Chapter 52: An Important Fan

Chapter 52

An Important Fan

"I heard you’re having trouble with a fellow scholarship student from your village?" Regan, who was looking around as silence enveloped them, suddenly asked, breaking the quiet.

"Yes, sir."

"Why? Is it because she meddled with your room?"

"Well...that’s part of it, sir."

"Mmm. Trust once broken is indeed hard to restore. But she has already faced the consequences of her actions. Lucien has also revoked her direct discipleship. After this, I think you should be able to forgive her." Hearing Regan say this, Ellie was slightly surprised. The girl looked up at the sky, pondering to herself.

Trust was broken once? ...No, for her, it was about betraying the trust in the heroine herself. And it wasn’t just once that she had felt this way. Ellie remembered how she had tried to deceive herself into trusting in the heroine’s role, but ultimately, she really couldn’t bear it...

"You don’t seem like Professor Regan I know," Ellie observed the young professor amidst the darkness. Regan paused for a moment before chuckling softly.

"Because what I am, others shouldn’t be...Sigh. Well, whatever decision you make is your own choice. I’m just here to provide guidance, and whatever happens next, don’t say that this professor didn’t warn you. But there’s one thing you must not forget..." Regan stood up to his full height, facing Ellie squarely.

"Being an enemy of a priest may entail many potential losses," he said before walking away, leaving Ellie to reflect on the advice he had given her.

Regan’s warning was undoubtedly valuable. The status of a priest was not easily contested, even with the Four Torments rule. But who would cooperate with her to the extent of gathering 20,000 people to depose a priest like that? It could actually make Nara lose her priesthood. And what would happen afterward? ...Perhaps those 20,000 people might face opposition from the Church themselves. That would then follow by a major problem.

And of course, Ellie understood the underlying meaning in Regan’s words as well.

Wasn’t he talking about...being an enemy of “a priest”? If Nara was not a priest, then her enemy’s status would change. This advice shouldn’t have come from a professor who counted both Nara and Ellie as his students. But clearly, Regan was cautious with his words, allowing Ellie to reflect and come to the realization on her own.

The quiet night passed quickly. That day, Ellie didn’t partake in the food distributed by the soldiers. She had her own cultivation area provided by the Setter family from before, so just a roasted tuber was enough to fill her stomach.

At dawn, a signal was sent for all students, including those participating in this healing camp, to gather for food. Ellie was curious about their procedures, so she woke up early to join them.

A group of military personnel was responsible for preparing and distributing the food. Many students were still asleep, accustomed to waking up late and being able to buy food at any time. Therefore, the first day’s adjustment was not very good. Ellie believed that after everyone missed lunch, they would regret not getting up early to queue for breakfast.

Many apothecaries and their assistants were among the first in line, while the priests received more privileges than others. With only about 5-6 priests, the soldiers had prepared special meals for them. It was these priests’ powers that truly helped the sick, while the apothecaries could only alleviate symptoms or help nourish the patients. Their roles were thus distinctly different.

"Today we must try harder, right? It seems no patient’s condition has improved; we can only manage their symptoms day by day."

"Sigh, what can we do? Since we can’t find the cause, we can only prolong the patients’ lives."

"Even the priests can’t do anything; what can we, mere apothecaries, do?" The group ahead of Ellie spoke despondently about treating the patients.

The apothecaries knew they did not have the capabilities to handle such matters. The status of the priests was much higher; they were the only group capable of miracles. Of course, in this world, apothecaries also held high status, like her Professor Medik, who was also an apothecary, but that’s because he had a special vine with unique properties. While other apothecaries didn’t have the supportive ability to concoct medicines like him, they could only make common medicines, making their status relatively ordinary.

"I heard even the priests are struggling; maybe this camp might need to be destroyed," Ellie’s ears perked up slightly upon hearing this.

According to the story in the novel, the situation of this healing camp was indeed as hopeless as everyone understood. No one knew the cause, and they didn’t even think that there would be the demonic beasts in this border area. Thus, the initial resolution after about 1 week of student assistance was to destroy the camp, and it didn’t just mean literally...It meant they intended to kill all the patients here to prevent the spread of the Red Plague.

The significant heroine felt sad about the priests’ decision. She then declared that she would not give up and asked for 1 week to try something. Therefore, instead of revolving around helping the patients as in the first week, she went to patrol the area and encountered the demonic beasts as per the story.

With her importance as a disciple of Professor Lucien and her ability to find the cause of the Red Plague, Nara’s reputation increased to the point of gaining attention. Subsequently, the Church began to send people to investigate Nara’s identity further. However, Ellie didn’t know how the story would progress if Nara, having joined the Church, could find the source of the epidemic. Perhaps Nara might immediately attain the status of a priestess after this event.

"Although it’s sad, it might be the only option."

"How can you say that!? Doesn’t this mean the lives of the people we are trying to save should just be lost?"

"What else can be done? If we can’t help, and the disease spreads to other villages, wouldn’t that be worse? The priests don’t have the holy water to protect everyone, you know."

"Even if that’s true...but still..." Their whispers became softer as they realized the situation seemed worse than they thought.

Ellie looked at the apothecaries, whose hands, now wrapped in once-white bandages, had turned murky. It was clear everyone was exhausted with the situation; if it were her, she might have given up like them...

"Ah! The head apothecary is coming, stop talking about this now." As they whispered among themselves, a sharp-eyed apothecary noticed someone approaching from behind. Although relatively young, with her skills, she had already reached a four-star level apothecary.

The tired look on her face, barely concealed, showed Ellie just how weary this head apothecary was from helping the patients.

" Lady Celey, good morning."

"Good morning, Lady Celey," greeted the apothecaries in line. If it were someone else with the status of a leader, they could have cut in line and moved to the front. However, this head apothecary was different; instead of using her privileges, she went to the back of the line as if it were the norm.

Only the apothecaries at the front were anxious, many wanting to leave their spot in line and join the end behind the leader if it hadn’t been for being scolded in the past for doing so.

Lady Celey was very straightforward and wasn’t fond of the title "head," knowing only that she should focus intensely on her work.

Ellie pondered over a familiar name for a moment before realizing that a key character in this event, who served as a stepping stone for the heroine to overcome, was none other than "Head Apothecary Celey, the 4-star level apothecary!"

While the priest who initiated the decision to abandon the rescue mission and destroy the place was "2-star level Priest Burton," while the apothecary who ardently supported this idea was "4-star level apothecary Celey!"

Nara could not argue with the priests due to their higher status. She initially approached Celey to ask her to change her mind and continue helping the villagers. However, at that moment, Celey rebuffed her and refused to help. The quarrel between the two became a significant issue, and Nara directly challenged Celey. Thus, Celey ended up asking the priests for another week to let Nara prove her claims.

In the story, Apothecary Celey appeared to be ruthless and cruel, wishing for all the villagers to die while she could have persuaded the priests but instead, refused to help. If it weren’t for the heroine finally couldn’t bear it and speaking out in challenge, perhaps all the villagers would indeed have perished.

However, Ellie had experience from before, and she knew that not everything in the novel always turned out to be true. Just like the heroine wasn’t as good-natured as she seemed, or how Aman didn’t seem like the fool who would blindly fall in love. So, Ellie decided to observe the other’s actions before deciding whether Celey was good or evil.

"Are you a student who came from the institution to help us?" While Ellie was quietly standing in line, the cold voice of the woman behind her spoke up.

Since Ellie arrived later than the other apothecaries, she ended up being the last in line, meaning when Celey arrived, she stood right behind her.

"Yes, ma’am," Ellie replied with a smile, meeting people’s expectations without making herself stand out, merely acting as one of the extras.

"Mmm, I heard there were students coming to help, but why are there so few?" Celey’s brows furrowed in dissatisfaction. She looked around and saw only a few students.

"Actually, there are many students who came here, it’s just that everyone might not be awake yet."

"Not awake? Hah! In a situation like this, if they don’t hurry up to get food, they won’t need to wait until dinner; they’ll be exhausted by midday," Celey criticized openly, and Ellie laughed dryly without responding.

"And where are you assigned to help?"

"Uh, the professor hasn’t assigned groups yet, so I don’t know."

"Huh? They need to assign groups too? The institution is too lackadaisical," Celey complained again.

"................"

"Who is your professor at the institute?" Seeing Ellie stayed quiet, Celey asked her next question of interest.

"I am a disciple of Professor Medik, ma’am."

"Hmm? You’re his student?" However, upon hearing Medik’s name, Celey’s expression changed.

Ellie saw a spark of life flash in the weary eyes of this woman, who had initially looked at her as if she were just a piece of driftwood; now, there was a fascinating twinkling light.

"Then tell me everything about him," Celey’s last sentence came with a tone that made Ellie realized she had just encountered a major fan of her professor...