A Hospital in Another World? C.326: Tracing the Plague, Protection Comes First

Archmage Edgar was at his wit’s end.

Necromancers, especially those from the plague branch of necromancy, have always had a notorious reputation. Whenever there was an outbreak of strange diseases, plagues, or unexplainable deaths, the first reaction of people was:

What mischief is the plague branch up to now?

Whom have they cursed?

Have they been testing new spells on living beings?

Or did something from their laboratories leak out?

If not for the fact that the Black Crow Swamp was genuinely formidable, especially in group battles, the ostracization they faced would have been even more severe.

This is where young Garrett deserves praise. Ever since he published several papers on infectious diseases and plagues, proving the methods of plague transmission, and provided the standard management norms for P4 laboratories, the necromancers found a powerful argument in their defense.

People from the plague branch could proudly say:

"My laboratory meets the standards! My lab management is strict enough! This plague/disease/death has nothing to do with me!"

However, before peace could last two days, the shadow of a necromantic plague curse appeared in this outbreak!

"Is the news reliable?" he asked the mage who brought the news seriously. The informant nodded heavily:

"It was Glaya who told me. She and I studied in the same Mage Tower for seven years—The Commissioner asked her to pass the message, saying both our Black Crow Swamp and the Commissioner from Light of the Stars have confirmed the existence of the curse, and told us to clean it up quickly."

Archmage Edgar expressed his understanding. Since the necromantic committee members had personally witnessed it, the source of the plague being a magical curse was beyond doubt. Sending the message was merely to catch a significant insider quickly, to avoid falling into others’ hands, which would look bad.

Damn it, the plague branch had repeatedly warned, no laboratories, no passing the assessment, and research should be suspended. Who dared to challenge this head-on?

He spurred his Phantom Steed, following the messenger toward the water source. The 12 buildings where the plague outbreak occurred, the water source of the water supply company, had long been under the control of the council. The Phantom Steed galloped without any detour, climbing mountains and crossing rivers, drawing a straight line on the map. In no time, the two magical mounts stopped beside a small lake.

"The Commissioner detected the curse’s presence here," the messenger pointed at the lake water. Edgar hummed, dismounted, walked to the lake’s edge, and started casting spells with swift hand movements.

A thin black light fell into the lake. Soon, the water gently began to boil, releasing a series of bubbles. Edgar patiently waited for a while before he saw those black and green bubbles slowly gather together, moving closer to him with his gestures.

Edgar changed his hand gestures. This time, the bubbles coalesced, forming a small snake coiled upon itself, floating and sinking on the water waves. Edgar squinted his eyes, carefully examining the scale patterns on the snake’s body. After a while, he waved his hand and blew a whistle.

The small snake turned around and swam towards the shore. Unfortunately, the overgrown lakeside was not its home turf, nor was the dried-up creek. The green scales on its body started to diminish as if rubbing off into the bushes.

Having traveled only about a hundred meters, the small snake’s body became ethereal, almost invisible. Edgar hummed and casually dispersed it:

"Still a bit cunning. The source of the plague is further ahead—let’s go!"

Though the magically formed small snake didn’t last long, it had already pointed them in the right direction. The two magicians followed the creek uphill, climbing halfway up the mountainside, carefully inspecting the water traces, constantly casting spells to find the source of the disease, and quickly found their target in the bushes.

It was a dead wild beast. After many days, it had decomposed beyond recognition, barely resembling its original form. Edgar chanted a few spells, waved his hand, and heard a buzzing sound as a swarm of flies flew out from the bushes.

The carcass of the beast stood up. Its bones, breaking through the rotting flesh, reassembled into its living shape. Its head turned aimlessly, then lowered, its fangs scraping the soil forcefully.

"Oh, it turns out to be a wild boar." The great mage nodded. The mystery of why the plague broke out in the city so long after the wild boar’s death was solved: the wild boar had not died in the lake at the water source, but on the mountain, and the seeds of the disease were washed down by rainwater. He glanced around casually:

"Go, find all your brothers and sisters!"

He sent a dark light into the skeletal boar. The boar turned around twice, changed direction, and

started running towards the ridge top. The mage followed leisurely behind, even sparing magic to speed it up, but after crossing two mountain tops, his face quickly soured:

The boar had led them to the newly demarcated public health department’s water source, supplying the entire Nevis City!

The boar sniffed around, east and west, moving forward. Soon, it dug up a dead rat near the water source, then another, and another. After three to five dead rats appeared, Edgar was trembling with rage. He raised his hand, and a dense black light fell:

"Go, find them all!"

The skeletal rats scattered. Being small and agile, they were much faster than the boar and quickly led Edgar to twenty to thirty dead rats. The two closest to the water source had died less than ten meters from the reservoir!

Another magical test on the time of death showed that the rats had died nearly a week earlier than the boar. If they had carried the disease into the water, contaminating the reservoir, the entire city would have been in danger!

Edgar cast a spell towards the reservoir. The same spell he used at the lake fell into the reservoir, but instead of stirring up black and green bubbles, it brought forth a lively light green aura. Looking closer, the water plants at the bottom of the lake gently swayed, sterilizing, filtering, and cleaning—these were plants specially cultivated by the God of Nature’s sect to purify water bodies.

Even if a few disease seeds entered the reservoir, these plants could eliminate most of them.

Hundreds of storage tanks at the end, Garrett’s apprentices changing bleach bottles every three days, testing water quality every three days; the biogas pool in the slum area blazing, constantly providing boiling water for free. Three lines of defense connected one after another, protecting the safety of Nevis City’s citizens.

Fortunately, there was a centralized water supply facility, and fortunately, precautions were taken in advance... Maybe, the curser found the rats ineffective and then changed the target to launch the spell?

Edgar let out a long sigh. He changed his gestures, casting several spells in succession, landing on the skeletal boar and rats. Finally, with a forceful wave of his hand:

"Go, to the source that cursed you!"

The boar and rats fell silently to the ground, disintegrating into bones. From the pile of bones, dozens of bone fragments rustled, forming a few bone crows, which spread their wings and flew away.