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Merc followed Bazar into Kirel, a cloth thrown over her mouth, till they arrived at a certain bedroom.

Edin had also begged to join them out of concern for his family, but they had left him waiting at the village’s entrance. After all, Edin would be at risk if the disease was too severe for Merc’s Heal to handle.

Merc guessed he was probably negotiating with Foldia and Svemir on the issue of their compensation.

Although he still might be too concerned about his wife’s condition to consider things like money.

Merc thought, fretting over Edin. She quickly dismissed that, though, and focused on the room in question.

Inside the mostly empty room, a woman lay on a bed, her face contorting in pain as sweat streamed down her face.

“That must be Denemis. What is her condition?”

Merc inquired, looking at Bazar, who stood beside her.

“She’s had a persistently high fever ever since she became ill. Furthermore, there is painful swelling in her groin, neck, and armpit areas, coupled with irregular breathing and weak pulse. However, the most distinctive of all are these.”

Bazar unrolled Denemis’ blanket from the side, revealing her right arm and leg, which were entirely covered with dark marks.

“This is all internal bleeding? This is terrible…”

Behind the cloth, Merc spoke while biting her lips. Bazar agreed with her and merely nodded before pulling the blanket over Denemis.

“I agree. Eventually, if the condition gets worse, necrosis may form on the limbs. Internal organ disorders are certainly another possibility. If one of these two events happens, it won’t come as a surprise.”
“Even if we are successful in curing her, if she reaches that point, there will be permanent scars.”
“Correct. We must therefore prevent the disease from getting worse. Though I have yet discovered a complete cure, I have created a number of medications that can halt the progression of the disease.”
“What? You’ve developed drugs? So a vaccine of some form must also exist.”
“It doesn’t. I’ve only managed to develop drugs that halt the progression of the disease.”

Bazar said after a moment of silence, denying Merc’s claim.

Merc found his demeanor peculiar and gave him a questioning look, but Bazar just shrugged and continued,

“To tell the truth, a vaccine does exist. However, its effects are insufficient.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Emsnan Disease is problematic because it constantly evolves and grows worse. A drug that may have been effective in the past will eventually stop working. In other words, an early-stage vaccination won’t work against the Emsnan Disease in its current form.”
“It evolves? Now I understand. That’s why you said that strange thing about making various drugs. You have to come up with a new drug every time the old one stops working.”
“That’s right.”

Bazar nodded, finally opening Merc’s eyes.

This, however, raised some new questions for Merc.

“You should have informed me right away that there is a vaccine. Even if it isn’t very effective, there should still be a difference in the symptoms of individuals who have taken it compared to those who haven’t. Or does the vaccine have some side effects that you haven’t told me about?”
“No, not at the moment. Although there have been a few unusual incidences of extremely high fevers, it is unclear whether those were brought on by the vaccine. Additionally, each of those cases was still in its early stages and was resolved quickly.”
“Then could I ask you to prepare one of those vaccines for me? Additionally, three more for those morons over there!”

Merc yelled as she spun around to see the slightly ajar door.

“Oops. Busted…”

Foldia, who appeared to have no intention of hiding his presence, opened the door without showing any signs of remorse.

Behind him, Merc could make out Edin, who had a frightened expression on his face, and Svemir, who was curiously peering inside.

Thankfully, all three of them were covering their mouths, but it didn’t give them a pass for breaking their promise.

“You three?!” Bazar exclaimed.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing here? Is this some kind of game to you?!”

Merc yelled at the three.

“Foldia!!! It would have been alright for you to come here by yourself, but why did you bring Edin with you? He isn’t even an adventurer!”
“Now, now. Calm down. There’s a patient here.”
“You b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲…”
“Missy, is dis how ya are?” Svemir asked.
“S-Scary…” Edin exclaimed.

Even Svemir, who appeared to have been through a lot and had likely survived many trials, took a few steps back in response to Merc’s outburst.

On the other hand, Edin, who wasn’t even an adventurer, absolutely buckled at the knees under the intimidation of the otherwise beautiful young girl.

Even Bazar, who was standing right next to Merc, took a few steps back, fearing for his life.

Now I’m the bad guy…

Merc thought as she observed everyone’s responses. They were nonetheless in front of a patient, as Foldia had noted.

Merc sighed after restraining her rage.

“I’ll scold you later.”
“What do you mean scold?!” Foldia exclaimed.
“Save your excuses for later as well.”

Merc spoke sternly before turning to face Denemis once more.

“For now, let me try healing her. If Healing can heal the disease, a drug will also be able to do so.”
“Miss Merc… I already told you earlier, but I doubt that Lesser Heal will have any effect. I am also capable of using Lesser Heal, and I have already attempted it on several patients without success. While their conditions did temporarily get better, it was far from a total recovery.”
“I see… Nonetheless, let me give it a try.”

Merc did consider Bazar’s advice, but she was still completely confident in her Healing abilities. She couldn’t just back down here without trying, knowing that the disease had no cure.

“Heal!”

A soothing light emanated from Merc’s palms and slowly enveloped Denemis’ body as she lay on the bed.