“Hmmm.”
Something felt off.
Lloyd, who had just stepped out of the Duchess’s office, was deep in thought. It wasn’t just the peculiarities about the Duchess herself that bothered him.
For example, users walking down the hallway.
Regardless of whether they were maids or butlers, they covered their faces with translucent veils.
The mansion and the air surrounding it. Everything felt uncomfortable for some reason. It was as if he had been captured by a pseudo-religious group.
— ‘Blood…’
Moreover, the voice that had been echoing in his head grew stronger.
It used to only appear when he heard applause, but now it was coming out randomly. Did PTSD usually include symptoms like this? Unfortunately, Lloyd wasn’t an expert on auditory hallucinations.
At that moment.
“Lloyd?”
A man blocked his path.
He was a large man, dressed in dark grey clothes unlike the typical uniforms of butlers or maids.
He held a small wooden box in his hand.
“Follow me.”
Lloyd obediently followed him.
Given how the other staff members bowed their heads, it was clear he held a high position. He also had an aura of strength, likely stronger than most imperial knights.
The man led him to the back of the mansion. A vast empty lot with no grass.
Kneeling there were boys and girls. They were the children he had seen earlier from the carriage. There were also several people in grey clothing standing guard.
The man made Lloyd kneel before stepping onto a platform.
Judging by his actions, he seemed to be the leader here.
“Everyone has worked hard. But consider it an honor. From now on, you will be serving the great Grey Dukedom.”
Honor?
What kind of twisted honor was it to serve under someone?
“Now that you are here, you must believe. You must follow the path we show you. For good reason.”
He raised a flag with an emblem. Ash covered the ground, and blood droplets fell onto it.
“… Blood Cult?”
One of the children mumbled.
Chaos quickly spread. It was natural.
The Blood Cult was notoriously known across the continent as one of the most infamous cults. In fact, it was reputed as the cruelest among all heretical groups.
A cult that worshipped fire and blood.
They revered the reddest of both inanimate and animate objects, believing that the ashes left behind would lead to salvation.
In other words, they were madmen who believed that salvation would come only after everything was burned and destroyed.
“… Damn it.”
Lloyd muttered to himself without realizing.
Something had indeed been off.
The atmosphere of the mansion, the vibe, and even its owner.
‘So, she was this kind of villain?’
Duchess of Grey.
It wasn’t certain if she was the leader of the Blood Cult.
But she was certainly not an ordinary woman.
Logically, it didn’t make sense for a widow to hold full control of a ducal house just because her husband died. At least, that was the common sense in this fantasy world.
Lloyd gritted his teeth.
— Crack
In fact, there was something even worse.
The Blood Cult was an extremely secretive organization. Very few knew about its actual existence aside from its notoriety.
For a cultist to reveal themselves meant they were ready to kill everyone here after using them.
‘Or they have a way to control us.’
What could that method be? Brainwashing magic? Mind control? Hypnosis?
Lloyd looked up at the platform, tense.
The wooden box the man had brought bothered him.
“As expected, there is always at least one sharp kid.”
Sigh. The man, who appeared to be the leader, grinned at Lloyd. He placed the wooden box he was holding on the platform. It was just big enough to fit a human head.
“… What is that?”
The kid next to him muttered.
His name was Hector, if Lloyd remembered correctly. The one who had picked a fight with him in the carriage.
He seemed calmer now, but still muttering to himself, oblivious to the gravity of the situation.
“If you’re so curious, come and open it.”
The man sneered, gesturing with his hand.
Hector, realizing he had overstepped, shook his head, understanding the gravity of the situation.
No, it seemed more like the sense had been beaten into him.
‘…Bruises?’
Lloyd noticed Hector’s back through his clothes, covered in bruises.
He could guess what the other children had endured while he was with the Grey Duchess.
— Tremble
Despite shaking, Hector stepped onto the platform.
As he reached out to the wooden box, he hesitated.
“Open it quickly.”
The man urged.
Hector, like a cornered rat, reluctantly touched the box.
Clunk.
The wooden lid opened.
“Ugh.”
Someone started retching, and it spread like a contagion among the children. It was no surprise. Inside the wooden box were wriggling, dark grey worms.
“This is the Kudoku. It is a privilege that followers of the Blood Cult must consume.”
Privilege, my a*s.
Having read countless novels, Lloyd easily guessed the purpose of these worms. Once inside the body, they would parasitize and control the host’s mind. That was the original function of Kudoku, a worm and poison.
In essence, it was a means of true brainwashing.
‘This is why they could reveal themselves as members of the Blood Cult so boldly.’
It was also likely why the Blood Cult was so difficult to track despite its size. Controlling the minds of captives to keep secrets or forcing them to commit suicide would be easy for them.
“Come, child.”
The man called out to Hector, who had half-collapsed after opening the box.
Hector shook his head violently. He stepped back, only to trip over the leg of a Blood Cult official.
— Whip!
A sharp noise, like something slicing through the air.
Then a delayed scream.
“Aaaaah!”
Hector’s severed pinky finger flew through the air.
Blood splattered.
— Sizzle!
The sound of burning flesh followed.
Along with the smell of cooked meat.
“Ugh. Ugh.”
Hector couldn’t even scream, frothing at the mouth.
That was enough.
It was sufficient to make the children commit to swallowing the worms.
Of course, Hector was the first.
“Blech! Blech!”
Hector, the first to swallow the Kudoku, retched so violently his eyes rolled back.
There was no time to process any feelings about it.
The officials on the platform each took a worm and approached the children.
The man in charge, the one who seemed to be the leader, approached Lloyd.
“The Duchess has instructed us to take special care of you.”
The man smiled.
Damn it. He could do without this kind of special treatment.
The centipede-like worm wriggled in his hand.
What a miserable life.
Lloyd cursed a thousand times in his mind.
— ‘Blood…! I smell blood…!’
Even the increasingly violent voice in his head didn’t bother him now. His mind was fixated on the cursed movements of the wriggling worm.
“You need to open your mouth to eat it.”
“…”
“The Duchess holds you in high regard. You should know these basic things.”
Damn it.
Would you open your mouth with a worm in front of you?
Lloyd wanted to curse out loud. But his rationality held him back.
He had to obediently open his mouth.
Or he would die.
Having been forcibly exposed to their secret, he had no other choice.
— ‘Eat it… eat it…!’
The voice inside continued to echo.
Damn, damn, damn!
Lloyd opened his mouth.
Swoosh.
The strange sensation in his mouth.
Suppressing his gag reflex, Lloyd tightly shut his eyes.
This is the worst.
Yet his body betrayed his thoughts, and he swallowed the worm.
It was a sensation entirely different from eating food.
Despite the nausea, it slithered down his throat as if it knew exactly where it belonged.
“Good. It’s better to swallow it quickly. It’ll find its place on its own.”
Sneer.
Lloyd wanted to twist the neck of the smirking official watching him.
But it was impossible.
He couldn’t fight all of them yet.
More importantly…
Ssss.
The sensation of the worm crawling inside him was unbearable.
He wished it would just settle already…
“Ugh!”
A sudden, violent sneeze.
His stomach twisted in pain.
“…?”
Lloyd clutched his chest.
The Kudoku worm suddenly started thrashing around as if trying to escape from something.
“What…?”
He could hear the Blood Cult official’s voice, but he couldn’t focus on it. His insides were boiling, and the Kudoku worm was rampaging through his body like a cornered rat.
“Normally, it should find its place…”
Damn it. Damn it.
Gah!
A mouthful of blood spewed from Lloyd’s mouth.
And then.
— ‘Food… food… it’s food!!!’
Something roared in his mind.
The pain didn’t last long.
— Pop!
A sound of something bursting inside.
And then.
— Crunch, crunch.
The sound of something being devoured followed.
Simultaneously, the gut-wrenching pain vanished.
His vision, which had turned bright red, slowly began to clear.
Lloyd looked up at the official holding him.
“… You seem to have come to your senses.”
“…”
Blink. Blink.
He just blinked as the official rolled up Lloyd’s sleeve.
There was a black centipede-like mark imprinted on his arm.
“It looks like the Kudoku has settled properly.”
Lloyd didn’t have the energy to respond.
He simply stared blankly ahead.
However.
There were two things he was sure of.
— Crunch, crunch.
First, the Kudoku had not settled inside his body.
This was a fortunate turn since he wouldn’t fall under the Blood Cult’s mind control.
But…
The second realization crushed any positive possibility.
— ‘Ah, what a scent it’s been so long since I’ve tasted.’
The voice whispering in his head.
It wasn’t PTSD.
There is something inside him.
