The Shining Star Above The Heaven-Chapter 438: He had Enough

Sylphia and Baek Jimin pondered for a moment before Sylphia spoke first.

"From what I know, there is nothing particularly suspicious from our activities. Since your battle with the second prince’s troops outside the city, I have spent most of my time within the mansion’s area. I mainly cultivate and occasionally manage matters on your behalf, such as meeting with people or interacting with nobles who visit the city."

Baek Jimin then also answered,

"As for me, I haven’t done much either. I spend most of my time within the mansion’s area, sometimes cultivating or taking strolls, but nothing that could be considered suspicious." She then looked at Eleine.

"For Eleine, I think her activities are not much different from ours. Since our rooms are close to each other, if any of us had done something, at least one of us would have known about it," Sylphia said.

Aldrian frowned, seeming to be deep in thought.

Suddenly, Baek Jimin remembered something.

"Ah, yes, I just recalled that she went outside the night you left for the Rosalind Barony. I don’t know exactly where she went, but she left the mansion’s area. She told me she wanted to take a stroll in the city. That was the same night you played the guqin."

Aldrian tilted his head.

"She went out for a stroll?"

"Yes. I don’t know why, but she said she just wanted to take a stroll alone. This was when your guqin music had already started," Baek Jimin said.

Sylphia looked at her in confusion.

"Why didn’t I know about this?"

Baek Jimin smiled.

"You didn’t know because you were in your room, while I was in the garden and happened to meet Eleine when she was about to go for a stroll." She then looked at Aldrian.

"Anyway, after that night, Eleine didn’t leave the mansion’s grounds until she collapsed in the middle of her training this morning. At least from my perspective, there was nothing suspicious about our activities—as far as I know. The only thing that might be a clue is that Eleine went out for a stroll."

Sylphia put on a thoughtful expression.

"I agree. There’s nothing particularly suspicious about our activities. The only thing that stands out is that Eleine went for a stroll that night." She said.

She then looked at Aldrian.

"Dear, you’re trying to figure out if there was something different in our routine, something that explains how Eleine got infected by the gu while we didn’t, right?"

Aldrian nodded.

"Yes. As we know, this gu only infects cultivators below the duke stage, and you two are still below that level—yet you’re both fine. That means Eleine must have done something that you two didn’t. Based on Jimin’s information, the only thing that stands out is when Eleine went for a stroll in the city alone."

"However, to confirm things further, I can just ask a few people here."

Aldrian then walked toward the room that served as the quarantine area. This was where a few infected employees were resting, and by now, some of them had already woken up, while their friends remained by their side to care for them.

As soon as they saw Aldrian enter, they immediately stood up, and even those still lying in bed tried to rise. fгeewebnovёl.com

"My lord!" they said.

However, Aldrian gently used his energy to push back those attempting to get up, keeping them resting on their beds.

"Easy. You don’t have to stand to greet me."

Those lying down were visibly touched, some even on the verge of tears. One of them, dressed in a butler’s attire, spoke to Aldrian.

"Thank you for saving my life again, my lord. I am truly grateful to you. I don’t know how I can ever repay your kindness, but I swear my loyalty to you. I’m just a mere butler in this mansion, yet you healed me with your own hands."

The others were also deeply moved. To them, this young lord, whom they had only known for a week, already felt much closer than they had expected. He didn’t seem to care about the difference in status between them.

Although their previous city lord had never mistreated them, as a noble and the ruler of the city, he had always maintained a certain distance. They understood that it was simply the way of nobility. So when their former lord was executed by the second prince’s troops after they took control of the city, they had only been able to lament his fate, and nothing more.

Their fate had been even worse. The men were subjected to torture, while the women were reduced to mere playthings for the second prince’s troops during their occupation. They had believed there was no future for them, that death was inevitable.

That was until they saw the light.

A light that saved them from their nightmare, taking the form of this young man. And now, he had saved them once again.

His reputation had already spread across the continent, with nobles well aware of his title and strength. Yet, despite his status, he still cared for people like them, those often overlooked by those of much higher standing.

"This is only right. I also need you to take care of this place, so this is the least I can do." Aldrian waved his hand as if it were no big deal.

The others simply smiled, amused by their young lord’s easygoing personality.

"Anyway, I want to ask you and the others who were infected by the gu a question. Your answer will help me with my investigation," Aldrian said.

"Please ask us, my lord. I will answer as best as I can," the butler replied, while the others who had already woken up also nodded in agreement.

Aldrian nodded.

"In the last three days, have any of you gone to other districts of the city, outside the mansion’s area?" he asked.

"Yes, I went to one of the blacksmiths in the commercial district in the afternoon to pick up my order. I had ordered a set of armor a few days ago," the butler said.

"As for me, I went to the market at noon to buy supplies. I do this once a week, and that was the time I needed to restock," a maid added.

"I went to a restaurant during my break after my shift ended. I visited it at noon," another person said.

"I went to—"

One by one, they began telling Aldrian that they had, indeed, gone outside the mansion’s area within the past three days. This strengthened his suspicion that the source of the gu outbreak was somewhere in the city, not within the mansion.

However, all the locations they had visited were different, leading him to consider another possibility.

"Good. Now you can continue to rest," Aldrian said before turning his attention to a few others who were also cultivators. They were also maids and butlers, some of whom were below the duke stage yet remained uninfected by the gu.

"You, have you gone outside the mansion grounds in the past three days?" Aldrian asked a maid.

"No, my lord. I have stayed inside the mansion these past few days. My task is to manage the interior of the west wing, so I rarely need to leave."

Aldrian nodded and turned to another butler. "How about you?"

"No, my lord. I have remained at my post most of the time and occasionally cultivated."

Aldrian continued questioning several more people, and their answers were all the same—they had not left the mansion grounds.

With this, he confirmed one of his hypotheses, the gu outbreak had only affected those who had been outside the mansion’s area.

Earlier, when Aldrian was analyzing the source of the gu outbreak and thinking it through, he finally recalled one of the key characteristics of gu which was that it was not like a disease.

Gu could not spread from one person to another like a normal illness. Once gu entered a person’s body, it became embedded and could only be removed by its creator or someone capable of destroying it, such as a skilled physician.

The fact that all those infected had been outside the mansion’s area and had come from multiple locations meant that the outbreak did not originate from a single place but from several. The gu had likely spread through the air and been inhaled by many people before its effects became visible three days later.

Many believed that this disease was contagious because they saw numerous people collapse after approaching those who were already infected. However, they had misunderstood the situation. The ones who collapsed had already been infected by gu, their collapse simply occurred at different times based on when they had inhaled the gu over the past three days.

So, when people began collapsing one after another, everyone assumed that an outbreak had occurred and that it was highly contagious.

"Alright, thank you all for your answers. Keep up the good work while I take care of something," Aldrian said before walking back toward Eleine’s room.

Now, a question lingered in Aldrian’s mind—who had spread the gu? Was it just one person, or were there multiple individuals involved?

Aldrian thought that they must have already escaped. Even if they had initially stayed in the city to observe the aftermath and ensure that the gu worked, after witnessing his healing process, they had likely already left.

He needed to find a way to track them down.

Although he knew this was the second prince’s scheme, he still had to catch the bastards responsible for spreading death, especially when it had nearly claimed Eleine. If not for him, she would have been among the thousands who had already lost their lives.

He decided that he had played slow for long enough. Once he caught those bastards, he would knock on the second prince’s door.