Edu Balfour is dismissed by Lamina Veterinary School on his graduation day, for cruelty to animals. When the courts exonerate him, he looks for a way to reinstate his certificate. The love of his dreams, Princess Pra is on hand to help but Krufassa, the brother of the Princess, tricks Edu to risk his life to fetch a sacred tattoo tablet for Professor Tetteh for his research into treating infections in livestock.

Unfortunately, the Chief of the town has sold Edu’s father’s ancestral land which has the richest deposit of the mineral necessary for this sacred tablet. Edu’s father wants revenge for this slight but the operation spills over and leads to the kidnapping of Princess Pra and Edu.

With his life and his veterinary career in the balance, Edu escapes and, while evading recapture, searches for the Princess. The journey will take him from the Sahara Desert to Lampedusa in the Mediterranean Sea, as he discovers a whole world of medical, societal and economic issues surrounding the production and use of antibiotics to treat superbugs.