"Very bad. Erlik's army grows by the day and the city is akin to a warzone. If not for the fact that all living quarters are heavily enchanted, there would have been countless casualties among civilians." Marth said.
Yet Quylla noticed that he seemed to have gained weight, his face wasn't deadly pale as usual, and even the grey streaks that he had recently gotten on his hair due to stress was returning to their natural color.
"Are you done with your guests, baby? I'm tired of waiting." Ryssa walked out of the bedroom, sitting on Marth's lap while putting her arms around his neck.
She had wheat-blond straight hair, wearing what seemed a light cotton white nightgown, leaving only her delicate shoulders and arms exposed. Her figure was slenderer than Lyta's but not less attractive.
Marth swallowed a lump of saliva in embarrassment. That wasn't like he wanted to be remembered by his students and colleagues.
Duke Marth had never had an easy life ever since taking care of Manohar had become his full-time job. First when the god of healing was still a student and then when Manohar had become his peer.
Cleaning up his messes and keeping his shenanigans under control was something that only a few people were able to do. Even if it was an unpleasant job, Marth was the best at it, so the Royals had dumped the Mad Professor on him.
Manohar managed to escape from time to time, but that was the price the pay to keep him alive and with all of his limbs intact. On top of that, no woman who had ever met Manohar, especially when he barged in Marth's quarters uninvited, which happened quite often and at all hours, had ever been willing to repeat the experience.
Marth had remained a bachelor despite his fame and riches because of it. No noble family wanted to share the table with a man whose best friend put potions in the drinks to use guests as test subjects on a regular basis.
The Headmaster's reputation was so poor that in the academic circles he was referred to as "Manohar's wife".
Back when Linjos was still alive, at least they shared the burden and the responsibility, but after Marth's predecessor passing away, everything now rested on his shoulders, to the point that he had been forced to abandon his magical research completely.
Being back on the field, away from all of his duties as Headmaster, and not having to worry about Manohar anymore, was the closest thing to a vacation he had experienced in over twenty years.
So when Ryssa had made her move on him, the Headmaster didn't think twice before accepting. It was finally time for Marth to experience the springtime of his youth after entrusting the title of Headmaster to Vastor.
Now, he was one of the most powerful and influential men in the entire Griffon Kingdom. Vastor had coveted the position of Headmaster for a long time, yet now that he had achieved it, he was cursing the gods for fulfilling his wish.
Supervising the search for Manohar, taking care of all paperwork for the Academy, supervising the light magic department, all while keeping the students of the White Griffon safe from both internal and external threats was driving him to the grave.
The normally round Professor didn't sleep more than one hour per night, had lost several kilograms, and the number of his wrinkles had doubled since Manohar had left him in charge.
"Curse you, Linjos!" He would scream in the middle of the night. "You always made it look so easy. If Marth doesn't get back soon, either the Queen or the stress will kill me!"
Meanwhile, in Laurel, Marth tried to make Ryssa stand up and failed miserably, having to endure the chuckles of his students.
"I see that you've taken to heart to create deep bonds between the Kingdom and Laruel." Lith said. "But I'd still like for you to explain how creating such disease can help Erlik's cause.
"Undead, alive, or in-between, its victims should retain their personality. Hence both the infected and the still healthy plant folks should resent him."
"You might be strong, but you really are stupid." Ryssa didn't like someone ruining her fun. "How many times do we have to tell you that our kin values strength above everything? Do you have any idea how hard it is to evolve?
"So many of us, especially among our weakest, have spent decades to improve our strength, yet we failed to turn into Fae." Just like magical beast evolved into Emperor Beasts once they Awakened, plant folks became Fae.
"Undeath is against all we believe in, yet it gives you the opportunity to grow stronger simply by eating. Not having to constantly train just to keep yourself alive, not having to worry about dying before achieving anything, has a great allure even to us.
"The problem is that, most of those who become partially turned into undead, become so drunk in their newfound powers and abilities that they ask Erlik to complete the process of their own volition.
"Erlik didn't spread the undead plague to kill Leannan's followers, but to corrupt them. Our leader needs your help not only to preserve her seat, but also because if Laruel falls, more city-states might follow." Ryssa said.
"The last thing we need while facing an undead migration is to have even more undead." Marth said to highlight the Kingdom's interest in the matter.
"And they sent you because whatever this is, it uses the bloodstream as a means to spread the disease." Quylla was aware that plant folks' real bodies had no internal organs. Their resemblance to the human race was merely appearance.
"Exactly." Marth said while trying to stop Ryssa from cuddling him in front of the others.
Quylla then told Marth about the plants infesting the bugbears and the damage they had caused to the Rothar caves.
"Damn, things are even worse than I thought." Marth replied. "What you are describing might be another strain of Erlik's plague. Plant folks are few in number and not all those he infects fall for his bait.
"He must be trying to use monsters as test subjects to try and turn the members of other races into undead plants as well. If my hypothesis is correct and his experiment succeeds, conquering the other city-states will be child's play."
Every one of those present cursed at their bad luck. They were supposed to be on vacation, but with all that was at stake, refusing to help might have led to terrible consequences.
They all remembered the fear Kandria's plague had struck in the hearts of all the citizens of the Kingdom, how a good chunk of its region had become a mass grave. This time is was even worse because while the previous plague was mindless like all diseases, the threat at hand would spawn creatures that would hunt down humans, no matter where they hid.
It was a plague capable of moving along with the refugees, of using dimensional magic and of planning ahead.
"I'm sorry, girls, but I'm not going to continue the vacation with you. Headmaster, you can count on me." Quylla could easily guess that her parents' workload had already increased just because of the undead migration.
If Erlik's plan succeeded, they would the creatures coming from the Jiera continent would finally have a safe haven from where plan their attack. It was something she wasn't willing to allow.
