16. The Knot (4)



Saena’s riding skills weren’t bad for a noble lady, but they couldn’t compare to the knights’.

“Are you alright, Madam?”

It was definitely different from just riding comfortably – maintaining top speed all the way to the destination.

“Ugh…”

Perhaps due to riding while tense, her waist and shoulders were stiff. Her hips and thighs also hurt, but she couldn’t mention those body parts out loud. She felt slightly nauseous too.

“I’m… fine…”

Though she felt like she had used up all her existing energy by the time they arrived at the village, Saena tried to regulate her condition by closing her eyes and breathing.

After quite a while…

Having barely recovered her physical state, Saena began to look around the village.

In her experience, plagues occurred most frequently in summer. There were also environmental issues—territories that only collected taxes without maintaining the land often had problems with improper disposal of garbage, excrement, and corpses, creating a vicious cycle that caused disease.

‘But I thought the Kramer territory was quite well-managed?’

She knew they had manuals for disposing of animal carcasses and handling waste and garbage, with village chiefs and managers receiving separate training and regular inspections by central administrators.

So what could be the problem with this village…

Saena slowly began examining various places to find the cause of the plague.

But something felt odd.

‘…This is quite clean?’

There were no decaying areas, no rotting spots. No places swarming with insects, no strange smells.

What kind of plague could this be…

“…Could I see a patient?”

Unable to find the cause in the environment, the next step was to examine the patients.

Saena made the request to the village chief.

“You cannot!”

But opposition came from all directions.

“If you catch it…!”

“I’ll look from a distance.”

“Madam…”

“Don’t we need to find the cause quickly? That’s how we can save even one more life.”

Saena managed to break through the opposition and was guided to the tent where they had gathered the patients.

“Yuri, you can’t cure diseases?”

She whispered in a tiny voice to Yuri on the way.

—What do you take me for… I’m a Guardian Spirit, not a fairy…

“Just wondering…”

She really was just asking, just in case.

“Did you say something?”

“Hmm?”

“I thought I heard you say something.”

“Oh? No. I was just talking to myself.”

Sir Rupert must have heard her mumbling (which was actually her talking to Yuri). Feeling embarrassed, she stiffened her expression.

This made her look like a very haughty noble madam, which Rupert found quite fascinating internally.

And finally, they entered the tent on the outskirts of the village where the patients were isolated.

“Urghh!”

“Oh lord! Save me…!”

The inside was chaos with people’s screams and groans.

—Hmm. There’s some kind of smell…

Yuri muttered in an unpleasant tone.

Smell? You can smell too?

Saena had such a frivolous question when she heard Yuri’s words, but since it wasn’t an appropriate situation to ask him, she kept her mouth shut.

—It’s a familiar smell of death, this is…

But listening further, it seemed he wasn’t referring to a real smell, but rather expressing some kind of energy as a smell.

While her attention was momentarily diverted to Yuri, a woman spotted Saena and began crawling toward her, screaming frantically.

“My lady! My lady! Please! Save me! I have a young baby…! Sob!”

Pale complexion and dark circles under lifeless eyes. She was clearly a woman with death approaching her doorstep.

The woman’s hand, flailing toward Saena, was blocked mercilessly.

Sir Rupert blocked the woman’s hand with his scabbard and shouted.

“How dare you try to touch her! Step back!”

“Wait.”

However, Saena stopped Sir Rupert.

“Madam, you must not touch them!”

“I’m not going to touch.”

Because she had discovered something on the woman’s hand.

“…Could you open your hand like this?”

“My lady! P-please save me!”

The woman looked up at Saena with tears, overwhelmed not only by the terror of the disease but also by the pressure emanating from the knights.

“I mean you no harm. I’m trying to find the cause of the disease, so please show me your hand.”

“……”

Finally seeming to understand, the woman extended her bony hand.

“Hmm.”

“Why? What did you discover?”

—Ah, I see.

“There.”

“Yes!”

Saena called the knights and gave them several instructions. They returned after checking what Saena had instructed while examining other patients. Their nodding indicated that ‘it matches.’

The lifeless color at the fingertips and tongue tips. They confirmed that the more severe patients had darker, more deadened coloring.

—These people aren’t sick…

Both Saena and Yuri noticed.

That the villagers weren’t suffering from a mass infection, but mass poisoning.

* * *

Not a disease but poison.

Her mind went blank at this unexpected situation.

Well, should she be relieved that at least they didn’t have to worry about contagion?

‘But I’ve never dealt with a situation like this before…’

Should she have urgently summoned Constantine after all?

She suddenly felt her confidence plummeting.

“Haah…”

—What’s wrong? Isn’t it better if it’s poison?

“Huh?”

—You have me, don’t you?

“……”

Ah, that’s right!

Though he couldn’t cure diseases, she had Yuri who could cure poison!

Since she hadn’t been an Oathkeeper for long, she kept forgetting that Yuri’s abilities were also part of her own.

Saena brightened and headed to a slightly secluded spot. She needed to talk with Yuri.

Sir Rupert followed behind, maintaining distance while blocking others’ approach.

“Still, the method of purification is a problem.”

—That’s true.

While they were here, the villagers’ conditions would keep deteriorating.

Saena felt heavy-hearted.

Even though she had the ability, she couldn’t use it…

But she couldn’t simply let those people die just to keep her identity hidden…

“What if we infuse purification energy into medicine and have them drink it? Wouldn’t that be better than nothing?”

—Hmm. Haven’t tried it before…

Yuri seemed to think for a moment before adding.

—Want to try it as a test?

“How?”

—Let’s infuse purification energy into a small cup of water and give it to one person.

“Ah, that’s a good idea.”

—Just so you know, I can’t heal those whose organs are already damaged. Even if I detoxify, damaged organs won’t recover.

“That… we’ll need to use other methods. When the Imperial Medical Center physicians arrive, we should have them look into that.”

Even if they couldn’t heal completely, they might be able to improve somewhat. Have them prescribe some medicine to strengthen the organs…

Saena added these tasks to her mental list and heavily infused purification energy into the water in her flask.

Then she had one patient drink it.

“…It works.”

—Oh, it does. That’s good.

Though not as effective as direct purification, it clearly worked.

As soon as the trial ended, Saena sought out the village chief again.

“Chief! We brought some medicines from the castle that we need to boil and give to the patients. Could you bring us some clean water?”

“What? Yes!”

Shortly after, two young villagers brought several large water containers.

Just as they were about to pour it into the large pot for boiling medicine—

—The water is poisoned.

Saena heard a shocking statement.

“Wait!”

The young men stopped mid-pour at Saena’s words, causing some water to spill on the ground.

“Poison?”

Saena hastily avoided the water splashing near her feet as she asked.

—Yes.

“In this entire bucket?”

—Yes.

“Wh-what are you saying?”

The young men, startled by Saena’s words, completely dropped the water containers. She shouted while backing away from the water.

“Be careful not to touch the water! And bring those men here!”

“Yes!”

The knights immediately seized the two young men and made them kneel before Saena.

“Bring the chief too.”

The knights promptly brought the chief and made him kneel as well.

“I asked for water to make medicine… and you bring poisoned water?”

“…What?! P-poison?”

He wore an expression of complete bewilderment.

“Were you planning to kill all the villagers?”

She couldn’t even begin to guess what purpose this could serve.

“Whaaat?! No! Why would I ever?!”

The chief wailed, turning pale.

Why, that was the question she wanted to ask.

Saena maintained her stern expression and coldly glared at the chief. Seeing this, the chief began trembling violently and prostrated himself, begging almost flat on the ground.

“That water was just drawn from the spring! Really! I know nothing about any poison! Please believe me! Why would I want to kill our villagers!”

The knights had to restrain him as he tried to bang his forehead against the ground, crying and snotting. The young men also wailed, protesting their innocence.

Their frantic wailing expressions… didn’t seem fake. Their pale, ashen faces seemed to genuinely fear this situation.

What in the world is going on…

If not them, then who could be the culprit?

“…Spring? Where is this spring?”

“Be-behind the village… sob.”

Saena stood up abruptly. She needed to see the spring herself.

And then she found out.

—…This was the cause.

The villagers had become like this after drinking water from this spring.

—Someone seems to have poisoned it.

This spring was a place where flowing water briefly pooled before continuing on, creating a constantly rotating flow of water.

So depending on when the poison was added, the dilution would have varied over time. And depending on when people drew and drank the water, the degree of poisoning would have varied too.

According to testimony, when they drew a full container of water, it usually lasted 2-3 days, so those lucky enough to have drawn water before the poisoning avoided it, while others fell ill or died.

“Is there still poison now?”

—Yes.

“Then should we purify this spring?”

—Well… This doesn’t seem to be the source.

“What?”

—Not here but up there. The poison energy seems stronger toward the water source. The energy of poison feels stronger as we go up?

“……”

Saena frowned as she looked up the mountain.

What exactly is happening in this village?

* * *

Saena took only Rupert and climbed the mountain.

‘Tell them not to eat anything made in this village. Especially water, or any food or dishes made with water—absolutely not.’

‘Tell them to eat only what’s brought in from outside the village. Fortunately, I told them to bring food supplies, so distribute those first. For the patients, boil stew separately and give them that.’

‘When this medicine is done brewing, feed it to the patients, and if there’s any left, give it to all the villagers. For patients in poor condition, it would be better to give them multiple doses.’

She gave plenty of tasks to the knights who insisted that taking only one escort was dangerous.

Saena had no choice as she had reasons why she couldn’t take other knights. Similarly, it was because of the issue of exposing the Guardian Spirit.