I strolled through the city in the early morning, heading to the apothecary of Crown City instead of the Studium Generale, where I could also have found some healing consumables.
Why, yes, I was unashamedly avoiding Nostradamus.
He had information alright but it was trying to get the information out of him painlessly. For a half-alfr, he sure was an old fox.
The bell on top of the door chimed as I entered the brightly lit and clean apothecary. The large building was a stark contrast to the one in Pearltower, partially since the ingredients were on another floor. Only completed medicines and products were on display in the rather large store.
It was still early enough there were no customers at the front, while the female shop assistant was sleepily sprawled behind the counter.
Walking around the shop, it was a bit of an adventure.
The state of medicine was rather interesting in Gaellia, mostly due in part to the existence of mana. Because of the mana "veins" within the earth, most of the plants in this world had residual traces of mana. Animals who feed on these plants also get a bit of mana and so on.
It was fairly backward in some ways—surgery did not exist and cutting an individual open would get you slapped with the label of heretic faster than one could blink.
When it came to treatment and the actual drugs, it was half Chinese herbal medicine and half chemistry as far as I could tell. No one has tried to refine the herbal remedies further, possibly since it already worked? I wasn't sure but drugs were in a strange half-state.
Magic can also be used for healing but that was where there were ethical debates. The academics were very stringent about the study of magic used for healing, because of the existence of Mana Madness. They were not sure about long-term effects of using magic to heal someone and it was still being studied.
Of course, there were magic-users that did use magic to heal but it was technically not exactly above-board. One had to go to the Council of Scholars and make a case for using a method to heal someone else before it was approved.
I thought it was rather prudent of the Council of Scholars, actually. Some of the methods I read about seem like a way straight to get cancer several decades (or less) down the line. Rapid regeneration of cells was always iffy a concept.
Considering what I could take with my bond to 37, I only ended up buying antidotes with my rapidly depleting funds. Physical trauma I knew I could handle but I was not so sure about poison.
I mean, yes, I could eat alven fare without trouble but that was poison in small amounts and through my digestive system. What about if poison were introduced into my body via bloodstream or inhalation? Even skin contact with a potent poison.
My partner wasn't even sure since he had no sample data (aka it never happened to me yet) so I figured it was best to be safe than sorry.
Exiting the store a little after they started getting more customers, I looked to the sky while checking the time on my HUD.
Time for another spying session on the conference.
…
Once I arrived at a high window that overlooked the meeting hall, I settled down and focused on the Eastern contingent.
Managing to do a surface
Sidius. Bartho. Natasha. Jett. Hmmm…
There were also more people near the walls that belonged to the Eastern contingent.
I looked at the somewhat fat older man, Sidius, who was falsely obsequious. His clothes made from expensive brocade and velvet were understated colors but the rings on his fingers were gaudy.
There was his assistant, Bartho, tall and somber as much as Sidius was short and amiable. He was somewhat handsome with a firm square jaw and mocha-colored skin. I would guess he would be anywhere from his mid-twenties to early-thirties.
Natasha was the secretary, her blonde hair pulled into a plait while her face remained focused on her recording of the conference. She was dressed similarly to Elin, only she wore a vest like the rest of the Eastern contingent did, with a more cumbersome looking skirt.
Jett was the lackey. Dressed similarly to Bartho only with knickerbockers.
[What's wrong, Nori?]
I tapped my bottom lip in contemplation. I feel like something was off about the Eastern contingent but I can't quite figure out what.
Not letting it bother me for too long—it will come to me eventually—I considered the potential targets in the group. Sidius won without much competition because he'd be the perfect person to get more information from. He was the head of the group but he was also a kind of boisterous idiot that was easily manipulated.
A bit of pandering and I would have the man spilling his guts to me.
Decision made, I settled down until the group split for the day. As the Eastern contingent and Sidius left, I followed.