Volume 1, Chapter 38 – The Creeping Demon

We returned to the shop and cleansed the interior with Cleansing Magic.

If the infection was spreading because of that excrement, then the shop Dale-kun had visited could also be a potential source of infection.

Then, after informing Shishou about the outbreak of Mummy Disease and telling him we were going to help treat it, we hurried to the Temple.

“Excuse me. Please arrange for everyone you can, immediately, who has Healing Magic at Skill Level 4 or higher.”

“My, Fiene-sama. What brings you here at this hour?”

The woman in nun’s robes at the reception looked at me suspiciously.

“It’s Mummy Disease! I just treated an advanced-stage Mummy Disease patient in the northern slums. Their family members were going out freely, and one of them was infected. I don’t know how far it’s spread, but there’s a chance the disease has already begun spreading.”

“Wh-what!? Mummy Disease!?”

“Yes. I can treat it as well, so please, whatever you do, don’t burn anything.”

“Y-yes. Thank you. I’ll contact the relevant parties immediately. I believe we will need to borrow your power, Fiene-sama. Could you please wait here at the Temple for a while?”

“Yes. That’s why I came.”

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She seemed flustered for a moment, but quickly regained her composure and began handling matters efficiently.

Shortly after, the Guard Captain in charge of the Royal Capital’s security arrived, along with a Priest who introduced himself as the man overseeing the Temple’s Healers.

“Lady Fiene Argentata, I am Scott, serving as Guard Captain. Thank you for your cooperation.”

“Fiene-sama, it is an honor to meet you. I am Laurent, a Priest who oversees the healing operations at this Temple.”

“I am Fiene Argentata. My apologies for the late hour. I have just returned from treating a Mummy Disease patient, so I came to report.”

I explained in detail the circumstances leading to the discovery of the Mummy Disease, the location, and the symptoms.

“I see. So we have no choice but to burn the slums after all.”

The Guard Captain said something terrifying so casually, but I couldn’t accept that.

No matter if it’s to contain the disease, I just treated children there today, and there’s even an orphanage where I performed healing activities before.

There’s no way I could just stand by and watch them be indiscriminately killed.

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“No, Mummy Disease can be cured with Disease Treatment magic, and I believe its infectivity can be neutralized with Cleansing Magic. I haven’t tested it myself, but I think even distilled alcohol should be able to neutralize it. So please… at the very least, don’t resort to burning anything…”

“…As expected of the Saint-sama, recognized not only by the Holy Knight but also by the Holy Sword.”

The Guard Captain looked troubled for a moment, but then turned a resolute gaze toward me.

“Understood. It will be difficult work for a while, but please lend us your strength. Fiene-sama and everyone from the Temple, please go around the slums to perform treatment and cleansing. And we guards will be responsible for sealing off the slums and transporting in water, salt, and food. Whether we can contain the infection to just the slums is directly linked to the future of the Royal Capital. Please, lend us your strength.”

And so, the opening salvo in our battle against Mummy Disease was fired.

◇ ◇ ◇

The first place we headed to was the apartment building where Dale-kun and Dan-kun lived.

We would purify everyone in the building.

“Good evening. My name is Fiene Argentata, a Healer dispatched from the Temple. Sorry for the late hour. Mummy Disease has broken out in the vicinity, so we are making rounds of this building for door-to-door treatment. Could you please open the door?”

Like this, we went to every room.

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We treated everyone who opened their door and cast Cleansing Magic on their rooms.

And if any of the residents were out, we wrote the date, time, and the healer’s name on the front door before moving on to the next room.

We thoroughly cleansed everything, including hallways, stairs, yards, wells, and other facilities, before moving to the next building.

It didn’t seem there had been any deaths yet, but honestly, the situation felt dangerous.

The infection might have spread more than I thought.

It was truly painstaking work, but it was the only way.

And somehow, I felt incredibly good physically right now.

Maybe I was just riding the adrenaline high, but there were no signs of my MP running out either.

I had plenty of MP Recovery Medicines prepared, but so far, I hadn’t needed them.

Incidentally, there were five Healers and Priests affiliated with the Temple who had Healing Magic at Skill Level 4 or higher.

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Among them, only one could use Cleansing Magic.

They had all joined the effort, but after about thirty minutes, all five had to call it quits and head home.

Apparently, they had already spent a lot of Mana on work during the day, and pushing themselves any further would be too much.

I cast Cleansing Magic on all of them before sending them home so they wouldn’t end up spreading the pathogens around.

The shared understanding among all of us was that if the infection spread further, it would be hopeless.

I continued this activity for about two more hours, and after the town had completely fallen silent, I headed to the Temple.

I couldn’t risk going back to Shishou’s place and potentially infecting them.

And while it would surely worry Shishou and his wife, there was nothing to be done about that.

Remembering the worried faces of Shishou and his wife as they saw me off, I clasped my hands together in my heart.

And then, I immediately fell into a deep sleep.