Chapter 34

"It is good to see you once again, heir Gwyndolin."

I wave at my last patient and look to my side. I can see a familiar young woman and a young man.

"Ah, it is good to see you too, heiress Catharina. I'm sorry to ask but who is he?"

"Ah, let me introduce you. Jonathan, this is Gwyndolin Alexander Cunningham. Heir Gwyndolin, this is Jonathan Rellios Verqur, the third son of Duke Verqur."

I blink for a few seconds and give a quick bow at him. Even though he is a third son, he is still above me in terms of nobility rank, and giving a quick bow is a polite way to greet him.

"Welcome to Shadowfall, young master Jonathan."

"Please call me Jon or Jonathan." He waves his hand while smiling at me. "Young master Jonathan is too formal for me."

I smile at him and say.

"Then please call me Gwyn." I then look at heiress Catharina. "You too, heiress Catharina."

"Then you can call me Cat, Gwyn!"

I nod my head and get up from the chair.

"So, what can I do for you guys?"

Cat walks up to me and says,

"Lord Cunningham says you are willing to show us around your clinic."

"My father? Sure, I don't mind. However, I already showed you around, right? The last time we met."

"No. You only show me the emergency clinic, Gwyn. You never show me the proper clinic."

"Truly? Huh. Come on."

I take them to the clinic next door and show them what we sell and what kind of potion uses the bottle we buy from Cat's family.

"And these are the potions to cure colds. These are the most common potions we have and the easiest ones we can make. Sadly, I cannot tell you how to make them. I hope you understand."

As much as I wanted to spread the knowledge of a cheap and easy-to-make potion to cure colds, my father told me I should not do that. I guess that is to be expected. I'm not in the era of free knowledge, and curing a cold is something that can save lives.

My father is kind but will not throw away a good source of money if he can help it.

"Of course, we understand."

"Thank you."

"However, are you not afraid that people will discover the method of making this potion?"

I look at Jon and smile at him.

"Maybe. However, it will take them a long time before they can discover how to make these potions. Even with all the ingredients, they cannot make it without the proper steps and tools."

"I see."

I can see him nodding and doing a thinking pose. Oh? Is he one of the people that try to replicate the potion? Well, good luck with that. So far, the only way to make the potions is through the cauldron from Second Life.

As for the technique and steps, it was basic, as even my men can do it even though some of them are not the sharpest knife in the box. I don't know if there is a way to make the same cauldron as the one coming from Second Life, but my mother and her group of alchemists are searching for a way to replicate the cauldron.

"Hey, Gwyn. Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure. Ask away."

"Can you lift a curse?"

I frown a little at her question. Does she know someone who cursed? Is it the same curse as the one I feel in Linton?

"What kind of curse?"

"It was a sickness curse."

"Sickness curse? Tell me the symptoms."

She nods and starts to tell me the symptoms of the curse. That is the same curse. Dammit. I don't think that it will reach the northern territory.

"I see. How many people get cursed? For how long?"

"Is it really bad? The one who is cursed does not feel awful, and they can still work. Some of them even continue to farm."

"That curse is contagious. I encountered that curse when I visited the western part of the southern territory, Linton City, to be more specific. It is a highly contagious curse. You need to destroy the source of it. I have destroyed many anchors and the main source of the curse in the south. I don't know how the situation is in the north."

After I say that, something clicks in my brain. If the north also gets this curse, that means the north is not the culprit. I don't know if it was an accident and the curse migrated north after most of it was destroyed in the south, but for now, I will think that the north is not the culprit.

"I see. That sounds bad."

"Yes. Can you show me which village or city has that curse? I will clean them immediately."

"I don't think it was a good idea, Gwyn."

I look at Jon and tilt my head a little.

"Why?"

"I'm sorry if this sounds offensive to you, but the relationship between north and south is not good. If you suddenly go north without notice, they will think that you are spying on them or, worse, they think you cast the curse. Before you say something, northern lords have an ego the size of a mountain. They will do anything to make sure they keep their perfect image."

I can only nod at his words. Yeah, I have a feeling that will happen.

"How about this? I'm a merchant and I have a lot of connections in the north. Can you show me the source of the curse? Also, can you tell how to destroy them?"

I nod and gather my magic. A second later, a skull made of wood appears on my hand. I give him the skull and say.

"This is the anchor and the source of the curse. The anchor is smaller and the sources will be bigger. As for the way to get rid of them, burn them. Burn them with the hottest fire you can create."

Jon nods his head and says.

"Very well. I will tell the others about this and hire many church personnel to make sure to lift the curse."

"Are you sure? It will cost you a lot of money, you know?"

Jon laughs loudly and says.

"You don't need to worry about money, Gwyn. I'm the son of Duke. Even though I'm the third child, I still have a lot of money, you know? I also can call a few favors to the bishop of the church."

"I see. If you say so."

That is the best option, I guess. I didn't want to go to the north, and the north did not want me to help them and make them look weak.

"Don't mention it. Anyway, do you know where we can eat? Don't worry! I will be the one who pays."

"Well, there is–"

Before I can say more, a carriage runs past us. I blink for a few seconds before looking at the flag above the carriage.

"Luzia kingdom?"

I look at Jon and Cat and say.

"I'm sorry to cut this short but I think I need to go back."

Cat smiles at me and says,

"Of course, Gwyn."

"Thank you."

After saying that, I quickly ran back to the mansion. I have a feeling this will be a headache.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

|Catharina von Xenotra - Heiress of Baron Xenotra|

I see Gwyn running back to the mansion and then look at Jon.

"What do you think happened?"

"I don't know. The Luzia kingdom did not have a good relationship with us."

"Really? I think that we have a non-aggression pact with them, right?"

"Yes and it was because of the south not us, northern noble."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"The south is the one helping them when they are in a time of need. The only reason why they had that pact was that they could not ally with only the south unless the south wanted to start a civil war."

Really? In White Lily, Luzia kingdom is the first enemy that starts the third arc of the game. However, as far as I know, they did not join the south when the civil war started. There must be something that makes them hold back in the first arc.

Dammit. Another mystery I need to dig into. I shake my head and say.

"Anyway, we have done our mission. After talking with Gwyn, we can make him believe that the north is not the one placing that curse, even though his theory is correct. When will your man finish checking the north and south border area?"

"They should be done in three to five days. However, I have a feeling they will come back clean."

"That's good. With Gwyn having less suspicion on us, we can clean the mess that the Alcott family made."

I can see Jon nodding, and we both walk back to our inn. Making sure the Death Flag did not flutter above me was more complicated than I thought.