CH 340

I spoke of the events that transpired in the forest to Cortina and Finia who had rushed to the guard post. Cloud was lying on the bed and had once again fallen asleep.

Even if I was lending him my shoulder, waking to the city had used up all his stamina.

“So, this thing is it…?”

“Yeah.”

Looking at the water pouch where I put the cloth bag, Cortina said with a frown. She couldn’t touch it directly, so she hadn’t confirmed the insides.

“…Sorry, but can we continue this talk in Maxwell’s mansion?”

“That would actually be wiser.”

Maxwell could use detoxification spells. I already confirmed that Kabby could do it too, but the poison was strong enough to weaken Cloud, who was so energetic, in a moment. It might have had some side effects.

It would be reassuring for Maxwell who had mastered all kinds of spells to be by our side.

“Is Maxwell not aware of this?”

“We’ve sent a messenger, but it would be faster if we go there ourselves.”

“Then, we have to take Cloud along.”

“Right. We never know what might happen if it’s an unknown poison. They might not be able to handle it at a guard post.”

With Cortina’s words, the guards put Cloud on the stretcher and carried him. Her dependability spiked up with the previous incident. As such, the guards were cooperating out of their own initiative.

“Sorry, but please be fast. The situation might turn urgent at any moment.”

“Yes, please leave it to us!”

“Can you let this girl ride along too? You should know how bad Nicole’s stamina is.”

“Well yes.”

“I’m really reluctant though.”

The guards gave a ready consent to Cortina’s request, but I was pretty displeased for being used as a reference.

I was dissatisfied, but I did actually collapse in front of the guard, plus they were going to carry me to Maxwell’s mansion, so I had no reason to deny it.

Maxwell met us as we were carried to his mansion. He had just received the notice and was about to head out to the guard office.

When he saw Cortina show up without a notice, he realized that the situation was urgent and readily led us inside.

“Sorry, but the rest of you should wait in the other room. I shall provide tea.”

“Yes sir, we understand the situation.”

“That goes for you too, little Finia.”

“Understood. Please call me if you need anything.”

If this illness spreading throughout the city was a man-made calamity, then it would lead to a question of who exactly caused it.

If that happened, there would be topics that were better to discuss in close-circle for the sake of settlement and retribution.

For that, too, it was better for them not to be present now. Maxwell made this decision while considering all that.

“So then… This is the aforementioned bag?”

“Yes. Given how Cloud helplessly collapsed on the spot, it’s probably quite a strong poison.”

“So they dissolved it into the river and the citizens that came in contact with it became ill, huh. It is natural that an undiluted solution would cause that.”

“Actually, the thing inside looked like mucus. Isn’t it strange?”

“Hmm?”

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If you put mucus inside water, it would dissolve right away. Forget half a day, it wouldn’t take more than a few hours.

The illness inside the city had been going on for over a week now. If they didn’t periodically replace it, it would go away right away.

“It does sound very inefficient. Was there anyone nearby?”

“There wasn’t. They didn’t shadow us on the way back either.”

“Fortunately, Cloud appeared there when they were not looking I suppose. He’s pretty unlucky… Or is this considered lucky?”

As Cortina said, Cloud seemed to be prone to get rolled up into troubles. But thanks to that, we found out that the spreading illness was due to poison. And we also got our hands on the key to the solution, so his achievements were big.

“If we dispatch the guards… No, they would be at a disadvantage.”

“Right. They are all heavily armed, so they aren’t suited for an ambush.”

“Having said that, we cannot ignore them either. For the time being, I will have Mateus be on the lookout there.”

“Stealth Gift holders would be so useful in times like these. Reid was the same.”

“But you exploited him the most.”

“I-I am aware of it!”

Cortina puffed her cheeks a bit, but I was aware that she would have never given me pointless orders. I wouldn’t be holding that against her after all this time.

After joking a bit and calming the mood down, Maxwell opened the water pouch and carefully removed the contents.

“A cloth bag? They most likely used this to adjust the rate of dissolution in the water.”

“The bag doesn’t appear to be anything special. A normal linen one.”

“As for the contents… Hmm?”

“Pale green mucus. Rather, is it gelatine?”

“No, that does not seem to be the case.”

Maxwell immediately denied Cortina’s assumption. He furrowed his brows and moved his fingers a bit and formed a magic circle.

What he invoked was the Purify spell.

“Why… If you erase the poison there would be no evidence left.”

“I would not make such a blunder. More importantly, this is a highly toxic thing… It is part of a Disease Slime.”

“Slime? So that’s why it was dissolving so slowly.”

“It spreads a disease that infects humans just by a touch. If it’s a strong individual, they can even spread it through the atmosphere. It does not have a core so it should not be able to move voluntarily, but they used its aptitude to attack the city.”

“So that’s why you used Purify?”

“I do not think it can spread airborne infection, but just in case.”

So, there was a risk that Cortina and I would have caught it too if he didn’t do that?

“If we leave it be, whoever discovered it would get infected by the virus..”

“Quite a nasty situation we’re in.”

For the time being, we discovered the cause.

It seems that not just detoxification, it also needed a spell called Cure Disease. Maxwell quickly let the city magicians know that and they spread out to deal with the situation.

At the same time, he ordered the inspection of the riverside. If it wasn’t someone extraordinary, they would not be able to escape.

In a few days following that, the epidemic that had been filling the city had died down as if it had been a lie.