Within the city of Ashgla, Locke and Gabby Montoya arrived before a cluster of dust-covered houses.
These dwellings had long been devoid of human presence.
The residents of Ashgla dared not approach this area, as all the homeowners had contracted illnesses beyond their comprehension.
Locke observed the red-and-white brick houses before him, each resembling a small Western-style villa. Together with Gabby Montoya, they conducted a brief inspection of three nearby houses.
It had to be admitted that the average living standards of ordinary people in the Wizard World were better than those of commoners on the Corfu Continent.
Commoners on Corfu Island lived in thatched huts without floors, some even sharing quarters with livestock in barns, lacking proper beds.
Yet in the Wizard World, even the commoners of the southeastern region each possessed at least a simple but independent small house.
After completing their inspection, Gabby Montoya shook her head and said to Locke, "Senior Locke, I still can't identify any issues."
"These houses aren't connected. We've examined three, each separated by five or six other residences. So why did only the residents of these three contract that strange illness, while the dozen households in between remained unaffected?"
Locke's gaze swept across the surrounding houses, some of which still had occupants—likely people with nowhere else to go. Every door and window had been boarded up with planks.
Upon noticing Locke and Gabby approaching, the residents cautiously cracked open their doors to observe, their faces lighting up with excitement at the sight of wizards.
Clearly living in constant fear of contracting the mysterious disease, and with mundane doctors powerless to help, these commoners regarded the wizards as divine saviors.
Locke shook his head slightly at Gabby's question. "Haven't you noticed? These houses share one common characteristic."
The thirty-something Gabby Montoya froze in confusion.
Pointing at the house before them, Locke explained, "Didn't you observe that all three residences of the infected share one trait—they're exceptionally filthy?"
"The walls are dirty, the front areas appear neglected, showing these homeowners had extremely poor hygiene awareness."
Locke's eyes tracked a short-tailed mouse darting from the ventilation space beneath a house—the elevated foundation designed for moisture prevention—as it scurried to hide in the shadow of a tree.
Gabby Montoya looked puzzled. "Senior Locke, are you suggesting the sick people lived in dirty houses? But some in-between residences weren't particularly clean either."
"That's because they kept cats or dogs," Locke replied.
Quickly moving forward, Locke pursued the mouse now concealed in the tree's shadow.
"Senior Locke... wait for me..." Gabby called out.
But Locke was already preoccupied, murmuring to himself, "That mouse... there's something seriously wrong with it."
He keenly noticed the problem. "Ordinary mice would immediately hide upon seeing humanoid creatures larger than themselves, but that mouse deliberately ran out from its hiding spot when we approached."
Locke caught up to the mouse and stood before it, carefully observing its body.
The world of magic was full of mysteries. Even as a Second-Class Wizard Apprentice, he had to remain extremely cautious.
Teacher Sophia had warned that in complex Magic Plant environments, wizard apprentices had died in the wild due to carelessness.
"Just as I thought, this mouse's reactions are extremely sluggish. Its first instinct wasn't to flee when I approached." Locke retrieved a bottle of general-purpose basic antidote from his waist pouch - [Daffodil Antidote], purchased from Chimera Market for 1 Magic Stone. Holding his breath, he bent down to examine the mouse.
"Confirmed. Those commoners weren't the first affected creatures. The first victims were these rodents." On the mouse's neck, Locke discovered some extremely fine, nearly transparent fungal filaments.
There were also patches of hidden rotting flesh on its neck.
Only when Locke got extremely close did he detect a faint, peculiar fragrance - indescribably unique yet unforgettable once smelled.
This scent hovered between foul and fragrant, utterly distinctive.
Locke felt some substance entering his body through the scent. His hand grew slightly numb, but thanks to the Daffodil Antidote's effects and his ancient Bloodline, the minor toxicity quickly dissipated.
"I've found it. This is the source causing the commoners' illness," Locke declared.
Gabby Montoya stood behind Locke, staring at the unremarkable mouse in astonishment. She'd been searching this area for nearly half a month trying to identify the pathogenic Magic Plant. Who would have guessed the culprit wasn't a plant, but mobile mice!
No wonder she'd found nothing after weeks of searching - she'd been looking in completely the wrong direction.
Gabby's gaze toward Locke filled with respect. This Breeder Assistant, though much younger, clearly surpassed her in capability. He'd pinpointed the target within half a day of arrival, making Gabby acutely aware of the gap between them.
"Senior Locke," Gabby asked, "should we report this to the academy for others to handle, or deal with it ourselves?"
Locke mentally reviewed several Magic Plant categories before settling on the most suspicious one. 'These mice are essentially being controlled by that Magic Plant.'
'The fungi it produces have parasitized them, eliminating their fear of humans and slowing their reactions.'
'Its purpose is likely to lure humans close, creating a large-scale plague that would result in mass deaths.'
'This is a reproductive mechanism - and the most probable candidate is Corpse Soil Konjac.'
"The seeds of this Magic Plant can only thrive on a large amount of human bones, and even then, they may still fail. It's a Magical Plant with extremely demanding growth conditions, which is why it's rarely seen in the wild."
"Without deliberate cultivation, it's very difficult for them to grow."
Locke's thoughts raced. "So, if it really is Corpse Soil Konjac, there must be a high-energy-density corpse nearby."
"Corpse Soil Konjac is an exceptionally rare Magic Plant, valuable even for a First Class Wizard Apprentice. Moreover, it seldom appears in natural environments. It would be a shame not to document and study such an anomaly."
Locke turned to Gabby Montoya and said, "We can handle this matter ourselves. There's no need to make multiple trips to inform the academy."
"I recall you're a wizard apprentice specializing in transfiguration magic. I need you to transform into a cat and scout the gathering spots of these mice."
Gabby Montoya nodded without hesitation. "Understood, Senior Locke."