Merlin gathered the sick beast people in Suzaku’s mansion, and is now examining them one by one.
“I figured that’s what it was when I heard it affected beast people, but it really is ork disease.”
“Ork disease?”
“What’s that?”
“An infectious disease characteristic of beast people. It’s very contagious, but the good news for now is that it rarely kills.”
“I see…”
Suzaku looks relieved, but Merlin’s face is still stern.
“What?”
“There’s no cure for ork disease. All we can do is keep them in a clean place, and make sure they eat and drink so they don’t lose their strength.”
“I see. Then I’ll do that.”
“I can’t have ya do that by yourself. I’ll…”
“Hey, chief!”
“Ahn?”
Elga rushes into the room, interrupting Suzaku.
“Luna’s caught it too!”
“Eh? Luna?”
“Why?… She hasn’t inherited the name of her ancestor, but she’s a divine beast person.”
“How would I know? What do I do!?”
Elga seems panicked, not cool-headed like always.
But seeing how the beast people are suffering, it does look like a dangerous disease.
“…I just heard she’s not gonna die from it, so calm down.”
“But…!”
“I told ya to calm down you idiot!”
“Guh!?”
Suzaku strikes Elga in the stomach so fast, that I can’t see it.
I heard he’s a top class warrior even among the divine beast people, but he still can’t handle a surprise attack by Suzaku, and passes out.
“Good grief, this guy always loses his head when it comes to Luna…”
“Is he all right?”
“He’s fine, I held back.”
She says, but that blow made a really loud noise. Oh well, let’s leave that be.
“So, I guess divine beast people can catch it too, uh?”
Asks Suzaku as she turns to Merlin, who nods in response.
“I can’t say for sure, but we should assume so.”
“I see… So we can’t look after the sick people either…”
“Yes. First gather the not infected divine beast people and beast people in this mansion, and then get away from the village. We’ll look after them in the meantime.”
Apparently this ork disease is more troubling than we thought.
Thankfully, this body doesn’t get sick, so there’s no chance I’ll catch one anyway. And since it only affects beast people, Merlin should be fine, but…
“It’s all right. My water magic makes me resistant to diseases, so even if it’s a new disease and not ork disease, I won’t catch it so easily.”
“I see…”
“But we should keep Reina and Xellos away. If it really isn’t ork disease and it’s something more dangerous, we won’t know how it affects humans.”
After saying that, Merlin starts to briskly prepare her tools.
I don’t just stand and watch either, I keep bringing out tools we borrowed from Reina, and Suzaku bows with a kind of sullen look on her face.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Yes. I can’t go back at this point, and like I said before, I’ve been helped a lot by the beast people.”
Suzaku seems a little reassured by what we say.
She’s one of the strongest on this island, and has the power to take down any enemy, but she can’t protect her people from a disease.
Different people can do different things, and everyone should just do what they can.
“I’ll definitely repay this debt.”
“I look forward to it.”
“Me too.”
This way is better for Suzaku, rather than acting reserved.
“So, now…”
“I know. I’ll get Elga and the other divine beast people and get away from here for a while.”
“Well then, you better expect to be too busy to sleep.”
“Got it. Don’t worry about working me too hard. Let’s look after them well.”
Merlin’s instructions are very simple. Keep their bedding clean, and make sure they eat to take in nutrients.
That’s it.
“Here, Luna.”
“Uu… I’m tired…”
“But you still need to eat.”
I feed Luna soup. She looks so tired, that you wouldn’t believe how energetic she is normally if you just saw her like this.
Her life isn’t at risk, but it still looks pretty tough.
“It’s not tasty…”
“Sorry about that.”
Merlin gave me a recipe for food to feed sick people, but despite my efforts, it doesn’t look like it tastes good.
“Come on, just a little more.”
“Uu… Wanna eat Miss’ food…”
She says, but still finishes it, and I lay her back down on the futon.
I guess it’s the fever that’s making her tired, because she falls asleep right away, and I go do the same thing with another beast person.
Meanwhile, Merlin is cleaning everyone’s houses.
This goes on for three days.
Apparently this disease isn’t supposed to last for very long, and the number of beast people getting better gradually increases.
“Once you’re better, leave right away! Don’t get too cocky thinking you’re immune!”
I guess after seeing her looking after them so much, none of the beast people feel like going against what Merlin says, and obediently leave.
And three days after that…
“All better!”
“That’s great, Luna!”
“Yes! It’s thanks to you mister, and grandma Merlin!”
“If you want to thank me, stop calling me that!”
“Yes!”
Luna’s symptoms were pretty bad, but she recovered too, so now all the beast people have recovered.
Still, we can’t be careless. We don’t know where the bacteria that causes the infection spread, so we’re going to keep casting purification magic.
“…You really are a monster.”
“I wish you’d stop saying that. That hurts.”
At first I wonder why she’s even saying that, but it’s because I’m casting the purification magic I learned by watching her.
What takes her a whole day to do, takes me about an hour, because I can purify everything with my boundless magic energy.
“We should keep watching how things are for a couple more days. You’re okay with that, right?”
“Of course.”
And so, I keep casting purification magic in the divine beast people’s village.
Merlin checks to see if nothing’s left out, and…
“Seriously, thank you two!”
“I’m glad everyone’s back safe.”
“Ou! Hey Merlin! You did good too! If there’s anythin’ I can do, I’ll do it!”
Suzaku declares loudly, and Merlin looks like she’s thinking for a bit.
Thinking back, when Suzaku said the same thing to me, I thought about asking her if there was a way to escape this island.
I missed the chance to do so, because it turned out Reina didn’t really want that, but for Merlin and Xellos, this island is a dangerous place.
So maybe she…
“In that case…”
As I think about that, as Merlin gathers her thoughts, and speaks.
And she says…
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