***

Present time.

After Yomite relieved his anger by taking care of the Dendro Bitch, the group was about to teleport back to Mondstadt.

Suddenly, he heard something.

His face instantly changed for the worse, thinking that there might be a monster on their way.

It was then, when a lone figure on a lizard mount approached them at high speed. It was accompanied by a wild screeching noise.

The one who appeared before them was unexpectedly Jean.

(Jean? What is she doing here? Isn't she usually busy in her office?)

He called out to her with a smile, "Jean, long time no see. Are you alright?"

Her complexion looked terrible, and she was on the verge of crying.

"Please...help me..."

Jean's voice was trembling. She looked like she was going to burst into tears at any moment now.

She had the atmosphere of a lost child that wasn't sure what to do.

Yomite had known Jean for quite a while now, and he had never seen her act like this before.

Something bad must have happened.

"I'm sorry...but for safety reasons, I can only take two people with me..."

The group was as confused as they could be...

"Jean...come on...calm down, and explain what happened."

Being dignified and graceful should have been her trademark, but right now Jean looked as pale as a corpse.

Yomite was convinced that something really serious must have happened.

"..."

Jean herself must have been aware that she was asking for something unreasonable here.

Her lips twisted in self-derision and she lowered her head powerlessly.

If it was her own life that was needed, Jean would give it away without the slightest hesitation.

However, Jean was completely powerless against the current situation.

It was as if her whole life of training was for naught.

She couldn't save the one she loved the most.

Even so, hoping for Yomite to do something about it was something that was very selfish of her.

She understood that logically. She understood, but──

"...This morning, we found that Barbara had suddenly collapsed after she returned from the village of Springvale...Our Favonius physician said...that it's a malignant disease and only a miracle can save her. She also said that so the disease doesn't spread and infect all of us, we should at least ease Barbara's suffering...and burn her...to death..."

Jean's expression was grieving as though it was she herself who was going to be burned.

Yomite silently made his decision seeing her like that.

He didn't know if he would be of help though. He was, after all, a novel reviewer, not a doctor.

Hu Tao, who understood what was going on inside Yomite's mind, frowned and grabbed Yomite's sleeve.

"We're not going."

Her resolute words made the group widen their eyes.

"I know that I'm asking for something unreasonable...but no matter how much I racked my head, I can only rely on your group, Honorary Knights and the Heroes who saved us before... Someone like you, so different from the rest of the populace I've ever met, capable of scolding an actual Archon without a problem...someone who is looking at the world differently from the rest of us... please save her..."

Because Visions and magic was spread around the world, the medical technology in this world wasn't advanced by any means compared to his old world...

What's more, from what she said, this was a contagious disease, it could be said that research regarding pathogens of the virus type was almost nonexistent here...

"There is no need for us to go. Those who are fated to pass on, shall do so. We don't need to put ourselves in danger as well."

Hu Tao's words were harsh, but from the teachings of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, those who were fated to pass on, shall do so without any resistance.

Same went for her grandfather.

If Barbara's condition was that bad, then she would perform the ceremony after she passed away and her soul would be at peace.

Wangsheng Funeral Parlor strictly forbade any kind of 'Interruption' of fate.

"Hu Tao, we need to go and try to see if we can help...don't be like that..."

"I'm not going, and neither should you...Yomite. I'm not a Hero, nor am I medically skilled enough to save someone and from what I've seen...neither are you. We will be putting our lives on the line for naught."

Yomite knew she was mad when she called him by his actual name and not the annoying nickname he grew so fond of.

He frowned at her words, she was right, but her twisted logic was the thing that made him angry more than ever.

"Can't you at least have some compassion towards her!? Her sister is about to die! We need to do something! Anything! It's better than doing nothing!"

This seemed to tick Hu Tao off...

"Rather, it would seem your small brain isn't capable of comprehending the current situation. So let me explain again. We're medically inefficient, we aren't heroes that would step into danger for no reason, we're adventurers, not medical practitioners... Once you try and help, you'll be infected as well! Not to mention, that if we try to do something, her condition might worsen and she would suffer even more...So I'm asking the Acting Grand Master now, are you sending us to our death?"

Jean lowered her gaze.

Everything Hu Tao said was the cold truth.

"Fuck! I hate your logic!"

He stabbed his claymore into the soil of the ground in anger.

He wasn't stupid, he knew and could understand her facts.

Yet he believed that maybe with Lumine's cheat abilities and his quick wit, they might be able to do something about it.

Still, the risk of getting infected was way too high.

He knew she was painfully right, but was it really okay to just let someone die like this...

He only met her a couple of times, but still...

Meeting someone who was such a kind person, only for them to die the next month…

How were the Gods of this world choosing people?

At least take someone who deserved death.

Forget it, it was the same back at Earth.

Innocent people died, disgusting animals in the form of human beings lived.

Lumine and Paimon also had a reluctant gaze.

They wanted to help, yet their medical skills were also non-existent...