“Beldo,” Lusya called as they settled down for the midday meal.

Beldo looked up from his bowl at her, a spoonful of meat halfway to his mouth. “Yeah?”

“I have been thinking about these incidents,” she said.

He grimaced, lowering his spoon. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

“While I am quite curious about the nature of Count Rebran’s device and his purpose,” Lusya said, “the fate of these people matters little to me. I sense this matter will demand more time and focus if we continue with it. If you insist on attending to it, I am considering continuing toward our destination on my own with Ariya.”

Beldo pursed his lips, but Ariya spoke up before he had the chance.

“You can’t do that!” she exclaimed. “You already started helping. You can’t just quit in the middle.”

Ariya’s objection was not unexpected. But this time, Lusya had a way to deflect it.

“If we accomplish our objective, the issues here will be resolved anyway,” she said. “Nobody is in imminent danger. At worst, they will be ill for a few more months before we reach our destination.”

Ariya cocked her head and blinked. “Are you sure?”

“I am positive.”

The matter with the devices would be resolved after Father was revived. He would lay waste to everything here, the devices included.

“It’s true that your mission might take care of things,” Beldo said. “But I wouldn’t be so sure that no one is in imminent danger. Including you. And your mission.”

Lusya cocked her head and blinked twice. “What do you mean by that?”

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“Gathering Malice without allowing it to form into a demon is dangerous,” he replied. “The minor illness we’ve seen so far is the least of the problems it can cause. It can get much worse and spread much farther. In the worst-case scenario, it will kill you before you get where you’re going, and there won’t be anything you can do to stop it.”

“Could it truly escalate that quickly?”

He nodded. “It’s possible.”

“How likely?”

“I can’t say.”

Lusya considered his words for a moment. “Twenty years ago was not the first time you have seen this phenomenon either, was it?”

“It was for this precise iteration of it,” he replied. “But there were similar incidents before that.”

She had no way of verifying his information, but also no grounds on which to dispute it. She believed it was at least true that he had seen similar events twenty years ago. In light of that, she saw little reason for him to lie about seeing it before then. He did have plenty of reason to lie about the severity of the problem, but she couldn’t know one way or the other.

In which case, she had no choice but to assume he was telling the truth. If it turned out he was not, then she would lose some traveling time. More than she would like, but still likely tolerable. On the other hand, if she assumed he was lying, and he wasn’t, the consequences could be catastrophic. That wasn’t something she could abide.

“See, Lusya!” Ariya exclaimed. “We’ve gotta help, or it’ll be bad for us too. It can’t wait until we finish out mission.”

Lusya nodded. “It would seem so.” She directed her attention back to Beldo. “We will continue accompanying you to resolve this issue. There will be consequences if you are lying.”

Beldo held up his hands in surrender. “I’m being as honest as I’ve ever been. I can’t say for sure things will get that bad, but it’s possible.”

“Then I will prevent that possibility,” Lusya said.

He smiled and nodded. “Glad to hear it.” He took a bite of his food, and his eyes widened as he nodded appreciatively. “This is pretty good.”

She had made a hash incorporating dried meat, nuts, and vegetables that did not spoil easily, another recipe drawn from Elberto’s 100 Meals for Weary Travelers. There were enough written there that she had not yet needed to look to other sources, though she did make occasional adjustments for Ariya’s tastes.

“I am glad it meets your approval,” she replied.

That was no mere courtesy. She did not care much about Beldo’s opinion specifically, but her food tasting good was a positive. While she found her cooking skill to be of little importance in and of itself, there was a certain satisfaction in doing something well, regardless of what it was.

“Can I have the recipe?” Beldo asked.

“I read the recipe in a book,” Lusya said. This one, she had not adjusted at all. “You may copy it after we eat, if you wish.”

“I think I’ll take you up on that.”