As Roko planned, the police distributing the supplies were taken much better by the populace. People started eating again and the need to steal went down drastically. That's not to say their food problems were over, there would never be enough food for everyone so long as Sirius was in charge. But it was enough to return things to normal for the most part. There were a few people who were badmouthing the Earthbounds now but Roko suspected that a lot of people had already guessed the truth of the situation. If nothing else the Mulapin Police Force had regained a significant amount of trust with the people.
Meanwhile the situation in the rebellion wasn't getting much better. With most of their supplies going to the people now, the significant resources that they had stockpiled were running a bit thin. Resupplies were still far off from the horizon and sourcing new supplies were proving to be difficult. With Sirius' hand overshadowing everything it became hard to trust any potential collaborators. Their best hope was the garden Kaguya had taken to tending. However, the plants weren't going to pop up overnight and Kaguya was already stretched thin between the garden and trying to reverse engineer the Nessus poison.
And in the middle of all this, Roko was trying his best to learn alchemy. To learn the properties of the five base chemicals from Lichas' records and the modified venom. But along came another problem. Even if Roko could create a test copy of Nessus, he had no one to test the poison on before moving onto antidote development. And if they couldn't source food properly, there was no way they could source lab rats to preform tests on. Roko's mind started to turn from reverse engineering to a possible infiltration mission on Min al Az'al itself. It was a bit early to sneak into Sirius' base and Roko wasn't exactly well staffed enough to risk such a difficult mission with so few people to back it up. But it seemed like it was the only way to find the manufacturing process of Nessus. At least...until one faithful night.
Roko was called back down to M83's door again. He didn't know who it could be at this time of the night but apparently their guest said it was important. Which only made it more peculiar when Roko arrived and was met with a cloaked figure standing there, their identity completely hidden.
"How can I help you?" Roko crossed his arms.
The figure held out something for Roko to take. A vial of liquid. Roko had a feeling he knew what it was and an analyze spell confirmed it. A vial of Nessus. The real deal.
"And why are you giving this to me...Alphard?"
"You really can't read the room can you?" The former captain of M48 scowled as he pulled his hood back.
"We can't very well have a conversation if you're too concerned with staying quiet to hide your identity." Roko scoffed.
"How'd you know it was me anyway?"
"A cloak can't hide you from my spells."
"Whatever." Alphard scowled, "Look, you can tell right? That's the poison that Sirius has been using. Undiluted. Right?"
"It is." Roko nodded, "But what is it doing in your hands and why are you giving it to me?"
"Look, some things happened after the destruction of M48." Alphard sighed, "I've been staying over in a small part of Min al Az'al for the meantime, trying to find new work for everyone. Then I heard what happened over in Mulapin. Look, not everyone in Muldingirmus approves of this...conspiratorial attack. There are still normal people over on our side even if we can't really help directly like some others."
"So this is just out of the kindness of your heart then? We're not quite allies yet I take it?"
"...I've made my choice." Alphard scowled, "I can't return to the rebellion anymore. And I have a job to stand in your way next time but this poison business...it doesn't sit right with me."
"So you're willing to cooperate with us on this one issue?"
"We won't be in contact or anything." Alphard scoffed, "But I have an idea of who's responsible for this..."
"Is it not Sirius?"
"Sirius definitely backed the idea but the idea itself and the methodology...it's someone else's. I won't say anything more until I can actually find them."
"Fair." Roko shrugged, "Then I'll wish you the best of luck on your investigation. And I promise to do everything in our power to find a cure with this sample you provided us."
"I'm counting on you." Alphard said, pulling his hood back over his head, "We can fight again after you save the people of Mulapin."
"I'll stop wasting my time then." Roko smirked as Alphard walked off into the night.
Roko's research wasn't entirely in vain. He wasn't able to reverse engineer Nessus but with the Nessus poison in his hand, he was able to use his analyze spell to break down the components and discover the ratios of the components, allowing him to perfectly recreate it.
"Meaning we now have an infinite amount of Nessus poison we can test with for finding the cure."
"That's good news." Helena smiled weakly, "I'm glad we got some progress finally."
"Who knew Alphard was such a stand up guy." Momo chuckled, "Maybe we had him all wrong."
"Doesn't sound like he's going to be our friend again though." Melia said, "Shame if we have to beat him again later after all this."
"I'm curious what he's investigating though." Helena said, "Is there something going on in Min al Az'al?"
"Obviously." Melia scoffed, "Whenever or not Sirius is aware of what's going on is the question."
"I can't see how he wouldn't." Helena mused, "Though that raises the question, could Alphard really do his investigation thingy without Sirius knowing?"
"That's up to him now." Roko crossed his arms, "Let's focus on what we can do right now."
"Hey so where's Kaguya?" Helena asked, "Why doesn't she ever visit us?"
"Kaguya's been the busiest out of everyone." Roko sighed, "She's has a garden to tend to as well as taking care of our little Muldingirmus hostage."
"Oh yeah, how is Lichas anyway?"
"..."
Flashback...
"Good morning Lichas. Today is day 15 of clearing out the contaminated supplies you sent us. I have a nice tasty corn and beef stew here for you. Congratulations on passing week two of your personal buffet. I hope you've been enjoying the taste of your own products."
"Please..." Lichas gasped, face shallow and sickly, "Please no more..."
"Now now Lichas. I'm trying to help you remain here safely at the Earthbounds' headquarters. Imagine what would happen if I let you out into Mulapin and someone started a nasty rumor that a certain someone's products were the cause of everyone's suffering. Forget the economical ramifications, that man would be stoned to death in the middle of the street and his body left there to rot for the birds and bugs to consume before their bones are ultimately dumped in a corner for dogs to disassemble for their own entertainment."
"G-gulp..."
"Now perhaps it's different where you come from but in Fuyuki we don't waste food so I'm just making sure all this food doesn't get thrown out. If you have a complaint, you can always try to remember something about the Nessus poison we can use and I'll make sure you get a good dose of the cure once we come up with it. It's really for your own good as well as ours. Do you remember anything?"
"N-No..."
"That's a shame. Well, that's fine. Let me feed you some soup at least."
Kaguya raised a spoonful of soup to Lichas who turned his head in weak refusal.
"Ah ah ah, Lichas. Remember, if you don't help clear out these supplies we'll have to find some other use for you in the base. And from the look of things, we might need a guinea pig to test our Nessus prototype copies soon. If you don't want to eat then that's fine, we'll just test our poisons on you by injecting them directly into you. Would you prefer that?"
Lichas had a haunted look in his face as he slowly turned his head around and with great emotional pain, bit into the spoonful of soup.
"There's a good boy." Kaguya smiled, "Now I'll leave this soup here and if you have trouble finishing it, Mikado here will help you though he might be be as gentle as me so do forgive him. Now I must be off to find that cure. Do excuse me."
Kaguya left the room as Lichas ate his soup with a dead look in his eyes. Standing just outside of the door was Azimuth and Roko.
"You're...not actually feeding him the poisoned supplies are you?" Azimuth gulped.
"Of course not." Kaguya smiled, "We got rid of them ages ago remember?"
"Yeah...I was...there..." Azimuth said, Kaguya's disturbing smile bringing doubt to even her own memories, "But like...if he's not being poisoned then why does he look like that?"
"Oh, he's suffering from...how should I call it? Placebo poisoning? Honestly it's so entertaining to see how he reacts to his own body believing he's been poisoned. He's a very good method actor."
"Is...is this really necessary?"
"Well everything could change if he could help us out with the cure. Same he really doesn't seem as well informed as he should be."
"I...feel sorry for him."
"Oh I'm sure he'll be fine. Right Roko?"
End of Flashback…
"Roko?"
"Uhh, sorry." Roko blinked, "Where were we?"
"Well, I already have a prototype cure ready to be tested here." Kaguya said, holding up a beaker of liquid, "The question is who do we use as a test subject?"
"That quickly?" Roko said, taking the cure from Kaguya to look over it, "I didn't think you learned that much about alchemy from Scabius."
"I wasn't particularly interested but he was a good teacher and I was a good student." Kaguya smiled, "Though this first prototype is just a collection of antibodies I've taken from those that have recovered. It won't be entirely effective as I did try it against a sample of the poison. Maybe it'll cure some, maybe it will reduce the symptoms. But with how customized Nessus is, I doubt simple antibodies will be able to be cure it completely."
"So we'll be relying on your alchemy expertise in the end." Roko nodded, "Are you sure you can handle it?"
"I'm sure I can figure something out." Kaguya replied, "Scabius' teachings might've been rather scattered but I can piece together the majority of the techniques from research. We know the components and dosage of the polymerization so it'll be fine. This is what you've called me over for. Don't worry. I'll handle it from here. Take a well needed break."
"Well...yeah..." Roko said blankly.
"You're still gonna look for work aren't you?" Kaguya giggled.
"I can't very well do nothing right now." Roko scowled.
"You say that no matter what time it is. But if you really need something to do then why don't you help Azimuth find a new supplier? She's been stressing over it quite a bit so I'm sure she'll appreciate the help."
"That's true." Roko nodded, "I'll go see how she's doing."
"Don't forget to take care of Aranea."
"I'm doing it already!"
"So how's-"
"HORRIBLE!" Azimuth shouted at Roko who had just entered the room, "I hate everyone and I'm going to move to a quiet island nation where I never have to deal with people ever again!"
…
"Really?"
"No..." Azimuth moaned as she collapsed on the table in front of her, "I just...been having a hard time."
"Tell me about it." Roko sighed, sitting in the seat across from her.
"It's not like there's nobody who is willing to help us." Azimuth said, "But the only ones left are those who want to do business instead of charity. Not that I'm unwilling to do business but Mulapin doesn't have a lot of resources to offer. Not anything that hasn't been monopolized by Sirius anyway. I've been getting by by just purchasing more food from the surrounding markets but you know...they're mostly controlled by Sirius too so it's hard enough starting negotiations before they start throwing ridiculous demands."
"How ridiculous?"
"200% market price. Favorable market conditions if we ever overthrow Sirius. Even governmental control and positions. Hell, some people even asked me to introduce them to Sirius! As if I wasn't trying to get rid of him!"
"Those are some ridiculous demands." Roko nodded.
"It's crazy how 200% market price is the most reasonable demand." Azimuth covered her face in her hands.
"How much longer til our next scheduled restock?"
"About a month..."
"Right." Roko sighed, "Then let me give it a shot."
"I would question if you had any real qualifications for this but then I remembered you bargained for an entire military base so maybe there's actually hope."
"Well I'll certainly try my best." Roko shrugged.
"Good enough for me. I'll try and set up a meeting with a potential investor and see who I can get."
Azimuth managed to set up a meeting that very same night. So Roko and Azimuth were off to a neighborhood night market in a town not far from Mulapin. Naturally, Roko brought Aranea as well but not without people teasing him about taking her out past her bedtime. The storehouse they arrived at was well stocked with many crates of unknown products dotting the area. It was much smaller and much humbler than the warehouse at Lichas being made out of wood but it still had a supervisor's office where their mysterious would be collaborator came out in a discreet cloak.
"Do forgive my for not showing my face." he had said, "We have to take extra precautions when making deals like this. You never know when Sirius could be watching."
"That's fine, sir Alcaeus." Azimuth replied professionally, "I hear you're quite interested in meeting our developmental head so I've brought him along with me today."
"I can see that." The man looked over Roko curiously, "Very interesting young man he is. I'd like to know more about him."
"We can discuss my past later." Roko crossed his arms, "For now I'm hoping we can come to an agreement regarding any supplies you can afford to give us. Particularly food supplies."
"Yes, I've heard about the situation in Mulapin." Alcaeus nodded, "Horrifyingly tragic it is. You have my condolences."
"Appreciated but I'm afraid we're here to ask for more than just condolences."
"Of course, of course." Alcaeus nodded, "I'm ready to provide what relief I can and more if you're interested."
"I wasn't informed of anything more they you were offering." Azimuth frowned.
"Haha. Call it a rare sort of product that I was only willing to sell to the right person."
Alcaeus rummaged into a bag underneath his cloak and brought out a vial of strange golden liquid.
"What's this?" Azimuth frowned.
"It's a panacea." The man said with an odd pride in his voice, "A cure for whatever ails you."
"A cure-all?!" Azimuth cried, "Why didn't you show this to me before?!"
"No offense, Azimuth, but you're not exactly the top dog of the Earthbounds anymore. I wanted to sell this to the absolute top. After all, a small little cure like this wasn't going to cure absolutely everyone in the rebellion and I didn't want to get your hopes up."
"But we could've reproduced this cure!" Azimuth cried.
"Oh can you now?! Well that makes what I'm offering all the more valuable isn't it?"
"And what do you want in return?" Roko asked.
"All I'm asking is for partial ownership of the Earthbounds."
"Partial ownership?!" Azimuth cried again, "We're not a company or something!"
"Yes but I want to be invested in your victory." The man said with surprising conviction, "I believe in your cause and I want to be at the forefront, pushing your cause forward! I'm not asking for fame or fortune. I just want to help oust that vermin, Sirius, from the city!"
"You just want a seat at the top once we do get rid of the aristocrats don't you?" Azimuth said crossly.
"See, this is why I wanted to speak with your superior, Azimuth." Alcaeus shook his head, "Surely this young man can tell what a good idea I'm offering. A cure and my support for a head start in the coming new world. Surely that's worth all that I'm offering."
"...Can I see the panacea first?" Roko held out a hand.
"I assure you it's genuine." Alcaeus said as he handed the cure over to Roko.
Roko stared at the mixture, trying to discern anything amiss with his eyes but naturally he was too ill experienced to uncover anything from a cursory glance. So he returned to his old reliable, Analyze.
"..."
"Well?" Alcaeus asked anxiously.
"...Who are you?' Roko glared at the man.
"W-Who me?" Alcaeus asked, a bit of nervousness sneaking into his voice, "I'm just a humble merchant looking to support a good cause."
"This is a possible cure for Nessus, yes but it contains a completely different strain of poison in it." Roko frowned, "This isn't a poison anybody can get their hands on either. It's a very specific strain modified to exist alongside an antidote."
"What?" Azimuth gasped, "You're trying to poison us a second time?! Are you the one responsible for all this?!"
Alcaeus took a few steps back in shock but his unsmiling shock soon broke into a menacing sneer.
"Who knows?"
"Sca-"
But before Roko could finish his spell, a small ball of light was tossed out from under the man's cloak and exploded into a bright light that blinded everyone as the "merchant" ran off.
"Dammit!" Roko scowled, covering his eyes in pain, "After him!"