Looking at the dried-out husk that was laying on the bed, I suddenly had an easier time empathising with Agard’s plight. His wife looked like a corpse, and not a recent one either. Grey, rippling skin… white tufty hair… The only sign that she was still alive was the subtle rise of her chest. She was still breathing despite… all of this. If I ever saw my mom like this, for example, I didn’t know how I would feel. Would I even be able to muster the courage to leave her side in search of a solution? Something like this would destroy dad.

Seeing the state that Agard’s wife was in, Emeri looked like she wanted to throw up. Luckily, she managed to keep herself composed.

“What kind of illness is this?” she eventually asked, breaking the silence.

Agard, who was gingerly holding a motionless hand and caressing his wife’s face, didn’t turn to look at us as he responded.

“I’m not sure. I think the healer I hired called it some kind of poison, secreted by a monster within the dark forest. Supposedly, the heartsevering liana was the jungle’s answer to that poison, balancing out the animal and plant life in the deeper regions. My wife was an adventurer before her accident. Something happened and her party members brought her back… like this.”

Giving his wife another once-over, I had a hard time imagining any poison leaving a person in this state. Then again, the system worked in mysterious ways. Still, whatever kind of creature we were dealing with was bound to be dangerous. Would dark form even work if I was poisoned by this creature?

“Hold on…” I wondered, “You said ‘poison’, right? Not venom?”

Agard shook his head, but from the look on his face, I could tell he wasn’t sure.

“I’m fairly certain that the healer called it a type of poison, not a venom. I’m… not sure how Hilda could have come into contact with it, either.” He replied, nonetheless.

“And you don’t know what kind of creature did it?” Emeri asked rightfully.

“No. Finding out would have cost valuable time and resources that I needed to keep her alive. My best option at the time was to petition Everic or his brother for a sample of the liana.”

“Which fell through, in the end.” I cut him off. “Where is her previous adventuring party? I’d like to hear from them about the creature that did this, as well as the current situation in the forest.”

Hearing my request, Agard tensed up. “Those traitors declined to help Hilda in any way, even financial support. I haven’t seen hide nor hair of them since they declined. Last I heard, they went on another quest into the forest…” he said bitterly. “Can you believe it? They continued going, as if Hilda never existed in the first place!”

Emeri had a sour look on her face, not taking this news well. As far as I knew, she hadn’t worked together with others much before, so her idea of an idyllic adventuring party must have been pretty naïve before coming here. Stories like these were always a heavy blow to optimists.

Seeing the conversation as over, I patted Emeri on the shoulder and walked out of the bedroom, before exiting Agard’s townhouse. Emeri followed without saying a word.

“So?” I asked, a few minutes later. “What do you make of his story? Do you believe him?”

Having noticed my companion’s inexperience with others, I felt it a good idea to awaken her inquisitive spirit. Paranoia wasn’t necessarily a good thing, but neither was naivety.

Emeri stopped and her eyes went wide, before she quickly turned to me.

“Are you telling me he was lying about all that?” she asked, more surprised and betrayed than anything else.

I chuckled. “No, no I don’t think so. Still, it’s good to exchange our thoughts before making a decision. We’re supposed to be a team, right?” I explained.

She nodded, clenched her fist, and raised it. “Right! We’re partners!” she exclaimed, regaining a sudden burst of enthusiasm. She tensed up but a moment later, however, her cheeks tinging a slight pink. “Uh, ignore that last part! I didn’t mean it like that!” she hurriedly added.

“Like what?” I asked, curious to see what she was getting at.

“Haha, let’s get back on topic!” she tried, her laugh sounding awfully forced. “I think he was telling the truth about the liana and the poison, but we can’t know if the healer and the party spoke the truth as well! We should have a talk with the healer, before setting off into the dark forest in search of this poison-remedying plant.” She proposed.

I nodded, impressed by her attentiveness. It seemed that I had been too hasty, seeing her as naïve. Though she had the bad habit of taking people at their word, she knew how to handle a situation that involved multiple perspectives, something that I had trouble with during my first few quests.

“I agree with all of that. Let’s get to it.” I commented with a half-smile. Emeri tried to match it, but it seemed forced. It seemed that she was starting to understand the responsibility she had volunteered us for. A life was on the line. No, two of them were.

-Scene transition-

“I’m telling you, I don’t know!”

“How can you not know, but still make such an assessment?” I countered.

Hilda’s healer had been refusing to answer any questions for about ten minutes now. The older man looked close to retirement, and he was as stubborn as a mule. First, he had refused to answer any questions, stating patient confidentiality. After we’d dragged Agard over to confirm our reasoning, however, he had turned to using ignorance as an excuse.

Eventually, I got so mad that I not-so-subtly put my hand on the hilt of my sword and released some overloaded mana. Just enough to make the air buzz in a low drone, nothing more.

Thankfully, my intimidation had the desired effect.

“Stop, stop! All right, it’s not that I don’t know, but that I can’t know.”

Suddenly, I had the urge to draw my blade and make good on my implied threat after all.

“No, no! Listen, the issue is that there are many creatures that secrete such a poison! It covers their bodies as a form of protection, you see. Lany frogs, poaras ants, and so on. They all live in roughly the same patch of the forest, because they rely on some kind of fungus that gives them their poisonous properties.”

That explanation only raised even more questions.

“If these creatures are so plentiful, how come there aren’t more cases all over the city of adventurers running afoul of them?” Emeri asked insightfully.

“That would be because only small creatures possess this poison, no big, high-tier monsters. A stroke of luck on our part, I’d say…” the hunched-over old healer commented, wiping his sweaty brow with a tissue. “For the poison to take effect, one would need to ingest a cup full or have a large amount of it spread onto a wound. That being said, once it takes effect, it’s damn near impossible to cure. It guarantees a slow death, lasting about half a year. Still, among the various poisons and venoms on the continent, it isn’t seen as one of the worst.” He continued pedantically.

Though I had the urge to interrupt his rant, every detail could matter.

“Then how could Hilda, a tier 3 adventurer, be poisoned like this?” I asked, in hopes of getting to the crux of the matter.

“There are two possibilities…” the old man began. “Either one of the small monsters mutated into a big one, tier 4 at the very least, or… there was ill intent involved.”

Neither seemed like a fun option. Especially the mention of ill intent was off-putting. Still, it cleared up some matters.

“How long would it take for us to get the cure?” I asked.

“How should I know, brat?! I’m just a healer, not an herbalist! Still… Hilda has maybe a month left. Whatever you decide to do, better hurry.” He warned.

I turned to look at Emeri, who still had a determined look in her eye.

“Are we doing this or not?” I asked, just to be sure. I already knew what her answer would be, though.

“We are.” She replied, nodding. It seemed we would be able to put that new map to use, soon.