Preamble to the Escape
"So, let me get this straight," said Celeste, glaring at Stella, "you allowed Astramille to escape, yes?"
The other leanan sidhe gulped. Right at this moment, the two are sitting opposite of each other in what appeared to be a courtroom. Celeste sat in the highest seat, with two other fairies on either side of her. Both wore identical outfits to Celeste, signifying they had the same rank. Stella sat before the trio. Several other tables are present. This was the interrogation room of Aine's dimension.
The original plan was for Stella to return to Lescatie. Then, Aine would send in leanan sidhes who would enter Lescatie from stealthy, predetermined insertion points. Some inside Lescatie, some outside of the nation. The said points are present in the nations that Aine has agents in.
Needless to say, the plan was shot to hell when Stella returned to the Lescatie library with Celeste and half a dozen other fairies and discovered the letter. While several leanan sidhes were very angry that Stella let Astramille slip away, Celeste calmed them down. She immediately ordered two leanan sidhess to secure Astramille's books from Sasha Fullmoon. Another three were dispatched to find the agents that are already in Lescatie. As soon as the other leanan sidhes left, she returned to Aine at full speed and told her what happened. Without hesitation, Aine ordered that the fairies which received the order to go to Lescatie leave immediately and that Stella is to be brought back for questioning.
Which is what is going on right now.
"Technically," Stella said slowly, "Astramille already escaped by the time the order was…"
"Not true," interrupted the leanan sidhe to Celeste's left, "the order to stop Astramille was given to us at UST 0944. The chief librarian gave us the letter at UST 1310 when it was already dark. There was a three-hour plus gap."
UST referred to Unified Standard Time. It is the time that all operations within Aine's dimension use. Aine's operatives that work in the human world or other dimensions use the UST regardless. The UST is one method that Aine uses to coordinate the actions of her subordinates.
"However," Stella argued, "you read the contents of the letter. It clearly stated by the time we receive it, Astramille would be long gone. He claims to be heading north to the Gothian nations, or east to Zipangu."
"Use your head, Stella," Celeste said sternly, "making that kind of a journey requires a lot of preparations. It isn't something a soulless unblessed man can suddenly undertake. Unless he has managed to make allies within Lescatie that you were unaware of, it is unlikely he can suddenly depart. Our agents in Lescatie have already informed us about him. Judging by his interactions with Noscrim, he is a cold, calculating individual. He isn't the kind to suddenly march out into the wild."
"Come on, Celeste," Stella whined, "Astramille has an angry princess Aeris on his backside, intent on murdering him. Do you honestly believe that he won't escape at the first opportunity? I would rather face the armies of the demon lord than face Aeris."
"Regardless," Celeste said, "thanks to your dereliction of duty, Astramille has evaded our grasp. Now, we have to dedicate far more assets to recapture him. Aine has already sent all fairies on standby to Lescatie. It will have a negative effect on our other operations."
Celeste stood up, "Has your time in the Lescatie Library dulled you? Made you slow? Perhaps it would be better if we withdrew you and placed you somewhere else."
It wasn't that long after Sasha received the letter that the orphans reported there were strangers outside. Walking out with Primera, Sasha sees who women. One appears to be in her early twenties while other seemed younger, appearing to be twelve or thirteen. They are dressed in scholarly outfits.
"General Fullmoon?" asked the one on the left.
"Yes," Sasha nodded slowly, "and you are?"
"We are associates of Stella," the one on the right said, "and she told us we have to collect the books of a man called Astramille."
"You're not with the inquisition, are you?" Sasha asked suspiciously.
"No," the one on the right shook her head, "just scholars who were told that there were books of otherworldly origins. The letter Stella received warned of not letting the books fall into the wrong hands. Stella herself had other business to attend to."
"Who are you?" asked Primera.
"I am Isla," the fairy on the right said, "and this is Kaia. Can we retrieve the books? We must not let them fall into the hands of princess Aeris or any of her associates."
"Sure, come in," Primera suddenly interrupted, "now the books are in a massive pile. It's kind of hard to miss. Go ahead. I'll talk to Sasha for a bit."
"Thank you," Isla smiled, "come on, Kaia, we have work to do."
Isla and Kaia stepped past Primer and Sasha, entering the orphanage itself.
"What are you doing?" asked Sasha.
"Something is odd about them," Primera narrowed her eyes in the direction the two women walked in, "they possess a magic about them. It isn't human."
Sasha's eyes widened, "Monsters? In Lescatie?"
"No," Primera shook her head, "their magic definitely isn't demonic. And as far as I know, elves do not have that kind of magic aura either."
"That's why I was suspicious," Sasha said, "I thought they were inquisitors who were using some new magic I am not familiar with."
"So," Primera grinned, a grin that looked similar to Astramille's shit eating grin, "I'll…provoke them a little."
She then quickly ran into the room, with Sasha following.
Isla and Kaia examined the pile of books while several orphans are gathered around them, looking at them curiously. Well, it is more of several neat stacks. Isla picked up a book titled History of Naval Warfare. She flipped through the portions describing the age where wooden sailing ships attacked each other with broadsides of cannon fire. It was when the book described ships built of iron the size of a castle and lobbed thousand-kilogram shells over tens of kilometres that really got their attention.
"Impressive," Isla showed the page to Kaia, "hey, get a look at this."
Kaia looked at the page, "A steel fortress that floats on water and can attack targets beyond visual range? What are the humans of Astramille's world trying to fight?"
Just then Isla suddenly raised a hand and pointed at something. A sound like shattering crystal was heard, and an arrow fell out of the air. Before it hit the ground, Kaia had also turned around.
"Nice reflexes," Primera said, having shot the arrow, "and that magic of yours, it isn't human."
Isla glared at the half-elf, "And what of it?"
"Who are you, really?" asked Primera.
"That is irrelevant," Isla said, anger creeping into her voice, "we are Stella's associates who are here to pick up Astramille's books."
"Hmm," Primera continued, "your magic…you're fairies, aren't you?"
"And so what if we are?" demanded Kaia, "Do you have a problem with that?"
"Just curious as to what kind of fairies take interest in arcane technologies," Primera asked, lowering her bow, "from what I know, fairies only care about what is fun."
"That is no concern of yours," Isla retorted, "besides, did Astramille not dictate that Stella pick up the books? She then told us to do so in her place."
"What I don't understand is your magic," Primera said, "without uttering a single word, you deflected my arrow. That requires proficiency in high end magic. Something I do not expect of mere fairies."
"Kaia," Isla ordered, "teleport the books back home."
Kaia immediately turned to face the books. She pointed both her palms at the pile. A magic sigil manifested under the book pile. At the centre, a butterfly motif dominated, while various glyps and symbols also appeared. It glowed a soft pink. Before Primera could load another arrow, the sigil vanished, as did the books.
"Excellent work," Isla praised, "Kaia. Astramille's work is saved."
"So, fairy," Primera asked, "what are your goals?"
The two fairies simply smirked before vanishing in a burst of glittering particles.
"You think we should report this to the Inquisition?" asked Primera, "Not only do they have good reflexes and some kind of telekinesis, they are also capable of instant teleportation. Fairies usually don't bother with learning those kinds of spells."
"I would rather not," Sasha sighed, "I would prefer that Astramille have as much of a head start as possible. If he is to escape, then the authorities must learn of his escape as late as possible."
"Pfft," Primera snorted, "even with his departure, you care about him."
Meanwhile, Mimil was at home reading a book when her parents returned.
"You're back," she said as her parents entered the house, "how was work today?"
"Surprising," Victor replied, "the man called Astramille fled Lescatie. Hardly surprising as princess Aeris was, and still is, screaming for his blood. He left his books behind in the scramble. Then, two fairies came and took his books away. It's been a wild day."
He ran away? Mimil wondered, Impossible. The Astramille I knew is cocky and arrogant. He sees us as inferior to him. Perhaps that is why Aeris wanted to kill him. But is he really the kind of man who would run into the wild with zero preparation?
Obviously, the answer is no. Astramille could easily get all sorts of information. He even found out about her own past. In her conversation with Wilmarina, Mimil also discovered that Astramille somehow knew enough about her and Elt to advise High Priest Noscrim in finding a way to separate the two. It would be wildly out of character for Astramille to pull off something as insane as running into the wild with no preparations.
Then, it hit Mimil. Why wasn't it possible? As she understood, Astramille has the power to easily sway people into believing him. Hell, he convinced High Priest Noscrim to listen to him and had the trust of princess Adelais. It wouldn't be beyond Astramille to have somehow contacted factions outside of Lescatie to get him out if things turn bad. In exchange for knowledge of course, particularly about the powerful guns he bragged about.
This theory is supported by the fact that two fairies collected the books themselves. Since they were human sized, they are guaranteed to be leanan sidhes, if not Titanias. Mimil frowned. But why would leanan sidhes be interested in firearms? Or any weapons as a matter of fact? Then, she remembered her encounter in the library between Astramille and Stella. She recalled that Malum, a Sax-Juton nation far from Lescatie, was mentioned. Could it be that the leanan sidhes were assistants to humans residing in Malum, and said humans ordered them to retrieve Astramille's books? Or were they were leanan sidhes who served Stella? And if those fairies were powerful enough to teleport at will, they can certainly magic Astramille away from Lescatie. Sax-Jutons are known to use firearms more prominently, so it is hardly surprising that they would be interested in Astramille's books.
Mimil sighed. This is something he should report to the Lescatie Inquisition and the royal family. The idea that fairies are interested in advanced weaponry, however, was a disturbing thought. Fairies are known to defect to the demon lord because they have games that are more fun. Even if it was the humans they served who desired the weapons, the fairies must be wildly out of character to help them. This smells like another mysterious faction, albeit one that Stella claimed to be anti-monster.
Meanwhile, at Gali's apothecary, Astramille was asked about medicine of his world. Gali was intent on grilling him for every bit of information before he left. So they were on opposite sides of the counter.
"Alright," Astramille said, "fine, I'll answer any question you have tonight. But bear in mind I am not a qualified doctor."
"Heh, heh, boy," Gali laughed while looking at him over a fuckload of paper, a few bottles of ink and multiple quill pens within reach, "weren't you the one who said that advanced medicine isn't even necessary to reduce death rates or something?"
"Well," Astramille leaned back on his stool slightly, "that much is true. If Lescatie spent more on infrastructure and parents educated about basic hygiene, the death rate would drop. But be careful with what you say. The officials of the Order can claim you are a heretic and try to kill you. You know what happened to Vinci, right?"
"Yeah," Gali nodded, "but your forbidden knowledge is far too tempting."
Astramille contemplated Gali's answer for a while before asking, "I have always wondered why you didn't move to a nation that is more accepting of your work?"
"Heh," Gali said, "what kind of a man would I be if I just abandoned Vinci and left?"
Once again, Astramille paused for a while before replying, "You would be a man who is cowardly and without honor, one who would abandon a close friend, or at least a close associate, to his fate. But you would also be a man whose work be acknowledged. A man who has a greater chance of living another day without fearing that the theocrats of Lescatie may suddenly put him to the sword."
"Heh," Gali said, "I stay in Lescatie because almost all of the other medicine men have left. If I don't stay, then who will look after the people who have been forsaken by the church?"
To this question, Astramille had no answer.
"I respect you a lot more," Astramille finally said, "so I shall tell you everything I know. And I shall pray that the Chief God would have mercy upon those who struggle to survive. Now, where should us naughty heretics begin?"
"Start with telling me how we can reduce the death rates without even using advanced medicine," Gali said.
And Astramille did. Using cholera as an example, Astramille told Gali that cholera has been virtually wiped out in developed countries. From what his brother told him, Astramille was fairly sure that treatment of water before drinking and the usage of sewers was responsible. Thus, in areas of the world where the public infrastructure is inadequate, cholera is still present. Many other diseases can be brought under control if Lescatie would invest in a sewer system. As early as the 1970s, doctors and epidemiologists recognized that the role of medical treatment in improving population health was exaggerated. Their studies revealed that deaths from infectious diseases declined long before effective treatments for them became available. Astramille knew this from one of his earlier sociology classes. The addition of aqueducts that bring water allover Lescatie would be ideal, though Gali and Astramille both recognized that the powerful people of Lescatie would baulk at such expenditures. Gali concluded that the best they can achieve is to advise people to boil water before drinking and washing with soap.
Another health issue that is relatively easy to solve is heavy metal poisoning. Metals like lead and mercury are highly toxic and can lead to all sorts of nasty health issues. Astramille admitted that he didn't know much of the details, only that heavy metal poisoning is really, really bad and possibly incurable by the current level of medicine. Things like lead glass, lead containers and usage of mercury in early hat making were all sources of heavy metal poisoning. Astramille warned that mercury should never be used as medicine, for too many from his world made that mistake before it was recognized to be a mistake.
Astramille also warned Gali that narcotics like opiates must be avoided until advanced understanding of the human body is attained. He recalled that the Victorian era saw parents give so-called soothing syrups to calm down disobedient children, except those syrups contained things like heroin, alcohol, chloroform, opium and cannabis. While they were effective in stopping children from being a pain in the ass, it frequently killed them. In fact, Astramille stated that using medicine to treat mental issues is not advised, as even the doctors of his world did so with caution.
Astramille also briefly mentioned aspirin, which is extracted from willow and other plants rich in salicylates. To his surprise, Gali smirked and pointed at a jar which was filled with long thin leaves and told him the Lescatie Oak leaves probably had the substance, given its effectiveness in reducing pain, fever and inflammation.
What really surprised Gali was antibiotics. It was difficult to believe that a substance extracted from mold could effectively fight infection, but Astramille explained how millions of lives were saved by the miraculous substance, which was then experimented on and improved. He also warned that bacteria resistant to antibiotics were increasing at an alarming rate, threatening to send humanity into another dark age of medicine.
By the time that talk was finished, it was getting late. Gali offered Astramille a place within his apothecary to sleep. Accepting the offer, Astramille went to bed. But he couldn't sleep, for the threat of Aeris turning him into worm food was all too real. He must plot his escape carefully.
Edited to change a minor mistake pointed out by Blaise Welshman. I don't have a editor or a reader so mistakes like this can easily slip by, especially since I don't always start from the start of a chapter and finish. I take ideas, arrange them in order and fill them out, which explains my writing.