Isekai Kansha - Chapter 56

Chapter 56: The Path to Hope

After leaving Orto’s house, Jin headed for the temple, carrying his promise to Airis in his heart.

His goal was to meet with Clark.

"Clark-san, I’m sorry for asking this of you on such short notice."

They were in Clark’s office.

Jin apologized for showing up unannounced and even asking to have everyone else excused from the room.

"No need to apologize. So, what’s this important matter?"

Clark didn’t believe Jin would do something like this without reason. Whether it turned out good or bad, he could tell Jin was about to bring some kind of change.

"Yes. I’ve identified the name of the illness that’s been affecting the children. It’s called Mana Fever, also known as Mana Overload Syndrome."

"!?"

Clark was at a loss for words at Jin’s sudden statement.

"This is just between us, but I possess a skill called Appraisal. I discovered the name of the disease by using that skill."

Jin spoke calmly as he explained.

Mana Fever occurs when the body becomes unable to handle an overload of magical power for some reason and attempts to release the excess through fever.

In the initial stage, the high fever lasts for about a day before returning to normal.

In the middle stage, the high fever lasts for more than two days and is followed by a lingering mild fever.

Finally, in the terminal stage, the high fever never subsides—the symptoms progressively worsen as the disease advances.

The first and second stages each last about one to two months, and once it reaches the final stage, the patient doesn’t have much time left.

Currently, the situation corresponds to the middle stage—meaning they have only about a month before it becomes terminal.

"What do you think, Clark-san? With this information, is treatment possible?"

Jin had learned all this through Appraisal, and he hoped that perhaps now, healing magic could be effective.

But Clark shook his head.

"I’m afraid not. For illnesses related to mana, the effects of Healing magic are quite limited. However, I believe it’s possible to slow the progression. If we can identify and remove the cause of the mana imbalance during that time, the symptoms might subside."

That wasn’t the definitive answer Jin was hoping for, but at least there was still a glimmer of possibility.

"Give me a moment," Clark said to Jin before pulling one of the many files stacked on his desk.

He flipped through several marked sections, checking each carefully, until he finally found the page he was looking for in the last file.

"Here it is. The exact date is unclear, but there’s a record of a disease with similar symptoms. Even then, they couldn’t cure it with magic alone, so they worked with an alchemist to create a medicine. It was called Demonbane Elixir (滅魔薬)."

The name sounded rather ominous, but just knowing the medicine’s name was a huge breakthrough.

"Unfortunately, the cause of the illness remained unknown back then as well, and the recipe for the medicine isn’t recorded. However…"

"Right. Bean-san might know something."

Jin said, picking up on Clark’s thought. 

"Indeed. Even if he doesn’t know himself, following his connections might lead us somewhere."

In truth, the record was so old that it was impossible to determine the era it came from—nothing was reassuring about the situation.

Even so, both Clark and Jin had a spark of hope in their expressions.

"Clark-san, I plan to head to Bean-san’s place right away. What about you?"

"I’ll come with you. This is something the temple should formally take responsibility for as well."

Though Jin had brought valuable information, he was still just an adventurer.

Strictly speaking, he should be the one accompanying Clark, but neither of them cared about such details.

It was a mindset that transcended ranks and positions—the kind shared only by comrades working toward the same goal.

Perhaps the one most deserving of praise here was Clark, for trusting Jin’s confession without hesitation and choosing to act alongside him.

After that, Jin and Clark hurried to Bean’s shop. Upon arrival, they were ushered into a private room, where only the three of them—Jin, Clark, and Bean- sat down for their meeting.

"……"

There, Jin and Clark revealed everything they knew—the details about the Mana Fever, the mention of the Demonbane Elixir, and even Jin’s Appraisal skill.

It was information that gave Bean hope, but the moment the words Demonbane Elixir came up, his expression grew grim.

Now, with unease in the air, Jin had just asked if Bean knew anything about the medicine—and Bean’s response was silence.

"…I understand."

Jin and Clark waited patiently, and after a long silence, Bean finally spoke.

"Forgive me for keeping you waiting. However, what you’ve mentioned touches upon something forbidden, so I had to proceed carefully."

He bowed his head to them, then looked up, meeting their eyes with a serious expression.

"I inherited several recipes for forbidden medicines from my master. All I know are their names, ingredients, and methods of preparation—nothing about their actual effects. But I was told that if any of these were ever made public, it could throw the world into chaos. By rights, they should have been burned, but in rare cases—like certain diseases that appear only once in an age—they might serve as unique antidotes. That’s why the recipes still exist."

Bean paused for a moment, exhaling deeply.

Even the alchemists themselves didn’t fully understand the effects of these forbidden medicines. They were considered only when the temple or similar authorities requested help in treating otherwise incurable diseases.

"I don’t know how many alchemists still possess these forbidden recipes, but I hope you understand that even the possibility of possessing them is a tightly guarded secret. I apologize, Jin-san, you’ve trusted me with your own secret, and yet I hesitated to speak. But because this concerns the fate of the world, I couldn’t give an immediate answer. I’m sorry."

Indeed, if malicious people learned of this fact, they would stop at nothing—even resorting to blackmail—to extract those secrets. 

Bean’s caution was completely justified, both to protect himself and to prevent any potential disaster that might befall the world if such knowledge were misused.

"No, you’re not wrong, Bean-san. Thank you for telling us. I promise your secret will remain safe."

"Jin-san is right," Clark added. "Thank you, Bean-san. I swear before the gods to keep this secret."

If the person asking hadn’t been trustworthy, any alchemist who knew of the forbidden recipes would have simply denied their existence.

It was a bitter choice, one that could mean abandoning lives that might have been saved, but it was the price of guarding such a dangerous secret.

Jin and Clark felt only gratitude toward Bean for choosing to share that secret, never resentment.

"Thank you. Please give me a moment to confirm something—could I ask you to wait here for a bit?"

With their permission, Bean stepped out. More than ten minutes passed before he returned.

"Thank you for waiting. The recipe for the Demonbane Elixir does exist, but one of the ingredients was something I’ve never heard of before—something called Madoren Petals."

Bean’s expression stiffened as he said this. It seemed he felt they were back to square one.

Even after finally learning the name of the needed medicine, one of its ingredients was from a flower that even an experienced alchemist like Bean had never encountered—it was only natural for him to imagine how difficult this would be to track down.

But for Jin, just knowing the name was enough.

"It'll be fine."

Jin said this with confidence, immediately opening his MAP and searching for "Madoren Flower."

Apparently, the flower only grew in specific clusters, and even then, such spots were few.

Even the nearest one to the city of Lientz was quite far away. Jin had to double the search radius before another cluster finally appeared.

The glowing point on his MAP indicated a location still covered in mist—an unexplored area beyond the regions Jin had already mapped around Lientz.

He wouldn’t know more until he got close.

"I can’t say for sure yet, but I’ve got a general idea of where it is."

This time, Jin didn’t make his MAP visible to Bean and Clark, though he didn’t try to hide that he was using some kind of skill.

Both of them assumed that Jin had used another special ability, and realizing that, they couldn’t hide their astonishment at this new revelation following his Appraisal skill.

Both of Jin’s skills were ones Bean and Clark had never even heard of. From an objective standpoint, they were likely rare or even unique skills, following after Appraisal.

Strictly speaking, Jin’s unique skill listed in his status was only Menu, but in truth, every skill he brought from his original world could be considered unique.

Every one of them, especially those that had reached LV: MAX, was fundamentally different from their counterparts in this world.

Even Appraisal, which had started at LV:1, bore little resemblance to the local version.

Here, Appraisal was considered a rare skill, but it came with many limitations: living beings couldn’t be analyzed, and information was often incomplete — a far cry from Jin’s version.

Jin himself was unaware of these differences, but even if he had known, it wouldn’t have changed his actions.

If it were truly necessary to cure this illness, Jin was willing to tell anyone anything.

And since his current companions were Clark and Bean, people he trusted, there was no reason for hesitation.

"I’ll keep your secret too, Jin-san."

"Yes, of course. I swear to the gods I will protect it."

It was only natural that Bean and Clark would make such promises.

To their understanding, Jin’s skill was "one that could locate lost things," but even that alone had immeasurable value.

If word of such an ability ever spread, nations and organizations would undoubtedly compete to secure him.

Just as Jin would never betray their trust, neither Bean nor Clark had any intention of betraying his.

"Thank you. Now then, as for our next steps…"

Jin expressed his gratitude for their trust, and the three began to discuss the details of their plan.

• They would tell Greg everything, but officially present the case as a collection request from the temple, unrelated to the disease.

• For caution’s sake, the existence of the Demonbane Elixir and Madoren Flower would be shared only with Greg and Erza’s party members.

• Since the potion wasn’t too difficult to make, it would be brewed only by Jin and Bean to ensure secrecy.

• Once completed, the temple would distribute the medicine without revealing its name.

• Young patients like Airis and the two orphans would be given special care, with regular check-ups and healing magic.

• Finally, as a precaution, Jin entrusted six replica potions to Hilda at the orphanage and handed the remaining ten to Clark for safekeeping.

It wasn’t hard to imagine how stunned Bean and Clark were when they learned about those replica potions.

After going over everything, the three decided that Jin and Clark would temporarily part ways and meet again an hour later at the guild.

This wasn’t just Jin’s issue anymore — it involved Erza, Rachel, and the rest of their group, too.

So the next meeting would include Greg and Jin’s party members.

Bean, however, would stay out of it for safety reasons and focus solely on the potion-making.

Clark would contact Rachel, while Bean would inform Erza.

With that settled, Jin parted ways with Clark and headed alone toward the orphanage.

---

"I understand. Thank you, Jin-san."

Hilda smiled warmly at him from inside one of the orphanage’s rooms.

On the table before her sat six replica potions.

After explaining everything and preparing to leave, Jin found himself stopped by Hilda.

"Would you mind waiting for a moment?"

Saying that, Hilda left the room, and after a short while, she returned with someone else.

"Jin-san!? What are you doing here?"

It was Aria—she’d probably been helping out around the orphanage.

"I just needed to discuss something with Hilda-san about the children."

Of course, he had no intention of hiding the potion matter from her either. He was about to continue when Hilda interrupted him.

"Aria, have a seat first. And Jin-san—I’ll step out for a while. If there’s something you’d like to tell Aria, please do."

Without waiting for Jin’s reply, Hilda gently patted Aria’s back in encouragement, picked up the potions, and left the room.

In short, Hilda’s action could best be described as an old woman’s intuition—or perhaps a touch of meddlesome kindness.

Still, being suddenly left alone with Aria threw Jin off a little.

He sat across from her, unsure how to start or what exactly to say, and ended up falling silent as he thought it over.

It was Aria who broke the silence.

"Jin-san… I don’t know what made Miss Hilda say that, but if there’s anything I can do to help, would you please tell me?"

Her eyes were earnest and at the same time, carried a hint of pleading.

Seeing that look, Jin made up his mind in an instant.

"Whether you can help or not doesn’t matter. Will you at least listen to what I’m trying to do?"

With that, Jin told Aria everything.

He didn’t go into as much detail about the Demonbane Elixir as he planned to with Erza and the others, but he did explain everything else—the use of Appraisal, the events leading up to this point, their current plans, and even the MAP skill, to the same extent he intended to share with his party.

For Aria, it was a stream of shock after shock, but at the same time, it filled her with joy.

Because it meant the illness could be cured.

When Jin finished his story, Aria, who had been listening intently the whole time, finally spoke.

"Jin-san, please let me join the meeting with Greg-san and the others. I promise I’ll be useful."

Her eyes now shone with firm determination—a stark contrast to how she’d looked before their talk.

(Yeah… this version of her is much better.)

Jin smiled naturally and replied,

"Of course. I’d be glad to have you."

After confirming Aria’s matching smile, Jin stood up and gave her a teasing grin.

"Then, shall we go see Greg-san together? Our beloved guild master."

The way he said it, almost playfully enough to wink, came from what he’d just learned in his earlier conversation with Bean and Clark.

It had surprised him at first, but it also made perfect sense.

Still, it didn’t change anything important.

If anything, it just gave him a little more material to tease Greg with—nothing more.

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