Chapter 186
Chris wandered through various parts of the city to assess the situation firsthand.
After gathering a rough overview of the situation, he made his way to a treatment center where the patients had been gathered.
“I’m a doctor. I’m here to help.”
Thanks to his disguise using a magical device, the healers at the treatment center accepted Chris without suspicion.
“Oh, thank goodness!! We’ve been overwhelmed—patients have been pouring in so fast that we’re severely understaffed.”
“Is the situation that serious?”
“Yes. We already have over a thousand patients. While there haven’t been many deaths yet, at the rate things are deteriorating, it won’t be long before we see a significant number of fatalities.”
The healer spoke heavily.
“What are the exact symptoms?”
“Loss of consciousness. All the patients initially complain of severe headaches and vomiting, and then gradually lose consciousness.”
“No fever or any other symptoms?”
“No one has shown any signs of fever. No respiratory or other typical symptoms either.”
Chris thought to himself.
‘This pattern doesn’t match any natural infectious disease.’
There are certainly some contagious diseases that impair consciousness.
But most of those are accompanied by fever.
‘So it’s not encephalitis or meningitis either.’
The symptoms were eerily similar to those caused by Bloodstream of Malice, the poison Marisa had been developing.
It was known that the poison she had been researching induced exactly this kind of reaction.
Could the drug Marisa was developing have leaked and caused this incident?
He needed to examine the patients more closely to be sure.
“Then, may I take a look at the patients?”
“Of course. Ah—please get assistance from that woman over there. Her name’s Lisa.”
“Lisa?”
“Yes. She’s a healer from outside who joined us recently. Thanks to her treatment, many patients have been able to hold on without dying.”
From the sound of it, she was a skilled healer.
Chris tilted his head in curiosity and approached—only for his eyes to widen in shock.
Someone completely unexpected was tending to the patients.
‘…That’s Marisa.’
Though she had attempted to hide her green hair—distinctive of the Venomous Demonic House—Chris could see through the disguise.
It was Marisa of the Venomous Demonic House!
‘Why is she here? Don’t tell me… she’s trying to resolve the situation herself?’
That seemed to be the case.
Marisa glanced over at Chris, who was just standing there, and barked sharply,
“New healer? What are you doing just standing there?! Can’t you see this patient’s blood pressure is dropping? Get over here and help!”
“…Your treatment method—looks like it’s incorrect.”
“What did you just say?!”
“It’s a case of hypotension caused by cerebral edema. That treatment won’t help in this situation.”
“…What?”
Chris calmly treated the patient who was on the verge of death using the medical techniques passed down in the prestigious House of Medical Saint. Soon, the patient's condition stabilized.
“…Wait, what? How…?”
Marisa’s eyes widened.
For the record, poisoncraft and medical arts are often two sides of the same coin.
The Venomous Demonic House—renowned for its mastery of poison—was also one of the most prestigious healing families on the continent, second only to the House of Medical Saint.
Yet what Chris had just demonstrated far surpassed the skills of even her, the famed prodigy of the Venomous Demonic House.
“Aah… well, you know, I am a genius.”
That familiar, insufferably smug voice—unforgettable.
* * *
Marisa’s eyes flared, as if they were about to tear at the edges.
Chris grinned with that irritating smile.
“Been a while. How’ve you been?”
Marisa recognized Chris immediately.
His appearance had changed, but that uniquely annoying presence of his was unmistakable.
“W-What are you doing here?!”
“Isn’t it obvious for the Grand Duke of the Dark Demonic House to come to a disaster zone?”
“N-No, I mean, I heard you collapsed from poisoning the moment you arrived!”
For reference—Alros had indeed spread a rumor that Chris had been poisoned upon arrival after taking the elixir Chris gave him back in the western territory.
Having boasted loudly and then fallen victim to poison right away, the gossip had quickly spread like wildfire.
“Oh, that was just a fakeout to fool the enemy. But you—what’s with that expression?”
Chris tilted his head.
“Are you that happy to see me?”
Marisa’s face twisted into something hard to describe.
She stared at Chris with a blank look and then quickly turned her head with a snap.
“W-What kind of nonsense are you spouting?! As if!! I-I just… I just heard you were poisoned by a drug I made, that’s all…!!”
The truth was—
Marisa had recently been cornered mentally.
The poison she was developing—one of the deadliest—had somehow ended up in the Dark Demonic House’s water supply, and this horrifying incident had broken out as a result.
If things continued like this, she would be the one blamed entirely.
So she had taken a huge risk sneaking into the Dark Demonic House’s territory to try and resolve the situation somehow.
And then, on top of everything else, she heard that Christian had been poisoned by her drug.
The moment she heard that, it felt like the world went dark in front of her.
She was on the verge of collapse… and then Chris appeared.
Hearing his irritating voice, seeing his smug face—it was strange, but a rush of relief welled up, and her eyes turned red with emotion.
“Th-The only reason I’m acting like this is because if you had collapsed from my poison, the blame on me would’ve been even worse! That’s all!”
“You didn’t have to explain in such detail, you know.”
“…Yeah, I guess.”
Marisa’s face quickly went expressionless out of embarrassment.
‘You bastard.’
Now that she thought about it, it really had been a long time since she’d last seen him—and yet Chris didn’t seem even slightly happy to see her.
Still… Marisa had honestly been hoping to see him again. Not in that way, of course. Definitely, absolutely just in the way a friend would.
‘Now that I think about it—this jerk. He barely even replied to my letters.’
At that moment, Chris spoke again.
“Anyway, I’m glad we ran into each other.”
“…Why?”
“What do you mean ‘why’? I came to help you. We’re allies, remember? We agreed to support each other. You can’t just die over something like this, being falsely accused.”
Chris had plans to use Marisa later—specifically, to leverage her to obtain the Poison Path from the Venomous Demonic House—so he couldn’t let her die over something like this.
But strangely enough…
When Marisa heard Christian say that, the heavy weight in her chest loosened—just a little.
‘Ahem. Acting timid isn’t befitting of a demon. I’m just being the bigger person, that’s all.’
Still, this wasn’t the time for catching up.
“Marisa. What do you think? Do you believe this happened because of the poison you developed?”
The first step was to confirm whether this disaster really was caused by Marisa’s leaked poison.
“…I don’t think it was.”
“Why?”
“The symptoms are identical. But my poison doesn’t have this kind of widespread lethality.”
The distance from the contaminated water source to this western territory was quite far.
Even if a large amount had been leaked, it would’ve been diluted along the way. The actual amount each person consumed would’ve been minuscule.
“I didn’t develop it for mass killing, either. Unless someone ingested it past a certain concentration, it wouldn’t even activate. So… it’s not my poison.”
Chris nodded.
Similar—but it was likely a different poison.
It seemed probable that someone had intentionally created a poison with similar symptoms to frame Marisa and then spread it.
“Any poisons come to mind? With this level of lethality, I’d guess it’s probably an Intent-Infused Poison.”
That was a poison created by a Master-class poisoner—rated at 6 stars—infused with “intent”, a metaphysical willpower that challenges the boundaries of natural laws.
As expected, such poisons possessed absurdly potent effects.
“I doubt it’s an Intent-Infused Poison. None of the ones I know of produce these symptoms.”
Intent was the manifestation of one’s life-long will—something honed and solidified through years of training and conviction.
At most, even a top poisoner could only wield two or three Intent-Infused Poisons.
Even for the Venomous Demonic House, the number and types of Intent-Infused Poisons were extremely limited.
‘Strange. If it’s not an Intent-Infused Poison, it shouldn’t be possible to make something this effective.’
Creating a new poison wasn’t that hard in itself.
But making a truly useful and powerful poison? That was a different story entirely.
Especially a poison that could cause mass casualties with mere trace amounts—even the Venomous Demonic House couldn’t create that easily.
“…Trying to treat these patients is pointless. If this poison causes the same symptoms as my ‘Bloodstream of Malice,’ then it’s impossible to save them.”
Even Marisa had only barely managed to keep the patients alive.
Her voice was hollow.
“There are going to be countless deaths.”
But Chris shook his head.
“That might’ve been true… if I hadn’t shown up.”
“…What?”
“Now that I’m here, not a single patient will die.”
Marisa looked at him, stunned.
But Chris wasn’t bluffing.
‘Even without an antidote… there’s still a way to save them.’
And more than anything, there was a crucial reason Chris had to save the patients.
“We have to restore the patients if we want to uncover the identity of the poison.”
“…What?”
“All the answers lie within the patients.”
What Chris had just said was one of the founding mottos of the House of Medical Saint.
‘Right now, most of the patients are in a state of unconsciousness, so it’s hard to conduct a proper investigation.’
But once they were healed and regained consciousness, a full investigation could begin.
This was the famed investigative method of the House of Medical Saint—epidemiological tracing.
Of course, just questioning patients wouldn’t immediately reveal the nature of the poison itself.
However, there was one crucial piece of information that could be uncovered through them:
The method of administration—how the poison had been delivered.
And once that route was traced in reverse, the true culprit behind this incident would come to light.
* * *
Two days passed.
In that time, public sentiment within the Dark Demonic House had only worsened.
After all, Christian—who had gone to uncover the truth—had supposedly collapsed from poisoning himself.
“So much for all that bravado.”
“Knew he wasn’t anything special.”
Members of the main house, particularly those loyal to Marquis Langham, mocked him openly.
Watching the mood shift in his favor, Marquis Langham opened a communication device and contacted someone.
—It’s been a while, Marquis Langham.
A low, sinister voice came through from the other side.
“It has indeed, Marquis Goras.”
A shocking scene.
It confirmed what Chris had suspected: the two were colluding.
—How are things progressing?
Marquis Goras inquired.
“You needn’t worry at all about Grand Duke Christian, who left to uncover the truth.”
Marquis Langham replied calmly.
“Everything will proceed just as you wished, Marquis Goras.”
A murky laugh echoed through the communicator.
—Excellent. I won’t forget the favor you’ve done for me. You’ll receive the power you’ve long desired.
“……”
—At long last, the era of Nordion will come to an end, and the Dark Demonic House will welcome a new ruler.
A statement laced with implication.
With that, the transmission ended, and a cold gleam settled in Marquis Langham’s eyes.
His gaze turned toward the eastern wing of the estate.
Where Nordion resided.
His eyes grew frigid.
And in a low, subdued voice, he muttered,
“Everything I do… is because of you, Father.”
* * *
While Marquis Langham engaged in his shadowy dealings, Chris was quietly tending to patients.
“…How in the world do you even know about medical arts like this?”
Marisa exclaimed in disbelief beside him.
“I told you, didn’t I? I dabbled in it once—just as a hobby.”