Chapter 174
I Speculated About How the Illness was related to the Glass Sphere
That store in Ractos was also started about a month ago.
I didn’t know the precise date, but it was the same time as when this sphere was delivered to this village.
From there, they would have prepared by buying all the medicine stock from the other stores, so they would be ready to sell once the illness began to spread.
That way, they could easily make a profit.
There was no concept of prevention here. Obviously, there were no masks… If it was contagious like a cold, then it would not take long for it to spread.
As Range village was a short distance away, it had taken them longer to go and buy the medicine.
…My guess was that the neighboring count had planned this. And if this glass sphere was what caused it, then it would connect all of the dots.
“The glass sphere is the cause…in that case…but wait… Can a single sphere really do that…? In the first place, it had spread in Ractos much too quickly for it to have started here… Mr. Hannes had only just recently left the village…”
I ignored the others as I was deep in thought.
I could not understand how the sphere worked, and how the illness spread.
But then again, this was a world of magic, and so perhaps there was no hope of me understanding it…
“In any case, it shouldn’t have spread that far if it started in Range village…”
The people here had been suffering from the illness.
So no one could have gone out and made the journey.
And so how could it have spread to Ractos…?
“Mr. Hannes. Ever since that sphere was placed here, has anyone gone to Ractos? Aside from you and Rosalie, of course.”
I asked Mr. Hannes, who had been staring at me suspiciously while I muttered to myself.
“To Ractos? Ractos is the town that is closest to us, and so that is where most of our wine goes. And so someone delivers it at least once every five days.”
“I see…”
Could it be that the person was sick, and that was how it spread…?
Hmmm… But could someone who was just there to drop off some wine really be the cause of it spreading through the whole town…?
Wait… But why was the sphere placed in the storage house in the first place?
If it was the sphere that made people sick, why not put it somewhere where more people were likely to gather?
And if you wanted it to spread in Ractos, then you should put it near the plaza.
“Hmm…I don’t know…”
“…What is it?”
“No, it’s just the cause of the illness…I feel like I should know, but I don’t…”
“The cause of the illness?”
“Yes. The glass sphere and the store that you almost bought medicine from… The spread of the illness in Ractos and Range village… It all happened at the same time. And so it must be connected…”
“Surely it cannot…”
I tried to think of an explanation… If I could, it would mean that we might be able to do something about the store.
Evidence. Well, maybe that was asking for too much. But I wanted something.
Especially since I saw the suffering of the children at the orphanage, as well as Rai’s parents.
“Mr. Takumi… I’m sorry to have caused you trouble…”
“Ah, Phillip. How do you feel?”
“Not terrible, thanks to the Ramogi… Well, I have a slight headache…”
“A hangover. It’s because you drank so much wine yesterday.”
As I was talking to Mr. Hannes and thinking, Phillip came out of the house.
He looked a little pale, because of his hangover, but was otherwise fine.
“Still…Mr. Phillip…what is that in your hand?”
“Ah, hair of dog, you know? Drinking a little helps cure a hangover.”
Phillip was carrying a cup that was filled with wine.
Indeed, I had heard about people drinking alcohol in order to alleviate the symptoms of a hangover… But I think it was just that the alcohol numbed your senses so that your head didn’t hurt as much. That was all…
“Ah, Mr. Hannes. Thank you. Your wife’s soup was excellent. But so is this wine.”
“Well, it is something we are proud of. And so I am glad to see that you enjoy it.”
Not only did Phillip drink the soup, but he was also starting to drink wine…
Well, it really was delicious…
In fact, Mr. Hannes was so pleased by this complement, that he had completely forgotten about the previous conversation.
“Wou! Gau!”
“What is it?!”
“Ahhh!”
Phillip had been laughing and was about to take a sip.
Just then, Leo started to bark at him.
It was so sudden that Phillip and Mr. Hannes were shocked.
“What is it, Leo?”
“Wuff-wuff. Wou. Wou-wou.”
I petted Leo in order to calm her down, and then I asked her why she had barked.
She was usually so quiet, and would not bark without reason.
Phillip had frozen with the cup in his hand. Leo’s eyes remained fixed on it as she explained it to me.
Uhh… You can faintly sense something in the wine that is like the glass sphere… The smell of disease…
From the wine?
“The wine… Leo. Are you sure?”
“Wou.”
I asked, and then Leo nodded.
“…Phillip. I don’t think that you should drink that wine.”
“Mr. Takumi?”
“Leo says that she senses something bad from it…”
“Wh-what?”
Mr. Hannes finally shook himself out of the shock of hearing Leo barking.
…Leo was just trying to help, and she isn’t actually scary at all, Mr. Hannes.
“I’m sorry to trouble you, but could you have several wine barrels brought out from the storage house? There is something I need to confirm.”
“Confirm?”
“Yes. I think your village’s wine might be very dangerous. I need to be sure.”
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