The next morning, Arthur woke up, but he couldn't open his eyes easily and felt a sharp pain in his throat. He sighed quietly.
"Damn it, I'm sick."
He struggled to sit up, and after a short while, his body started to adjust to the illness, making his movements a little easier. He stared into the dark room — dark because the windows were shut — and felt a slight chill.
'I was planning to head to the forest today, but that's clearly impossible in my condition.'
After a brief moment of thought, he lifted a primitive bell in his room and rang it quietly. Octavia entered swiftly and said, "How may I serve you, my lord?" This was the first time Arthur had ever rung the bell, which made her worried that something was wrong.
With a cold, congested voice, he said, "Call the castle's healer."
Octavia left at once and returned with an old man wearing deep blue cotton robes and a white cloak adorned with a two-leaf clover symbol surrounded by a warm green glow. Multi-colored clothing like this was rare due to the difficulty of obtaining materials. Only important figures and mages wore such garments.
[Name: Faelor Zin Moorshade]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Healing Mage]
[Skills: Detection Magic (D), Healing Magic (D), Enhancement Magic (D), Logical Analysis (D), Solid Body (E), Horsemanship (D)]
[Carried Items: Poison Dagger (D)]
Arthur was a bit surprised to see Faelor had the Logical Analysis skill and a poison weapon. In the novel, he was only briefly mentioned and appeared in a single scene, making him somewhat mysterious in Arthur's memory.
"Examine my body and heal me."
"As you wish, my lord," Faelor replied calmly due to his quiet nature. Gently, he placed his hand on Arthur's chest and activated Detection Magic. After a minute of silence, he said, "You're suffering from a minor evil infection." Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he added in disbelief:
"You are blessed, my lord! It seems your body is immune to this disease. You won't need long to recover."
'Hmm, must be due to the vaccines I took in my world. They don't know about immunization here, so it caught him off guard.'
After a brief pause as Faelor processed the situation, he said, "I will heal you with magic, my lord, though it won't do much. As you know, healing magic works on injuries and bruises, but it's not particularly effective on illnesses or epidemics."
Arthur brushed Faelor's hand off his chest and answered coldly,
"Just do your job. I already know you're useless."
Calmly and quickly, the healer cast a healing spell. A transparent green aura emerged from his hand and enveloped Arthur's body.
At that moment, Arthur felt his fever cool slightly. His throat became less dry, and his nasal congestion eased. After about five minutes, Faelor finished and left quickly.
Still in bed, Arthur ordered Octavia to boil some garlic and bring him honey so he could make a simple herbal remedy.
After drinking his basic medicine, he felt noticeably better. Since he didn't want to waste the whole day in bed, he forced himself to get up. He dressed himself without assistance to avoid passing the infection to Octavia or the maids, as they had no immunity to germs — even a cold could prove fatal for them.
Afterward, he left his room. As usual, he found Octavia standing silently near the door. The moment she saw him, she greeted him with concern, then followed behind him, maintaining a respectful distance. It was her duty to accompany Arthur wherever he went.
'This place is a mess,' Arthur sighed as he looked at the castle's corridors and rooms. The stone floors were cracked and dirty. And due to the darkness — even at midday — they had to light torches and candles in several areas. The windows were narrow and made of plain wood, blocking out sunlight. If opened, cold air would pour in, making the place unbearably chilly.
'Maybe I should make some glass. Or rather, I should tear down this entire castle and rebuild it. First thing's first — I need a proper bathroom and a sewage system to get rid of this disgusting stench.'
The place was truly repulsive, and Arthur always suffered when he had to use the bathroom due to how hideous the sights were.
As he wandered through the castle, he ran into Duncan, who immediately greeted him with respect. "Greetings, Lord Arvan."
Arthur raised his hand in acknowledgment and continued walking without giving him another thought. Octavia gave Duncan a quick bow, then continued walking behind Arthur.
Duncan watched Arthur's back and thought,
'Who does this bastard think he is, treating me like I'm invisible? Just wait. I'll uncover the truth — and then we'll see who's better.'
After Baronet Edgar sent his men to search for the bandits — as Arthur had ordered — they found no trace of them. No corpses. No signs of Arvan's former entourage. Not even evidence of a fight. The soldiers didn't take it seriously, but Duncan, who already hated Arthur, saw it as suspicious and decided to investigate further.
[Duncan suspects you.]
A system window suddenly appeared in front of Arthur. As soon as he read it, his brow furrowed in displeasure.
'This happened earlier than I expected.'
He didn't need the system's notice to know they were starting to suspect him. He had anticipated something like this and already considered a few countermeasures. Right now, however, Duncan didn't concern him — what caught his attention was the system notification itself.
'Just as I thought. The system only tells me the thoughts of characters I'm well acquainted with.'
Despite spending a lot of time with Octavia, he noticed he never got any system notices about her feelings. After a long period of observation, he realized the skill didn't activate automatically. It required multiple conditions:
First, he had to activate the Plot Savant skill.
Second, the target had to be within range.
Third — and most importantly — he needed to know the person well, like Edgar, Chadwick, and Duncan, who were detailed in the novel. Octavia, on the other hand, was described only briefly.
There was one special case, like with the villagers — he could read their general emotions based on the novel's descriptions. Since it stated that everyone hated and feared Arvan, the system displayed their emotions due to their assumption that he was Arvan.
After touring the castle and inspecting its state, Arthur decided to go out and walk through the village. Octavia quickly prepared a carriage and gathered the guards who would accompany him. Unexpectedly, Chadwick was among them.
Without any clear expression, Arthur boarded the carriage and ordered the driver to proceed slowly and tour the entire village.