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Last Embryo Volume 2 Chapter 2 Part 6

Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist

The source of everything that’s happened: 『The Bull of Haven』. It created Typhoon Nr.24, a disaster on an unprecedented scale that appeared in their world, somehow crossed the equator even though it shouldn’t be possible, and went through both hemispheres through the coasts of Europe and Southeast Asia to finally arrive in Tokyo, Japan. That was probably when the 『Bull of Heaven』 physically manifested itself along with its Avatar, the Minotaur, and the two monsters headed towards the school that Homura, Suzuka and Ayato attended, most likely because Homura, who has been selected as a participant in a huge Gift Game called The 2^nd War for the Sun’s Authority happened to be there at the time. Therefore, it was probably best to assume that before they went after Homura, their target were the countries of Western Europe. Afterall, the centerpiece of it all and the main source of the problems, was the mysterious disease that the typhoon was spreading around. Humans were one thing, but that particular virus was infecting crops as well, so if allowed to rampage for long enough, the damage from the resulting famine would probably exceed the property damage done by the typhoon itself, not to mention that the symptoms were similar to those of smallpox, complete with heaving the ugly marks on the skin even after being completely cured, which is why in the Edo Period it earned an infamous 「Beauty Ruining Diesease」 name for itself.

While she still struggled with reading all of the information from the app due to her unfamiliarity with mobile devices, Ayato asked Homura a question with a sidelong glance.

「Senpai, how much do you know about the disease caused by the typhoon’s virus?」

「Not as much as I would have liked I’m afraid. Right now I have no way of confirming if there were traces of the Star Particle Bodies found in the bacteria, and since this is not my field of expertise I don’t know the specifics, but if that virus really comes from Star Particle Bodies, then maybe there was some abnormality at the parasitic stage in the expression of some of its traits and that caused them to mutate into a skin disease?」

Noticing that Homura and Ayato were using so many difficult words to talk about the plans regarding the Gift Game, Suzuka left the book she was reading right now and joined in on the conversation.

「Regarding this disease, I remember that in Japan there is this famous anecdote describing the reason why Masamune Date went blind in one eye. I think it went a little something like this: young Masamune couldn’t handle the way his family and vassals were treating him because of how ugly his smallpox-ridden eye looked, so he gouged it out and that caused a dramatic change in his mindset and behavior! It was even made into a historical drama at some point!」

「I-I see you’re also pretty well informed, aren’t you, Suzuka? But can smallpox really cause such drastic changes in one’s appearance?」

「What, you’ve never seen how smallpox scars look? Good for you then. Let’s just say that it really makes the name 「Beauty Ruining Diesease」 sound appropriate.」

Then suddenly, both Ayato and Suzuka stood up at the same time, looking at each other with a mixture of both surprise and understanding.

「I think I get it now, but I wonder if Aya got the same idea as I do, so go ahead, tell us what you think!」

「T-Thanks, Suzuka.」

Apparently Ayato was still not used to some of Suzuka’s overly hyperactive mannerisms. But since this occasion was rathe special, she was thankful to her for letting her voice her thoughts on the matter from beginning to the end. Still a bit embarrassed, she cleared her throat and voiced her opinion in one go.

「I heard that smallpox was originally a worldwide disease., and the legends relating to it are still present around the world even today, much like in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Then, what about the legend of the Minotaur?」

「Ah, yes, I see. For example?」

「At the height of its activity, smallpox was widely regarded as one of the deadly dieseases that altered people’s appearance before killing them, sparing no one from its clutches, no matter if they were rich or poor. But… but what if they came up with a very primitive but effective way of containing its source in one place despite how infectous it was, like… like confining the patient zero in the Labyrinth…」

Ayato took a break to catch her breath and collect herself. Even as she was delivering the answer she’s come up with, her hands were still shaking with anxiety.

「So what you’re saying is that instead of being trapped in there because he was a monster, he was rather isolated as a victim of smallpox?」

「Aww shucks, and here I was hoping to fill in the potential blanks, but you went and said everything perfectly! With this, all the details of the story add up, right?」

Suzuka hyped Ayato’s deduction up as she grabbed her head in excitement.

In other words, their final conclusion was as follows:

Asterios was a newborn prince of Crete named after one of his ancestors. But instead of going down in history as the child of stars and lightning, he was immortalized as the infamous bull monster, Minotaur. However…

Minotaur was not born as a monster, but came to be called as such due to some unknown factor. Could that factor be a smallpox-like skin disease, just like the 「Beauty Ruining Diesease」 that ran through Japan in the past? Even if that answer was the correct one, there was still one thing that Homura kept worrying about.

(If memory serves me correctly, the Minotaur devoured every animal present in the breeding huts back at Houei.)

These huts, established thanks to the initiative of industry-academic cooperation, have been created thanks to the joint efforts of Everything Company, Hoei Private Academy’s middle school branch and the 3^rd Research Center that Homura belonged to. Just as was mentioned above, the breeding huts were strictly related to the Star Particle Bodies project, because one of the pigs have been injected with the to be a secret test subject for the parasitic multiplication, meaning that the Minotaur must have some kind of reason for attacking the carrier of the Star Particle Bodies meant expressly for the medical usage.

(Depending on the situation and the amount of factors that are still unknown to us, the change in Minotaur may happen literally at any moment.)

When that happens, is it going to be good for them, or perhaps bad? Anyway, that didn’t make the fact that the Minotaur did not show up at all any less worrisome. Even without him around, they had to come up with a method of dealing with him, the sooner the better.

Just when Homura wanted to dive down into the sea of his own thoughts, Suzuka stopped him from doing so by loudly clapping her hands together, as if she realized something important just now.

「That’s right guys, we have completely forgot about something!」

「Forgot? About what?」

「The reward, what else? The reward! Every time you clear a Gift Game, you get all sorts of boons and prizes, right? So if we participate in this Sun-something-or-other, we first have to know what the reward for winning it will be! It has to be something super huge and awesome for sure!」

Suzuka was in high spirits, all fired up about the prospect of getting a reward for winning The 2^nd War for the Sun’s Authority. Ayato and Homura looked at her with surprised eyes, amazed how she was able to think about something as trivial as a reward under the current circumstances, but thinking about it carefully, that really was an important matter to consider. If they were to get rewards separate from the information about Star Particle Bodies, then their motivation to win it would definitely rise accordingly.

Putting his hand on his chin, Homura began to rack his brain with even more seriousness than before.

「I agree with Suzuka on that matter. Since this is supposed to be such a big and important Gift Game, then it would stand to reason that the reward for winning it should be important as well. Super important, I would even dare to say. Moreover, if I’m going to be participating in it on behalf of Queen Halloween, then it is possible that I might get something extra out of it from her personally, right? Now, I don’t want to jinx myself, but it would be super great if it was a monetary compensation for all our troubles.」