Ch.128128. Winds of Plague (10)

Scourge, Devourer.

Call it what you will. The Lemtert Plague is what those rats spread, their offspring seeping into the bloodstream even as they committed suicide to spread it.

If only one could eliminate the offspring of those invaders that infiltrated the body without anyone noticing, this plague would naturally disappear.

For such reasons, Hipplisia possessed the optimal conditions.

It was effective at driving out the Devourers and caused no side effects in humans.

“The same result as before… What’s the problem?”

However, it was far too difficult to blend as an herb.

It needed to properly contain the magical components to drive out the plague’s offspring, and if any loss occurred during the process, its effectiveness would decrease.

Yet focusing too much on potency made the mixture impossible to create. Additionally, layer separation would occur, rendering it completely unusable.

The knowledge of a mere student who had only attended a few alchemy lectures was still too shallow to create such a remedy.

“What’s the right approach… I can’t go ask Professor Dalia either…”

It was a medicine that held the future, a medicine containing the hopes of the Sirens.

The fact that she couldn’t give up here was firmly embedded in her mind, but developing a cure was a task Senia simply couldn’t handle alone.

“This isn’t working. I need to clear my head a bit.”

As they say, take a step back when in a hurry—she needed a brief moment of rest.

If she could take in the view of the clear lake created by the Sirens, she might regain her motivation before long.

As she approached the lake, she spotted two people observing Chirr’s reactions.

“What a curious creature. For something drawn to my magic, it doesn’t even eat.”

“This is my first time seeing something like this too…”

-Chirr chirr.

“Ah. I think it’s sleepy. It would be uncomfortable sleeping there… Are you okay with that?”

“Leave it be. When it’s time to sleep, you can take it back.”

I wondered what they were talking about—it seems to be related to Chirr.

‘It used to be like that with me too.’

Chirr doesn’t approach just anyone. Neither Nella nor the other Sirens can connect with Chirr; only those specifically drawn to the creature can elicit such a response.

She had recognized from their first meeting that he was also a Calix.

Thanks to that, she was able to inform the Sirens that Chirr had approached Junon, allowing them to rescue the isolated human unit, but…

‘That raises a question.’

From his black hair rarely seen in the Empire to the peculiar behaviors only exhibited by modern people, Junon must also be a Calix, making him an otherworlder from this Kempton continent’s perspective, just like herself.

The question was: who had summoned him?

“I guess since big brother is also a Calix, Chirr must find him especially special.”

“Calix? What’s that?”

“Huh? You’re a Calix, big brother. Didn’t your summoner tell you anything?”

“…This is the first I’m hearing of it. I didn’t even know there was such a term as Calix.”

The conversation naturally drifted in that direction.

Though she was unintentionally eavesdropping, Senia had actually been considering asking Junon directly. But… it seemed he genuinely didn’t know.

“Umm… so a Calix is…”

Nella continued explaining what a Calix was. Though somewhat clumsy, she conveyed the necessary information well, and Junon seemed to grasp what he had been unaware of.

“So it approached me because it knew I was such a being? Hmm… Then when you said I was a Calix earlier?”

“Ah, that’s…”

Nella rolled her eyes, unsure if she should speak. It was an unspoken rule among the Sirens, something she couldn’t freely discuss.

‘Well, I’ve heard enough.’

Sometimes it’s better not to know who summoned you or from where, so Senia stepped forward to interrupt the conversation.

“What are you all doing here?”

“Who… oh, it’s Senia.”

“Ah, it’s big sister.”

Nella approached Senia with the face of someone who’d found a savior, taking small steps toward the woman she’d regarded as an older sister for years.

She began removing stray leaves and fixing disheveled strands of hair—the very picture of sisterhood.

“I’ll take Chirr later. Mother was calling for you, Nella, so you should go now.”

“Okay! See you later, big sister!”

And with that, the subject of their conversation disappeared.

As Senia had intended, the flow of conversation about the Calix was cut off.

“What were you doing here?”

“Just, you know. Since things weren’t going well.”

“…Is that so?”

Though she knew from the Elder, it seemed even the person directly involved had no solution for this issue.

Senia felt her shoulders grow heavier and raised one hand to massage them a couple of times.

“Anyway, thanks. You fixed the bracelet, right?”

“Bracelet? You mean the Hipplisia stem bracelet?”

“So that’s what it’s called. Well, anyway, the one our entire unit is wearing. I thought it was defective, but you only adjusted mine, right? It made movement much easier, thanks to you.”

“Ah, well… I had to make sure you could move in that situation.”

Junon was expressing gratitude, but Senia was puzzled.

Giving Cain a hint to help Junon? OK.

Slightly adjusting only Junon’s bracelet? Also OK.

She had reduced its magic suppression effect and prevented it from sending signals, but it shouldn’t have been defective…

This was probably Junon’s misunderstanding.

“By the way, *sniff*. Were you experimenting with something?”

“Why?”

“I can tell just from the smell saturating your clothes. That’s the condensing agent used for mixing in Professor Dalia’s lecture experiments.”

She hadn’t noticed the smell that had permeated her clothes after spending so much time in the lab, her senses having grown numb to it.

“Let’s see. It must be an acidic condensing agent, so the front number would be 3A, and since 12 or 14 would stain clothes, but yours look fine, it must be reagent number 13?”

3A-13 reagent.

He had correctly identified the exact condensing agent she had been diligently using until just recently.

“Looks like you were trying to extract the magic formula intact, but when it doesn’t mix properly, the condensing agent smell becomes stronger, like now. You must have failed pretty badly?”

“…”

He was hitting the nail on the head with every guess.

Perhaps he had shown considerable talent in alchemy? Come to think of it, she vaguely recalled hearing that everyone in the first class had received help from Junon when synthesizing artificial magic stones.

The perfect candidate was right in front of her, and she wanted to ask for help, but the problem was that it was Junon.

She worried whether it would be appropriate for him to get involved in this matter, given that he might face significant backlash soon for knowing about the Lemtert Plague.

But…

“Then could you help me? You seem to know much more about this.”

Right now, she needed even the tiniest bit of information.

***

“Is it really okay for me to enter? I feel like someone might complain about an outsider being here.”

“The Sirens don’t even come here. Besides, whatever we do here is at my request anyway.”

“Well, that’s true.”

There couldn’t possibly be a proper laboratory in a place like this.

There was no equipment to speak of, just a makeshift lab barely capable of small-scale synthesis.

Going back wouldn’t suddenly provide a solution anyway. Being confined and waiting wasn’t the answer, so he voluntarily followed Senia.

“What are you trying to make?”

“Medicine. Something the Sirens desperately need.”

“Hmm… medicine, huh.”

Though he had attended relevant lectures from Professor Dalia, the class had been split into groups due to its size, so Junon wasn’t familiar with Senia’s skill level.

But one thing he could be certain of:

Senia had likely hit a wall after repeated attempts by now.

“Here it is. I want to extract the magic contained in this powder completely.”

Medicine being inherently difficult to produce, such failures were to be expected.

The inclusion of a magic formula only increased the extraction difficulty further.

It would be incredibly challenging to find a method to extract from this powder, not just in hours but even over days.

“First, tell me how you’ve been conducting your experiments so far.”

“I used the fractional extraction method. Since it’s a powder, I dissolved it well in solution, then added an activator to make it magical…”

At that moment, Senia’s mouth fell open.

Just hearing the words “fractional extraction,” Junon had already begun the experiment with apparent confidence.

The process of precipitate formation in the solution and the experimental procedure were flawless—not a single detail was wrong. In fact, he might have handled it even more precisely and meticulously than she had.

Finally reaching the vacuum stage, the acidic solution that had permeated Senia’s clothes filled the room with its pungent odor.

Junon handed the finished solution to Senia and finally spoke.

“Was there any major difference between this process and yours?”

“…No.”

What more could be said? If anything, the only difference was in the measurements and hand skills, where he showed remarkably different expertise. Even the time taken was only a matter of seconds.

It meant he had predicted the entire experimental method without even hearing it.

“Multiple fractional extraction. It’s a common mistake when trying to forcibly increase the purity while containing a material’s unique magic formula. That’s where things went wrong.”

He began measuring out the prepared materials again.

But the amounts were clearly different from what Senia had used, and after checking several reagent bottles, he replaced some of them.

“The mixing ratio is also an issue. It might look well-dissolved before the precipitate forms, but in reality, it was probably barely clumping together. How could magic flow out when it wasn’t even properly mixed?”

Finally, he slowly lit a lamp and began heating the solution with the dissolved powder.

Setting up dozens of empty test tubes in rapid succession, his words were strangely unsettling.

“You need to invest time. This isn’t something that can be hastily made in a few minutes—you need to proceed step by step, removing impurities and increasing purity.”

Telling someone in a hurry to take their time—how frustrating.

Yet somehow, it inspired confidence. Though not flashy, his methodical, careful process was even more delicate than Senia’s hasty efforts.

As a result, Senia’s face grew increasingly rigid.

“Junon… how long have you been doing this…?”

Indeed, it wasn’t that he was skilled.

There was no special technique involved, nor was it a matter of using an innovative manufacturing method.

His gestures didn’t appear flashy for this reason. Everything was his skill, his time.

The simple processes of heating, adding, cooling—the reason they looked so familiar was clearly due to his experience gained through countless trials and errors.

“…I’ve done it a lot.”

Only then did Senia come to her senses, hearing his quiet, dejected voice.

Senia’s eyes, which had been focused solely on the experiment, widened and turned to Junon’s face, realizing her mistake as she saw his bitter smile.

Those hands represented Junon’s experience—his past. She had made him recall a past he didn’t want to remember.

It was truly a thoughtless act.

“To be honest, I still don’t know what you’re trying to make. Since I don’t know the identity of this powder, I’ll only help you with the intermediate process. But if it’s completed, please ask the Elder again about what I told her.”

“I promise…”

There was a bitter taste in her mouth.

Without realizing it, she had bitten her lip until it bled.

***

How much time had passed since they were confined to the basement? They had received one meal, so at least half a day must have gone by.

Jon, who had been whining about hunger, had received a snack followed by a proper meal, and the two exhausted men had fallen into a sleep like unconsciousness afterward.

But unlike the other rooms, one bed here remained empty. It was Junon’s vacant spot.

‘Why did the Sirens only take my brother…?’

He thought perhaps they too had recognized that he was different, on another level entirely.

As Cain was lost in these thoughts while staring at Junon’s empty bed, someone came for him, just as before.

“You there, which one of you is Cain?”

“…That’s me.”

“You need to come with us for a while. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t try anything foolish.”

“Understood.”

Cain obediently followed the Siren who had come to fetch him.

Thinking to himself, “Brother must have done something again.”