Fayette had been curious about how a [Doctor] would cure such a thing, especially as she had made it sound so fatal. She was however not quite ready for the gloomy woman to cut up a new wound right next to the infected one, releasing a stream of blood.

Elise however didn’t even cry out, and seemed to treat the act as normal, so the [Maid] held back her impulse. Right, don’t hit the [Doctor] with a broom to the head. I guess this is normal? “D-do you really need to cut her up like that? She’s lost blood already.”

“Stop prattling about, or I’ll clear you out of my clinic.” The [Doctor] said, not moving her gaze from the flow of blood. “It’s just some [Bloodletting]. I’m getting the poisons and infections out.”

Fayette slowly sat down and decided to empty her mind for the rest of this [Doctor] visit. It was evidently all a bit too much to take in.

The rest of the treatment didn’t take long, and soon Fayette and Mireille were sitting by Elise’s bedside, as the [Doctor] cleaned her implements nearby. Elise still looked weak, but her breathing had steadied, and a healthier colour had returned to her cheeks. With the injuries handled for now, they finally had time to discuss the matters they had found out.

“So...” Fayette began. “You’re sure that it was runoff from your factory that you fell into? That stuff is turning rats into monsters!”

Elise was quiet for a moment, and the only sound in the room was the steady clanging of the [Doctor] handling her gear. Eventually, the [Labourer] spoke up. “I’m... relatively certain. I work near the boilers often, and the smell is unmistakeable—I haven’t encountered anything similar elsewhere. And the location, it was just in the right place. That can’t be a coincidence.”

“Do you think it’s a leak in the machinery?” Mireille asked, gaze hard. “Or, is this something... intentional? Do they know what that stuff is doing?”

“We would have to ask around—I’m not sure.” Elise answered. “Though, seeing how the upper management acts, I wouldn’t be too surprised. The factory is actually a bit up on the higher ground, on the other side of the ridge. Getting that stuff over to this side would take some effort. Or a really unlucky accident.”

“Can it be a coincidence that it all flows right into the poorer districts?” Mireille asked, looking at Elise meaningfully.

Fayette felt her emotions flaring the more she learned. Could someone really be so careless, so thoughtless, care so little for their workers? Fayette however knew. She had felt how a [Lord] had gripped her soul and tossed it away like trash. She knew what these people were capable of. This couldn’t continue.

She began running through her options. “Can we tell someone about this? This can’t be allowed to continue. Who is in charge of the city? If we let them know, maybe this can be resolved. They’ll put a stop to it.”

Elise shook her head, eyes listless. “Fayette—The owner of the factory is the [Lord] of the city, [Lord] Aumont. He owns almost all the factories in the city. A year back, there was some talk of workers walking out because he cut pay, but they were all let off, some even imprisoned. He doesn’t take half measures.”

Fayette grinded her teeth. Why did things have to be so complicated? A silence fell to the group, as they mulled over the issue. It was too silent though. The three soon realised that a sound had stopped, the [Doctor] was no longer clinking about with her tools or walking through the room. Fayette turned to look her way, and saw the woman was frozen in place, trembling slightly.

The dark-clad woman slowly turned around, revealing a grim expression. She was not blinking at all, eyes bloodshot. “Please do continue. Do tell me more.” She said, voice biting as winter frost.

She began stomping closer. “Tell me more about how this factory of yours is pouring this poisonous filth right into this district.” She said voice rising with every step. “This district where I’ve tirelessly been fighting the sickness, helping people withstand it.”

She got to the group and stopped right by Elise’s bedside. Her voice fell back down in intensity, a calm river once more. “Go on, I’ve half a mind to burn down that factory myself.”

Mireille gulped. The intense glare was worse than anything she had faced at the orphanage. “Umm... well, we discovered some stuff being put into the water around here, it was down in the catacombs, and maybe its from the factory, and maybe—”

“Is that what did her in?” The [Doctor] asked, pointing at Elise.

Mireille nodded. “Yes, she fell into a stream of that stuff with an open wound.”

The [Doctor’s] brow grew more furrowed, and her eyes seemed to sink deepen inside their sockets. It was almost like a dark aura had began emanating from her. She looked to Fayette.

“The symptoms match up quite well with what’s been going around in this district. A milder version though, the one people here have been catching isn’t deadly. At least in the short run.”

“We’re still not sure it’s intentional,” Mireille tried, shrinking under the [Doctor’s] intense glare. “It could be an accident.”

The [Doctor] scoffed. “Hmph. A foolish hope. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve seen something similar to this, but feel free to entertain your fancies.” She pointed at Elise. “You, girl. You work at that place, right? Surely you can manage something to figure it out. The source of all this.”

“Umm, my sister’s husband, Antoine, is a [Builder]. Didn’t work on my factory, but he might know someone who did.”

The [Doctor] nodded and went to take up a paper and pen. She handed them to the [Labourer] “Alright. Write out your request. I’ll make sure it’s sent out, and we’d better have answers within the hour.”

Elise took the pen into her shaking hand and began scribbling a quick message on it. She then handed it to the [Doctor]. The gloomy woman picked it up, parsed through it quick, then nodded.

“Alright. This should go to your house, right? I remember it.”

“Yes. My sister should be home by now, she’ll know what to do.”

The [Doctor] nodded, then walked off outside the room. A tense silence fell as the group waited for her to get back, but she was only gone a few minutes. She returned soon, carrying some notes.

“Alright, I’ve sent a street runner. They work fast for me. I made sure he understood the urgency, we’ll know soon.”

“Are you really sure we should get involved in this, Fay?” Mireille asked, biting her lip. “This is serious. Big. Noble business, city business. We signed up to deal with some rats—not whatever this is.”

Fayette closed her eyes to think. It was true, dealing with this was not what she had signed up for initially, and certainly not hunter business. But, was this not what she had been planning all along? She had wanted to be a [Maid] who would not settle for just cleaning up a lonely mansion, but one who would pursue something grander.

Wouldn’t something like this fit that bill exactly? A huge factory, polluting a whole district. Certainly work worth a [Maid] of her ambitions. Just how much experience could I gain from something like this, especially if I solved it directly? Should we even tell others?

She opened her eyes, then met Mireille’s. “I want to do this. I think this type of thing was what I wanted, in that talk we had in the sauna. Besides, we are already plenty involved.”

The [Seamstress] sighed. “I’m not surprised to be honest, but I do think this is rash. We might end up in real trouble here. If we do something, we only do it with a good plan.”

“So you’ll also help?” Fayette asked, smile peeking through her lips.

“What? Were I to leave you, you’d be sure to do something proper rash and unthought, and probably get killed doing it. Can’t leave you alone, can I? I do wish I was getting paid for this, though.”

“I’m sure you’ll get the rat money.” Elise offered.

Mireille raised an eyebrow. “Hardly enough to compensate this. Well, whatever. Let’s see what the truth of matters is first.”

Just then, as if on call, a knock sounded out from the door. Fayette was impressed. Did the message get sent out and received that quickly? Can word travel that fast in cities?

The [Doctor] walked off to open the door, and soon led a gruff-looking man back. Broad shoulders, a thick moustache and worn worker’s overalls—the very image of a typical [Builder]. The man’s brow quirked up when he saw the injured [Labourer] laying on the bed.

“Elise? The message didn’t say anything about an injury. What’s happened?”

“That’s irrelevant.” The [Doctor] said, cutting him off with a wave of her hand. “Her condition is stable, and we need information.”

The man looked a bit confused, but slowly nodded. “Alright... Does her family know about this? What did you call me here for?”

“Were you one of the [Builders] who worked on the factory where Elise works?” Mireille asked.

“Is that the one by Castagnary crossing? The textile works or something of the sort? Yes, I was there for the whole time.”

Mireille turned to Elise. “I don’t know the specifics well enough—you ask the rest.”

Elise thought for a moment, then started speaking slowly. “You know that one pipe in the boiler room, which the runoff travels through? Where does it lead?”

The [Builder] thought for a moment, then shook his head. “I don’t know about that one. They had two teams building stuff there, one was locals doing most stuff, then there was a group brought in, apparently some personal group of the [Lord’s], out of town people. They handled more sensitive stuff, we weren’t allowed to see much of that.”

The [Doctor] slowly looked at the other three women, meeting each of their eyes. “So, does this not sound very convenient?”

“Huh? What’s this about.” The man asked.

“Nothing you need to worry about.” The [Doctor] answered, then waved her hand towards the door. “Off with you now. We have things to discuss.”

“What? But Elise—”

“When I say off, I mean off!”

The man squirmed under the [Doctor’s] gaze, then slowly slunk out of the room, and out of the house. The [Doctor] waited for him to go, then took out a flask of clear liquid from a pocket, and took a good drink from it.

Fayette turned to the [Doctor]. “So, we’re definitely doing something. You in, Miss Nightingale?”

The [Doctor] grimaced. “Please don’t be so formal with me. But yes, I am in. Call me Olivia.”

Fayette nodded, then began to think through the options. A factory was not handling its trash properly, and she could think of one simple solution.

“Alright, that settles it. Let’s burn down the factory!”

Three silent gazes answered her.

New Party Member acquired?

Olivia Nightingale

Class: [Doctor]?

Level: ???

Skills:

Surgery (?/?)

[Bloodletting] - Rank ??? ???

Medicine (?/?)

???

Capstone skills (?/?)

???

Free skills (?/?)

???