Chapter 9: The Plague In The Field

Ren stared almost absentmindedly at the open plagued field, watching as the wind swept through the purplish-brown grasses as if caressing them. He observed it all in silence. Before the blight, a year ago, this field had been one of his favorite places to visit.

He remembered vividly how he used to play among the beautiful green blades, watching marvelous creatures come to reside in this same stretch of land.

His deep green eyes settled on a spot where blighted crops sprawled across the soil. A sigh escaped him when he saw how infected they were, their color a sickly deep purple.

He had even started a little farm of his own in that very place. He remembered how happy he had been, back then.

A sad expression crossed his features. “Now everything is basically useless,” he muttered to himself. He knew everything had been useless since the day the blight spread unnoticeably across the whole of Sigsug. The elders had constantly been hiring healing mages to do something about it. Even his father, one of the elders, wasn’t home because of this very issue.

A deep sigh escaped him as his gaze drifted back to being distant.

In the end, it was all still for nothing. The plague remained, dwelling in this once beautiful place without anyone being able to stop it.

He even held a strong notion that not even a legendary archmage could solve this blight.

Just as a mournful look nearly crossed his features, a frown overlapped it instead. Ren glanced to his side, noticing a figure walking toward him.

His eyes couldn’t help but twitch. He knew who it was.

Molly.

Upon noticing his gaze, Molly gave a brief wave, her grin as radiant as always.

Ren watched her for a moment. A subtle curve touched his lips before he returned her wave with a brief one of his own. His attention shifted back to the field as his thoughts wandered to the first impression he’d had of the girl standing beside him now.

That first impression had been normal, nothing special, just like any other meeting when a customer brought their child along to his mother’s bakery. The only thing slightly off-putting about their initial encounter was when he had tried to greet her as he always did with customers while he was in his mother’s shop. She had given him a short wave, not even looking at him, her eyes fixed on the pictures hung along the bakery’s entrance passageway.

At first, he had thought she intentionally ignored him and didn’t want to bother talking. But after getting to know her a little throughout these years of barely seeing her around, he had come to understand she was mute and wasn’t aloof at all. She wasn’t even remotely aloof. He could verify she was one of the most liveliest people he had ever seen.

The only reason she had acted that way at first was simply how she was when she saw beautiful things. She tended to admire them while forgetting what or who was around her. He had even noticed her mother holding her hand sometimes so she wouldn’t get lost marveling at every wonderful thing she saw.

With another sigh, Ren glanced at Molly, and his eyes landed on the woven basket crooked on her right elbow like a handbag. A hint of amusement flickered over his features as he noticed the complete ingredients for ‘Rose Porridge’ inside.

“Are you celebrating something?” he asked, giving her a short glance.

Molly nodded vigorously as she walked closer to the wooden fence bordering the open field.

A smirk of amusement crossed Ren’s face. “You even bought a heart-shaped bread with it.” His brow rose. “Let me guess… it’s a family bond celebration. Am I right?”

Molly’s expression brightened as she gave a short nod. The black orb drifted out from within her robe and hovered at eye level.

The orb shuddered for a moment before dissolving into tiny particles. The particles swirled in the air, shaping themselves with each motion until they formed a sentence:

~ You’re very much correct. How did you know?

At those words, Ren puffed his chest with pride. “Why wouldn’t I know? It’s basically a common tradition for families to celebrate on the date the family was created. That’s what we call an anniversary.” After that, he glanced at Molly.

“I assume today is the anniversary of your family?” he asked with intrigue.

Molly shook her head, indicating a no. The tiny black particles shuddered again, rearranging into a new sentence:

~ Not really. Our anniversary is supposed to be four months from now. I don’t know why my mom wants to celebrate it this early.

Ren frowned as he read the words. “That’s strange. Wouldn’t it be merrier if it’s celebrated on the actual day?” he mumbled to himself, thinking it over. He looked at Molly again. “You really don’t have any idea?” he probed.

Molly shrugged. The tiny black particles shuddered again, rearranging into another sentence:

~ I don’t. But I’m fully certain she has a reason for it. She always has a reason for everything. So I didn’t bother to probe her further.

Ren gave a brief nod, then slowly his lips curled up. “If it were me, I would definitely probe further.” He gave Molly a thumbs up, a mischievous glint surfacing on his face. “I don’t give up that easily.”

Molly giggled at his words and the way he delivered them with such a roguish expression. Ren laughed soon after. The sound of their laughter echoed in the space between them, carried faintly by the wind through the blighted field.

Not long after, their laughter receded as Ren leaned against the wooden fence bordering the open field. His gaze returned to the plagued land, watching the wind blow through the purplish-brown grasses as if caressing them. He watched in silence for a moment, the earlier melancholy look overtaking his countenance again. He opened his mouth.

“Do you think an Archmage can remove this plague?”

*******

Molly stiffened slightly upon hearing Ren’s question. She glanced at the figure of the boy with tousled red hair and deep green eyes staring absently at the field, a doleful cast to his face.

Molly’s mien saddened, almost mirroring his own. Her gaze finally drifted to the open plagued field, watching the same purplish-brown grasses being caressed by the wind. Her attention moved to the soil, which had been dyed a sickly deep purple, infected by the same blight.

She wondered if she could remove this plague herself. Then, almost subconsciously, she shook her head. No, it wasn’t easy to remove a plague like this. Her eyes settled calmly on the grass, but this time she was not simply watching it. She was observing the symbols that surrounded the whole field, noticing how blackened they were, how decayed the mana around the field had become, and how it was slowly spreading like a corruption.

She remembered Jen explaining to her that healing magic, however advanced, could not work against a plague caused by the decaying of mana, the very essence, the very source of what created the healing magic formula in the first place. It would be impossible for the spell to heal the land, as most healing magic focused on the physical form rather than the metaphysical, or rather, the very structure of what made the cause at effect.

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A deep sigh escaped Molly’s lips as she understood this was beyond what a normal mage could accomplish. The corners of her mouth lifted. She also fully knew that the kind woman who had taken her in as her child wasn’t just any mage, and wouldn’t simply leave her homeland like this. Molly fully understood that Jen was working on something to solve this issue, and everything would soon return to its normal beauty.

Molly turned to look at Ren, who upon noticing her motion, glanced at her.

He watched as the tiny black particles, which had already returned to their spherical shape, shuddered once more and dissolved, reshaping themselves until they framed her reply:

~ I fully believe so. In fact, I’m sure that in a few months, after winter, all the plague will be removed and forgotten, returning the land back to its beauty.

Ren read the words. A grin slowly surfaced on his face, making him turn away while making a face. “I don’t know why you’re always so positive,” he said. Unable to contain his cheer any longer, he added, “But… it’s kind of nice.”

Just as he said that, he noticed Molly’s hand insistently tapping his shoulder. He glanced at her, his eyes observing as she pointed into the air with a worried look. A frown crossed his features as his gaze shifted to the direction she was pointing toward.

His eyes widened when he noticed an injured flying ginger rhino beetle come crashing down, not too far from where they stood.

His gaze darted toward Molly, who gave him a firm nod. He nodded as well, and both of them rushed to where the ginger rhino beetle had fallen.

Molly knelt beside the ginger rhino beetle’s form. Its wings buzzed weakly, sending gusts of wind mixed with a ginger scent swirling around them.

“Be careful,” Ren said worriedly, staring at the ginger rhino beetle, which stood half the height of both him and Molly, being one of the largest relatives of the beetle species.

Molly gave a short nod. She briefly glanced at Ren, who knelt beside her, his attention not leaving the ginger rhino beetle. A frown soon surfaced on his face as he studied the weakened creature. “It isn’t even physically injured,” he observed seriously, thinking deeply. “Is… is it poisoned?”