After readying myself, I spoke to the servant waiting by the door.
"Please inform Marquis Ahrens that I am here. I have an urgent matter to discuss regarding Lady Therese."
The servant looked bewildered for a moment but quickly nodded and hurried away.
Before long, I was shown into the study. The Marquis received me, though deep shadows still hung in the depths of his eyes.
"—What brings you here so early in the morning?"
"Please let me see Big Sister Therese. Something occurred to me, and I want to confirm her condition with my own eyes. I might be able to save Big Sister Therese... and perhaps everyone else, too."
The Marquis’s eyes widened in surprise.
"……I assume you understand, but that room is strictly quarantined. There is no guarantee you will not fall to the same illness if you approach. Even knowing that, you still make this request?"
"Yes. My two attendants will enter with me as well. They are both prepared for whatever follows."
I had no intention of backing down.
The Marquis stared at me for a long while, as if searching for the depth of my resolve. Finally, he let out a heavy sigh.
"……I understand. I shall no longer try to stop your attendants either. It is truly pathetic of me to say, but the situation in the city shows no sign of subsiding… It seems I have no choice but to rely on you once more. I will instruct the nursing staff to follow your orders as well."
The Marquis paused, then bowed his head deeply.
"—Please, save the Saint…… and if it is within your power, I beg you to save my territory……"
I nodded solemnly.
Leaving the study, I walked down the hallway. Mira and Lina, who had been waiting outside, wordlessly followed.
When we reached the isolation room, Mira’s footsteps faltered for a brief second. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her hand reach toward my back, only for her to pull it away as if it had nowhere to go.
"……We will not leave your side," she said.
Her voice was low, as if forced through a tight throat. She bit her lip and followed silently behind me.
I would be lying if I said I wasn't afraid. Beyond this door was "something" that was systematically killing the people of the city. I might succumb to it myself.
Even so, my feet did not stop.
◇◇◇
I opened the door.
Mira and Lina followed me inside. Lina stood just within the threshold, appearing to hold her breath.
Big Sister Therese was lying on the bed. Her consciousness seemed hazy, her breathing shallow and rapid. The color of her fingertips had not changed yet.
By the bedside, the slaves tasked with nursing her stood by, their faces etched with the weary resignation of those who had already given up.
I knelt by the bed.
Desperately searching through the memories of my past life, I tried to confirm the sense of incongruity I felt.
Is this actually a disease?
I had to be sure. I knew I should have a way to tell the difference, based on knowledge from my previous life.
Gently, I lifted her eyelids.
Her pupils were dilated—unnaturally so. Even when I let the light from the window hit them, the black circles constricted with agonizing slowness.
I took her wrist to check her pulse. It was fast and irregular. Between beats, her fingertips and shoulders would occasionally twitch with small spasms.
I pressed the back of my hand against her forehead and neck. She was cold and clammy with sweat—and yet, she had no fever.
The symptoms Big Sister Therese exhibited matched the "identifying signs of poisoning" I remembered from my past life.
Furthermore, none of the nursing slaves who had been in the closest contact with her had fallen ill. If this were a contagious plague, they should have been the first to collapse.
I spoke quietly.
"……This might not be a disease. It might be poison."
Long ago, in my past life, I felt like I had read about a similar mass poisoning in a distant country. I couldn't remember the name of the toxin.
—But the name didn't matter right now.
If it was a poison rather than a disease, I had a way to fight it. I no longer needed the desperate gamble I had been bracing for—using Transplant Magic to pull the infection into my own body. If it was poison, I just had to get it out.
I had heard that Detoxification Magic had never been tried on patients diagnosed with Black Finger Disease. Everyone believed it was a plague that spread from person to person. Besides, those capable of using Detoxification Magic were usually limited to a handful of high-ranking officials in the Church. They weren't the type to risk themselves in front of patients suffering from what was feared to be the world's worst plague.
I had learned the theory of Detoxification Magic from Big Sister Therese herself, then trained until I mastered it. After arriving at the Marquis's Manor, I had used a small amount of alcohol to practice the expulsion process, and the spell had taken shape easily. "If it's Rein, you'll probably be able to use it in no time"—it had happened exactly as she said.
I held my hand over her body.
I molded my mana into the form of detoxification. A green light emanated from my palm and seeped into her body.
I focused on pushing the impurities out of her system while simultaneously mending the damage the toxin had caused.
Big Sister Therese's body trembled slightly.
Her dilated pupils gradually began to settle. The fine tremors that had been racking her shoulders and fingertips suddenly vanished. A hint of healthy color returned to her pale cheeks.
Her long eyelashes fluttered—and she opened her eyes.
"……Rein?"
Her voice was raspy.
"Why are you…… here……?"
The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly.
Mira stared at me with wide eyes, and I felt the rigid tension finally drain from her shoulders. The nursing slaves looked at the Saint on the bed as if witnessing a miracle.
Watching the green light fade, I felt a wave of relief. She was cured. It really was poisoning. I had made it in time.
But—the fact that she had been suffering here was likely my fault.
To protect my identity, she had traveled to the city's churches and orphanages, eating meals at each stop just to maintain the ruse that the Saint was present.
"I’m sorry…… Big Sister Therese……"
I should have been happy, but I couldn't bring myself to rejoice wholeheartedly.
"Why are you apologizing? You're the one who saved me, aren't you, Rein?" she asked in a gentle voice.
Outside the window, the funeral bells tolled once more. Hearing them, I realized that this was no time for self-reproach.
—If it was poison, I could cure it. Not just her, but the countless people who were still dying in this city.