Cynthia and I left, I connected to Alissa's private radio frequency and started speaking to her

"Alissa, can you hear me?"

"Yeah, loud and clear"

"We're traveling north, towards Morbus city, it seems that some kind of disease or plague appeared there"

"Do you think it's a disease caused by the presence of the bugs?" Alissa asked

"I don't know but if it is, we must help them"

"That's going to be hard, I mean, don't we lack materials?"

"Yes, we do lack materials and ingredients so we'll just contain it"

"Kill the infected and the cause?" Alissa sighed

"Yes"

"Ok, I'll ask Guardian 1 to prepare the necessary stuff you need but don't expect much"

"Thanks"

I went back to the guild and notified Marcus, he nodded and gave us a few advice. I looked at Cynthia, she looked at me and shook her head, she doesn't want to be left behind.

We returned to the ship and there I saw Guardian 5 holding a small circular radar the size of a cup, Guardian 5 gave it to us. Alissa came out of the room soon after and started explaining.

"What you have there is a radar that can detect a pathogen in the air in a one-kilometer radius, you can also place a liquid or a solid in the middle of the radar. Once scanned, the info will be sent back to ship's computer. I will analyze it and gave you necessary steps" Alissa finished her explanation and returned to the room

"Guardian 3, head north to Morbus city" I gave out Guardian 3's orders

"Acknowledged, time of arrival: 2 hours"

Cynthia and I headed to the kitchen and had a small snack, we passed the time by talking to each other.

"Officer Zeno, we've arrived, touching down in a nearby forest in 3... 2... 1..."

We landed in a dense forest near Morbus city

Cynthia and I left the ship, we quickly headed for Morbus city

"I've had a flash of inspiration so I'm leaving the data analyzation to Lilith instead" Alissa used her radio to speak to me

"Oh, thanks for letting me know" I replied

I took out the radar from that was hanging around my waist and pressed the button "Scan" The screen turned to black and soon after the scanning process began, I looked at it and it was only displaying 1%. This will take some time.

Morbus city, a city with stone walls that reach up to a two-story building, all the houses here are made out of stones or wood. This city is known for providing fresh-water fishes, there's a huge lake just north up here where they catch fishes to send to different cities.

Cynthia and I entered the city, I showed the badge to a guard and he quickly asked me to go to the city hall with him.

We headed for the city hall and was taken to a guest room, an old man soon entered and greeted us

"Hello, I am Rawl, the chief of this city"

"Hello, I am Zeno, this is my companion Cynthia" I know Cynthia isn't much of a talker so I introduced her

"Oh, so you're the rumored blade knight, it's nice to finally meet you" Rawl patted my shoulder

"The honor is all mine"

"May I ask where General Gram is? this badge was issued to him by the King and is proof of being the one responsible for solving the problem that we are experiencing" Rawl asked

"He had sent me first, he'll be coming after... probably three weeks" I estimated

"Oh... then, if he trusts you then so will I"

"Can I please have some information on whatever's happening?"

"Right, I'm sure you've heard from General Gram but a plague has been appeared here and is causing mass panic, the infected will first feel dizzy then they will start eating more than they usually do but they still became thin after some time, after that they eventually die because of hunger. This is all that we discovered, all the other researchers left in fear of being infected but three researchers stayed behind because they wish to end this plague" Rawl reported

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"I see, can I meet these researchers?" I asked

"Sure, they're camping outside the city" Rawl led the way, we soon left the city and found ourselves in an old house just outside the walls

He entered the house, the house was empty and the only furniture was a huge closet. He entered it and pulled out a rope, a hidden pathway opened beside the closet, it led downstairs. We followed the pathway and entered a huge room filled with different glass jars containing different kinds of internal organs. I looked at the center, three people were there, discussing something

The researchers were wearing an apron that reached up to their necks. bloodstained gloves, and a mask that covered their entire face.

"Hey guys, the help that the King sent have arrived" Rawl spoke out

They looked up and walked away from the corpse, they removed the clothes they were wearing and introduced themselves one by one

"I am the lead researcher Sucy Keys" the middle-aged woman with a short orange hair introduced herself first

"I am Allan, a good friend of Sucy" the middle-aged man with a lanky body and bowl-cut hair was next

"I am Stacy, Sucy's sister and also an apprentice alchemist" the young teen had long orange hair that reached up to her waist

"I am Zeno and this is my companion, Cynthia" I also introduced us

"Thanks for responding to our plea for help" Stacy spoke out

"Anything new?" Rawl asked

"*sigh* sadly, no, we've been observing the infected people but found nothing..." Stacy sadly replied

"Is it alright for me to take I look?" I spoke out

"Oh, please do" Allan led me to a room where there was a young woman, thin to the bone, she was asleep and her stomach was constantly rumbling

'Lilith, how's the scan going?'

'We're at 97% time to completion, 30 seconds'

'Alright, please notify me when it's done'

'Roger'

I checked the woman's pulse, it was weak. I checked her temperature... it was normal...

"Allan, is it alright if I check her body?" I asked Allan who was standing behind me

"It's fine" He replied

I removed the blanket and removed her clothes, I got a good look at her body and she's literally almost a skeleton. I checked for any wounds or something like yellowish spots or greenish bruises, any symptom but nothing... maybe this is a new kind of plague...

'Scanning complete, the air is 100% clean, there was no harmful bacteria or viruses found' Lilith reported

I wish I had the scanner back at the ship so I can do a full body scan...

I sighed and left the room with Allan

"Found anything?" Rawl asked

"No, nothing" I shook my head

"I see, that's too bad" I can see disappointment in Rawl's eyes

"When did this plague start?" I asked

"About a week ago" Sucy replied

"I see..."

Okay just a week ago, it didn't spread through the air so it must've been through contact with infected people... no, looking at the healthy researchers here, that's impossible. So we move on to the next one... food

"Did the infected people eat anything that must've caused the infection?" I asked

"We've already checked that out but all the infected people ate different kinds of food like fish and meat, those who weren't infected usually ate vegetables" Allan replied

"So all the infected here are the ones who ate meat and fish?"

"Yes"

"So it came from the animals... it's not transferable by contact too..." I murmured

"I'm going to go out and observe the surroundings" I made a decision

"Alright" Sucy nodded

I left with Cynthia and headed for a local barn, the animals here were either cows, bulls, or chicken... and they were all fed grass and corn which are vegetables... it doesn't make any sense

I walked around and noticed that some of the houses here have water jars while the other houses do not.

That's where it hit me, there is one thing that the animals and humans took in. It isn't air but water, they all drink water so the cause must be there. I started walking back to the house when I saw people throwing stones at a small black kitten, I was going to move on but I saw pity in Cynthia's eyes. I quickly shielded the small cat from the stones and shouted at the people

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked

"What do you mean what?! those cat's are the reason we have this plague!" one man angrily shouted

"What proof do you have!" I shot back

"It's what the church said!" another woman replied to my question.

"And you consider that evidence?! what if the church told everyone that it was you who caused the plague, will you enjoy stones in your face?" My words shut everyone up

"Y-Yeah well that's just a what-if scenario"

These hard-headed idiots

"Alright, you win, if I take this kitten out of the city, I'm sure the plague will just vanish" I spoke out before leaving

One person threw a stone at me from behind by I caught it and threw it back to his face

These people are too stupid and too angry to convince

The little kitten purred in my arms, it's head is wounded and is a bit malnourished. I gave it to Cynthia and she quickly healed it, she hugged it tightly. I can't see her face right now but I can hear muffled sobs, she must have a soft spot for kittens

We returned to the old house with the kitten in tow, Sucy approached me and asked

"Any luck?"

"Yeah, I think I know the cause" I replied

Everyone's eyes lit up

"Is it the cat?" Allan asked as he looked at the kitten in Cynthia's embrace

Cynthia quickly covered the kitten with her body, her stance on this one is clear

"No, not the cats but the water"

"Water? how?" Sucy asked

"Those who ate vegetables were never infected but the animals that you eat in the barn eat vegetables" I pointed out

"Okay, I can see where you're going with this but do you have proof?" Sucy asked

"I don't but I have a hunch... and it's a really bad hunch"

"Well? what do you think chief?" Sucy looked at Rawl

"We've tried everything... and at this point, I'm willing to give anything a try" Rawl spoke out

"Okay, what do you suggest we do?" Sucy looked at me

"I need a large bathtub filled with water, I'll show you guys" I replied

"It will take some time" Sucy nodded

"Don't worry, I still have something to do anyway" I left with Cynthia

We headed for the lake in the north, it was huge it was as large as a football field. I scooped out a small amount of water and placed it in the center of the scanner

'Lilith, please scan the liquid'

'Scanning, time of completion: 60 seconds...'

Cynthia and I patiently waited

'Scanning complete, we've found something in the water!' Lilith reported

'Well? what is it?" I eagerly asked

'Chordodes Formosanus...'

'I knew it...'