Meanwhile, jumping back slightly in time, let’s see how things were progressing with Jin.
“...All right then, let’s proceed with that plan. I can leave the preparations to you?”
『Yes, My Lord. Please leave everything to me.』
After consulting with Laojun on various countermeasures and issuing several directives, Jin finished the necessary preparations. Feeling a lingering twinge of regret that he couldn't see Reiko off personally, he returned to Kaina Village.
He went straight to the office in Nidou Castle and instructed Butler B to summon Lishia Fahlheit and Pascoe Rush, who were likely still in the workshop.
“Belle, please prepare some tea. Barrow, I’ll need two more chairs in here.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Right away.”
The office was a Western-style room, not a Japanese-style one. It featured wooden flooring and was furnished with a functional desk and chairs.
Predicting the discussion would be a long one, Jin had Belle prepare tea. However, since the topic was expected to be grave, he opted to forgo any snacks.
While Jin was mentally reviewing the procedures one last time, Butler B arrived with Lishia and Pascoe.
“I apologize for summoning you so suddenly, but we have an emergency on our hands,” Jin began without preamble.
Pascoe, who looked as if he had been about to complain, immediately bit back his words.
Jin gestured for them to take the seats Barrow had provided and offered them the tea Belle had brewed. Only after they had each taken a sip and settled into their chairs did Jin drop the bombshell.
“I have received word that Earl Walter is dead.”
“What?!”
Jin had waited until they finished their initial sips, so neither Lishia nor Pascoe choked or spat out their tea.
“...The report arrived just a short while ago,” Jin said, placing a letter on the desk that he had instructed Laojun to forge. “The time of death was this morning. The symptoms began with a sense of lethargy, followed by a fever and widespread physical pain. Finally...”
Lishia’s face went deathly pale. While she hadn’t experienced the pain, she remembered the lethargy and the fever all too well.
“What’s worse is that this disease appears to be contagious. The carriers are pigeons.”
“...W-was it... the p-pigeons I... I brought w-with me?!”
Lishia barely squeezed the words out. The thought that she might have been the cause of Earl Walter’s death clearly devastated her; she looked as if she might collapse at any moment. Seeing her distress, Jin quickly moved to reassure her.
“Lishia-san, the one who infected your pigeons with this disease was Earl Walter himself.”
“Eh?!”
“To be precise, it was his subordinates acting on the Count’s orders.”
“...W-what do you mean by that?!”
Jin proceeded to give a brief explanation: that the Count had been resentful over Kaina Village being designated a leased territory; that he had been behind various acts of harassment like the salt cornering; and that he had attempted to use Lishia’s arrival in Kaina Village as a means to spread a plague.
“Absurd! You suggest an Earl would stoop to such villainy? See here, you! Do you have any proof? Without it, this is nothing but slander!”
In contrast to Lishia, who had fallen into deep thought, Pascoe flared up and moved to confront Jin.
Jin had naturally anticipated this reaction.
“Proof? For starters, the Count—the very source of the disease—died this morning. Furthermore, a closer look revealed that every maid and butler working at the Mansion is complaining of lethargy. Some are already suffering from fevers.”
When Jin stated this in a flat, matter-of-fact tone, Pascoe faltered for a moment before snapping back.
“T-that’s still not enough to prove the Count was the culprit!” He then realized a glaring inconsistency. “...Wait, stop talking nonsense! Do you have any idea what time it is?! No matter how fast a carrier pigeon is, news couldn't possibly have traveled this far this quickly! In the first place, who would even send word of a crisis in the Earl’s household to you?!”
Jin and Laojun had accounted for this as well.
“Read the letter for yourself.”
Jin pushed the letter across the desk toward Pascoe. The man snatched it up and scanned the lines hungrily.
“...The details match... and the sender is... Deus Ex Machina?...I’ve heard that name somewhere before...”
Lishia, however, recognized the name immediately.
“Jin-san! Are you an acquaintance of Deus Ex Machina?!” she asked urgently.
This, too, was expected. After all, when Jin had returned her sword, he had told her he’d ‘received it from Maquina.’
“I wouldn't say we’re close. We’ve simply met face-to-face a few times....I’m afraid I can't tell you much more; he’s sworn me to secrecy regarding his details.”
Jin decided to frame their relationship as a vague acquaintance. Later, when this information reached the upper echelons of the Klein Kingdom, it would cause the chancellor and his peers no small amount of headaches regarding how to handle Jin.
“I see...”
The Klein Kingdom, the Kingdom of Franz, the Celuroa Kingdom, and the Kingdom of Egerea—everyone who had been involved in the recent war manipulated by the Unifilar knew that the conflict had been brought to a forced conclusion by a mysterious figure calling himself Deus Ex Machina. While he had made his appearance in Asunt, the capital of the Kingdom of Egerea, the information had been relayed to the Klein Kingdom via the manaphones.
“...I see. Information from that individual... that would certainly carry weight,” Pascoe conceded reluctantly, lowering his guard. Jin immediately pressed the advantage.
“Now then, the most important thing right now isn't pointing fingers at the culprit.”
Jin spoke to Lishia, softening his tone. He had only identified the culprit to ease her crushing guilt.
“...I understand. We must focus on stopping the spread of the disease,” Lishia replied. Having regained some of her composure, she understood Jin’s intent.
“Exactly. As the letter mentions, Deus Ex Machina is currently investigating the illness as well....Lishia-san, in your opinion, what is the best way to proceed?”
Jin asked for her input, figuring that her experience in the Relief Ritter Corps would be valuable.
Lishia thought for a moment before speaking.
“Naturally, eliminating the disease is paramount. To do that, I believe our only option is to retrace our steps, examining and treating people as we go.”
Despite her words, Lishia’s expression remained dark. Her next sentence explained why.
“But the most dangerous area will be the Town of Rakham. It has been several days since the initial infection there.”
According to the data obtained from Anne and Elena, the incubation period was two to five days. Since Earl Walter was already dead, they had to assume the staff inside the Mansion were nearing a critical state. The general population of the Town of Rakham might have a slightly longer window, but time was of the essence.
“Furthermore... I don’t know how to treat it.”
Jin looked at her. “Lishia-san, what healing magic are you able to use?”
“I can use Cure and Recover.”
Both were surgical-level healing magics.
“...I’m sorry. I cannot treat internal illnesses,” Lishia said, hanging her head. However, this too had been covered in the meeting with Laojun.
“That won't be a problem. I have several magi-crystals here imbued with the Medicare spell. If you channel your mana into these, the Medicare effect will activate.”
Jin pulled two magi-crystals from his breast pocket and set them on the desk.
“Eh? What?”
While magic tools engraved with magi-formulas did exist, Lishia was momentarily stunned by the sight of Jin casually pulling them from his pocket like common trinkets.
“With these, we should have a plan. We can expect further word from Deus Ex Machina by tomorrow morning. We’ll decide on our final course of action based on that information.”
Thus, the conversation proceeded exactly as Jin and Laojun had planned.
With the meeting about halfway finished, the three of them took a moment to drink their now-lukewarm tea and catch their breath.
“...Phew. So you really did know Maquina-san, Jin-san. I’ve been wanting to ask you ever since you returned my sword.”
“Yes, well... he doesn’t like being tied down, so he rarely appears in public.”
“Hehe. To tell you the truth, I actually wondered if you were Maquina-san yourself, Jin-san.”
She was surprisingly sharp—though one could argue it was more surprising that she hadn't reached that conclusion sooner.
“............”
Faced with Jin’s silence, Lishia gave him a gentle smile.
“No, it doesn’t matter to me whether you’re Maquina-san or not, Jin-san. Right now, the priority is making sure this disease doesn’t spread.”
“I agree. For that, we’ll need the cooperation of Lishia-san and Pascoe-dono as representatives of the kingdom.”
At that, Pascoe finally spoke up, having seemingly made peace with his internal conflict.
“...Jin-dono, I promise to do my utmost. However, I remain unconvinced regarding the claim that the Count was the mastermind.”
Jin told him that was perfectly fine. Preventing the plague was the only thing that mattered right now.
“So, what will you be doing, Jin-dono? Surely you don’t intend to just stay holed up here?” Pascoe asked, narrowing his eyes. Coming from a man with such a soft features, however, the glare lacked any real intimidation.
“First, I’ll be preparing the medicine.”
Jin reached for a bottle of recovery medicine on a nearby shelf and placed it on the desk.
“This is a potion with the effects of Medicare. But since our stock is limited, I need to manufacture more.”
Pascoe looked at the ampoule with interest, but Lishia’s face practically twitched.
“J-Jin-san... did you say that medicine has the effects of Medicare?”
“Yes. Is there a problem?”
“Is there a problem?! That’s an incredibly rare magical potion! In the capital, a single bottle like that would cost at least one gold coin!”
Ten thousand Toll—roughly a hundred thousand yen. Highly effective recovery medicine was just that precious. Neither Jin nor Laojun had considered its market value until now.
However, this was where Jin’s research into alchemy paid off.
“That’s only because alchemy hasn’t progressed far enough. Using the latest techniques—the Eschenbach method—they can be produced much more easily.”
It was a half-truth. According to what Jin had read, the Shouro Empire’s master alchemist, Toa Eschenbach, had theorized: ‘If one were to obtain a liquid containing a high concentration of free ether, one could create medicine simply by imbuing it with magic.’ Jin had been quite impressed by the theory.
“...Is... that so...”
Lishia backed down, taking Jin at his word. If there was going to be a surplus of medicine, she wasn't about to complain.