Loki, Ida, and Ergot Fungus

Dressed like a Viking, he carried an enormous hammer in one hand and wore a dark, broad-brimmed helmet with two long horns thrusting skyward from his forehead.

Thick bandages wrapped around his face, completely covering his eyes. Leather jacket, leather pants, leather boots, and a cynical smile.

Elbaf's prince—the cursed prince, Loki.

He stood at Ida's doorstep. Though he had come to visit, his tone was as unfriendly as ever.

"Hey, Loki, what are you doing here?"

Perhaps they were simply born incompatible; Hajrudin had always found Loki unpleasant to look at.

"Oh, my brother." Loki knew Hajrudin disliked him. After all, he felt the same way.

"I came to see whether that Big Mom was dead. If she isn't, tell her to hurry up and open the tavern. Drinking without her there lately has been damn unpleasant."

"You bastard!"

Hajrudin clenched his fists. His mother was not Loki's servant!

"Enough!"

Gaban suddenly shouted, stopping the pair of half-brothers.

"Ida's condition is what matters most right now. We need to go in and see her."

Since Gaban had spoken, the brothers merely snorted at each other and said no more.

Hajrudin pushed open his front door, shot Loki another disgusted glance, and led everyone inside.

Loki did not move. His eyes beneath the bandages instinctively turned toward the interior, trying to see the sight he wanted to see.

Mobius glanced back and knew the brat was being tsundere.

"If you want to know whether Ida is all right, you'd better come in and see for yourself."

Loki's body suddenly stiffened. Then he glared angrily at Mobius, though the bandages made it impossible to tell.

Ignoring this human he did not know, Loki barged straight into Ida's house. He had come here before and drank juice here.

Ida's room was small but warmly arranged. Tools of every size were neatly organized, and one glance was enough to give it the feeling of home.

At that moment, Ida lay weakly on the bed, wrapped in blankets. Her face was pale, with none of her former vitality visible.

Hearing the commotion, Ida barely raised her head. Seeing so many visitors, a smile appeared on her face.

"Why did so many people come... Hajrudin, you've troubled everyone too much."

"My body..."

"Ida, I found a good doctor. Let him take a look at you. You'll recover faster that way, and Harald won't have to worry."

Gaban cut her off. As a former apostle of love, he knew exactly how to handle women.

Upon hearing that, Ida immediately fell silent. She narrowed her eyes toward Gaban's direction and gave a small nod.

"O-okay."

With a glance, Ida spotted another familiar figure, and her smile returned.

"Loki, you came too?"

He had wanted to hide, but his body was too large and left him completely exposed. Loki stiffened, then immediately resumed his indifferent act.

"I came to see whether you were all right, Big Mom. Honestly, taking a break over such a tiny illness—how are you supposed to run a tavern like that?"

His mouth was as unforgiving as ever, but sensing how faint Ida's presence truly was, Loki still pressed his lips together.

He was unhappy. Very unhappy.

Ida smiled. "Sorry."

"You..." Loki became furious. Sorry? Why was she apologizing!? What was she apologizing for!?

He sulked for quite a while before silently shrinking back, because Gaban had already arrived at Ida's side while standing on Ripley's hand.

"Ahem, can you hear me?"

Crocus's voice came from the other end of the Transponder Snail. Ida responded softly.

"I can hear you, Doctor?"

"Yes, I'm a doctor. Tell me, where does it hurt?"

"I..."

Ida slowly described her symptoms. At first, she had thought it was an ordinary cold, but then it gradually felt more and more wrong. Her body lacked strength, and she could not muster the energy to do anything.

Later, her stomach began to hurt. She could not eat, and every muscle in her body ached as though they had fused together. Hallucinations would sometimes appear before her eyes as well.

As Ida spoke, Crocus on the other end of the Transponder Snail grew increasingly serious. His questions became hurried, and even his voice began to tremble unconsciously.

"Have you eaten rye recently? Untreated rye, eaten directly?"

"N-no." Ida denied it. "I always eat cooked food, meals I make myself."

Crocus fell into an extremely strange silence, then let out a faint, drawn-out sigh.

"Hey, hey, what is it? Crocus, do you have a way or not?"

Gaban sensed something was wrong and urgently questioned him several times, as though trying to confirm something.

"I'm sorry..."

?

"Why are you apologizing?" Gaban had already clenched the Transponder Snail tightly, his voice becoming unstable.

"If I haven't misdiagnosed her, Lady Ida's illness... is Ergot Fungus."

"This fungal toxin is extremely complex. If someone is poisoned, their stomach must be pumped within the first few days. Otherwise, the toxin will spread through every muscle in the body."

"An ordinary person would die within a few days. Giants have stronger constitutions, so they survive longer—but that also makes it more dangerous."

"Hey, hey, hey, what do you mean? What do you mean by that, Crocus!?"

"What I mean is that Lady Ida is already terminally ill. If she had received treatment from the beginning, or if I had been by her side, she could still have been saved."

"Now, even I can do nothing."

Crocus's verdict froze the atmosphere. A silence like the frozen plains spread through the room.

"Mother..."

Hajrudin's eyes turned bloodshot, rage consuming his entire mind.

"Like Roger back then, I can at most ease Lady Ida's symptoms and make her a little more comfortable. But this is different from Roger's case."

"The collapse of the muscles throughout her body brings unbearable pain. It cannot be cured through ordinary means. By the later stages, merely staying alive will be agony."

"The best-case scenario..."

Crocus did not continue, but everyone understood what he meant.

"Who? Who did this?"

Loki suddenly stepped forward, his body forcing aside the crowd as he came to Ida's bedside. From the very beginning, he had remembered every word Crocus said.

"Didn't you say, Big Mom, that you never ate rye? Then why did you get Ergot Fungus? Who put this stuff on you!?"

"SAY IT!!!"

Loki practically tore out the final word from his throat, hoarse, violent, and ugly.

Hajrudin came to his senses as well and looked at Ida in disbelief, blazing fury rising within him.

"Mother, who was it..."

"All right, my dear children." Ida forced herself to gather her spirits and smiled. "Thank you for the diagnosis, Doctor Crocus, but I think I should..."

"Shut up! You're the patient now, Big Mom. Just listen to the doctor's arrangements!"

Loki cut her off directly. He did not want to hear any more nonsense about everything being fine.

When you're sick, you take medicine and listen to the doctor!

"That Crocus guy, I don't care what method you use—save this Big Mom!"

"In exchange, I'll destroy anywhere you want. I'll do it for you!"

"..."

Crocus fell silent. He was gratified that Loki was being so cooperative, but he truly had no way to help now. The illness had been delayed for far too long.

"With conventional medicine—no, rather, with the current state of medical science—there is no way."

Crocus could only put it tactfully, causing veins to bulge on Loki's forehead.

"You quack!"

Crocus shut his mouth. Faced with Loki's two-faced behavior, all he could do was take it.

Mobius, however, tentatively stepped forward and interjected under everyone's gaze.

"If conventional methods won't work, why not try some supernatural power?"

"Huh?"

Hearing an unfamiliar voice and then understanding the words, Crocus could not help but freeze.

Supernatural power?

Seeing Loki and Hajrudin turn their gazes toward him, Mobius did not hesitate and smiled.

"For example... Devil Fruits?"

"The Paramecia Heal-Heal Fruit, Illness-Illness Fruit, Op-Op Fruit, and Fungus-Fungus Fruit. In theory, these Devil Fruits should be able to solve Lady Ida's illness."

"Hmm?"

Crocus fell into thought, and inspiration immediately flashed through his mind.

"Indeed. With the power of Devil Fruits, perhaps it really could..."

"Then where do we find them?"

Mobius smiled and slowly said, "I seem to vaguely remember information about a few Devil Fruits, though I can't guarantee it is completely accurate."

"Speak!"

Loki said directly, staring hard at Mobius as an exaggerated smile appeared on his face.

"My condition remains unchanged."