Chapter 119
“It’s something similar. According to my spirit, there’s something harmful mixed into this bread.”
“What do you mean by harmful? It looks like ordinary bread on the outside, so I can’t tell what’s wrong with it.”
“My guess is that it’s the rye used in the bread. I checked discreetly while the man was asleep, and there was definitely something strange about it. The rye had these black horn-like things tinged with a faint purple hue growing on it.”
“Did you touch it?”
“Yes. It was hard. Just in case, I brought some of it with me.”
“Huh? Where is it?”
“It’s in the sack. It must be too dark to see. If you hand it over, I’ll find it for you.”
“O-oh, no, I found it.”
I uncovered the rye stalk hidden beneath the bread. Just as Reno described, it wasn’t ordinary rye. A bizarrely long, black horn-like growth protruded from it.
It resembled a well-dried vanilla bean, so I touched it without much hesitation. It was indeed very hard.
‘A hard, black horn…….’
It felt like I was on the verge of recalling something but couldn’t quite grasp it.
“And that’s not the only strange thing.”
“Huh……?”
“While I was at it, I checked the house thoroughly. But there was no trace of the younger sister.”
“Not even a little? Maybe they cleared everything out because she passed away?”
“Even considering that, the state of the house was odd……. And when I asked around, no one had ever seen the man’s younger sister. It turns out, he’s been living in that house alone all along.”
“Really?”
“Yes. But apparently, he suddenly started talking nonsense about having a younger sister a while back, which scared people away.”
Come to think of it, I confirmed at the archive yesterday that there was no record of a younger sister. I had assumed she simply didn’t participate, but now it seemed she didn’t exist at all…….
This was unsettling in its own way. If it were true, it meant the man was delusional.
‘From what I observed yesterday, he seemed relatively normal…… Wait.’
I opened my mouth to speak.
“Reno, can you confirm something for me?”
“Of course.”
“The man…… You said he mistakenly believes he has a younger sister, has black scars all over his body, and that the rye had black horn-like growths, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Is there anything else unusual about him?”
“Oh, speaking of the scars, he mentioned that they make his whole body feel like it’s burning.”
Burning pain, too.
“I’m sure…….”
“Does something come to mind?”
“Yes. It’s probably ergot poisoning.”
I explained it to Reno, who looked at me curiously. There was no point in hiding it after he had gone through all this trouble.
“Ergot poisoning? Could you tell me what that is?”
“I don’t know why it happens…… but I’ve heard it’s caused by a fungus that parasitizes rye. This black stuff is a mass of fungal threads, and it tends to grow in a horn-like shape.”
“So, it’s rotten?”
“Not exactly. I don’t know much either, so it’s hard to explain. All I know is that people who consume it show symptoms similar to that man’s.”
Another name for ergot poisoning is “Saint Anthony’s Fire.”
In the Middle Ages, a man named Anthony endured decades of burning pain caused by ergot poisoning, ultimately overcoming the illness and becoming a saint. This story spread widely, giving rise to the name.
The man’s symptoms matched those associated with ergot poisoning, including his delusions about a nonexistent younger sister.
Hallucinations are another symptom of ergot poisoning. In modern times, this was exploited to create illicit d***s that should never exist.
‘I remember coming across this while researching for a group project.’
I couldn’t recall what picture I had been looking for, but the accompanying story was so intriguing that I read it. Who would’ve thought that experience would help me here?
Unbidden, memories of that group project started surfacing. Like most, ours hadn’t gone smoothly.
The old memories that briefly surfaced soon faded. Remembering the gravity of the situation, I stiffened my expression.
‘This isn’t the time to be acting so carefree.’
I needed to apprehend the man immediately. If he was hallucinating and believing those hallucinations to be real, he was nothing short of a walking time bomb.
In fact, during the Middle Ages, people who suffered from ergot poisoning often caused trouble, blaming others and creating all sorts of chaos. Some, in severe symptoms, even killed someone.
Although the man seemed fine yesterday, there was no telling when he might suddenly change.
Considering he had fabricated a non-existent younger sister and spread rumors to slander me, it wasn’t an overstatement to call his condition dangerous.
I closed the bag and turned to Reno.
“Thank you, Reno. You were a great help.”
“Is it resolved?”
“It seems so.”
“I knew Your Highness would manage.”
“Again…….”
I was about to grumble about him flattering me again when a sudden gust of wind blew.
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