Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 191 Rat in the Sewer
In order to reach the sewer where he grew his own herbs as quickly as possible, the fat pharmacist hired a carriage, and the two of them took the carriage to the location adjacent to the Backlund Bridge area and the East District, to the banks of the Tasok River.

In the car, the pharmacist who called himself Darkwell introduced himself. He was kicked out by his teacher to travel around the mainland and experience life. He spent some time in Tingen City and currently lives in Backlund. He has just planted a tree. I was trying to batch some medicinal herbs, but unexpectedly most of them were taken away by the beasts in the sewer.

Angel also gave her pseudonym, Erin Watson.

The bridge area is not big. The two of them quickly arrived at the riverside from Iron Gate Street. Within two minutes of walking after getting off the carriage, Darkwill pointed to a location near the riverbank, where there was a semi-open sewer entrance.

After the great plague that swept half of the Kingdom of Loen more than ten years ago, the capital Backlund established an advanced sewer system. They were derived from the "Legacy of Emperor Russell the Great" of the Republic of Intis, and have undergone many improvements. He improved everywhere and surpassed his imitation objects in one fell swoop.

Of course, in Angel's eyes, this system is still crude. Domestic wastewater is discharged directly into the Tasok River without subsequent treatment and filtration, and flows into the sea with various strange colors and smells. The drainage outlets near factories and docks are even more so. There is oil flowing across the street and garbage everywhere.

It is said that someone is calling on the parliament to pass relevant laws in newspapers to prohibit residents near the Tasok River from discharging sewage directly into the river. Unfortunately, the interests are so wide that it has not been possible.

Therefore, this situation of sewage flowing directly into the river will continue for a long time. This is the case in the sewer in front of us. The brown-black sewage gurgling out, diluted by the river water, and flows into the distance.

Opening the unlocked iron door, Angel and Darkwill braved the overwhelming stench and entered the main sewer channel.

It is now close to midnight. The moonlight shed by the full crimson moon has been intercepted by the year-round haze. Only a small part reaches the ground, and the sewer entrance is even more dark ten meters deep. This makes the pharmacist who does not have dark vision cautious. The ground stopped walking.

"You follow me, be careful not to fall."

Angel wrinkled his nose to reduce the stench he inhaled, and said in a low voice.

Darkwill fumbled in his pocket and took out a small metal bottle and handed it to Angel.

"This can reduce the stench. I usually use it to observe the herbs."

Seeing that Angel shook his head and didn't take it, he seemed a little angry. He uncorked the bottle and took a deep breath with a mixture of pain and pleasure on his face.

Look, it's not poisonous.

Conveying this information with his eyes, Darkwill handed over the metal bottle again.

No wonder he interrupted others at the party and made rude remarks. It was a miracle that his straight temper was not beaten to death... No, he was a medicine man. He might have been beaten, but he cured himself.

Angel found it a little funny, so she took the vial, put it to her nose, and took a sip.

The pungent smell of disinfectant mixed with mint made her wake up instantly and almost sneeze. Then her nose felt like a cork had been stuffed into her nose. Her sense of smell quickly became dull and she could not smell any smell except disinfectant. .

This reminded her of a homemade oil that "Corpse Collector" Frye often used when she was in the Tingen team. Unfortunately, she left these teammates before she learned how to make it.

After isolating the stench, the two continued to walk deeper into the sewer. As the ground became slippery and the moonlight behind them became weaker, Darkwill also hesitated in his steps.

"Should we... come back during the day?" He discussed hesitantly, "They haven't been eating my herbs for a day or two. Actually, I'm not in a hurry to solve it this night."

"But I'm in a hurry."

Angel replied, after rounding a right-angled bend, in her dark vision, the sewer gradually became wider and entered an area where multiple branch lines gathered together.

In a rectangular underground space, Angel found a shelf built by the fat pharmacist with simple wooden boards. There were several rows of clay pots on it. Inside were dug soil and fertilizer, and herbs of different shapes were planted.

At this time, about half of the clay pots were broken, and the soil and herbs inside were spilled all over the shelf, and some fell into the shallow sewage. It was obvious that they could no longer be used.

Three creatures that are larger than hunting dogs are surrounding the wooden frame, selecting herbs to eat. Indeed, as the pharmacist said at the party, they will even select poisonous herbs and only eat those that are safe.

The footsteps of the two people entering the planting area alerted the animals, and they stared at them with blood-red eyes. Only then did Angel realize that these "dogs" were actually rats from the sewers. Their skins were swollen and ulcerated, and they had sharp mouths. The protruding teeth were jagged, like the kind of creature you would see in a nightmare.

"Why don't you go?"

Darkwill, who was no different from a blind man in the dark, asked curiously. He could barely see the road clearly by relying on the moonlight coming from the holes in the sewer outlet above his head, and did not pay attention to the big rats in the corner. "Back off..."

Before Angel finished speaking, three mice jumped off the wooden frame and flew toward the two of them in the sewage.

Two other rats that sprang out from nowhere also surrounded them from different directions, blocking them at the exit of the sewer tributary.

Worried that the sound of gunshots would attract the attention of homeless people or patrolmen on the ground, Angel did not fire. Instead, he mobilized his spirituality, gathered the frost, and fired it into several spikes.

puff--

The sharp ice spikes pierced into the bodies of the two mice at the head, nailing them to the ground. The frost even spread, causing a thin layer of ice to form on the nearby water surface.

The mutant rats did not have enough intelligence to understand the gap between them and the extraordinary people, and just relied on instinct to rush towards the "food". Angel calmly manipulated the frost and killed them one by one in the sewer. The nearest one was far away from her. There are more than ten meters.

I thought there was something special about these mutated animals, but it turns out they are just a bit larger...

His eyes swept over the cold rat corpse and looked around. Angel carefully checked the area and found that nothing was missing before calling Darkwill back, who had already hid deep in the sewer.

The latter carefully examined the corpses of the mice through the subtle moonlight shining overhead, and quickly came to the conclusion:
"These should be caused by exposure to some strange things, maybe some extraordinary materials that fell into the sewer, or the bodies of some extraordinary people. But they are not the only ones who destroyed my medicinal herbs, these rats Although they also eat herbs, they will not damage the wooden frame.”

"Do you have other planting areas? Maybe there are other mutant animals destroying your results."

Angel asked as she approached the planting frames made of wooden planks and found that indeed, as Darkwill said, these wooden frames were intact and the rats were not interested in the moldy wood.

"There are two other planting sites in the sewers of the Bridge District. I will take you there."

Although they were "led", Angel, who could see in the dark, still took the lead. The pharmacist was only responsible for pointing out the direction, and the two continued walking towards the next location.

"Why would you grow herbs in a place like this? Don't you usually rent a yard or grow them on the roof of your home?"

Angel couldn't help but say as he continued walking through the stinky sewage.

"Do you think I want to come to this kind of environment? But these herbs like moist and dark places. Some people even plant them in catacombs. I chose the sewer to abide by the law."

But there is nothing illegal in the catacombs. Could it be that they...

Angel had a terrible idea. She saw a wide area ahead and forced herself not to think in a strange direction.

"squeak--"

The rats that grew larger and became bloodthirsty made the same noise as usual, and Angel quickly dealt with them with ice spikes.

"It's strange, how come there are such big rats and they like to eat your herbs..."

Angel inspected the corpse of the mutated mouse and found that it was no different from the mice at the first planting site. They all had deformed bodies, swollen skin, and bloodshot eyes. They would pounce on any living thing without hesitation.

She took out the magic mirror and tried to divine the origin of the mouse under Darkwill's surprised gaze.

"Mirror Mirror, tell me why these rats are in the sewers."

Rubbing the smooth mirror surface to make it ripple, Angel quickly saw the divination picture in it.

Several normal-sized rats were wandering in the sewers. They drank the dark red sewage floating upstream, and then became manic and became huge. Their eyes were red and they bit each other.

In the divination screen of the magic mirror, they turned into bloodthirsty mutant rats!

(End of this chapter)