Hello, everyone! I'd like to preface this chapter by stating that this was originally going to be one huge chapter rather than two moderately-sized chapters. By the time I got to about 8000 words, however, I realized that it's probably not super ideal to read such a long chapter in one sitting, hence the split. Now it's finally Alfyn's time to shine, and I gotta say... this should be fun.

Before we get into that, though, let's reply to some feedback!

evoboo: Hey, thanks! I'm glad that the Ophilia focus agreed with you. As for the thing with the tonics... well, I suppose that's something you and Alfyn have in common, haha.

gryphonsson: Indeed. I'm beginning to think that a couple of drinks make Therion a little too relaxed...

Terron145: Haha, Ophilia's Path Action when used in that exact in-game cutscene always boggled me; even when it was used, it still felt as though she was dragging Derryl to the square against his will. I'm quite happy to hear that my idea regarding combining chapters seems to be working fine; as there are other cities with more than one chapter taking place in them later on, this is looking more and more like it'll become a recurring element. As for Hrodvitnir and Therion's momentary lapse in judgment... well, you'll see!

Guest: Therion always did strike me as a bit of a tsundere, honestly. The dere is expertly hidden, of course, but...

P.T. Piranha: Thank you! It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision, but then I figured, "Hey, makes more narrative sense than backtracking." Writing Therion and Ophilia's interactions so far has been kinda fun, so here's to more of that later down the line! And as for Hysel... well, the less said about her, the better.

ultrawing: Trust me, there's going to be plenty of intertwining later on. Plenty. ;) Stay tuned!

Kiyorena: Thank you so much! Makes my day to hear that you're enjoying the story this much so far. Cheers!

Thanks again to all of you guys! As always, feel free to leave any form of feedback you can think of, especially regarding ways I can improve my writing. Now that all is said and done, let's go!

It was about ten in the morning when we had finished our drinks. Per the doctor's orders, Alfyn and I decided to walk back to the town square in search of this mystery apothecary woman. I guess Alfyn wasn't the only one who had gotten wind of this gorgeous visiting apothecary if the sizable crowd before us was any indication.

"Where could she possibly be?" a bystander asked her husband. "I hear Zeke's come down with a terrible illness…"

"Aye. The same illness that took poor little Derryl's mum, if I'm not mistaken…"

As the townspeople continued to mumble in anticipation, I turned to Alfyn with an unimpressed glare.

"... What?"

"She's not here, Alf. I can't believe you dragged me away from the tavern for this."

"Hey, you agreed to come here," he pointed out cheekily, "and it's not like you have anything better to do anyway, am I right?"

"Yowch. Gonna need some cream for that one, doc…"

A few more minutes of waiting and trying to tune out the crowd's conversations passed before someone finally cheered.

"Oh! 'Ere she is!"

Alfyn's jaw dropped considerably once he saw the purple-haired apothecary stroll into the square, a beautiful smile on her face as the townspeople cheered her on.

"It's our miracle worker herself!"

"You saved my husband, Vanessa!"

"Three cheers fer Miss Hysel! Hip hip, hooray!"

Vanessa let out a chuckle. "Thank you, all of you. Truly it means a lot to me that the people of Saintsbridge have welcomed me into their noble city with welcome arms."

"Even if some people have been... less-than receptive," she claimed, subtly glaring in my direction, "this is far and away one of the nicest towns I've visited in quite some time. More importantly, however, I am pleased to announce that Zeke will be making a full recovery in no time!"

I rolled my eyes as the audience continued to cheer like a bunch of idiots. Alfyn finally decided to turn his brain on and walked up to the female apothecary with a stupid grin. "So, uh… heh. Hi."

"Hello there," Vanessa replied kindly, looking him square in the face with a slightly amused look. She scanned his frame with her eyes for a moment before going on. "Judging by your satchel, I take it you're a fellow apothecary?"

"I sure am!" Alfyn perked up with bright eyes. "What's this I've been hearing about a sick Zeke?"

Her smile faltered a bit before she replied. "Oh, the poor dear was sick as a dog, is all. A couple doses of my patented 'Fixer-Elixir' was all it took to make sure he didn't cough up any more blood!"

As I scowled in disgust, Alfyn stared at her dreamily as his cheeks started to flush. "Golly…"

The crowd became distracted by the apothecaries' continuing conversation and I soon took advantage of the situation to help myself to some of their belongings.

Good grief, don't these morons carry anything other than grapes or seeds?

Vanessa cleared her throat, straightening her satchel. "Well, it's been fun chatting with you, Alfyn, but I'm afraid I must leave for the time being."

"Ah… y-yeah, no prob," Alfyn relented with a nod, probably feeling guilty for talking her ear off. "Uh… if you don't mind…"

"Yes?"

"Maybe we could get together and discuss medicine sometime," Alfyn suggested, smiling bashfully. "Y-You know, as colleagues!"

The crowd began to murmur quietly, almost as if watching a juicy play at a theatre.

Vanessa seemed taken aback by our apothecary's forwardness, but smiled nonetheless. "... Well, I'm afraid my medicinal tactics must be kept confidential, but I'm sure I can make some more time for you later. Shall we say… three in the afternoon at the local tavern?"

"Er… Great!" Alfyn blurted a little more eagerly than he probably should have. "Uh, I mean… great for a professional meeting between colleagues! Hahaha…"

I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration as Vanessa walked away with a swish in her step, the crowd dispersing until it was just Alfyn and me left standing in the square like a couple of dopes.

"Great," I congratulated sarcastically. "You got a date. Well done, Alfyn. Thanks for that totally not boring stunt you made me watch."

Alfyn, meanwhile, stood staring after the long-gone apothecary with a smile. It took him a couple of seconds to process what had just went down, and his face quickly shifted from bliss to confusion.

"Uh, Alf? You still there?"

"A… d-date?" he croaked with a bead of sweat trailing down his forehead. "Aw, shucks…"

I rolled my eyes and huffed in annoyance. "Oh, please. I bet half the group wouldn't even give two shits about this whole thing."

"You're going on a date?!" Tressa squealed excitedly from her bed in the inn room. "Eeeee! Way to go, Alfie!"

Primrose chuckled with an almost wicked smirk. "This should be interesting…"

"I don't know why I even bother with you people," I sighed, looking in Alfyn's direction. "You barely even know her!"

Cyrus looked up at me from a book he was reading and tapped the side of his head with his finger. "All the more reason to socialize over a lovely Saintsbridge dinner, is it not?"

"Who the hell eats dinner at three in the afternoon? This whole thing reeks of failure if you ask me - "

I was interrupted by a very unladylike snort courtesy of Tressa. "Ha! I think you're jealous, Therion!"

"What did you just say?!" I snapped.

Yeah!" came the emboldened reply. "I think you're jealous because Alfyn has a hot date tonight and you don't!"

Alfyn tugged at his collar nervously. "Tress, I really don't think - "

"You're such a brat," I groaned, shaking my head with a bitter smile. "Gods forbid a guy not crave the touch of a woman all day and night."

Tressa frowned for a moment, thinking, before a firefly went off in her head. "Ohhh…"

"... What?" Primrose asked.

"Maybe it's not the touch of a woman you crave," Tressa suggested, "but the touch of a man!"

My ears felt hot as I felt four pairs of eyes on me, thankfully none of them belonging to Ophilia or Olberic. Like I didn't have enough trouble with this crew as is…

"I… what?! Just what are you implying?!"

"Hey, there's no shame in it," Primrose chimed in with a shrug.

"I know that, but… argh!" I blurted, trying desperately to change the subject. "Hey guys, remember Alfyn's date? The one he has coming up in a couple of hours?"

Hearing this made Tressa's devious smirk melt into a genuine smile of excitement. "Oh yeah! We gotta get you all decked out in the finest clothes, Alfie! Primmy can even do your hair!"

"Buh? What's wrong with my hair?"

"Oh, Alfyn," Primrose sighed with a bowed head, getting up to lead Alfyn out of the room by the arm. "We have a long road ahead of us…"

"Ack! Hey!"

I threw my hands up in the air and laid back on my bed, closing my eyes as the pair left. "There's no way this can possibly end well. Where are the other three in all of this insanity?"

"Olberic and H'aanit ventured out into the woods on the outskirts of Saintsbridge to train," Cyrus notified me, "and Ophilia went with them if I recall correctly."

"Heh. I should have gone with them myself, now that I think about it," I muttered into my pillow. "Ah, well. Time for a nap."

Tressa shouted, "Don't sleep too long now, Mr. Mopey! Cause I've got a special assignment for you!"

"Please tell me it involves dying. Dying sounds really good right about now."

"Sorry, bucko, death's not on the menu tonight," Tressa retorted cheerfully. "Your mission, should you choose to accept it - "

"Oh, like you'd really give me the choice!"

"... is a recon mission. Nothing more, nothing less. There's even some extra leaves in it for you, you know…"

I rose from my bed like a mummy from its tomb, staring at my "employer" with piqued interest as the others shuffled nervously. "... Recon, huh?"

Back in my younger days, reconnaissance would typically involve stake-outs, stalking, and perusing certain people and places to rob from.

Sitting at a table in a tavern, pretending to be on a date with everyone's favorite dancer, was not what I had in mind.

"You worry too much," Primrose chided me, taking off her goofy-looking sunglasses to let me know she was making eye contact. "Besides, I think the hat and fake mustache look good on you!"

"I feel like an idiot," I snarled as the server came by, notepad and pen in hand.

Currently, Primrose and I were at a booth near the back of the establishment. Alfyn, nearly combed hair and all, was sitting just a couple of tables away in the center. The angle he was sitting at made it unlikely that he would spot us, but Tressa wanted to be extra careful, hence the stupid disguises.

"Ah, welcome!" the server greeted kindly. "And what can I get the lovely couple this afternoon?"

Primrose smiled politely. "Just a salad and some red wine, please. I'm trying to watch my figure, you see."

"Yes, yes, of course! And for you, good sir?"

"I'll, uh… have the Ratkin Special," I mumbled awkwardly, "with a side of poached Egglings and a beer."

Suddenly, I spotted Vanessa walk over to Alfyn's table in a dark purple dress, satchel still slung over her shoulder..

"... Make it a couple beers."

The server smiled as he finished writing our orders down on what looked like a used napkin. "Wonderful! I shall be back as soon as humanly possible!"

"I didn't even know this place had waiters," Primrose noted quietly. "The restaurants in Noblecourt were so… upscale, compared to the likes of this…"

"... You're from there, aren't you?" I inquired as I stared at her curiously, taking off the fake mustache with some difficulty before pulling my scarf further up.

This made her chuckle, although there was a deep twinge of bitterness in her voice. "... What gave it away?"

"Lady, I've been to Sunshade plenty. You might have the style and grace, but you are not a Sunshade girl."

"... Hmph."

"What are you even doing out here anyway?" I asked as my eyes darted back and forth between her and Alfyn's happy little table for two. "I mean, not like I care or anything. Just trying to pass the time."

Primrose gave me an amused smirk as the server came back with our drinks, promising to deliver the food shortly. "You're a real charmer, Therion. You know that?"

I shrugged with a smirk of my own. "So I've been told."

"... Are you sure you really want to know?" she asked, her voice lowering to almost a whisper. "I've been told my tale can be a bit… dark."

Seeing as Alfyn and Vanessa seemed to be getting along well enough, I decided I could spare some more attention for the time being. "... I mean, you don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to. I value privacy too, y'know."

"Mm… I'm glad," Primrose said, closing her eyes and taking a sip of her drink before moving on. "Even so, I'll try to keep it short."

"Oi…"

"My father was taken from me about ten years ago," she explained somberly, looking down at the table. "Geoffrey Azelhart, Lord of Noblecourt."

I nodded slowly, making eye contact with her. "Ten years, huh… Who did the deed?"

"The crows," Primrose whispered harshly, gazing around the room like a hawk as if just speaking of them would cause them to appear. "Three men in black hoods accosted my father late at night and murdered him where he stood. Each of them bore a crow tattoo on them: one on the left arm, one on the right, and one on the crook of his neck."

"Hooded men in black," I muttered, rubbing my temples with my fingers. "Seems familiar… go on."

"I've spent the better part of a decade hunting them down, Therion. A few years ago, I managed to track one of them down to a shady tavern in Sunshade, home of the depraved. I posed as a simple girl off the street to become a part of the dance troupe that frequently performed there."

"I don't like where this is going," I said, feeling a pit growing in my stomach. "Last I heard, the place was run by a nasty ogre of a human being."

Primrose nodded solemnly. "You heard correctly. He'd abuse us constantly; berating us for the smallest of mistakes, putting his hands on us, forcing us to… to…"

Seeing her pained, angered expression, I held out a hand. "... It's alright. You don't have to say anything more."

"I'm sorry…"

I sighed, closing my eyes and trying not to picture what it was like for her. I know that I had my fair share of shitty days, but… that? Damn…

"You have nothing to be sorry about," I scoffed. "Where is that piece of filth anyway?"

"Food for the sandworms," she joked maliciously, not that I could blame her. "Helgenish, that bastard… he killed the one friend I had made in that awful troupe of airheads. Tortured her, stabbed her right in the stomach and threw her off a cliff, and all because she dared to help me. If he wasn't in my way, I probably would have come back and killed him regardless."

I drummed my fingers on the table, soaking in all the information I had learned. "That's… some pretty heavy shit, Primrose."

"Mm… but I'm not the only one here who's suffered, am I? And I don't have time to wallow in my pity," the dancer asserted defiantly, clenching her fist. "Now you know why I'm out here. All those years spent wanting to avenge my father… they'd all be for naught if I had chosen to give up. I only joined up with Tressa and the gang by chance, but… they're good people. I don't regret standing by them one bit."

I could see the fire in Primrose's emerald eyes. When talking about that Helgenish bastard, they seemed to burn with hate and anger. Now, though… they blazed with conviction. Determination.

"Hmph… what's taking that damn waiter so long, anyway?" I huffed, breaking eye contact and instead choosing to look at a still-chatting Alfyn and Vanessa who had already received their meals. The two seemed to laughing about something, probably a nerdy medicine joke, and I glared at the perfect pair as I sipped my beer bitterly.

As if on cue, the poor waiter came from the kitchen with two platters in his hand. Setting them onto our table, he apologized, "Terribly sorry about the wait, my beloved patrons! Bon appétit!"

The food I ordered looked… oddly nice, considering it was made of humanoid rat flesh and unborn Egglings. Primrose and I ate in silence as we kept an eye on Alfyn and Vanessa, who were still going at it. I couldn't quite make out what they were saying over the chatter of the tavern, but I saw Alfyn leave a pouch of leaves on the table before pulling Vanessa's chair out from behind her as she stood up.

"They're leaving," I alerted Primrose, standing from my seat in the booth. "We gotta go after them."

"Can't we stay for dessert?" she flirted, batting her eyes. She then laughed upon seeing my look of annoyance. "Oh, geez. So grumpy… alright. At least let me pay for the meals since you were kind enough to even drag yourself out of bed for this."

"Hey, I can afford it!"

"I think Tressa would prefer if we paid using money earned through a more… honest occupation."

I rolled my eyes before spotting Alfyn lead Vanessa out the front door. "Do what you want, but I'm gonna go keep an eye on those two."

Without another word, I made my way out the front door of the tavern and stuck to the shadows of the building like a slug. The pair seemed to be having a good time, laughing and smiling as they strolled into the town square where they first met and sat on a bench. I made sure to look around for witnesses before trailing the duo, slinking into the bushes near their bench.

"I had a wonderful time tonight, Vanessa," Alfyn nervously said, pausing to clear his throat. "My journey hasn't been that long, you know… but even still, I don't think I've ever met someone quite like you before."

I gagged as I continued to listen to the conversation. I'd be more than content to just leave altogether, but I just know that Tressa would badger me to no end if she didn't get to hear all the "juicy deets", as she put it.

Vanessa chuckled quietly as she looked down at her feet, hands clasped together tightly. "Truthfully… I could say the same. It's rare in this day and age to find a person who appreciates medicine and helping those in need, and yet… here we are…"

"Yeah, heh… here we are…"

Turning to face her properly, Alfyn went on. "Y'know, Vanessa… uh…"

"Yes, Alfyn?"

"I don't suppose I should ask, but… is there anyone in your life right now? Like… romantically speaking?"

I could not believe what I was hearing. Was Alfyn seriously asking this girl who he had just met today to be his girlfriend? You gotta be kidding me! She could be a serial killer for all he knows.

"I… Alfyn," Vanessa gasped, looking away from him bashfully. "My work leaves very little room for anything of the sort, I'm afraid."

"Ah… gotcha," the male apothecary said with a good-natured laugh. "Heh. Well, I respect that. Saving people's lives is no joke, after all."

"Ah… yes," Vanessa coughed before looking him in the eye. "Right. Still… you're a very sweet man, Alfyn. Perhaps, if I was a different woman… things could be different…"

"You mean like if you had a different profession?"

"... Exactly," she finished with a wistful smile.

"Vanessa - "

"Doctor, doctor!" a woman cried, bustling her way into the square as several other townspeople followed her. "We need an apothecary right away!"

Vanessa broke away from Alfyn and stood to her feet, a glint in her eye. "What seems to be the problem?"

"It's my husband," the woman replied tearfully. "His illness has gotten much worse… when he coughs up blood, there's even bits of black mixed in there…"

Alfyn's face scrunched up in confusion. "Black… blood? I'm not aware of any such diseases - "

"There's not an illness in all the realms that my special sliced cannot cure," Vanessa boasted proudly.

I stood up from my spot and snuck my way around into the crowd so as not to blow my cover.

"However," she mentioned in an almost chilling tone, "my famous tonics are quite difficult to brew, requiring some of the finest and rarest ingredients in Orsterra. Worse still, I'm afraid they're rather short in supply as of late…"

"Please," a man begged on his knees. "My mother… my sweet elderly mother … she's all I have left. I'll do anything!"

Alfyn gave Vanessa a wary glance. "Uh, Vanessa…?"

"Well, the price is rather hefty, but if you're so willing to pay," Vanessa stated, "I suppose I can offer you all a discount. I do believe one-hundred thousand leaves a phial should suffice."

My jaw practically hit the floor, along with everyone else's, as I heard the price. One-hundred thousand?! That was more than what most thieves made in a lifetime! How could she expect any honest, hard-working person to afford that much out of pocket? Not even Tressa would stoop to this level of bullshit.

"Holy - !" Alfyn nearly swore, catching himself. "One-hundred… thousand? Vanessa, doesn't that seem like a little too much for the common man?"

"Money is no object when lives are on the line," a wealthy-looking gentleman insisted. "I simply cannot allow my wife to perish! Please, take my leaves!"

One of the Knights Ardante from the cathedral stepped forward as well. "Tis a steep sum to pay, but life is priceless. I too shall purchase a vial."

"Yeah, me too!"

"And me!"

"I guess I don't really have a choice…"

I could only watch in amazement as Vanessa sold her hideously-overpriced wares to the poor desperate schmucks. Where the hell were these people when I was pickpocketing the crowd? Alfyn's jaw, meanwhile, still hadn't returned to its proper place, and under normal circumstances I probably would have laughed. But this… this was extortion. Highway robbery at its absolute worst. And they call me a thief…

"It's been a pleasure doing business with you all," Vanessa chirped sweetly with an equally insulting wink.

"Um… m'lady…"

Everyone turned to see an impoverished-looking woman in an apron standing behind us, looking quite sickly herself. "... I'm afraid my two daughters have come down with the same cough. Little Ellen and Flynn…"

"Oh! The poor little dears," Vanessa gasped dramatically, eyes wide with 'empathy'. "I'm quite sorry to hear that."

Suddenly, the poor woman thrust forward a modestly-sized pouch of leaves. "I am afraid we do not have much in the way of money, but… this is all I have. Truly. Might I still be able to…?"

"I'm truly sorry, miss," the purple-haired apothecary apologized and shook her head, "but I'm afraid that my medicine is in quite high demand, and I only have so many phials at the ready. Locating the necessary ingredients to make a new batch could take weeks if not months, and that's before even getting to the brewing process…"

"Oh!" the woman cried, falling to her knees as if she had been hit in the stomach with a tree branch. "Please, please, Miss Hysel! Have mercy!"

The businesswoman, callous as she was, merely gave her a small wince of sadness as she returned to the ever-growing crowd of desperate people who also ignored the woman. Just when did this outbreak start anyway? It had only been a few hours since we saw Vanessa here in the square the first time…

As the impoverished woman went home in sorrow, weeping for her daughters, Alfyn merely shook his head at Vanessa in disgust before walking away, not even bothering to say goodbye.

"Vanessa… How could you?"

"Alfyn," I called after him once we were far enough away from the crowd. Startled, he turned around instantly.

"A-Ah! Fluffy! I mean, Therion! Don't scare a guy like that," he scolded me, glaring. "... How much did you hear?"

I scoffed, folding my arms. "Enough to know that your girlfriend is a bigger thief than even I am, but still not enough to care."

"She's not my girlfriend!" he yelled, clenching his fists. "I could never be with someone so… so… Ugh!"

"Alfyn…"

"I know, I know. 'It's all your fault', 'you shouldn't have been so naive', I get it," he huffed in a mocking tone similar to my own. "I just…"

"You can drown your sorrows in ale later, alright?" I suggested. "Aren't you going to do anything about those sick kids that can't afford the medicine?"

"Of course I am!" Alfyn shouted, gaining some bravado back. "I just… I dunno… I'm hurt, I guess. And no amount of salve or bandages is gonna fix this one..."

"Trust me, you get used to it after a while. And hey, if it makes you feel better, life is meaningless and we all die anyway," I tried to console him.

Emphasis on tried.

"... That didn't help at all," Alfyn sighed. "Thanks, though, I guess… Bah, you're right. My pain can wait; let's focus on helping those kids!"

"Yeah, uh, no," I refused. "I can probably track down the lady with the daughters, but you're on your own for this one."

Alfyn chuckled softly. "Guess I should have expected that. Tell you what, why don't we get the others back at the inn to come with us?"

"Sounds fair enough," I agreed. "Lead the way."

"Sweet!" he cheered. "Tressa never lets me be the party leader,"

"Right…"

It was still daylight when the two of us returned to our room in the inn, and what we saw was… not a pretty sight. H'aanit, and Ophilia had made it back from their training session, but they looked utterly terrible. Even though Olberic looked no worse for the wear, the girls were running fevers with heated red faces, were coughing frequently to the point of barely being able to speak, and looked as pale as their bedsheets. Linde laid by the foot of H'aanit's bed, whimpering mournfully for her mistress.

"By the gods," Alfyn uttered as he brought forth some strange tonics from his satchel. "You poor things…"

The rest of us stood just outside the room, Tressa pacing back and forth nervously. "Oh no… oh gods…"

"Tressa, please do try to calm down," Cyrus asked her. "Our friends are in good hands, you know. Though I must admit I too am worried…"

Primrose stared at the floor. "I just don't understand… they were all perfectly fine this morning. What happened to them, Olberic?"

"I am ashamed to reveal that I do not know, Primrose," the warrior mournfully said. "Mayhaps there was something in the river they drank from. I knew I shouldn't have neglected to bring along my flask..."

Our scholarly friend consoled Olberic with a pat on the back. "Now, now, Olberic, it's not your fault. We'll just have to remember never to leave the inn without fresh water from now on!"

"Tch…"

"A-Alfyn," I heard Ophilia croak from her bed. I peeked inside the room to see her smile weakly at him, bags under her eyes.

"Ah-ah-ah," he chided, "you need to save your strength, Ophilia. These tonics can stabilize your condition, but it'll take some time for you to start feeling better again."

"I… thank you… urk…"

I returned to the hallway and sank to the floor, leaning my head against the wall. I'd never admit it to them, of course, but seeing Ophilia in such a state kinda hurt. I wasn't as worried about H'aanit seeing as she was undoubtedly strong, but Ophilia had the constitution of a wet napkin. A cute wet napkin, sure, but...

Wait, what the hell?

A few more minutes had passed before Alfyn stepped out of the room sweating. "... They're not doing too well. I can keep them from getting worse, but… I don't think I can necessarily improve their condition with the elixirs I have…Damn it all! There has to be a cure."

"Plus there's still the matter of those two sick kids from before," I pointed out. "The local barkeep might know where they live, but - "

Alfyn slapped his forehead immediately. "Ah, shoot! I knew I was forgettin' something! But… what about our friends? I can't just leave them to…"

"Not to worry, chap. Tressa and I can remain here to keep an eye on their condition," Cyrus asserted with a friendly smile. "It might be a good idea to bring Olberic along for protection, however."

"Professor, I appreciate it, but - "

"Yeah!" Tressa cheered. "Just let us know which tonics to use on them if they start coughing up a storm again!"

"I… Alright," Alfyn relented. "If we're quick about it, we can get to the bottom of this mystery illness and whip up a cure in no time! Hold tight, everyone! Doc Alfyn is on the case!"

Leaving some of his thankfully labeled tonics with Cyrus and Tressa, Alfyn bolted out of the inn with rest of us trailing him.

"H-Hey, wait up!"

A bit of digging revealed that the girls and their mother lived in a small house on the outskirts of town, the house itself clearly having seen better days. When the three of us showed up on her doorstep, the woman who introduced herself as Marlene graciously let us inside. Both of her little red-haired daughters, Ellen and Flynn, laid on small separate beds as their bodies were wracked with illness.

"The poor babies," Primrose cooed sadly as she gazed at them with pity. "How long have they been like this?"

"I'm telling you," Marlene wept, "it just started overnight! I've always been a sickly woman, but… not like this… oh, gods… What if I did this to them?"

"Mm… Marlene?" Alfyn inquired as he turned to the sobbing mother. "I have to ask… Did your daughters have any form of treatment before now? Like, any potions or concoctions ingested?"

"Why, yes," she said in a shaky voice. "That same lady apothecary from before swung by yesterday and said she was offering free samples. Said her elixir would help prevent the girls from catching any bugs. My gods… I should have tested a little bit of it on myself first before letting them drink it…"

"Vanessa?!" Alfyn cried in shock. "No… you don't think…"

"Do you still have the phial?" I questioned her. "If so, maybe Alfyn can get a better idea of what we're dealing with here."

Marlene shakily gestured to the kitchen counter where a nearly-empty phial laid on a paper towel. Alfyn moved in to get a closer look as did Primrose and I. There only looked to be a few droplets of the stuff left, but the smell…

"Mm… I recognize this aroma," Alfyn claimed with a pensive look on his face, taking a few more sniffs for good measure. "Gaborra evergreen… the most potent of all fever reducers."

Primrose raised an eyebrow and frowned. "Gaborra is a different continent from Orsterra altogether. How could anyone here have gotten their hands on this?"

"More importantly," I cut in, "are there any side effects?"

Alfyn stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment, observing the tube closely. He found a label with exceedingly tiny writing and began to read it while squinting. "'A constituting compound has been known to cause inflammation of the throat, including severe coughing. The symptoms resemble those of the whooping cough known to plague the lance whence if hails. Due to the risk of severe and adverse reactions, use of Gaborra evergreen in any dosage is strongly discouraged'."

"... By the twelve gods and all that is sacred," Alfyn swore, nearly dropping the phial. "Vanessa… what have you done?!"

Marlene raised an eyebrow for a moment before her eyes slowly widened in horror. "Y-you mean to tell me… she intended for this to happen?!"

"Explains why she wouldn't tell you her little medicine secrets," I added, staring at the floor. "Frankly, I'm not surprised. She tried to peddle some of her poison to me just yesterday. Her being a snake of a businesswoman makes sense to me."

"That explains why she was selling the cure at such a ridiculous price," Alfyn said with a frown. "The cure for a sickness that she caused…!"

"She absolutely knew what she was doing," Primrose spat with disgust, shaking her head. "Reprehensible…"

"How could someone be so vile?" Olberic asked with venom in his voice, hand resting on the hilt of his blade. "It's simply inconceivable..."

The two children coughed violently once more, causing their mother to rush over to their side. "Oh, my babies… my sweet little babies…"

"How are we going to help them, Alfyn?" Primrose questioned him desperately, tearing her gaze away from the children.

Alfyn paused for a moment before speaking up. "... Vanessa."

"... What?"

"Vanessa's the one who poisoned all of these people," Alfyn explained quietly, though his furrowed brow and eyes revealed his true fury. "If she's selling the cure, that has to mean that she can un-poison them, right?"

I laughed bitterly. "Oh, right. So I suppose we can just waltz right up to her and ask politely? Hell, maybe Primrose can just seduce her into being a good person."

Primrose and Olberic shot me a dirty look as Alfyn, despite the situation, laughed slightly. "Heh… no, Therion. She's directly putting the lives of the people at risk. We… we have to confront her head on. Maybe she'll listen to reason. Maybe she won't. Either way, we just can't let her get away with this!"

"Okay, fine," Primrose agreed, "but even so… Where might we find her? It's going to get dark pretty soon…"

I clapped my hands together. "Leave it to me. With any luck, she might still be out and about in the town. I can climb onto the roof and see if I can spot her. Once I do, I can just trail her to her final destination. In the meantime, see if you two can get either Tressa or Cyrus to come along with us. Never hurts to have a full team together."

"For once," Alfyn said with a grin, "I like the way you think, Therion. Alright, Prim! Let's head back to the inn for now! Olberic, stay here and shoo away any suspicious-looking apothecaries!"

Olberic raised an eyebrow, but nodded nonetheless.

Turning to Marlene, Alfyn assured, "Don't worry, we'll be back with a cure in no time!"

"Godspeed, Alfyn," the mother uttered quietly as we left the house in a hurry. "Godspeed..."