Ren calmly replied as an assistant, but his anxiousness could be felt in his harshly hardened expression.

The village leaders exchanged glances and decided to wait until Sharti’s condition improved.

Fortunately, not long after, Sharti’s condition began to improve.

‘I never thought she would set a fire.’

Pressing her hand firmly against her chest, Sharti took a deep breath.

Though Ren didn’t know she had set the fire overnight instead of Sharti, he couldn’t imagine that she had chosen to burn something. Grateful that he didn’t directly see the fire, Sharti didn’t experience a severe attack.

“Teacher…!”
As they entered the hall, Ashu, who had been summoned separately, stood diagonally with a pale face.

‘It seems she heard about my seizure.’

Ashu was aware of the burn scars on her arms and legs as well, but she seemed to have taken it lightly, thinking it would be okay as long as she didn’t see the fire in front of her.

‘Anyway, it went well as planned.’

Aside from the trauma, it was a drastic method that Sharti might have chosen if not for her. Above all, having Ren by her side allowed her to endure the short aftereffects of the seizure.

Sharti shook Ashu’s hand gently, reassuring her.

“You can expect it.”

Turning her body, Ren, who blocked Ashu’s gaze, handed Sharti down, but he seemed restless.

Sharti turned her gaze around.

The village leaders were sitting in a semicircle, resembling a small courtroom accusing a criminal.

‘I intentionally stayed with patients all night, yet it seems the culprit has already been determined to be me.’

Facing the village officials sitting with the village chief, Sharti took a calm breath.

Ren, who was standing with her, grumbled with a furrowed brow.

“It’s getting serious.”

Sharti tapped him on the side while giving him a meaningful look.

While doing so, she subtly took Ren’s hand, positioning him behind her as if hiding him.

‘We need to do the same.’

Sharti clenched and released her trembling hand.

And the interrogation began.

First, the village chief stood up abruptly, opened his eyes wide, and raised his voice.

“The day after an outsider entered the village, an incident occurred. Ashu! You’re also suspected of being involved!”

Startled by her father’s loud voice, Ashu took a deep breath.

“A fire broke out in the village for an unknown reason, and livestock disappeared!”

The missing food included livestock.

After discovering the broken locks and empty pens, they urgently gathered at the village gate, but it was wide open.

The testimony of the sleeping village gatekeepers was consistent. Ashu offered them a cup of liquor, and after that, their memories were cut off.

“Could it be, Ashu, did you really collude with an outsider and even made the gatekeepers take sleeping pills?!”

“My, my defense is not a priority.”

“This, this rascal…!”

The mild-mannered son, along with his verbal response, was standing firmly, forcefully staring with strength in his eyes.

Finally, the village chief, whose blood pressure had risen, grabbed his collar.

Facing the enraged village officials, Ashu took a brief glance at Sharti and stepped back.

“Teacher has found both the spreading disease in the village and the cure!”

At that moment, all eyes turned to Sharti.

Sharti took a shallow breath amid the oppressive gazes focused on her.

‘Luckily, I’m wearing a hood.’

If she had faced them directly, it would have been difficult to endure.

In the center among the officials, an old man with long white beard slowly spoke.

“You’ve identified the disease?”

In front of Sharti, who was sharply pierced only by his gaze, Ren stepped forward.

“Symptoms of mana poisoning.”

Ren protected Sharti from the invisible blades like a loyal guard protecting his master.
“The blue fluorescent spots that appeared on the patient’s body were one of the symptoms of mana poisoning, and as of today, the cause of the poisoning has been removed.”

“Then, could it be that the food disappeared…?”

“All living things within the village, including flowers, grass, fruits, and vegetables, had a mana reaction.”

Ren had memorized the explanation from the note Sharti handed him.

As Sharti’s assistant, he recited the diagnosis without emotions, leaving out no details.

“Due to prolonged consumption of mana-poisoned substances, strong mana accumulated in the patients’ bodies, eventually reaching the limit of mana their bodies could tolerate, causing illness.”

The mana stone Sharti brought and the mana detector reacted significantly to the excessive mana levels accumulated in the patients’ bodies.

‘Mana detectors are not supposed to react to ordinary people, not even mages.’

In other words, ordinary people, not even mages, had excessive mana stored in their bodies, and the patients couldn’t withstand the excessive mana, resulting in their illnesses.

‘If there’s this much mana in the human body, it’s likely that the patients have been consuming mana like nutrients until now.’