Sharati swallowed hard.

Even if she wanted to calm down, she couldn’t ignore the shivers creeping up her spine. The ominous premonition she felt at a moment like this always turned out to be accurate.

“Doctor, explain.”

Matapju, who was examining the mana movements around Sharati, sensed the seriousness and demanded an explanation right away.

Sharati took a deep breath as calmly as possible.

“This is poisonous grass. It looks so splendid that it can’t be mistaken for wildflowers.”

Sharati conveyed the characteristics of the crimson poisonous grass in detail to Matapju. She even drew pictures to explain the expected form of the roots where the poison might be.

Anyway, Matapju was the owner of the Sepia Village, and informing about the danger of the seemingly extraordinary poisonous grass required Matapju’s power. Above all, if someone intentionally planted poisonous grass as a resource of rebellion, it was a serious problem.

“In my eyes, it’s just an ordinary wildflower. Like a common white flower resembling cosmos.”

As Matapju, gazing at the wildflower, no, the crimson poisonous grass, spoke, her eyes cooled down.

Sharati, who had looked at the complicated Matapju, felt her heart thumping.

‘A poisonous grass that looks different depending on the person. It’s like an elusive illusion, almost like a superstition.’

Matapju, also considering the possibility of an illusionary grass, immediately took out the communication device.

“Confirm with the village chief right away.”

The village chief alone was not enough to inform about the danger of poisonous grass, which not only seemed like just an illusionary grass but also deceived Matapju’s eyes. Recognizing the seriousness of the situation, Kartun, who was beside her, urgently took action and called the mages belonging to the Croffle Mercenary Corps. All the mages in Sepia Village moved together to find the crimson poisonous grass.

After a while, all the mages, including the village chief, only acknowledged the existence of white wildflowers, not being able to see the crimson poisonous grass, as reported.

Only the mages were in a situation where they couldn’t recognize the poisonous grass.

“Ha, did they really think of this as a war with Matap?”

Matapju glared at the illusionary grass with a burning gaze. Still, none of the characteristics Sharati described could be seen in his eyes.

On the other hand, Sharati, contemplating various things in her mind, recalled the conversation she had with Tane.

‘Artificially created illusionary grass nourished by a huge amount of mana underground.’

Then, how much lethal substance could the toxin in the roots that absorbed mana contain? Perhaps, they wouldn’t have created the illusionary grass just to take a single human life.

‘Not a life but something else?’

Sharati found the crimson poisonous grass in front of her more eerie than any other toxic substance in the world. Although she knew that she had to observe and research it for the development of an antidote, Sharati couldn’t readily intervene as she used to.

‘Did they really target Matap and the mages?’
The village chief said there were no residents of Sepia Village who were poisoned by the crimson poisonous grass, but there was no certainty that the poison would affect only mages.

‘Rebellion’s resource.’

The noble with a scorpion pattern, Viscount Bridend, bestowed a horrific and secretive greed hidden in the mountain village for many years, instilling a fear that made one’s hair stand on end for the first time.

“If you’re a doctor, are you skilled in toxins?”

At that moment, Matapju spoke to Sharati, who was turning pale.

“Your herbal blending skills seem decent.”

Understanding Matapju’s words, Sharati immediately rummaged through her bag.

She took out various antidotes she had brought and placed them on the table.

“We need to extract the poison.”

However, due to the fact that it had been a day since they were collected, the nodules of the roots, presumed to contain the poison, were all shriveled.

“That’s easy.”

Matapju confidently tapped her fingers, which were densely covered with rings, in the air as if playing a piano.

Although it looked like a wildflower, she could distinguish the roots, and thanks to Sharati’s explanation and drawings, she was no longer swayed by the illusion in front of her.

Following Matapju’s gesture, the surrounding mana flowed into the crimson poisonous grass as if supplying nutrients.

“Yeah. My magic power is more appetizing than natural mana.”

After pouring both her magic power and the surrounding mana, Matapju’s eyes finally began to see the crimson poisonous grass. Above all, the roots of the poisonous grass were gradually swelling, as if asking when they had withered.

Sharati quickly grabbed an empty bottle and a needle.

‘Now is the time.’

Wearing gloves in advance, Sharati cautiously pricked the nodules of the roots with a needle. As a result, thick poison oozed out.