317 Chapter 317: Train to Bu San (2/2)

Pearl swallowed, looking troubled.

”I'll inform you beforehand that healing magic is not the same as curing diseases. If it's a physical injury, I can heal it, but diseases are a different type of thing, and require different type of spells and treatments.”

”Ah…I see. Could you please just take a look, in any case? We really appreciate it…”

He paused to listen to a burst of voice over the com bead and nodded before turning toward Pearl, a strained smile spreading across his face.

”According to my colleague, the lady in question does have a physical injury…a rather large wound on her leg. As if she was bitten by something.”

For some reason, the unease that had been crawling over me intensified at that moment. I shot upward, causing everyone to stare at me.

”We should follow Pearl, just in case.”

”…huh? I mean, I don't mind, but…” Harrison was puzzled by my behavior.

”I have a bad feeling about this.”

”…if you say so.” He glanced at the others, who shrugged.

”Hey, not too many people.” The steward wiped the perspiration off his face. ”We don't have much space, and you don't want to crowd around the victim.”

”He's right, you know.” Pearl nodded. Harrison pondered for a second before he relented.

”Richard and I will go. The rest of you, stay here.”

”Okay.”

Craig, Sheila, Theodore and Cody were playing cards for some reason, while Yue Chu and Lily were…uh, flirting. Bu Fan had been seated next to Pearl because…you know, the protagonist always got to sit beside a beautiful girl. Unless you were Peter Parker in a Marvel movie that was far from home.

With the male steward leading us, we hurried toward the atrium between Carriage 7 and Carriage 8. We could hear the lady shrieking by now, her voice turning inhuman and guttural for some reason. The stewardess attending to her was panicking, near hysterical by now.

”Where are you, Senior?!” she was almost shrieking. ”Her condition is getting worse!”

”Almost there!” he shouted back, trying to have himself heard over the inhuman screams of the victim. ”Hang in there!”

”That does not sound good,” I murmured, a chill running down my spine when I heard the poor lady. That I could hear her even from this distance did not bode well at all. Already, many of the passengers were rising from their chairs and peering across, wondering what the hell was that racket about.

Pearl was the first to burst into the receptacle, the three of us guys following right behind her. The lady was jerking and thrashing wildly now despite the stewardess's best attempts to hold her down. She had gone into convulsions, her skin a deathly gray, her eyes dulling into cataracts and her tongue lolling in her mouth.

And then…she stopped.

”Oh God…oh Jesus, oh God, oh God, oh God!” the stewardess was moaning, tears welling up in her eyes. ”We're too late! She's dead! She's dead, she's dead!”

”Out of the way!” Pearl ordered as she stepped forward. ”Let me see…”

”Wait!” I shouted. ”It's best if everyone get away from her!”

Everyone turned to stare at me. Pearl scowled.

”Why?! If we don't help her, she might really die…”

I swallowed as I stared at the lady's corpse. The stewardess suddenly got the hint and backed away to safety, scrambling behind her senior. I sucked in a deep breath. ”I think it's too late. That lady, I think she had turned into a zombie.”

”…huh?”

My friends were staring at me blankly, wondering if they should be taking me seriously. Even the stewards looked as if they believed I had gone mad.

Then…

”I'm NOT a zombie!”

The lady suddenly sat up. She began coughing blood and causing a big mess, to the stewards' dismay. At least they were relieved that she was alive.

Pearl gave me a cold glare, and then proceeded to check on the lady. After casting a couple of spells, she straightened up.

”Viral infection. I'm sorry. She'll need to see a specialist. I don't have the healing spells necessary to cure her.”

Yeah, that made sense. Even among healing magic, there were different branches. The most common was the restorative branch, which healed common injuries, broken bones, cuts, bleeding, etc. and allowed healing mages to regenerate organs, limbs or whatever was lost. But it didn't include myopia, nor was it ”shapeshifting” or ”cosmetic” magic, which altered the form of one's body or physique rather than restore it. Those healing mages who specialized in that were rare, which was why they could get away with charging exorbitant prices for their treatments.

And then you had the cure branches, which dealt with diseases. Pearl clearly belonged to the restorative branch, so she wasn't adept in cure magic at all.

”She needs treatment as soon as possible,” she was currently telling the stewards, who nodded.

”The next stop is Bu San City,” the male steward informed her. ”We'll contact the staff there and arrange for her to be taken to Bu San General Hospital from the station.”

”Great.”

That left me feeling foolish and utterly stupid, but thankfully Harrison didn't rub it in. Feeling sorry for me, he quietly gestured for me to return to my seat before Pearl and the others noticed. Hanging my head sheepishly, and realizing that my ability to break the fourth wall and make references to other media had failed me for the first time, I silently slinked back.

Man, that was one of the most embarrassing moments in my life.