Chapter 45 - The Farm in Irttat
Chapter 45: Flame in the Swamp 01
She was in a hurry.
Even if this plague had little bearing on the town itself, she had no wish for anything to happen to Mavis, Palmer, or her two new friends.
And beneath that, there was a deeper worry she couldn't shake.
If the disease had been carried in by Palmer and Kelsey, then its origin had to lie in whatever human cities they had passed through.
A plague spreading this fast, if it couldn’t be contained……
Lucita's scalp prickled just thinking about what that would mean.
She opened the pocket watch. The patch of color belonging to humanity had grown darker still.
Gaia……had the omens of this world’s catastrophe already begun?
Along with Stasia's blood, Lucita had also been given several medicinal formulas that Stasia had attempted to compound herself.
Stasia had tried a few doses on herself, but the time had been too short to gauge any effect, so she had simply handed them all over to Lucita to study.
The plague had been active for less than a week in total. Stasia had initially assumed it was an ordinary head cold. Only after two full days of cold remedies produced no improvement, and her condition continued to worsen, had she realized something was wrong.
Their low fevers would not break. Their heads remained heavy and muddled. A taste of rust had gradually crept into their mouths.
Kelsey, with her weaker constitution, had fallen ill more severely. She ate less and less, visibly wasting away by the day.
Stasia was still managing to hold herself together, and once all available medicines had proven useless, she had retreated to her laboratory and begun compounding remedies based on the symptoms herself.
She had been a human-trained physician before coming to Irttat, and after her arrival, she had developed a great fascination with the magical herbs growing all over the surrounding hills.
As a result, Stasia’s compounds differed from Garcia’s formulas. She did not confine herself to either conventional medicine or magical potion-making, but blended the two according to each herb’s properties and effects.
Over three years she had accumulated a full volume of experimental records, and had produced several simple cold remedies that she privately judged to be more effective than Garcia's magical potions. Yet without sufficient trials, she had never dared use them on the townspeople.
Now Lucita had received Stasia's extensive experimental records and medicine samples, and using the advantage of her own sense of taste, took over the work of testing them.
She sealed Stasia's blood and divided it into several portions, storing them in a time-frozen personal space to keep them fresh.
“Two petals of echinacea, one ling of milk thistle juice, half a ling of salt, one leaf of angelica ground fine……experiments indicate that angelica is an excellent stabilizer, preventing the medicinal properties from dissipating too quickly; reason currently unknown……”
Lucita first tried the formulas Stasia had given her, preparing each as a solution and adding it to a separate portion of blood, then tasting each sample once an hour.
The unrelenting smell of decay left Lucita's tongue numb, her stomach churning with acid, and she could barely eat anything the entire day.
Fortunately, by the second day, one portion of the blood had noticeably diminished in its putrid odor.
Lucita had been just about to begin working through Stasia's experimental notes to adjust the ingredients, when one of Stasia's own formulas had already yielded some results. Lucita was so overjoyed that she sent word to Stasia at once.
Stasia was not surprised.
Her formulas had all been compounded to target specific symptoms, some focused on pain relief, others on fever reduction. She had built each mixture around a principal herb corresponding to a symptom. That one of them showed partial effectiveness was only natural.
If Stasia had tried to test these formulas herself, she would have faced two problems: no one to trial the medicines on, and she had no time to test them one by one. She would likely have died of the illness before reaching any conclusions on her own.
She did not know how Lucita had managed to conduct even a rough assessment of the medicines' effects in a single day, but at this point she had no option but to trust her.
Even so, the formula that had shown results gave her some pause.
It was a half-finished compound she had put together as an afterthought. Its principal ingredient was agrimony, targeting symptoms of chest tightness and headache, formulated as a soothing analgesic.
Could a painkiller treat a plague?
Stasia dragged herself out of bed and back into the laboratory to compound the formula for herself and Kelsey — Kelsey could not afford to wait any longer — while simultaneously sending word to Lucita, asking her to analyze the individual ingredients in the formula to determine which one was actually doing the work.
Lucita prepared each herb from the formula separately, added them to individual blood samples, and left them to stand overnight.
Sure enough, it was not the analgesic agrimony that was effective, but a purifying agent in the compound: barnyard grass.
Barnyard grass was a spring-growing herb, typically found on dry, open meadows, fast-spreading and relatively common. Its medicinal value was modest, however, its conditions of use were exacting. It was sometimes ground and added to medicinal solutions to absorb impurities and refine potency.
Stasia used barnyard grass in quite a few of her formulas; the reason it had worked only in this particular one was likely because this formula called for the grass to be processed differently: boiled first, then ground.
At the same time, Lucita noticed that the blood sample to which the analgesic solution had been added had reverted to its putrid odor, as though the earlier improvement had never happened.
She relayed both findings to Stasia.
Stasia's response came quickly.
Sure enough, even though they continued taking the compound, after a brief and faint improvement their condition showed no further signs of recovery.
Was the dosage of barnyard grass too low?
Or was it that barnyard grass alone, with only simple processing, could not fully activate its medicinal properties, and that it would be better used as the principal ingredient in a new formula, with supplementary herbs added to draw out its full potency?
Stasia forced her ailing body back into the laboratory once more.
After Lucita had tried on her own to combine numerous common stabilizers, purifiers, and catalysts without success, another message arrived from Stasia, this time with three new formulas to test.
Two days later, Lucita had successfully identified the formula that completely purified the blood.
By then it was early May. The afternoon sunlight was soft and warm. The dry herb fields carried the sharp fragrance of lianke grass, and even the steady clinking of Durani’s construction work outside the window sounded, somehow, strangely pleasant.
Lucita sat by the window and wrote quickly:
“Dear Dr. Stasia,
I have good news to share. Among the three formulas you provided this time, the one containing dried wild apple performed perfectly!
I believe you and your companion, as well as your other friends, should all be able to make a full recovery.
You are truly brilliant. Not only for us, but I believe this remedy may prove of tremendous importance in the human world as well……
The confirmed formula is as follows:
Mugwort, barnyard grass, bittercress, plantain seed, buckthorn berry, nettle, and wild apple.
I imagine you are already well acquainted with the quantities and preparation methods, but please allow me to enclose a complete formula below, to prevent any errors……
Your warmly concerned friend,
Lucita”
Stasia’s reply expressed even more fervent gratitude for the speed of Lucita’s testing, though the elegance of the phrasing made Lucita suspect Kelsey had written it on her behalf.
Ah. A mysterious person indeed……
One day later, after Stasia confirmed that both of them were showing a marked and steady improvement, Lucita brought the medicine and formula to visit Mavis and Palmer.
Mavis was usually a woman of robust health; after several days of illness she looked considerably diminished in spirit, though she was still clear-headed and able to move about and hold a conversation.
After hearing Lucita’s explanation, she thanked her and drank the medicine without hesitation, accepting the formula Lucita pressed into her hands.
Sophia thanked her again and again as well. Her mother even tried to keep Lucita for lunch, but Lucita was in a hurry to bring the medicine to Palmer and politely declined.
At parting, she couldn't help but reach out and touch Sophia's hair, something hovering on her lips that she didn't say.
Sophia had long since lost the vitality she’d shown a few months ago. Her complexion had been steadily worsening.
They exchanged a smile, but Lucita’s faltered halfway. She turned away and carried her small medicine pail toward Lily’s tavern, where Palmer was staying.
Sophia stood in the doorway for a moment. The sunlight fell across her, drawing a long, uncertain shadow behind her.
After delivering the remedy to Palmer, Lucita went once more to Stasia's door.
Both women were still in their nightclothes, looking as though they had not long been awake.
Two days on, Stasia looked considerably better. There was strength in her voice again. Kelsey still appeared frail, but she was steadier on her feet and no longer trembling.
Lucita had meant to speak to them while they lay down, but neither Stasia nor Kelsey would hear of being rude, and both insisted on sitting up in the living room to receive her.
Neither had yet recovered their full strength, and Lucita was coming to them with urgent business before they were well. Imposing on the sick was not ideal under ordinary circumstances.
But this matter was not ordinary.
They likely had some idea of what it concerned, for neither showed the slightest surprise.
Lucita kept it brief: "Sister Kelsey, I think you already understand that a plague does not arise without cause. And a disease that infects only humans is unlikely to have originated in Irttat. Isn't that right?"
Kelsey showed not the least surprise, having evidently reached the same conclusion herself.
"You're correct." Speaking still cost Kelsey some effort; she replied slowly but steadily. "It is very likely that Palmer and I carried the illness here. We have caused everyone a great deal of trouble."
"That isn't the concern. Stasia is your friend, and only one person in the whole town, Mavis, was infected. Now that there's a cure, no lasting harm has been done." Lucita offered what reassurance she could. "The reason I've come today……I think you already know. In Irttat, this plague is a small matter. In the human world, it is a catastrophic disaster."
Stasia and Kelsey had clearly already thought this through as well, and both nodded in agreement.
Now that they had developed a cure, it needed to be disseminated, it might yet save the lives of many who had no reason to die.
Lucita's purpose today was primarily to confirm the location of the plague's source with Kelsey.
Palmer was from a nearby small town and followed a fixed route. If the surrounding area had been struck by plague, word would have reached Irttat long ago.
The prolonged silence on that front suggested the disease had most likely come with Kelsey.
Lucita chose her words carefully. She feared Kelsey might take offense. Without proof, such speculation sounded dangerously close to accusing her of being the source.
But Kelsey, sharp as she was, proved unexpectedly generous and understanding, and appeared to be the one most concerned of all for the safety of the human world.
A faint look of recollection crossed her face. "I came from the Kingdom of Spring in the north, traveling south along Kenting's border until I arrived here, where I happened to board Palmer's wagon. If there is one place most likely to be the source……it would be Grande, the Pearl of Kenting."
Grande sat on Kenting's western frontier, bordering Spring. It was a city far removed from the centers of political power, yet one of extraordinary economic vitality. Adventurers, wanderers, and merchants of every size and description passed through and traded there from every direction.
Great nobles kept commercial houses and residences there; adventurers exchanged stories there, seeking a few nights' sleep at the posting inns. Spices, gold, and silk were everywhere; gas lamps burned through the night in the castle at the city's heart.
But on the city's darker side, legends of nameless fugitives and dark mages circulated periodically through the streets, and unknown bodies appearing before tenement buildings at dawn were cleared away by cleaners without so much as a change of expression.
It was as enchanting as it was dangerous.
People called it the Pearl of Kenting.
According to Kelsey, all the cities she had passed through on the way had seemed perfectly ordinary, otherwise she would not have been caught off guard.
If anywhere had to be named as the source of trouble, it was Grande.
Around the time Kelsey had set out, Grande had already begun to see a wave of what seemed like a common seasonal cold spreading through the population. She had assumed at the time it was the change of seasons, and had not given it much thought.
"Is that so…" Lucita rubbed her forehead, and found herself understanding Kelsey's rueful smile a little better. "If it really is Grande, that's rather serious."
It was one of the highest-traffic transit hubs on the entire continent.
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