"Don't panic. Relax. You ran errands in Plague Outpost for so long—you should know the people there had been infected in the past."
Tang Qi had heard its story in the outpost's only tavern.
Those pitiful people ravaged by an unforeseen disaster had been unwilling to expose their distorted faces beneath the sunlight, which had given rise to the job of "errand runners."
"No, that's not it. I mean the ones who went crazy. I once jumped onto the roof of a house and smashed that monster's head in with one punch. But not long after, the guards who arrived threw me into prison.
"A man in a black robe stood before me, chanting some incomprehensible spell, and then I treated it all like a dream! It wasn't until Miss Shalti brought me before Mr. Potato and had me chew a leaf that I remembered everything!"
Tang Qi turned to Shalti beside him, only to hear her answer calmly, "World Tree leaves can cleanse the body and mind. They have effects such as [Remove Curse], detoxification, healing, lowering blood pressure, and relieving hunger—after all, consuming one is equivalent to consuming nourishment from the World Tree."
"Could you spare me two leaves?"
"I don't have that authority."
"Wait, this isn't the time for jokes—I mean, don't you think this is extremely abnormal?"
Rumi spread his hands and asked anxiously, "I was clearly solving problems for that outpost, yet they not only threw me in prison, they even cursed me!"
Tang Qi nodded. "Then the outpost's higher-ups clearly knew about the citizens' condition. They just didn't want word to spread? In other words, they were concealing something—"
"It isn't a secret that Plague Outpost was once infected by the plague," Shalti reminded him.
"Then what they were concealing was merely the fact