Wreath of Lilies, Cauldron of Poison

Chapter 204

Traces and Misconception

In a rare moment of good mood, Illumca hummed as she took off her dress and placed it gently on her bed. She smoothed out the wrinkles on it and kissed the back of the palm that Connie rubbed during lunch.

She then donned her usual dark clothes, opened the window and called out.

“Arryn.”

She heard a grunt of acknowledgment and Arryn appeared by the windowsill; hands clasped in respect, before she asked nonchalantly.

You’re in a good mood.

“I’ve had a great day,” Illumca replied with a smile. “How goes the investigation I asked you to do?”

Most of the entrances we used to use for infiltrating the Capital a while back had been compromised. It seems to have been done by the Knights. But we simply have to make new ones. With the Techniques we’ve learned, it won’t be a problem.

“I see. Arryn, I’ll be spending a few days focusing on some Assassin’s Guild matters. I need you to take care of everything Connie needs while I’m not here.”

Arryn looked at her with a raised eyebrow. We can help you, if you need.

Illumca shook her head with a stern refusal. “No. The Assassin’s Guild will know if I get help from outside. And we can’t have that. The Silence need to lay low for now. Only act when prompted.”

Arryn gazed at the silver-haired Dark Elf before her and saw how she had begun to take up the mantle of a leader. She could not reconcile this image with the one she had of her in her childhood days.

Illumca wound the scarf around her neck, and all of a sudden, the lovestruck look was gone from her eye, and only the aloof gaze of an Assassin was left.

“Now, my night begins.”

The room that Connie had prepared had several tables with various herbs and materials, including a cauldron that had been boiling overnight.

Connie got out of her Centipede Robe and put on a simple robe which would not obstruct her arms, then began working.

On one of the tables was a strange tool from another world that Kim Sooyoung called a microscope. Connie placed a sample from one of the vials onto a small thing sheet of glass called microscope slide. The first time she saw the thin glass, she could not believe the miracle of craftsmanship that she was seeing. A glass object so thin and so clear that could be used to see the wonders of a world far smaller than the one they were in. No glass-worker she had met could replicate such delicate products.

Under the microscope, she could identify the things that caused Syphilis. Just like how it was depicted in the Medical Book, they looked like small coiled worms. However, she found that on some of the samples, these worm-like creatures had grown thick spikes. Likely a mutation.

The vials containing these variations were oddly colder in temperature by a few degrees compared to the one without the spikes.

Seeing this, Connie separated the samples from different subjects into two categories, which she simply named Type One and Type Two.

She gazed at the vials in front of her and jotted down notes.

“Hmm, the symptoms experienced by the majority of the women were similar to the ones written on this book. However, the rest of the subjects had shown additional symptoms, including recurring severe cold that happens infrequently, enough to make them shiver even though they were in front of a fireplace. And for these subjects, the symptoms appeared faster and the rash spread more aggressively.”

When she moved the microscope slide with the sample smeared on it, she noticed that there was condensation forming at the edge of the slide. As she held it aloft against a candle, she realized that the glass started to feel colder. “Is it…absorbing heat from its surrounding even at its present state? Intriguing.”

Connie then began focusing her effort on analyzing the Type Two of the strain, which went on until morning of the next day.

After a quick shower to freshen up, Connie went back to the brothel to confirm her suspicion and found out that four others were showing symptoms. They were moved to the dorm as soon as they were found out. After asking, it turned out that the four women had been hiding their symptoms by wearing very heavy makeup.

Exasperated, Connie asked angrily why they did that, even though they knew full well the consequences of their action.

“If we stop getting guests, how are we going to live?”

It was a simple, yet painful truth. Two of the women had children, and the only way they could feed them was by selling their bodies. Connie shook her head at this answer and glared meaningfully at Scarlet, who were there with the women to calm them down.

“These girls were the least popular ones,” she whispered to Connie. “We are not making as much money these days, so they…had to try some other ways to get guests. It was our mistake.”

Stone faced, Connie did not ask further and began meeting the patients in an empty room in the dorm.

One such patients, a young woman with a birthmark on her neck looked very scared, like a child that though that she was going to be punished.

“Please, I want the Rose to stay with me,” she said to Scarlet, who was about to leave them alone.

“The questions I am going to ask will be private and might be shameful, but I need you to answer me truthfully. Is that fine with you?”

“Y-yes.”

Connie glanced at Scarlet, who nodded gently at the scared girl and sat on a wooden chair next to the door.

As Connie was preparing her tools, the girl asked her with a small squeak. “Do you…do you think this sickness is Goddess Junnaveil’s way of punishing us?”

Connie glanced at the small amulet worn around the woman’s necklace as she was drawing her blood. It had Junnaveil’s cameo on it. She seemed to be a believer of the Goddess. And a staunch one at that, judging by the almost pristine state of the cameo.

“Bonnie, you are making Mr. Swinton uncomfortable,” Scarlet admonished the woman gently.

“Listen. Bonnie, is it? Have you ever had stomach ache after eating food that’s off? Or get a bad fever after staying out in the rain for too long when you were a kid?”

“Yes.”

“This is just a disease, just like any other illness. This is no divine punishment,” She spoke with a neutral tone. “As such, I can tell you this with all my heart. The gods had no hands in this”

“Truly?”

“That’s what I believe,” Connie straightened her back and waved her away. “Now, off you go. Let the next one in.”

The woman smiled appreciatively and left. As soon as she was out of an earshot, Scarlet spoke. “Thank you for your kind words. Some of the girls who follow the Faith…have been blaming themselves for being stricken by the sickness.”

“I’m just saying what I think,” Connie said. “But I really should say this. Again. If you really want to stop the spread, you should really stop accepting guests.

“That’s not up to me. And even if it is, it’s impossible. The moment we are closed, the guests will simply move on to other establishments. And the position that we painstakingly obtained through blood sweat and tears will simply be snatched up by them,” Scarlet said, eyes straight and resigned. “Our world is confined to this street. Until we are bought or we are too old to receive customers.”

“…very well. It’s your choice. We’ll finish up here and return to the brothel. I need to talk to both you and Madame Griselda.”

“Two diseases?” Madame Griselda gasped.

The Madame and Scarlet were meeting with Connie in the Club’s office. After hearing the news, Griselda grasped the edge of a sofa and tried to sit down to hide her feeling of sudden weakness. “Is this…is this true?”

“Correct. It was a misconception due to the incomplete understanding of the disease and the fact that the Hero of Calendia lumped them under one moniker,” Connie spoke dispassionately. “I’ll call them Type One and Type Two. Type One involves hard sores, fever, followed by rash and lesions on the patients’ private parts. Type Two is similar, but it developed faster with more aggressive symptoms…” she told them of what she found, while the two were listening to her with horrified expression.

“This is…grave news. But at least now we know something else about this accursed disease,” Madame Griselda tapped his lips with her fan. “Thus far, you are the only one who managed to find this out. You are indeed gifted, Lady Steelheart.”

“If you can find it out, why did the Healers and The Alchemists we invited cannot do the same? I’ve asked about this from my friends who knew Nobles who were treated by renowned Healers. Not one of them could even find out the truth about this disease,” Scarlet said, puzzled. “I don’t mean to question you, Lady Steelheart. But I cannot believe that they missed something so crucial!”

“They just don’t have the right tools,” Connie said simply, then tapped the side of her forehead. “Or the right knowledge.”

“Scarlet, please,” Griselda raised her fan sternly. “Forgive her, Lady Steelheart. Please continue.”

“Anyway, what this means is, that things are not going to be as straightforward as I want it to be. I have to make two types of cures for the two types of patients. Fortunately, only five out of the thirteen – no,” she remembered the faces of the new patients and corrected herself. “- Seventeen women under your care were infected by the Type Two Infidelity Disease. I can prepare the trial cure for the first type within a few weeks.”

“What? That fast?” Madame Griselda said. “Are you sure?”

“The first one is something I have a sort of record on, so it’s easier for me to do. Again, this is still a trial cure, so temper your expectations.”

“That is still good news,” Scarlet said with a hopeful tone.

“Wait…” Madame Griselda paused. “What about the cure for Type Two?”

“Now that one is tricky. For the second one, I need a sample from the source of the infection to be able to create the appropriate cure. And this is why I needed both of you here,” she paused. “I need you to trace the guests that were in contact with the five patients infected by the Type Two disease before they started showing symptoms. I think that because of my male disguise, the patients did not spill all the details I need.”

“This is…this is a very difficult thing you ask of us, Lady Steelheart. Our business relies on trust. If we are to reveal to you the guests using our more…involved services, if it got out for any reason, we will be ruined,” Madame Griselda answered with a cold expression.

“Madame!” Scarlet said angrily. “

“I’m sorry, Scarlet. I cannot risk breaching our trust with the guests.”

Hearing the answer, Connie simply stated. “Very well, I’ve promised Prince Elhart to do my best. So, I’ll just do what I can, with what I have. As for the Type Two patients,” Connie shrugged, her fake bouncy chin shook as she did so. “Let their Goddess save them.”

With a turn of her heel, Connie left Madame Griselda’s office. But just as she was about to reach the bottom of the steps, Scarlet caught her by the arm. “Forgive me…” she gasped for breath. “Mr. Swinton, may I have a word with you?”

Scarlet took her to a corner and asked her. “If I help you with tracing the guests, will you be able to make the cure.”

“Yes,” Connie stated simply. “I wouldn’t say it if I wasn’t confident.”

“Alright then, I’ll help you. But it’ll have to be behind Madame’s back.”

“Sure.” Connie took out her brush and a piece of paper and wrote on it before handing it over to her. “I’ve written what you need to look out for.”

Scarlet’s eyes flit through the beautifully written notes and nodded. “I can do this.”

“Excellent. How many days do you need?”

“Three - no – two days.”

“Then I will return after three days.”

During the two days that followed, Scarlet had gathered enough information with the help of two of her trusted girls who had been with her for years. As she read the reports, she found that a name appeared a few times. A woman’s name.

“Oh, this is…this is not good.”