Neither Bern nor Edwin improved, no matter how many mucus draining sessions they have made. It did improve their health, for a time, but after a couple of hours they were back to coughing.

At least now Edwin knew the source of the disease. Which was both comforting, as he could place a sign on the pond for people to avoid it, and worrying. An underground river fed the pond. That river, if his geography teacher had managed to scold some knowledge into him, was connected to the rainforests of the Surian Theocracy.

Those rainforests were a breeding ground for diseases. The flora and fauna there ended up in the rivers and polluted it. The people there drank boiled water on principle.

This sickness had to be native to the rainforests. But most of the cough related sicknesses that came from there went hand in hand with a fever. Not to mention diarrhea.

He was at least spared from such things. His throat was sore from all the coughing, and he stood up and went to the kitchen, where Leila had set aside some space for him to make medicine.

Down to his last blood root, he had taken to boiling it and drinking the extract and giving some to Bern. He was too tired to wash the pot after each use, and it was now full of white blood root residue.

He sighed when he couldn’t find the blood root in the pot anymore. But there was residue aplenty. He took two mugs and filled them with the thick, warm liquid. It had the consistency of yogurt and a bright red color.

Edwin carried it to Bern and handed him a mug. They clanged their mugs together and with spoons began to eat the thing that was making them nauseous. Edwin reached the sink first and began throwing up violently. Bern simply fell to the side, his hand reaching towards his bucket.

“Charlatan! Cough, cough. Murderer! Darn it all. Ingrate!” Screamed Bern at the top of his lungs. Hadrian and Leila entered the house and each went their way. Leila to Bern. Hadrian to Edwin.

“What happened, Eddy?” Asked Hadrian, worried and not knowing what to do.

“Go, ah. Go to Bern. Vibrations,” managed Edwin before he was again reduced to hugging the sink.

“This is why you don’t drink from disease ridden mudholes!” Scolded Hadrian, but he did go to Bern and, after making a face at the vomit puddle on the floor, did his best to imitate what Edwin had done as well as do his part.

Edwin placed a hand over his chest and began the vibration therapy. Without mana to smooth things through, he was going to get internal tears on his flesh. He wouldn’t be able to run for quite some time. And he would be in slight pain. But he would live.

Half an hour later and both Bern and Edwin were now calmer. Bern looked at Hadrian like he wanted to say thank you, but his pride was stopping him. Hadrian nodded at him and went to Edwin’s side.

“How do you feel?” Asked the vampire.

“Like my lungs are finally clean. Does Leila have pork? Tell her to bring Bern and I salted pork. Darn blood root gave me a low blood pressure. Bern is probably the same way,” said Edwin. His vision swayed as Hadrian made sure he was leaning next to the sink and wouldn’t fall down anymore.

“Well, you did say it could happen. But this is good, right? I mean, if your lungs are clean, then you are well. Now, you only need to make sure they won’t get infected again,” said Hadrian, then he turned to a panicked Leila.

“Lassie, the healer wants pork, and then he and your hubby will be right as rain. Do you have any?”

“I do, I do. Come with me to carry the stuff. My old bones can’t carry what they used to.” Said Leila.

Edwin stood there as they exited the hut, covered in his vomit, reeking of blood root. Well, when they had given examples of brave healers who have not done testing on prisoners to pinpoint new diseases, they have certainly not written anything about what they went through to find the cure.

But Edwin was happy to follow in their footsteps. The thought of having Leila check the water was sickening him. If he hadn’t emptied his stomach, he would have done so right, then and there.

He, with much effort, took a bowl and used the pump to get water. Then he slowly went to Bern and began to clean him.

“Is it over, charlatan?” Asked the old man weakly.

“Sure is, sir. I can breathe easier now. We will get something to eat for the low blood pressure, and then we will be right as rain. Just don’t drink from the lake. The water is infected. Maybe the entire underground river is, too?” Said Edwin as he dipped the now dirty towel and continued to wipe the face of the old man.

“You have no idea what you are doing, do you?” Asked Bern with a sigh. “Are you even educated in the arts of a healer?”

“I got kicked out just as I was supposed to graduate. I wrote that I wouldn’t stand by as another country does genocide on our own out of fear for their military might,” said Edwin. Bern smiled.

“You may be a charlatan, but you have a good heart. Not like those cold four eyes that just put a gray flag on our house and told us to die here. My Leila is not sick, is she?”

“No, she drank clean water, unlike you,” chastised Edwin. Bern chuckled.

“She wanted to place a filtering barrier on the pond, but do you know how expensive that is? My grandfather made that pond. Leila, she has never seen a lake in her life. Born and breed in the grasslands. When she saw it, she named it lake and was happy when I taught her how to swim in it. Now, we can’t even do that.”

“I can’t clear the water,” said Edwin. That was a job for a very skilled water mage, perhaps an entire group of them. “But I think your wife will be happier with you being brought back to health, than with swimming in the lake.”

Bern snorted and then looked in Edwin’s eyes.

“You look like a swamp monster, charlatan. Clean yourself too, or no food for you. In this house, we respect manners.”

Edwin had forgotten he was covered in vomit. He looked at Bern’s now clean face, and then at the rag with which he had cleaned the old man. He was too tired to get a clean one and yet, when Bern punched his leg gently, he stood up and went to the sink to clean himself.