No Way~

Luo Li returned after recovering a portion of her mana from her busy morning.

Before her stood a cluster of clear liquid.

To prevent any contamination by foreign bacteria, Luo Li had Ligeia cast several different spells.

This completely refreshed the surrounding air.

Using wind element mana, she isolated the air from the surroundings entirely.

This left behind a cluster of penicillin that had undergone preliminary extraction.

Six spheres of water now floated before Luo Li, each isolated from the others.

They were kept in a state of complete separation.

"Have Camilla, Anton, and Yuna come here. Tell them to prepare several live pigs, each weighing around a hundred pounds."

As the Saintess, Luo Li's orders were quickly carried out.

In less than half an hour, everything she required was ready.

Following Luo Li's instructions, six metal syringes and needles appeared before everyone's eyes.

From start to finish, no one knew why Luo Li was doing this.

However, out of trust, no one questioned her, simply watching their Saintess.

Luo Li took a deep breath, reached out for a longsword, and left a wound on each of the pigs.

The sight made the corners of everyone's eyes twitch in surprise.

Ignoring their reactions, Luo Li grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground and performed a 'healing' directly on it.

Holy energy was capable of stimulating life force.

No matter how microscopic the life was, under the empowerment of her healing art, the bacteria in the soil were instantly filled with vitality.

"Hold these pigs down."

Luo Li spoke casually as she smeared the mud evenly over the wounds of the six pigs.

At the same time, to speed up the bacterial invasion, she used her healing art on the site of the wounds.

The bodies of the six pigs were healed, but the bacteria within them also had their life force strengthened.

Under the stunned gazes of the crowd, the wounds of the six pigs actually began to rot.

With current technology, it was impossible to distinguish which of the six clusters of water contained more penicillin and which contained more harmful toxins.

Therefore, Luo Li could only use this primitive method.

She would experiment on the pigs.

After strengthening the bacteria and stimulating their vitality, she applied them to the wounds.

This way, the empowered bacteria would exhibit a powerful invasive capability.

Next, she strengthened them again, increasing the activity of the cells at the wound site while also boosting the vitality of the pathogens.

The area Luo Li empowered with her healing was only the circle around the wound.

This became a battlefield between bacteria and cells.

The hyper-active cells would quickly try to repair the wound, while the repair efforts were eroded by the bacteria.

The bacteria were stronger than the cells.

As a result, the rate of decay at the wounds accelerated.

The condition of the six pigs weakened at a pace visible to the naked eye.

Seeing this, Luo Li did not hesitate to pick up the syringes and needles, administering the six different extracts to the six pigs.

The reactions of the six pigs varied.

Five of them essentially went limp, collapsing to the ground without even the strength to grunt.

Only one pig appeared relatively energetic, walking around as if searching for food.

That was the one!

Luo Li looked up at the corresponding cluster of water.

"Follow what I just did. Cultivate this cluster of water again, then select some patients with mild symptoms and inject the medicine!"

"Your Highness! This is medicine?"

Camilla stared at the scene in shock. She had been confused since the moment she arrived.

By now, confusion was an understatement.

"I suppose so..."

To be honest, Luo Li still didn't know if this method would work.

The problem was that she had no technological equipment on hand to distinguish the active ingredients.

She had no way to perform a refined extraction.

Even assuming penicillin actually existed in this cluster of water.

Its concentration and effectiveness against the plague were all complete unknowns.

If she weren't truly out of options, Luo Li would never have wanted to risk forcing the development of such things ahead of time.

This was already a case of rushing things before they were ready.

It wasn't that penicillin shouldn't exist, but it had come too early.

She had thought about developing technology.

But she never intended to be the engine leading the era forward.

Instead, she wanted to be the rear of the train, gently pushing the era along.

Only then could the potential of the people of this era be fully realized.

In some areas, she could offer a few pointers, but in the field of medicine, she truly couldn't.

After all, even she didn't know if this thing would actually work.

Was it that this particular pig had a better constitution and thus endured it?

Or was the penicillin actually effective?

Who knew?

Furthermore, she wasn't a medical professional.

This half-baked knowledge could be used to make effective contributions in other areas.

But in medicine, it might only do more harm than good.

In any era, medicine was a taboo industry for the average person.

This was because it involved human lives.

Without sufficient professional knowledge, one must never touch such things lightly.

"You suppose so?"

Camilla's brow furrowed. She pondered for a moment before suddenly turning to the others.

"Nobody move."

Having said that, Camilla turned back to Luo Li.

"Your Highness, is this medicine of yours truly effective?"

Luo Li took a deep breath and slowly shook her head.

"I don't know, but we can only gamble on it now."

Given the transmission speed and mortality rate of this virus, it wouldn't even take a year.

In just a few months, there would be almost no one left in Brilliant City or Refugee City.

"Your Highness, do you realize that if this medicine is used and fails to produce good results, what kind of blow it will be to your prestige?"

As an alchemist, Camilla had also studied the profession of a physician.

However, as a physician, she had not reached a very high level.

This was because medicine, far more than other professions, required countless experiments and steadfast perseverance.

It was a massive test of one's psychological endurance.

Every cured patient would be happy, but no one could achieve a hundred percent cure rate for all diseases.

And because it involved human lives, things became even more complicated.

Therefore, the profession of physician was not very famous, not only in the Eight Nations of the Holy Church but in other countries as well.

It was an industry that was easy to learn but difficult to master.

"I..."

Luo Li's brow furrowed as she weighed the situation in her mind.

Indeed, if this penicillin worked, her holy name would surely reach a new level.

But if the medicine failed or even killed people.

Then her holy name in the Kingdom of the Moon would naturally plummet.

The common people had simple minds; they were good to whoever was good to them.

But this also made them more easily deceived by appearances and thus easily incited.

"I know that, of course."

With a long sigh, the young girl looked up at the female elf.

"But what other choice is there? If this continues, the death toll will easily exceed a hundred thousand."

In the face of an epidemic, those were just numbers, but among the people, those were all living human beings.

"Your Highness, if you trust me, please leave this matter to me."

Luo Li couldn't help but be stunned upon hearing this.

"Camilla, do you mean... you can solve it?"

Camilla gave a soft, thin smile.

"Your Highness, I don't have the confidence to face such a powerful plague. However, just because I can't solve it doesn't mean no one can."

"Who can solve it!?"

The young girl, who had been ready to try even the most desperate of measures, looked at the red-haired elf with hope.

"Your Highness, I know some medicine, and alchemy is similar to medicine in certain aspects. Therefore... I know someone."

"Who!?" Luo Li stepped forward and asked urgently.

"Your Highness, you can rest assured and wait. When I returned to the Alchemists' Association just now, I already contacted him. I expect he is already on his way. He will definitely arrive within two days at the latest."

"Two days... That's fine, that's fine."

Luo Li let out a long sigh of relief.

Two days was neither too short nor too long.

But this was already a much better result than recklessly using penicillin!

However, these two days would inevitably become a test.

How to save as many people as possible before the person Camilla mentioned arrived was the key.

"Camilla."

"Your Highness?"

"I trust you."

Luo Li stared intently at Camilla, expressing her trust while also asking for a commitment.

Camilla smiled slightly.

"Please rest easy, Your Highness. If the person I know cannot treat this disease, then I fear no one in the human kingdoms can."

Upon hearing this, a great weight seemed to lift from Luo Li's heart.

However, now was not the time to relax!

Snapping back to attention, Luo Li turned to look at Yuna behind her.

"Yuna, I am assigning you an additional twenty thousand soldiers. Ensure the supply of materials for the camps outside the city. Everyone must wear specialized protective suits. I will have Camilla make them urgently."

They might not provide a hundred percent perfect defense, but they would at least strengthen the resistance against the disease.

"Nara, take note!"

Luo Li was never short of such assistants. Someone like Nara followed Luo Li almost every day.

"Yes."

Nara quickly produced a pen and paper. As the assistant nun who stayed close to the Saintess.

She spent her time practicing writing while others were resting.

This was specifically to handle the Saintess's sudden administrative orders.

"Notify Augus. Order him to conscript laborers. Their wages will be three times the usual rate. If they unfortunately fall ill and die, a compensation of ten years' wages will be paid, and their children will be able to study at the future academy for free."

In this era, there were no so-called academies.

Nobles had the resources to hire private tutors.

A noble child having over a dozen teachers was quite normal.

It was a typical case of over-consuming resources.

And where would an ordinary family get the money to hire a teacher?

Being able to apprentice under a master to learn a trade was already a stroke of incredible luck.

Most commoners either farmed or did hard labor.

"Camilla, please make a set of protective suits that prevent any contact with smoke or vapors."

For something like this, Luo Li only needed to offer a few pointers.

As an elf several hundred years old, Camilla understood immediately.

She quickly grasped Luo Li's idea and nodded after a moment of thought.

"Alright, I'll go find a way."

"Good. Remember, try to keep the cost and manufacturing process as low as possible. Produce five hundred sets first, as quickly as you can."

"Five hundred!?"

Camilla couldn't help but cry out. Making five hundred sets of clothes right away was no easy task.

But seeing the anxious look on her cute little Saintess's face.

Camilla gritted her teeth and forced herself to agree.

If she didn't agree, she feared this little Saintess would go ahead and use that special liquid medicine.

As one of the two elves who had sworn loyalty to Luo Li.

The first thing she thought of when facing the plague was to preserve Luo Li's reputation.

No matter what, that was more important than anything else.

Only by preserving this reputation could she go further and higher in the future.

So, this time, she had swallowed her pride to invite her teacher.

The one in the medical field.

Although she always felt extremely awkward facing that person, it was better than little Luo Li exhausting herself and losing her reputation, right?

With that in mind, Camilla didn't linger. She turned to leave, but before she could take flight, Luo Li grabbed her.

"Wait, Camilla, recommend some medicines to me. Bring out whatever medicines the Alchemists' Association has left. I'll settle the bill with you later."

Looking back at the silver-haired, red-eyed girl whose head barely reached her shoulder, her eyes full of resolve, Camilla gave a doting, bitter smile.

"Yes, yes, my dear Saintess. I already gave those orders before I came. I expect they should be delivered in about an hour. Are you satisfied now?"

Luo Li let go of her hand and nodded with pursed lips.

"Camilla."

"Does Your Highness have any other orders?"

"Thank you."

Camilla was stunned for a moment, but a smile soon spread across her face.

However, in the next second, the smile froze.

"But let me be clear, I'm not selling my body."

Luo Li stared fixedly at Camilla.

Seeing the smile on Camilla's face instantly stiffen, Luo Li roared inwardly.

'I knew it!'

'I knew it!!'

'She definitely has designs on me!'

This woman was too wicked, always lusting after her body.

She was even calculating against her at a time like this.

It was simply... simply unbelievable!

Camilla pulled back her stiff smile and looked at the little Saintess expressionlessly.

She raised her hand and pinched her thumb and index finger together, indicating a miniscule amount.

"Just... a tiny bit?"

Luo Li looked at her with pure disgust.

"Not even a tiny bit! Stop hitting on me!"

"Eh?! Just a tiny bit~"

"No means no! Go! Every minute you delay is another life lost!"

Camilla curled her lip.

"Tch... stingy."

Stingy?

How could anyone be generous about such a thing?

Was it even possible to be generous about it?

Luo Li watched Camilla leave with a glare, and her heart felt slightly lighter.

In any case, regardless of their bickering, at least Camilla was looking out for her.

However, before she had returned, Camilla clearly had the ability to minimize the impact of the epidemic.

Yet she hadn't acted.

The reason was simple: it lay with Luo Li herself.

Camilla's loyalty had never been to the Kingdom of the Moon.

It was to Luo Li as an individual.

If she wasn't there, Camilla naturally wouldn't care whether those commoners lived or died.

For an elf of Camilla's age, life and death were things she had long since looked past.

Furthermore, they were of a different race.

The envisioned unity of all races was likely still a long way off.