Chapter 139: Her End
Narin continued, her expression as if she were a saint saving people from the devil.
"Now that everyone knows you have anti-toxin pills, they’ll all come flocking to you. The village clinic won’t matter anymore. They’ll trust you instead."
Ah! Finally, Gara understood the motive behind the slander. He’d been piecing it together, and now the picture was clear.
Narin wasn’t finished. "Everyone knows the chief paid a fortune for Rima’s treatment, ten yellow coins! That’s more expensive than a house in this village!"
The villagers broke into a wave of murmurs, their voices hushed but urgent. Money was always a sore topic. Especially now, when most of them barely had any income at all.
The villagers couldn’t help but put some weight on Narin’s words. After all, when their families were poisoned, the first healer who came to mind wasn’t the clinic’s. It was Gara.
And if Gara had demanded a high fee for treatment afterward, they would’ve had no choice but to pay.
They were deeply grateful to Gara and his family, but at the same time, they couldn’t fully ignore Narin’s accusation either.
Seeing the villagers’ trust in Gara beginning to waver, Narin slipped behind Mohan’s broad frame, hiding herself once again.
"From what I’ve heard, there are already plenty of victims. This is no small matter. Fian, call the guards. Whoever the culprit is must be caught," Gara said firmly, acting as if he weren’t the suspect.
Fian glanced at him once, then vanished into thin air using his Ghost Walk, leaving the crowd stunned.
They didn’t even have time to marvel at his speed, the word guards weighed too heavily on their minds. Several people tensed. Calling the guards was no small matter.
Mohan’s brows drew tight. He didn’t like the idea of guards meddling. They weren’t under his authority, and if they got involved, Gara would likely walk away free.
"You’ll let yourself be taken by the guards?" he asked, scowling.
"Taken? Why would they arrest me? I’m not guilty," Gara replied, calm as ever.
"Then who will they arrest?" Mohan pressed, frowning deeper.
"The real culprit."
The answer only left Mohan—and the rest of the Liners and villagers—more confused.
"Yes, the real culprit should be caught! Sir Healer is a good man. He would never do such a thing!" Hari quickly stepped forward, defending the one who saved his granddaughter.
"That’s right! Brother Healer is kind," little Rima chimed in, her bright, healthy face a stark contrast to the pale, fragile child she had been not long ago.
Gara smiled gently and patted her head.
Narin, however, narrowed her eyes. She couldn’t understand why Gara was so calm. What gave him such confidence?
Before long, the guards arrived, led by Emir.
"And how exactly do you plan to find the culprit?" Mohan asked again, still baffled.
"Kian." Gara pointed at the bespectacled man standing beside him. "He has a Talent that lets him detect poison through the wind, doesn’t he?"
"The poison in this village’s water is strong. It lingers on surfaces for days. If someone recently came into contact with it, Kian should be able to tell, right?"
All eyes turned toward Kian. Mohan meanwhile felt uneasy, despite not being in the spotlight.
"...I can," Kian admitted.
"Does that even make sense?" Narin suddenly interjected. "Anyone could’ve accidentally touched contaminated water, couldn’t they?"
But the Liners only frowned at her words. None of them had any reason to intentionally expose themselves to the poison. And if it was accidental—why? What for?
Her objection quickly dissolved into silence.
Kian activated his Talent, scanning the Liners one by one with his wind.
Narin shifted uncomfortably, as if the ground beneath her feet had turned unstable.
Madha and Fian grew anxious as well. Gara handled poison almost daily for his experiments. Why would he, of all people, suggest such a method?
At last, Kian turned to Gara. "...No trace of poison."
Madha and Fian let out a long breath in unison. Meanwhile, Gara’s expression remained calm, his eyes steady.
Kian’s gaze shifted to Narin. In a split second, his eyes sharpened instantly.
Narin took a cautious step back, then another, her body trembling as if ready to bolt.
Kian’s stare flicked toward Mohan. Mohan understood at once and swiftly grabbed Narin’s arm before she could escape.
"Is she the culprit?" Mohan asked.
"No other Liner carries traces of poison but her," Kian replied, neither confirming nor denying outright.
The crowd’s eyes snapped toward Narin, their disbelief heavy in the air.
"The investigation team just went exploring yesterday! The traces must be because I touched the river water!" Narin protested desperately.
Gara raised an eyebrow. He knew very well Mohan and Kian had been... otherwise occupied yesterday.
"Did you really go up the mountain yesterday?" Emir, the guard captain, fixed Mohan with a sharp look.
Mohan didn’t answer right away. Instead, he glanced at Kian, who gave him a small, firm nod.
"...We didn’t go exploring yesterday," Mohan finally said.
"Mohan!" Narin shrieked hysterically. Even her own teammates had abandoned her. "No! It wasn’t me!"
"Seize her," Emir ordered.
The guards moved quickly, restraining Narin before she could escape.
Just before they dragged her away, Gara stepped closer. His expression twisted with open disgust as he met her eyes.
"I kept quiet all this time because I thought maybe you’d change. But now, because of your petty spite, innocent lives were put at risk. This isn’t about me anymore, it’s about the safety of the villagers."
"You bastard! You did this on purpose! You showed up just to ruin me! I’ll kill you, Gara! I’ll destroy you!" Narin roared, thrashing in the guards’ grip.
Gara exhaled heavily, his patience thinning. This time, Narin had gone far beyond reason.
Fortunately, he had known from Rea’s words that his water—and perhaps the Talent of all water-based Liners—could erase traces of poison.
He had gambled on Narin not using her water Talent since last night, nor having any access to his water at the Camp Liner.
If so, the traces would still cling to her body—
And his gamble had been right.
...