Lucia Gets Denied

“Monsters!?”

With that one word, everyone in the room tensed up. Rushing out of the house, we found a man collapsed, terrified.

“Manolo, what happened...” Mister Dario called out, reaching him first.

Mister Manolo looked up, pale as a ghost, and said, “A Fungus... A Fungus got Giotto!”

Fungus were mushroom-looking monsters that were common in farming areas. They attach themselves to a human and use them as nourishment to grow. The only way to survive being infected is to keep eating, which also speeds up the growth of the Fungus. Left unchecked, they become really large in size, almost tree-like.

“Where is he!?” Mister Dario softly patted Mister Manolo on the shoulder and slowly helped him up.

“He’s closed himself in the shed by Grampa Robbie’s house! No one lives near there, but ...”

“Si— Um, Celes... Is there any way to get rid of a Fungus?” I stopped myself from adding “Sir” to keep up appearances.

“Fungi are difficult. Once they attach, they won’t harm anything else, just suck the person they latched onto dry,” he said. “If you attack them, they’ll release spores from their caps, infecting the attacker too. You’d need to use fire magic from a distance to burn them up, or to just wait until the host dies and it shrivels up. All it can do without a host is just die.”

Sir Celes gently put his hand on my back, and shook his head. So does that mean that we can’t help somehow?

“It’s unfortunate, Lucia, but there’s nothing we can do...”

“Dammit! There’s gotta be something! He’s gonna leave poor Dahlia on her own!”

The men bit their lips in frustration, while the women shook and clung to each other.

“Who is Dahlia?” I asked.

“Giotto’s granddaughter,” Missus Romina replied. “She’s only seven years old. Her mother died a year ago, so it’s just the two of them. Her father was a foreigner. He only dropped by here once, so he wouldn’t even know she was born.”

Hearing that, my heart just felt like it was being crushed. If that was the case, then we needed to save him no matter what. What, what can I do...

“...No.”

“Eh?”

While I was doing my best to think, I heard Sir Celes whisper something beside him. When I looked at him, he had an incredibly troubled look on his face.

“...Nothing.”

Noticing my look, he smiled down at me, but he seemed really off. I felt like I shouldn’t take his word for it. Maybe he thought of something we could do, but it would be difficult. What could it be? I racked my brain. The only way to save someone hosting a Fungus was to either burn it or wait for it to wither. Burn... Erase?

It dawned on me. Maybe I could use Soap and erase it, just like I did with the miasma around the Cristallo Sacro?

“My Soap—” I began.

“No.” Sir Celes immediately shot it down, as if he had predicted what I was thinking. “Not a chance, Lucia.”

“But...”

I could tell from his low whisper that he was serious. But someone’s life is on the line. I should at least try...

“I know it’s too bad for both Giotto and Dahlia, but...we have no choice, Manolo,” Mister Dario consoled. “There’s no coming back from getting a Fungus stuck to ya. We can at least bring him food, and figure out where Dahlia will be going. That’s all we can do.”

“Dario...”

Both of the men sighed deeply, signaling the end of the conversation. Mister Manolo trotted off, shoulders slumped, while Mister Dario turned back towards his family. “Flavia, us men’ll bring Giotto his food. You go check on Dahlia. Lella, don’t go anywhere near Grampa Robbie’s shed. And, oh, the guests. You heard all that, so don’t go looking. You’ve got your map, so you’d best be off as soon as possible.”

“...Thank you for your warning.”

We nodded to him, but he remained facing his family. And with not even a look behind them, they retreated back inside their house. In the end, we were left with Missus Romina.

“Ye two, come back to my house for now,” she called out to us.

“We appreciate it.”

“Thank you for your hospitality...”

She must have realized we were still in trouble, so she invited us back with her. As we were about to leave, Missus Flavia called out to us, “Ah, wait just a minute! I’ll bring you both some food later! Thank you so much!”

“Ye don’t think I can cook, Flavia?”

“Oh, you know what I mean, Granny Romina! You know! Thank you so much, Mister Celestino!” She took both of Sir Celes’s hands and shook them up and down before turning to follow her husband.

“Well, let’s be off, then,” he said to me.

“Alright...”

And so, we left Mister Dario’s house.