ACT 2 Investigation

Phew!

Ark who had come outside took deep breaths and made himself calm down.It was just for a moment, but Ark had thought the middle aged lady was his mother in the ICU and his chest pounded.He wanted to shake off the unpleasant feeling. Once Nursing was finished, he didnt hesitate to step outside.Tarun who exited later approached Ark and said.

Really thank you a lot. In recent times, her symptoms have been so severe that painkiller dont work but the crisis was overcome this time thanks to you.If Margaret Ah, that is the name of Ronnies mother. Anyway, I dont know what Ronnie would do if something serious happens to Margaret.

What disease does Magaret have?

I dont know.

Tarun sighed and replied.

In fact Im a pharmacist. Well, I didnt receive formal training but I gained second hand knowledge after listening to the residents of Ciel.

Tarun murmured and started talking.

You can probably understand just by seeing this place but the residents cant afford expensive medicines from Ciel. Fortunately, weve been able to treat most sicknesses so far. But a year ago? Suddenly residents here acquired the same mysterious disease as Magaret and the medicine have no effect on that disease.

There are more people who caught the disease?

Yes, strangely the Ciel residents dont have a problem. Only the residents here have become ill by that mysterious disease.The strange thing is, children with weak immunity are fine and only the adults are affected. Magaret especially has really serious symptoms. Therefore Ronnie.

Tarun looked at the shack with sadness and explained.His father had passed away a long time ago so it was just Ronnie and his mother. Of course it wasnt an abundant life. If it was abundant then they wouldnt live in the slums. However, his mother worked hard so Ronnie still lived happily.Then one day his mother caught an unidentified illness. And Ronnies tough life began.

Since then, Ronnie started trying to work in Ciel to make money for Magarets medicine. But there isnt that much work in Ciel for a slum dweller. In my case, I was just lucky to run some chores for a pharmacist.

However, Ronnie was 10 years old at the time and there wasnt that much he could do. Because he was young, he couldnt work carrying goods as sometimes he was couldnt be unscrupulous merchants who would work him to exhaustion without compensation.But it was the attitudes of the Ciel residents that was the harder.When a boy from the slums was seen snooping around town, he would often be cursed and sometimes beaten up by boys the same age.

If it was just that then it would be okay. The Ciel residents hate for the slum residents worsened recently. It really is sad that they think that way about their neighbours.

Huh? Why is that?

Like I said, Margarets illness began a year ago. Then other slum residents started showing the same symptoms. So they think that Magaret spread the illness to the residents. They dont want an infectious disease to be spread.

Ark remembered the first time he met Ronnie.At the time, Ronnie had wounds all over.He hadnt thought it important at the time but now he got a general picture after Taruns words.Ronnies wounds had been caused by the Ciel residents because he was from the slums and was the son of the person spreading the infectious disease.

Are you certain it is infectious?

Im positive. Although why did the sickness spread to the residents of the slums while Ronnie and I who are closest to Magaret are fine?

Tarun spoke in a firm tone and sighed.

Nevertheless, Ronnie didnt make any excuses and just endured the curses and beating silently. He probably thought he would be driven off if he showed signs of rebellion. That young child.

Even with all the bullying, Ronnie just continued going in and out of Ciel to earn money. When money was gathered, he visited Tarun and they bought various medicinal herbs.There was not enough money to buy expensive medicines so he asked Tarun to create the medicine. However, none of the herbs helped Magaret at all. She got seizures almost every day and only painkillers can relieve her pain. But today even the painkillers stopped working.

The painkillers is also medicine. If used a lot then tolerance will build up. The crisis is over this time thanks to you but in the future it will be a serious problem. It seems like Magaret no longer has the stamina to hold on. If she has one or two more seizures then itll probably be over.

Tarun couldnt stop sighing at the thought.

Such a thing?

Ark had some questions ever since meeting Ronnie.He had recognized him with one glance.The reason he felt a strange sense of empathy with Ronnie wasnt simply because of an underprivileged childhood. Ronnie hadnt said anything but Ark intuitively sensed that they had similar situations.Ark was also the same.In order to take care of his sick mother, he had to work in front of people who looked at him with indifferent eyes. Ark knew Ronnies feelings better than anyone. The feeling of hopelessness which made him want to curse the whole worldWhy couldnt anyone understand? Of course he understood. He had no choice but to understand.

I want to help.

That desire suddenly rose in Arks mind.He never wanted to help without anything in return. It had been a long time since he truly felt like this.But Nursing wasnt a treatment.It was possible to reduce the sick persons pain but the skill couldnt treat the sick. Even if Arks sincerity caused Miracle Nursing, the situation wouldnt change that much.When looking at past circumstances of Miracle Nursing, it gave him the opportunity to treat the disease but not completely cure it.

However, if Miracle Nursing is triggered then the situation will improve. Seeing that seizure just now, Magaret cant last long.

Ark had a crazy idea and entered the shack before beginning to use Nursing on Magaret.When thinking back, Miracle Nursing was activated in unexpected situations while in other sick emergencies it wasnt triggered at all.

I have to sincerely want to save this woman. This time Im more earnest than others. It will be good if it is triggered in this situation. Why isnt it working?

Ark cursed as he couldnt trigger Miracle Nursing.

Then something popped into Arks head.

Wait, didnt Ronnie try all sorts of herbs on Magaret after she got sick that didnt work? Ive experienced this situation before!

It was just like when he met the Galgin who had trouble with food poisoning. At that time, Miracle Nursing wasnt activated and Lariettes recovery magic didnt work either.It was because the Galgins food poisoning was unrelated to a disease. The Galgin had received food poisoning because they ate contaminated food.

What if Magaret is in a similar situation? That might explain why Miracle Nursing isnt triggered. Miracle Nursing was a skill that would trigger when taking care of the sick. Therefore it wasnt triggered when used on the poisoned Galgin. So a cure for disease isnt the answer.

That reminded him, the black red dots on Magarets body was similar to the Galgin.

Now that Im thinking about it, Nursing isnt really useful here.

Ronnie, take good care of your mother. Im going to investigate a little bit.

Ark comforted Ronnie and left the shack.Ark had treated the Galgins food poisoning using a different method. The method Ark used then was to investigate the area for the source of poisoning and then produced an antidote.

Normal NPCs wouldnt go around picking and eating strange ingredients like the Galgin. But theyre poor so there is a possibility of eating some strange ingredients. That is also the reason why only the residents of the slums are sick. It is impossible for the rich residents of Ciel to eat strange ingredients. I have to investigate it.

The first place Ark visited was the river by the slums. If something was contaminated in the area then the river would have the most significant impact. As expected, he found suspicious information when using Ingredient Identification on the river water.

-Common water from the unclean river flowing near the Ciel slums.

It is able to be applied to food.

* Advanced Additional Information: It seems like ordinary water but when looked at closely, the water from near the slums seems quite unclean. The unclean water is caused by serious pollution. Fortunately, there are no signs of serious pollution just yet but the descendants will need to be careful. Less than 1 year of damage will take decades for nature to recover.