Chapter 15: The Vaccine
JUST then, Cytisus teleported to the courtyard. He spotted Sauge sitting at the table and kneeled respectfully.
“Cytisus the mage, correct?”
“It is an honor, Fairy Leader Sauge.”
“Well, hurry up and take your seat so we can get this over with.”
At her prompting, Cytisus timidly pulled out a chair. She was now fully in charge.
“It appears the king’s son suspects you of enabling Iris’s nighttime excursions,” she explained to him.
He looked at Reseda, who defiantly stared back.
“But in fact, I was the one who took her to the Dark Forest. Rest assured, your precious Iris isn’t cheating on you, little prince,” Sauge teased.
“I…I wasn’t implying she…”
“That’s right, Lady Sauge! His Highness and I have no such relationship! Frankly, it’s none of his business where I go, or with whom!” Iris chimed in eagerly.
“Well…it’s true that no such relationship exists at present…but I wish you wouldn’t say it’s none of my business,” Reseda mumbled, staring down at his lap.
“That’s strange. I was certain the king’s son was questioning his lover’s fidelity.” Sauge frowned and looked at Iris, puzzled.
“I’m afraid you have the wrong idea about us. We’re not lovers and we never will be!” Iris declared flatly.
Reseda fell silent. Cytisus remained stony-faced.
“Well, I have no real interest in such frivolities, but I will say this: don’t harass my poor Iris,” Sauge warned, stroking Iris’s hair affectionately. At this, she pouted slightly. The way Sauge spoke of Iris, you’d think she was her pet.
“But the Dark Forest is dangerous! And worse, she’s been going to that cavern full of infected!” Reseda protested, glaring at Sauge. His bravery in the face of a Fairy Leader was commendable, to say the least.
“Relax. I will continue to accompany her. So long as she’s with me, nothing can harm her, not even germs.”
At this, the others frowned.
“Why would you deign to do such a thing?” Reseda asked.
“Because she wanted me to. I merely granted her wishes. And it was she who made this.” Sauge took out the jar full of shiny silver powder and gave it a little shake, making its contents rattle.
“What is that?”
“She calls it a vaccine.”
“Vaccine… Oh, is that what you said earlier?” Reseda looked at Iris for confirmation. “What does it do?”
“It’s a preventative treatment against soilpox,” she muttered quietly. He didn’t respond.
“Well, now that the little misunderstanding has been cleared up, I shall take my leave.” And with that, Sauge faded away like an illusion.
“Ack!”
As Iris dropped down onto the newly vacated seat, she hastily reached out and caught the vaccine jar before it fell. Meanwhile, Reseda slumped back in his chair.
“That was my first time seeing a real fairy… Then again, I guess she showed herself to me on purpose,” he muttered quietly.
Meanwhile, Cytisus was impressed with Reseda for holding his ground, given it was his first time speaking to a fairy. Perhaps only a member of the royal family would have such unwavering confidence. But he couldn’t fathom how a girl like Iris could have possibly won the favor of a Fairy Leader.
Reseda and Cytisus both looked at her. Meanwhile, Nigel stared into space like his brain was broken. Iris swallowed hard.
“Lady Iris, could you explain the situation in more detail?” Cytisus asked.
“…You might not believe me, but…there’s going to be a soilpox epidemic next summer.”
“Based on what evidence?” he asked gently.
“I read a lot of books, and I noticed that past soilpox outbreaks coincided with certain weather trends. And the current weather matches that pattern, so…”
“What does that have to do with soilpox scabs?” Reseda demanded.
“Well, it occurred to me that ingesting a small amount of the virus might lead to immunity. And if I could start a focused effort toward immunizing the population, it might reduce future casualties.”
He sighed loudly. “And you decided to do this entirely on your own?”
“Well, Lady Sauge helped too, of course. Since I can’t cast any magic.” Iris stared down at her lap.
“Look at me, Iris.” He reached out and gently took her hand. “Tell me all that you know. What’s bothering you? What exactly do you want to accomplish?”
“Will you even believe me?”
Iris looked up at him. He smiled brightly and gave her a firm nod.
“I promise, I’ll believe you. Just talk to me about it.”
“Thank you so much!”
Iris clasped his hand in both of hers. He looked at her in surprise, his cheeks faintly flushed. Timidly, Nigel tugged on her blouse.
“Iris, I’d like it if you’d open up to me, too…”
“Of course,” Iris replied with a nod.
“Could you give us the full story?” Reseda asked.
“Certainly!”
And so, Iris gave them an overview of everything that had happened.
“So that’s when you realized you’d need magic to turn the scabs into a vaccine?” Cytisus asked.
“Yes, that’s right. And it was Lady Sauge who lent me her mana.” She held up the vaccine jar for them to see. “The toxins have been inactivated, so ingesting it won’t make you sick.”
Cytisus carefully examined the jar. A magic circle appeared over his monocle and began to spin; apparently, he had cast some sort of analysis spell.
“You’re right. The toxins have indeed been inactivated.” He took the jar from her hand and scrutinized it further.
“But the problem is, if I don’t sanitize it all the way, someone could contract soilpox from it…and since I can’t cast magic, I don’t really have a solution. I mean, none of the mages have immunity to the virus like I do.”
As far as Iris was aware, anyway. After all, any noble who caught soilpox was promptly hidden from the public. She was the only one willing to wear it on her sleeve.
Reseda looked at Cytisus. “Could you analyze this magic and recreate the magic circle? That way, we could create an enchanted container for the scabs.”
“I just completed my analysis, actually. Let me see… It looks like it was produced through a combination of several complicated spells. Theoretically, I could recreate it. It wouldn’t be easy, but it seems like a worthwhile challenge.” His monocle glinted.
Iris heaved a sigh of relief. Now I might actually be able to make some progress with my vaccine! All that remained was to find a way to make it commonly accepted among the populace. But snorting scab powder would be a hard sell for most people…and her vaccine was as good as useless if she couldn’t get everyone to take it. The soilpox patients camped out at the cavern were desperate for any salvation, but would perfectly healthy people be willing to take that risk? Probably not.
When Iris explained this concern to them, Reseda paused to think.
“You said the people in the cavern ingested the vaccine, right?”
“Right.”
“Then maybe we should ask their families to be our next trial patients.”
Iris looked at him in surprise.
“We can administer the vaccine to any townsperson who wishes to take it at no cost to them. As it stands, it won’t be easy to convince the upper crust, but if we can demonstrate its effectiveness among the commoners, they’ll have no choice but to sit up and take notice.”
“Surely we can’t pass it out for free, can we?” Iris asked. After all, it would require a lot of labor from the mages to make those magic circles. It would cost a lot of mana. And even if the mages themselves were willing to do it for free, it would take mana away from other duties in service to the kingdom.
“We’ll have the aristocracy pay for it,” Reseda grinned mischievously. “First things first, we’ll need to get clearance. Cytisus, how long would you need to prepare the magic circles?”
“Ideally, I’d want at least a week for testing purposes,” Cytisus answered.
At this, Reseda nodded.
“Say, um…could we agree not to mention my involvement?” Iris asked.
Reseda cocked his head. “Why?”
“Because I’m a soilpox survivor with no mana. They might think I’m trying to spread the disease on purpose.”
Nigel let out a bitter sigh. Reseda’s expression stiffened.
“Right… It is forbidden magic, after all. Someone who recognized that might think you were a danger to the nation,” Cytisus responded calmly.
“Forbidden magic?” Reseda looked at her sharply.
“I…I didn’t mean to do any forbidden magic! It just sort of happened!”
He sighed exasperatedly. “Fine. I’ll be in touch with an update as soon as I can.”
“Thank you so, so much!”
Iris was so happy, she had to fight back the tears. All this time, she never knew Prince Reseda was such a good-hearted person. Kind AND handsome? He’s the most absurdly perfect prince I’ve ever seen! Then again, I guess the devs designed him that way…
As Iris gazed at him with misty eyes, he smiled bashfully.
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AFTER that, Iris promptly went and spoke to the people at the cavern, requesting their cooperation for the vaccine effort. Not only would the vaccine itself be free of charge, but they would hire assistants to help them distribute it, too. Only those who had developed soilpox immunity, either through vaccination or prior contraction, would be considered for the task.
The scarred man took charge as the leader, and the mother-child pair lent Iris their aid, too. Apparently, the scarred man had a lot of connections with the seedy underbelly of the town, and his triumph over soilpox had made him something of a legend in that community—the total opposite of fashionable society. But then something truly surprising happened: inspired by the scarred man, all the other small-time criminals lined up to receive the vaccine, purely to flaunt their courage.
Once people started to trust that the vaccine was safe, the patients’ families began to request it in droves, especially since it was provided at no cost. “It’s free, so why not?” they shrugged.
With Reseda’s help, Iris’s vaccine had successfully found a foothold among the townspeople, and for that, she was truly grateful.