Fairy Tail: This Healing Mage's hits hurt so much!

The king's study was more elegant than I had imagined, with heavy walnut bookshelves standing along the walls, filled with ancient books with gilded covers.

A large desk in the center was covered with a dark brown velvet cloth, and a bronze fireplace in the corner burned with a faint flame, making the room warm and cozy.

The gilded candlesticks cast a soft glow on the book pages, and the air was filled with the scent of ink and a faint aroma of cedar. The atmosphere lacked the grandeur of the main hall, but instead exuded a warm, homely feel.

When Sunburst followed Arcadios into the study, King Thomas E. Fiore was sitting in an armchair behind his desk.

Having shed his crown and heavy royal robes, he wore only a loose, off-white casual dress with the cuffs casually rolled up. His graying temples were slightly disheveled, and his brows were filled with unconcealed fatigue, yet he showed no trace of the airs of a monarch.

He held a small portrait in his hand, a portrait of ten-year-old Leo, his fingertips gently stroking the paper, his expression wistful.

"Fairy Tail's Sunburst Bro, we've been waiting for you!"

Upon seeing him, Thomas immediately rose and took two steps to greet him, his tone warm and earnest, showing no trace of the aloofness one would expect from a monarch.

"You must be tired from your journey, please have a seat!"

"Your Majesty is too kind!"

Riyao scratched his head, the bag of dried strawberries in his arms crumpled in his hand, but his gaze couldn't help but drift to the jewel-encrusted paperweight on the bookshelf.

He thought to himself, "This thing looks even more exquisite than the sapphire on a crown. How many limited edition cakes could I exchange for it?"

Arcadios coughed softly beside him, giving him a look that signaled him to be mindful of his manners.

Riyao stuck out his tongue, quickly looked away, pulled over a chair, and sat down, pretending to listen attentively.

Thomas sighed, gently placing the portrait on the table, his tone filled with tenderness and anxiety.

"I asked you to come here today because of my nephew Leo. This child is just ten years old and is my brother's only child. He suddenly fell ill half a month ago. At first, he was just listless and couldn't eat, but it got worse and worse. His whole body was covered with bluish-black lines, and he became so thin that he was just skin and bones."

He rubbed his hands together, his tone tinged with helplessness.

"We've consulted all the mages and physicians in the palace, tried everything from light magic and antidotes to priestly blessings, but nothing works. In fact, things are only getting worse."

"I heard that Fairy Tail has a healing mage who is young but very powerful."

Thomas looked at Riyao with hopeful eyes, his tone as earnest as an elder asking for help.

"Brother, I know this is troublesome, but Leo is a well-behaved and sensible boy. Please help us, we're willing to pay any price!"

"Your Majesty, rest assured, I'll go check on Leo first!"

Riyao patted his chest, his curiosity having long since outweighed his nervousness. The more bizarre the illness, the more appealing it was to him.

Thomas's eyes lit up immediately, and he quickly gestured to the attendant beside him.

"Quickly, take Young Master Riyao to the inner room!"

Behind the study is a cozy and elegant inner room, with a soft carpet and sheer curtains hanging on the bed.

The hall was filled with a faint medicinal scent, mixed with a subtle, eerie atmosphere.

Lying on the bed was a pale-faced little boy, Leo. His eyes were closed, his cheeks were sunken, and his arms were covered with fine, bluish-black lines, like vines, which looked shocking.

Riyao abandoned all his playful thoughts, quickly walked to the bedside, and a faint green light emanated from his fingertips. This was a healing magic bestowed by the goddess, which could sense the aura and abnormalities of living beings.

He gently placed his fingers on Leo's wrist, and the green light seeped into the other's body through his fingertips.

The next second, Riyao's face instantly darkened.

"How's it going, Sunshine Bro?"

Thomas and Arcadios, who were following behind, hurriedly asked, and the king even took two steps forward, his tone full of urgency.

Riyao did not answer immediately, but frowned and examined carefully, the light at his fingertips flickering.

After a moment, he withdrew his hand and looked at the king with a solemn expression: "Your Majesty, Leo's illness is not an ordinary one, but a curse, and it is also mixed with a rare chronic toxin."

"curse?!"

Thomas and Arcadios both gasped in surprise. Thomas's face paled instantly, and he instinctively grabbed the bed railing.

"How could it be a curse... Leo has never offended anyone! He's just an ordinary child who spends his days studying and playing in the courtyard; he's hardly ever gone far from home!"

"That's right."

Riyao nodded, the chilling aura he had just sensed still lingering on his fingertips.

"This curse carries a strong dark attribute, like a net wrapped around Leo's soul, while the poison is corroding his body. The two are intertwined, and ordinary healing magic cannot break it at all. Light magic can only suppress it temporarily, but it will only make the curse rebound even more."

He paused, then added.

"What's more troublesome is that both the curse and the toxin are contagious."

"Contagious?!"

Arcadios's expression hardened, and he subconsciously took a half step back, placing his hand on the hilt of his sword at his waist.

"Don't worry, it's not transmitted through the air."

"It's spread through contact. When I was investigating just now, I discovered that the aura of the curse clings to people who have been in contact with Leo. However, the current dose is still too low to show any symptoms yet, but over time, those bluish-black lines will appear on their bodies, though the onset will be slower than with Leo."

As he spoke, he looked at the maids and servants standing by the bed and pointed at one of them.

"For example, this lady, you must take care of Leo every day, right? Look at the inside of your wrist, there are already faint bluish-black marks, but they are not obvious, you may not have even noticed them yourself."

Upon hearing this, the maid quickly raised her wrist and indeed saw a very faint bluish-black line on the inside. She was so frightened that her face turned pale and her legs went weak, almost causing her to fall.

Thomas stared at the lines, his lips trembling slightly, his eyes filled with heartache and confusion, his fingers gripping the window frame tightly until his knuckles turned white.

"Who... could be so cruel as to harm an innocent child? They wouldn't even spare those who cared for him..."

He wasn't furious, only deeply powerless and heartbroken, his voice trembling with emotion.

"Brother, please, you must think of a way! Whatever medicine or manpower you need, we'll cooperate fully! I'm willing to give anything to cure Leo and all those affected!"

Riyao stroked his chin, a sharp thought flashing in his eyes, his fingertips unconsciously tapping his palm.

"The aura of this curse is very strange, and it cannot be cast by an ordinary mage. This combination of 'curse + slow poison' bears strong traces of forbidden experiments, and is more like... the way of the Dark Guild, or the work of the remnants of the Magic Development Bureau back then."

He recalled that Makarov had mentioned that a year ago, when the Council of Magical Exploration Agency was being wiped out, they discovered that it was conducting experiments on forbidden curses and poisons.