City Lockdown

Inside the Magic Council.

Crawford Seam saw that all the councilors had arrived and spoke:

"Let's skip the nonsense. I'm sure everyone already knows what happened. I called you here to discuss how to handle the Mუდorud incident."

Everyone fell silent for a moment before a woman in her fifties or sixties asked:

"Is it really that serious? Everyone in all of Mუდorud has been infected with that disease?"

Crawford glanced at Belno, then nodded and said gravely, "Yes. More than ten million people across Mუდorud have been infected."

At the chairman Crawford's words, the nine councilors below immediately erupted into an uproar.

Someone shouted, "Why wasn't this discovered earlier? What have the people below been doing?"

Looking at the council meeting, which resembled a bustling marketplace, Crawford's already foul mood worsened.

If this matter was not handled properly, it would deal a major blow to the Magic Council's prestige and leave an indelible stain on his political career.

Seeing that no one had any intention of stopping, Crawford roared, "Enough! Stop arguing!"

"I called you here to come up with a solution, not to quarrel. Don't you have even a single measure in mind?"

Yajima thought for a moment before speaking. "The most urgent matter is preventing the disease from spreading to other cities."

"I suggest we lock down the city first, then dispatch healing Mages to treat the infected."

Hogg, who had never gotten along with Yajima, immediately refuted him. "Lock down the city? What about the people inside?"

"And dispatch healing Mages? More than ten million people in Mუდorud need treatment. How many Mages are there across the entire Ishgar Continent? A million?"

"Not to mention that healing Mages are scarce. You really dare to imagine it."

Yajima did not care about Hogg's rebuttal. He had merely offered his opinion; whether it would be adopted was the chairman's decision.

Seeing that they were about to start arguing again, Crawford forcefully struck the floor with his staff and looked around at everyone.

"If there are no other options, lock down the city first. Then notify every guild and have the healing Mages in their guilds head to Mუდorud."

When Crawford saw that no one objected after he finished speaking, he was quite pleased with his prestige as chairman, and his mood improved slightly.

"That settles it. Meeting adjourned."

As Crawford's voice fell, the councilors' figures began to fade away.

They had not attended in person, but had used visual magic communication devices to hold the meeting.

Elsewhere, Toma, the king of the Fiore Kingdom, had just concluded an emergency meeting and issued a similar order.

The kingdom's army and the Magic Council's forces marched in great numbers toward Mუდorud. At the same time, urgent letters were sent to the major guilds.

The next day, inside the Fairy Tail guild.

Makarov, who had been in a good mood because he had not received any fines for several days, hummed a little tune as he slowly entered the guild.

Should I celebrate with a drink first, or check out the latest swimsuit magazine?

While he was wavering, Makarov suddenly spotted a letter from the Magic Council on the table. His previously cheerful mood instantly vanished.

What bad luck. He cursed silently, then sighed and opened the letter.

As he opened it, he prayed that Gildarts and Laxus had gone a little easier this time.

Laxus had already begun to gain some fame, but like the other members of Fairy Tail, his fame came with all sorts of fines.

Laxus mainly got lost often, which made him charge in one direction and send everything blocking his path flying.

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As a result, the fines piled up.

The more famous one became, the more fines one received; it seemed to have become a Fairy Tail tradition.

After opening the letter, Makarov found that it was not a fine, and his mood immediately brightened.

But the further he read, the more something felt wrong. They were recruiting healing Mages to go to Mუდorud and treat the infected populace.

The only healing Mage in his guild who barely qualified was Cain, but he was already out on a mission, so there was nothing to be done.

Porlyusica could only be considered an outsider. She had not joined the guild, and she was no longer willing to travel everywhere.

Having regained his good mood, Makarov was just about to pick up a drink to celebrate.

Then he suddenly remembered that the name Mუდorud sounded familiar. He had seen it somewhere before, but could not recall where.

Just then, he saw Erza standing before the request board, preparing to accept a job.

That made Makarov feel somewhat gratified. Erza and Cain were both such good children of the guild.

Suddenly, Makarov's eyes widened.

Crash! The sound of a bottle shattering rang through the guild.

The others in the guild looked at Makarov curiously. Erza hurried to his side and asked anxiously:

"Master, are you feeling unwell somewhere? I'll take you to see Granny Porlyusica right away."

As she spoke, she was about to carry Makarov on her back and rush to Porlyusica's residence.

Coming back to his senses, Makarov's face turned grave. He shook his head and said, "Little Erza, I'm fine. Something has happened to Cain."

The moment she heard that something had happened to Cain, Erza hurriedly asked, "Master, what happened to Cain?"

The others also rushed over, looking anxiously at Makarov.

Makarov roughly explained that Cain had accepted a request to go to Mუდorud, that the people of Mუდorud had been infected, and that the Magic Council had ordered the city sealed off.

Hearing that Mუდorud had been sealed, Gray asked in surprise, "Doesn't that mean Cain can't come back?"

Cana said worriedly, "I wonder if Cain will be all right."

The others in the guild also wore worried expressions. Seeing this, Makarov comforted them:

"Cain is a healing Mage, after all. He probably won't be infected by Mუდorud's contagious disease."

Makarov's words reassured everyone somewhat, but Erza remained silent. She then left the guild and headed home.

Inside the Mუდorud Viscount's residence.

Despite not sleeping all night, Cain remained full of energy. After treating Viscount Livina for the day, he once again shut himself inside the laboratory.

Looking at the sample inside the apparatus, Cain thought to himself:

As expected, these viral spores have strong reproductive properties and strong adhesion. Forcefully removing them with medicine would also harm the human body.

If more than one-tenth of the viral spores are forcibly removed, the remaining spores will accelerate their absorption of the body's nutrients in order to reproduce quickly. That would not be saving people—it would be killing them.

Although my magic can Purify the viral spores, my magic power is limited. There's no way I can save everyone in Mუდorud.

Since forceful removal won't work, can I make the viral spores detach on their own?

Cain began recalling the herbal medicine books he had read and Porlyusica's explanations.

Memories surged through his mind like scenes from a film. Cain extracted the useful information and set it aside for the moment.

He then screened it again, writing something on paper as he did so.