Chapter 345: 345. Burning
The night is passing, and the dim light of dawn is overflowing from the horizon.
The unnaturally large moon from last night is gradually being covered and fading under the daylight.
The traces of the Night of the Hunt are being erased.
The bodies killed by the hunters are gathered together for burning.
People dressed in various hunting outfits drag their ’trophies’ from last night, gathering from streets and alleys. Everyone holds one or several bodies of beastmen with thick black fur, their bodies deformed by disease.
The hunters silently and indifferently handle the beastmen who perhaps were ordinary residents just yesterday.
They pile the bodies on bonfires in different city squares, pour gasoline on them, and with a ’whoosh’, ignite them.
Lann, along with Gascogne, dragged the normal corpses they cleared last night to a small square, throwing them onto the bonfire along with the other hunters.
Now the young man is certain—silence is the occupational ailment for the Yan Nan Hunters.
Dozens of hunters gather together to work, yet aside from the sounds of the beastman corpses being dragged along the ground, there’s not a bit of human conversation.
Perhaps subtly influenced by the city’s religious atmosphere, even when building bonfires, the hunters do so just like the religiously motivated witch burnings of the medieval times.
They even spontaneously erected a vertical frame, tying the first corpse at the bonfire to it, before throwing the rest of the corpses on.
Flames burn, and the stench of blood from the beastmen bodies is dispelled by the thick smoke.
The hunters remain wordless, merely observing, indifferent to the flames dancing on the bonfire.
It’s an eerie and involuntarily solemn silence, bonfires reminiscent of religious execution stakes, with the bodies twisting and melting in the fire...
The combined scene is just like the first impression this city gave Lann—
A sense of filthy sanctity.
As the pile of bodies burns brighter, hunters one by one start to turn away and leave.
Gascogne also led Lann down a secluded path.
"You just leave the bonfire there?"
Lann asked curiously on the way.
Although this city looks as if it’s stuck in the Victorian Era, with most buildings made of stone or concrete, a considerable amount of wood is still used.
Fire hazards are a big issue, especially in Yan’an.
Yet Gascogne seems unconcerned.
"The Church’s people will handle the aftermath, they’ll clean the bonfire and wash away the bloodstains on the streets. It’s still dim now, but in a little while, when people leave their homes, they’ll see an unchanged Yan’an."
With that, the priest let out a self-deprecating laugh.
"Of course, that’s the ideal situation from long ago."
"Oh?" Lann expressed a foreigner’s appropriate curiosity, "What was the hunt like before?"
"In the past, the spread of the beast disease wasn’t widespread, the hunters conducted sporadic hunts in the shadows, avoiding crowds to prevent panic. But as the appearance of beastmen became more frequent, the Church established the Night of the Hunt, allowing hunters to hunt openly."
Gascogne calmly recounted the past of Yan’an while Lann listened quietly behind him.
The two were now passing through a residential area, with some residents tentatively opening their doors, looking relieved upon seeing the daylight.
Residents who were first to come out seemed to easily ignore the broken stone pillars and fences on the street, beginning their daily routine.
He had disordered hair similar to a beastman, though far less dense. It seemed he was a resident threatened by the beast disease but ultimately controlled it.
Lann frowned slightly, observing all this deeply.
Last night’s monsters... were they truly a ’disease’ of beast transformation?
The beastmen, with all four limbs on the ground, seemed emptied out by the matted fur covering their bodies.
Not only were they emaciated, their bodies reliant solely on skeletal frames, in their abdomen even their ribs sprouted black fur, exposed from the chest cavity.
The entirely exposed chest cavity held no organs, no intestines, only a spine bone covered with skin and fur.
They have no digestive organs, so frantic eating is entirely pointless.
Yet they still sought to frantically tear flesh and spill blood...
This entirely illogical change, to Lann, seems far closer to an illogical ’curse’ than the label of a ’disease’.
But the problem arises with it.
Yan’an is a large city with at least tens of thousands of people, and according to Gascogne, the beast disease has existed here for at least several decades, worsening continuously.
...What curse could be on such a scale?!
In a Magic World, a curse troubling a family for generations is enough to enter Airetusa’s textbooks!
A curse that could affect nearly a hundred people to an ’alarming’ extent would be enough to have the town hall seeking out a wizard and demon hunter!
If it truly is a curse, Lann is reluctant to imagine what power sustains the curse.
"Originally, outlanders seeking blood therapy should first visit the Healing Church upon reaching Yan’an, where the clergy would make a pact with them and arrange the blood therapy schedule, but your timing is inconvenient..."
Gascogne hadn’t noticed Lann’s contemplation, leading the way through the labyrinthine streets while speaking to him.
"After the Night of the Hunt, the Church’s manpower is focused on handling aftermath. There’s probably no one left to even arrange accommodations for you. If you don’t mind, you can rest at my place today. After all, we sort of looked out for each other last night."
"Is that alright?"
"Heh, don’t worry. I used to be a priest, after all. Though I can no longer help others in the name of the Church, helping you is no problem. Viola enjoys having guests at the house, too."
After departing from the hunt, Gascogne reverted back to his gentle, former priest self.
Lann moved his shoulders a bit, assessing his level of fatigue, and finally nodded.
"Then I’ll trouble you, Gascogne. Just letting me stay indoors for a few hours will suffice, I recover quickly."
"Oh, heavens..." Gascogne pressed his wide-brimmed hat, shaking his head with a smile.
"If we really did as you suggested, Viola would kick me out of the house."
"Just honestly accept the hospitality... truth be told, Henrik’s words when he left made me a bit anxious. I’ll make some time to buy incense today, having a capable hunter in the house puts me at ease. Consider it as me owing you a favor, how about that?"
Lann rested his hand on the sword’s scabbard, tilting his head, feeling it was no big deal.
"No need to talk about favors, it’s just watching the door for you, it’s decided."