As to be expected from a place hailed as the nation of trade, the commercial area was full of energy, if the shopkeepers enthusiastically touting their wares were any indication.
“Blue-haired foreigner lady! You gotta try our takoyaki! Ours is the best here in Osaku!”
“Takoyaki?”
When one of those shopkeepers called out to Selen, she stopped and tilted her head.
“Octopus bits and other stuff like seasonings are put in wheat flour and then cooked! It’s Osaku’s specialty!”
“It’s so cute! It’s so round and cute!”
After seeing the perfectly round takoyaki as they were being cooked, Selen’s eyes sparkled.
“And for the black-haired lady over there, you ought to try our skewered deep-fried meat and vegetables!”
“What’s that like?”
“Wow, mister, you sure are large. Bet you have to eat a lot to maintain that size. Then, I recommend trying our okonomiyaki; we serve them in generous amounts!”
“Ufun, don’t, you, mean, miss?”
Some called out to Millia and Gori-chan as well.
While we were touring the city like that, I happened to hear a curious rumor.
“When do you think we can do business in Kyou again?”
“It’s hard to say right now. The thing that spread only in their slums has apparently spread throughout their capital now. I even heard some of their nobles have contracted it.”
“That’s awful…”
“This isn’t the time to be worried about others, you know. If that reaches us, well, now that’s awful. It seems like traveling to and from Kyou is being limited at the moment, but…”
I wonder what they’re talking about.
His homeland being the topic, a concerned Gai-san asked the men who were talking.
“Sorry, but can you tell me more about that topic?”
“Wah, you’re a monk from Kyou, aren’t you!? Don’t come any closer, you hear? I don’t wanna catch it!”
Upon noticing Gai-san’s shaved head, the men hurried to distance themselves.
“There’s no need to worry. I haven’t gone back to Kyou in years.”
“What the heck, don’t scare us like that…I mean, haven’t you heard about that epidemic in Kyou?”
“Yup. They say it’s an illness that produces wart-like things all over your body and gives you hellish pain. To top it off, I hear there’s a good chance you’ll die from it too.”
“That can’t be…”
Apparently there was an epidemic, that is to say, a serious disease have spread and was continuing to spread.
Upon hearing of the misery plaguing his homeland, Gai-san grimaced.
“Sorry to break it to you, but I don’t think it’s wise to return home right now.”
“Yeah, unfortunately, your monk prayers alone can’t heal the illness away.”
Gai-san said something after the city people gave some advice and left.
“…but maybe my healing magic can cure it.”
Gai-san had the [White Magic] Gift. There was a chance he could cure even this illness.
However, he was still only a single person. Treating over a hundred or even a thousand people was too much. There weren’t much practitioners of healing magic, so suppressing an illness that has become an epidemic was no simple matter.
If one was unlucky, they might get sick themselves and even lose their life.
“My power will probably be a drop in the ocean. Even so, I can’t turn a blind eye when my homeland is in crisis.”
“Gai…”
Probably deciding Gai-san’s mind couldn’t be changed now that he has resolved himself, Alec-san held his words back while wearing a frustrated expression.
“*(…if I cure a cute girl, there should be a chance she’ll do it with me, right?)*”
“Gai…you know we can more or less tell what you’re thinking, right?”
I decided to say something to them.
“I think the cure potions that the elves made could help.”
“Mhm, our cure potions are incredible items that is effective on all sorts of illnesses.”
Philia-san gave her stamp of approval on the potions’ efficacy.
“I see. Cure potions, right, we have that option. We adventurers rely mostly on the ordinary potions, so I totally forgot about those.”
Hazena-san clapped her hands and nodded so.
“I’ll ask the elves to make lots of cure potions. Then, let’s go bring them to Kyou and eradicate this epidemic!”