Graven sighed. "The waiting for the result is killing me!" he said out of the blue.

"Me too!" Terros agreed. ​​

The men that have ingested the medicine were smiling and laughing at each other's jokes.

Veronica watched them from the kitchen window while preparing the dishes for lunch.

A few hours later.

Lunchtime comes.

Veronica finished cooking the dishes and put everything in the serving dish. She arranged the plates and utensils in the wooden tray.

Terros and Graven came into the kitchen, took the dishes away, and served them to the men outside.

Veronica began eating while watching the men eating their meals together with Terros and Graven through the kitchen window.

Half an hour later, the men finished eating their meals.

Graven and Terros brought the dirty dishes into the kitchen, and Veronica began washing them in the sink.

Time for the men's medication.

Terros began putting the correct dosage of the herbal elixir on the five plastic bowls. Done, he set aside the bottle, and Graven picked up the wooden tray.

The men left the kitchen and the house and distributed the medicine to the men outside.

Terros and Graven went back to the balcony watching the men relaxing on the wooden bench, enjoying the gentle afternoon breeze.

Veronica joined the men on the balcony after she finished cleaning the kitchen.

"I wonder if the medicine is effective at all?" Terros spoke all of a sudden.

"Well... it's too early to tell..." Graven replied.

"That got me thinking also. We're already on the second dose, and no reaction from the men yet. We don't know if the medicine is already working or not effective at all?" Veronica said. "Anyways, it's the first time we have tested the medicine on a live body, so we don't know yet how it will affect them. Maybe the medicine will finally take effect after we administer the third dose tonight," she concluded.

"Probably..." Terros replied.

Since there's nothing to do, the five men took a nap under the shades of the tree.

Terros and Graven also doze off on the balcony while Veronica was already thinking about what dishes to cook for the men's dinner tonight. Ah, she will make a rice porridge! She will add spring onion, ginger, and chicken meat!

Bright idea!

Since it's too early yet to prepare for dinner, she might as well take a nap in her room. She walked towards the door of her room and disappeared inside.

Two hours later.

The men woke up from their afternoon nap.

The first sign finally came!

One of the men bolted towards the bushes and began vomiting, followed by another, and soon the five men were having a contest vomiting behind the bushes, fifteen meters away from the house.

Terros and Graven woke up to the sound of the commotion, they looked at each other.

"The first reaction finally come!" Terros said.

"How bad it could be?" Graven asked.

"We have no idea yet. We're hoping that they don't have to suffer longer, and the black liquid will finally be discharged from their bodies!" Terros said. "Let's get the drinking water ready so that they can get rid of the yucky and bitter taste of their vomit from their mouth," Terros said.

Veronica exited her room and looked at the window. She was awakened by the sounds of people throwing up. She saw the men vomiting behind the bushes. The first sign that the medicine was finally working as intended to be, finally happens!

It's a good sign!

Time to prepare the meals for dinner. The men will feel hungry after vomiting the food they have eaten earlier. Aha! Aside from the porridge, she will also boil the sweet potato to add variety to her dishes.

Half an hour later.

The men finally finished vomiting and sit down on the wooden bench to rest and recuperate. They all wore haggard expressions on their faces. Terros and Graven distributed the glass of water.

"How are you feeling, guys?" Terros asked them.

"Terrible!" answered one of the men.

"I feel like I'm dying!"

"Awful!"

"My tummy hurts due to vomiting too much!"

"I'm feeling thirsty and hungry!" said the other.

Graven took a deep breath. "Just bear it a little bit longer, guys! You will receive the last dose of the medicine tonight after dinner," he said.

The men nodded their heads.

"What's the color of your vomit?" Terros asked.

"It's color black, and it stinky!" one of the guys replied.

Terros smiled a bit. "That's good! It seemed the medicine is working hard in removing the black liquid from your body," he commented. It's his way of boosting the morale of the men.

"Hopefully so!" one of the men said.

"Men, how are you feeling... aside from the vomiting part?" Graven asked them.

"Not much. Vomiting is the only unpleasant side effect of the herbal medicine that we are experiencing right now," one of the men said.

"That's good! Hopefully, the medicine can flush out all the black liquid from your bodies," Terros said optimistically.

Graven's face brightened up a bit, he was expecting a positive result from this experiment, and he was not disappointed.

"Can we go to the stream, my lord? We want to do some washing and cleaning because we feel dirty? Besides, we also need to get water to wash out our vomit behind the bushes so that it won't stink anymore..." requested by one of the men.

"Sure!" Graven said. "Follow us! We will accompany you in the stream..."

"Wait for a second... I'll get the water jug. We might as well get drinking water!" Terros said.

"Just stay here, Grandpa! I'll get the water jug from the kitchen," Graven offered and walked towards the wooden staircase and disappeared inside the house.

A few minutes later, Graven emerged from the house and went downstairs carrying two water jugs in both hands. The men took the jug from him. They walked towards the location of the stream located a few meters away from the bamboo house.

It was already late in the afternoon.

A few hours from now, the daylight will fade away, giving way to the darkness.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen.

VVeronica was busy preparing dishes for dinner. She was supposed to go back to the deity's place at the Windless Mountain but decided to stay in the forest for another day to help the men and also observed the effectiveness of the medicine so that she has something to report to Elva.

On the stream.

After filling the water jug with clean water, the men began cleaning themselves with the freshwater.

Terros and Graven stayed in the bank, watching the men did their thing.

A few minutes later, they finished their business in the stream and went back to the bamboo house.

When they arrived at the house, the surrounding area already starts to darken.

The evening is coming!

"Guys, dinner is ready!" Veronica informed them from the balcony. She went back to the kitchen.

Graven and Terros entered the kitchen to get the men's dinner and bring them outside.

"Where are they going to sleep?" Veronica asked.

"In the balcony, it's wide enough to accommodate ten people," Terros replied.

"But we're lacking blanket and pillows here," Veronica reminded him.

"That's not a problem! I have pillows and blankets in the headquarters. I can go there in the blink of an eye and get those stuff before sleep time," Graven said.

"Great! Now that's settled. Let's eat dinner!" Veronica told them.

Terros and Graven picked up the wooden trays filled with food and bring them to the men outside.

Standing by the window, Veronica watched the men ate the dinner that she prepared for them. She went back to the table and ate her food alone at the kitchen table.

Half an hour later.

The men already finished eating dinner.

Veronica washed the dishes in the kitchen sink while Terros prepared the herbal medicine in the plastic bowl.

Graven watched the process with a keen eye.

"This will be the third and the last dose of medicine that we are going to administer to the boys for today. And from then on, we have to wait on what's going to happen next..." Terros said.

Veronica glanced at the men. "Graven, why don't you start taking the medicine now?" she asked him.

Terros and Graven looked at each other, their eyes widened in amazement.

"Why we didn't think about that?" Terros blurted.

"Yeah? Why I didn't think about it? We got preoccupied with the experiment and focused our attention on the men that I have forgotten that I'm also a carrier of the black liquid!" Graven said, scratching his head in amazement.

The men laughed at their foolishness.

"Okay, give me a dosage!" Graven said.

"Alrighty!" Terros smiled.

Veronica put a clean plastic bowl on the table.

Terros poured five tablespoons of herbal medicine into the plastic bowl. "Here's your medicine, son!" he said.

"Thank you, Grandpa!" Graven said and raised the bowl into his lips and drink it in one go. "Oh man, the taste... it's so bitter!" he complained, his mouth twitched into a grimace after taking the medicine.

Terros and Veronica smiled at each other.

"I already tasted it!" Veronica said. "How about you, Grandpa?" she challenged him.

Terros smiled. "Alright, let me taste a little bit," he said and put one tablespoon in his mouth.

Veronica smiled after seeing the old man's face.

"Damn! That was so bitter!" Terros bemoaned.

Done in the kitchen. The men brought the tray outside so that the five men can drink the final dose of the medicine.

Graven teleported to the headquarter to get pillows and blankets and returned after fifteen minutes.

Two hours later.

Another side affects hit the men.

The men's bodies were very hot! They got a high fever and vomited black liquid every thirty minutes.

The trio attended to the men all night long.

At 3:00 in the morning, the vomiting finally stopped, and their high fever is gone.

They finally fall asleep, exhausted to the max.