Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert-Chapter 530

Chapter 530

About a hundred children were lying in the underground city plaza.

“Haaah! Haaah!”

“Hngh!”

Beside the children, whose faces were flushed bright red with high fever as they gasped for breath, adults tried to lower their temperatures with towels soaked in water. But the children’s fevers showed no sign of going down.

To make matters worse, it seemed the adults had also caught the illness, as they too were breathing heavily.

When Remura arrived at the plaza, her face turned deathly pale.

“What is all this?”

“We’ll find the cause later. We need to treat the people first.”

“Yes, Oppa.”

Remura hurriedly cast Cure.

The pure white light that burst forth from her body fell over the entire plaza like snow.

Those touched by the light showed rapid improvement.

Their crimson faces returned to their original complexion, and their breathing steadied. In contrast, Remura’s complexion grew pale.

Casting her skill on so many people had consumed an enormous amount of mana.

And the problem was that it wasn’t over yet.

“Remura-nim!”

“Please save us.”

From all around the city, countless people came running to find Remura.

It was a true catastrophe.

Even in this urgent situation, Remura remained calm.

She spoke to the underground city’s Awakeners.

“I can’t visit every house, so hurry and go around to each home and bring everyone who’s sick here.”

“Understood, Remura-nim!”

Realizing the severity of the situation, the Awakeners followed her orders.

Zeon asked Remura,

“Has it ever been this bad before, with so many people falling ill at once?”

“Not to this extent. At most, it was only dozens at a time. This is the first time hundreds have gotten sick simultaneously.”

“Hmm.”

“And of all times, this had to happen when Jetoya-oppa isn’t here.”

“There must be a reason it spread this rapidly.”

“Then what should we do?”

“I’ll look for the cause. You focus solely on treatment.”

“Alright, Oppa!”

Remura replied with a resolute expression.

This was the greatest crisis the underground city had ever faced.

Now was the time to trust Zeon and devote herself entirely to treating the patients.

“But I don’t know if my mana will hold out. I’ve already used so much.”

“Then wear this.”

Zeon removed his necklace.

It was Elura’s Tear, which he had used until now.

A cheat item that fully restored mana once per day.

After absorbing Tesserina’s Dragon Heart, Zeon no longer needed Elura’s Tear.

That was why he was willing to hand it over to Remura.

So that there would be no one she couldn’t save due to a lack of mana.

“What is this? It looks valuable.”

“It’s a necklace called Elura’s Tear. It fully restores mana once a day. You use it.”

“How can I accept something this precious?”

“Use it to save more people.”

“Still…”

“There’s no time. Take it.”

Zeon forcibly placed Elura’s Tear around Remura’s neck.

Remura no longer refused.

“I’ll save lots of people with this, Oppa!”

“That’s enough. Then do your best.”

“Yes! You too, Oppa.”

And so the two parted ways.

Leaving the patients to Remura, Zeon immediately climbed up to the ceiling of the underground cavern.

Gripping a protruding part of the ceiling with one hand, Zeon looked down at the ground.

The entire underground city and the movements of its people came into view at a glance.

Countless people were flocking toward the plaza where Remura was. There were well over hundreds of them moving in such urgency.

Zeon carefully examined their paths. After watching for a while, he noticed something strange.

An unusually large number of people were coming toward the plaza from the eastern area of the underground city.

“There are especially many patients from the eastern side. What’s over there?”

Zeon stared intently at the eastern district. Even after observing for a long time, he couldn’t see anything particularly unusual.

In the end, Zeon decided to personally inspect the eastern area and launched himself.

Pop!

Kicking off the ceiling, Zeon flew to the eastern district in an instant and landed lightly.

“Just hang on a little longer, Mary! Remura-nim will save you.”

“Hngh! Tomoya! Please…!”

Even at that moment, adults were carrying their children on their backs, running toward the plaza.

Their desperation was palpable.

Zeon passed them while surveying his surroundings.

‘I need to find what they have in common. There has to be a reason so many patients are coming from this area.’

There is no result without a cause.

If hundreds were falling ill at once, the cause would be obvious.

‘What could make this many people sick at the same time? What do they have in common? Food, air, water?’

Zeon had already confirmed that the air was clean.

That left food and water.

There was no immediate way to check food.

He would have to visit each household.

But water was different.

As far as Zeon knew, there weren’t many wells in the underground city.

At most, one in the east and one in the west.

Water drawn from just two wells was used by the city’s ten thousand residents.

Zeon headed straight for the eastern well.

“Oh? Zeon-nim?”

“How did you get here?”

The Awakeners guarding the well recognized Zeon and were startled.

As it was a critical facility supplying water to the underground city, Awakeners were always stationed there.

Zeon asked them,

“May I take a look inside the well?”

“Why is that?”

“I want to see if it’s related to the epidemic spreading right now.”

“If that’s the reason, please go ahead.”

As soon as they heard the reason, the Awakeners stepped aside.

They trusted Zeon that much.

Zeon approached the well and turned on the water.

A strong stream of water poured out.

Zeon asked the Awakener guarding the well,

“This water is drawn from underground, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct. Fortunately, we were able to find an underground water vein beneath the slums.”

The Awakener replied with a tense expression.

“How deep was it drilled?”

“I believe it was drilled over three hundred meters underground.”

“That’s very deep.”

“I’ve heard it was quite a struggle because of that.”

Zeon nodded at the Awakener’s response.

Neo Seoul could sustain a population of twenty million thanks to the abundant aquifers underground.

Because massive underground water reservoirs existed, over twenty million people could survive without worrying about water.

The well drilled in the slums was likely connected to some part of that aquifer.

Zeon watched the water flowing from the tap closely.

But the color looked somehow murky.

Zeon scooped up some water in his hand and smelled it.

Sniff, sniff!

Zeon frowned.

There was a musty odor.

He said to the Awakeners,

“Has the water always smelled like this?”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Try smelling it.”

At Zeon’s words, the Awakener took some water in his hand and smelled it. But unlike Zeon, he didn’t sense anything strange.

“It seems fine.”

“You’re saying it’s the same as usual?”

“Yes. That’s how it feels to me.”

At the Awakener’s response, Zeon scooped up fresh water again and smelled it.

Once more, there was that musty odor.

Zeon’s senses were particularly sharp, allowing him to notice the strange smell.

‘It’s not an aquifer problem. If the aquifer were contaminated, the epidemic would’ve spread not only in the underground city, but also in the slums and Neo Seoul.’

They were drawing water from the same aquifer.

If the aquifer itself had been contaminated, a major disaster would have struck all of Neo Seoul. But Neo Seoul was quiet.

That meant there was no problem in Neo Seoul.

‘So in the end, it’s an issue limited to the slums?’

Zeon thought carefully.

‘If contaminated water really is the cause, then some pollutant must have flowed in and mixed somewhere.’

It didn’t seem to have entered directly into the aquifer.

If it had, there would’ve been sick people on the surface as well.

‘There’s a high chance a contaminant flowed in and mixed near the surface.’

Zeon looked into the inside of the well.

The interior of the well was essentially a massive reservoir. Water drawn from the aquifer was stored here first, then distributed throughout the underground city.

Without hesitation, Zeon entered the reservoir.

The Awakeners didn’t dare try to stop him. His expression was far too serious.

Zeon dove into the reservoir and examined the walls.

After swimming through the water for a while, he spotted a tiny crack in the reservoir wall.

Zeon approached the wall and examined it closely.

From the small crack, a differently colored liquid was slowly seeping in.

This liquid was clearly the source of the contamination.

First, he had to seal the crack in the reservoir.

Fortunately, Zeon had an excellent means: the Authority of Flame.

Even underwater, the Authority of Flame showed its power.

Like welding, it melted and sealed the tiny crack shut. Thanks to that, the inflow of the contaminant was stopped.

Zeon emerged from the water and said to an Awakener,

“Do you have a glass bottle?”

“Yes! We have a water bottle.”

“Throw it to me.”

“Understood.”

Without asking why, the Awakener tossed the bottle to Zeon.

Zeon filled the bottle with reservoir water and went outside.

Now that he knew the cause of the epidemic and had blocked further inflow, it was time to deal with the contaminated water stored in the reservoir.

Fortunately, Zeon had another excellent means: the Ring of Purification.

Flash!

When he activated the Ring of Purification, pure white light seeped into the reservoir water.

After a moment, Zeon scooped up the water again and smelled it.

This time, the musty odor was definitely gone.

“Phew.”

Confirming that the water had been purified, Zeon let out a sigh of relief. But the fundamental problem still wasn’t solved.

He had to identify what the contaminant was and where it had come from.

“If Briel were here, she would’ve identified the contaminant instantly.”

At times like this, the absence of the alchemist Briel was regrettable.

But he couldn’t keep longing for someone who wasn’t there.

Zeon put the glass bottle into his subspace and headed to the plaza.

“Haaah! Haaah!”

In the middle of the plaza, Remura was gasping for breath.

She looked on the verge of collapsing.

Remura had pushed herself to her absolute limit, casting Cure.

It wasn’t just one or two people, but hundreds at once, so she had gone all out.

Thanks to Zeon giving her Elura’s Tear, she was able to restore her mana and barely save everyone.

Without Elura’s Tear, at least half of the people in the plaza would have worsened or died.

Thanks to Remura’s devotion, not a single death occurred in the plaza.

Those who had been on the brink of death when they arrived now looked far more stable in complexion and breathing.

Parents of the children sighed in relief, and those who had survived praised Remura.

“Thank you, Saintess!”

“We lived thanks to you, Saintess. We’ll repay this kindness for sure.”

Remura, lacking even the strength to respond, staggered and barely waved her hand.

At that moment, Zeon approached and supported her.

“Ah! Oppa?”

“You did well. You saved many people.”

“Did you find the cause?”

“The eastern well was contaminated. I blocked the inflow of the contaminant and purified it for now.”

“Thank you, Oppa!”

“It’s too early to relax. The problem isn’t completely solved yet. We need to find and remove the root cause.”

If another crack formed in the reservoir someday, contaminants would flow in again.

They had to find where the contaminant came from and block it.

Zeon helped Remura sit on a chair and said,

“You rest. I’ll start by identifying the contaminant.”

“How?”

Remura looked at Zeon with a puzzled expression.

Zeon smiled and replied,

“I happen to know someone with quite a useful ability.”