There can't be a Harvest Moon in the RimWorld.

“Marcus, can you say something auspicious? My business is doing very well, I don’t need to change careers.”

"But Lin has already mopped the floor for the tenth time today. Are you sure we have guests coming? The toilet is used more often than the kitchen, isn't it?"

I glanced at Lin in the tavern; she was still working energetically, sprinkling water on the spotless floor, preparing to mop it again.

“My place gets very crowded every night; I’m just doing the preparations.”

"Yes, yes, you're absolutely right, boss." I glanced back and asked, "Boss, how about having Lin help out at my ranch for a couple of days? You don't have much to do here anyway..."

Lin, who was standing next to me, heard what I said and immediately put down her tools and ran to the bar, looking at her dad with shining eyes.

“Hey, I told you I have a lot of customers here! But…” Boss Dart couldn’t resist Lin’s pleading and finally relented, “When there aren’t many customers, I can come and help out at your place, but you’ll have to pay for my labor.”

"yeah!"

Lin and I high-fived in celebration.

This is something I promised Lin last time, that she would come visit my ranch when she has time, but because Boss Dart hasn't given her any time off, it's been delayed until now.

Lin went upstairs satisfied, leaving me and Boss Dart staring at each other again.

"Father-in-law, you said..."

"Don't call me father-in-law!"

Every time this title is mentioned, Mr. Dart starts to puff up his cheeks and glare. It's just a title, why take it so seriously?

What a petty man.

"Okay, Mr. Dart, may I ask you another piece of gossip? Do you have any news about Mrs. Lilia's illness?"

Mr. Dart paused in wiping the blankets before turning his gaze elsewhere and speaking slowly.

"Rhodes did not abandon his family."

I saw a kind of unwavering determination in the eyes of the former Dart boss that went beyond rational judgment, like... unconditional trust?

"But why hasn't he come back?"

Boss Dart gave me a meaningful look: "It was Poppy who told you that, wasn't it? That's because she has no memory of her father."

"No one who knows Rod would doubt his feelings for his family."

“We’ve known each other since he and Lilia settled in town. Lin’s mother was still alive then, and our two families often visited each other. The scene I saw most often was Rod accompanying Lilia for a walk in town.”

"But around the time Lilia was pregnant, she visibly became more secluded from going out."

"Later, Rod told me that Lilia's health was deteriorating, and any illness would cause her discomfort. Moreover, her energy was also very easily depleted, to the point that she was almost frail."

“We went to the town doctor, but didn’t get a definite answer. Later, they left town for a while, and when they came back, they both seemed to have made up their minds to stay indoors.”

“After Lilith’s two children were born, Rhodes embarked on a journey of seeking medical treatment that lasted for more than a decade. I would receive letters from him regularly, with mailing addresses ranging from the southern islands to the northern ice fields.”

"Judging from the areas he mailed, this man's routine for more than ten years has been to start from one place and head to the next destination."

"I can almost see that straightforward man from before, writing furiously in a hotel in an unfamiliar city, sharing the latest news he had found out and the places he had been, and planning his next destination."

I took a bite of rice, chewed it haphazardly a couple of times, and swallowed it.

Judging from Mr. Dart's description, a man who has been working tirelessly for his wife's illness for over a decade does not seem like a scumbag who would abandon his wife and children.

So the question arises: what exactly is wrong with Lady Lilia? Why is she seeking medical help so frantically, yet to no avail?

Such a desperate and long journey can only be compared to those pitiful parents in their past lives who were searching for their abducted children. If they had no other choice, they would never have exiled themselves in such a way.

"What exactly is the cause of Mrs. Lilia's illness?"

Mr. Dart shrugged.

"There has never been an answer to this question. You could say it's because we're from a small place and have limited knowledge, but we've never seen such a strange disease before."

Have you ever seen a paper painting?

"Paper painting?"

"It's a three-dimensional shape made of paper. The outer layer of paper is covered with patterns, but the inside is actually empty."

"Lilia is actually in this state. She looks no different from a normal person on the outside, but she is so weak that she is just a shell."

"Springtime manifests itself in excessive sleepiness; I sleep longer than I ever imagined, and I have to rely on stimulant medicine to suppress my drowsiness."

"In the summer, she becomes extremely sensitive to heat and sun exposure. Even a short exposure to the sun can cause sunburn and an abnormally high body temperature, forcing her to only go out at night."

"In autumn, she would feel extremely tired, and her energy would dissipate faster than normal. I would often see her staring blankly out the window for more than an hour before she would snap out of her reverie and do what she was doing before she started to daydream."

“She gets very cold in winter. During the days when it snows heavily, she can only stay in the room with the fireplace burning all day. If she is exposed to cold air, the areas she touches will get frostbite.”

"These strange symptoms no longer resemble a disease, but rather seem like an inability to adapt to the world and a rejection of nature."

I also recalled what I had learned, and it seems that even the cryogenics of astronauts used for interstellar travel would not show such resistance to the environment.

"Doctor Dort comes from a big city, but can't he diagnose anything?"

Mr. Dart frowned and said.

"Dr. Dort was a responsible young man. When he first came to town, he made a detailed diagnosis and sent the case to his mentor. But in the end, there was no conclusion."

“There are just too many problems like this, and we simply can’t manage them all. For example, Sebala’s stubbornness, Dick’s pride, Thomas’s narcolepsy, Jeff’s fear of his wife…”

Those were just personal attacks!

"Boss... what you're talking about isn't the same thing..."

“Oh, that’s what I mean. Everyone has their shortcomings, so why demand perfection? If we don’t strive so hard, Rod won’t be misunderstood by the children.”

"By the way, is there any trigger for Lady Lilia's illness? There must be some initial symptoms, right?"

Mr. Dart paused for a moment, as if deep in thought, trying to retrieve a useful fragment from the sea of ​​memories.

This competition lasted for a long time, and their efforts finally paid off.

"I remember it was sometime before she fell ill. Lilia and Rhodes were chatting in a tavern when she suddenly said she wasn't feeling well and that she was going back to sleep and rest. After that, she started acting strangely."

"Feeling unwell? Are these symptoms of illness?"

I asked out of curiosity, and received an answer that left me trembling for a long time, almost unable to control myself.

Mr. Dart frowned as he tried his best to describe the scene from his memory.

“That day, Lilia was sitting here…yes, right where you are…and suddenly she said she was probably too tired and was having auditory hallucinations. She heard a shrill singing voice lingering in her ears.”

“She listened carefully and found that the singing was clearest when facing the direction of Mount Mads.”

"To this day I still don't know what kind of singing that was... Marcus, why aren't you saying anything?"

Chapter 44 Strange Cases

"Dr. Dort, are you home?"

As darkness fell, I circled back to the location of the hospital.

As the streetlights came on, the entire street was enveloped in a tranquil atmosphere. The wind gently stirred everything that could make a sound, as if a whispering passerby was lurking at every intersection.

My shadow stood alone under the streetlamp for a while, keeping me company behind me, and then quietly stopped moving.

It wasn't until a slightly dark projection appeared behind the hospital door that I moved and looked in that direction.

Sure enough, Dr. Dort's ordinary yet earnest face appeared through the crack in the door.

"It's Marcus. Did you agree to come and support my experiment?"

I ignored the doctor who was still rambling on about the importance of his experiment, went into the room and closed the door, as if that would shut out the uneasy atmosphere outside.

I also happened to notice that there was a brightly colored umbrella at the entrance of the hospital, which was not something that a doctor like Dort would use.

"Doctor, has someone here forgotten their umbrella?"

I asked tentatively.

Dr. Dort was then interrupted and said, "This should have been left here by Ellie. She is now a nurse at the hospital and my assistant."

"Oh my, I didn't realize, doctor," I teased.

"It's not what you think. She only studied medical knowledge for her grandmother's illness and came to help me on the side."

"Haha, don't take it so seriously. Dr. Dort, you're too nervous."

Seeing that I seemed to have come for some business, Dr. Dort placed a glass of water in front of me and gestured for me to sit down.

"I know I'm a bit too serious. But it seems like I can't seem to change it."

Dr. Dort sighed, his thick eyebrows and large eyes, which usually made him look very serious, turning somewhat melancholy.

“I also hope to be like you, Marcus, able to chat and laugh with everyone and make so many friends. In the few days you’ve been in town, I’ve already heard your story from the mayor, Boss Dart, and Zack, and Poppy and Yuya have also mentioned you. I really envy you for having so many friends.”

"Everyone has a different personality. I couldn't work as hard as you. Otherwise, I wouldn't be asking you for advice."

I quickly flattered him first, and then took the opportunity to reveal my purpose.

“I have a friend who wants to know what illness Lady Lilia has.”

Dr. Dort looked him over and asked seriously.

Is the friend you're talking about yourself?

"Dr. Dort, you're overthinking it. It's just a friend of mine."

"But……"

"It's no fun if you take things too seriously."

"Well... okay, what does your friend want to know?"

Seeing that the doctor had given in, I said, "Doctor, I heard that you also gave Mrs. Lilia a full check-up when you came to town. Are you sure you couldn't find anything wrong?"

Dr. Dort adopted a serious expression and began to speak eloquently about the patient's condition.

"Actually, the first case I handled when I came to town was Mrs. Lilia's illness. When Zack told me about it, I was confident that with my medical knowledge, even if I couldn't cure the disease completely, I could at least make a diagnosis."

"But to my surprise, I was unable to make a diagnosis using all the methods available to me. All physiological indicators, blood tests, heart rate, and hormone secretion were within a reasonable range."

“Marcus, can you imagine someone who isn’t sick, but exhibits these pathological symptoms every day?”

I shook my head.

This is like someone who hasn't eaten at all feeling like they're full; it's logically inexplicable.