We walked along the few remaining pathways to the foot of the mountain where we could have slipped and died and finally reached the foot of the mountain after it got dark.
The rain clouds were gone, and a half-moon could be seen floating in the night sky. It was bright enough for us to continue walking at night.
Hugo-san’s directions were spot on, and we made it safely out of the city without being spotted.
I would like to take a breather now, but there might be soldiers patrolling the foot of the mountain. I can see the red glow of flickering torches in the distance.
We have to move as quickly as possible.
“We can do the rest on our own. Thank you.”
I bowed politely to Hugo-san who was standing behind a tree.
“――― Some of the miners are from the villages like me.”
Hugo-san suddenly said.
I looked up and saw that he was gripping his kneecaps with both hands and bending over deeply.
“Please help us. Please.”
He said the second sentence in a trembling voice.
The exhaustion in my body was blown away by his earnest request.
“I will. I promise.”
The walk along the river to the village also felt endless.
It would have been a short journey if we had a horse. It was hard for me to walk as I had already walked all the way up the mountain, but I had to keep going.
“Do you want me to carry you?”
I smiled a little at Giedt’s offer which was said in a teasing tone.
“Even soldiers don’t have that much stamina.”
“We don’t, so let’s take a rest.”
“We can’t, but I do want to get there before morning.”
I wasn’t fit physically but I was full of energy.
I took a deep breath, and held off my tiredness, but I was hit in the back of the head.
“You didn’t take a break at all when we were on the mountains. It’ll be too late to take a break once you’re completely exhausted.”
I couldn’t see his face, but he sounded serious. He was giving me his usual advice.
“I feel that if I take a break and lose my pace then my exhaustion will catch up to me.”
“The opposite can be true too. If you take regular breaks before you get tired, then you can walk longer distances and your pace won’t slow down.”
“Hmm?”
“I know you’re in a rush, but you can’t manage everything with sheer willpower.”
Ooh, he read my mind.
He wasn’t wrong.
I would like to avoid resting in the grasslands where there are no obstacles in case the feudal lord’s soldiers were patrolling around here but everything would be for naught if I can’t walk.
I decided that it would be wiser to follow Giedt’s advice and sat down on the grass on the riverbank.
Giedt sat with his back towards mine and his sword propped up ready to pull out at any moment, probably so he could keep an eye on our surroundings.
“As expected, a foot soldier must be used to this.”
“Are you being sarcastic?”
His fast reaction was funny. The tension inside me relaxed a little.
“I’m saying you’re reliable. Well, I hope you’ll be able to ride a horse soon.”
“Me too. I can’t stand being a guard for a lowly mage.”
My bad. Was that sarcasm?
After walking at a steady pace with regular short breaks in between, we finally reached Kikus Village when the sky in the east began to turn white.
The village was surrounded by a fence of stakes which were taller than a person’s height to prevent the sick from escaping and there was only one entrance and exit.
We tried to enter from the back of the village as it would have been bad if the feudal lord’s soldiers were standing at the front.
“Get on.”
Giedt kneeled on the ground. I could reach the fence if I used him as a stool but what will he do?
“Can you climb up here yourself?”
“Don’t look down on me.”
He seems like he’ll be fine, so I put my foot on his shoulder. He lifted me up and I put my hand on the fence.
The fence had sharp tips instead of barbed wire. I climbed over to avoid the sharp tips, jumped down and landed safely.
The village was quiet at twilight. I could see the light of a torch at the entrance of the village.
The feudal lord’s soldiers might be in this village. I hid behind a building and looked around.
Then I heard a dull thud from behind me. I looked over at the noise and saw Giedt trying to climb over the fence.
Ermm, he ran up the wall and managed to reach the top. I admire his physical abilities, but can’t he do that a little quieter?
Sure enough, as soon as Giedt landed on the ground, a sharp voice said, “Who’s there?!”
Now, whose soldier is this?
I prepared myself for a possible fight but a face that I recognised appeared instead.
Like Giedt, he was a young man who was wearing the royal coat of arms.
The man, who had his hand on the sword at his waist, was surprised to see us.
“What are you two doing here?”
Apparently, the royal soldiers in this village were not informed of the situation.
I was relieved to find out that the soldier was on our side and relaxed.
“Hey?”
“Quiet. It would be bad if they found out we are here.”
Giedt said, and the young man went from being dumbfounded to looking as if he had just realised something.
“Don’t tell me you guys… No, that’s inappropriate, no matter how young you two are~!”
His misunderstanding is coming off rude.
“Couldn’t you have done this at the feudal lord’s mansion?”
He smirked slyly. I let out a puff of air.
“Sorry Giedt. He may be your senior, but I want to punch him.”
“Don’t hold back. Go for his face.”
“Aren’t you going too far to hide your embarrassment?!”
Argh, he’s so annoying.
Don’t think I’ll cheerfully let you get away with making a nasty joke after I’m extremely exhausted from walking all night.
“Drop dead, Idiot! Take us somewhere where the feudal lord’s soldiers won’t find us!”
“There’s no way to treat your older brother! What the hell is wrong with you?!”
Giedt beat me to it, but did he say older brother?
“Huh? Is this person your older brother, Giedt?”
“Foster brother. There’s another one who’s older than him too. That one’s decent, but this one is just a piece of shyt who is obsessed with sex.”
“You’ve been awful towards me for a while now…”
The older brother later introduced himself as Carlo-san. He was feeling down since Giedt was looking at him scornfully.
Come to think of it, his eyes look like Gwen-san’s.
Gwen-san already has two sons, but he still took in Giedt. He’s so amazing.
I could tell from their interaction that they must be a happy family. I get it, so stop and let’s get back to business.
“Carlo-san, are any of the feudal lord’s soldiers in this village?”
“Hah? The feudal lord’s soldiers? No, they got called out in the evening, so none of them are here. We have enough people here anyway, so it’s fine.”
How convenient. Choosing Kikus Village wasn’t a bad idea.
“We’re in a grave situation right now. Can you follow my instructions quietly and calmly?”
“――― What should I do?”
“Be extra careful so that the feudal lord doesn’t find out about me and Giedt. I’m going to explain the situation now, so please gather Rille-nee, Jed-san, the village chief and anyone else who would listen to a house somewhere.”
“Alright.”
He nodded quickly. He’s a good soldier, just as I was thinking that.
“Your sister has become more beautiful too… maybe it’ll be nice to go after someone younger once in a while.”
He turned his back towards me and mumbled something.
“Clench your teeth!”
“Woah, I’m joking! This way, Mage-sama.”
Giedt clenched his fists and sighed deeply at his brother’s impolite and frivolous behaviour.
They would be a delightful family if I weren’t so tired.
After that, we waited in a house used by the medical team as a resting place and Carlo-san called Rille-nee and the others to this house.
“~~Rille-nee!”
I hugged her the moment I saw her.
Ah… I feel better.
I remembered that I was almost killed while feeling relieved and almost cried a little.
Rille-nee hugged me back.
“Are you alright? You’ve had a tough time…”
Rille-nee, who probably nursed me until dawn, fortunately seemed to be in good health. It doesn’t seem like she’s affected by the arsenic poisoning. She seemed more worried about me since my whole body was covered in dirt and I had scratches everywhere.
“I heard you came to the village earlier in the day. Did something happen?”
“Yes. Everyone should listen to what I have to say.”
I left Rille-nee’s embrace and explained everything to the people who had gathered in this house.
People who have never heard of pollution would find it hard to believe what I have to say, so I spoke as politely as I could to avoid any misunderstandings. I also explained what the feudal lord did.
The silence that pervaded the room after I had finished explaining probably indicated that they understood.
“――― Then what? The cause of everything is something the patients have been putting in their mouth? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Jed-san stomped the floor in annoyance.
Of course, he was outraged since the patients were still ingesting the poison no matter how desperately he tried to heal them.
“Has the feudal lord abandoned us?”
The village chief, who was sitting on a chair, said quietly.
The old man’s face had white rashes on it and his feet were black. He was supported by the young man, but he was still conscious.
There was a quiet, yet intense anger lurking in his eyes and I couldn’t shake my head vertically or horizontally at his words.
“… I no longer think of that man as the feudal lord. If I tell the other villagers and people about this, then they won’t as well.”
“Please calm down.”
I was careful with my tone to avoid angering them even more.
They’re the ones who are most afraid to move.
“I understand that you’re angry, but let’s use our precious efforts to restore the water and soil. We should leave the rough fighting to our mighty soldiers and think about purifying the water. That is what will benefit your children.”
The best way to calm their anger was to remind them about who they need to protect.
I also cast a spell to distract them and made a few lumps of water appear in the air. Some people cheered quietly.
“I can also create drinking water with magic until the purification facilities are completed. So please, remain calm. There’s nothing to gain from you getting injured.”
The water in the air had been chilled and turned into liquid. Well, it was like I was condensing the water. It’s okay, you can drink it. I already made some so I put it into an empty jug.
“… But don’t we have to do something about the feudal lord first?”
The village chief’s language towards me became more polite, perhaps because I used magic near him.
“I think we can prepare. We have allies in the mines. One of them helped me and Giedt escape. We would need iron, hydrochloric acid, and some plant ash to act as a neutraliser…”
“Hydrochloric acid?”
They all looked confused.
Oh right, I spoke in Japanese when I said hydrochloric acid and arsenic, but I don’t know what the words for them here are.
“Acid, I meant acid. We need liquid that dissolves iron.”
“Does something like that exist?”
Jed-san asked. You should know! You’re a doctor.
“… You don’t even have sulphuric acid? Or nitric acid? Even though we’re near a mine?!”
I can tell that none of them knew what these things were. Sulphuric acid and nitric acid can be extracted from minerals.
Maybe we have to make it from scratch? Woah, I’m not familiar with how to make reagents either. Hmm, what should I do?
“Hydrochloric acid is made up of hydrogen and chlorine. Is there chlorine in the sea? Oh, maybe electrolyse seawater is fine. No, we don’t have to do that. I think I’ve heard that pyrite can be burnt to make sulphuric acid…”
I knew that everyone was paying attention to me, but I thought out loud with my hands folded with only my vague memories to go off from. But anyways, let’s give it a try.
“Say.”
When I looked up, I finally realised that someone had been calling out to me for a while now.
“I think you can do that purifying water thing you’re talking about with magic.”
I had been lying on the floor for a long time like other people who are taking naps and hadn’t realised that someone was in the corner of the room. He wasn’t one of the sick, nor was he from the medical team, nor was he a soldier, and he probably wasn’t a villager either.
The person was dressed in travelling clothes, a cloak and he was holding a long cane. He stood up and came up to me.
“Can you perhaps tell me more about it? Maybe I can help you.”
His greenish-white hair hung down over his shoulders.
His eyes, which were looking down on me while he was smiling, were red. I feel like I’ve seen them somewhere before…