or later, they have to be in there."

"Yeah, but that's unfortunate... they are here now and will be going back in a week."

"And they'll never return here?", asked Georg.

"Well... I mean... I don't know, I don't work for the College, so I couldn't tell you. I'm guessing people will come here when the College tells them to... just like it did with Nero and Araven."

"Hm. The usual, then."

"What do you mean by that?", asked Nero.

"Look around you, kid. No one gives a rat's ass about this place."

Nero took another sip. He didn't have an answer for him, so he decided it best to say nothing.

He did care, though. And so did Araven. And Ferguson, as far as he could tell. Sharmon himself had been of use since he had arrived, too...

"Boss, I'm done with the plates.", said Lisey, coming out of the kitchen.

"Alright, lass, good work. Give me a minute..."

Georg took out a few copper coins and handed them to her.

"Here ya go. Don't go wastin' it, you hear?"

"Yeah, alright."

A moment later, a very skinny woman in her thirties came in through the door.

"I'm here for Lisey...", she said in a weak voice.

"Oh, hey Yolanda. Your daughter's just finished her shift."

"Hey, mom! I did pretty good today, you know?"

"Is that so...?", she asked, looking at Georg.

"Yeah, she'll do fine. She's got a good heart."

"Goodnight, boss!"

"G'nite, lass. Be here tomorrow morning, just like today."

"Alright! See ya!"

She hopped happily behind her mother, but stopped at the door and turned around for a moment, dedicating a longing stare towards the stairs before going outside to where her mother was waiting on her.

"Sheesh, forgot to address the customers, too. I'll have to tell her that tomorrow."

"...so, back to the investigation", said Ferguson, "to recap, the College more or less was making progress, but then it got halted after three months, the contingent returned to Nycea, and Creonte died."

"Yeah, and the research died with him.", sighed Georg.

Ferguson nodded.

"And we should look for more details on it at the College. Got it."

"By the way, is the blonde up there with the Buzzer?"

"Yeah, he's examining it.", said Nero.

"Well, that's wonderful...! Maybe you could pick up on the investigation some time!"

"Haha... we'll see. We might not be able to make a lot of progress until we get our hands on the documents, but at least we can try and get a head start while we're here."

"Divine bless you, kids. We can use all the help you can give us."

Yeah, I can see that...

"Speaking of which, do you wanna go upstairs and see how Araven is doing?"

"Okay. Thank you for the info, boss.", said Nero.

"You're welcome. I'll help you with whatever I can."

Upstairs, Araven was still examining the Buzzer. There was... a little bit of smoke? And it smelled weird, too, like a mix of incense and something else.

"Cough, cough...! Found anything interesting?", asked Nero upon entering the room, waving his hand in front of his face.

"Yeah. Healing magic seems to burn it.", said the blonde, still looking at the bug.

"Uh... what?"

"Like I said. I tried applying healing magic to it, and it caused it to burn."

"Why would you apply healing magic to it?", asked Ferguson, blocking his nose with his fingers.

"Because healing magic burns the undead.", said Sharmon.

Araven nodded.

"Wait... so the bug is technically an infested...!?", asked Nero.

"...I don't know. If it was truly an infested, it would probably simply decay after a few hours, wouldn't it?", asked Araven.

"I... well, to be honest I wouldn't know.", said Nero.

"It would", said Sharmon, "a risen corpse cannot last for longer than thirty six hours."

"And yet, these animals... they just live their lives in this state. What does it mean...?", Araven murmured.

Sharmon crossed his arms.

"There is a chance the insect is not an infested, but rather afflicted by the Plague without being risen as an undead."

"You mean... like a vector of the Plague?", asked the blonde. Sharmon nodded.

"Your healing magic might be burning the Plague component of the insect , which is interconnected with its flesh and tissues -this may or may not be necromancy-, and burning the insect in the process."

"...I see! This would also explain why the animal lives and eats and breathes like any other! It's not undead, it's alive and sick!"

"And the illness is the Plague.", finished Sharmon, "Ferguson's theory could be right."

"It all fits...! But then, how to cure the plague? Healing magic will just kill the patient.", Araven thought.

"That", said Sharmon, "is what the previous College headmaster might have discovered before dying."

"Huh?"

The group took a moment to share him what George had told them regarding Creonte's research of the Plague.

"I see... that's so unfortunate in so many ways.", said Araven.

"We're thinking about getting a head start here and then continuing the research back at Nycea next week.", said Nero.

"If we use our time here well, we might be able to discover something important.", Ferguson agreed.

The group had to decide what to do with the room, however. Ferguson went downstairs and asked Georg to let them use another empty room, since that one had kinda turned into an uninhabitable laboratory. Fortunately for the group, Georg agreed.

Unfortunately for Nero, the new room was full of bugs, which Ferguson had to take care of all over again, and Araven denied him his request to be put to sleep for a third time.

"If your body develops immunity to its effect, I might not be able to use it when it's really needed.", he said.

That night would be a long, long one for the young summoner.