The Witch Hunter System
chapter-77

"About… Malise Breedlove."

"Malise Breedlove?"

After hearing the Rank 1 Aura Warrior bring up the name of a Senior Witch, the people at the table were quickly startled, and the mood at the table changed.

A few moments later, one of them surprisingly whispered in a very soft tone, "Malise Breedlove, the sex maniac? What happened to her?"

"There were rumors that Malise Breedlove contracted Zellera's Curse. Apparently, Malise Breedlove also spread it to twenty other men, who then spread it to fifty other witches," the Rank 1 Aura Warrior whispered back.

"That many?!" everyone at the table immediately took a sharp breath due to shock from hearing the startling news.

"How did so many people get infected?" another man at the table asked.

"You know Zellera's Curse works. It's sexually transmitted, but the curse doesn't manifest immediately. Infected people will only notice something wrong after three days," the Rank 1 Aura Warrior quietly mentioned.

"However, those three days are very critical. We don't know if anyone else had come in contact with the infected later in those three days. Thus, there's a chance that the number of infected could be higher than the initial count."

"Err… Brothers, I think I am in trouble…" another man at the table said with a paled look, causing the others to look at him with alarm.

"You… did you hook up with one of the infected witches in the past three days?" the Rank 1 Aura Warrior glanced at the nervous man with surprise.

The person in question smiled bitterly and said, "Not just any witch, but Lady Malise herself. I bumped into her last night, and we went at it for a few rounds in her love nest."

"You… how can you be so stupid?" the men started to admonish the person at the table while trying to control their voices.

"Malise Breedlove, that sex maniac, doesn't always visit the red-light district for pleasure stimulation services. Otherwise, why do you think she is called the sex maniac? She would gladly sleep with anyone as long as it's free."

"Furthermore, Malise Breedlove doesn't specialize in Water Magic or Light Magic, so her Purification Magic cannot compare to the witches maintaining the hygiene and sanitation of the red-light district."

"Going to such a person for some cheap sex, even if Malise Breedlove didn't catch Zellera's Curse, there were bound to be other health complications," the Rank 1 Aura Warrior said.

"Haiz, don't keep talking about it. It's making me more depressed," the person sighed despondently before saying, "I got baited by people praising Lady Malise."

"People praise Lady Malise?"

Another person suddenly raised his eyebrows before pulling one of the spare chairs from Vaan's table over to join the table's conversation behind him, startling the people around it.

"No need to be alarmed. I'm also interested in your table's conversation," the man said while exuding a strong presence that only Rank 2 Aura Masters possessed. "I've only heard bad things about Lady Malise."

"For example, Lady Malise lacked talent in every field. Thus, Lady Malise could only rely on cheap sensual practices with men to increase her mana gathering instead of buying Sense Enhancers like witches from noble households or paying for quality services from the red-light district."

"Anyhow, what are these praises you mentioned?" the Rank 2 Aura Master shifted his gaze to the potentially-infected person with interest.

The person quickly felt embarrassed to be the focus of attention at the table as he scratched the back of his head.

"Actually, it's a bit embarrassing to say… I heard Lady Malise is very skillful in bed and infertile… So men don't have to worry about anything when they are with her. Because she will be the one to please them."

"Just because of that, you risked your manhood?"

"How was I supposed to know Lady Malise caught Zellera's Curse at the time?"

The potentially-infected person became more depressed and regretful the longer he thought about the matter.

"The red-light district had already caught winds of Malise Breedlove's matter and temporarily suspended all businesses. We'll know how many more people have been infected within the next three days," the Rank 2 Aura Master mentioned.

"You should observe your body's condition carefully in these three days. Once you confirm catching Zellera's Curse from Malise Breedlove, you should get yourself treated quickly before it spreads. Otherwise, there will be days of hell ahead of you."

Everyone at the table immediately felt coldness in their loins at the Rank 2 Aura Master's advice.

…

At the same time, Vaan casually eavesdropped on the table behind him and overheard everything. He, too, felt coldness in his loins.

'Zellera's Curse is commonly known to be incurable. Those who contract it will experience insufferable pains until they die. Healing, cure, and purification methods only accelerate the growth of the infected areas…'

'The only plausible treatment is to remove the infected areas before it becomes life-threatening…' Vaan mused.

In other words, there's a chance that the potentially-infected man would have to cut off his manhood to preserve his life.

'Only High Witches can restore dismembered limbs and regrow missing organs… But even they are helpless in restoring areas affected by Zellera's Curse,' Vaan recalled.

That was why it was called Zellera's Curse.

It wasn't just any ordinary disease, but a terribly vicious and complex disease—that people publicly believed it was a powerful curse cast down by Zellera, the most powerfully-known Lust Demon.

But for someone who had a past life on Earth like Vaan, he had a different outlook on Zellera's Curse.

Due to the existence of mana, Zellera's Curse was more like an upgraded version of STD. It seemed to be capable of rewriting its victim's genetic code.

Thus, even if the removed parts were restored, they would still have the same damaged appearances before they were removed.

As Vaan casually sipped on his drink and listened to the other rowdy conversations, the corner of his eyes caught the cute female bartender's odd behavior.

The cute female bartender had seemingly caught some secret message before subtly sending a reply.

Nevertheless, Vaan's attention didn't stay on the cute female bartender for long before another topic in the tavern caught his interest.

"Hey, have you heard about Wyvern-Type Abomination?"

…