Irene Decided to Die - Chapter 115
“That’s a lie! You used to say you wished the world would end.”
“That was before I met others. Now I have many precious people, and the world has become precious too.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
At Charles’ words, Diana nodded. She seemed to understand.
“Well, I also want my sister to be happy. For that, the world must not collapse.”
Seeing her resolute answer, an involuntary smile appeared on my lips.
“Shall we get moving then?”
“What do you plan to do first?”
“First, we need to deal with the poison. And if possible, the curse as well.”
“Is that possible?”
Charles asked, his eyes wide with surprise.
“It would be if we could remove the bracelet at once, but the heretics might notice, so we’ll have to undo it gradually and secretly.”
“Understood. I will inform trustworthy people in advance.”
“Thank you for your help.”
“No, thank you.”
He looked as if he might kneel any moment, so I quickly stopped him.
“It’s okay. Really, it’s okay.”
After barely managing to stand up, I was quickly exhausted again. Noah, who had been so frail at first, became healthier after some exercise, so perhaps I could do the same?
Once this ordeal is over and I return, I should ask Burt to help me build up my strength too.
* * *
For the next few days, Irene treated the villagers bit by bit.
Since the antidote was needed once a week, she had to ensure everyone was treated by then.
At the same time, she had to avoid getting caught by Luciel, who visited once a day, making it a challenging task.
‘But I have to do it.’
Luckily, the poison wasn’t the kind that caused immediate pain, so it didn’t hinder her movements.
‘Just a few more people left.’
The goal was truly within reach.
“It’s better not to treat the remaining people,”
Charles said, which was a problem.
“Why?”
Irene asked, stirring the pot with a ladle.
She had insisted on helping, so she was given the task of stirring the pot with Charles.
“There might be traitors among them,”
Charles said, pouring the rest of the cornmeal into the pot.
It still tasted bland, but it was better than nothing.
At least it filled their stomachs.
“Traitors?”
“While living here, I discovered that someone has been leaking our information to the outside.”
Next, they added finely chopped potatoes to the pot, a rare special meal they had been provided.
“At first, it was strange. How could outsiders know about our conversations? We even considered the possibility of eavesdropping with magical tools, but that wasn’t the case. Then, we started to trace back everything that had happened.”
“So, you found out from there.”
“Yes.”
As he threw more firewood into the fire, the conversation continued.
“The remaining few are the ones we’ve narrowed it down to as much as possible.”
“Couldn’t there be innocent people among them?”
“There could be, there could be not.”
It was a troublesome issue. Was there no better way? Irene pondered while stirring the pot.
“Your arm must be getting tired. Shall we switch?”
“It feels like I just started stirring, though?”
“Let’s switch.”
Charles took the ladle and stirred the pot. Unlike when Irene stirred, the powder dissolved easily.
‘Strength is what’s needed after all.’
She resolved again to build up her strength once this ordeal was over. Lost in thought, Irene remembered something.
When she had felt a sense of foreboding before, hadn’t it happened?
It was said that the ominous feelings the saintess experienced could turn into premonitions.
‘Then, could I also detect lies?’
It was worth a try. Irene tossed more firewood into the fire and shared her thoughts with Charles.
“Then I will arrange for you to meet them one by one.”
“Alright.”
The bland soup was ready, and they began distributing it. The fact that people survived on just two meals of this a day was impressive.
She wanted to give more to the children, but the quantity was barely enough.
“We should have added more water.”
“That would just fill their stomachs with water.”
“At least they’d feel full for a while.”
Charles took the portions of soup for himself and Irene and led her.
“This is the first person.”
