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At a location that Bazar and Ned eventually set up, Merc and the others were able to stay the night and were warmly welcomed the next morning.

“Well then, first off…”

After chowing down on the food that had been prepared for her, Merc made her way to the house next door, to Foldia and Svemir.
　
Bazar had set up two houses because the group had members of different genders, on the surface, at least.

“Hey, Merc. How’s it going?”
“It’s great to see ya alive and well Missy. It’s great dat da Ems whatever it was didn’t get us.”
“Morning you two. It seems like Dr. Bazar’s vaccine worked after all.”

Merc said, greeting both of them.

“So? What will you do now?” Foldia asked.
“I’ll be going with Dr. Bazar to gather some blood from the patients. It’ll probably take a few days, but I really want to find the differences in symptoms between generations.”
“I see. Can we help with anything?”
“Not that I can think of. How about this? Could you aid Mr. Ned and the remaining residents of the village who are still somewhat healthy? They’ll probably pass out from exhaustion before the disease takes hold given all the fields and homes they have to tend to.”
“Sure thing.”
“Leave it to us, Missy.”

Merc excitedly rushed to Bazar’s lab after hearing both Foldia and Svemir agree.

“Dr. BAZAR! Are you up?!”

As she knocked on the lab’s window, Merc shouted. After a brief pause, Bazar emerged with a terrified look on his face.

“M-Miss Merc… You scared the living daylights out of me. Please knock on the door next time!”
“Sorry about that. Since I knew you were already in the laboratory I figured you’d hear me if I knocked here.”
“That’s true but… Please wait. I’ll come out in a sec.”
“If the front door’s open then I’d like to come in for a bit. Since we’re going to take blood I’d first like to check the equipment.”
“Okay…” Bazar replied meekly.

After which he instantly drew his face away from the window, and Merc, a little taken aback by his peculiar actions, decided to head for the front door.

After reaching the front of the laboratory Merc pushed open the lockless door and entered inside.

“I’m here,” she said.
“You’re quite energetic this early in the morning.”
“Well since we’re going to cure the people here I might as well give it all I have. The fact that we might have been able to save some patients if we had been quicker would also leave me with a bad taste in my mouth. By the way, what’s that?”

Merc asked as she fixed her sight on a small stone on the desk behind Bazar.

One glimpse was all it took to recognize that the stone, which had a crystal-like sheen and emanated Mana, was a Magic Stone.

It wasn’t surprising that Bazar had it, what bothered Merc was that she hadn’t seen it yesterday.

“What? Oh, this.”

With a wry smile, Bazar quickly reached for the Magic Stone and placed it away on one of the shelves.

“It’s just a rock that I picked up on my way to this village. I occasionally take it out to appreciate its beauty.”
“Dr. Bazar, I don’t mean to butt in on your hobby of collecting rocks, but that is a Magic Stone. It continuously releases Mana. I would urge you to get rid of it if you are unsure of its effects.”
“Oh my. It’s a Magic Stone? I had no idea. I’ll be sure to throw it away once this commotion has passed.”

Smiling widely, Bazar said. He didn’t seem to be too attached to this stone after all.

“That’d be for the best. That aside, I’d like to go get some patients’ blood and then examine it later. Do you think you’d have the tools needed for that?”
“Of course. They’re right here. Just give me a moment.”

As he spoke, Bazar reached into one of the shelves and took out a set of tools that were used for exams. From the looks of it, they looked like they would be more than useful.

“Amazing. You said you were just randomly passing by here, no? Do you always carry all of these tools with you?”
“No. I’m not that crazy. I just happen to have these with me because I was going to the Chulice Empire to do some research. But on the way there, I came across this village’s Emsnan Disease and opted to stay.”
“I see; you were going to the Empire…”

The Chulice Empire was unmatched by any other nation in the realm of medicine. That’s why it wasn’t surprising that Bazar had planned to do research there. But, as things stood right now, it was difficult for a regular individual to enter the Empire. However, if the person in question was a skilled doctor, it wouldn’t be too difficult if he had some inside connections.

However, even just hearing the name of the Empire raised warnings in Merc’s head.

Immediately, her demeanor turned glum.

“Miss Merc, is something wrong?” Looking a little anxious, Bazar asked.
“No, it’s nothing. Let’s go and get some blood.”

Merc said, wanting to go and deal with the Emsnan Disease as soon as possible.
　

Following that, Merc and Bazar spent a few days roaming the hamlet and gathering the required samples, while Foldia and Svemir assisted with chores around the village.

Thankfully, the medications given out by Bazar had been effective as a temporary fix, and no one had yet fallen victim to the Emsnan Disease.

Of course, Merc saved the lives that were threatened by the disease, but these instances could be counted on one hand. The majority of the serious cases that could have been fatal had been avoided thanks to Bazar’s drugs.

“There really is no end… Even if your medications are effective for a while, the disease quickly progresses and they lose their potency…”

Merc remarked as she observed Bazar giving one of the suffering patients a drug.

“That’s right… But nothing else can be done until we find the ideal treatment.”

After administering the medication, Bazar said,

“But now that we’ve collected blood samples from the villagers, we’ll be able to learn more about the Emsnan Disease. So, it stands to reason that we could create a medication that is more efficient.”
“That is true. By the way, Dr. Bazar. There’s something that I’ve been meaning to ask about the drugs that I saw in your lab.”
“What is it?”
“Why didn’t you use the juice from the Azenoa Fruit in your fourth drug?”
“What?”

Bazar asked, his expression indicating that he had no idea what Merc was saying.

“It’s just that I found it strange. Your second and third medications contain Azenoa Leaf juice, which is well-known for having antibacterial characteristics. So, it would appear that the Azenoa plant would be effective in combating the Emsnan Disease.”
“That’s correct.”
“Why, then, did you choose the leaf juice for your fourth medicine rather than the fruit’s juice? Juice from the fruit has more potent antibacterial qualities than juice from the leaves. Why didn’t you use the fruit that is proven to be superior when you already knew that the Azenoa plant has favorable effects?”
“That’s… I was worried that if I abruptly increased the drug’s potency, the patients would exhibit side effects.”

Bazar murmured, appearing nervous.

While it was sometimes true that a strong medication could cause unwanted side effects, the Emsnan Disease could not be treated with mediocre medication. In actuality, Bazar had used the juice of the Azenoa Fruit in the fifth and succeeding medications, but by then it had not had much of an impact on the evolving Emsnan Disease.

If one was serious about curing an unknown disease, they had to create a drug that could eradicate it, even if that meant making it a little stronger.

“I understand your concerns, Dr. Bazar, but I believe you are acting far too passively. This issue affects all of the components, not just the Azenoa plant. I’m not sure why, but you only use the tiniest quantity of the ones you know will have an impact. Is there any other explanation for this except your concern for side effects?”
“I d-don’t think so…”
“So let’s use as many of these components as we can the next time we produce a medicine. Even if there are side effects I’ll easily cure them with my Heal.” With a little more vigor, Merc said.
“I-I see… Okay then.”

Bazar agreed, albeit hesitantly.¹

1. And on that cliffhanger, we reach the end of the translation. Yaaaaaay.