After returning to my tent, I immediately got to work. Since I’d just found out who was behind all of this, all I needed to do now was find the Plague stone that first infected me.

‘Hmmm…I can’t just go around this village and look for it.’

Not only was it terribly inefficient, the Doctor would suspect that I was the one who broke one of his stones.

So, after careful deliberations, I called Ria into my tent.

“Ria, please get Hannah for me.”

Five minutes later, Hannah arrived.

“What is it?”

‘Still hell-bent on not being nice to me, huh?’

I could definitely see a bit of respect in her eyes; possibly because my cure worked in other villages. Though, why she kept that snarky attitude of her toward me was a mystery.

Crossing my legs, I asked,

“Is each soldier assigned to specific tasks, or can they just do whatever they want?”

“Why are you asking that?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Just answer me.”

“Fine,” she sighed. “Everyone is assigned to a task. That’s the only reason why there are people risking their lives to throw the corpses in the fire pit.”

I nodded. “Okay then, next question. Do you have paperworks?”

“...Define ‘paperworks’.”

“Statistic. Which tasks are most likely to get soldiers killed by disease?”

Hannah tapped her chin and answered as if she’d already memorized this piece of information.

“Patrols have the second-highest death rate, but the highest is definitely corpse carriers.”

“...And the lowest death rate?”

“Strangely, medics, nurses, and herbalists have the lowest death rate.”

“I see…”

‘So, I’m most likely right on this one.’

My guess was that the Doctor planted Plague stones all over the village to infect people. Of course, he would put them in places where there were the fewest people. 

Judging by the old man’s answer of him doing this vile thing for money, I assumed that the Doctor didn’t put any stones in the medical wards since he didn’t want his possible clients to die.

Then, with a heavy sigh, and after discreetly summoning Avaron under my blanket, I beckoned Hannah to come closer.

“What is it now?”

“Here.”

I handed her the fragments of the broken Plague stone. Then, I watched her closely for any chance in her facial expression.

‘...None.’

She was not an enemy. Probably.

“Hey, I know that I’m pretty and all, but having a five-year-old stare at me so passionately like that makes me feel weird.”

Realizing my mistake, I immediately averted my eyes away from her face and coughed.

“Ehem, you must be wondering what the things I just gave you are, right?”

Hannah definitely noticed my pathetic attempt at changing the topic, but she played along anyways.

“Aren’t they just rocks you found on the road?”

“Technically, they are.”

Before Hannah could throw them away in frustration, I hurriedly continued,

“I believe that they’re the source of the disease.”

“A-Are you serious?” Hannah’s face hardened.

“I am. Check the stones’ energy, and you’ll see similarly in the patients’ energy. And, have some faith in the one who made the cure, won’t you?”

After some deliberation, she sighed.

“Fine. So, why did you show me this?”

“It’s simple. If you’re as good of an Alchemist as you claimed yourself to be, then you’ll have no problem creating a cure from this.”

Hearing this, Hannah smirked.

“Is that a challenge?”

“If it motivates you, then yes. Brag about it, claim your glory, be the next legendary Alchemist after Zhen Shi of the Hero’s party; I don’t care. Just leave my name out of anything related to the cure.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m certain.”

Then, with a hearty laugh, she rushed toward me madly.

Widening my eyes in surprise, I reached for Avaron. But before I could do anything foolish, I noticed that she wasn’t attacking me. Instead—

“Let me touch those cute ears of yours!”

—she hugged me and rubbed her cheek on mine. Then, she used those delicate white hands of hers to give me ears scritches.

“W-What are you doing?!”

“Rewarding you, obviously.” She chuckled as she continued fondling with my ears.

I felt as if I was going to melt from happiness. My breathing became labored, and I couldn’t think straight. That was until Hannah finally gave me ears a break and went to give me a big kiss on the forehead.

“I guess not all Nobles are rotten.”

Calming myself, I scowled.

“Get out.”

“Alright then, princess. I’ll remember you when I get rich.”

As Hannah left the tent, I buried my face in my hands and groaned.

“Urghhh, she’s making me feel guilty…”

I wasn’t so shameless as to accept ear-pats from someone I would use as bait just like that.

“Well, the least I can do now is make sure that she lives.”

.

.

.

.

After my meeting with Hannah, I rested until midnight. Just like yesterday, I could sneak out of my tent with ease.

However, my journey wouldn’t be as relaxing as it was yesterday since my destination was the fire pit.

‘Huh, I guess I was wrong.’

The journey was actually really easy. It seemed that no one wanted to be near the accursed pit.

‘Works well for me.’

Since there were no soldiers here to maintain it, the fire pit was now a normal pit. Dull and boring, yet incredibly helpful for what I was about to do next.

I slid down the pit, making my way through the pile of ashes, bones, wood, and oil to make my way to the center. The closer I got to my destination—

[AUR has decreased by 1.5]

—the more Aura was drained from me. 

But I endured it and finally reached the center. There, I used Avaron to dig the dirt up, and I eventually hit something metallic.

“Here it is.”

The Plague stone that infected me. Since all I did since I came here was help with the transport of corpses, I knew that this was the stone that gave me this damn disease. 

Not wasting any more time, I bit my own thumb until it bled. Then, I drew the ritual circle from my memory.

Luckily, I managed to finish the circle without any mistake on my first try. 

‘I’ll have to thank Emelia for drilling the image of the circle into my mind when I see her again.’

Thus, the alarm system of the Plague stone was disarmed.

I stared at the stone blankly. Since it had gone through the ritual, it’d no longer increase my Aura consumption even if I were to rub it against my face right now. Better yet, I could destroy it right now to cure my disease completely. However…

“I shouldn’t.”

It was simply not worth destroying it right now when my AUR stats wasn’t permanent decreasing anymore thanks to the Doctor.

So, with a wishful sigh, I put the stone in my pocket and returned to my tent.

‘Well, I should warn Hannah tomorrow…’

*

*

*

*

“Doctor, may I?”

Hearing the familiar voice of his assistant, the Doctor gave a quick, “you may,” before going back to admiring the Master Plague stone.

Such a fine piece of art, and most importantly, it was his Golden-egg-laying Goose. If the past him had heard that an artifact of this magnitude was sold for merely 10 Silvers by a wandering peddler, he would’ve laughed his ass off.

“Doctor, urgent report.”

The slightly panicked voice of his assistance captured the Doctor’s attention. Putting the Master stone back his chest pocket, he said,

“What’s got you all riled up.”

The assistant didn’t waste any more moments before spewing out everything he knew.

“The Alchemist’s working for a cure.”

“Only that? John, you know better than to waste my time. How many times has she failed?”

“B-But Doctor, this time is different! T-Two days ago, she started experimenting with the fragments of the recently-broken Plague stone!”

The Doctor’s body stiffened. After spending a few more seconds to calm his mind down, he sent his assistant out.

‘Hannah…’

The so-called genius Alchemist. Graduated from Vetrix’s Academy of Utility, she was hailed the best Alchemist in Leinfall t— no, possibly even the best Alchemist on the continent he was staying at right now.

And now, such an Alchemist got hold of the fragments of the Plague stone? It wouldn’t take her long to figure out a cure for even the version of the disease that was inflicted by the Master stone.

The Doctor pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

“Looks like Vetrix Empire will lose a genius Alchemist tonight.”

And he would make sure that it’d happen. Personally.

.

.

.

.

Donning his usual white lab coat, the Doctor walked through the paved streets of the village.

‘Such wealth,’ he thought.

That was also the reason why he chose this village. Located at the edge of the territory, yet wealthy at the same time; it was the perfect location for his operation. The other four villages were just decoys in case someone wanted to look into the sudden epidemic.

Not to mention, with just the low cost of Five golds a month, he could bribe House Leinfall’s advisor into doing absolutely nothing about this village.

It also helped his case that no Commoners knew about the cure for the disease.

As long as the disease didn’t spread beyond the five villages, no one would do anything about it.

‘Well, I was kind of wrong about that.’

Someone did do something about it, and it was the little girl that he gave his treatment to a few days prior. Apparently, she was the Lord’s daughter.

To be honest, the Doctor was nervous upon hearing that she knew the cure, but as it turned out, the cure didn’t work on the disease spread by the Plague stones directly. 

He was even more nervous when he heard that the Lord’s daughter was infected. But as soon as he found out that she was the child of the fifth Wife, he could help but laugh in disdain.

‘What did I even worry about,’ he thought. ‘No one cares about the fifth Wife. Not even Lord Herald himself.’

So, in his eyes, the little girl was nothing more than another client to suck money from. Well, she was admittedly a bit different from the others in the prospect that she basically had unlimited wealth.

‘Maybe I should increase the treatment cost for her. Well, I’ll think about it after I take care of the Alchemist.’

Eventually, he reached his destination—an unmarked house on the outskirts of the village. Apparently, the Alchemist moved here two days ago to do her experiments. 

This place was quiet; perfect for getting rid of annoying bugs. He was thankful for this and didn’t question it.

As soon as he pushed the door open, he was met with the sight of the Alchemist working diligently on the cure. He could hear her rushed steps on the blocky wooden floor of the building.

Distillers, colorful vials, and flame-producing artifacts; it looked like a proper Alchemist’s workplace.

With a bead of sweat flowing down her beautiful face, the Alchemist brushed a stray hair to the side and spoke without even sparing a glance at the Doctor.

“Doctor, to which do I owe the pleasure?”

“I’m sure you know, Hannah.” The Doctor said in a casual tone. “Rumor has it that you’re very confident about the cure you’re working on. As a Doctor with ethics, it is only right for me to confirm the validity of such rumors.”

“See for yourself, Doctor.” The Alchemist nodded and returned to work. “If you can even understand what it is that I’m doing.”

Wanting to be discreet, he moved around the room seemingly at random. He inspected the vials that he hadn’t got the slightest bit of knowledge about, just like the Alchemist had stated. All the while, he carefully positioned himself closer and closer to the Alchemist.

After a few minutes, he’d reached his goal.

There she was, the Alchemist, with her back turned on him. She was carefully pouring the contents of one vial into another with precision; her green eyes so focused that it wouldn’t be strange if the vials were to spontaneously combust into flames right now.

‘Perfect!’

He reached into his white coat and took out a hidden dagger. As he was about to plunge it into the Alchemist neck, he heard her sigh.

“Haaah, you know, I was hoping that the little princess was wrong.”

Before the Doctor could register her words, the Alchemist threw the vial she was holding toward him.

Widening his eyes in surprise, the Doctor slashed the vial with his dagger. Seeing the slick black blade smoldering and melting away, he gulped.

“H-Hannah, what are you doing? Are you trying to kill me?!”

“As a matter of fact, yes. Boys, come!”

Simultaneously, all the floor boards slid open, and numerous armored guards, each armed with a spear, jumped out. Tables were turned, glass vials broke, but they didn’t care. They kept on marching, and rushing, until a dozen spears were pointed at the Doctor’s neck; with several more soldiers standing by as backup.

He was like a Goose trapped between a Fox’s sharp teeth.

“Doctor, you’re under arrest for artificially spreading a disease. Under the glorious light of the Empire of Vetrix, even a monster like you shall be trialed fairly and justly.”

The Doctor stayed silent for a bit, staring straight into the Alchemist’s eyes before bursting into laughter.

“Hahaha, you should’ve killed me as soon as you could.”

“What do you—”

But before the Alchemist could finish her sentence, the Doctor’d already acted. He grabbed a spear and broke it in half. Simultaneously, all the other spears were thrust at him, but they all bounced off him without putting as much as a scratch on him.

“W-What the—”

“Iron skin, baby. Should’ve found out more about your opponents before fighting them.” He brought his knuckles together, making a loud metallic sound. “Not that it would change anything. Now, please die for me.”

The Alchemist stared at the abomination before her wide-eyed. Yes, the Doctor still looked human, but his skin had now turned argent. His skin was so polished that the bright moonlight was reflected off it, blinding even some soldiers.

Without any more delays, the Alchemist shouted, “SOLDIERS! GET HIM! POKE HIM IN THE EYES!”

But the spears also bounced off his eyes. Right now, the Doctor seemed invincible.

“Dammit! Does anyone know Magic?”

The five remaining soldiers all shook their heads.

However, the Alchemist noticed something strange: the Doctor’s body stiffened a bit at the mention of Magic.

Grinning, she took out a vial from the inside of her coat and threw it at him.

As expected, the Doctor didn’t stand still like before. He dodged just in time to watch a [Fireball] emerge from the vial and shoot itself into the wooden floor.

Not wasting any more time, the Doctor made a mad dash for the Alchemist before she could throw another vial; and he succeeded! Ignoring the spears that came his way, he managed to deliver a hefty punch to her face, knocking her into a nearby wall. Unfortunately for him, the Alchemist was still alive. But he was here to change that fact, wasn’t he?

After clearing the annoying pests that were the soldiers, he slowly but menacingly approached the unconscious Hannah.

“I’d have liked to taste you a bit before I kill you, but…I’d rather not take any risk.”

After that monologue, he finally reached Hannah. As he was about to bring his fist down to finish the job, he suddenly felt a burst of Aura from above. Looking up, he saw a bright orange Meteor descending toward him.

His alert was cranked up to eleven. His instincts screamed at him that if he got hit by that, he was going to die.

Tensing all the muscles in his legs, he leaped away just in time to see the Meteor pulverizing the part of the floor that it hit, kicking up a thick cloud of dust in the process.

Before the dust could settle, he saw a vague figure shooting out of it.

“[Vulpeculae]”

It was a little girl wielding two swords; one looked normal, the other was extravagantly decorated. However, she wasn’t just any normal girl with swords. The Doctor immediately recognized her as the Lord’s daughter.

He didn’t dare forget those cold silver eyes that looked down on everything it set its gaze upon.

Something was strange about her. She moved at an unnaturally fast speed, but it wasn’t really a problem for him since even he could tell that she didn’t have much strength.

That was, until—

“[Aura sharpening]”

—he heard those two accursed words.

At first, he thought that it was a trick of the light when he saw her swords glow with a blue hue. Who could blame him? A five-year-old already awakening Aura? How ridiculous.

However, upon seeing the distinct lack of finger on his right hand after one of her attacks, he began taking it seriously.

"Dammit! I'm as hard as steel! What kind of monster are you?!”

"You dare stand before me with the mere hardness of steel?" The girl laughed arrogantly. “As to what kind of monster I am... I'm the kind that kills you."The Doctor tried to block and dodge her attacks, but he was simply too slow to do so. Soon, holes began appearing all over his body.

Just as the girl was about to cut his neck off—

“Take this!”

—The Doctor held the Master stone right up to her face and willed it to make her suffer.

The girl froze mid-attack. The firsts to fall down were her swords, then her body. She convulsed on the ground, making small yips of pain that sounded more fox-like than human. The black spot on her arm began rapidly spreading all over her body.

Seeing that the biggest threat was now neutralized, the Doctor heaved a heavy sigh of relief.

“You fucker, you’re lucky that I can’t feel pain.”

After kicking the already-defeated fox-girl away, the Doctor turned his attention back to the Alchemist.

“I’ve already dallied here enough.”.

He growled and approached Hannah to finish the job, However, just as he took another step forwards…

“[Ansere]”

He immediately reacted to the ominous yet familiar voice, but it was already too late for him. Before he could even turn around, he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. Then, his world turned upside down.

‘P-Pain? How?!’

The doctor cast his gaze down, expecting to see a blade stuck in his stomach. However…it was empty. Everything from his rib cage down was simply not there anymore.

A little bit to the left, he could see the lower part of his body plopping down to the ground.

“You’re a bit too careless, don’t you think, Doctor?”

The doctor immediately glared at the girl who was responsible for this. Her face was angelically cute, but the blood that was splashed on it didn’t match well with it at all.

“H-How,” he stuttered hoarsely. “How are you still alive?”

The girl let out a dry chuckle.

“I’m supposed to be the one asking that. You’re literally cut in half. How are you still alive?”

The Doctor gritted his teeth. Of course he was alive; that was one of the quirks that came with being the owner of the Master Plague stone! However, he wasn’t going to humor the girl that ruined all his plans.

“Not going to tell me? Fine. Then, I won’t answer your question either.”

Not that he needed the girl to answer him since he soon noticed the crushed bits of a Plague stone right under her feet.

‘So that’s how!’

This cunning Vixen! She actually allowed herself to be nearly killed by the disease so that he’d let his guard down! The Doctor didn’t know whether to call her brave or insane.

The girl then began amputating his arms, making sure that the Doctor would have no way to attack her. Then, straddling on his chest, she pointed the tip of her sword not at his throat, but at where the Master Plague stone was.

“Answer my question, and I may spare you.”

The Doctor gulped. The girl knew how to kill him, so this wasn’t time to be prideful! Thus, he immediately nodded.

“Good.”

Then, the girl asked various questions. From where he had gotten the Master stone, to what he was doing here, and to why was it that no one from House Leinfall was doing anything.

The Doctor didn’t want to take any chances, so he answered them all truthfully. 

Satisfied with the answers, the girl stood up and began leaving. 

But before the Doctor could heave a sigh of relief, a sword whooshed through the air, impaling his chest and breaking the Master Plague stone at the same time.

“Go to hell.”

*

*

*
*

Staring at the Doctor’s corpse, I couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

“No blood…fuck.”

Since he died while he was in his metallic form or something like that, there wasn’t any blood to be extracted from his body.

‘Well, I still got plenty from the dead soldiers.’

As I thought that, I looked down at my left hand, which was holding a wooden training sword—Kirion. He’d healed half of his blade.

‘A bit more. Kirion, wait for me.’

As I was about to call it a day and get back to my tent, I heard Avaron’s voice.

{Hey, I’m back— What the fuck did you do?!}

‘Relax. I just killed the mastermind behind the disease. Now I’m completely cured.’

After a few moments of silence, Avaron spoke up again.

{Nova, get out of the building.}

‘Why?’

{Just do it.}

Seeing no reason to refuse, I went to a clearing right outside the building.

{This should do it. Now, stab me into the ground.}

I obliged.

Then, something strange happened. A bright white light enveloped Avaron, blinding me. After a few seconds, I could see again.

“W-What?”

Before me was—

—A woman with ethereal beauty. Her hair was golden, her eyes were sky-blue, and her face was immaculate. She donned a plain white shirt and a long dark-blue skirt, but they did nothing but show how beautiful she was despite the lack of fancy or revealing attire.

She stood below the bright moon of tonight’s sky, glaring at me. With her delicate fingers pointed right at my face, she slowly parted her tender pink lips to speak with her soft yet stern voice.

“Who are you?”