Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The Tutens’ buildings were tall, beautiful and totally different from the barren world that the people the Church of Light had imagined. The Tutens had a unique culture, an impressive education system, and a rare understanding of the world.
Tephis was a city within the Tuten Dynasty. It was a coastal trading state-city, that was prosperous and beautiful. It has especially prospered during the past ten years, with more and more development in the maritime trade having occurred.
At the present time, Akkad, who had just arrived Tephis, looked grave. Since he was a doctor from the West, many people had put their trust in him.
This was because Western doctors had great reputations due to the Kelermo Medical Coding book and Bohr Kelermo’s medical reforms. As such, wherever they went, doctors were respected and welcomed by the people.
The sheriffs who had just rushed to the market, after learning the identity of Dr. Akkad, immediately placed the newly injured and comatose patients in a small building next to the market.
As he treated the injured, Akkad recalled the thrilling scene that had just taken place. He shuddered while remembering the one-eyed monster and its extraordinary and evil power. Akkad felt strange and scared.
“Do you think this has anything to do with the wizards? Are they doing some evil experiments?” one sheriff asked.
“No, I’ve never heard of such power. It’s not Blood Witchcraft at all,” Akkad replied.
“Is it the mysterious power of the Tutens?” Another sheriff interrupted with his own question.
As it was the first time that Akkad had been here, he did not know what kind of mysterious power existed in Tuten. So, he said, “I’m not sure, but this power is really weird and wicked.”
Akkad felt uneasy. Some of this power went beyond even his perception. Akkad opened his suitcase, which was like a treasure chest that was filled with all kinds of different equipment, medicines, and such.
Akkad went back to the makeshift operating table, only to find that found that the body that he had been working on, which was supposed to be a human body, now seemed to have been affected by some kind of radiation, which had caused a terrible change to take place. Moreover, the one-eyed monster in the body had disappeared, too!
At this time, there was an abrupt sound of footsteps outside the door. Several soldiers came in. They were the sheriffs in the eastern part of the city, where the market was located. They were also responsible for the tax collection and the resolution of disputes in the city.
Most of the sheriffs had brown hair, while some had golden hair. One red-haired middle-aged sheriff spoke in the Tuten language to Akkad. “We have identified him and know where he lives. We’ll take care of the patients now, as you need to come with us. If we don’t discover what is going on right now, I’m afraid there will only be more trouble in the future.”
Akkad immediately packed up his things and put on his cloak. Even though Akkad’s Tuten accent was not very good, the others could still understand him well enough.
He had studied the Tuten language in the tower with a servant named Sargon during his childhood. So, Akkad knew at least basic communication skills.
“His name is Rocky. He’s a vagrant who makes his living by stealing. He lives in the muddy alley in the north of the city. It’s a slum.” A red-haired sheriff led Akkad to the north of town, explaining to Akkad as they walked.
Akkad nodded. “Does he have any family? Has he been in touch with other people lately?
“He has no family. He just wanders in the street and bothers nearby pubs all day. I know him. If he wasn’t burned black, I would have recognized him on the spot,” the sheriff replied.
They finally came to the muddy alley, where a large number of skewed wooden houses were built. There were no streets at all, and most of the corridors were so narrow, they could only allow one person to walk through them at a time. There was foul-smelling sewer water and garbage everywhere, while mice and homeless cats and dogs ran wild everywhere.
They finally came to the man’s hovel. It was a small shack with only a few boards nailed together. Most of the boards were broken and rotten. When they kicked the door open, a disgusting smell came from inside the room.
As they walked in, they saw a low wooden bed that was covered with straw. IT had a blackened quilt strewn across it, which was clearly where the stench was coming from.
The quilt was sticky, and as Akkad picked up the rag with his stick and sniffed it, he felt dizzy. Akkad immediately threw it back on the bed. This tramp’s body had clearly changed beforehand, as the smell in the room was that same smell of mucus!
“Be careful, stuff in this room is very likely to be poisonous. Don’t touch anything.” Akkad warned the sheriffs around him, who immediately pulled away their hands. Akkad looked at a piece of paper that was on top of the bed.
“What is that?” one of them asked.
Akkad looked over and saw that it was a page that seemed to have been taken off from a book, which had a wicked monster’s image on it. This monster looked like an egg, but its skin was as wrinkled as an old man’s.
It had a lot of eyes, which were not human eyes, nor were they the eyes of any kind of creature that Akkad had ever seen. The pupils occupied the whole white of the eye, and the internal lines were messy and complex, filled with an evil aura.
Below the image, a few lines were written in Phinks… Name: Eye monster, real name: Izapron!
There appeared to be more words, but they had been torn off, clearly belonging to another page. Akkad watched the picture carefully, especially the Phinks words, which made him deeply doubtful. After all, here they were in Tuten, and only those people from the Central Continent or the Church of Light could speak Phinks!
“What is that?” one of the sheriffs asked. “Why does it make me feel a little cold when I look at it? This monster looks so evil!”
Several sheriffs felt uneasy after seeing the picture, especially the monster’s eyes, which seemed to move suddenly and look at them. Akkad also sensed a threat, and though he did not sense any extraordinary power coming from the image, he felt that his mind was constantly sending him premonition alarms.
As a level four wizard like him was strong enough to predict danger, he took these feelings seriously. So, he took the paper off of the bed and examined it more carefully.
“There is nothing strange about the paper. The ink is also just an ordinary ink. Although the painted is strange, it has no special power.” Akkad felt that the anomaly of this tramp named Rocky must have something to do with the picture.
Even though saying this made Akkad feel ridiculous, he still believed this speculation. “It may be a strange disease. It’s likely to be contagious and result in the outbreak of a plague, so please be prepared. If you have any questions, you can ask me. After all, I am a doctor from the West.”
The red-haired sheriff immediately became nervous. “What? A plague? I will have to report this immediately, so that everyone can be aware in the city. Please stay in the city for a while, as we’ll need your help.”
Akkad nodded, then said, “Of course, this is what a doctor should do. By the way, if you find information related to this picture, please tell me about it.”