R for Rabies

As they settle in, they suddenly hear quick footsteps. A man bursts in, his face bright with excitement.
“Did I hear correctly? Do we have guests? How wonderful!” he exclaims.

Ashira smiles. “You heard correctly.”
Amber adds, “Yes, please — if you want to offer something to drink, anything but tap water.”

The man beams. “Yes, yes! Nanny told me—my wife, that is. I’m Seth, Seth Ironwillow. My wife owns this place, and I’m the entertainer. I’m so happy to have guests! It’s been so lonely lately. If you’d like to hear me play, come downstairs. I’ll play the piano for you!”

Ashira grins. “That sounds lovely.” She looks to Amber, who nods.
“I don’t know what you’re going to do, Ambs,” Ashira says, “but I’m going downstairs.”
Amber agrees, and follows Ashira downstairs.

Seth claps his hands with delight. “Please, let me play you a song! I haven’t played for anyone in ages.”
Amber shakes her head. “That’s not necessary.”
“Oh, you’re so nice,” Ashira adds.
Seth insists, his voice eager. “I’m so happy you’re here, especially after hearing you found out why everyone’s been getting sick.” His expression dims; both he and Sundra look pale. “But I’m happy—so happy—that you’re here. Please, let me play you a song.”

Ashira nods warmly. “And so are we. We’re here to help.”

Outside, through the window, they notice the mayor putting up a sign near the well. Then Seth gestures. “Please, come. Follow me.”

As they head downstairs, Amber asks, “What is this inn called, actually?”
“The Drunken Piano,” Seth says proudly.
Ashira grins. “That sounds amazing.”

As he descends, Seth keeps talking. “If there’s anything you want to know about the city, or anyone here, I’m happy to tell you. We used to do well here… I hope we will again, soon, when everyone gets better.”
Amber murmurs, “Okay.”

Ashira asks, “Where did everyone go? I remember this being lively.”
Seth nods sadly. “Everyone’s still here—at least those still alive. They stay indoors. Too tired, too ill. The children aren’t as bad, but they’re kept inside, for safety.”
Ashira nods. “I get it.”

“But the shops are open,” Seth continues brightly. “If you want fresh meat, the butchery’s called Fresh Meat. The bakery is Hot Buns—inside joke. The general store’s Red Bluff’s Goods. The forge is still working, and there’s the All-Faiths Shrine. Leatherworks at Trusted Tanning, and several farms if you need milk or grain.”
Ashira laughs. “So lively, you’re so helpful.”

Seth nods. “The cattle are fine—they drink from the river. That’s why the dogs are sick, but the cats are fine.”
Ashira nods thoughtfully. “Makes sense.”

When they reach the piano, Seth smiles. “We have only one priest—he’s also the town’s doctor.”
Amber crosses her arms. “Somebody who thinks divine power can fix everything.”
“He tries his best,” Seth defends softly.
“I don’t doubt that,” Amber replies. “But he hasn’t cured anyone. He’s just seen people die.”
“That’s not true,” Seth says quickly. “He cured one, with a scroll. But they drank from the well again and fell ill.”
“Because they were stupid enough to drink that water again,” Amber mutters.
Seth sighs. “Probably.”
Ashira interjects gently, “Ambs, don’t accuse them. They didn’t know.”
Amber shrugs. “Okay, fine. You can start playing.”

He begins. The tune is imperfect but full of emotion. His enthusiasm lifts the room, his face glowing with energy as if the music itself heals him.

Ashira hums along, tapping her feet, strumming her lyre to join in. 

The performance turns chaotic. Seth’s rhythm is off; Ashira can’t catch the melody. But the joy of it carries them through—until Daiki appears in the doorway.

“Excuse me,” he says politely, “I’m trying to have some quiet time with the trees. Could you tone it down?”

Seth immediately stops, crestfallen. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to offend.” He looks toward his wife, who gives him a sympathetic glance.

Daiki blinks. “Who’s this?”
Seth straightens. “I’m Seth.”
“Hello, I’m Daiki.” 

Ashira frowns. “We’re playing together. Music’s not about being good—it’s about doing it together.”
Daiki grins. “Then I’ll join.”
Ashira nods. “Here, you can have the war drum.”
“Just keep the beat,” she adds.

Together, they play again. Daiki’s rhythm is solid; Ashira’s melody less so, but the energy grows. Seth sings joyfully, and Sundra tries to dance before giving up with a laugh.

Amber sighs. “One of the strongest ales you have, please.”
Sundra nods. “Of course.”

As the others play, Daiki finds his rhythm unmatched. “It’s about being together,” he says cheerfully.
“Yes,” Seth agrees, smiling. “This song is about a young widow whose husband died protecting her.”
Daiki frowns. “A young window?”
Seth laughs. “Widow. Her husband died protecting her from a spider, actually.”
Amber blinks. “Okay.”

When Sundra offers drinks, Daiki hesitates. “I’d like water, but maybe that’s not wise. Do you have honey?”
“I can check,” she says.
Ashira brightens. “That sounds amazing. I’ll have a cup too.”
Sundra laughs softly. “A cup of honey is quite a lot, but I’ll see what I can do.”

As she leaves, Amber grows thoughtful, staring into her untouched ale. She twists the tankard absentmindedly, thinking about the poisoned tree and how to purify it. Daiki notices her distant gaze, stops playing, and sits beside her.

“You okay?” he asks.
Amber nods faintly. “I think the magic inside the tree is infecting the water. The priest can’t fix it—he used a scroll once, but the person got sick again. Maybe you or Masaki can do something.”
Daiki tilts his head. “I could try. I know some healing magic, especially for plants.”
Amber sighs. “Maybe. But we should wait for Wolfie and Tachibana.”
“Yeah,” Daiki agrees. “Maybe tomorrow.”

Soon after, Sundra returns with a tray. Ashira and Daiki each get a small glass of honey.
Daiki laughs. “It’s fairy-sized!”
Amber raises an eyebrow. “So you don’t drink too much at once.”
Ashira grins. “No, it means you can drink more because they’re small.”
Amber chuckles. “That’s an idea I can get behind.”

The group laughs, relaxing at last. Daiki suggests, “Maybe we can write our own song—like heroes do.”
Ashira smiles. “Indeed. We can start tonight.”
Daiki shrugs. “Or are we the villains?”
Ashira shakes her head. “We’re the heroes, of course.”
Amber frowns. “What makes you even ask that?”
Daiki hesitates. “We killed a lot of goblins.”
Ashira sighs. “True. For Wolfie it’s complicated, but Tachibana’s heart’s in the right place.”
Amber adds, “And Wolfie died and we brought him back.”
Ashira laughs. “He died for our sins.”

They stay up, joking, laughing, until tiredness pulls at them. Eventually, they part ways. Daiki goes to the backyard, while Amber and Ashira climb the stairs.

In their room, they find an envelope on one of the beds, the window slightly open. Amber immediately takes it. “Do you mind if I read? You’re slow,” she teases.
Ashira pouts. “I can be fast.”
Amber opens it and reads. “It says that if we wake up and have certain… needs, there’s someone who can help us. If you feel weird things tonight, wake me up, please.”

Ashira nods quietly. “Okay, I will.”

Amber doesn’t want to worry her, but unease lingers in her eyes. She waits until Ashira settles in, then says, “I’ll go wish Daiki goodnight.”
Ashira waves. “Good night.”

Daiki is outside, pacing among the trees, debating which one to sleep in. “I want to climb up in some tree,” he says to himself. “This one’s higher and tall, but that one’s nicer, covered with moss—soft, maybe. I want it to be good, because the city has weird roots.”

“Daiki! Daiki! Question!” Amber calls.

“Oh, Amber, you’re not going to sleep yet?” he asks.

She shakes her head. “Daiki, I got this letter, and I think it’s about the weird bite we got.”

Daiki interrupts, serious but calm. “Well, you know, if we have rabies, we’ll die anyway. There’s no cure, you know.”

Amber gives a sharp look. “Okay, very comforting. But we have a person offering aid.”

Daiki frowns. “How does this person know this?”

“To be honest,” Amber says slowly, “maybe that person was that thing.”

“Oh,” Daiki muses. “Like a shapeshifter? Maybe another druid.”

“I don’t have a clue, but maybe we should go there tomorrow. Anyway…”

“So we got a letter,” Daiki says. “It’s a sheet of plant material—signed with an R. Who names their child R?”

Amber answers. “It’s someone who doesn’t want to have their name on paper immediately.”

“Ah,” Daiki murmurs.

“I met somebody today at the same spot—the old barn east of the fields,” she continues. “I’ve been east in the city.”

“Today?” Daiki asks.

“Yes, I don’t know what his name was. Was it Raymond or something?”

She pauses, thinking. “Raymond or Brandon… something.”

“Anyway,” Daiki says, “maybe we should just wait to see if we have the symptoms that it mentions in the letter by tomorrow morning.”

Amber nods. “If we have symptoms, we talk to each other and go there tomorrow.”

Daiki nods. “Thank you. So we’ll go if that happens.” He glances back toward the trees. “Also, what do you think? Should I sleep in this tree with the moss? Or that tall one? Or maybe near the flowers so I smell lovely in the morning?”

Amber shrugs. “Honestly, I don’t care. The moss seems comfortable. The big tree is a big tree. The flowers smell nice. You have softness or smell—take your pick.”

Daiki laughs. “Thank you for your wisdom. You should go to bed.”

He eventually chooses the tree with the moss. As everyone drifts into sleep, the night deepens.

In the distance, wolves howl. Daiki wakes a few times, listening to the eerie calls under the full moon. Here on Terareth, the moon never changes—it’s always full, always watching.

---

Elsewhere, Ashira wakes because Amber is thrashing in her sleep. Amber’s caught in a nightmare—one that burns vivid and strange.

She runs through a forest where the branches pulse red like living veins. The air reeks of copper and wet fur. Her heartbeat merges with another, heavier one—wild, animal. Her hands grow long, nails black and curved. She falls, the earth tasting of blood. A voice calls her name—someone she loves—but when she tries to answer, a snarl rips from her throat instead of a word. The moon swells above, an eye staring down. “Run,” it whispers. “Be whole.” Her scream twists into a howl, silver fire surrounding her. Bones crack, flesh shifts. Deep inside her head, her own voice murmurs, Still here, aren’t I? Then everything shatters.

Amber wakes.

Her sheets are torn, her heart racing. The room smells faintly of fur and iron. Outside, a wolf howls again, and something inside her stirs in answer. Ashira, alarmed, leans over. “Amber? Are you all right?”

Amber, still half-asleep, half in the dream, lashes out. She throws Ashira back instinctively, fear and confusion in her eyes.

Amber presses her hands to her temples. “Oh god. I really need to go to that person who wrote me the letter.”

Ash frowns. “Do you have rabies? You know there’s no cure for that, right?”

“I know that, Ashira. I don’t have rabies.”

“You should always watch out with dogs. Was he foaming?”

“No, thank you, Ashira.”

“Oh man, I really hope you’ll recover,” Ash says softly.

She stays awake while Ash drifts back to sleep. The exhaustion settles deep in her bones, but she can’t rest. When the first light of dawn brushes the horizon, she steps outside.

“I can’t wait any longer,” she whispers. She sits on the porch, staring into the pale morning, convinced the one who wrote the letter—the one who bit her—is the same creature waiting out there.

Amber sits outside, clutching the crumpled letter, waiting for Daiki—waiting for dawn.

---

Masaki and Wolfgang wake before dawn. The world outside the inn still lies in darkness, the faintest blue of early morning barely touching the sky. Wolfgang ensures that his alchemy fire apparatus is stable before leaving—no open or closed fires, just a steady, safe burn while he’s away. He wakes Masaki, sees that his horse and Masaki’s familiar are ready, and after a quick breakfast and some food packed to go, they set off north toward Kal Lume.

Masaki stretches out his arm for his familiar, who curls warmly around his neck like a scarf. The two ride out, their horses trotting through the quiet roads. Masaki’s horse is a gentle brown-grey that obeys without issue, while Wolfgang’s mount is a stubborn, dark brown creature that tests his patience—but he manages it well.

As the sun slowly climbs, they ride for an hour before stopping to rest their horses. Wolfgang looks over at Masaki. “Now we’re here to rest—I understand you left your family home in a tense situation. Am I right?”

Masaki exhales. “Something like that. Our family is quite rigid. In our culture, blood bonds are sacred. Leaving one’s family as I did is considered betrayal by some. Not everyone is happy with it.”

“I understand,” Wolfgang says softly. “It must have been difficult to leave. What does your family do, if I may ask?”

Masaki glances toward the horizon. “Is war a business? You’d know better than most.”

“Obviously it is,” Wolfgang replies. “We have the Royal University of Defence in West Watch on the Hill.”

“My family is in the war business, then,” Masaki continues. “You’ve seen me use magic and swords—that’s our specialty. My parents taught me. Skill as a warrior measures success. War is ingrained in our lives; it’s mandatory.”

“Interesting,” Wolfgang muses. “Do all families in your society have their own specialities?”

“Not all. Some farm or grow food. My family focuses on bladesinging—combining swordsmanship and magic. Some lean toward sorcery, others pure weaponry. I’ve always preferred the balance.”

Wolfgang nods. “And your family’s services—are they hired by others?”

“Not exactly. We serve the king—one of the shoguns. My family is loyal to a ruling house. We are vassals.”

Wolfgang raises an eyebrow. “So your family serves the shogunate. Interesting. One of your siblings might be on a trail, correct?”

“That’s what the hag told me,” Masaki answers quietly.

Wolfgang’s expression hardens. “Do we need to be on guard? Are they here to bring you back—or to kill you?”

“It depends who it is,” Masaki admits. “It’s not my youngest brother, I think. It could be my sister or my older brother. If it’s my brother, it could go either way—maybe he was sent to erase the family shame, or perhaps something happened and he’s seeking me for another reason. My sister… she’s more of a mystery. We weren’t close when I left.”

Wolfgang nods thoughtfully. “They would look similar to you?”

“There aren’t many Shadar-Kai around here,” Masaki replies.

“Then I’ll keep an extra set of eyes out,” Wolfgang says.

---

By dawn, Amber sits outside the inn—the Drunken Piano—while Daiki still dozes inside. Sunlight spills into his eyes, and he groans awake. Amber and Ashira are already preparing to leave.

Daiki stretches, bleary-eyed. “Good morning, everyone. I slept like an owlbear—warm and fuzzy. How did you all sleep?” He looks at Amber. “I can read that face already—you got rabies?”

Amber explains her dream, her fear, her urgency to visit the man from the letter—the one who offered help.

Daiki nods. “Oh, you heard a wolf howling too! I thought it was just the full moon. Is it always full moon here, or just in this place?”

Amber straightens. “Okay Daiki, you can keep talking, but I’m going to walk.”

“Oh, I understand,” he says quickly. “You want to go to that mysterious—”

Ash laughs. “I still think it’s R for rabies.”

---

They follow the path east toward the grain fields. When they see the barn, Amber strides ahead. “If I see that barn, I’m knocking.”

Daiki hesitates. “Maybe he’s not awake yet—”

“I don’t care,” Amber says, and pounds on the door.

From inside, there’s a grunt. Chains rattle faintly.

“The sound’s coming from inside,” Amber mutters. She waits, tense.

Daiki tries the handle. “Is the door even locked?”

Raising her voice, she shouts, “You offered me help—why the fuck don’t you open this door?”

A weak voice answers, “Please, wait—I’m trying to—”

“Maybe he’s naked,” Daiki says under his breath.

“Maybe he’s changing back into a wolf,” Ash offers.

“Shut up,” Amber snaps.

The chains rattle again. Then fall. The door creaks open. A pale man stands there, wrapped in a blanket, exhausted and trembling.

“Rervor,” comes the weary introduction.

Amber grabs the edge of his blanket, dragging him closer. “What the fuck is going on?”

“Please,” he pleads. “Come in. Let me explain.”

They enter the dim barn. Chains hang from the walls. Rervor shuts the door behind them.

“Let’s get this straight,” Daiki says. “Does she have rabies?”

“What? No!” Rervor answers.

Amber folds her arms. “Daiki, Ashira, stay quiet. I’m talking to him.”

Rervor’s voice trembles. “I’m sorry for what happened. I didn’t want to bite you. I wasn’t in control. I was cursed.”

“You infected me!” Amber shouts. “You could have infected them!”

“I didn’t want this,” he pleads. “I was looking for a cure.”

“And the cure was supposed to be in my blood?”

“No! Let me explain. A few days ago, the sickness in town got worse. I sought the hag in the forest—Granny. I made a deal for strength to fight the disease, but she tricked me. Cursed me.”

Amber’s eyes flash. “Granny? That conniving bitch.”

“She scratched me with a finger she kept in a jar,” Rervor continues. “Said destroying it would end the curse.”

Amber crosses her arms. “What did you give her?”

“Nothing. Maybe that’s why she punished me. When I change form, I lose my mind—but I can track her better that way. My senses sharpen.”

Amber exhales sharply. “So you found us while changed.”

“I must have. I came to my senses facing you.” He looks at Ashira. “I ran away immediately. I’m so sorry.”

Amber’s tone drops. “I dreamed of running, of claws and blood.”

“That was my first night, too,” Rervor murmurs. “Now I chain myself here every night.”

Amber surveys the chains on the wall. “I thought so. Tell me—are you skilled with weapons or magic?”

“Not really. Though I’ve grown stronger since then.”

She laughs bitterly. “Imagine being me. A barbarian who can ignite herself in flame. You’ve made me a monster.”

“I am one too,” he whispers. “I didn’t mean for this.”

Daiki steps forward. “Is there a cure?”

“Destroy the finger,” Rervor says. “It will break the curse for both of us.”

Amber’s eyes harden. “Then we’ll find it. I’ll ask Masaki when he arrives. And if needed—I’ll find Granny myself and rip her head off.”

“Be careful,” Rervor warns. “She’s powerful.”

“I don’t care.”

He hesitates. “I can help. I can change during the day—sometimes I can control it.”

“Do you change willingly?”

“During the day, yes. At night, I have no control.”

“And it happens every night?”

“So far.”

Daiki scratches his chin. “Did you ever try magic to stop it? Sleep spells, anything?”

“I can’t. I don’t have the means here. And even if I stay awake, I still change.”

“Do people here know?” Daiki asks.

“No. Please—don’t tell them.”

Amber’s expression sharpens. “You know you’re a hazard, right?”

“I know. That’s why I chain myself.”

Daiki nods slowly. “Right. One last question—does this wolf thing have anything to do with the sickness or that weird tree in town?”

“No,” Rervor says. “It started before that.”

Daiki shrugs. “Okay, so you didn’t pee in the water. Good.”

He grows serious again. “Maybe we can help each other. I want to destroy that finger as much as you do.”

Daiki tilts his head. “Did you try calling Granny?”

“She’s ignoring me now,” Rervor says bitterly.

Amber mutters, “At least she still wants something from me.”

“Oh,” Ash nods. “Then I’m just glad you don’t have rabies.”

Daiki grins. “Yeah, me too. We’re grateful you took the bite for us. Thanks, Amber.”

Ash agrees. “Indeed. We’re so happy you’re safe.”

Amber stares ahead, numb. The realization hits her: she could have been paid to be a meat shield—and now she’s cursed instead, and doesn’t have any income.

Amber shrugs off the attempt at soothing. Something in Amber tightens and the air changes. Everyone notices the shift in her — an urge to hurt surges through her, but she restrains herself. Even as she feels the rage, Amber chooses a controlled, terrifying performance: she reaches for Rervor’s throat, her eyes bright with inner fire, and for the first time she shows teeth.

As she snarls and stares, the man collapses back and a tear slips down his cheek. He looks completely silent and terrified. Amber stands over him, growling, and then tells the others to go — she snarls “go” and steps back; Ash retreats a little and then leaves. 

Amber lets go of Rervor and warns him to keep himself safe from hurting anyone else. The man falls backward, scrambles, and grabs something off the ground — a small package that, on closer inspection, proves to be a cat. Amber startles, and attempts a medicine check, but she can’t save it; the cat’s stomach is open, badly torn. Still, she tries to heal it. Her hand glows, but the light does not take — the creature is dead. 

Amber tells Rervor that, despite her fury at what happened to her, she understands this wasn’t his choice — “I’m very, very angry at you but I do know that this was not your doing.” She softens slightly as she touches him so he doesn’t have to flinch. He asks, pleading, that she not use her powers on him; there are people who need them more. Amber says she will come get him when she needs him and then lets him be.

Finally, Amber decides to go to the town square to wait for the others. The group waits for nearly an hour and a half under the warm morning sun. The square is mostly quiet; only every so often does someone appear—villagers moving carefully between homes, one man stopping at the well, reading the wooden sign aloud: “Water seems poisoned. Get water from the river.” He nods grimly, takes his bucket, and walks away.

Daiki kneels near the well, preparing a ritual. When his ritual completes, faint sickly glows appear across the town. The well pulses with the strongest, poisonous aura. The tree beside it looks diseased, its bark darkened and veined. Even the nearby houses emit faint traces of sickness. “The biggest force of the poison comes from the well,” Daiki murmurs, looking inside. “The tree’s diseased too. Most of the houses around here show traces of it.” He scans further. A few townsfolk—three in total—carry the same faint poisonous light. “It’s mostly poison now,” he notes, disappointed. 

Daiki nods. “Then maybe we can try healing the tree together.”

Ash folds her arms. “But there’s something in there, right? What if you heal it and it comes out?”

“Good. The guy said it’s a curse.” He exhales. “So let’s wait for Wolfie and Bana. I can detect and remove poisons and things that paralyze or blind, so I can help once we’re ready.”

Ash smirks. “Once they get here, we’ll tell them we’re going to heal the tree and potentially release a demon inside. They’ll probably be on board.”

---

Wolfgang dismounts with a polite smile. “Good morning, everyone. What a pleasant atmosphere in this lovely village.” His gaze lingers on the sickly tree. 

Amber’s face darkens, grave and purposeful. “I was bitten,” she tells them, voice steady. “By a wolf that turned out to be a man—one cursed by Granny. I’m contaminated. People who drank from the well are sick and dying. The water’s poisoned. There’s something in the tree.”

Ash adds, “But not rabies.”

Before they can discuss further, the mayor’s door creaks open. “Oh! Hello there!” he calls, stepping into the square. Amber whispers sharply to Wolfgang and Masaki, “The person who shares this affliction and I don’t want anyone to know. Keep your mouths shut.”

Wolfgang straightens in his saddle. “I feel terribly sorry to hear all this news,” he murmurs to her. “Let’s talk privately.” Then, turning to the mayor, he greets him grandly. “I understand you’re responsible for this village.”

“I am the townmaster.”

“A pleasure,” Wolfgang replies. “Count Wolfgang Rüppelshammer. Do you have a place for our horses to rest?”

“Yes, behind the tree—left side, a stable. Tell them I sent you.”

Wolfgang, however, takes a moment to ensure safety. “Mr. Mayor, it would be best if the square remained empty for the rest of the day—just in case there’s danger.”

“Danger?” the mayor asks nervously.

Amber interjects, “We need to cleanse the tree. It’ll require magic.”

“Ah! Of course, if that’s needed, please do.” The mayor promises to warn the townsfolk to stay inside.

Masaki takes the horses to the stable, where Lonildra gushes over their beauty. She seems pale, her voice punctuated by coughing fits. Masaki notes her sickness before returning to the others.

“All together at last,” Amber says as they regroup. Around them, the mayor goes door to door, warning villagers.

Masaki glances at the others. “So. Two issues, right? Amber’s… personal issue, and the tree.”

Wolfgang clears his throat. “Let’s not discuss Amber’s personal hygiene issue for now.”

Masaki nods. “Agreed. Let’s focus on the bigger problem. You said you had a plan?”

Daiki nods eagerly. “Yeah. We discovered something inside this tree. Bana—do you know anything that combines transmutation, evocation, and abjuration magic and could hide in a tree?”

Masaki taps his chin. “Then perhaps it’s a seal, a suppression spell—or a summoning. Something meant to release or restrain a creature Ash could slay.”

He begins a detect magic ritual, examining the tree as Daiki points to a faintly marked section. “It’s there,” Daiki says. “Like a small circle.”

Masaki studies the bark. “It’s not hollow.” After a closer look, he observes, “This tree could have grown around something—swallowed it, over time.”

Daiki nods. “Amber and I wanted to try something together first. Maybe our magic will make it react.”

The tree stands before them, its withered form trembling as magic fills the air. Then, all at once, color returns. The bark smooths, the petals bloom pink again, and the entire tree begins to glow with a soft radiance.

Ash watches, awestruck. The light shimmers through the branches, warm and alive. She recognizes it — this is what the mayor had described. She’s seen it before, this same tree in its glory. For a fleeting moment, it is beautiful again. Then the glow fades, dimming back into grey.

From below, a faint trickle stirs. The tree drinks from the well beneath it — the water seeping upward, faintly tainted. The bark darkens at the roots, turning first brown as the poison leeches out, then a pale, ashen grey. It’s slow, almost imperceptible, but visible. The water is still affecting it.

“The good thing is it’s reversible!” Wolfgang calls out from where he stands.

Daiki nods. “I think this proves the tree’s being poisoned by the water — not the other way around.”

Tachibana concentrates, the faint shimmer of magic flickering over his eyes. As he casts, he sees the spell’s effect ripple through the tree. The purifying light works — the poison burns away — yet one spot inside the trunk continues to glow faintly, with the same strange energy Daiki mentioned earlier.

“It’s still there,” Tachibana murmurs. 

Wolfgang glances around. “Maybe we should step back and see what we’re missing. What do we know?”

Daiki summarizes: “There’s something in the water. We need to find the source. Ash and I talked about this — maybe she can contact the Duke of Hell for insight. Otherwise, we can investigate the water system itself.”

They discuss the puzzle — the well, the river, the filtering installation by the mayor’s house.

“The problem must be between the river and the well,” Tachibana concludes. “Some magical source of poison.”

Wolfgang turns to Tachibana. “Can your familiar go down a drain?”

“I could go myself,” Tachibana replies. “I’d fit.”

He peers down the well. “But I think the source isn’t here — it’s earlier in the process. We should look at the filtering installation where the water from the river is treated before it reaches the well.”

Wolfgang traces a line in the dirt. “So: the river flows, the water’s pumped through a system to the well. People drinking directly from the river are fine, so the contamination must be in between.”

Daiki sketches it out. “Here’s the river. Here’s the installation pumping water to the mayor’s garden. Somewhere, an underground stream flows to the well. We need to find that.”

Amber tilts her head. “Could also come from the northwest.”

“The lake?” Ash suggests.

Daiki pauses. “Oh.”

As Tachibana’s familiar flies down into the darkness, it descends through the well. The narrow shaft opens into a hidden pond far below, faint ripples of water flowing gently from one side to the other.

From the southwest, water trickles in; to the north, it flows out again. The stream runs from south to north — just like the river above, but perpendicular, hidden beneath the ground.

There’s a small cave system. The familiar darts through the damp air, wings brushing the moist stone. The tunnels are wide enough — even a person could fit. It follows the current southward until the passage opens into a larger chamber, a natural hallway where the stream cuts through the middle of the floor.

Tachibana studies the view through its eyes. “The pond’s deep, but the caves — we could walk through those.”

He relays what he sees to the group. “There’s a cave system connected to the well. The water flows through a corridor, and it keeps going further. But we’ll have to go down there ourselves. Maybe we can use detect magic to find the source.”

Daiki nods. “Good plan. You keep up detect magic, I’ll detect poison.”

“Let’s go swimming,” Tachibana says with a laugh.