20. Remedy
Not long after, Tia opened her eyes and sat up.
"Do-hyeon, what in the world happened?"
I explained to the bewildered Tia that I had a Feature that could duplicate drugs.
"Another one of those rotten methods, is it?"
Tia gave a light shudder. She seemed to have figured out how the duplication worked. But this was the only way to save both of them, so what could I do?
I offered up the gathered goblin corpses as sacrifices and chose experience points for all of them.
I had no intention of reaching level 5, so once I got close to level 5 I could just switch over to Contribution Points.
Once the ritual ended, the rescue team—the men in strange goggles who had been standing watch—approached.
"Are you all right?"
"Yes. Thanks to you."
Because the rescue team had kept watch, I had been able to sit and rest.
Of course, I did need to be wary of the rescue team themselves, but keeping an eye on a few people was far easier than watching every direction in the forest.
"Who are these people?"
"They say they're a rescue team sent by Lord Dismas."
Tia let out a relieved sigh at that.
"Then the road back should be comfortable."
At that, I whispered into Tia's ear.
"We don't need to be on guard?"
"Few people know of our relationship with Lord Dismas. If they were sent by Lord Dismas or the Head Librarian, then even if we were suspicious, we'd be helpless anyway."
If it was a lie, being on guard wouldn't let us respond, so she'd rather give up.
It was a rational way of thinking. Though I didn't give up, because I didn't consider myself helpless.
The road back was peaceful enough to make my vigilance pointless.
Though it did bother me a little that the rescue team was keenly reconstructing and analyzing how we'd fought as we went.
"Looking at these footprints and arrow marks here, you lured the goblins and eliminated them one by one."
"Uh, yes. That's right."
"Excellent work."
From the way they moved freely through the dark forest and searched, I could tell they also had Darkvision.
Maybe those goggles provided Darkvision? Otherwise there'd be no reason to wear things like that.
Eventually we reached the place where we had fought the goblin horde under cover of Darkness.
"Judging by the traces we found on the way here, it seems you fought a decisive battle against the enemy here."
"Yes. What about it?"
"To face more than ten goblins head-on."
Well, not exactly head-on—we fought dirty in the dark, actually.
"Truly remarkable. Once morning comes and everyone learns of this, it will be the talk of the town."
"Um, could you keep the fact that we subjugated the goblin village a secret?"
It was something I needed to ask Dismas, but since these people had revealed themselves as Dismas's subordinates, I could say it now.
"Why? Someone who has achieved such a great deed would choose to conceal their own identity?"
It wasn't great enough to even trigger an Achievement window, though.
I swallowed those words and answered the rescuer.
"It's too much. If word gets out that the two of us wiped out a goblin village, we'd draw far too much attention, and that's a bit burdensome."
The rescuer agreed with that.
"Indeed, there would be tremendous envy and jealousy. Plenty of people wouldn't believe it, either. But to give up honor for that—what remarkable self-restraint."
The rescue team nodded, saying this was exactly why Lord Dismas would take an interest in me.
......They're overestimating me way too much.
While we were talking, one of the rescuers called out.
"Did you make an offering here?"
He pointed to the place where Tia and I had gathered the goblin horde and offered them as sacrifices for leveling up.
"Yes. Why?"
"I found this lying over there."
With that, the rescuer stepped into the circle I had drawn, picked up a stone fragment, and came back out.
A sword against a backdrop of a storm was carved into it.
"What is it?"
"......It will likely be an important piece of evidence. Please submit it along with the mission completion report."
The rescuer's suddenly somber attitude bothered me, but I followed his advice and tucked the stone fragment away.
After that, the rescue team's mood sank further. What in the world was that stone fragment?
"Tia, do you have any idea?"
"I have no idea."
But I had another source of information. Mary. Do you have any idea?
『It is a symbol of divinity.』
Divinity?
『It appears to be a token for serving a god who symbolizes storm and war.』
A god, huh. Things had suddenly gotten a lot bigger.
But that alone told me nothing, so for now I decided to deal with the problem in front of me.
What am I going to do about Lee Se-rin?
***
The next morning. The road to the Great Library was bustling.
"The disaster was resolved overnight? Who stepped up?"
"To wipe out a goblin village in the middle of the night, wouldn't it have taken two level-4 parties working together?"
"Level-4 parties? As if."
"There's a rumor going around that a duo handled it."
"For two people to handle it, they'd have to be at least level 5. Does that make any sense?"
"Who knows. Maybe a layer merchant came down and dealt with it?"
"There's still over a week until the next opening, though?"
"Maybe the Guardians brought in a specialist."
"Even so, that would take days. Resolving it in a single night is absurd."
"And if that were the case, it would come back as an even bigger disaster. It makes no sense."
"That's exactly it. Why would they hide their identity after resolving a disaster? Because a level 5 stepping in would bring an even bigger problem!"
"That sounds plausible. If a level 5 stepped in, they could resolve it, and they'd have plenty of reason to hide their identity."
"But is there a level 5 who would come here?"
Their identities hadn't even been revealed, and it was already this much of a hot topic.
If it got out that Tia and I had handled it together, it would be terrifying.
We'd probably get surrounded on the road every time we moved and held up for ages.
After arriving at the Great Library, Tia said she would look for information about the poison.
I spent a pleasant time with Eira, then asked.
"Do you know how to cure poison?"
"The easiest method is Lesser Restoration. It's a 2nd-circle spell."
Eira added that arcane casters like us couldn't use it, but priestly casters could.
"They say it can be cured with a 3rd-circle or higher Lesser Restoration. What does that mean?"
"Ah, you didn't know yet? Spells can also be cast using a higher circuit."
She said it was impossible to cast a 2nd-circle spell through a 1st-circle mana circuit, but possible to cast it using a 3rd-circle mana circuit.
"Spells cast using a higher circuit like that become stronger in effect, depending on the type."
To have a 3rd-circle mana circuit, you'd need to be at least level 5. Impossible.
No, wait. If it's Eira, there might be a way. Wasn't she a level-6 Wizard herself?
"Eira, do you know anyone who can cast Lesser Restoration using a 3rd-circle circuit?"
"Rinos could."
"Then if I asked him, could he cure the poison?"
"If you have 300 gold coins."
"What?"
"That's the cost for having a 3rd-circle spell cast. 300 gold coins."
Come to think of it, she'd said the cost for having a 2nd-circle spell cast once was 200 gold coins.
Absurdly expensive. There was no way I could come up with that money.
......I might be able to raise it if I sold off one of the magic items I was carrying, but I wasn't willing to go that far for her.
"Eira, could you lend me the money?"
I could probably pay it back if I kept beating down orcs for a while.
"No."
Eira refused firmly.
"I'll make you feel as good as possible while I pay it back."
"Ah, no! Enough about money!"
Eira refused even as her face flushed. She seemed innocent, but she was thorough about things like this.
I asked about other healing methods, but Eira didn't seem to have a good answer either.
"Then let's talk about the plan you used today."
"Operation?"
"The goblin village subjugation. You did it, didn't you?"
So Eira already knew.
When I told her about my operation and its results, Eira nodded.
"It wasn't bad. Though letting the goblin shaman get away is a bit of a shame."
"Because of that, my companion got poisoned and was in danger."
"You can't prepare for everything. Sometimes you have to improvise. If you'd known they used poison, it would have been good to receive a Protection from Poison spell before going."
"How do you get that?"
"You can receive it from a priestly class who can cast 2nd-circle spells."
She spoke as though having a priestly class in the party were a given. That was the hardship of running a two-person party.
"What if there's no priestly class in the party?"
"You find someone who will cast it for money, or pay Contribution Points to a temple to receive it."
Having a 2nd-circle spell cast cost 200 gold coins, and people paid money for that?
"Well, the only people who buy spells like that are level-4 parties."
According to Eira's explanation, these level-4 parties saved up as much wealth as possible at level 3 before leveling up.
Because of that, high-end services were so expensive they warped my sense of money.
"Anyway, overall it wasn't bad, but it would be better to refine the details a bit."
With that, Eira began a tactical lecture.
***
Tia's research had produced no particular results either.
Left with no choice, I sent Tia back and headed to the inn where Lee Se-rin was staying.
From what I'd heard, Rinos, the Western man, also insisted on cash for payments. As for borrowing from Dismas, it wasn't as if I had no other option, and I wasn't willing to go into debt to that man just to heal Lee Se-rin. He was dangerous.
There was now only one way left to heal Lee Se-rin.
When I arrived at the inn, the class president greeted me.
"Oh? Do-hyeon?! What brings you here?"
"It's not exactly a sick visit. I came because I need to talk to her about something. Can I see Lee Se-rin?"
"Uh, yeah!"
Following the class president's guidance, I knocked on the door of the two-person room and entered. Inside, Park Min-a and Kim Ha-eun were looking at Lee Se-rin with worried expressions.
Lee Se-rin was lying unconscious, in worse condition than Tia had been yesterday.
To persuade the three of them, I began with the words I had prepared.
"Hey, I have a way to heal Lee Se-rin."
"What? Really?!"
The class president's eyes went wide.
"Hey, Kim Ha-eun? Can you cast Zone of Truth?"
It was a 2nd-circle spell that compelled a being inside it to speak the truth.
It only affected targets who failed their saving throw, but you could simply choose to forgo the saving throw.
If she said she didn't have it prepared, I had been planning to tell her to prepare it tomorrow even if it meant risking Lee Se-rin's condition worsening, but—
"Ah, yeah. I can do it."
Fortunately, it seemed she had it prepared. Kim Ha-eun cast Zone of Truth as I asked. I chose not to resist and accepted the spell.
"Yeah, the spell took effect. From now on, everything Seo Do-hyeon says is the truth."
I chose my words carefully.
"I have a way to heal Lee Se-rin."
"So it's really true?"
My heart ached at the class president's happy expression.
"The fact that you're dragging this out means there's something to it, so just say it."
When Park Min-a said that, I actually felt relieved.
"But this treatment is something that can't be done in front of other people."
"What is that? That's way too suspicious."
"But it's true. Right, Kim Ha-eun?"
"Uh, yeah. The spell's effect is still active."
"Suspicious."
"Anyway, can you leave me alone with Lee Se-rin?"
The three of them fell into thought.
"I won't do anything unnecessary for the treatment."
When I said that much,
"Okay. I trust you, Do-hyeon. Please heal Se-rin."
No, isn't that trusting me a little too easily, class president?
"It's all the truth."
Kim Ha-eun trusted the spell's effect. You're going to get scammed someday, you know? Be careful.
With the two of them in agreement, Park Min-a had no choice but to consent.
"If you do anything weird, I'll kill you later, got it?"
It couldn't be helped, since it was to save Lee Se-rin.
"I said I'll only do what's necessary for the treatment."
With that deflection, I sent the three of them out. Since I had only spoken the truth, there was no problem with the spell's effect.
Now the two-person room held only Lee Se-rin lying on the bed and me.
First, I used Authority of Dream Infiltration.
After all, if I didn't use it, Lee Se-rin would obviously be in pain during the treatment.
This was also part of the treatment.