episode_0029

The Poison That Ruined a Village

“Poison? That’s impossible, Black Saintess. The cause of these terrible symptoms isn’t a disease, but poison…!”

“Are you sure, Aria?”

“Yes, Zeke-nim. I’m sure.”

I still can’t believe it. If the cause of the symptoms appearing in Rascal-ssi’s hometown residents is the same poison as the cause of the symptoms in Arjel village residents… why didn’t the doctors know the cause was poison? Is it a poison unknown to all doctors in the Krentid World?

“How can that be? These symptoms are the same ones my hometown people experienced. That means it must be the same disease… but it’s not a disease, it’s poison?”

“Yes. I think I know why the doctors couldn’t find the poison. Doctors… that is, healers can indeed find diseases or poisons in a patient’s body. But that ability alone isn’t enough. To detect this poison, one needs to be a Saintess who has received Saintess education and training since childhood, like me.”

“What do you mean? Are you saying it’s a special kind of poison, Aria?”

“Yes, Zeke-nim. The poison circulating in this Lizardman’s body doesn’t seem to be ordinary poison. Hmm… it’s a poison that contains a curse.”

“A curse? What kind of curse?”

“It’s a curse of concealment. A curse that conceals existence… This is usually applied to living beings, so I’m seeing it applied to poison for the first time. It seems that due to the curse of concealment, no one could detect the presence of the poison.”

A curse bestowed upon poison? I’ve never heard of it. Although I know nothing about curses, I do know that curses are abilities that harm living beings. But to bestow a curse on poison, which isn’t even a living being… Wait. If that’s the case…

“Wait, Black Saintess. Then these symptoms… mean someone caused them artificially?”

“Hmm… there’s a high probability of that, isn’t there? A curse wouldn’t occur naturally. If this is the same as the symptoms that spread in your hometown, wouldn’t it be right to assume someone destroyed your hometown as well?”

“But there’s still something I don’t understand…. How can one bestow a curse on poison?”

“Hmm…. Oh…! Rascal, could you look at this for a moment?”

“What suddenly…? Hm?!”

Something clicked, and I drew the greatsword from my back. Then, a yellow light began to shimmer from the greatsword, and Rascal was greatly surprised to see it. Right… my greatsword is currently blessed by Aria. Which means…

“Zeke, that greatsword…?”

“It’s my greatsword. Aria has bestowed an excessive blessing upon my greatsword, causing this phenomenon to occur occasionally, but… that’s not what’s important right now. Just as Aria can bestow a blessing on a greatsword, couldn’t a curse also be bestowed on an object?”

“What…?!”

This is just my hypothesis, but… it makes sense. There’s a saying that blessing is the opposite of curse, and curse is the opposite of blessing. But since both share the commonality of being able to be cast upon others, wouldn’t they also share the characteristic of being able to be bestowed upon objects? My greatsword and the poison in the bodies of Arjel’s residents are proving it right now…

“That’s right, Zeke-nim. I heard it during my Saintess training. Curses can also be bestowed upon objects. There are stories of legendary treasures that have such properties. Like swords that kill you if you keep holding them…”

“How could that be… Then… who is it…. Who spread this poison in my hometown and in Arjel…?”

“Hmm… given the ability to bestow curses upon objects, it doesn’t seem to be an ordinary shaman. Anyway, the cause of these symptoms is poison, not a disease.”

“Damn it… To think I didn’t even know that…. But I definitely found and administered several antidotes before.”

“There could be unknown poisons too. Just as there’s no panacea, there could be poisons that those antidotes can’t cure.”

“Damn it…”

“No, that’s not the problem right now!”

“Ugh… Ra… Rascal-ssi…..”

The moment I was about to reprimand Rascal, the fallen Lizardman groaned and called for Rascal. Rascal then rushed to the Lizardman, who was writhing in pain, grabbed his shoulder, and shouted.

“Just bear with it a little longer…!! I will surely save these villagers…!!”

“Ra… Rascal-ssi… I… I trust you… You’ve taken care of us without hesitation until now… Ugh…. More importantly… didn’t you just say it was poison, not a disease…? This…”

“Th-that’s right… I certainly thought it was a disease… Since so many people suddenly started showing these symptoms…”

“It doesn’t matter since we didn’t know either…. But… I think I have a general idea of the cause for this…..”

“…! What?!”

“Huh?!”

This Lizardman knows the cause of the poison, which we hadn’t expected at all? Rascal and I were greatly bewildered. However, the Lizardman didn’t give us a chance to be surprised and told us his opinion.

“After we… settled here…. Ugh… didn’t we drink the water we found here…? Rascal, you drank the water you brought with you….”

“Water…? No… surely not… That spring water…”

“What do you mean, Rascal?”

“The residents here were using some spring water as their drinking water, Zeke. If I consider that the reason I didn’t develop these symptoms is because I didn’t drink that spring water, and the reason I wasn’t poisoned in my hometown was because it happened while I was temporarily away… it seems to make sense.”

“…Then this is… an intentional poison attack… is what it seems to be…”

“That’s right… We need to quickly detoxify them. But…. Ugh…. If only we knew what kind of poison it was….!”

“Aria, you detected that these symptoms are caused by poison, didn’t you? Can you perhaps solve it?”

“Of course.”

“Th-that’s…. What?!”

I naturally thought she would say she couldn’t. But Rascal and I were greatly surprised by Aria’s nonchalant ‘of course I can’ remark. Then why haven’t you said you could cure them until now?! No way…!!

“Aria, why until now…”

“Black Saintess! Why are you only telling us this now!!”

“Hmm… Zeke-nim isn’t poisoned, is he? And Rascal-nim, who is your benefactor, isn’t poisoned either. They’re just residents who have no connection to me, are they not?”

“W-what do you mean by that, Black Saintess…?”

So that was it. She just stayed silent because Rascal and I weren’t poisoned… And she only revealed that the cause of the symptoms was poison because Rascal and I were so curious…! In short, she has no interest unless it concerns Rascal or me…. But still…

“Black Saintess! Save them! They’re dying even now!!”

“I refuse. My healing abilities are solely for Zeke-nim. I will never treat them….”

“Please do it, Aria. I’m asking you like this too.”

“What?! But this kind of ability is for Zeke-nim…”

“You’ll do it, won’t you?”

“!!! I’ll do it right away.”

“?!”

When I took Aria’s hand and asked again, Aria’s face flushed, and she suddenly stood up, saying she would do it. Rascal was greatly surprised by Aria’s sudden change in attitude. He had good reason to be… Aria is weak to my earnest requests. Moreover, if I even hold her hand like this, she’ll unconditionally do it… Though I feel a little sorry, as it feels like I’m taking advantage of Aria… Still, saving people comes first. Whether they’re Lizardmen or anything else.

“But I can’t do it right away. I need to go through the process of dispelling the curse and removing the poison. To do that, I need ingredients to dispel the curse.”

“Ingredients again. Understood. What should I bring, Black Saintess? If it’s to save them, I can even enter a deep cave.”

“Hmm… I need a few magic stones. And it would be good to have crystal stones too. And I need quite a lot of flowers that can produce purple dye. Around… fifty blossoms.”

“Fifty… Fifty, you say… Rascal! The Kritar herbs we collected are also purple flowers!”

“! I see… Then we’ll need 24 more. Understood! As for magic stones and crystal stones, I think I can use what I have…”

“We have some too. Aria cleanly dealt with the monsters, so we have many crystal stones. Can we use them?”

“For Zeke-nim, of course! You can use all of them, it doesn’t matter!”

“…. You’re the one who knows the required number… Then we should quickly finish digging up the herbs.”

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be herbs; any flower that can be made into purple dye will suffice, Zeke. Let’s go quickly! Don’t we need to save them before the sun completely sets?!”

Sun…? Oh, right. Time passed quickly while we were gathering herbs earlier, and the sun is already setting! We need to hurry… Even if monsters aren’t visible in the Kriton region, who can guarantee they won’t appear at night?! Moreover, people’s lives are hanging by a thread, so we must hurry.

“Aria! Then I’ll go get the flowers…”

“No. I cannot allow Zeke-nim to go alone.”

“What?! Then….”

“I’ll go first for now, Zeke! The situation is urgent…!”

Seeing Aria grab my arm and prevent me from leaving, Rascal grabbed his crossbow again and rushed outside. Why is she… again… Ah, right! Because of the Robedome incident, she’s still uneasy about me going alone…

“But Aria, if we don’t hurry and get the ingredients you mentioned, other people might die…!”

“Don’t worry, Zeke-nim. If we don’t have those ingredients, I can’t do anything either. So let’s go together, Zeke-nim….”

“…. Alright. Let’s go quickly, Aria! Time is urg… Hup?”

The moment I was about to say time was urgent, my body was pulled by an immense force. Aria had firmly grabbed my arm and dashed outside at incredible speed! Whoaaah! She had this much speed, so why was she…!!!

“Because Zeke-nim needs to hurry, I should hurry too, right?”

“Th-that’s true, but!!! First, stop and look for… purple flowers….!”

“Yes!”

Aria began to rapidly slow down upon hearing my words. And once she came to a complete stop, I started to catch my breath. Phew… I almost threw up. I felt like I was moving faster than words… Ah, this isn’t the time for this.

“Quickly find the flowers… Huh?”

“Hehehe… This much should be enough!”

While I was catching my breath, Aria had already picked all the necessary flowers. How is she so fast…? Ah, well, it’s Aria, so it’s probably possible, right? Lately, whenever I see Aria display such superhuman strength, I just stop thinking about it… No, this isn’t the time to be thinking about that.

“Damn it, I keep getting distracted….!! Let’s hurry back to the village, Aria! That much is enough, right!”

“Yes, Zeke-nim! Then we’ll depart!”

“…. Suddenly wh-WHOOAAAH!!!”

Before I could even mentally prepare myself, Aria grabbed my arm again and started dragging me along at incredible speed….. I seriously feel like something’s going to come back up… Ugh… And as I slightly opened my eyes through the pain, I saw Rascal staring blankly at Aria, who was dashing off at an incredible speed while holding the flowers. I feel like I’ll die first, not the villagers….

“Alright, we’ve arrived!… Zeke-nim?”

“Gasp… Wheeze…. A… Aria… Next time, could we perhaps go after I’ve mentally prepared myself…?”

“…Hmm? Did I do something wrong…?”

“No… never mind… So, I just need to make the dye, right?”

“Yes, Zeke-nim. You mustn’t use the water from here.”

“Alright… Let’s use the water from our water bottle to make it. Hmm… liquid form is fine?”

“Yes, I’ll draw a blessing formation with it. Because to dispel the curse, a blessing formation drawn with purple dye is needed.”

“Phew…. Understood.”

I took out a mortar and pestle from my backpack, put in the flower petals and water, and started grinding. Then, the purple color from the petals began to seep into the water. Good… it’s working well…. While I was making the dye, Rascal came inside and spoke.

“Something just passed by at an incredible speed…. Was that you?”

“Yes, Rascal…. Could you possibly give me all the flowers?”

“Uh… understood.”

“Do you have any leftover cloth? Large pieces, please. I need as many as there are villagers.”

“I do. I’ll get it for you. Thank you, Black Saintess….”

Rascal bowed his head to Aria and went to retrieve the cloth. I ground the flowers to make dye, and Aria dipped her finger in the purple ink and began drawing a formation on the cloth. A star shape inside a circle… and then a circle inside a star… Is that what they call a blessing formation? When Rascal brought all the cloth, he asked me.

“Is there enough dye?”

“Looking at how Aria has drawn more than half, I think it will be fine. Aria, can you perhaps treat that Lizardman first?”

“Ugh…. I’ve been… waiting since earlier….!!”

…. Oh, right. That Lizardman had been listening to our conversation since earlier. Rascal and I were a little flustered to hear that, and Aria smiled. Then Aria covered the Lizardman with the cloth on which the blessing formation was drawn, knelt, and began to pray.

“Our Father in Heaven…. A pitiable soul requests your aid… Please, with your mercy, save this soul….”

“Ugh…. Aaaargh!!”

While I was making the dye, a Lizardman’s scream echoed along with Aria’s prayer, and I quickly turned my head towards the Lizardman. And something unbelievable happened before my eyes. As the Lizardman began to scream, the blessing formation drawn on the cloth began to glow yellow. Then it suddenly started turning black, and once it was completely black, the light emanating from the cloth vanished. What…?

“A… Aria?”

“Phew… It’s done. The poison has been purified too.”

“Ugh… Ra… Rascal…! Am I… alive…?”

The Lizardman slowly got up and began to move his fingers. Feeling that his body no longer hurt, the Lizardman shed tears and looked for Rascal. Then Rascal took the Lizardman’s hand and spoke.

“What a relief… truly…”

“Ah… Aah…! Thank you so much, Saintess-nim!!… And thank you, yellow-haired human!”

“Ah… haha… It’s all done, right, Aria?”

“Yes~ Please guide me to the next resident, Rascal-nim.”

“Uh… oh! Of course!! Come quickly…!!!”

Rascal quickly rushed outside and guided us. I took the cloths Aria had drawn and placed them over the residents. And Aria prayed, saving the residents’ lives. Lizardmen, humans, even beastfolk… The residents of Arjel, of various races, all began to regain their health in less than an hour. Then we stood before the spring water discovered by the Arjel residents. Aria threw a cloth into the spring water and began to pray again. As soon as Aria finished her prayer, Rascal retrieved the cloth from the spring water.

“Is this it? This spring water… is it safe to drink now?”

“Yes~ That Lizardman resident was right. The poison had spread to the spring water too. But it has been purified and is now back to being drinkable water, Zeke-nim~”

“Alright… You did well, Aria.”

“Ugh…..”

The moment I stroked Aria’s head and praised her, Rascal suddenly slumped to the ground. Then he slowly began to shed tears. Seeing tears fall from that scarred face… my heart also felt a pang of emotion…

“Thank you, Zeke… Black Saintess…. This illness that had caused so much grief…. Thank you so much for allowing us to put an end to it….”

“But what about your hometown people….”

“Although I couldn’t save my hometown people… Still, just saving the residents of this village brings me a sense of relief…. The residents will prepare a feast for you. I’ll go help them then… Thank you so much!!”

Rascal returned to Arjel, shedding tears. A feast, huh… I haven’t had anything special recently except for stew and roasts, so I guess this is good news… Anyway, seeing Rascal, who usually seems quiet, shedding tears… it brings me peace of mind too. Phew… Still, I should praise Aria a lot today, right?

“Aria, you really worked hard today! It must have been very tiring chanting prayers, wasn’t it? I mean…?”

“Yes… Zeke-nim.”

What is this? Suddenly, goosebumps appeared. When I grabbed Aria’s shoulder from behind, I felt something alien, or rather… a strange feeling…. No… it felt as if my instincts had sensed danger. Why am I suddenly like this…? I’ve seen Aria’s back many times, so it shouldn’t be scary… not….!!!!

“But thanks to that, I’ve also gained some realization, Zeke-nim.”

“…. You…”

What is that? Below the brooch I gave Aria, beneath her neck… there was a strange purple jewel. Upon seeing the purple jewel, which looked like a crystal, I instinctively looked at Aria’s face, and at that moment, I intuited danger. Aria’s red eyes were even redder, and they seemed to emit light like the purple jewel beneath her neck. Aria, who looked fearsome, smiled and asked me.

“Why are you like that, Zeke-nim? I’ve gained a realization, so I’m feeling very good, you see?”