Chapter 88:

“Then I would like to express my gratitude once again for your visit, Count Valheit.”

“Haha, what’s all this for.”

I just want to go in and sit down already.

We’ve been exchanging thanks outside for what feels like over 10 minutes already.

He kept recycling similar expressions, and I felt like I could spit out curses at any moment.

“Yes, then please come in.”

Unlike yesterday, refreshments were already prepared.

The director, who guided me to the head seat, smiled like the gentlest lamb in the world.

“Thank you for deciding to donate. With the Count’s support, the hand of healing will reach many more people.”

“That is what I hope for. You mentioned you would calculate the amount yesterday, how did that go.”

“Yes, here is the donation proposal. The funds you donate will be used for the most needed items, such as medicine, ointments, and bandages.”

I quickly skimmed the report.

Aside from his greed for money, it was quite well done.

It meticulously detailed where the money would be used, how any remaining funds would be handled, and what procedures would be followed if the plan was revised.

“The amount seems a bit excessive compared to the donation details….”

“This is a very rough estimate, so we can adjust it as much as you’d like, Count. As for an adjustment proposal….”

“I’m joking. Let’s go with this amount.”

“Thank you for your generous support. I am moved by the Count’s benevolence in thinking of the people. There are several ways to deposit the donation….”

The excited director explained the details one by one, spittle flying from his mouth.

The only difference from a call from an insurance company was that I couldn’t just hang up on this one.

“…That is all. Do you have any questions?”

“I’m fine.”

I had a feeling there were probably a few poison-pill clauses, but I decided to let it go.

I wasn’t here to make a deal, after all.

“Thank you for the clear explanation. It ended faster than I thought.”

“I had to have at least this much prepared for you, Count.”

“We have some time left, so let’s have a little chat.”

“The honor is all mine.”

The director bowed and scraped.

He looked ready to burst into laughter at even the most unfunny joke.

“I heard from Rapel yesterday that you are an excellent doctor.”

“Oh my, that fellow and his embarrassing words again…. I’m just good enough to make a living.”

The director shrugged, looking proud enough to be embarrassed.

“I can provide health consultations, selection of medicinal herbs, anything. It won’t be perfect, but I can also provide a diagnosis.”

“I’ll just accept the sentiment. My question is, well, closer to a health consultation. Though it’s not about my own health.”

“Is someone you know suffering from an illness? I can send a doctor for a house call if you need.”

“It’s not about one person. It’s about a city. A strange plague is going around.”

“Pathology is not my specialty, but I can offer some advice. Have you heard about the symptoms.”

As we moved on to work talk, the director became slightly more serious.

The unique confidence of an expert overflowed from him.

“It’s a plague that occurred in a place called Kranacht, a disease where people collapse just as they are in their daily lives and cannot get up. It was also highly contagious, and half the city suffered from the plague.”

“……”

His confident expression gradually turned white.

He pretended to ponder the symptoms upon hearing them, but he couldn’t stop the cold sweat.

“Interesting. To collapse and be unable to get up just like that. Were there no other symptoms?”

“It was a very quiet disease, aside from foaming at the mouth a little.”

“Ha, foaming at the mouth. Hmm… I have a few candidates in mind, but it’s difficult to give a definitive answer with just that.”

“Is that so?”

“I’ll ask a colleague who researches pathology and let you know later. They might know something.”

The director made a desperate effort to cut the topic short.

But doing so only made it more obvious that he was nervous.

“May I ask just one more thing.”

“By all means.”

“A certain doctor I know said it might be due to a cause other than disease. Does that seem plausible? Poison, magic, a curse… he mentioned something like that.”

When the word curse came out, the director’s breathing quickened.

He soon took a deep breath and tried to control it, but the water was already spilled.

“I haven’t seen the patients myself, so I can’t say for sure. However, considering it’s contagious, it’s likely a disease.”

“I understand. Thank you for the advice.”

“Not at all. Ha, haha, hahaha.”

After the awkward laughter ended, the director hurriedly drank his tea.

It was closer to pouring it into his mouth than drinking it.

‘There’s definitely something here.’

The purpose of today’s visit was accomplished.

I glanced at my watch and rose from my seat.

“I have another appointment, so I must be going now. Thank you for your valuable opinion.”

“Yes, of course. Please have a safe trip back.”

“There’s no need to see me out.”

“Still, a guest is leaving, I should at least….”

“You don’t have to. I can see myself out.”

“Yep.”

Leaving the director with his fists clenched, I went outside.

I saw a person in loose clothing, puffing away on a cigarette.

“May I borrow a cigarette.”

“Sure.”

He handed over a crudely rolled cigarette.

As I lit it, an acrid smell wafted up.

I brought the cigarette near my mouth and spoke quietly.

“Is the job finished?”

“We distributed them all as you instructed.”

The man, who was puffing out cigarette smoke, replied politely.

“Keep the director of the People’s Medical Center under surveillance. He will surely report to someone.”

“Understood.”

I stubbed out the half-smoked cigarette and left the spot.

Now, all I had to do was wait for the scared little rat to report to his master.

‘I’ll have to make it more urgent.’

As I left the eastern street where the Vestol merchants had gathered, a grimy little kid was vigorously waving a pamphlet.

“It’s free! Take one!”

“What’s it about?”

“It’s about the truth that Vestol is hiding!”

The kid, raising his voice, shoved a pamphlet right in my face.

When I placed a few coins in the kid’s hand, his eyes went round.

“But it’s free?”

“That’s for the recommendation.”

“Thank you! Have a good day!”

As the kid raised his voice even louder, people who had been hesitating whether to take one or not started to approach one by one.

When I opened the booklet, large letters were arranged to be seen at a glance.

Dear readers, you are all well aware of the fact that Vestol used curses in the last war.

If you don’t know, ask a veteran who served nearby.

They will vividly describe the sight of their comrades, who were perfectly fine until yesterday, collapsing while foaming at the mouth.

This author, while investigating how Vestol could commit such a terrible act, has come upon a shocking truth.

Vestol doctors professionally researched curses and utilized them in the war!

Unbelievable?

Then be sure to check the newspapers!

For I have delivered all the truths I have investigated.

‘That Stunner fellow’s head works well for this kind of thing.’

The content was just a common conspiracy theory format, but the font and the intermittent red ink caught the eye.

If he had been born in modern society, he would have made a good living as an entertainment reporter or a YouTuber.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow morning’s newspaper.

***

Til barely managed to open her eyes.

Putting up with the snarky patients was more difficult than martial arts training.

Rapel continued to treat them with a smiling face, but Til was not that patient.

When their eyes met, they would scurry into the crowd like mice and whisper, and seeing that just brought on a wave of fatigue.

“I definitely could never have been a doctor.”

She had thought that if she just acquired the tools doctors use and learned while torturing people, she could do a doctor’s job, but she was wrong.

She’d rather go around cutting people up.

She roughly drew the curtains, looked at the sun heading towards noon, and munched on the breakfast placed on the side table.

Perhaps because it was originally the Emperor’s villa, it was even more luxurious than the Chartra family home.

It was now Valheit’s villa, but the tradition of hosting the imperial family remained.

“I don’t need newspapers….”

I’m not Valheit.

She skimmed only the front pages of the newspapers piled up by the publisher, flicking through them, when a certain headline caught her eye.

Normally, she wouldn’t even glance at a newspaper like this, which had a reputation for being a tabloid, but this time she couldn’t help it.

“Vestol’s Conspiracy Revealed…? They’ve obtained documents proving that Vestol actively used curses during the last war?”

What is this nonsense?

Til, who belonged to the military family of Chartra, had not participated in the war, but she knew all the related news.

The rumor about curses was later revealed to be chemical weapons.

She learned after joining the Eight Council that it was Professor Zain who had developed those chemical weapons.

But curses, all of a sudden?

No matter how much this newspaper wrote whatever it wanted, this was just too absurd….

“It is understood that they used curses while disguised as doctors, and those who cursed Imperials during the war and their disciples are still active in the shadows…?”

This was an intentional smear campaign.

Even Til, who had no ability or interest in politics, could tell that much.

Whoever spread this story, their target was the People’s Medical Center.

She went upstairs and kicked open the office door.

Valheit, who was tilting a teacup while looking at a newspaper, frowned and shook his head.

“Even so, I would appreciate it if you observed basic etiquette.”

“You did this, didn’t you?”

Valheit, who glanced at the newspaper Til was holding, spoke as if it were obvious.

“Yes, is there a problem?”

“You were aiming for the People’s Medical Center.”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Why?”

“What surer hunting method is there than smoking out a burrow?”

She was about to ask what he would do about the doctors working in the field, but she bit her lip.

Right, this is what he was always like.

“Are you afraid an angry mob will beat the doctors to death? You’ve gotten quite close in a short time.”

“It’s too extreme.”

She had to approach this coolly and pragmatically.

Valheit’s language was composed of those two things.

“The Imperial people’s feelings towards Vestol are like oil. Even if it seems like nothing is wrong, it can burst into flames at any moment. It’s not easy to control.”

“I’m listening.”

Valheit gestured with his chin as if to tell her to continue.

“If this goes wrong, it could lead to a riot against the people of Vestol. Then it wouldn’t be smoking out a burrow, but a forest fire spreading. The People’s Medical Center will burn down before the connection is revealed.”

Valheit said nothing while he emptied his teacup.

Only after setting the teacup down did he smile faintly.

“To think you’re so considerate as to think that far, perhaps we should switch places.”

“Just answer me.”

“It is certainly impossible to perfectly control a large number of people. I also agree with your point that it is dangerous.”

“Do you have a contingency plan?”

“Would I proceed with something without even thinking of that?”

Valheit took the newspaper Til held out, skimmed it, and then crumpled it up and threw it behind him.

“The only places that wrote articles on this dubious document were the three most notorious and least credible newspaper companies. The more influential papers didn’t mention it by a single line.”

“That’s not enough.”

“Yesterday, we distributed inflammatory pamphlets on the streets. It brazenly states that you can find out by asking nearby veterans, but the majority of soldiers know it was a chemical attack. It was widely known in the military.”

Finishing his words, Valheit frowned and stroked his chin.

“It won’t be a sufficient safety measure. I’ve also sent a request for support to the police, and the Vestol embassy will probably release refuting materials, but you can’t persuade everyone with reason.”

“So?”

“What we need is someone on-site to suppress them with force so they don’t dare to attack.”

Saying so, Valheit pointed at Til.

A scoff escaped her at the absurdity.

“You’re leaving it to me?”

“Aren’t you known as a mercenary captain? If we say the People’s Medical Center hired you, the cleanup will be neat too. You seem to have gotten close, so shouldn’t it be fine?”

“…Right, there’s no reason to refuse.”

Without even looking at Valheit’s reaction, Til walked out.

She heard the butler calling her name, but she paid it no mind.

I’ll handle it perfectly, you old snake.

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