Defensive Gardening (9)

Cyril felt like he was dying.

Although he had been groaning dramatically earlier, those were his true feelings.

He really wanted to end it all and ascend or descend into the afterlife so the pain would end.

His body was extremely feverish, his nose was sore from constantly bleeding, and his head was pounding. He had chills but was also sweating bullets, and he felt like vomiting even though nothing came out.

It was a sensory nightmare.

Initially, he thought that he had given himself food poisoning from eating dungeon monster meat, but since everyone else was okay, he then assumed he had overworked his body during his ambitious defensive landscaping project, cramming everything he could think of in a protective circle outside of his waystation. 

All in hopes of stopping or deterring whatever was planned to attack him.

Unfortunately, it was rats. An unending stream of rats.

The rats kept coming, Alexei and the remaining people in the waystation who hadn't died from trying to escape kept killing them, and he kept on getting sicker.

Even though he had taken a dip in the newly created hot spring, it had done nothing but relieve his body's physical soreness from running around.

He still felt sick, as if something was stinging his skin and trying to eat him from the inside out, and no matter how much he scratched himself, the feeling never went away, and his condition continued to deteriorate steadily.

He dished out some monster stew and rice into containers, piling them along with water bottles for the less than 20 people remaining in the waystation to eat before opening the door to the basement and collapsing on a couch he had placed there.

"Fen." It was silent for several minutes before a reply came.

"What?" A deep, gravelly voice that he hadn't heard in so long sounded out.

"Can you kill me, please?" it was an actual heartfelt plea.

He truly disliked being in pain.

The dirty, large black wolf only stared incredulously at the human, sweating and whining while lying down.

"Why are you silent? You hated my guts two days ago, so just put me out of my misery now that I'm begging you. I'm ready to go to the afterlife. Is there even an afterlife? Let's go find out."

"You sent me digging in a pit of rats only to ask me to kill you?" Fen asked with a vicious snarl, still remembering the sticky, disgusting liquid that had clung to its fur.

"I thought that was the solution. Rats. Digging. Their boss is hidden in the ground. It made sense at the time."

"You're wrong. There's nothing below the ground. There are no tunnels, no entry, and no interest for the rats. They are just coming because they are beasts from an overflowing dungeon who sense the sanctuary spark and want to use it to make a new home. It's not a conspiracy."

"No! Look at Little Oasis. Does this look normal?"

Cyril pulled out the necklace, which contained the sanctuary spark that he had hidden in its clothes.

The small rainbow-colored feather looked unusually dull, and the bright light that usually emanated from it was dim.

"Little Oasis looks like this; I don't feel well; these rats are secretly poisonous roaches, and I keep feeling like something is eating at me from the inside out. Does this feel like a coincidence?"

"It's a coincidence. I have checked the surroundings, and everywhere is like this, hidden in the fog brought by these beasts. You just have to persist until their leader comes out and is killed. Trust me in this matter since I have more experience than you."

Seeing that the wolf seemed sure, Cyril simply sighed before muttering.

"I feel like there's something we're not seeing. It really feels like something is digging at me."

"It is your waystation. It's natural for you to feel down when it's attacked or harmed, considering that you've been straining for the past day. Can't you sense what's on the property? Find what's hidden instead of sending me out on a fool's errand."

"I can't. There are too many things everywhere, and the sensation is muddy. My head hurts just trying to process it all. This feels worse than being chopped in half, and I really don't like pain, so if you could just ckkk, end me right now, that would be great."

Fen stared at the flippant expression of the white-haired young man for a moment before using its large paw and slamming him from the chair and into the ground.

"Ughh. What the hell?" Cyril groaned for a moment as he tumbled around before rolling to a stop.

Bang!

He was whacked again by Fen's paw.

As his head slammed against a wall, he glared at the black wolf angrily.

"You got rabies from the rats?"

"You have people who have died and risked their lives to protect you and this place, and yet you still want to die, taking the easy way out. You're a selfish human." The words were forced out with an angry growl, and Cyril simply blinked.

"Yes, I am. And so? When people run away when you tell them not to run, is it not selfish? Is protecting the place that is providing a place to sleep and food in this mess not selfish as well? All of us are acting with self-interest at the forefront, so I don't see what the issue is."

"It's clear that I misjudged you. Consider the deal between us canceled. You'll never get a peaceful night of sleep again, and now, even if you beg me, I will never protect you. My task and priority is to protect the sanctuary spark."

Fen announced in a solemn tone as if it had made an important decision.

Cyril: ಠ_ಠ

Is this supposed to be a threat? I'll just sleep in Alexei's room, where you can't enter. If anything, this wolf should be worried about the level of food poisoning that would be inflicted on it now that he had access to dungeon plants.

As for the second part of the threat, so be it. He never expected it to protect him anyway.

Not phased at the threat, Cyril simply lay on the ground while rubbing his head.

There were too many problems.

Rats that weren't too aggressive, as if they were trying to keep them boxed in and reduce their stamina.

Fog that covered the sightlines unless it was blown away by magic or illuminated by the flood light that had been modified by Cecilia.

The more rats died, the sicker he became, so it was clear there was a relationship between the two.

It was all annoying, and he wished he could just blow it all away.

Yeah, if he could just blow it all up, that would be great.

A lot of rats would die; if there was a boss monster, maybe it would show up, and whatever was hidden in the ground would have to come up.

Especially if he just decimated the ground in totality.

There was even a chance that the rats might run away after taking huge losses.

Although his hard work would go to waste, and it might be a trap, who cared? He would leave that for his future self to deal with.

"……"

"Should I just blow it all away?"

The more he said it out loud, the better it sounded.

"What?" Fen asked as it heard the randomly whispered words, but the person it was speaking to was not listening having mentally convinced himself.

"You know what. You're absolutely correct. I am a selfish person. If the government can do it, why can't I? Let's just blow it all up. Everything. Everywhere. All at once."

"What?"

Cyril's eyes began sparkling as he forced himself to stand up. Grabbing his walkie-talkie, he activated it and sent Alexei his briefcase through a Door.

Crkkkkk

- Cyril?

His name was immediately called.

"Drag everybody inside and blow everything up. I'll send up containers of oil, pour it out, and set everything below the hill on fire. Oh, and be careful, the flowers can put people to sleep, so make sure the wind blows away from you."

Crkkkkk-

- Got it. Brace yourself.

Alexei quickly replied without even asking questions, and Cyril quickly tucked himself into the small room that usually housed the sanctuary spark.

"What are you doing?" as Fen stood up and walked toward him, Cyril looked up.

"I just remembered that the only thing that needs to survive is this feather. And since this is what they're gunning for, let's just blow everything up. If I get better, great. If not, who cares? There will be no defensive measures in remaining, and you'll have no choice but to work hard to protect me and the sanctuary spark together. Good luck!"

The moment Fen wanted to say something.

BOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!

A loud explosion shook the entire waystation.

As Fen turned its head to look at Cyril, all they saw was a brightly smiling face, and the rainbow-colored feather clutched in his arms instantly became brighter.