He Was Almost Absorbed By The System - Part Two

Chapter One Hundred And Seventy Four - The Outbreak

Kyan was feeling troubled, although this seemed to be nothing new since he had come to be in this host body. But more problems had cropped up in the last week than he knew how to deal with. He'd been unable to recruit new servants, which wasn't a large problem, for he was quite capable of performing household duties, especially as his body was far more agile and could move freely now. But it was eating into the time he would rather be seeking out his lover.

Also a large shipment of cloth was reported missing, it was meant to come from a specific factory built next to the river, but the main warehouse had neither received it nor any communication regarding its delay. A manager thought to inform him, while also deciding to send someone to the factory as no one there could be connected to via the telephone switchboard. Kyan left it to this capable manager.

But now, his butler, Mr Forbes had taken ill. Kyan thought to provide him with medicine, but the doctor was baffled by the symptoms. In the end, the man had diagnosed Mr Forbes with the common cold, but Kyan had remained unconvinced, so sought to try figure out the illness himself. After all, even though he had never been more than a quack doctor in his previous lives, did not mean he was totally ignorant. He had also been a pharmacist once, developing medicine for existing illnesses so he had some knowledge.

However, after stealing a little blood to examine once the butler slept, he found himself baffled. The blood contained dead cells that seemed to have once been bacteria of some sort, otherwise there was just normal blood cells. No signs of what was wrong with the man. So he took a skin sample and a saliva sample to test. The skin sample was much the same as the blood sample, the saliva sample contained a bacteria that shouldn't be there, but shouldn't, strictly speaking, be harmful to a living person.

That bacteria was identified by Yin. It was a bacteria unique to this world that existed in corpses, nicknamed Corpse Dust. It lived in the rotting cells of dead bodies, though it could also exist within dying bodies as well, should a sick person become contaminated by it. Corpses would swell after sometime and graves explode causing the spread of the bacteria. Many took to cremating the dead for this reason, but there were always animal bodies to dwell in, so the bacteria still existed well.

"It reminds me of the sickness that had similar effects to rotting trees when I was Saewulf," Kyan mused. He had not seen the state of the bacteria that caused the phenomenon in the plant ruled world, technology there was medieval at best. But he did recall that there was a potion that Leif created to counteract it so that healthy trees near to their village were not contaminated.

*Its physical identity is not too different* Yin agreed.

"Why does it breed in the dead and dying only?" Kyan asked, out of curiosity.

*Its cell division rate is relatively slow in comparison to other bacteria. In a living host, it would be identified and removed by the immune system too swiftly. Also, in a healthy host, other probiotic bacteria would interfere in its breeding, so taking root would prove difficult.*

"I see," Kyan mused. "Still, it doesn't make sense that the bacteria is in my butler's saliva."

*Perhaps he has recently eaten infected meat?*

"I thought that also," Kyan replied, it was highly plausible, although thoroughly cooking said meat should remove most traces of bacteria. "So I tested my own saliva seeing as I eat whatever Mr Forbes has prepared. But I am clean, it seems." He drummed his fingers upon the table, feeling as if he was missing something. This foreign body within Mr Forbes had him worried, even if Yin assured him otherwise. Still best to help the immune system along, he felt. "The dying trees could be treated by adding a solution of certain herbs into its water supply. But those herbs do not exist here."