Chapter 337: Don't Ask, It's the Last Bottle
Steven felt a little awkward.
It had been some time since he last wandered around the snowy plains, and he had nearly forgotten that besides that so-called Deathless Black Snake lurking in Talulah, there was also… another debuff on her.
Milk was a wonderful thing. It could do everything—except specify.
Whether a buff was positive or negative, it didn't matter. Once a gulp went down, everything that shouldn't be there was gone.
And Talulah's Oripathy, thanks to her unique constitution, had never progressed too far. But now, with just a single bottle of milk, she was completely cleansed.
If it had been anyone else, Steven wouldn't have minded so much. But if this woman realized he possessed a power that could outright cure Oripathy… then there was no way she'd let him off the hook.
And judging from her actions right now, she was proving exactly that.
Breaking free from her grip wasn't difficult for him. What was difficult, however, was steeling his heart to ignore those eyes of hers—eyes that seemed to hold the light of an entire starry sky, filled with expectation.
"You can just think of it as… a kind of miracle," Steven muttered helplessly, lowering his head to meet Talulah's gaze. "Your body's tougher than most, and maybe it reacted strangely with my medicine. Then Lady Luck gave you her blessing… and that's why things ended up like this. Does that explanation work for you?"
Even as he spoke, he knew how flimsy his excuse sounded.
It was the kind of story that wouldn't even fool a child.
And Talulah was no three-year-old child. She wasn't some lovestruck girl who'd swallow anything he said, either. She knew all too well that every time Steven used that tone of voice, it meant he was brushing her off.
Which also proved, beyond any doubt, that he truly did possess the power to cure Oripathy.
For her, that revelation was nothing short of earth-shattering.
She had long since abandoned the idea of "curing" the infection. Her only dream had been to carve out a space where the infected could live and stand on their own. As for being healed—that was something she had left to the distant future.
But now, Steven's casual display of power has shattered that mindset completely.
If even this so-called "incurable" disease could be healed… then didn't that also mean the discrimination the infected faced might one day be erased as well?
She knew the thought was naive. And yet, because this miracle had happened right before her eyes, she couldn't help but feel a fragile, trembling spark of hope.
Maybe… just maybe, it wasn't impossible after all.
"Even you don't believe that excuse of yours," she said quietly. "I just want to know one thing. Did you do this?"
Her hand rose, pointing at her chest. Where once there had been jagged, crystal-like Originium growths, her skin was now smooth and soft—like that of a newborn child. The so-called "stone" was gone without a trace.
She had to know for sure. Because if he truly held the means to cure the most painful curse on this land, then no matter how rare, how precious the medicine was—it would still be a blazing ray of hope for the infected everywhere.
The difference between "can only delay" and "can truly cure"… was a difference as vast as between hell and heaven itself.
If word of this spread among the infected, at the very least, they would finally have something to cling to.
"…Weren't you two talking about the curse?"
Just then, a voice interrupted. Alina, who had been watching them without understanding a thing, finally couldn't resist stepping forward.
She had no idea why Talulah had suddenly changed the moment she woke up, grabbing Steven and refusing to let him leave.
She had never seen Talulah wear such an anxious expression before. And yet, strangely, it wasn't just anxiety. There was joy, astonishment… and even a dreamlike disbelief in her eyes, as though she were still trapped in a miracle she couldn't wake up from.
If it had been nothing more than the curse being lifted, there was no way she'd react like this, right?
"You. Come here."
Steven let out a long sigh.
He knew it—once Talulah caught on, there was no way she'd let this go so easily.
But some things simply couldn't be explained, and this was one of them.
So, all he could do was beckon to Alina, gesturing for her to come closer.
"Hm?"
With a puzzled look on her face, Alina obediently approached him.
When it came to Steven and Talulah, this little fawn trusted them unconditionally.
She was certain that Steven would never do anything to harm her.
And yet, what he did next inevitably made her struggle.
After all, when someone suddenly pulled you to their side and started forcing an unknown white liquid down your throat—anyone would instinctively resist.
But soon enough, the pain flared up inside her body. Alina's complexion turned deathly pale, and the strength left her limbs, leaving her unable to push him away.
Fortunately, her Oripathy had never been too severe. And truth be told, Steven had already cleaned out most of it the last time. Completely purging the remnants now wouldn't take much effort.
And so, before long, Alina lay weakly at Steven's side, leaning against Talulah, who still refused to let go of him.
"This is the last bottle," Steven said flatly, shaking the empty container in his hand for Talulah to see. "Believe me or not, it doesn't matter. This is it. I won't repeat myself a second time."
Whether Talulah believed him or not was no longer his concern.
Meanwhile, Alina had just experienced for herself exactly what Talulah had gone through moments earlier. It was only natural that she now understood what Talulah had been demanding of Steven.
For the infected, nothing was more vivid, more undeniable, than the suffocating weight of the Originium within them. And when that oppressive presence vanished completely, they were the first to notice.
This wasn't an illusion. The liberating sensation welling up from the depths of her body was proof enough—her Oripathy had been cured. Completely.
A miracle like this… could it really be possible?
Alina lifted her gaze toward Steven's calm, unreadable expression.
She remembered the last time he had treated her—back then, she had felt it too. That faint illusion, as if he were only one step away from erasing the infection entirely.
And now, it turned out it hadn't been an illusion at all.
Strength surged through her body, flowing endlessly, unburdened for the first time in years. The sensation of being freed from Originium's grip left Alina speechless, unable to find words for the miracle she had just been given.
As for Talulah—just watching Steven's actions was enough to give her the answer she needed.
Yes. He did have a way to cure the infected. And it worked far faster than she had ever imagined.
But his words afterward rang just as clearly in her ears.
He could heal—but he didn't want to.
Slowly, Talulah loosened her grip around his waist. With her intelligence, once she calmed down, it wasn't hard to guess why Steven had chosen to keep such a power hidden.
This wasn't some trivial matter.
Something that could cure Oripathy? The moment word of it spread, every nation on the continent would fight tooth and nail for it. Wars could break out, and the fragile balance of the world would shatter overnight.
And even then, the conflict between the infected and the uninfected wouldn't vanish. If anything, it might grow even fiercer.
Not to mention—what about that mysterious white liquid? Could it even be mass-produced? What ingredients went into it? These details were absolutely crucial.
And judging by the way Steven concealed it so tightly instead of flaunting it to the world, it was obvious that even for him, this wasn't something that could be made casually.
Otherwise, with his personality, his tail would already be wagging so high it scraped the sky.
"…I understand," Talulah murmured at last. Then, with a trace of childish stubbornness, she reached out her hand and tugged gently at his palm, her voice soft as she pleaded, "But even so… I still want to know more. Can you understand that much at least?"
She did understand why he was hiding it. She truly did. But to simply stand aside and ignore something that could shape her ideals—and the very future of the infected—that was too cruel a torment.
So all she could do now was hope Steven would understand her in return. At the very least, to tell her something more about that miraculous medicine. She wasn't so greedy as to demand the miraculous liquid itself—just knowing more would be enough. That wasn't too much to ask, was it?
Steven, however, hadn't expected her to calm down this quickly.
In truth, his thoughts were far simpler than the grand concerns swirling in her mind.
First of all, that milk was something only he could produce. A one-of-a-kind item. And with its peculiar effects, if just any infected person drank it, there's a 99,9999% chance for them to drop dead on the spot. Handing it out recklessly would only invite unnecessary trouble.
Second, even though he found a lot of people that he wanted to see safe and sound, he still had never once thought of himself as some savior of this land. He had no burning resolve to drive Oripathy from the world.
This world was sick to its very core. If you suddenly shoved a miracle cure into its veins, the result wouldn't necessarily be healing—it might just be the spark that lit the powder keg.
If someone truly wanted to erase Oripathy from existence, then the only way would be to conquer the entire world first.
And though he wasn't incapable of such a feat, he had no desire to attempt it—at least, not for now.
What he was more concerned about, however… was the strap of Talulah's dress, which had slipped from her shoulder and was now precariously hanging by her arm.
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M
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