One of the Exile Guilds, The Abyss Star, is likely the ones who broke into the estate and stole the cure. The thorn team plus Ricken are in search of them but without a lead we won’t find them. Then again, I have a map function with gps search available. Let’s just search for “cure” and see, a hit already.

The blip shows that the cure in surrounded by other living signals.

Becca 「 I’ve found the cure. They’re deep inside the quarantine zone so let’s head there. 」

We leave and enter the quarantine area. There are tons of beds filled with sick coughing patients and nurses hurrying about. A figure in a rush collides with me. Surprisingly it is Wendy in a hurry.

Becca 「 Wendy? What’s wrong? 」

Wendy 「 It’s Will! He’s sick. 」

Becca 「 He is? Is it the White Death? 」

Turns out Will also contracted the disease like Wendy. I never noticed any symptoms but then I didn’t see any obvious injuries to suggest he got it from the rats. Maybe he caught it from someone in town?

Ricken 「 Let me see him. I’m sort of a doctor. 」

Wendy takes us into a nearby tent and there, lying and pale, is Will. On seeing the patient, Ricken grabs a nurse and tries to get any information he can. The nurse tells him all that she knows about Will’s condition.

Ricken 「 This is bad. His sickness is already plenty advanced. It’s actually in the late stages. He must have put up with the symptoms all this time without letting anyone know. At this rate he’ll be dead by the end of the week. 」

Wendy looks terrified and falls into tears. Ricken doesn’t seem much better in his condition. Occasionally he coughs or becomes out of breath and his forehead is drenched in sweat. Lina is healing him with basic holy magic to keep him on his feet. I’ll leave him in her hands.

This just gives us more reason to get that cure back.

No more time to waste, we head deeper into the quarantine, past the storehouses and infirmaries. The map shows that this warehouse in the back has the cure and what I assume to be members of the Abyss Star.

The signatures are gathered around the door, can they sense our presence?

Let’s create a boulder out of Earth magic and launch it at the door. The small boulder crashes through the door and scatters some shadows. Looks like I didn’t catch anyone in the attack.

The shadows converge together to reveal a group of people that emerge and surround us. I count 5 people staring at us menacingly.

One is a lanky skinhead with tattoos, one is a large man with elf ears and scars, possibly a mixed breed? Two of them look identical, twins perhaps, but with mirrored images. One of the twins has a poncho hanging over his right shoulder and an eyepatch on his right eye, the other has a similar getup but on his left side. And the last figure is, a little girl? Or is it a boy? Hard to tell, what with the bandages covering their face and most of their body.

These five stare us down as a Lizard man with a protruding belly steps out, with Gosler following behind. The man has a fancy hat that somehow manages to stay on his scaly head. He speaks to us.

「 What is this commotion about? 」

Ricken 「 It’s you! Sir Dunfer. 」

Dunfer 「 Is that the good doctor Fraude? Or should I call you, fake doctor? 」

Ricken 「 Where’s the cure? 」

Dunfer 「 You mean the cure that I’ve purchased from Lord Gosler? It’s in a safe place. 」

We were too late, it seems that Gosler handed the cure over already.

Becca 「 Yeah about that, do you think we could have it? 」

Dunfer 「 Who are you? 」

Becca 「 Becca Thorn, ordinary Keeper. 」

Dunfer 「 Well not to be crass, but I don’t think you could afford it lass. 」

Ricken 「 Lord Gosler! Does this man speak the truth? How can you give that scum the formula? 」

Gosler 「 Some things can’t be helped. Let it go. 」

Ricken 「 What could he possibly pay you with? 」

Gosler keeps his mouth shut and looks away in shame.

Dunfer 「 Oh don’t blame the poor lord. In exchange for keeping his secret, he agreed to sell me the formula and all rights to producing the cure. 」

He holds an iron strongbox which I presume holds the cure and the formula.

Ricken 「 Secret? 」

Gosler 「 Sir Dunfer! Please! You promised you wouldn’t tell. 」

Dunfer 「 Funny, I don’t remember that. The secret is … 」

Becca 「 Gosler isn’t a drinker? 」

Dunfer 「 That lord Gosler doesn’t even drink-- eh? 」

Well I kind of cheated there and read his mind. So I spoiled what he intended to say. As a result we get to see his stupefied expression. But let’s just pretend that I knew this whole time.

Becca 「 I knew it from earlier when I offered him some quality scotch and he stored it away. 」

That’s a bluff.

Gosler 「 It can’t be! No, so everyone already knows? Oh the humility! My well kept secret, the fact that I, a natural born dwarf, can’t stomach liquor. It’s out now. 」

Honestly, it’s not an end-of-the-world kind of secret. Judging from his words, it seems that Gosler isn’t a natural drinker like most dwarfs are. This must have become some sort of stigma that he tried to cover up with a collection of alcohol. Maybe it’s a dwarf thing, being weak with alcohol is seen as shameful.

And I’m guessing this Dunfer of Abyss Star got hold of this weakness to negotiate with him. That explains why they approached him and made a deal so easily. Well, that solves that mystery.