Chapter 145 – Unsuited
“Well, I can’t narrate everything in great detail but basically, I…”
“We already know you come from the domes. There’s no need to beat around the bush.”
The sudden revelation stupefied me, and I could see her mother shaking her head while sighing. I knew they probably were aware but how could she reveal it like this, for no good reason and right at the start of the discussion?
“Err…”
“Crali… You’re really not made for this job.”
The girl in question seemed to notice she made a mistake and looked flustered for a second. It didn’t last long, though.
“W-who cares! We’re talking about saving lives here! What’s more important than that?”
“Hopeless. You’re hopeless.”
“Mom!”
“Ah… I just wanted to relax for a few decades. Was that too much to ask? Why do I always need to clean up after my daughter?”
“Liar! You’re too lazy to look after me!”
“Still a mama’s girl at your age… Sigh.”
“Mom!”
I watched their skit go on for a bit more until Angin focused her attention back on me.
“I’m sorry about this, young man. It’s not the time for some family dispute.”
“Please call me Tila, my Lady.”
“Fine. Anyway, now that we’re all on the same page, let’s return to the main topic.”
“Before that, may I ask how much you know about my situation and the domes? It’ll help when I explain what I did.”
Angin stared at me for a moment and at her daughter after that. In the end, she slightly nodded.
“We don’t know anything about the domes except that humans took refuge in them hundreds of years ago. About you, we only have conjunctures. We think you’re a legendary spatial mage and come from the domes because that’s the only place where you could have gotten your hands on that technology, those selnic items. We only have very basic knowledge about spatial mages.”
As expected, it was impossible to hide the truth for too long. The good part was that they didn’t seem to hold any aggressive feelings toward me. Whatever happened between humans and other species all those years back didn’t seem to affect contemporary people too much. I was unsure if they didn’t know about me coming from another planet or just chose not to reveal it to me but that was already a good starting point.
“Thank you for telling me. As you guessed, I do come from the domes, and the technology there is a bit more advanced than here.”
Crali looked fascinated.
“Wow… There aren’t many people who don’t dream of opening the domes and checking what’s in there. How is it inside?”
“You might be disappointed because it’s a lot more normal than you could expect. One of the main differences is that humans are the only species there. Otherwise, people are still people. They eat, sleep, and struggle to survive. It’s the same here and in the domes.”
Angin acquiesced sagely but Crali didn’t seem much satisfied with my answer. This wasn’t what we were supposed to talk about, though.
“Anyway, let me explain what I did. I went into many… herbalist shops, I guess, and they all knew about these particular symptoms. If we trust them, this disease is called Roklera and it’s quite potent.”
Angin scowled.
“How can we be sure we’re talking about the same disease?”
“We can’t. They all agreed on that specific illness but that doesn’t mean it’s the same.”
“I guess it’s better than nothing. Go on.”
“Yes. Next is the good news. They knew about this sickness because it appeared in the domes in the past. And a vaccine was created to fight against it.”
“So, what’s a vaccine? Is it a cure?”
“No. A vaccine isn’t a cure.”
Even the mother looked a little surprised at my answer while the daughter was very confused.
“It’s not a cure? What’s the point then?”
“A vaccine isn’t a cure but, in a way, it’s even better than a cure. It’s a prevention mechanism. If a person gets injected with a vaccine for a specific disease, they’ll have a lot less chance to catch that disease.”
Angin’s eyes widened as she instantly understood the concept’s greatness but Crali still wasn’t there yet.
“Prevent? I mean, it’s good, but what about those already infected?”
“A vaccine has no impact on those already infected. They need to fend off the disease by themselves.”
“What? But…”
“Enough, Crali. Don’t you understand? A vaccine is exactly what we need right now. We have a lot less infected people than healthy ones. Tila, how long of an effect does a vaccine have?”
“It depends. Some of them last for a lifetime. The vaccine for Roklera is like that too.”
“That’s amazing. Even better than expected. Can you get your hands on those vaccines?”
“I have some on me.”
Crali shouted noisily.
“Really?”
“Yes… But here’s the bad news. I only managed to buy 40.”
“40? Geola has almost a million people!”
“Exactly.”
“Huh… Damn.”
Lady Vejas stayed composed and calmly asked.
“What’s the issue? Is there a limited quantity of it available? Or do you lack money?”
“Money is the main problem but the quantity we need isn’t negligible either.”
“Then it isn’t one. You can use Geola’s treasury to get as much funds as you need.”
“It isn’t that simple. We use a different currency in the domes. The money from here is worthless there.”
“Even gold?”
“Yes, gold isn’t worth anything there.”
“Really? How can that be?”
“Because they don’t need it.”
“What do they need, then?”
No matter the circumstances, I wasn’t going to reveal the domes' weak points that easily, and I avoided directly answering the question. Not that they couldn’t find out if they investigated me or just thought deeply about it.
“I’ve been trading things from here to there but that’s far from earning enough money to buy a million of those vaccines.”
“Hmm. What do you suggest we do?”
I let a moment of silence pass while I organized my thoughts.
“That’s why I came here to report back. Let me summarize the situation. First, I’ll need to somehow convince the vaccine manufacturer to produce at least a million of them. Then, we’ll need to gather enough currency from the domes to buy them. And let’s keep in mind that we’re not sure that it’s the vaccine for the same disease. That’s one option.”
Their eyes lit up on my last sentence.
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