I and Will were invited to the Aspinel mansion. It seemed like they wanted to talk about the matter of the new type of Mana fever being confirmed.
Sanigue had an unusually grim expression.
"According to the information from the territory of Mariala,1 the new Mana Fever is difficult to treat with traditional medicine and there are big differences in symptoms between patients. Some people feel agonizing feel through their whole body and can"t even fall asleep. One week after the onset of symptoms is the deciding point whether or not the infected will live."
Mana Fever is a disease that messes up the internal flow of magical powers. Normally, you would feel sluggish as if catching cold and get laid up, but the new type seems to also be accompanied by pain. I wouldn"t want to catch it.
"Anyway, there are a lot of strange points. I"m also concerned about how the infection rate is completely different depending on the area."
I was shown the infection distribution on a map, and it definitely had a strange way of spreading. For example, there were no infected in densely populated villages along the highway, while in large towns, patients were concentrated in the North and East. In addition, in one village, 90% of the population collapsed due to the disease, but in the other village, the disease was only confirmed in three houses.
"Isn"t this due to the abundance of medicine and doctors?"
"No, the conditions in those villages were almost the same. Not to mention, one day the infection suddenly stopped and all patients started to recover. Doctors and sorcerers are investigating the cause, but they still don"t know the reason."
"That is certainly curious."
I also read a lot of this continent"s medical books, but I haven"t come across any cases of an epidemic suddenly stopping. Rather than a disease, this is more like a…
"That being said, brother, what is the reason you called me here and told me that story for, while I was busy with devising countermeasures for the epidemic?"
I can more or less guess it though.
Having noticed that I had already realized it, Brother smiled thinly.
"Sonia, I want you to head towards Banheid2…the village, where the disease has been confirmed and lend your hand in its treatment."
“Wh?”
Will let out a stupid voice.He hurriedly shook his head In response to my and Brother"s gazes.
Brother didn"t seem to be offended by the fact that he was interrupted in the middle of talking and simply sighed lightly.
"…I am aware that when the witches or people with "Core" contract the Mana Fever, their symptoms will become more severe. I understand that this is an unreasonable request and I don"t want to put my cute Sonia in danger either, but it"s wiser to consult the witches when dealing with phenomenon concerning the magical powers. I"m using Sonia as my trump card exactly because I trust her."
Brother is honestly arrogant and a con-man. I"m speechless.
Although, this is precisely how the men who stand above others should be. It would be unbelievable if he missed the opportunity to cut the cards just out of love.
"Even now, people are suffering. I won"t be satisfied unless I do everything in my power to save as many people as I can…I don"t want to repeat the mistake from 5 years ago."
That"s right. I feel the same way, Brother.
"I"m fine with going. I"ll be troubled if it spreads to Cucurouge too. I have to prepare new medicine quickly."
"I knew you would say that. Though, if you judge that it"s out of your hands, you can pull up."
"Yes, I can"t do something impossible even if you ask me to. But, it"s fine, right? Depending on the situation I might need your citizens to partic.i.p.ate in a clinical study of the new medicine. Witch"s medicine is powerful, but it also has strong side-effects."
Although I have medical knowledge, I"m not a doctor. Having a mere 16 years old girl get dispatched under the feudal lord"s name could prove to be a problem if something happened.
"It won"t be a problem as long as you can get the consent from the dying patients themselves, or their relatives at least. You have a week. I"ll leave the final word how to proceed on-site to you and will take all responsibility for the outcome."
Brother repeated once again that he believed in me.
"Regardless of our relationship, this is still a business. I"ll pay you handsomely…How about this much?"
On top of offering the sum that would let me enjoy myself for half a year, it seems that he will also buy the recipe of the new medicine for large amount of money. Brother is so magnanimous. However, I shook my head.
"I"ll provide the recipe free of charge. Adding interest is troublesome so I don"t need it. But, let"s see…I missed my chance to buy a ticket for this year"s performance of Golden Kirin Troupe. Will you be able to get it, Brother? The two of them."
It"s a ticket for a popular traveling troupe"s play. If you wanted to buy it now, you would only be able to buy it from illegal retailers. To use terminology from my past life, I suppose they would be close to "resellers". They should just disappear.
"Just who do you think I am? I will prepare VIP seats for you."
"Thank you, Brother."
The deal was a success.
Now that it"s been decided, there"s no time to sit with folded hands. We must prepare by the end of the day and head towards Banheid tomorrow.
Will seemed to be unconvinced on the way home. Is he perhaps thinking that philanthropy doesn"t suit me? He"d be right though.
"Is it okay? That…it"s a new species of Mana Fever, right? It would be dangerous if you got infected."
"Oh my, Will, are you worried about me?"
Will mumbled “Isn"t that obvious?” in a quiet voice and turned away. I wonder if he"s angry or just embarra.s.sed?
"There is a risk of infection even if I seclude myself in Cucurouge, It would be better to take actions early. Besides, the reward is also tempting."
To think that such chance would roll my way the moment I talked about raking money in. This feels somehow contrived…but if that"s so, it wouldn"t be fun falling behind. It"s not like I"ll lose anything by making Brother owe me anyway.
"You can hold down the fort, Will. You have almost as much magical powers as the witches. You"ll be in for big suffering if you get infected."
"I can"t do that. Where can you find a servant who"ll stay at home while his master is heading towards danger? Besides, the more helping hands you have, the better, right?"
"Is that so? Don"t blame me if anything does happen.”
Will nodded deeply, implying that he understood.
I"m hesitating whether to take him with me, but parting with him also makes me feel anxious. I guess it would be better to have him near, where I can see him. Not to mention, there would probably be matters which would require a manly hand3. or perhaps I should say, I liked his loyal dog-like line.
After I allowed him to accompany me, Will asked hesitantly.
"I"m not sure if I should ask this or not, but did something happen to Lord Sanigue 5 years ago?"
It"s something that can be easily found out by a little research, so I decided to tell him.
"Brother lost his fiancee during an epidemic 5 years ago. By the way, she was Judia"s older sister."
It might be nostalgia affecting my memories, but I recall the woman named Juna4 be very beautiful, quiet, and gentle person, much loved by people of both s.e.xes. Many lamented her pa.s.sing. The day of her funeral was the first, and the last time I saw Brother crying.
I hadn"t talked with her much, but her death also came as a considerable shock to me. It was because there was a time when she called out to me, who had just started my Queen training at Aspinel family and was full of anxiety, and encouraged me.
"Looks like it wasn"t an incurable disease. But the treatment in the initial stage was delayed. Junsan also underestimated the progress of her disease, so n.o.body noticed anything until it was all too late."
At that time, I was shocked at how stupid that person was.
At least try to take care of yourself properly. Just how much effect did Junsan"s death have on her surroundings? Both Brother and Judia were very hurt because they failed to notice anything and kept blaming themselves.
I was also quite affected by her death.
I started to understand the feelings of those who sought out the Rose Gem or Seven Major Taboos.
It was not in order to sate their own greed. If they could save their loved ones by taking a great sacrifice…
Brother didn"t say anything, but if the Gem was finished, he would probably also seek it out. As I thought about it, I became scared.
"What a tragedy…so Lord Sanigue married the younger sister of his deceased fiancee?"
It was a political marriage to start with, so in order to maintain a relationship between two families, Judia was chosen as a new partner.
Judia seemed to have very complicated feelings about it, but she decided to accept the engagement to support Brother, whom she always had unrequited love for.
I really have to reduce the casualties from the current Mana Fever, if only for the peace of mind for Brother and his family.
After we returned to Cucurouge, the whole day flew by in the blink of an eye while we were preparing the ingredients for the medicine, tools and also getting ready for the journey.
I ordered Will to go ahead and rest and left the house alone.
My destination was Elder"s―― Grandmother"s treehouse.
She had big gla.s.ses on, reading a book. She greeted calmly, as if having antic.i.p.ated my visit.
"It has been decided that I will be going to Banheid, where the Mana Fever has spread. I will probably return in a month at the latest, so meanwhile, I will be leaving things to you. If anything happens, let me know by sending a black owl."
"Aye, got it."
The preface is finished. I decided to touch on the main subject.
This isn"t something that I should be asking before a big job, but I might be so concerned that I"m unable to concentrate on the work.
"Say, grandmother. Before, you said that me bringing Will with me was a curious coincidence, right? What did you mean by that? Were Father ―― Were Ambert and Cross Obsidia…"
Grandmother closed her eyes and stopped moving. I became a bit worried and called out to her.
"It"s a story from almost 30 years ago. There was a time when I visited Black Witch Slayzia5. The two were there. They seemed to be the slaves of Slayzia who had a preference for beautiful boys."
The Black Witch Slayzia was a terrifying, yet great witch, who left countless legends on the continent while drifting from one place to another. She seemed to have lived for 100 years and created an era. If I remember right, she was the teacher of Green Witch Jebera.
Slayzia, Jebera and Alonia. Looks like Ambert was moved between 3 generations of witch teachers and students6.
I"m getting sick of this. To think that were still things that I didn"t know.
"There is no blood relation between Ambert and Cross Obsidia, right?"
"Yeah, They seemed to get along like siblings, but they were just a part of children who were kidnapped from various regions. Or perhaps, created."
"Created?"
"I have heard that Slayzia in her later years was researching homunculi. Although I haven"t heard any words of her success, those two might have had something done to them. Their bewitching aura was exactly the same."
I unconsciously rubbed my arms. There were gooseb.u.mps arising on them.
It"s a terrible story in more than one. Either me or Will or perhaps both of us might have inherited homunculus" blood.
If that"s the case, the fact that Cross was commanding the Witch Hunting Troops could also be his revenge for his childhood.
"Several months after my visit, Slayzia reached the end of her lifespan and died. At the time of the funeral, the two were already nowhere to be seen."
After that, Cross became a knight and served the royal family of Mistria, while Ambert fell to prost.i.tution and sided with the witches.
I wonder if the two confronted each other as adults during the raid 20 years ago? What did Father think when Cross died miserably?
"When Cucurouge was built, I was really surprised when Alonia brought Ambert. I did ask him about what had happened, but that man dodged all my questions and hid the truth."
I won"t blame grandmother for not telling me something so important before. Witches value their secrets. They won"t answer something they haven"t been asked.
I was careless.
Who could have imagined that there would be a connection between our fathers? I and Will are becoming more and more entangled.
"Cross, Ambert, Jebera and Alonia are all dead. n.o.body is left who can tell the truth."
Everything is shrouded in darkness, grandmother cast her eyes down and said no more.
Notes:
Imagine being a powerful witch and such a desperate shotacon that you pretty much have to create perfect shotas for you.
The homunculus part isn"t exactly confirmed since it"s only the grandma"s a.s.sumption but it"s probably true. Even so, I wonder what meaning does having a homunculus parent have? can homunculi even be parents? does that make their children half-homunculi too? There"s 0 information given about the significance of this matter so Sonia"s reaction doesn"t tell me much about the consequences.
1. マリアラ in raws↩
2.It"s written as バンハイド twice in the raws and written as バンハイト once in the same chapter so I"m not sure which one is a typo, but since first one came out more, I"ll just go with it. Can be Banheid, Banhide, Banhaide, Vanheid, etc. ↩
3.Written as 男手 in the raws. Kinda like manly help? manly hands?↩
4. It"s written as ユーナ, so you basically read it as Yuna. Judia is similarly written as ユーディア and read as Yudia but I think Juna and Judia are proper wester versions?↩
5. Minor change from Slaytzia to Slayzia↩
6.The original sentence is 三代の魔女の師弟の間をアンバートは渡っていたのね。, the connotation basically being that he was with all 3 generations, I think?↩
I tried using footnotes but I"m not sure if it came out good or not. Tell me if it works fine or if it"s actually distracting.
P.S Don"t forget to notify me about mistranslations, typos and weird grammar