Elliot's face twitched. He found it truly hard to believe.
"Parasites? What parasites?"
"They're called Hunger Worms. They need to eat constantly. Once inside a host, they devour the food in the host's stomach."
"If there isn't enough food, they gnaw on the host's flesh from the inside out, releasing a unique substance as they feed."
"This substance turns pain into other sensations, making it easier for them to feed on their host."
"Some depraved banquets serve them as appetizers. They swallow the food the host eats while inside the stomach, so the guests can eat a great deal without getting full."
"And the substance they release lets the hosts feel no pain during the banquet, leaving only pleasure and enjoyment."
Elliot looked down into his bowl. The "beans" were twitching gently, as though greeting him.
The machinery around Evan's mouth made a series of faint noises. With the click of ignition, a few flickers of flame became dimly visible inside his mouth.
"Destroyed."
Elliot silently looked at the table, then picked up a plate of sliced meat.
The slices looked like some kind of cold-cut platter, but on closer inspection, the grain of the meat was constantly shifting ever so slightly.
"What is it, Brother Elliot? Interested in this [Woven Scroll]?"
Tobias suddenly spoke from the head of the table.
Without waiting for Elliot's answer, he enthusiastically began explaining:
"This is Woven Scroll Beast meat. They only appear in the uninhabited Wilderness, and they're exceedingly rare."
"They spend their entire lives migrating, but they have poor memories and easily forget their way."
"Fortunately, they have a unique ability to store the memories of the food they eat in their flesh."
"As they eat the animals along their route, they slowly turn themselves into a scroll, recording the entire Wilderness."