Chapter 9 Part 3
“I’ve removed the cause, but she still needs to recover her strength.”
The child, drenched in sweat, looked pitiful. Elia wiped the sweat from Cherisha’s forehead. At that moment, the door creaked open, and a white-haired old woman entered.
“Who’s there?”
It was Grandma Momosha, Parmod’s wife.
Parmod was still sound asleep, unaware of his wife’s arrival. Elia lowered her voice and greeted her.
“Hello, Grandma Momosha. I came to see Cherisha. Could you call the two people outside?”
“Uh? Ah, sure.”
Momosha went outside and brought Kion and Luxa in.
“Luxa, do you know any herbalists?”
“Huh? Oh, there’s someone who brings herbs for Cherisha.”
As Luxa answered, Kion tugged on his arm.
“Brother, Cherisha’s fever seems to have gone down!”
“What?”
Luxa placed his hand on Cherisha’s forehead. The fever, which had been burning hot, had cooled to a lukewarm temperature.
Surprised, Luxa looked at Elia.
“Luxa, could you ask that person to bring some prugane grass and rib flowers?”
“…I’ll go right away.”
Hope sparkled in Luxa’s eyes.
An hour later, Luxa returned with an herbalist.
The herbalist, carrying a large bundle, brought what Elia had requested.
“I brought what you asked for, but prugane grass and rib flowers aren’t really herbs.”
Prugane grass is commonly found in the forest and usually appears with rib flowers. In practical terms, they were weeds. However, when combined, they became a rare medicinal ingredient.
“Individually, they’re not herbs, but together, they exhibit medicinal properties.”
Some spells and prayers for well-being or recovery use herbs.
Elia ground the prugane grass and rib flowers together in a bowl.
“Three times, four times, and half a turn.”
Following a precise sequence, the ground leaves were soon imbued with a recovery spell.
The green juice flowed easily into Cherisha’s mouth, even while she lay down.
“…”
“If you drink this, you won’t be sick anymore.”
Elia gently reassured her. Cherisha drank the remaining medicine.
After a moment, Cherisha’s eyelids fluttered. Noticing this, Luxa approached the bed.
“Cherisha, are you awake?”
“…Brother.”
She smiled faintly, showing signs of regained strength.
“We were worried about you.”
“Sorry, brother.”
Luxa held Cherisha’s hand tightly. Watching the affectionate siblings brought a smile to Elia’s face.
“Hey, don’t you see me?”
Kion spoke in a disappointed tone. Despite worrying so much while Cherisha was ill, now that she was awake, he reverted to being the grumpy older brother, just one year older.
“I don’t know. You’re a fool.”
“You want to get scolded by your brother?”
Kion shook his fist playfully, and Cherisha turned her head away with a pout.
“What’s so great about being a year older?”
“Oh, you little brat. I see you’re feeling better.”
Despite his grumbling, Kion’s face showed relief. Cherisha, having drunk some water, became more energetic.
Luxa whispered something to Cherisha, and the child’s bright smile turned toward Elia.
“My brother said I got better because of you. Thank you!”
Her beaming face, as if she had never been sick, was endearing.
“Your house will be fixed soon. Just wait a little longer.”
“Yes!”
Cherisha even finished a bowl of soup that Grandma Momosha had made.
The child’s cheeks, once pale, now blushed like peaches as she fell asleep again.
“Now, I need to visit the flood site.”
“I’ll accompany you.”
Luxa stood up. The two of them left Grandma Momosha’s house. Kion, who had come to see them off in the yard, waved his hands vigorously.
“See you later, brother! And you too, princess!”
Elia waved back, and Kion’s face turned bright red. She smiled at the sight of the boy quickly running back inside.
“He’s a bit unruly, but he’s a good kid.”
“I know. Sir Luxa, you’re very popular with your siblings.”
It wasn’t common to see siblings so fond of their elder brother.
“I’ve been taking care of them since our parents passed away. It’s been difficult to see them often now that I’m in the knights’ order.”
Raising his younger siblings alone was impressive.
Luxa, silent for a moment, suddenly stopped walking by the roadside.
“Sir Luxa?”
“Lady Elia, thank you for seeing Cherisha.”
“I just helped her regain her strength.”
To anyone else, it might have seemed that Elia hadn’t done much for Cherisha.
“No, that’s not it.”
Despite her words, Luxa shook his head. He hesitated before speaking.
“Something changed after you met Cherisha. I can’t explain it clearly, but…”
His troubled eyes wavered.
“I started getting headaches whenever I was near Cherisha. But now, they’re gone.”
Those sensitive to energy can quickly sense the disappearance of bad luck.
“That’s the nature of bad luck.”
Bad luck grows by consuming the energy of its target and those around them. Once it gains strength, it makes them ill and tries to bring greater disasters to consume everything nearby.
“Did I make a mistake by keeping it alive?”
Remembering the fact, Elia felt uneasy about the jar in her pocket.
“In any case, that’s a relief. Shall we head to the flood site?”
“Yes, this way.”
Luxa’s eyes showed trust in Elia. He led her down the quickest path.
The flood-stricken area was still undergoing restoration.
Aksion was examining documents related to the water channels at the site.
“Aksion, I’m here.”
Aksion looked up. The workers beside him bowed their heads to Elia.
“Ah, a distinguished guest has arrived.”
“No, I’m worried I might be a disturbance.”
Elia looked around. The water level had dropped significantly, likely due to the creation of water channels.
Aksion showed her a map. The vast estate was divided into 32 sections. He pointed to the odd-numbered sections.
“We’re heading to the most severely affected area.”
“I’ll come too.”
The two, along with Jacob, Luxa, and three other knights, moved together.
The most severely damaged area was section 17, on the border of the forest and cliff. It had recently been restored after a monster attack but then suffered a landslide.
“Watch out there!”
“My son is still in there!”
The cliff, weakened by the rain, had collapsed, burying homes.
Elia witnessed the scene. However, what she saw differed from what the others saw.
“Why are there so many?”
Everyone was burdened with varying sizes of bad luck.
Though not as large as the one that had covered Cherisha, the abnormal amount of bad luck weighed down on the residents.
Section 17, with its bad luck, was undergoing rescue operations.
Those trapped under the rubble had uncertain fates.
“It’s worse than I thought.”
The bad luck had likely exacerbated the damage.
Had she known, she would have come in her spirit medium attire.
Elia hesitated. The rescue efforts were in disarray, failing to find any survivors.
“First, we need to locate the living.”
Finding the exact locations of the homes buried under hundreds of rocks was no easy task.
“If it’s beyond human ability…”
In the chaos, Elia asked.
“Aksion, does the duchy have hunting dogs?”
* * *
A little later, three hunting dogs arrived at the scene. They had been borrowed from the forest keeper who lived in the woods behind the duke’s castle.
“It’s a mess. I don’t know if they can find anything without a designated scent,” the forest keeper muttered, lacking confidence.
Hunting dogs are usually trained to track by being given a specific scent beforehand.
“Don’t worry about that,” Elia stepped forward. Before the hunting dogs had arrived, she had devised a way to help them find the people.
“We’re going to sprinkle Kenosha flower pollen over the entire area.”
