Chapter 392: Apothecarist Father and Daughter

Together with Volk, Aro and Naiko, I head for the house of the former apothecarist who offered to treat Miria. The middle-aged man gave his name as Modi, then used [Rest] on the spot to heal Miria. At this pace, as long as something can be done about the poison, her life isn’t in any danger.

His house was extremely close. Apparently, he jumped out after hearing the disturbance. It's clear from the dust-covered counter and vial-packed shelves that part of the house had been used as an apothecary. In a room deeper inside, I see a brown-haired girl, sitting in a chair with a blank expression. She looks quite tired.

“It’s a bit late to introduce myself, but I am Modi, and sitting over there is my daughter, Luon… Luon, I’m bringing some guests in.”

Modi calls out to her, and the girl nods without looking up or changing her expression. She seems rather absent-minded. I give a light bow and greet her, but she doesn't reply.

“So, is that girl a friend of yours?”

Modi closes the door to the inner room and asks about Miria who I’m carrying on my back as though to change the subject.

“N-no… Umm, I just happened to see that something was wrong with her and jumped out.”

I feel Aro’s gaze on my back, but don’t turn around. I met Miria when I was a plague dragon. I know her, but she won’t recognise me while I’m humanised. Besides, I left the village after killing Gregory and threatening her. If my identity was revealed to her, I’d have no choice but to run away.

“Is that so… How gallant of you. However, that’s even more the reason not to get involved with the Three Knights any more… The dark rumours about them are never ending, after all. You’re a traveller, right? Even if you are invited to the castle, you absolutely should not go.”

The first priority is Miria’s safety, but… It seems we’ll unexpectadly be able to get information about the Three Knights. I glance at a bed in a corner of the room and send Modi a questioning look. He nods.

“Please put her on the bed.”

I shoot Volk a look to prevent him from picking up the bed and bringing it over, and walk up to the bed and lay Miria down. With Volk’s strength, he could easily carry a bundle of three beds with one hand. As I lay her down, my face draws a little close to hers and, all of a sudden, I recall running to the village with her on my back, fleeing the little rock dragon. Realising that I’d stopped moving, I quickly finish laying her down and move away.

…It would be best that we leave before she wakes up.

Modi pricks her arm with a small needle, puts the blood he extracts from her into a clear cup, and then mixes it into a faint blue solution that he retrieves from a shelf. The blood mixes with the blue solution, turning it red instantly. “As I thought, poison,” he murmurs sadly, returning to the shelf to retrieve stones and some kind of root.

“…Can you cure her?”

“It shouldn’t be a problem. The poison is powerful, but doesn't have any dangerous secondary effects or treatment blocking effects, and there doesn't seem to be any curses. The poison’s progress can be delayed and she should make a full recovery over some time. Although how was she poisoned in broad daylight…? If it was the [Poison] magic, it should have been obvious to anyone watching.” 

…It was undoubtedly the [Poison Ruler’s] skill, [Poison Touch], but it would seem strange for me to know, so I say nothing.

Modi grinds each of his ingredients down into powders and weighs them a set of scales. He then sprinkles them one-by-one into the solution that had turned a poisonous red, adjusting the amount with his fingers. The solution gradually changes colour, eventually returning to the same faint blue with Miria’s blood drifting in it. He nods in satisfaction, then takes out a small paper and combines the powdered ingredients on it.

I don’t doubt him at all, but I might as well check it out.

【[High Antidote: Value D+】

【Medicine with the effect of mitigating the [Poisoned] condition. Additionally restores a small amount of HP.】

【Because it was made to order, it has a much greater effect against matching poisons.】

【A product that feels like top-class work.】

Ooh, impressive. It looks like I can finally have peace of mind. I breathe a sigh of relief.

Modi carries the medicine to Miria’s mouth and tilts her chin back. A short while later, her complexion looks a little better. To check, I look at her status and see that the poisoned condition has fallen to (minor).

After seeing that Miria’s condition has settled down, Modi walks to the window and checks outside, then turns to face me and opens his mouth.

“The truth is, Luon used to be the signboard girl of this shop… She would often talk with an adventurer who was visiting Alban, and became close with him.”

Luon is… That quiet girl from earlier? There was a strange atmosphere about her, but it seems like she has some circumstances.

“However… That adventurer stopped coming by right after being invited to Princess Chris-sama’s party… At the time, I said that he was probably planning on leaving the city anyway once the party was over. Even so, Luon was insistent that he would come back… I don’t know if it was the beginning of love, but to be honest, at the time I thought they were just playing around.”

Princess Chris’s party, huh. I imagine he was targeted as a talented wandering adventurer who would be difficult to trace. If it really is the same slime that I fought in the forest, it'd have amassed a huge amount of skills by now, but… I’m sure that I got experience points from killing it. I’m certain that that slime is dead.

…From what I can imagine, that adventurer has already been converted to experience points too.

“Luon went to the royal castle and raised a fuss, pressing anyone she could find related to the castle with questions and formed a group with others who had complaints with the royal family… I told her to stop such disgraceful actions, but… One day, I received a message that she was being cared for by the church and went to see, and since that day she’s hardly spoken a word and rarely responds to any stimulus. That was…a week ago now.”

“Huh…”

“Later, as I was trying to persuade one of the Three Knights, Bishop Rogueheil-sama, I suddenly collapsed… I persuaded myself that I had collapsed from shock, but… I couldn’t help but feel something was wrong with that… And that brings us to this incident… From what you’ve told me, that girl collapsed right after another of the Three Knights, Thermal-sama, made contact with her… I can’t help but wonder if the Three Knights might not be humans… I wanted to talk with someone about this…”

Modi says, his voice full of regret and sorrow.

D-does she have some kind of special status condition…? Then, Miria too…!? No, she didn’t have any concerning status conditions. But, then… N-no way!

“Sorry, Modi-san!”

I run, bursting open the door that Modi had closed.

“Ah, traveler… Umm, please don’t confuse my daughter as she is now…!”

Behind the door is a girl with a doll-like expression, sitting motionless in the chair. In reaction to my sudden entrance, she does no more than raise her line of sight slightly. More importantly, her status.

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

[Luon Lekshia]

Species: Earth Huma

Condition: Normal

Lv: 4/45

HP: 14/14

MP: 14/14

Attack: 8

Defence: 8 +1

Magic: 14

Speed: 15

Equipment:

Body: [Mundane Dress: F-]

Characteristic Skills:

Resistance Skills:

Normal Skills:

Title Skills:

[Former Apothecarist: Lv-] [Former Signboard Girl: Lv-]

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

None. There’s none. Some humans don’t have any normal or resistance skills, but I’ve never met a human who didn’t even have the language skill.

I shudder. A chill runs down my spine as my head burns with rage. They’ve done it now.

“Traveller…?”

Modi calls out to me in wonder. Luon watches me and tilts her head to the side. If she could speak, she appears as though she would ask 『Why are you crying?』.

She’s in essentially the same state as Douz was when the slime was controlling him. Though it seemed that Douz also had some kind of status condition… They’re targeting talented adventurers to steal experience points from, and are silencing anyone who spreads troublesome rumours about them by stealing their sanity. There’s no denying it anymore. That slime is still alive. I must have gotten the wrong impression somehow, or something caused me to be mistaken. There’s no other possibility.

That slime definitely can’t be left unchecked. It’s more arrogant than Tolman, and more evil than the Hero.