"It's the same…."
This was supposed to be something that the protagonist would have to discover later down the road. During his investigation, the protagonist would come upon a shop that sold medicine for people to drink. The words that the author used to describe this tonic that had people lining up for were red, sweet, syrupy, and has an addictive aftertaste. After having a drink of this, the symptoms would temporarily stop showing, but after a day has passed, the disease would return even stronger than before. Drinking this type of medicine was akin to chugging down poison, yet people still continued to drink it.
"Give all of them to me, now."
After stating his command, Herbert threw away the contents of the bottle on the floor and made sure that it was empty before returning the container back to Clive. Seeing his actions, the room turned silent. Even Ingrid who was just watching the show had her eyebrows raised at Herbert's unexpected actions. Clive and his wife were dumbfounded, perhaps they had sold their souls to the devil.
"My lord- please-"
"YOU! You bastard!"
Suddenly, a child's angry voice exclaimed and disrupted their conversation. Herbert felt impressed that he would have the guts to interject when his father was clearly showing him his utmost respect.
"Collins don't be rude!"
"But father he-"
Before they could continue to argue, Herbert raised his hand to stop Clive from chiding his son.
"No, it's fine. This goes to show how much he cares for his mother, right?"
Despite Herbert asking him, Collins did not even nod his head for a reply. He just stared back at Herbert with animosity. Herbert didn't mind his fierce expression, but Clive was worried for his own son.
"Don't worry child. I only threw it away because your mother won't be needing it anymore. Why don't we make a bet? Would you believe me if I say that I will make sure that she could stand up on her own again after a week?"
Hearing his words, the child's eyes lit up, but he seemed to remember something as he bowed his head down and knelt on the ground.
"If- If you can really do as you say, then I will be under your servitude for all eternity."
Clive's eyes widened, he did not remember teaching his own child how to speak like an adult, but he guessed that he might have picked it up from him.
"I'm sorry for all the trouble that my son has caused you, my lord. We are forever thankful for your grace and mercy."
Once everything has settled, Herbert motioned for Ingrid to come closer. Earlier on, he had been teaching Ingrid about the basics of using her own powers. This time, he needs the effects of both of the powers from her two different bloodlines.
The Rozenblood's bloodline originated from a life form that is extremely similar to a rose, whenever Ingrid uses her bloodline to materialize it in its weapon form, which is the whip, the thorns that cover it have an effect of causing bleeding. Once she focuses her energy on it, she could also suck the blood out of whatever it touches. This weapon is very sinister, but in this case, Herbert intends to use it for medical purposes.
Meanwhile, the Larksong's bloodline has a minor effect of healing whoever hears the song by putting the listeners in an extremely relaxed state. Once both of her powers are combined, she would be a terrible foe on the battlefield. Naturally, this was just her basic kit, once she is equipped with the treasure from her ancestor, she would become nearly unstoppable.
After commanding his guards to scatter and keep watch, he asked Clive to remove the blanket that is covering his wife's feet. Once it was removed, Ingrid found herself pitying the sick woman in bed. Her feet had dark spots; it was almost as if her body parts were rotting despite her staying alive.
"Ingrid, I want you to stay focused this time. Follow my words strictly and just think of this as training."
Ingrid nodded her head and became very obedient. She understood Herbert's intentions to heal the woman. Although she wasn't as confident in herself, how can she back down when the person who gave her a chance to completely awaken was asking just a small matter from her? Besides, she had already promised to repay the favor that she owed him in her heart.
"First, I want you to materialize the Thorn whip and place one thorn on her left heel."
Herbert then asked Collins for a basin filled with warm water to place under her left foot.
"Don't move it and let it continue bleeding."
As her wound continued to bleed, the water in the basin turned into a deep shade of red.
"Ingrid. Sing. Now."
After hearing those words, Ingrid started humming and utilizing her Larksong bloodline. Everyone around her became mesmerized by her melodious voice. However, Herbert tried to remove the influence of her voice and focused on the task at hand. At the moment, the most important step was still not yet finish, so he could not let his mind enjoy the heavenly feeling of listening to Ingrid.
It didn't take long for the situation to suddenly change. Dark liquid started to drop from the bedridden lady's foot. Herbert narrowed his eyes as he maintained his focus. According to the novel, the protagonist had first discovered a worm-like organism that moved around the body of the patient, as the reincarnation of the sword saint, he had managed to slay the worm with accurate and pinpoint precision and had slashed through it in one sword strike. However, doing just that wasn't enough to save the entire city from the plague. They would still need to recuperate for a long time before they could completely recover.
Those that had live worms in their bodies were carriers that could spread the disease; however, the worms did not need to remain alive for a person to get sick. They only needed one chance to enter the human body to infect them. The red tonic that was given to Clive and his wife contained nutrition for the worm to keep it alive so it could spread the disease. This was the reason for Herbert's earlier actions. He didn't want to explain anything to them as it would be bothersome, so he just hoped that he could carry through with his plans with his charisma and prestige as a member of the Ravenmoon family.
Despite how strong the author had made the protagonist in the original story; he was still only one person. He would never be able to completely cure an entire city by himself; this is why the cure to this disease needed to be discovered. While experimenting, one of the companions of the protagonist discovered the behavioral patterns of the parasite. While they would move around the body at normal times, whenever a patient had been given the red tonic the parasites would temporarily settle near the left foot of the human body. But opening up a wound in that region would not completely solve the problem itself. One needed to suck it out of the body to remove it or they would need to increase the temperature of the left foot to make the worm leave on its own.
In the first case, Herbert was worried that the worm might be persistent enough and infect the person that would suck on the open wound. On the other hand, he could also try the second method, but he didn't know at what specific temperature was needed as the novel did not mention any of it. This is why he was reluctant to try the operation the first time that he saw Clive's wife, however, with Ingrid's help, his worries had been lessened.
While Herbert was on the ready, he eventually saw signs of something coming out from the open wound. In a split second, a dark light flashed as a dark feather embedded itself into the worm, pinning it to the basin. With a sigh of relief, he asked Ingrid to remove the whip and asked her to continue singing. This would help reduce the amount of time that is needed for the recuperation of Clive's wife.
The entire thing went smoothly and Herbert felt pleased. Now all he needed was to get the tax collector and he could finally leave. As he commanded some of his guards to help Clive and his family, he also asked Clive to call for the people who were in his gang.