Chapter 90:

The inside of the room wasn’t much different from how it looked from the outside; it was shabby.

It felt like one of those tiny single-room apartments.

“What is the reason for your visit?”

“Aren’t we going to introduce ourselves?”

“…I am Kevin, Professor Zain’s brilliant disciple and faithful follower. The first part is a title the professor attached as he pleased, so you can just call me Kevin.”

“I am Valheit.”

Even after hearing my name, the tired-faced assistant showed no particular reaction.

Unless one was very interested in Imperial politics, it was possible not to know.

“So what brings you here, Count.”

“I never said I was a Count.”

“Aren’t you the sponsor who collaborates with Professor Zain?”

“A sponsor… Yes, that’s right.”

Since I supported Professor Zain with a significant portion of the headquarters’ finances every month, it wasn’t strange to be called a sponsor.

“The professor mentioned a few times that you were a well-paying sucker.”

“…Damn bastard.”

“He said good things too. That if you make the Count angry, you won’t see a good end.”

“Putting aside whether that’s a good thing, does a person who knows that speak in such a way?”

“The professor thinks he is exempt from all worldly affairs. In that sense, I agree with the statement that he is a damn human being.”

The assistant grumbled and nodded his head repeatedly.

He gave off the strong vibe of a graduate student dissing his supervising professor.

“I apologize, I’ve wasted your time unnecessarily. Do you have a request or a complaint for the professor?”

“Why do you think so?”

“Most people who come to see me because of the professor come for one of those two reasons.”

The assistant said, squinting his eyes from behind his glasses.

If I had the time, I would have wanted to ask him more about Professor Zain.

But with Victor waiting outside, I didn’t have that luxury.

“It’s neither. I’ve come with one question and one favor to ask.”

“I’m listening, Count.”

“You received a letter from the Vestol People’s Medical Center yesterday, did you not?”

“Hah….”

The assistant’s already pale face darkened.

“I had a feeling this would become a problem.”

“Is it difficult to talk about?”

“No, not really. I can say anything except for things concerning the professor. Yes, a letter came from the People’s Medical Center yesterday, and I sent it to the professor by mail.”

“Did you check the contents?”

“Of course. If there’s anything that might displease the professor, I’m the one who suffers the most. They asked to have their transaction records destroyed. Especially the ones concerning the cause-of-death manipulator.”

“What is that?”

“It literally makes people mistake the reason someone died. It especially makes it look like they died from a disease.”

“Is such a thing possible?”

“If you’re asking about the principle, I don’t know either. That’s the case with most of the things the professor makes, though.”

It was questionable why a doctor would need such a device, but it made sense when I thought about what happened in Kranacht.

It would be necessary to disguise a person who died from a curse as having died from a disease.

“Is it common for them to request the destruction of transaction records?”

“Almost never. The professor usually donates, not sells. The cause-of-death manipulator is an item made at the request of the People’s Medical Center, so that’s why a transaction record exists.”

There was no need to hear more.

The Kranacht incident and the People’s Medical Center were definitely related.

“That’s all for my questions. Now it’s time for the favor.”

At the word favor, the assistant’s lips tightened, but he didn’t say no.

He seemed to think that since I was Professor Zain’s sponsor, he had no choice but to listen.

“I need you to deliver this to the Assembly of Well-being.”

“Couldn’t you just use a messenger? No, wait, I don’t need to know the reason.”

I left the shared apartment building, following the assistant who had accepted the letter.

The assistant didn’t ask any more questions or speak to me and headed towards the commercial district.

I walked in the exact opposite direction.

I chuckled as I sensed Victor, who had been standing still for a moment, began to follow the assistant.

He would have been monitoring the Assembly of Well-being from the beginning, but with Valheit also involved, he would be even more suspicious.

If I was lucky, the Three Blades would even chase down the backers of the Assembly of Well-being for me.

After getting far enough away from Victor, I turned my steps towards Chartra’s vacant lot.

I had more questions for Brauder.

***

The clinic, which had been bustling with people, was quiet today.

There were still people waiting in line for treatment, but their numbers had decreased significantly.

But that didn’t mean the atmosphere was relaxed.

On the contrary, the tension was even higher.

Mercenaries wearing helmets that covered their faces stood here and there in the clinic, monitoring the patients, and a little further away, policemen were looking at the clinic with grim expressions.

Even in the midst of all this, Rapel treated his patients without paying any mind.

“Next person, please come in.”

“I’m the one who came with an injured arm last time.”

“Ah, I remember. Is your arm okay?”

“Yes, it’s much better. But I didn’t come for that today.”

The patient with a bandaged arm glanced at the situation outside for a moment, then lowered his voice.

“Is the rumor going around now true?”

“Of course not.”

It was a question he had received dozens of times today alone, so Rapel answered immediately.

The patient seemed a little relieved.

“A friend in the Imperial Capital told me, some guys are planning to attack this clinic.”

“Is that so?”

Rapel answered with surprising calmness and began to change the bandage.

The patient clicked his tongue at his attitude.

“Doctor from Vestol, you don’t seem to realize how serious this is, but you’ll really be in for it if you keep this up. Do you know how many people hate Vestol?”

“But there are still people who come to see us.”

“That’s because they’re desperate. I’m telling you this because you seem like a decent person, doctor. Pack up and run away quickly.”

It was impossible to know if that concern was genuine, but Rapel silently wrapped the bandage.

After the treatment was finished, the patient shook his head as if he couldn’t understand and went outside.

“Doctor Rapel!”

“Yes, sir.”

“We’re in big trouble! Come out, quickly!”

At his colleague’s urgent voice, Rapel poked his head out of the tent.

A crowd of people came rushing in.

It was clear at a glance that they hadn’t come because they were sick.

“They’re here to beat us up.”

“We won’t know until they get here, will we.”

“This is no time for jokes! Let’s pack up and go back now. The embassy said they can’t help us either.”

“But the director….”

“If you die listening to a guy who only cares about sponsors, it’s all for nothing.”

The crowd, which had come near the clinic in no time, didn’t look like a mob, contrary to his colleague’s words.

They weren’t holding torches or farm tools in their hands either.

Instead, the person who seemed to be the representative was holding a document in his hand.

After clearing his throat a few times, the representative shouted in a booming voice.

“The person in charge here, come out!”

No one stepped forward readily.

It was natural, as the director, who could be called the person in charge, was holed up in his office and hadn’t shown his face at all.

“No one in charge?”

“I knew it. There’s no way these Vestol bastards got a permit.”

Someone shouted from behind.

Just as Rapel, who had roughly grasped the situation, was about to step forward, someone heavily armed stood in front of the representative.

“Are you in charge?”

“Head of Security.”

“Not security, where’s the guy in charge of this whole place!”

“I can hear you just fine, so speak quietly.”

“What did you say, punk?”

At the words of the woman who identified herself as the Head of Security, the representative’s voice grew louder and louder.

From asking if she knew who he was to listing the high-ranking officials he knew, it was a stereotypical reaction he had seen somewhere before.

The response to that was concise.

“If you’re not here for a consultation, please leave.”

“You’re the ones who should be leaving! Did you think you could just do business on the Empire’s land without permission?”

The representative triumphantly thrust the document forward.

The helmeted person in charge didn’t even flinch.

“This is a certificate canceling the right to use this land. So get out right now. If you don’t, I’ll call the police….”

“The form is wrong.”

“…Huh?”

Suddenly caught off guard, the representative was at a loss for words.

From behind her helmet, the person in charge sighed as she looked at him pathetically.

“This isn’t a certificate concerning the right to use land, but a certificate for the commercial use of land. Since the People’s Medical Center is a non-profit organization, it’s only natural that we didn’t receive a certificate for commercial use in the first place.”

“What’s the big deal about….”

“You’re telling us to demolish the clinic based on that piece of paper, but I’m telling you it’s an irrelevant document.”

As the crowd began to whisper, the representative’s face turned beet red.

Finally, he began to point his finger in the person in charge’s face.

“Judging by your accent, you seem to be an Imperial, aren’t you ashamed of yourself for wiping the asses of these Vestol bastards?!”

“I’m getting paid for it.”

“Is money everything? Because of bastards like you, we lost the last war….”

Thwack.

As the person in charge struck his neck, the representative, who had been raising his voice with veins popping, collapsed with a thud.

It wasn’t a hard hit, it was literally just a tap.

“Bring the proper documents. And take this man with you.”

The crowd, exchanging glances, picked up the representative and slowly moved away.

The policemen watching from a distance let out a sigh of relief.

“Good work, Til.”

“I just did what I was paid to do.”

Til, who took off her helmet as if frustrated, grumbled lightly.

Rapel scratched his head as he looked at the departing crowd.

“Won’t they come back again?”

“Probably. But they won’t be able to cause a riot. The police will be on our side for a while, too.”

“What’s the reason for it being ‘for a while’.”

“If you really used curses, they’ll come to arrest you.”

Thinking it was a joke, Rapel looked at Til’s face and unconsciously took a step back.

Til’s eyes, looking down at him, were cold.

It seemed as if she would cut Rapel down on the spot if the rumors were true.

Is this what killing intent is?

Rapel, who swallowed dryly, shook his head.

“Of course it’s a baseless rumor. Even if a doctor killed someone, they would have used a knife or a saw, not a curse. Hahaha….”

As he forced a laugh, Til no longer exuded killing intent.

But her attitude was still cold.

“Do you really not know anything? It seems unlikely that a rumor specifically about curses would start for no reason.”

“That’s….”

Rapel, who was about to say of course not, hesitated for a moment.

The People’s Medical Center was a charity organization, and Rapel had never doubted that fact for a moment.

But if asked if there had been no strange incidents, that was not the case.

“It seems like there’s something.”

“Yes, there was a suspicious incident, but I don’t know if it’s related to curses.”

“Shall we move.”

Til, who had checked the location of the other doctors and volunteers nearby, pulled Rapel over to where the mercenaries were gathered.

“Think of it as being treated to a meal. If anyone around asks, answer like that.”

“Ah, yes.”

“So what was strange.”

As Til lowered her voice, the mercenaries naturally surrounded them.

Seeing that, Rapel thought that perhaps these were not ordinary mercenaries.

“You’re not ordinary mercenaries, are you?”

“That’s right.”

Til admitted without a moment’s hesitation.

Because of that, he trusted them even more.

“Before coming here, I was dispatched to the Leitche pioneering area. It was a harsh environment, so there were many patients. There’s nothing strange about that. But one day, an entire pioneering settlement came down with a plague. The entire population of pioneers, in two days.”

“In a way that couldn’t be explained medically?”

“Yes. I had done some research in that area, so I was going to investigate, but I was sent elsewhere. At the time, I just thought it was because they were short-staffed, but thinking about it now, it was strange.”

Rapel’s explanation continued, and Til, who was listening to it, remained silent.

‘It seems like Valheit’s prediction is correct.’

The People’s Medical Center, it seems, was not just a simple charity organization.

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