Cleansing and Purifying

After she had targeted certain areas of corruption, Mallory was then stuck working with hired mages, doctors and potion makers as everyone was checked over and treated.

When she had brought up everything to the familia members that were in the city guard or had administrative jobs in the city hall, Mallory had mentioned that there would be a need for a mandatory inspection if every resident or visitor that is inside the city.

Those that she could not look over were either protected by large walls or walls of people so she could not get close enough to them or discover the source of their crimes.

The only way for such a thing to be allowed was if there was enough of a public outcry and if the situation was as serious as she had mentioned.

Although not everyone had been infected, there were many who had the Valis to get themselves treated earlier but they had not noticed the signs or symptoms.

There were so many people which had been infected when she had first stepped out into the market after she joined the familia but Mallory did not have a proper means of dealing with it and she was still learning and testing her eyes ability to see peoples auras.

It was still difficult to distinguish the differences in each person's aura back then so she did not yet know what each aura meant, through observation and comparing different peoples auras, Mallory was able to make a clearer judgement and act upon it.

Before she got permission, she immediately got to work as she cleansed many of her familia which had unknowingly been infected which made them change their minds and wholeheartedly support her.

Mallory was sitting outside the city hall with a tired look on her face as she had spent a long time making talismans and drinking mana potions to replenish her magic. "Cleanse!"

By her side were several others who had been hired to inspect and treat those that came in so her burden was lessened slightly.

A long line of people came everyday for several days as they were taken into a private booth and were inspected, treated and released with several things to follow to ensure they stay healthy.

Those that had an incredibly dangerous and evil aura were noted down by her each time as she pushed the work onto her familia and the city guards to look into.

However when Mallory spotted something strange, she looked to the side and winked.

The next moment, Swaine stepped in and approached the person. "Follow me. Your situation is.. a little different than the others. We need to question you a little."

Many went kicking and screaming while others turned frightened and pale until they were questioned.

Mallory arrived in a room that was full of different people and sighed as she saw their auras. "The reason why I separated you all is because you all have something in common. You are all under the influence of or have suffered from the effects of some kind of curse."

"Gasp.."

"Curse?"

"How?"

"Who would do such a thing?"

Mallory observed them calmly and spoke. "My eyes do not lie to me and I can prove it to you. Take one of these talismans that I have prepared then repeat after me."

When a talisman was in each of their hands, Mallory spoke in her native language. "Purify!"

As they all followed what she had said, the talismans lit up and the light surrounded their bodies as they started to go inside and purify them.

Strange dirty looking red, green, grey and black gases exited their bodies then was turned to nothingness as the purifying talismans effects came to an end.

Many eyes became wide and their mouths were wide open in shock as they witnessed the strange sight.

Colour returned to their skin a little but they still had the lingering aftereffects left over which needed to be cared for over time.

Mallory looked over and sighed. "I hope that you can cooperate with me and tell me everything about your lives. If you wish to make things easier then we can arrange a schedule for a home visit. There may still be dangers around your home or other places you regularly visit but you have not been able to notice them."

"Of course!"

"Just visit.. please."

"The life of my family could be at stake, how could I refuse."

"Thank you benefactor!"

Mallory rolled her eyes as she was praised. "This is what I should do."

However her thoughts were different. 'This is what I should do.. for the Excelia, the future Valis I will gain and the chance to level up.'

When she encountered the many situations in the city, she found something very strange so she consulted her goddess about it.

When Seshat heard everything and her guesses, Seshat replied. "In truth, we were always looking for the sources of the fall of Visa but were unable to find anything useful. Everything we did discover seemed ordinary on the surface but had barely visible traces of another parties involvement.

It has possibly been going on silently and unnoticed in many different ways for a long time. We did find a trace which lead us to the soave market but that clue became a dead end. I was lucky enough to find you then and you have played a big part of helping us dig deeper into this problem."

While the plot with the dangerous antiques had a main mastermind which was behind it and was caught, there were several of the grave robbers or those selling the antiques which were not yet caught.

They were the direct source of the problem and many had disappeared while the others knew nothing or remained silent.

It was almost like they had been influenced by someone to sell them within Visa City, the previous boss of the antique store was just a means to spread them around the city.

The diseases were the same as the start of it may have been directly from the brothel itself but there could always be people directed to make use of the services while carrying those diseases.

Knowing that such a place would not check up on the health of its workers, the diseases would only continue to spread among the city over a long period of time.

It could have started a long time ago during the previous bosses time in charge or just a little after the new boss took over but it was more than enough time to infect and weaken the people living in the city walls.

The two combined were sinister tricks that were used to cause damage to the city indirectly and allowed those involved to use others then let them retreat before being discovered.

Mallory looked at all of the people and let out a sigh. "Who will take me to inspect their home first?"

A small child raised her hand as she held onto her mother's hand. "Me and mommy will!"

Mallory smiled gently and followed but her mind was working quickly as she tried to identify the motives and style of the suspected culprit. 'Someone that likes to use others to accomplish their goal without revealing anything about them. Uses dirty tricks to weaken their targets. Possibly all of these events are connected so they or those that work for them can use hexes or curses.

It cannot be someone inside the city and if I am guessing correctly then this is not so simple. Then it is someone or many that prefer to harm others from far away. Why would they be doing this though? For the accomplishment if being involved in the downfall of a city? If so then is it a familia that is involved or behind this?'

As she came to a conclusion, her eyes went wide and she stood in place. "It couldn't be.. right?"

While there were other motives to attack the city and have it slowly destroyed over a long time, Mallory had a gut feeling that a familia was behind the various plots.