As Lena had instructed, Lyra arrived at the kitsune village with her laptop. She entered the herbal library and saw Lena examining each herbal plant laid out in front of her.
Lena wasn't alone. She was accompanied by two individuals who specialized in herbal medicine.
They recognized every herb before them, but they didn't know exactly what kind Lena was looking for.
The door creaked open. Lena smiled when she saw Lyra walk in carrying her laptop. She explained that she had a database of Earth's herbal plants—she had kept it even after finishing the program for the military hospital.
Lena nodded. Still, not a single herb in front of her looked like the ones she was familiar with. She didn't know what turmeric was called in this world, or ginger, or anything else.
Fortunately, having two kitsune herbal librarians was helpful. Lena asked them to suggest plants that had similar natural properties.
Lyra's role was to check if those local herbs matched anything in Earth's herbal database. Visual plant identification tools didn't help—they looked too different.
Outside Mitsuko's home compound, Gideon and several kitsune men were working together to build a large tent to house the sick. The tent could hold around 30–50 patients.
There were no beds—only mats and cloths for people to lie on. One by one, the patients were moved from their homes into the medical tent, except for Mitsuko.
"Is that all of them?" asked Gideon.
The kitsune man nodded, "Good."
"What's the actual cause of all this?" Gideon asked, curious.
"No idea. But something like this has happened before, though not this many," explained the kitsune man.
'Could there be other causes besides genetics?'Gideon wondered.
"Did they eat or drink anything unusual before this happened?"
The kitsune man paused, then cleared his throat and nodded as if remembering something. Apparently, they had consumed a special tonic meant to boost stamina and endurance during hunts.
Gideon narrowed his eyes. He didn't know the details, but it was possible the cause wasn't just genetic—maybe their intake played a part.
He followed the man to his house to see the tonic firsthand.
The man went inside while Gideon waited. Soon, he came out with a wooden jar and opened it.
Inside was a yellowish liquid with a strong aroma—not foul, but heavily spiced with herbs.
"What is it?" the man asked.
"Something might be wrong with this tonic," said Gideon.
He picked up the jar and signaled for the man to follow. They had to go to the herbal library and speak directly to Lena and Lyra.
When they entered, Gideon saw hundreds of herbs scattered across the floor. Lena and Lyra were busy identifying them, assisted by the two herbal librarians.
Lena looked up as Gideon entered with the kitsune man, who was holding the wooden jar.
"What's going on?" asked Lena.
"Many of the patients get this disease after drinking this," said Gideon, handing her the jar.
She opened it and took a sniff. One of the librarians immediately recognized the scent—it was a tonic called "Hunter's Wolf."
It wasn't created by the wolves, nor made for them. The recipe had been shared by the wolfkin due to their incredible hunting instincts.
The kitsune wanted to mimic them, which was why drinking this tonic became a pre-hunt tradition.
"What's in it?" asked Lena.
One librarian brought over four different herbs—all with distinct shapes and colors. He said those were the key ingredients of the tonic.
He then described each one's natural traits. Lena focused on two of them: Sun-Tongue Leaf and Old Spirit Powder.
For some reason, Lena's mind clicked when she heard their side effects. Lyra quickly searched the names in her herbal database.
"They're Psoralea and Ephedra."
"Psoralea and Ephedra? Those plants are banned in modern medicine because of their side effects on the heart," said Lena.
"Ephedra contains ephedrine—it's like adrenaline, it raises heart rate and blood pressure," she continued.
"And Psoralea contains compounds similar to estrogen. It can mess with hormonal balance."
"Could those two be indirectly causing lupus?" Gideon asked.
"No, but if taken repeatedly in large doses—there's a chance," Lena answered.
She nodded and handed back the jar to be stored away. She also requested the kitsune stop making that tonic entirely.
If they still needed a stamina booster for hunting, Lena would create a safer alternative herself.
"Thank you, Gideon."
"Of course," he replied.
He returned to the medical tent and followed Lena's instructions—removing all remaining Hunter's Wolf tonics.
The kitsune man nodded, having no choice but to obey, realizing now how little they had understood.
Time kept ticking. Gideon and Lyra had to move constantly between the two villages to coordinate. Meanwhile, Lena remained focused in the kitsune village.
Three days have passed since their arrival. Under Lena's supervision, the autoimmune disease in Mitsuko's body slowly subsided.
Lena, who had stayed up through the night, finally succeeded in creating two herbal tonics made from different local plants. She named the first one Flare Soother, and the second Hunter's Stamina.
Gideon and Lyra worked together to treat all the patients in the medical tent. Fortunately, no new cases appeared, meaning the illness had been contained.
They fed and cared for the patients, letting them rest all day. Unlike ibuprofen, herbal tonics worked slower—results might only show after five to seven days.
Still, that was far better than doing nothing at all.
From time to time, Lena came to check on the patients—especially at night. Their fevers had calmed, fatigue was fading, and the rashes on their faces were slowly disappearing.
"Goddess... of the Night?"
That's the name the villagers gave Lena—Goddess of the Night. They had faced similar outbreaks before, which took months to recover from. But since Lena's arrival, the haunting illness began fading in just a few days.
Lena approached one of her kitsune patients—a woman. She stroked her hair gently, offering comfort and emotional support.
People with lupus needed psychological care as well, to help their minds signal the body that things were okay.
"You'll be alright."
"Just rest."
The patient smiled and nodded, falling into a deep, peaceful sleep as Lena had advised.
Gideon entered and called for Lena—they needed to evaluate the situation.
Lyra was also there. Together, they concluded that the disease had been inherited. Most of the patients were related—family members from the same bloodline.
Additionally, the Hunter's Wolf tonic had worsened their flare-ups, due to the effects of Ephedra and Psoralea.
Fortunately, the villagers had started switching to Lena's Hunter's Stamina instead.
"How long until they fully recover?" asked Gideon.
"I'm not sure, but I'm optimistic they'll be fine soon," Lena replied.
"I've compiled all the herbal data from the past few days," said Lyra. "We'll have a solid herbal database if this ever happens again."
"That'll help us a lot going forward," Gideon agreed.
"So here you are," said Mitsuko.
Gideon, Lena, and Lyra turned. They saw Mitsuko walking out of her home, looking healthy again. The rashes on her face had completely vanished—thanks to Lena's medicine.
"Glad to see you recovered, Lady Mitsuko."
"Thank you. Your herbal medicine helped us a lot."
"You're not from Moko, Sisyla, or Luthe, are you?" Mitsuko asked. Gideon nodded.
"No. We're from a different world."
"I don't know what your world is like... but it must be full of wonders, right?" she said.
Lena and Lyra smiled.
Gideon glanced at them both, then looked back at Mitsuko. There was something he had to ask. The wolfkin hadn't been able to give him a clear answer.
"There's something I want to ask you—if you don't mind."
"Go ahead," Mitsuko said.
"Is magic... real?"