Supreme Magus novel Chapter 151

"What do you mean, an utter failure?" Varegrave wasn’t jumping out of joy like the others, yet couldn’t understand why Lith was being so negative. It was the first time since the plague’s breakout that a patient had been cured.

"I saved her arm, yes, and maybe even her life, but only in the short term. It will just take a while for the parasites to invade the healthy arm, and then she will be back at square one.

My experiment had many goals, but I reached only one. I wanted to remove the worms safely, and it failed. And so did my attempt to collect the substance they release upon death, and even to nullify its effects.

It all happened too fast, I was able to save the arm only because it has no vital organ. Had the wound been in the chest or head, the patient would be dead. The only things I managed to accomplish was to collect the toxins, and I could have done that anyway, anytime, and restore the arm.

But as I said, all in all is a hollow victory. I need time to think."

Despite every success Lith achieved brought him closer to gallows, Varegrave didn’t share his pessimism. Lith himself had predicted the experiment to be a failure, giving it a low chance of success.

The patient wasn’t dead, on the contrary, her conditions had improved. It was a small step, but a step forward nonetheless. After dismissing the medical team, reminding them to not use the new detoxifying spell without Lith’s permission, he went back to his tent to inform the Crown of the latest news.

***

Sylpha, Queen of the Griffon Kingdom, listened to Varegrave’s report with ambivalent feelings. She was pleased hearing so many good news, after over a month spent stumbling in the dark.

First, a proper diagnosis for the plague had been found, and thanks to that, healers and alchemists were busy looking for a cure instead of trying to minimise the body count. Two days after that, the conditions of an infected had been stabilized.

Yet she was bewildered by how things were moving fast. It was completely out of her predictions. When Sylpha had forced Linjos to send help, threatening his life, it had been a punishment for his incompetence in handling Manohar.

Every time the runaway genius disappeared, she could only pray for nothing bad to happen. And when her pleas fell on deaf ears, she would inevitably let down the Crown’s most loyal supporters, undermining her prestige and authority.

This time it was even worse, thousands of lives were at stake, an entire region was about to be burned to the ground. She had just wanted to teach him a lesson, showing how heavy were the consequences of letting one of their most prized assets slip away.

The recent events were a pleasant surprise, but a surprise nonetheless. Sylpha needed answers, and she knew who could provide them.

Right after hanging the call with Varegrave, she called the Royal Captain, the commanding officer of all the Queen’s corps units.

"Your Majesty, to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"

"Cut the cr*p, Mirim, I’m not in the mood."

"You are never in the mood, Sylpha." Marchioness Distar was at her work desk, as usual, swamped in paperwork.

"We know from over thirty years, so I’m asking you as your friend, not as your Queen. Why did you lie to me?"

Mirim was flabbergasted by the allegation, her eyes wide open from the surprise.

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"All these years, you have marked Lith from Lutia as a rank B asset, that’s why the Mage Association never paid him any attention."

"And that’s exactly the value he holds for the Kingdom." Mirim rebuked.

The Queen would not use them to help a friend, nor to save her own children. If miracles started to happen whenever the Crown or one of their most loyal retainers where in danger, the rumors about them would turn into a certainty. _{ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom}