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***
Present time.
After Yomite relieved his anger by taking care of the Dendro Bitch, the group was about to teleport back to Mondstadt.
Suddenly, he heard something.
His face instantly changed for the worse, thinking that there might be a monster on their way.
It was then, when a lone figure on a lizard mount approached them at high speed. It was accompanied by a wild screeching noise.
The one who appeared before them was unexpectedly Jean.
(Jean? What is she doing here? Isn't she usually busy in her office?)
He called out to her with a smile, "Jean, long time no see. Are you alright?"
Her complexion looked terrible, and she was on the verge of crying.
"Please...help me..."
Jean's voice was trembling. She looked like she was going to burst into tears at any moment now.
She had the atmosphere of a lost child that wasn't sure what to do.
Yomite had known Jean for quite a while now, and he had never seen her act like this before.
Something bad must have happened.
"I'm sorry...but for safety reasons, I can only take two people with me..."
The group was as confused as they could be...
"Jean...come on...calm down, and explain what happened."
Being dignified and graceful should have been her trademark, but right now Jean looked as pale as a corpse.
Yomite was convinced that something really serious must have happened.
"..."
Jean herself must have been aware that she was asking for something unreasonable here.
Her lips twisted in self-derision and she lowered her head powerlessly.
If it was her own life that was needed, Jean would give it away without the slightest hesitation.
However, Jean was completely powerless against the current situation.
It was as if her whole life of training was for naught.
She couldn't save the one she loved the most.
Even so, hoping for Yomite to do something about it was something that was very selfish of her.
She understood that logically. She understood, but──
"...This morning, we found that Barbara had suddenly collapsed after she returned from the village of Springvale...Our Favonius physician said...that it's a malignant disease and only a miracle can save her. She also said that so the disease doesn't spread and infect all of us, we should at least ease Barbara's suffering...and burn her...to death..."
Jean's expression was grieving as though it was she herself who was going to be burned.
Yomite silently made his decision seeing her like that.
He didn't know if he would be of help though. He was, after all, a novel reviewer, not a doctor.
Hu Tao, who understood what was going on inside Yomite's mind, frowned and grabbed Yomite's sleeve.
"We're not going."
Her resolute words made the group widen their eyes.
"I know that I'm asking for something unreasonable...but no matter how much I racked my head, I can only rely on your group, Honorary Knights and the Heroes who saved us before... Someone like you, so different from the rest of the populace I've ever met, capable of scolding an actual Archon without a problem...someone who is looking at the world differently from the rest of us... please save her..."
Because Visions and magic was spread around the world, the medical technology in this world wasn't advanced by any means compared to his old world...
What's more, from what she said, this was a contagious disease, it could be said that research regarding pathogens of the virus type was almost nonexistent here...
"There is no need for us to go. Those who are fated to pass on, shall do so. We don't need to put ourselves in danger as well."
Hu Tao's words were harsh, but from the teachings of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, those who were fated to pass on, shall do so without any resistance.
Same went for her grandfather.
If Barbara's condition was that bad, then she would perform the ceremony after she passed away and her soul would be at peace.
Wangsheng Funeral Parlor strictly forbade any kind of 'Interruption' of fate.
"Hu Tao, we need to go and try to see if we can help...don't be like that..."
"I'm not going, and neither should you...Yomite. I'm not a Hero, nor am I medically skilled enough to save someone and from what I've seen...neither are you. We will be putting our lives on the line for naught."
Yomite knew she was mad when she called him by his actual name and not the annoying nickname he grew so fond of.
He frowned at her words, she was right, but her twisted logic was the thing that made him angry more than ever.
"Can't you at least have some compassion towards her!? Her sister is about to die! We need to do something! Anything! It's better than doing nothing!"
This seemed to tick Hu Tao off...
"Rather, it would seem your small brain isn't capable of comprehending the current situation. So let me explain again. We're medically inefficient, we aren't heroes that would step into danger for no reason, we're adventurers, not medical practitioners... Once you try and help, you'll be infected as well! Not to mention, that if we try to do something, her condition might worsen and she would suffer even more...So I'm asking the Acting Grand Master now, are you sending us to our death?"
Jean lowered her gaze.
Everything Hu Tao said was the cold truth.
"Fuck! I hate your logic!"
He stabbed his claymore into the soil of the ground in anger.
He wasn't stupid, he knew and could understand her facts.
Yet he believed that maybe with Lumine's cheat abilities and his quick wit, they might be able to do something about it.
Still, the risk of getting infected was way too high.
He knew she was painfully right, but was it really okay to just let someone die like this...
He only met her a couple of times, but still...
Meeting someone who was such a kind person, only for them to die the next month…
How were the Gods of this world choosing people?
At least take someone who deserved death.
Forget it, it was the same back at Earth.
Innocent people died, disgusting animals in the form of human beings lived.
Lumine and Paimon also had a reluctant gaze.
They wanted to help, yet their medical skills were also non-existent...
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***
A day ago.
Barbara was headed to the Village of Springvale to carry out a task set by the Village Head.
The request was to send in a healer so naturally, Barbara as the Deaconess had to take part as she was a part of the support class from the Church of Favonius.
Her eyes sparkled with determination when she thought about the people who needed her help.
Unfortunately, she was of no help to the villagers, as Barbara could only heal minor injuries and skin issues, not actual illnesses.
No one in this world could heal illnesses with magic or spells. It was simply impossible.
The only way to help them would be to make medicine or be skilled enough in alchemy.
But alchemy masters were rare, and the Chief Alchemist Albedo, the Alchemist prodigy was currently unavailable as he went on an excursion to Dragonspine, and they weren't notified of his location.
As for making the medicine, no one knew what to do or how prepare it. It appeared to be a new illness never before seen.
There were no instructions that would save them.
They were...left for dead.
The request didn't specify what the villagers needed so Barbara dejectedly returned back to Mondstadt, blaming herself for being useless once again.
The Acting Grand Master Jean, her sister, told her not to worry about it, but her words weren't taken as encouragement, but discouragement instead.
They always were.
Once again, the inferior sister was unable to prove herself.
Unable to help anyone.
Locked in her own shell of depression, while everyone depended on her older sister instead.
Her older sister was stronger than her.
Better at swordplay than her.
Taller than her.
She was everything Barbara wasn't, and everything she strived to be.
She was...
More beautiful than her.
More dependable than her.
More charismatic than her.
More famous than her.
More.
More..
More...
...
..
.
What did she have that her sister didn't? What was it that she needed to do in order to feel like she was still alive?
To feel like she was actually worth something?
Even if you compared their Visions, Jean's Vision could heal a whole area of Knights in seconds while Barbara could only heal about four people at the same time, and she was supposed to be the healer, the supportive class.
She had nothing. Not a single thing she was superior at. Even if it came to simple things like spreading butter over a loaf of bread, she wasn't better.
(Pathetic, useless, inferior version.)
Barbara repeated those words in her mind whenever she went to sleep, whenever she woke up early in the morning, whenever she didn't manage to accomplish something...
Boiling with hateful emotions, every day when she woke up, Barbara was putting on a happy expression as a facade.
She swore to herself that she would only feel depressed for about thirty seconds before switching back to her happy persona, but that plan was already failing.
She stared at the mirror, trying to adjust her mouth and cheeks to form a smile, or a happy expression with her fingers as if she was an emotionless machine.
She was an "Idol" after all... She had to smile!
It was only natural! If people saw her with an emotionless expression, she would lose the only thing she had going for her, the whole "Idol" thing she read about ages ago.
(Disgusting. I hate you. I hope you die soon.)
She cursed in her mind as she looked at her pathetic reflection in the mirror.
And the day after she returned home yesterday, her terrible wish might have been fulfilled...
Not long after she woke up, Barbara suddenly collapsed...
***
"...I was the one talking to her yesterday. She seemed healthy, although she was obviously disappointed as she was not able to help those villagers, and yet─"
Jean looked down while biting her lip. Tears slowly welling up in her eyes.
"She collapsed..."
Jean knew that as the youngest child, Barbara had it the worst.
Their parents divorced when they were young and each of them took an heir for themselves.
One for the Knights of Favonius and one for the Church.
At that age, especially that young, it was really stressful to see your parents hate each other and then separate.
She wanted to take care of her little sister better, but they barely met each other when they were younger, and now, loads of work and other things were hindering Jean from even approaching her.
Not to mention that Barbara was actively avoiding her lately and always used excuses to make sure the two of them wouldn't be able to meet up.
Both of them lived in a completely different world.
One had dedicated her entire life to protecting Mondstadt, the other dedicated herself to praying to Archon Barbatos as his current followers were rapidly decreasing and so did his power.
Soon he might be even forgotten...
Right now, Jean hoped her little sister would be cured.
She placed all of her hopes on Lumine and Yomite, maybe even on Barbatos, who recently went missing.
If her sister was to succumb to this disease, she would be without a doubt stricken with terrible grief.
Unfortunately, although Jean was holding such high hopes towards Yomite, despite having memory of previous life, his knowledge of Illnesses was fundamentally shallow despite how vast it was when it came to novels and plenty of other things.
(I am not a doctor... But seeing her pleading eyes...I will do my best...)
It was completely unknown just how useful he would be.
Maybe he could use his Tempus of the Story ability to know the answer, or see her status with Tempus of the Heart...
There was still a chance.
(It'll be disappointing if I won't be able to help...But then again, maybe Lumine would be able to do something about it instead. She has plenty of cheats after all.)
Yomite was shaken by the running of the lizard-like creature he was sitting on, with his hands clinging onto Jean's sides, while Lumine whom they took with them, sat behind him.
It was a bit cramped, and it wasn't a horse but he still enjoyed the ride a lot.
(This is a new world...there might be different kinds of illnesses, bacteria, viruses... I honestly don't know if I can be of help...)
If Barbara was really infected with a contagious disease, Yomite would be unable to meet with Hu Tao, Iris, Fischl and the others until the disease's incubation period had passed.
That time would take more than a week.
Hu Tao would be alone for quite a while...
(Heck, why am I thinking of her at times like these... It's not like she didn't do her business while staying alone for the past who knows how many years. She pisses me off...Why did she have to act so stuck up...)
Despite what he was thinking, Yomite spent the most time with her out of everyone in this world and was concerned about her well-being.
He really valued this connection but wasn't yet sure if he wanted to expand it into something more... Something like being lovers.
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