Chapter 75: Curse Disease

The light of healing magic from Estelle‘s ‘Gift’, [Holy Miracle], envelops Gen, Gin, and Tsuzumi. It seems she can heal about three people at once. Of course, Estelle‘s ‘Gift’ is kept secret. Of the five people I requested for investigation—the white-haired old man Gen, the smiling giant Gin, the taciturn long-haired man Mei, the calm lady Shirabe, and the lively ponytail Tsuzumi—the three just mentioned were infected. This disease—Silver Demon Disease—is easy to identify because symptoms appear on the palms immediately after infection. It’s invisible to the naked eye, but if you soak your hands in ice water for a while, faint silver spots appear on the palms. If left untreated, eventually silver spots appear all over the body along with high fever, leading to death in about half a year. This initial symptom was also discovered by Leon in the game, but it’s quite hard to notice… It returns to normal skin after a while. Besides, commoners can’t easily prepare ice.

“You haven’t had contact with anyone since leaving the village?” “Yes. We came straight here riding Oboro, so no one besides Lady Ritsu.”

Oboro is a spirit beast, so there’s probably no worry of infection. Ritsu also dipped her hands in ice water, but there was no problem. Of course, me neither. This disease isn’t a normal disease. It’s a type of so-called [Curse] created by an ancient wizard. In the game, that [Curse] was sealed along with the wizard’s corpse, but the seal gets broken in a certain village. At that time, the one who happened to be in that village was Sakuraile, who was exiled from the Empire in ‘1’ and returned to take revenge on Estelle and the others. Sakuraile gets splendidly infected and brings the pathogen of that [Curse] into this country. Using the magic element within the contact’s body as a medium, this curse disease infecting from person to person spread throughout the country in the blink of an eye. The flow of the Leon route is that Estelle and her friends run around to cure that curse disease, but… Originally, this disease was supposed to spread ten years later. Why did it spread now? Listening to Gen-ji’s story, I understood the cause. ──It was my fault. To be precise, because I let the Prime Minister eat a hot dog. The Prime Minister, feeling great potential in ketchup, ordered tomato seedlings from the neighboring Prelude Kingdom and started growing them experimentally to see if they could be cultivated in our country. The village designated as that test farm was that village, and apparently, they excavated the wizard’s tomb when reclaiming the field. Either way, someone would have dug it up and spread the disease ten years later, but I received quite a shock that I was the trigger. Is this the game’s coercive force…? No, as the Goddesses said, this world isn’t a game. I just experienced a possible future as a game. Thinking differently, no one has died yet. It’s not too late now. Feeling a bit sick, I withdrew to my room and consulted Kohaku-san, who knows all the internal circumstances, about the future.

“First, I’m thinking of explaining this disease to Father but…” “I think he will ask why you know such things?” “About that, I’ll say I heard it from the apothecary grandmother who raised me. That there seemed to be such a legend long ago.” “Fumu.”

To my parents’ doubts of ‘Why do you know such things?’, I often dodge by answering ‘I heard it from my foster grandmother’. Thanks to that, the apothecary grandmother has become a person of immensely high knowledge and culture who knows everything. I feel like I can hear a voice from the grave saying ‘I don’t know such things’, but sorry! Forgive me!

“You knew how to make the medicine to cure the ancient curse disease too, you say?” “Ugh… Is that pushing it too far?” “Well, for that part, we can just say We received an oracle from the Goddess.”

I see. Father and the others know Kohaku-san is a Divine Beast. Then maybe they’ll believe it. The problem is the materials to make that medicine… There are five materials necessary for the Silver Demon Disease dispel potion.

‘Leaf of the Spirit Tree’ ‘Gallstone of the Minotaur’ ‘Tears of the Banshee’ ‘Fruit of the Heavenly God Tree’ ‘Honey of the Moonlight Bee’

If these five materials are compounded correctly, the Silver Demon Disease dispel potion can be made. Moreover, this dispel potion is an elixir effective even if diluted considerably. Well, it’s a dispel potion to lift a [Curse], after all. If it enters the body, it seems to destroy the [Curse] from the inside. Since it’s a [Curse], it can be severed with the [Holy Sword] just like with Ritsu. It can be done, but since this [Curse] affects deep inside the body, I apparently have to slash directly. That looks terribly bad to onlookers. I have to slash people repeatedly. Even the doer gets depressed… Just like with Estelle‘s [Holy Miracle], me dealing with all patients personally isn’t realistic, so the dispel potion is necessary after all. By merchants who come to the village regularly and those who went to town for work, the Silver Demon Disease must have already spread to surrounding towns. Making the dispel potion and distributing it throughout the country would be more certain. Now, among these five materials, ‘Gallstone of the Minotaur’ and ‘Tears of the Banshee’ are in the Imperial Castle. That hidden room I found. Actually, they are stored there. This, players who played the Elliott route in ‘1’ would know immediately, but if un-captured, it takes quite some time to discover. This Leon route has a time limit, and if the dispel potion isn’t made by the deadline, it becomes an immediate Bad End. So if possible, better not to take detours. Well, unless you mess up really badly, it’s a very loose deadline though. To reach 100% completion rate, I saw that Bad End too… It was a Bad End without salvation… ‘Fruit of the Heavenly God Tree’ can be obtained from the Spirit Mountain Eldora in the north of the Empire, just like in the game. Using Oboro commanded by Ritsu or the kitchen car should shorten the time considerably. However, the remaining ‘Honey of the Moonlight Bee’ and ‘Leaf of the Spirit Tree’ are troublesome… First, ‘Honey of the Moonlight Bee’, this is completely a combat quest. Just defeat the monster called Moonlight Bee and take honey from its hive. Easy to say, but in ‘2’ where the Leon route is, you defeat it cooperating with Elliott and Jean, capture targets of ‘1’, and the First Prince of Prelude Kingdom, meaning Luca‘s older brother, capture targets of ‘2’. Elliott and Jean are here, but can they perform the same as themselves ten years later…? I have to say it’s tough. Well, with Kohaku-san and the Holy Sword, it might be manageable… Even more troublesome is ‘Leaf of the Spirit Tree’. The Spirit Tree is a large tree said to house spirits in the elf village in the southern part of Symphonia Imperial Kingdom. The elves here are, well, exclusive… Most are a race that doesn’t want to get involved with humans… It’s a salvation that they don’t hate humans yet. There are some eccentric elves who like humans too. In the game, the Spirit Tree was weak, perhaps due to age, and the elves were quite on edge. Going there and asking for the leaf of the Spirit Tree they cherish, anyway, it caused dispute after dispute… Through patient negotiation and an event where Estelle cures the Elf Chief’s daughter’s illness with ‘Holy Miracle’, we managed to get them to open up and receive the ‘Leaf of the Spirit Tree’. But probably that daughter isn’t sick right now… Unuu, if it were dwarves, alcohol would have worked… Elves don’t catch Silver Demon Disease. Probably because they have high magic element in their bodies, resistance to curses is high. So Silver Demon Disease feels like a fire on the opposite shore to them, like ‘Ah, really. That’s tough’. I thought about flying with Oboro and secretly taking a few leaves from the sky, but there are probably guards, and elves’ archery skills are extraordinary, so it’s dangerous… Besides, doing that would undoubtedly lead to war with the elves. Although elves live within the territory of Symphonia Imperial Kingdom, their village is treated almost like an independent country with recognized autonomy. So, actions need to be careful.

“Anyway, have to talk to Father and decide on future actions…”

Accompanied by Kohaku-san, I headed to the model shop in the courtyard which serves as Father’s office.

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“Such a curse disease…! Must inform Brother immediately and take countermeasures…!” “Do not panic. As I said earlier, if we have the materials, a specific medicine can be made.”

We conveyed what we discussed earlier to Father and asked for cooperation. As expected, the words of Kohaku-san, a Divine Beast serving God, carry weight, and Father seemed to believe them properly.

“I understand the story. But you know, this is a national problem. I don’t think a Duke’s daughter needs to stick her neck in. Leave this to adults.”

Father states a perfectly reasonable opinion. No well, certainly that is true. In the game, collecting materials was done only by students… Thinking realistically, it’s strange. It’s a crisis of national survival, rely on the country. That part is game-like though. But ‘Minotaur’s Liver’ (Gallstone?) and ‘Banshee’s Tears’ were collected by the Imperial Knight Order upon Jean‘s request if the hidden room in ‘1’ wasn’t known. So it wasn’t completely without reliance. Besides, students saying ‘This medicine cures it! Gather materials!’ lacks credibility. Even with Elliott‘s recommendation, I don’t think the country would move seriously. In the game, everyone acted believing Leon‘s rather vague words ‘Theoretically it should be makeable’… Power of friendship, trust, and love. In that respect, if it’s a direct order from Father, and by extension His Majesty the Emperor, credibility is perfect, and materials will be gathered quickly too. Except for one.

“Father, won’t you leave only the ‘Leaf of the Spirit Tree’ to us?” “Why? Certainly negotiations with elves might be difficult, but isn’t it the same if Sakuraile and the others go?” “My little master is a wielder of the [Holy Sword]. Furthermore, I am a Divine Beast. Even elves who worship spirits cannot ignore my words.”

This part I thought out with Kohaku-san. Other materials aside, negotiations for ‘Leaf of the Spirit Tree’ have a high possibility of dragging on or failing. It’s faster if I, who know somewhat about the village, go and negotiate directly. Of course, what Kohaku-san says is also correct; elves with strong spirit faith also revere the Gods positioned above them. With Kohaku-san, a direct servant of God—a Divine Beast, and me holding the [Holy Sword] bestowed by God, the calculation is they won’t be able to refuse flatly.

“I-If so, have Lord Kohaku go to the elf village alone…” “I am my little master’s guardian beast. I have no intention of leaving her side, you know?”

Gumuu, wrinkles gather between Father’s brows. Probably in his head, worry as a father and duty as the Imperial Brother/Duke are fighting a fierce battle. However, even Father must understand that if this disease spreads throughout the country, it will cause a tremendous catastrophe. Eventually, as if resigning, Father sighed deeply.

“…Understood. But I’ll attach guards, okay?” “Thank you, Father!”

I jump on the understanding Father to express my gratitude. Now, from here it’s a race against speed. Because of me, the curse disease occurred ten years early. I won’t let a single person die.