BGFV Chapter 157

Chapter 157 

Luciard smiled faintly as he read a letter from Hestia.

Just then, the door burst open without a knock.
“Uncle! I heard there’s a letter from Tia!”

“Leon, what did I tell you about coming into my office?”

Leonhard stopped, shut the door, and then knocked properly. Luciard couldn’t help but laugh at his obedient nephew.
“Come in.”

“Is it true Tia wrote to you?”
When Luciard waved the letter he was holding, Leonhard’s face lit up and he rushed to sit beside him. Luciard lifted him onto his lap and read again.

“Hmm… if even the Northern Duke is sick, it must be really bad. Shouldn’t we send the new medicine right away?”
“I already sent everything we had a few days ago.”
“But from what’s written here, it seems like there are more confirmed cases than in the reports!”

Because Leonhard’s successor training included lessons on the bloodpox crisis, he quickly noticed the numbers didn’t match.
“I’m worried about sending Tia alone. I should’ve gone with her!”
“That would only distract her from her work. Besides, you have a very important job—guarding the ducal castle.”
“Tch… not that I’m doing much.”

Understanding his concern for Hestia, Luciard patted his head.
“Are they still making more medicine?”
“That’s… the problem.”

Luciard pulled out a document from his desk.
“All other ingredients are fine, but we can’t get Ruberu—the most important one.”
“What about Novelli Town? They grow it there.”
“We’ve already taken all they had and made about 4,000 pills. But the north alone has over 10,000 suspected cases—nowhere near enough.”

Other regions also had 1,000 to 2,000 cases. Many people were desperately trying to find more Ruberu. Luciard had asked Kenneth and the imperial family for help, telling them to send any they found straight to the south. But none had been found in the empire.

‘The imperial family promised to get it from abroad quickly… but it will take at least a month or two to find and transport.’

Jerome was also trying to find a substitute herb, but that would take just as long. The longer it dragged on, the more people would die, and the empire’s economy would suffer.

Leonhard grumbled, “I wish Ruberu would just fall from the sky. Then everyone would be happy.”
“Yes… that would be nice.”

Both sighed deeply.

Then—
“Young maaaaster!”

Basil came running down the hall at full speed.
“I found it!”
“…What?”
“Basil, you sound weird…”
“I found Ruberu! And not just a little—mountains of it!”

Luciard and Leonhard stared wide-eyed at each other and jumped up so fast they toppled over their chairs. They didn’t even notice the pain, scrambling to Basil.

“You found Ruberu? Really?!”
“Where? How long until it gets to the south?”
“It’s not about how long—it’s already here in Chest! You should see it yourself!”

They followed Basil quickly. Outside the main entrance, several carriages had entered the castle grounds.

“Wait—that emblem!”

Leonhard recognized it immediately, and so did Luciard.
“Count Humphrey!”

The man who had brought the Ruberu was Arthur Humphrey. He greeted them politely.
“It’s been a while. I hope you’ve both been well.”

Luciard shook his hand in surprise.
“I have, but what about you? You’ve had many hardships, haven’t you?”

Valeron, Arthur’s territory, had been one of the hardest-hit areas early on, and Arthur had also lost his parents to bloodpox.
“The medicine we sent before wouldn’t have been enough for everyone.”
“It wasn’t enough, but it put out the worst of the fire. And when I received your notice about trouble making more medicine, I thought I could help—so I came.”

“You mean you’re the one who found the Ruberu…?”

Arthur gestured to the carts.
“It matched the description in your letter, so I brought it right away. We weren’t sure if it was Ruberu, so I wanted you to check.”

He opened a wooden crate, revealing the bright herb. Jerome arrived, out of breath, and confirmed it was genuine Ruberu.

“Can we buy it immediately?” Luciard asked. “Name your price and we’ll pay right away.”
“No payment needed.”
“…What?”
“I didn’t bring it to sell—I came to donate it to Winstone.”

Luciard was stunned. Arthur knew very well how valuable Ruberu was right now. He could have charged far above the market price.

“Where did you get so much?”
“It’s a long story. May I explain inside?”

Luciard reluctantly invited him in.

Inside, Arthur looked around.
“Lady Frost isn’t here?”
“Tia’s away on a trip.”
“In this situation? Where—?”
“She went north!” Leonhard said proudly. “She’ll be back in twenty-one days!”

Luciard didn’t really want Arthur to know that, but Leonhard had already blurted it out.

‘Honestly, I still don’t fully trust him.’

But he wasn’t treating Arthur as an enemy either—just trying to figure out where he stood.
“Leon, isn’t it time for your lessons?”
“Oh, right. See you later, Count!”

Once Leonhard left, Arthur commented, “Lady Frost is truly remarkable. Everyone knows how bad things are in the north, yet she went anyway. Even when she came suddenly to Valeron before… she’s an impressive person.”
“She is. Thanks to her, we could develop the medicine quickly.”
“And thanks to that medicine, I was able to save my only son. I’m grateful.”
“I’m glad the young lord pulled through. I’ll make sure she hears your thanks.”

Arthur’s expression turned serious.
“You wanted to know how I got the Ruberu. But first, there’s something else you need to hear.”

He handed Luciard a document.
“A week before the state of emergency was declared, seven Novelli refugees with bloodpox and three people from another kingdom illegally entered Valeron.”

Luciard read it carefully, but something felt off.
“If they were illegal entrants, you caught them immediately?”
“No. I think they left Valeron the day they arrived at the port.”
“Then how could you write such a detailed report? You can only do that if you question them directly.”

Arthur handed over another document.
“They weren’t completely illegal. The ship they came on was carrying a large amount of Ruberu.”

Luciard’s voice dropped.
“You’re saying that both infected people and the main ingredient for the cure were found on the same ship. You know exactly what that implies.”
“Yes. That’s why I’m telling you the truth.”

Arthur took a breath and spoke firmly.
“The person who spread the plague across the empire… was my father, Malrus Humphrey.”

Luciard stared at him in silence. Arthur gave a faint smile.
“You suspected already, didn’t you?”
“I had vague suspicions, but I never imagined you’d admit it yourself.”
“I never imagined my father would commit such a terrible crime either. But it’s true.”

He added quietly, “He didn’t act alone.”
“You mean there’s someone behind him?”
“Yes. And I’ve come to you because I want to catch that person.”