Chapter 61: The Spell Expires
The reason Leonardo suspected it was an enemy's plot was mainly because none among the Portuguese crew died. Also, while very popular — the exotic fruits were fairly pricey and would likely end up on the tables of wealthy merchants and nobles.
The plague would first eliminate the head of the snake before blowing over. They could then swoop in and assume control. The rabble wouldn't oppose them once their lords perished.
The orphanage served as a small case study, so Leonardo had enough data to base his preliminary assumptions on. After eating the fruits which Chimente so generously provided, the children fell ill after about a day, then went comatose in three.
Anabella had been fasting and didn't partake, while Bruno was out in town so he only had a second hand infection. They got over it pretty quick, but those who dealt with the curse had it worse.
The Manus Umbra guild soon confirmed this by gathering news from Valetta. The general populace was mostly unaffected, with merchants and their families being hit the hardest. The noble quarters servants came in after as secondary infections.
After briefly explaining the risks, Leonardo suggested they quarantine the diseased in tents outside the towns. He firmly advocated to burn the bodies, as well as confiscate and eradicate the fruits.
Furthermore, he suggested a mixture of foxtail amaranth and some herbal tea. It would boost the immune system and hopefully give the lucky ones a higher chance at resisting the infection, though Leonardo doubted it would help much.
He couldn't explain in detail unless he wanted to come on the radar of the church, so his prescription wouldn't be taken too seriously by anyone who wasn't hopeless.
"Well, I tried my best," Leonardo shrugged after a weak cough, "Whether they take my advice or not is entirely up to them."
"Not even God saves people by force, my boy," Chimente silently backed away as if afraid of the contagion, "You did good. Now it's my turn. I'll go now, you take care."
"Make haste, then. Lives are at stake."
Still slumped on his chair, Leonardo didn't bother to stand and had Yuki escort the guest in his stead.
When she returned, he passed her another stack of letters and an even larger map.
"Get these to Sana. Have her use the formation ritual in the tower to warp these. Birds won't make it in time, but I can't risk sending these myself."
Although Sana knew Spatium Dharma as well, she wasn't very proficient with Leo's arrays. Even if she teleported the letters, they'd have a significant margin of error.
It's why Leonardo prepared extras, as well as a detailed map of each port city's location. Frankly, it was a shot in the dark even for Leonardo, but it was better than doing nothing. As for whether they wound up in the hands of the nobles or buried in the fields, it was out of his hands.
The teleported letters went much more in detail since they weren't limited to a small finger scroll, but they were also anonymous and thus had less credibility.
There's no way Leonardo would tie his identity to mysteriously appearing correspondence, so they might just be discarded even if someone did read them.
"It's getting dark, so you should hurry and return before dusk," he advised her with concern, much to her annoyance, "Make sure not to be seen by others. It's not safe, so avoid people on the road."
"I got it, big brother," she tore the package from his hands and huffed, "I'll be back in no time."
"Oh, and have them distribute the herbs I outlined. Consult the patients later for results."
Watching as she slipped out the back gate, Leonardo sighed and made his way back into the lab.
Although he could take a break, the pressure of death ensured he couldn't rest easily. He only had a hours left before his body synced up to real time.
Whilst engrossed in alchemy, that time was fleeting. He didn't even remember to check up on Yuki's return, and only snapped out of his work when the virus practically exploded in his lungs.
His focus grew blurry and he doubled over, his gaze blackening. Wheezing as he tried to breathe, he soon collapsed helplessly on the floor.
His consciousness returned to him after the spell ended, and he found him face swimming in a puddle of his own vomit.
Not concerning himself with the disgusting image, he assessed his body and exhaled in relief. The lungs cleared up a little, the remedies taken earlier seemingly kicking in with more potency than he expected.
'I'm alive…" he inhaled greedily.
'It's good to be alive,' he exhaled a moment later with relish, and put on a sincere smile, one that nonetheless looked distorted and horrid on his vomit stained face.
Now that he got over the biggest hurdle and survived, his odds were no longer insubstantial. He had all the time in the world to perfect his cure.
Speaking of time… With the spell over, it had caught up to him and he finally had to rest. Fatigue hit him like a truck, and he barely managed to douse the lab candles before plunging on a nearby chair — fast asleep.
- — ☯ — -
The woods were eerily quiet, and even insects made an effort to conceal themselves. Only one man disregarded this taboo of silence, trotting loudly through the forest even at its darkest hour.
Leonardo ran through the herbs he had after a few days. No noteworthy results came out, so he ultimately decided to go out and look for plants others may have missed.
Unwilling to risk using enhancement magic on his eyes, he could only stumble around with a torch and use luck as a guide.
As for why he was out at 5 AM like a lunatic instead of coming back in daytime, it had to do with some nocturnal plants — or so he told himself. He was grasping at straws, because realistically, the extracted value would be the same either way. He was simply restless and anxious.
Tossing a soil stained root in his straw backpack, Leonardo was just about to move on when he heard distant footsteps.
'Who is wandering around at this ungodly hour?' he perked up, disregarding the hypocrisy.
He promptly snuffed his torch then hid in the shadows of an aged tree, peeking over with wariness.
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