CH 25

Late at night.

Todok— Todok—

The sound that drummed along the roof was reminiscent of the pitter patter of rainfall, and the sound of it echoed within the walls. Upon receiving the signal, the young woman stood up cautiously and looked out the window.

The only thing that was lighting up the evening sky was the glittering starlight of several constellations, and it was late enough that all the health officials in this village—including Ethan—were already sleeping deeply.

“Still, just in case though.”

She knew just how intently Ethan was keeping an eye on her.

“If I get caught, I’ll get shipped off straight to the capital.”

That’s why she peeked out the window several times. Then, when she was convinced that the person who finally came was her friend, she opened the door at the back.

Creak—

A cold, misty breeze from outside seeped through the open door. The air from outside and the dry air from inside soon intermingled, and so the room finally felt a bit less stuffy.

“I’m sorry I left you outside for a long time. I just kept a lookout a bit longer just in case.”

“It’s okay. I also thought that’s what happened.”

Fortunately enough, Hannah didn’t really dwell on the name, ‘Reina Chantra’.

“When you first came here, Jay, I remember you came with knights. I already thought that was a bit unusual.”

And so it was finally revealed that her real identity was ‘Reina Chantra’, but would this piece of information matter to someone who lives in the mountains? In the first place, Hannah didn’t even have that much interest in the surname of ‘Chantra’.

“I’ll just keep calling you Jay.”

‘What a relief.’

Furtively boosting her own healing power to protect herself, Reina quickly led her guest inside.

“Did you find anyone who’s awake while you were on your way here?”

“No, they were all asleep.”

Taking off her long cloak, Hanna sat down, folded the cloak and set it at her side.

“I’ll observe the situation a bit more, then that’s when I’ll go visit Morgan.”

Reina certainly made a vow last time.

“Just as you said, Ethan, I won’t make any fuss inside the room.”

But of course, there was one little catch in that statement.

‘All I have to do is not make a fuss ‘inside’ the room, right?’

Of course, she’d honor her promise of not getting into any kind of trouble inside this room, but that also didn’t mean she’s not allowed to take it ‘outside’.

That’s why she had no intentions of doing any of that in this room.

‘That way, I won’t be breaking my promise.’

Even though she knew clear enough what Ethan wanted her to do through that promise, Reina interpreted it her own way comfortably.

She faced Hannah again.

“Did you check on what I told you about?”

“Yes. There are forty-nine people who aren’t affected by the epidemic.”

“Forty-nine? That’s a lot more than I expected though?”

Ethan and the other officials were treating this matter so seriously, so she was expecting that only a few villagers had escaped the disease. Still though, if forty-nine people were left unscathed, that meant that more than two-thirds of the entire village had not been afflicted.

“Have you noticed any other symptoms? Fever, fatigue, body aches—anything else?”

“Umm… If it’s those things, then I think those are the common symptoms.”

“I see… Do you know any patients who have all the listed symptoms?”

“I don’t think there’s one.”

Uncertainty made Hannah furrow her brows.

“Hmm.”

Of course, there were also infectious diseases that would go through asymptomatic incubation periods. Even so, when Hannah told Reina about her observations of villagers’ conditions from yesterday and today, there’s something perhaps unusual about it.

“Some people stayed close to the patients and even took care of them, but you guys didn’t get infected at all…”

Then, maybe this wasn’t an epidemic? It couldn’t be ruled out, however, because the spread of the disease definitely pointed to an epidemic.

‘The hypothesis that those forty-nine people have developed immunity is the most plausible likelihood…’

Forty-nine people who were immune.

“Hannah, can you tell me about the characteristics of those people?”

“Um… I’m not sure.”

Perhaps because the question was too broad, but Hannah couldn’t answer and instead pursed her lips.

“For example then, did everyone in your family avoid the illness?”

In this case, the immunity might have stemmed from the individuals’ genetic makeup, allowing them to produce neutralizing antibodies.

“Mm, no, that’s not right. Just inside my house, my dad and Morgan caught it, but my mom and I didn’t.”

Another possibility came to Reina’s mind when she heard Hannah’s question.

“The people unaffected by the epidemic, are they all women?”

If it’s truly an infectious disease that affects only one side on the gender spectrum, then it’s something that she had never heard of before.

However, she did know about some cases where women were more likely afflicted by a disease, or the other way around.

“Um… That’s not it either.”

“Haa… I guess that hypothesis is wrong, too. I wonder why those forty-nine people are fine?”

Infectious diseases were originally difficult to pinpoint. When she read somewhere that mankind, throughout all its history, was constantly at war against infectious diseases.

“I couldn’t tell what kind of disease it is, and the situation right now isn’t conducive to doing that…”

Besides that, the world she was in right now was a different place from Earth. And really, in the first place, Han Jae-hee wasn’t exactly a doctor back then.

So in a way, it’s only natural that she was stumped like this.

“But…”

She wondered, though. She had a hunch that it’s a disease that she knew about.

‘I feel like there’s really no clear delineation though.’

She felt it instinctively. This sensation that swept through her body and flowed through her limbs—it was the same sensation she felt right before she remembered her past life.

“First… Let’s go see Morgan.”

When checking the patient’s condition, a guide message just might pop into her mind.

It’s still far from daybreak, but she was in a hurry. Ethan had made it his priority to check on Reina very early every morning when he would wake up. That’s why she’d be left with very little time before then.

“I feel like he has a hunch that I’ll do something soon.”

She could feel it very clearly. She’d be getting herself into trouble soon enough.

“I just need to get ready first, then let’s go.”

Since she was living under one roof with a couple other infected people, Hannah was definitely immune to the disease. However, Reina didn’t know yet if she herself was.

So, she put on an extra pair of gloves on her hands, and she covered her nose and mouth with a sturdy handkerchief that she prepared. Then, she took a deep breath and heightened her healing power even more than before.

‘I don’t exactly know how my healing powers work, but… I’m certain that it’ll help defend me against the endemic disease.’

Of course, actively treating the disease was an entirely separate issue, but she was very certain that she could prevent it.

‘I’ll be fine if I have a constant stream of healing power going through me.’

No, it had to be enough. In this world, there was no discernment between infectious and bacterial diseases, and there was no appropriate treatment system for either, so catching an infectious disease here was practically like a death sentence.

‘That’s why, honestly, I also want to follow Ethan’s words and just go back to the capital, but…’

The friends that Reina had could be counted on just one hand and they were living here at Mount Thurn. How could she possibly turn a blind eye to them?

Steeling her resolve, Reina opened the door with a determined look in her eyes.

“Hannah. Let’s go.”

Testament enough to Ethan’s astute predictions, Reina was now well on her way to getting herself into some trouble.