NOVEL NEXT Chapter 17
Chapter 17: We Need a Variable (2)
“What did you say?”
Belinda looked at him in disbelief.
Even while they were talking, the red spots all over the girl’s body bloomed like flower petals, only to slowly fade away again.
Some spots were completely swollen, oozing pus, while others just flickered in and out of existence.
Belinda observed Gillian’s daughter for a moment before speaking up.
“This illness is definitely ‘Eternal Punishment.'”
Ghislaine nodded.
‘Eternal Punishment’ is a dreadful disease that cannot be cured even with Divine Power.
Because of this, the clergy claimed that it was a punishment for people who committed great sins in their past lives.
As that thought crossed her mind, Ghislaine clicked her tongue absentmindedly.
“Anyway, I really dislike that side of things. The Saint keeps nagging me every day… No, it’s nothing. Just old memories.”
When the others tilted their heads in confusion, Ghislaine quickly changed the subject.
“Anyway, this is just a simple illness. It’s not a punishment from God, nor is it a chain that binds you since birth. It’s a disease that can definitely be treated.”
However, Belinda couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at her confident tone.
“How on earth does the Young Master think he can cure something that no one else can? This illness doesn’t even respond to Divine Power.”
While Divine Power can usually cure most diseases, this one was an exception.
If you poured Divine Power into it, it might temporarily seem to improve, but it wouldn’t be long until the symptoms relapsed and the person collapsed again.
“Divine Power only temporarily suppresses the illness. But even that has its limits. In the first place, ordinary people find it hard to keep receiving Divine Power treatments continuously.”
In the temple, Divine Power wasn’t easily given out, except during rare large-scale relief operations.
Nobles or those with plenty of money could easily take advantage, but for the poor, it was just a tale from another world.
“They must have already spent all their fortune.”
Gillian nodded weakly.
He had earned quite a bit of money in the past, but after long-term care for his daughter, he was now destitute.
He had spared no expense to treat his daughter, but it was like pouring water into a bottomless pit.
“Anyway, let’s leave. The Young Master has no further reason to stay here.”
Belinda simply wished that Ghislaine wouldn’t get too close to the girl.
Though the rumors of contagion were false, she couldn’t shake off her unease.
She wasn’t alone in her feelings. Others were also quick to avoid anyone afflicted by the illness.
People were busy avoiding the sick person.
Catching that unlucky disease meant a lifetime of suffering, so even if it was just a baseless rumor, there was no reason to willingly stay close to the patient.
“No, I must treat her. It’s a relief that it’s not too late.”
But Ghislaine shook his head firmly.
He understood why Belinda was trying to stop him, but there was no way he was thought of turning back now that he’d finally found someone.
Remembering the story from his past life and coming to find Gillian was lucky. The timing was precariously perfect.
Gillian’s daughter would die not long after. Heartbroken over her death, Gillian would give up everything and take his own life.
If that had happened, he would never have met Gillian again.
“You’re going to treat her yourself?”
“I’m the only one who knows how to treat this disease right now. Of course, I have to do it!”
Belinda raised her hands and gave up trying to stop him.
Ghislaine had always been this stubborn since he was young. Once he dug in his heels, even Belinda couldn’t change his mind.
Seeing Ghislaine brimming with confidence, Gillian couldn’t say a word.
It was a dream come true to cure an incurable disease, but was that even possible?
But Gillian didn’t have the strength left to either believe or deny that statement.
At that moment, Gillian’s daughter began to tremble violently in pain.
“Ah, ugh…”
“Rachel!”
Gillian rushed towards his daughter, calling her name anxiously.
“The Eternal Punishment” brought forth incredible fever and unimaginable pain at any moment.
“AAAH!”
It was hard for Belinda and the knights to bear the sound of her painful scream, and they turned their heads with troubled expressions.
Despite wanting to avoid getting involved with Ghislaine, it was painful to witness the sick person’s suffering.
With so much agony, she had already torn the bed sheets apart, and her nails had become ragged, oozing blood and pus.
The dark, dried bloodstains on the bedclothes vividly displayed how immense Rachel’s suffering was.
As blood leaked from her mouth, Gillian quickly propped Rachel up to let her blood out—lying down and throwing up blood could choke her.
“Ugh, AAH!”
“Rachel, Rachel… It’s okay, it’s okay…”
Both Rachel, frothing at the mouth in pain, and Gillian, who was equally tormented, were in agony.
Seeing her father shivering while holding his daughter tightly, Belinda gritted her teeth.
‘Not much time left.’
“The Eternal Punishment” wasn’t a disease that exhibited such severe symptoms from the start.
It only began with one or two red spots on the body and a slight fever.
As time went on, the condition would worsen until even Divine Power would be ineffective, leaving behind only excruciating pain.
Looking at Rachel’s state, it seemed they had already reached that end.
“Ugh, Ah, Ah, Dad… I’m… I’m in so much pain… AAH… I want to die… Dad, please…!”
“Rachel, Rachel…”
Gillian held his daughter tightly to prevent her from thrashing around, and he finally shed tears.
All that filled his eyes was a desperate wish to end this hellish pain.
‘It hurts.’
“Now I can’t hold on any longer.”
“Let’s die together.”
“I’m sorry, Rachel.”
It was something he had always imagined but could never bring himself to execute.
But as Gillian sensed the end approaching, his eyes dimmed like a dying ember. This must be the last gaze of one who has given up on life.
Belinda and the knight-errants turned away completely, unable to bear the sight any longer.
Only Ghislaine watched the tragedy unfold with a serious expression.
As Rachel’s convulsions began to subside, Ghislaine finally spoke.
“Belinda.”
“Yes, yes?”
Sniffling, Belinda quickly lifted her head and approached Ghislaine’s gesture.
“We need to start treatment as soon as the convulsions stop. I’ll write down the necessary herbs, so get them all without fail.”
Ghislaine glanced at Rachel, trying to recall memories, then swiftly pulled out paper and a pen from his pocket and began writing.
Belinda received the paper and was taken aback.
“You want me to buy the Fairy’s Blessing?”
“Yes.”
The Fairy’s Blessing was a flower worth several times its weight in gold.
It was so precious that only the incredibly wealthy could even dream of acquiring it.
“No, my lord. Why something so expensive…?”
“Because it’s the most important ingredient. There’s no time. We don’t know when another convulsion might strike, so it’s best to make the medicine as quickly as possible.”
With no other choice, Belinda stepped outside to buy the herbs. The knights also prepared the tools for making the medicine at Ghislaine’s command.
Gillian, having calmed his daughter who finally stopped convulsing, stared blankly at the scene.
He was already too worn out in body and spirit to stop Ghislaine from doing whatever he was planning.
When Belinda returned with the herbs, Ghislaine immediately began the process of making the medicine.
‘It’s an incurable disease now, but a treatment method will be discovered in the future.’
The buzz around it was so prevalent that even Ghislaine remembered the method.
The problem was that it used extremely expensive materials, but the mixing ratios didn’t need to be precise, and the preparation method itself wasn’t difficult.
Thanks to that, it was a blessing that Ghislaine, who had never studied pharmacy, could awkwardly mimic a pharmacist.
Ghislaine started carefully crafting the medicine according to the remembered recipe.
The group watched him with curious eyes, wondering if he could really make medicine.
To be honest, they found it hard to believe, but seeing Rachel in pain made them hope that even a little of the medicine would have an effect.
Gillian looked at Ghislaine, who was seriously making the medicine, and asked weakly, “I met you for the first time today. Why are you doing this?”
He couldn’t understand why Ghislaine was suddenly rushing to treat his daughter’s illness and making medicine with such expensive materials.
But Ghislaine didn’t even look at Gillian; he was only focused on making the medicine.
“I’m going to cure her, aren’t I? Does it need a grand reason to heal someone who’s suffering?”
“…….”
It felt like something a fraud would say.
But even if he were a fraud, it didn’t matter now. A father just wanted to cling to any glimmer of hope.
As if mocking the resignation built over the years, hope sprouted once again in his heart.
But he knew all too well that nurturing hope only to be crushed would lead to even greater despair.
Gillian could neither extinguish nor nurture hope, he could only watch Ghislaine with trembling eyes.
I could only watch Ghislaine with trembling eyes, unable to break or nurture the situation.
“All done.”
The purple liquid in the small flask looked like it was melted amethyst.
Ghislaine approached Rachel, holding the vial in one hand.
He gently lifted Rachel’s unconscious head and carefully poured the medicine into her mouth.
The party members watching soon displayed disappointed expressions. There seemed to be no change at all.
“Don’t look so worried, and wait a bit. It’s not magic; do you think she’ll get better the moment she takes it?”
Ghislaine brought a chair next to Rachel’s bed and crossed his arms.
The others had no choice but to wait boringly at his side.
“Ugh!”
A few hours later, Belinda, who had been dozing off next to Ghislaine, snapped her eyes open at someone’s shout.
“What! Is it the enemy?”
The knights stared wide-eyed in shock at something.
“Is that… for real?”
Gillian was the same.
“Th-this… the medicine… really…”
Ghislaine smiled with satisfaction.
“It worked. Honestly, I was a bit worried.”
Belinda’s eyes widened in surprise as the spots on Rachel’s face and body began to fade away.
While the spots would lighten when divine power was used, they wouldn’t actually disappear like this.
However, now on Rachel’s body, there were only traces of blood left, and the spots that had been scattered all over had definitely disappeared.
Belinda moved closer to Ghislaine and trembled as she asked, “Is it really healed? Are you sure?”
Gillian, barely able to breathe, waited for Ghislaine’s response.
To see results this pronounced was a miraculous situation that made his heart race.
“It won’t be cured all at once, but she should be much better. Still, we should check, right? I’ll give you money, so go get a priest.”
One of the knights swiftly grabbed the money from Ghislaine and dashed off. He also wanted to confirm if she was truly healed.
A short while later, a plump priest swaggered in after following the knight.
As soon as he entered the house, he pinched his nose and grimaced.
“Oh dear, the goddess likes cleanliness… I’ve never seen a trash heap this bad. This is a hell of the living. Are you demons living in such hell?”
Everyone ignored the priest’s words. Ghislaine chuckled and gestured for him to come over.
‘What a cheeky little brat, gesturing like that.’
The priest grumbled to himself but couldn’t say anything outwardly, having been given a hefty sum of money.
“Ahem, I’ve come to see the sickly. But who is it? I did come because you showed some sincerity, but I can’t stay long due to my busy schedule.”
Nodding, Ghislaine pointed to Rachel.
“This impudent… this girl?”
The priest recognized Rachel right away, having treated her a few times at the temple before.
“Haha, this illness cannot be healed with divine power. I’ve said it many times, and yet you still haven’t given up? Divine power merely suppresses the disease… Wait a minute. What have you done?”