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We were accompanied by Sir Kain and Sarah, the latter of whom had taken it upon herself to take care of my needs during the journey.
To fulfil this role, Sarah had taken the seat next to me in the carriage. Lord Felix sat directly across from me, and Sir Kain opposite Sarah.
Tee hee! Compared to when I came to Leeuwenhoek all alone, this is going to be a lively trip!
The main purpose of my visit to the capital was to deliver the panacea to those who were suffering, and my second goal was to obtain information on the Great Sage Elios. Perhaps excitement was an inappropriate reaction to have when I wasn’t traveling for fun, but I couldn’t help it. It was my first time going on a long trip with friends in this life!
Back in my Lilybell days, I’d loved journeying with my owners and discovering new surprises and delights. I did enjoy my life in Leeuwenhoek too, but that was a different kind of fun.
That’s why I might have been overzealous!
Lord Felix’s gaze fell to the basket in my lap, and he tilted his head. “Lucille, what are you carrying?”
“Heh heh! I’m glad you asked! These are snacks I made for us!”
Whenever Matthew had set out on an adventure or taken me for an outing, he’d prepared refreshments for us beforehand. As far as I was concerned, it wasn’t a proper trip without treats!
Eating yummy snacks together makes an exciting journey even more special!
“Oh, fantastic!” Sir Kain exclaimed. “Are they pastries? I love your homemade pastries!”
He’s happy! It was worth making them!
As Sir Kain and I grinned at each other, Lord Felix murmured, “I like your pastries too.”
“Great! Let’s eat them together.”
“Lady Lucille, would I be able to sample some?” Sarah asked nervously.
“Of course! I’d love for you to try them too!”
Pleasant conversation flowed among the group as we made our way toward the capital.
This is basically like having a picnic, right?!
However, when we stopped by a small town on the way, I realized we couldn’t afford to be so carefree. The people on the streets were silent, yet a sense of urgency hung in the air.
“Lord Felix,” I said, turning to face him.
“It seems the disease has made its way here as well,” he replied.
When we questioned a passerby, they informed us that the afflicted were being gathered in the local church. There, we found a great number of people huddled together—enough to comprise the majority of the town’s population.
This may be a bigger emergency than I thought.
Another concern plagued me: In my prophetic dream, I didn’t have Lilybell’s memories. That version of myself wouldn’t have been able to make the panacea. However, despite lacking that knowledge then, it hadn’t seemed like a disease had spread through Leeuwenhoek and beyond.
But before digging into that inconsistency, I had to take care of the people suffering right in front of me.
I’d brought plenty of the medicine in my dimensional space. Even if the current doses somehow weren’t enough, we’d also picked a staggering amount of raspweed just in case. We could easily distribute the panacea to everyone here, though it’d be best to prioritize those with the most severe symptoms.
At times like this, the most important thing was to get an understanding of the situation. And so I scanned the church building, taking in the status of the people resting around me. It was then I noticed something else interesting.
Their symptoms don’t seem to be as debilitating as Leeuwenhoek’s worst cases were, do they?
While their complexions were pale, and I could tell that they were struggling to breathe, none of them had reached a point of such severity that they might pass before our eyes.
The letter from my father hadn’t sounded all that urgent either—he’d written that the disease in the capital could be alleviated with healing magic, albeit not fully cured. Because of that, Lord Felix and I had hypothesized that the illness grew worse the closer one got to Leeuwenhoek. However, the situation in this town contradicted that.
“I cannot say for certain since we don’t know the cause of the disease, but I suspect that the symptoms were more severe in Leeuwenhoek because of the curse on the land,” Lord Felix said as if reading my mind.
Oh, so that’s a possibility too...
Curses were burdens on both the mind and body. Perhaps in this case, the curse had unfortunately synergized with the disease and had a stronger effect on the people within Leeuwenhoek. It was hard for me to imagine, since I hadn’t experienced much of the curse while living there, but if Lord Felix believed it was the curse’s fault, there was a high probability that it was true.
And if that were the case, it made sense that the people in the capital were able to alleviate their symptoms with magic. Healing magic was most effective against external conditions, like wounds—it didn’t do much for diseases. So although it could relieve mild symptoms, when it came to serious cases like those in Leeuwenhoek, it provided nothing more than a temporary reprieve. Because of this, illnesses were generally treated with specialized medicines. That was what made my cure-all so valuable.
To summarize, the people in the capital were able to ease their symptoms with healing magic because the disease was much milder there than it had been in Leeuwenhoek.
In the past, Saint Clarissa had healed injuries and illnesses alike, but that had only been possible because of her extraordinary abilities. Perhaps Elvira would also be able to do so once she awakened to her powers.
“If their symptoms are this mild, they might not need to drink an entire vial of panacea,” I noted.
Standing on a raised platform overlooking the church hall, I raised my voice to get the attention of the resting patients and the church members caring for them.
“Everyone, we’ve brought a panacea that can cure this disease! We’re going to hand them out now. Please split one vial between two people. Could we get some help from those who are well enough?”
The church members regarded me with suspicion.
“It’s said that this disease is of unknown origin,” one of them said. “How can you guarantee that the panacea will work? And to begin with, who are you?”
Oh! How silly of me. Of course they wouldn’t believe someone who just barged in and made such claims.
My haste to free the patients from their suffering had made me forget that introducing myself and earning their trust came first.
Regaining my composure, I bowed to everyone in the hall. “Please forgive me. My name is Lucille Gustelanola. I stopped by this town on my way to bring this panacea to the royal capital at their behest.”
Unfortunately, the stares directed at me grew even sterner. It seemed my self-introduction had only invited further suspicion.
“Lucille Gustelanola?” a lady asked in a dubious tone. “As in, from the Gustelanola family? The wicked woman who was engaged to the second prince until he banished her?”
Goodness! I had no idea my name had become so well-known.
The person calling me out was probably a noble, in which case, nothing I could say would convince her to trust me. That left me with no choice but to demonstrate for everyone that the medicine was safe. Even if they didn’t believe in its effectiveness, they’d be forced to acknowledge that at least it wasn’t dangerous for the human body.