Chapter 17: We Need a Variable (2)
“What did you say?”
Belinda looked dumbfounded.
Even as they spoke, red blotches continued to appear all over the girl’s body, blooming like petals before gradually fading away, only to reappear in a cycle. So of the blotches swelled completely, leaking pus, while others simply flickered in and out of existence. Belinda watched Gillian’s daughter for a mont before speaking.
“This illness is clearly ‘Eternal Punishnt’.”
Ghislain nodded.
‘Eternal Punishnt’ was a dreadful disease that couldn’t be cured, not even by divine power. Because of this, clerics claid it was a punishnt inflicted upon those who committed grave sins in their previous lives. The mory of that made Ghislain click his tongue involuntarily.
“Anyway, I’ve never liked that group. The Saintess and her kind are always nagging and being so fussy around … No, forget it. I was just reminded of the past.”
Ghislain quickly changed the subject as the others looked at him in confusion.
“Regardless, this is just a simple illness. It’s not so divine punishnt or a shackle she’s been born with. It’s an illness that can absolutely be cured.”
Belinda couldn’t help but frown at his confident tone.
“And how exactly does the young master plan to cure sothing that no one else can? Even divine power doesn’t work on this disease.”
Divine power could cure most illnesses, but this one was an exception. While divine power might temporarily suppress the symptoms, the disease always reappeared shortly after, and the patient would collapse again.
“Divine power rely suppresses the disease for a short ti. But even that has its limits. Besides, ordinary people can’t keep receiving divine treatnt endlessly.”
Divine power was rarely dispensed in the temple except during large-scale relief efforts. Nobles or wealthy individuals had easy access to such treatnts, but it was a distant luxury for the poor.
“You must have already spent everything you had,” Ghislain said.
Gillian nodded weakly. He had once earned a considerable fortune, but years of caring for his sick daughter had drained all of his assets. He had poured all his wealth into trying to cure her, but it was like trying to fill a bottomless pit.
“Anyway, it’s ti for us to leave. The young master has no reason to stay here any longer.”
Belinda only wanted Ghislain to stay away from the girl. Although the rumor about the contagious illness was false, she couldn’t shake her unease. She wasn’t the only one. Others, too, avoided those afflicted with the disease, fearing they might catch it and suffer for the rest of their lives. No matter how baseless the rumors were, no one wanted to risk getting close to the patient, just in case.
“No, I must treat her. It’s a relief that it’s not too late yet.”
However, Ghislain firmly shook his head.
He understood why Belinda was trying to stop him, but he had no intention of leaving after finally finding the person he was looking for. It was fortunate that he had imdiately co to find Gillian, recalling the stories he’d heard in his previous life. The timing had just barely worked out.
Gillian’s daughter would die soon. Overwheld by his daughter’s death, Gillian would give up on everything and take his own life as well.
If that happened, he would never be able to et Gillian again.
“You intend to treat her yourself?”
“I’m the only one who knows the cure for this disease. Of course, I have to do it.”
At those words, Belinda raised both hands, giving up on stopping him.
Ghislain had always been stubborn since he was young. Once he set his mind on sothing, even Belinda couldn’t stop him.
Seeing Ghislain’s confident deanor, Gillian remained silent.
If there were a way to cure this incurable disease, it would be a miracle beyond his wildest dreams, but could such a thing really be possible?
Yet Gillian no longer had the strength to either trust and follow those words or deny them.
Just then, Gillian’s daughter began to tremble violently in agony.
“Aaah, ugh…”
“Rachel!”
Gillian urgently called his daughter’s na and rushed to her side.
The ‘Eternal Punishnt’ brought waves of intense fever and unimaginable pain at unpredictable intervals.
“Aaaaagh!”
Her agonized screams were unbearable to hear, and both Belinda and the knights turned their heads away with heavy expressions. Despite their wish to avoid getting involved with Ghislain, watching soone suffer so much was hard.
Rachel had clawed at the bed linens so fiercely in her pain that her fingernails had already been torn and shredded, with blood and pus seeping out.
The dark, dried bloodstains on the sheets vividly showed how imnse her suffering had been.
When blood began to trickle from her mouth, Gillian quickly lifted Rachel’s upper body to help her expel it. If she vomited blood while lying down, her airway could be blocked, causing her to suffocate.
“Aaah, aaagh!”
“Rachel, Rachel… It’s alright, it’s alright…”
As Rachel foad at the mouth in tornt, Gillian was no less anguished as he trembled, unable to do anything but hold his daughter tightly.
Watching Gillian helplessly shiver as he clung to his suffering daughter, Belinda clenched her teeth.
‘There’s not much ti left.’
‘Eternal Punishnt’ didn’t begin with such severe symptoms like Rachel’s.
At first, it only caused a few red spots to appear on the body, followed by a mild fever.
But as ti passed, the condition worsened until even divine power beca ineffective, leaving nothing but relentless pain.
Seeing Rachel’s condition, it seed she had already reached the final stage.
“Uh, ah, ah, dad… I-I’m in so much pain… Aaagh… I want to die… Dad, please…!”
“Rachel, Rachel…”
Gillian held his daughter, who was writhing in agony, tightly in his arms to keep her from moving. Eventually, tears began to fall from his eyes. His gaze was filled only with a desperate wish to end this hellish suffering.
‘It’s unbearable.’
‘I can’t hold on any longer.’
‘Let’s die together.’
‘I’m sorry, Rachel.’
It was sothing he had only ever imagined, never able to bring himself actually to do it. But now, sensing the end was near, Gillian’s eyes went dark. It was the kind of gaze one has when deciding to give up on life.
Belinda and the attendant knights turned away altogether, unable to watch any longer. Only Ghislain observed the tragic scene with a severe expression, taking in every detail.
As Rachel’s convulsions gradually subsided, Ghislain finally spoke.
“Belinda.”
“Y-yes?”
Belinda, who had been sniffling, hurriedly raised her head and moved closer at Ghislain’s gesture.
“We need to begin treatnt as soon as the seizures stop. I’ll write down the necessary ingredients, so get everything without missing a single item.”
Glancing at Rachel as he recalled what was needed, Ghislain soon pulled out paper and pen from his coat and quickly scribbled down a list.
Belinda, upon receiving the paper, was startled.
“You’re asking for Fairy’s Blessing?”
“Yes.”
Fairy’s Blessing was a flower that cost several tis more than its weight in gold. It was so rare and expensive that only the exceedingly wealthy could even afford to glimpse it.
“But, my lord… Why such an expensive ingredient…?”
“Because it’s the most important one. We don’t have ti. We need to make the dicine as quickly as possible, since we don’t know when the seizures will start again.”
Left with no choice, Belinda hurried out to purchase the ingredients. Under Ghislain’s orders, the attendant knights also began preparing the tools to make the dicine.
Gillian, having finally managed to calm his daughter after her seizures stopped, could only stare blankly at the scene. His body and mind were utterly exhausted, and he no longer had the strength to stop whatever Ghislain was doing.
When Belinda returned with the ingredients, Ghislain imdiately began the process of creating the dicine.
‘It’s an incurable disease now, but a cure will be discovered in the future.’
The treatnt thod had been so widely discussed that even Ghislain rembered it. The problem was that it required outrageously expensive ingredients, but the mixture didn’t need to be perfectly precise, and the preparation thod wasn’t complicated.
Fortunately, this allowed Ghislain, who had never studied pharmacology, to imitate an apothecary clumsily.
Ghislain began carefully making the dicine, following the recipe he rembered. The others watched him with curious eyes, wondering if he could really make it.
Though they couldn’t fully believe it, seeing Rachel in such pain made them hope, even if just a little, that the dicine would have so effect. Gillian, staring helplessly at the serious Ghislain making the dicine, asked him.
“This is my first ti eting you, my lord. Why are you going this far?”
He couldn’t understand why Ghislain was suddenly so determined to cure his daughter’s illness or why he was personally making the dicine after purchasing expensive ingredients.
However, Ghislain didn’t even glance at him and remained focused solely on making the dicine.
“I said I’d cure her, didn’t I? Does there need to be so grand reason for helping a sick person?”
“……”
It was sothing a con artist might say.
No, even if he was a con artist, Gillian didn’t care anymore. As a father, he clung to the tiniest sliver of hope.
Though his resignation had built up over many years, that hope blossod again in his heart, mocking all his past despair. But Gillian knew too well that the more one hoped, the greater the despair when that hope was crushed.
Caught between hope and doubt, Gillian couldn’t do anything but watch Ghislain with trembling eyes.
“It’s done.”
The purple liquid in the small flask looked like lted athyst.
Holding the dicine bottle in one hand, Ghislain approached Rachel. He gently supported her neck and carefully poured the dicine into her mouth.
The group watching was soon filled with disappointnt; outwardly, there seed to be no change at all.
“Stop making that face like you’re worried for nothing. It’s not magic; did you expect her to get better the mont she drank it?”
Ghislain dragged a chair next to Rachel’s bed and crossed his arms as he sat down. The others had no choice but to wait alongside him, their boredom growing.
“Hah!”
Hours later, Belinda, who had been dozing off next to Ghislain, was startled awake by a shout.
“What? Are we under attack?”
The escort knights were staring at sothing with shocked expressions.
“That, that… is that real?”
Gillian was just as surprised.
“I-is this… Did the dicine… actually work?”
Ghislain smiled, satisfied.
“It’s working. Honestly, I was a little worried.”
Belinda’s eyes widened in astonishnt. The spots that had covered Rachel’s face and body were slowly disappearing.
Even when they used divine power, the spots only faded in color, never vanishing like this. But now, all that remained were traces of dried blood where the spots had been; the rest of them had disappeared entirely.
Belinda, her voice trembling, pressed herself close to Ghislain.
“Is she really cured? Are you sure?”
Gillian, too, couldn’t even breathe properly as he waited for Ghislain’s answer. Seeing such noticeable improvent made his heart pound like it was about to burst.
“She’s not fully cured yet but should be much better. We’ll need to confirm it, though, so go fetch a priest. I’ll pay for it.”
One of the escort knights took the money Ghislain handed him and rushed out quickly. He, too, wanted to confirm if the cure was natural.
Not long after, a plump priest followed the knight back, walking with a haughty air. As soon as he entered the house, he wrinkled his nose and covered it with his hand.
“Ah, the goddess loves cleanliness… this place is a dump. I’ve never seen such filth. This is like a hell on earth. Are you all demons living in this wretched hell?”
Everyone ignored the priest’s words. Ghislain rely chuckled and gestured for him to co closer.
‘How dare that brat to order around with a gesture?’
The priest grumbled internally, but he didn’t voice his complaints since he had been paid generously.
“Ahem, so where’s the patient? I ca here out of goodwill but am quite busy, so I can’t stay long.”
At the priest’s question, Ghislain nodded toward Rachel.
“This rude brat… Is this girl?”
The priest imdiately recognized Rachel. He had treated her at the temple several tis before.
“Good heavens, this illness cannot be cured with divine power. I’ve told you many tis already, haven’t I? Divine power only suppresses the disease… Wait, hold on. What did you do to her?”
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